Thoughtful Friday No. 90

"Even if you have a lot of work to do, if you think of it as wonderful, 

and if you feel it as wonderful, 

it will transform into the energy of joy and fire, 

instead of becoming a burden."

Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

Thoughtful Friday No. 89

"I arise at dawn with a winged heart and

give thanks for another day of loving"

Kahil  Gibran

She's ok!

Last week was quite a week!  And it didn't help that we were away from home at a conference!  However all is well.  Daughter no.2's foot got a lot worse as did her general health and the drs decided that she needed to be flown home to the UK for an operation.  However the flight was scheduled for the day of the ash cloud so despite her bag being packed, she could not come.  Things deteriorated rapidly and she was whipped into theatre for the operation there and then and is now recovering well.  She is being flown home hopefully on Monday where she will recuperate for a while!!  Can't wait to have her back and to give her some much needed TLC.

I have never sent so many texts in my life!  It is the best way to communicate with folk in Uganda so despite the fact that I could only stand in one tiny corner of our accommodation in order to get reception (remember it was north west Wales we were in!) I managed to keep in touch with the lovely daughter no.2 and also with the organisation she is with.

So normal service will resume very soon now and because I had two long journeys (7 hours each way) I have one or two things to show for it!! A bientot!

Concerned!

I had all sorts of plans to write about a lovely birthday weekend with all the girls (2 weeks ago now!!) and Easter etc etc but my weekend has been consumed with concern for lovely daughter no.2 in Uganda who was admitted to hopsital on Friday night.  She has been very poorly with an infection in her foot which is travelling up her leg.  Hospital care in Uganda is so very different from here and she was already misdiagnosed and given the wrong treatment which has slowed the healing process.  I am grateful that I can at least contact her via skype on her phone although a text very early (5.40am our time) said she was running out of battery and didn't have her charger and felt worse!.  It's hard being so very far away at at time like this and although she is very capable, the mother instinct just wants her back here with the right treatment making a good recovery.  Hubby and I are off to Wales tomorrow for a conference where we are both working on exhibtion stands!  To say that I don't feel like doing this would be an understatement however.....

I hope to be back here soon with good news about happy, creative things, till then.....

Thoughtful Friday No. 88

"Art is the only way to run away

without leaving home"

Twyla Tharp

Thoughtful Friday No. 87

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son

that whoever believes in Him should not perish but

have everlasting life"

John 3:16 (the Bible)

GPP Street Team - creative challenge - Tissue Paper

I am just snucking in on this challenge although I did actually start it weeks ago and have had the tissue paper gessoed and hanging outside the bedroom/craftroom for a while now!  The day job, a birthday and other things got in the way but it has been a fun project to do.  Firstly it was choosing what colour tissue paper to use and I went for this rather bright combination of orange, lime and yellow - why not, I ask myself!  First up - gesso

and the prepping of pages in the journal - I gessoed and used acrylic paints and went for stripes

Then I used a script stamp (still loving the script whether stamps/paper/tape - you name it, I love it!

I didn't know what to do with the tissue paper for a while (maybe that is one reason why it remained hanging up outside the room!!) but eventually decided that with all these stripes we needed some circles so circles it was and I stuck them down with gel medium.

Things were beginning to come together and I realised that the flow was about 'becoming' which centred about my favourite quote of the moment and indeed Thoughtful Friday's quote:

"We discover that it is not so much what we do that touches the lives of others but who we are becoming" from Macrina Wiederkehr.  So hence the BE in foam letters there on the corner and a little pocket (I love pockets and especially enjoyed Michelle's here)

I added some stamped images and the word 'BECOMING"

And a shipping tag with the quote on it hanging from some fibres on the other page, with some swirl stamping on the edges in coffee to keep the warm look.  Here is the finished result:

This was a fun challenge and I enjoyed it and I have lots of that gessoed and painted tissue left over for other projects too!

Thoughtful Friday No. 86

"We discover that it is not so much what we do

that touches lives as who we are becoming"

Macrina Wiederkehr

On the day....

On the day when

the weight deadens

on your shoulders

and you stumble,

may the clay dance

to balance you.

And when your eyes

freeze behind

the grey window

and the ghost of loss

gets in to you,

may a flock of colours,

indigo, red, green

and azure blue

come to awaken in you

a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays 

in the curach of thought

and a stain of ocean

blackens beneath you,

may there come across the waters

a path of yellow moonlight

to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

may the clarity of light by yours,

may the fluency of the ocean by yours,

may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow

wind work these words

of love around you,

an invisible cloak

to mind your life.

John 0'Donohue

Thoughtful Friday No. 85

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more 

to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."  

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The gift of mothering

(handpainted teapot - a gift from daughter no.1)

On Sunday here in the UK we celebrated Mother's day - a day to be remembered by our children and made to feel special.  I certainly did feel special when the day began with a cup of tea brought up to the bedroom by daughter no.1.  It brought back so many memories of when the girls were little and would sneak downstairs and prepare a tray with flowers, tea and maybe some cereal with a special napkin and traycloth, complete with handmade cards and gifts. Being a mother has been such a joy for me.  As an only child, I always seemed to be surrounded by grown ups and there was never anyone to play with so I often got very lost in my own imagination with my dolls and teddies etc.  Having children has meant having others to 'play' with and from very young the girls and I would play all sorts of games and do all sorts of crafty activities together; putting on plays at Christmas and cooking special food at holiday times.

(painted inside with hearts too!)

Now they are grown women themselves and I love the way they each relate to me differently - even different names for me; daughter no 1 calls me Mum, daughter no.2 calls me Ma, daughter no. 3 calls me Marmee (from Little Women) and daughter no.4 calls me Mama and each are their own very different personality and I love them all so very much.

Sunday carried on being very special with daughter no.3 and her husband arriving for lunch which was prepared by the girls and then I was the recipient of some lovely gifts - books and a dvd.  I didn't have to lift a finger all day and the kitchen had a spring clean too!!  Thank you so much my wonderful family.