a new year soon upon us

"a blog is an excellent way to help see the beauty, passion and interconnection all around us."                                    https://windsweptadventure.blogspot.ca/

And so it is.
Welcome to my 100th post this year, the most I've made in one year since starting this blog in 2010.

As many of you know...

 I can get quite carried away with a post. Not one or two pictures for me.

Babu Big Eyes

Those big pleading Muji eyes, "It's an emergency!"

"Mo- OM"

"I ask you to consider the evidence. I'm a cat in need of love."

Sometimes I wander down a path that quite surprises me, something I never would have dreamed of doing initially, but this format is pretty wide for the wandering mind. For instance, barring multi country automated bots that have played havoc with my statistics, I happen to know that my most popular post of all time, that has drawn real viewers from all over the world, is:

https://enchantedblueplanet.blogspot.ca/2010/12/have-story-i-want-to-share-with-you.html

This pleases me for the story, though not mine, is worth repeating.

So you can see how this blog has given me a focus when my own was skewed or off altogether. I have reconnected with my creativity in ways I couldn't imagine until they were made manifest, with the impetus of a viewing audience with whom to share. There were days when I felt quite alone and felt all the better for knowing someone out there cared to see what I was up to, and even comment encouragingly. What surprised me even more is that I made friends.

As a parting gesture of thanks for this truly remarkable year I am introducing collections of my works over the last 3 years to save you searching through my densely populated posts. You may see them in a new section I'm introducing in the section below the title banner. To return to the main page, simply tap on Home.

I thank you most humbly for your kindness throughout these years. It has surprised me with the depth of sincerity that I didn't think possible on the internet.

I took a chance, and there you were!

Blessings dear friends and viewers for a 

Happy

Healthy

Delight-filled

2018

Christmas decorations and cats

With Christmas almost upon us, I thought I 'd share some of our decorations for the holiday.

This is the beat up lid of an old Blue Bird Toffee Tin from England that I found several years ago that I find so charming with its red thatched roofed cottages and blacksmith scene.

A cousin of mine gave me first dibs on a blind pick from a bag of gifts she'd brought to one of our family parties. I picked this old embroidered lion that is probably from India I think.

And yes, we decided to get an artificial tree a few years ago.

Every year there is always something that captures my imagination. Last year it was this tin house...

and this one.

Oh, and I also got a set of paper ornaments from India.

This old glass ornament was a secondhand store coup.

This red glass ornament came in the same package as the blue one.

And there's another tin ornament, shaped like a tag, that I got last year, inscribed with an old Deco style script that I love so much.

Quite a while back I found this glass Santa Bear ornament.

There's Muji at my feet watching every move that I make.

This is the only ornament I was tempted to get this year.

It actually does say Reindeer food. Very Cute.

Another of the old glass ornaments. I was tickled to get the original packaging too.

Two Cats and a Shoe.

Babu and Muji awake in the morning. A rare sight.

I must pass a gauntlet of cats to colour correct these photos.

Keeping it light.

Remembering the Peace, Love and Joy that is the Christmas message

today and all days.

morning of the solar eclipse

Perhaps because I was self-employed most of my life, Monday mornings don't hold the usual dread that they do for many people who differentiate them from weekends. I tended to look at my down time in terms of seasons and winter became a haven for me from the rigours of business. But today, this Monday of all Mondays, is supersaturated with relevance, for today,

Western Europe, Northeast Asia, Northwest Africa, North America, much of South America, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic 

will have a solar eclipse!

If that don't beat the Monday blues! We live such little lives on our beloved little planet and cosmic phenomena really serve to remind us the relative importance of everything. There won't be another solar eclipse in my part of the world, eastern North America, til 2025.

After another rainy Saturday and a hot and humid Sunday,

it promises to be bright though hot again today.

Muji would rather be outside with me

Babu would rather share the window with Muji

The hayfield looking ESE already promises heat as the dew lifts this morning.

So far so good with the grapes ripening

The beans grow in rows like a curtain

A brown butterfly suns itself on a fallen maple leaf

What a clever landing pad.

Raspberry for breakfast

Our new mint patch

a new stalk of gladiola

a nest of hens and chicks

a tall weed with its pretty little blossoms

We're inveterate, or should I say, "veteran" sales hunters,

but this ten cent cabbage takes the cake,  my best deal in years.

Muji hops down from the window and is at the door to greet me before I've got it shut.

Babu isn't far behind.

