The Loveliest of Surprises Awaits

{Enjoy more of this deliciousness here}

There are some days that are truly special and today is one of them - yippee!
Of course you're itching to know why...well you're just one click away from finding out.
Share the joy here!

Happiest of happy days my friend,

Two For Tuesday - Julia Carter

Happy Tuesday friend and have I got a treat for you!
Today as we play 'Two For Tuesday', I'm thrilled to be sharing art from a talented artisan from my own pocket of the world. Julia Carter * paints glorious canvases in her studio hidden away amidst tranquil acreage not far from where I live.

As is often the case with the artists that I feature here, choosing just two pieces was truly challenging.
Julia has a broad range of work inspired by the natural world and today I've selected 'Journeys' and 'Set Free'. These two pieces are quite different I'm sure you'll agree, but I hope that in choosing them I've given you a feel for the diversity of her work and scope for sharing your thoughts and feelings.

I know that there are many of you who pop in each Tuesday to play along but each week a new face appears, so for those of you who may be new to this game it's as simple as looking at the two pieces and leaving a comment telling us how they relate to each other or to your life at the moment.  To take the challenge to a higher level of difficulty you can restrict your response to 20 words or less.

Happy day Lovely!


* To truly appreciate the magnificence of Julia's work I highly recommend that you visit her website - some of the pieces are huge and give a totally different perspective than when you view them on your screen in this format.

My Oh My - I Wish I Could...

Happy new week!

If you've been reading along for a while you would know that my nextdoor neighbours have free range chickens.  So free range are these feathery friends that they enjoy partaking of the worms and grubs in our yard as much as their own. But alas I haven't been able to entice them to lay even one egg on our side of the fence.
I haven't given up though, and the idea of being able to serve it up in the 'Breakfast Express' by Reiko Kaneko would be an added bonus! See the S&P carriage at the end - genius!

{As seen at cielbleu}

Even better than enjoying a freshly gathered egg from the Glossy Bossy Hens, would be to experience a leisurely breakfast whilst reclining in the morning sunshine in Le Beanock's hammock/beanbag - now that, my friend is what I'm talking about!

The reality is that by the time you've read this I've already grabbed a piece of toast and scooted headlong  into my week with Father Time snapping  at my heels....a beanock morning is a nice dream though don't you think?

If you're visiting from the Decorating Forum, a warm welcome to you - I'm sure you're the kind of person who has created a wonderful space in your own home to while away a thoughtful hour or two similar to the one above.

If like me, the Decorating Forum is a new concept but you love all things design and decorating, well you're in luck! Julie-Ann and her members have created a space for enthusiastic design fiends to share their great ideas.
If this sounds like bliss to you, then I suggest you find your own beanock equivalent, a viewing device and some time to indulge in all the layers of wonderful that are contained within the DF folds.

Happy day Lovely, I hope you enjoy some moments of serendipity along the way - unexpected & lovely.

A Happy-Making Tune For You...

A little bit of happy-making music to kick your heels up to this day.
I'm loving every element of this beautiful production and hope it brings you pleasure.
Happy Sunday friend,

Gathering Gratefuls - Magnolia Magnificence!

The week is ending and as I sit here contemplating all that has happened in the intervening seven days, there is much to be grateful for.

1.  On my previous 'Gathering Gratefuls' list, my sparkling friend Bronwyn informed me that lilies were definitely not her thing, but that the magnolias were starting to open in her garden and it was these flowers that brought her much delight.  

Fancy then that when I trundled up to see my parents on Saturday, these magnificent blooms were beginning to burst forth in their yard!  Of course I grabbed the camera and here they are for you and Bronwyn to revel in together....how amazing is the morning dew on the petals, little teardrops?

It never ceases to amaze me that such glorious blossoms can emerge from spindly sticks and I find their colours to be truly sublime. Mum and Dad have planted five or six foundling trees in a little grove on their property - someone in the future is going to be able to sit beneath their boughs and revel in their beauty, what joy!

