It’s a Gift

What a beautiful day!

I posted these photos on my Facebook page and nobody notice the strange looking fin in the water (middle pic). I didn't notice it when I took the photo either!

We ate at Whale Bay Asian Cuisine.

The ladies lunches have been held at this restaurant a couple of times, but I was unable to attend, so this was our first experience there. They had good GF options and the atmosphere was lovely. The service was warm, friendly and efficient. The food was delicious. We’ll return in the future.

Adoring Husband decided, on the way home, to stop at a bed sale.

Our current bed is 16 years old and AH’s side has such a bad slope, I'm surprised that he hasn't fallen out of bed yet!

So we found a really nice bedroom suite in a beachy style washed timber. It was 30% off and has a king bed frame with a bed head (I realised today that I have never in my life had a bed head!), two side tables and a tall boy. Then we selected a king sized mattress at 50% off.

There was no second guessing and it just felt right. It'll be about 6 weeks before we get it so that's plenty of time to clear out our bedroom, take the tree decal off the wall and wash the walls and remove my 600 pairs of shoes from the room.

See those big drawers at the end of the bed? Maybe my shoes will fit in there??? I may have to do some culling.

This afternoon we watched my team get annihilated by Parramatta in the biggest final's loss in NRL history. Shameful and embarrassing. 

I have a couple of ideas for some art tomorrow. I'm tempted to stay up late tonight and try one of them, but both will take a bit more time than my usual methods, so I need to be clear headed and well rested.

So, I'm off to bed now!

Nite all.    

Fun and Excitement

I worked the shop this morning while The Motivator ran the Paint n Create workshop.

We had a lot of traffic through the shop while there was noise coming from the training room indicating fun and excitement!

The participants learned a new method today and they were obviously very happy with their results, leaving at the end of the morning with very big smiles on their faces.

The Motivator and I also left with very big smiles on our faces.

I came home to watch YouTube and in about 15 minutes created this ...

It’s not what I expected, but will try again tomorrow.

For me, there has been disappointing results in the footy finals this weekend and I am currently in bed watching an AFL finals game between GWS Giants and Brisbane Lions. It’s very close! Go the Lions!

Tomorrow is 15th September and it’s the date that Adoring Husband and I choose to celebrate as our Valentines Day. It’s the day we met face to face for the first time, after many months of chatting on line and over the phone - before the days of Skype and FaceTime.

2003 was the year, so it’s been 16 years!

Our valentine date will be a lunch in The Bay, probably at the marina. I’m excited!

Anyway, time for sleep now!

Nite all.

Write Off

Thursday was a write off for me.

Nothing major, but one thing after another, after another so that my day was busy and full and exhausting.

I did some art, one of which is sold ...

Today, I attended a six hour retreat at “That Peaceful Place” near Torbanlea.

There were 18 women, including myself, in attendance.

Watching and listening to all of those women made me realise how far I have come in the last couple of years and I recognised my old self in so many of them. They really helped me feel like I’ve got my shit together (excuse the language).

These women recognise that they’ve lost their power somewhere along the way and they are ready to reclaim it. Today was a chance to learn about some useful tools to help them do that and to help them navigate their way through some of life’s challenges, be they physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual.

Learning to drop the roles that we have taken possession of through our lives and finding a more meaningful and fulfilling way to live and love.

At the end of the day, even the young ones (in their 20s) had tears streaming down their cheeks. There were no tears from me, but I felt an intense joy that left me on a high.

There were lots of aha moments for most of the women and they were all feeling the love and so much gratitude for the life changing six hours that they had just experienced.

It was a great day in a beautiful location and The Gypsy has created a space that is so calming and healing and, as the name suggests, peaceful. I loved being there and I don’t know how she ever finds reason to leave!

If and when you’re ready to face your own blocks, triggers, vices and fears, this kind of retreat will change your life and give you the greatest feeling of empowerment. There were still a couple of rescuers there who weren’t ready to face their own stuff, but more than ready to help others face theirs.

People are so interesting.

I’m so glad I attended today, but boy am I exhausted!

Nite all.

Working Woman

I worked today, and although a lot of people came through the door, they weren’t in much of a spending mood!

I used the time between visitors to check my website - for the first time in about a year! I will have to re-train myself on the ins and outs and how to edit/post on it! I have totally forgotten everything!

Adoring Husband was right on time to pick me up and at home, I got changed out of my work clothes and went straight to the studio.

I made these ...

Now I have no drying room left!

Definitely ready for bed now.

Nite all.

Lesson Learned

All the varnish that I poured onto my paintings has cracked and split.

I’m deeply disappointed because I followed the instructions via a YouTube video made by a woman who sells her paintings at a high price.