The middle section of my sketchbook has two signatures of cheap kraft paper which I'm enjoying for its mid tone, allowing me to use a light cream colour to effect. Outlined in a brush-tipped India ink Pitt pen and coloured with coloured pencils, I'm still working with multiple images for more interest. The heavier, gold-dotted kraft cardstock that I collaged on was harder to tear and therefore left some really nice edges.

 

Smitten with that gold-dotted kraft card, I found a place to lay it down in this coloured pencil extravaganza. It's been so much fun not to work to anyone's expectations but my own and see where my intuition will take me. I haven't been able to work like this since the '80's.

Giving myself permission has been a long time coming.

"Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement."

                                                                                    Nelson Mandela

peace on earth

a short trip

After a heatwave last week and the much needed rain yesterday, it is one of those glorious summer days without a cloud in the sky. The cooler weather has brought a shift. There's a feeling of, dare I say it- fall in the air.

On Saturday we hit the highway for Greenwood where my favourite health food store is located.

Cindy carries a wide variety of organics which she sells in the original bags for great savings or breaks down to smaller quantities when you don't want 25 pounds of basmati rice. I stock up on all kinds of things for Wally, me and the cats which makes the cost of gas and running the car worth it.

Outside of Berwick, we're 213 km from Yarmouth. I've yet to get there.

One of the rare days we take this route when it isn't snowing or rainy though it was a bit blowy.

 Kingston is the exit off the highway that we must take to get to Greenwood where Cindy's shop is.

My favourite house sits at the corner of the road into Kingston.  It is the home of the folks who run an

antique shop out back.

What a shock to see the fire damage along the way. Wally only then remembered that he had heard about a fire in Kingston.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Muji's having his day in the sun after breakfast

Babu comes to join him

But it won't be long before he's bugging me for cuddles or playtime

as he doesn't tire nearly as much as Muji.

just a glimpse of what I was playing at in the Second Peninsula Park the week before

Watercolours. I need a whole lot of practice.

I'll have some more artwork to show you tomorrow- something in a completely different vein.

Many thanks for your visits.

peace

shed be gone

Since my last post, five days had gone by since the first attempt to take the old shed away and

By Friday afternoon, Wally and his friend from work, Nick (whose father will take it away),

had regrouped to dismantle the old shed.

Upon further examination (and a succession of 2 dead screwdriver batteries and 2 hours)

Wally and Nick decided to meet up again after the weekend when Nick would return with his bigger batteried screwdriver

Worried that Wally would be disappointed after investing so much time, I turned and took this picture of my handsome Muji in the evening light and went to dish supper out.

Wally wasn't disappointed in the least. He is very philosophical about the time it takes to do things- especially preparatory work that always bores me to distraction.

When Nick returned last night (Monday) after both he and Wally had put in a full day's work,

they set to drilling through the rusted screws to release them.

Sometimes Wally had to hold a screw from spinning while Nick drilled.

Already the sliding doors are somewhat dismantled.

Determining how to lift the roof,

they decide to remove the doors first.

Then, dislodging the roof,

they raise the roof

and slide it over.

She's Off!

Maybe now is the time to tell you how sentimental I had begun to feel about losing this ugly old shed.

We have the original permit from May 1983. That's 34 years ago less 2 weeks.  Every time we remove a piece of the past I sense the dreams of the past. I will write more about this towards the end.

Nick and Wally move the roof out of the way.

Wally told me afterwards how very heavy it was.

Babu and Muji enjoy their after dinner show (on the one day I didn't make the bed)

I was surprised how relaxed Babu was who is usually terribly shy.

Muji soon lost interest with a full belly.

Next it was time to dismantle the walls.

the last wall to go

stacking it onto the pile with the other 2 walls

What remains, the old oil drum wood stove, the rotting wood floor, and of course

THE VIEW!

We have a week to remove all the debris if we're to take advantage of Big Pickup Day by the township. My sentiment for the entrenched past quickly dissolves as we get a slice of view that I've so missed, being surrounded by buildings. I think of Carolyn Myss's view:

"The dead past cannot give you life force."

Embracing the life we have today can be brought up short with gratitude.

There is more in place than is not. Let us remember to remember how lucky we are so we do not slide into false concepts. Carolyn Myss suggests that if we were to remove 3 words from our vocabulary they would be:

blame

deserve

entitlement

This is heavy stuff in a world where so many are, or feel they are, victimized. The trick to letting go of all the pain, "wounds" as she calls them is:

Forgiveness

This includes forgiving ourselves

I found this video particularly helpful in understanding Why People Don't Heal

thank you as always for caring to drop by.

I will have some artwork to share next time.

peace