2.  If you popped in yesterday you would have seen that I have a little travel quiz going, featuring photos from the beginning of my parent's 'Round the World in 90 Days' adventure.  

It was a wonderful visit and terrific to share in their excitement.  I'm eternally grateful that they not only had a fabulous, enriching experience, but they've returned safely to tell us all about it. 

If you're a world traveller or fancy yourself to be a bit of geography buff, I'd be thrilled if you took the quiz.

3.  Lately I've been in cahoots working on a special project - I am grateful for the thoughtful input from others - cryptic I know but there's fun to be had and I'll be sharing it soon enough.

4. Work - you may not be aware that I'm pushing my way out of 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome'. 

It has been a debilitating experience and I have lost a lot of confidence in my 'self'.  

Over the past couple of weeks I have been fortunate to have received some relief teaching positions at a local school which will boost the coffers [yay!...well it will be when I get paid] and give me the chance to participate in my own version of a graduated return to work [yahooee!].  

Thank you to the school who has employed me - it has been wonderful to be a productive member of the community again - I've even enjoyed a senior chemistry lesson [yes you read that correctly!].

5.  Captain V. deserves a special mention this week for his unstinting support, love and guidance - the man is a treasure indeed.

There are lots of other 'little bits', but I think I'll leave you with just these five today.

If you have some time, take a moment to reflect upon what you're truly grateful for and perhaps even leave your own list in Bronwyn's basket of goodies.

Six Places Tour - Where In The World?

It's travel time my friend, are you ready for a quick trip to distant climes?

My parents have just returned from an 'Around the World in 90 Days' adventure, (I kid you not, they were away for 91 days and experienced many glorious pockets of our wonderful world) and I spent last weekend living vicariously through them, soaking up as much as I could.
After two hours we had scooted through the photos and my mind was reeling - oh how I love to travel, even if it is on a little screen with my imagination turned up to full colour.

I thought you might like to see a little snippet of their travels and play a game at the same time.
Here's what we'll do. Have a good look at the photo collage, then copy the text below, paste into the comment box filling in your own responses.

Which country is each image located and do you know what the image is of?
1. Country:  Image:
2. Country:  Image:
3. Country:  Image:
4. Country:  Image:
5. Country:  Image:
6. Country:  Image:

To make it extra interesting, if you have your own travel anecdote about any of these places, I for one would love to hear about it.

Happy day Lovely,

My Creative Space - A Feather Light Touch

Welcome to my creative space this week.
Actually if I was being completely honest I would say welcome to my creative shemozzle because everywhere I cast my eye at the moment there are piles and piles of 'stuff'.
Balls of wool, bags of buttons, folios of cardstock, ribbons, font stickers, bubble wrap, stamps and ink pads even a mini-mannequin or two!
Drawers ajar, cupboards askew, boxes flung wide....wow have I been busy!
All in all I'm sitting in a great big happy mess, which I intend to tackle once I've shared today's 'gift' with you.

So my creative space is messy but I have been having lots of fun working on a special project or two this week.
One has been taking photos of some of my treasured finds.

As you may know I live in the most glorious pocket of the world, surrounded by natural bushland which is abundant with bird life.
One of my great pleasures is my daily walk where I am constantly reminded of how truly fortunate I am to live in a space where I can take big hulking breaths of fresh air, be constantly amazed by nature's colour & form and every now and then, I am gifted a 'treasure'.  My all time favourites being the feathers.

I thought I'd share a few of my recent finds with you, one of which I was able to incorporate with some pastel work to send to a very special friend this week.

What I absolutely love is the intricacy of detail in each and every one.
Their strength and delicacy, colour and contrast.  The little ones I've featured here sit in a glass nest on my desk.
I have a few large eagle feathers adorning my inspiration board, and there are also some plonked into a ball of twine...actually you can see them here if you're so inclined.

So tell me friend do you love feathers? Do you ever use them in your creative pursuits or to adorn a treasure?
I'm hoping to do some more with mine and will keep you posted over the coming months.