I’ve now destroyed three of my best paintings.

Luckily they weren’t paintings that I’ve sold!

The lesson learned is to do it the way I know how to do it and they way I’ve had success in the past.

Meanwhile I created this one this afternoon and as soon as I posted it on Facebook, I received a private message from a cousin asking me to make a larger one so that she could purchase it for a gift for someone.

That’s three times I’ve posted a pic of a painting and it’s sold within five minutes! 

Weirdsville!

It was a nice day today, starting off with the girls for coffee morning and then some quality time with The Motivator.

I cooked up some lunch when I got home and then had the disappointing moment with my paintings.

It took me another moment to climb out of that funk and actually create something, but I was happy with the outcome.

I’ll be working tomorrow and was looking forward to meditation, but it’s been cancelled so I’ll just have to meditate at home before I leave for the shop and then spend the day manifesting another bonanza sales day!

Right now, I’m off to bed.

Nite all.

I’m Exhausted!

On Sunday, I spent the day cleaning and tidying my studio and cleaning some canvases to prepare for varnishing, which is not an easy job!

Firstly I have to coat them in cornflour to soak up any excess silicone oil on the surface (drops of silicone oil goes into the paint to help form cells). After the flour is removed, the canvas is cleaned with a damp cloth, then it’s wiped down with baby wipes and then dried with paper towel.

I cleared all the canvases off the drying table so that I’d have room for the varnished paintings to dry.

My first priority this morning (Monday) was to prepare a big healthy paleo meal for our breakfast ...

Once our bellies were full, varnishing was my priority.

When the varnish was poured, I had to use the kitchen blow torch to burst the MANY bubbles in the varnish before placing the paintings completely level on the drying table.

Unfortunately I used up all the gas that was left in my three blow torches, so when the varnishing was finished, I couldn’t do any more paintings.

Adoring Husband offered to drive into The Bay to get some more Butane, so I made myself presentable and jumped in the car to accompany him!

What an expensive trip THAT was!

I bought more varnish, 4litres of Floetrol, 18 tubes of paint, 11 new canvases, 2 mini tubs, 4 floating frames, a packet of sponge brushes, a can of butane gas, 2 silicone mats, 6 squeeze bottles and NO shoes!

So I’m all set now, but it’s amazing how quickly canvases get used! Or should I say it’s amazing how quickly “I” use up canvases!

When we arrived home, I unpacked all of my goodies and then inspected my varnished canvases.

Guess what I found!?

Ugh!

A fly had landed in the varnish and got stuck. One of those tiny little flies now encased in the only dry varnish on the painting.

&*$%!!!

The safest thing for me to do was leave the room and close the door. Hope against hope that there are no more creepy crawlies hanging about and that there are no loose hairs or dust particles waiting to float down and land on the wet stuff.

Anyway, all the cleaning, tidying, washing, varnishing, bubble popping, shopping, unpacking and fly discovering has worn me out and I need sleep.

Nite all.

Busy Saturday

It was busy on the main street of our town this morning.

I spent four hours at the shop until Adoring Husband came to help me pack up.

At home I did some washing, some art ...

... watched a doc/movie on Feminism, some football, cooked dinner and we are currently watching The Dilemma.

I can hear my bed calling my name.

Nite all.

Not Quite as Planned

I wanted to try another challenge pic (with those blue and orange colours) today.

The first thing I did was a really pretty swipe with different shades of blue. I loved it and placed it carefully on some paper towel which I laid out on the drying table.

After that I sat outside in the pool area for a while, writing in my journal. It was uncomfortably windy, in fact the gale force conditions were buffeting the lounge and the umbrella over the pool was rocking too.

It became too uncomfortable, so I headed inside ready to make my second attempt at the challenge colours, but I discovered that the wind through the studio window had blown the paper towel onto my blue painting! 😭

After my initial groan of disappointment, instead of making a song and dance about it, I decided to cover the mess with a goldfish. This way it would match the challenge colours and it could be my second entry.

I knew that this would be tricky, given the thickness of the paint already on the canvas, so I was very tentative and very careful, but alas my efforts were not successful.

This made me laugh and I knew that I would keep it so that when I create the result that I imagined in my head at the beginning of this project, I will have something to measure my success by.

I posted it on Facebook as an example of my failures and have been surprised by the positive feedback that it has received, however the photo makes it look better than it is.

Dinner was an easy nosh up of wild salmon with onion, avocado and micro greens wrapped in a GF tortilla for me. AH had chicken ribs - his usual Friday night fare.

We’ve been watching the footy tonight and we were happy to see Manly get thrashed by Parramatta, and by enough points to help them leap frog Manly on the ladder.

It was a very successful day in the shop today and I’ll be working tomorrow so I hope I can continue the success into the weekend.

Next week will be the beginning of our Monday closures. Our opening hours will be changing too so we won’t be opening until 10am. Generally, nobody walks through our doors before 10am, so it’s pointless being there.

So it’s bed time for me.

Nite all.

Words to be had.

i will have words with that newsagent.

I was supposed to have the winning ticket in Powerball tonight.

I did not.

I will try again next week for the $100million.

I tried to paint my first beach today. It’s not bad. It’s not great. I’m happy with my first attempt and will try again in the future.

I also attempted to create a piece for one of the acrylic paint pouring Facebook page challenges. We have to use these colours and any method that we like ...

This is what I’ve done so far and I have another idea that I’ll try tomorrow.

I made Tuscan Chicken for dinner tonight, which was quite nice. It was a new recipe that I hadn’t tried before and it was easy, so I’ll probably use it again.

Now it’s bed time for me.

Nite all.

Whirlwind Wednesday

Breakfast by the water was lovely this morning.

I was hoping that I could purchase something lovely from Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves today, but I only liked one item on their racks and my size was not there.

We did some grocery shopping from Go Natural.

We drove to Stocklands where I bought the winning ticket in the $80million Powerball draw, a few
more art supplies, a DVD (Bohemian Rhapsody), a better quality chef’s blowtorch and a Boost Juice.

We stopped at our local butcher on the way home to pick up our chicken order and I visited The Motivator so that I could use the shop loo.

There was some unpacking to do at home and I put the slow cooker on with chicken feet and veg for a delicious chicken broth. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to purchase chicken feet for five years so I was excited to see them in the freezer at Go Natural!

I got to spend some time in the studio for a quick paint pour ...

... then it was time to get ready for trivia night where we came 8th (I think) but it was a good night.

I’ve watched The Bachelor and now it’s time for bed. I’m exhausted!

Nite all.

Space Clearing

So I figured that my mojo might have been lost in the mess of my workspace.

3 buckets full of water and soaking numerous stirrers, cups and tools. Bags of timber corner pieces from the canvases. Many ‘almost empty’ cups of paint. Boxes of empty squirter bottles waiting to be filled with paint. Half empty paint tubes waiting to go back into the tool box. The list goes on.

So I spent two hours clearing the workspace and filling more squirter bottles with paint and pouring medium. It’s quite a physically taxing job shaking fifteen bottles until the contents are thoroughly mixed!

Now the area, along with my head, are clean, clear and ready for some fresh inspiration.

Beauty was the only one to attend coffee morning at the shop today, so it was a short and quieter than usual morning.

A quick catch up with The Motivator before I came home to attend to the studio.

Oh, and I picked these up from the post office ...

... so I’m excited to try them tomorrow.

The final class of the hooping course was this afternoon and we had a lot of fun. We now form the intermediate group which begin classes on 24th September. I think I need to practice between now and then!

Psychotic dog Colli attended a grooming appointment this morning and looks stunning!

We had wild salmon and salad for dinner.

I’m exhausted - after Adoring Husband had a mishap with his phone at 3.15am and then snored loudly for about 45 minutes after he fell back to sleep, I had a very broken sleep and need to catch up tonight.

Nite all.

Lost Mojo

These are today’s efforts ...

Not happy Jan.

I need to clear my head before I paint, so I think that tomorrow, I’ll meditate first and see how that changes my mindset.

I wasn’t feeling the best this afternoon so I came to bed (where I still am) and watched a couple of Netflix movies, then a couple of health documentaries, I took some notes on information that I’ll include in my health challenge/workshop and made some firm decisions about my own health, diet and lifestyle.

Adoring Husband and I are on the same page so we’re going to work together and get our health back on track.

As you could probably tell, after seven weeks, I gave up on the plant based diet. While it took away that horrible lump, pain and discomfort in my stomach, I had trouble sleeping, had my old joint pain return in my knees, hips, back and even sciatica which I haven’t had since 2013.

Of all the types of eating I’ve tried over the years, Paleo (when sticking to it strictly), has had the most profound effect on my body, joints, digestion, weight, clarity of thought, energy, sleep and motivation.

I want all of that back again.

Now that Spring is here, I want the spring back in my step!

That’s my Monday. Disappointments and epiphanies!

Nite all.

Scrape Scrape Scrape

Just couldn’t feel the love today.

I made this ...

And scraped all the paint off the canvas into the bin.

Then I made this ...

And scraped most of the paint into the bin.

Then I made this ...

And scraped all the paint off the canvas into the bin.

I made this ...

And kept it but I’m not happy with it.

So many art fails in one day!

Tomorrow is another day 😎🖼

Nite all.