This post is winging its way to sit amongst the other creative spaces that Kirsty has on her inspirational pinboard. Why don't you follow me over, it's a treasure trove of wonderful!

Happy day & keep your eyes peeled for those glorious gifts of serendipity from our feathered friends....I'm going to be busy for at least an hour transforming my creative space into some semblance of order.

Word of the Week - Cadence

Hi Lovely! Wednesday is the time that I share the gift of a new word for you to zhush your vocabulary with and today we have a truly gorgeous word indeed:

ca·dence 

 [keyd-ns]  noun, verb, -denced, -denc·ing. –noun Also, cadency.

1.

rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words: the cadence of language.

2.

(in free verse) a rhythmic pattern that is nonmetrically structured.

3.

the beat, rate, or measure of any rhythmic movement: The chorus line danced in rapid cadence.

4.

the flow or rhythm of events, especially the pattern in which something is experienced: the frenetic cadence of modern life.

5.

a slight falling in pitch of the voice in speaking or reading, as at the end of a declarative sentence.

Juliet's Bedroom Window by Marianne LoMonaco

Of all the meanings that this word has, I'm most drawn to 'the rhythmic flow of words' and 'the flow or rhythm of events'.  I suppose you can tell that the notion of gentle rise and fall, ebb and flow is appealing to me.

For the purposes of today's exercise I would like to rename this photo "If only these walls call talk" and ask you to think about how this title and the image itself relates to today's word.


It will thrill me to bits if you could have a go at flexing your own word muscles and leave a sentence here using the word of the week, even better if your writing has cadence.


Happy day!

Two For Tuesday - Gloria Petyarre

Last weeks' 'Two For Tuesday' pieces really elicited some interesting comments and several of you emailed me with details about artists whose work was similar to Mishel's.

The gorgeous Emma made me aware of the fabulous work of Gloria Petyarre - thank you so much Emma.
I was gobsmacked when I first laid eyes on the following images.
They are both titled 'Bush Medicine Dreaming' and as with almost all Aboriginal art there are many layers of depth and meaning contained within the brush strokes.

"The paintings depict particular leaves from plant species, which contain medicinal properties. The Aboriginal women from Utopia in Central Australia gather the leaves. The leaves are boiled, resin is added and mixed into a paste, which is used as bush medicine for many ailments.
The Bush Medicine Dreaming is celebrated by the women from Utopia in their ceremonies."
Aboriginal Art Directory

So now the looking glass is turned to face you my friend.

What is it that you see within these pieces today? How do they resonate with your life at the moment?

I would really love to learn what you think and if you can do it in 20 words or less - so much the better!

My Oh My - A Riot of Kookaburras

I've been 'off with the birds' today - literally and metaphorically.

After a wonderful weekend spending time with my globe-trotting parents and hearing some of their fabulous adventures I woke to find it to be a cold, wet and windy day outside - bleak may be the best word to describe it. I'm not complaining about the wet stuff though as our water tank, which provides all of the water that we use in our home, was getting down to the last fifth and we were facing the prospect of buying in water.

On a brighter note I would like to introduce you to two juvenile kookaburras who have joined another three more mature kookas, a mating pair of lorikeets [Mr & Mrs Bossy] and a very brazen magpie [Mr Collingwood] to become our regular house birds.

They are cheeky [I'll call them fellas, only because I have no idea about how to tell their gender] and often squabble over little pieces of sausage meat that I've been popping onto our back verandah.

One of the most glorious unexpected gifts that I receive from them is when they burst into their fabulous cackling song and proclaim that they have sampled a choice worm or any other slithering thing.

I'm hoping that as the temperature starts to rise that they will not only spend lots of time around our home but keep the bigger slitherin at bay so that we don't have a repeat performance of this incident or even this.

I like to give our feathered friends nicknames and would love your suggestions for these two larrikins.
I'll let you know this time next week what I've christened them.

Happy day!