Birthday Art

Six x 13 year old girls celebrated a birthday today by spending two hours creating art at The Happy Abode.

They were so focused on what they were doing which meant they were very quiet. It was the complete opposite of what we were expecting!

They did good work and enjoyed themselves. I think The Motivator enjoyed herself too.

Meanwhile, I had a steady morning in the shop and time passed quickly.

Adoring Husband helped close the shop and we arrived home in time for me to put some lamb shanks in the slow cooker.

I parked my butt on the lounge and watched some Countdown and then some footy.

Art was on my mind but I was unable to find enough enthusiasm to get up and physically do any.

I do have some ideas for my health workshop and I hope to do some work on that tonight and tomorrow, scribble a few notes and maybe plan the first two sessions and print out some information and research data/results to add to the hand outs.

I need to focus more closely on my own health because I haven’t been drinking enough water and my physical activity has reduced to almost zero for the last 3 months and I’m feeling it! No triking. No swimming. No walking on the beach. Only an hour of hooping once a week.

I can’t be teaching health if I’m not practicing good health or feeling healthy myself!

The healing/cleansing meditation that I did before bed last night was perfect and really cleared my head so that I slept soundly for almost 8 hours.

Anyway, I’m off to bed to do some work.

Nite all.

Makes You Think

A ten minute video to make you think

Today has been a most interesting day.

I’d forgotten that The Gypsy had her last day using the treatment room on Wednesday, so it was a shock to walk into her empty room this morning and it triggered an emotional response for me!

A couple of other emotional moments during the day put me a little on edge, so it was a comment from a pain in the butt male (who has attempted to give me grief in the past), which was the straw that broke the camel’s back and I snapped, creating a small scene at the bowls club.

He deserved it, but the people at his table didn’t deserve to hear it. My language was not lady-like. I wish I had taken him aside and purged in private. But it’s done now.

On a lighter note, I won a meat tray in the raffle! Our table was very lucky with five of us having a win tonight.

Now I’m off to bed because I’m working tomorrow while The Motivator runs an art workshop with a bunch of teenagers, one of whom is celebrating a birthday. Should be fun!

I shall do a healing meditation before bed so that I can sleep with a clear head.

Nite all.

Relaxing

I had a really nice, really relaxing day today.

I stayed in bed until I wanted to get up.

I showered.

I washed some clothes and got some off the line.

I did some art.

I put some ingredients in the slow cooker to make chicken broth.

I cooked duck, puréed fresh peas, smashed cauliflower and broccoli, along with cabbage, onion and bacon for dinner.

I watched The Bachelor.

Now I’m off to bed.

Nite all

Another Oopsy

I forgot to do a blog post last night 😳

Oopsy!

Yesterday was coffee with the girls, followed by a very expensive and very long (3 hours!) hair appointment, followed by a fabulous hoop dancing class, followed by an early dinner, some mindless TV and an early night.

Today, Adoring Husband and I drove into The Bay where I purchased some art supplies for the shop AND for myself.

If there was a Zombie Apocalypse tomorrow, I could lock myself in my studio and have enough art supplies to keep me going for a year!! Maybe more!

We did some grocery shopping, bought a Boost Juice and arrived home some time after 2pm.

I had dinner in the oven by 3pm for a 5.30 dinner, which meant I could play in my studio for a while. I painted a canvas black in preparation for something I want to try tomorrow and I did a small cup pour over an old canvas that I didn’t like. I still don’t like it lol. Some days just suck for creativity.

It’s time for bed now.

Nite all.

Another Dud

Today was another dud for me and I stayed in bed until 1pm.

I dipped in the pool up to my ankles and sat in the sun for 15 minutes.

I played in my studio ...

I still didn’t gather the courage to attempt my koi fish.

Adoring Husband dropped me off at the shop where I met The Motivator at 3pm with one of our suppliers and we tried on so many clothes! We made a BIG order and more than 3 hours later we left in the dark.

Duck and salad for dinner was late, but delicious.

Now I’m off to bed. Coffee with the girls tomorrow!

Nite all.

Changing Energy

Nil energy.

That’s what I had today.

I attempted some art.

Hated it so I scraped all the paint off the canvas and into the bin.

Tried again.

Felt blah.

Watched a dozen YouTube videos on painting koi. None of them inspired me.

Couldn’t eat.

Drank half a coffee.

Dipped my feet in the pool.

Sat in the sunshine for 20 minutes.

Watched a movie. Can’t remember what it was.

Cooked honey and lemon chicken with spinach, pumpkin and pine nut salad.

Raspberries, blueberries and strawberries with coconut ice cream for dessert.

Decided to eat.

Preparations for tomorrow, when I hope that my energy and enthusiasm increase considerably ...

Nite all.