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.

Too Old to Party

It’s been a big day and it’s 9pm and I’m ready for bed!

The Motivator ran her art workshop this morning, so I worked a very busy morning in the shop. Actually, It may have been a record breaking Saturday!

In the middle of serving I got all of the new stock out on display, although for all of that hard work, not one new stock item was purchased! That’s gotta be a good thing, because it’s good to sell the old stock too.

Adoring Husband arrived on time to close the shop while TM cleared the training room and I finished putting the stock out and clearing the mess I made around TM’s desk.

I just had to sit down when I got home and we watched a movie until it was time to get ready for TMs birthday dinner in The Bay.

AH and I were the first to arrive at Enzos and found our reserved table.

Everyone else arrived soon after and it was a lovely mild evening to sit outside on the waterfront to have dinner and listen to some fabulous music and enjoy good company, good food and good drinks.

I remember in years gone by (MANY years gone by!) that after a couple of drinks and a meal, we’d be ready to party on! Tonight, we were all looking at our watches at 8pm and discussing how it was past our bedtime!

Too old to party these days. Too old to care about partying!

For us, it was a very different Saturday night and both AH and I enjoyed the evening very much. It was the right amount of time with the right people and in just the right place to belatedly celebrate The Motivators birthday 🎁.

Now I’m off to bed because I’m all worn out!

Nite all.

Old Age

I’m using old age as his excuse, but psychotic dog, Jack, had me up six bloody times during the night so that he could pee.

I’ve threatened them all (namely Adoring Husband, Jack and Ruby) that if this becomes a habit, I’ll be moving into a new bedroom and they can all deal with it together.

Needless to say, I stayed in bed this morning and after AH brought my celery juice and then some toast, I went back to sleep until after 1pm!

I still couldn’t  find the enthusiasm to go to my studio, but instead, I found the white pen that was gifted at the water colour workshop that The Motivator and I attended earlier in the year and I drew some koi on an old canvas.

This was one of my first fluid art projects, so it’s not very good on its own, but will serve as a great background for some swimming koi!

I want to add colour to the fish and then some watery affects.

There will be no time for me to play until Sunday now and I’m both nervous and excited about the possibilities, so watch this space.

Now I’m off to bed feeling disappointed that my team lost against the Rabbitohs tonight by two points. Bugger.

Nite all.

Working Day

My work day passed surprisingly fast!

From the first customer, here on holidays, who bought two of my photos, to the last customer, who bought three snap buttons there was a steady flow of happy faces through the door.

Adoring Husband arrived right on time to help me close the shop and we came straight home, so that I could make a beeline straight to the studio - actually I made a brief detour via the laundry to do some washing.

I created three pieces today, but two of them I’m not sharing yet. I’m going to embellish them after they’re dry and then I’ll show a ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot.

This one I like a lot. The colours and the composition really appeal to me.

Nothing else happened!

My day is done and tomorrow I sleep in! Tomorrow I do more art! Tomorrow I embellish!

Nite all.

Mission

My mission today, which I accepted, was to purchase a new Square Reader for the shop because our original decided to to cark it yesterday.

While we were in Office Works, I also found some giant push pins and some clear plastic sheets for swiping my paintings. It was still my least expensive trip to that store in a long time.

We drove to Stocklands so that I could get a Boost juice, price some AirPods and buy some shoes - actually I didn’t plan on the shoes, but they’re lovely 😊

We picked up our FROG box on the way home and then dropped the Square Reader off at the shop. It was a quick catch up with The Motivator and The Gypsy before coming home to do these ...

I cooked up some Hainan Chicken, some pork sausages and some pumpkin & cauliflower soup. I put together a lovely salad with our fresh FROG produce and for dessert, strawberries and raspberries with coconut ice cream.

Now there are meals in the freezer for our future lazy selves 👍

I’m working tomorrow, so I’d best get some sleep now.

Nite all.

Verrrrry Interesting!

Surprisingly, nobody turned up for coffee this morning - including me!

I arrived early for my appointment with the clairvoyant and she came out to the car to get me so that we could start early.

I am still very much on the fence.

She was very nice, but as with the last clairvoyant that I saw about 20 yrs ago, she focussed on so many people in my life and NOT me!

I’M THE ONE PAYING $120 FOR AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME!

All she knew about me was my name and my mobile ph number.

She mentioned that my first baby died of ‘cotdeath’, which was strange in itself because most people call it SIDS.

She said that my mother was behind me saying that I am very resilient and strong, but that her death is still very fresh in my mind.

She said that Adoring Husband has the brain of a child (meaning that it is more susceptible to damage from radiation and electromagnetic energy than the normal adult brain) and that he needs to be protected. She asked if he has problems with his neck, shoulders and back and if he has trouble
swallowing (yes, yes, yes and yes)

She said stuff about the kids that in some cases was correct, some not so and some that was possible and also interesting.

She said stuff about The Motivator.

She said stuff about The Gypsy.

She said stuff about my Grandmother, AH’s father and brother (all of whom have passed).

She told me that I had such a strong, positive and high spiritual energy that I should study Reiki and practice it professionally.

She told me I was a writer and that I should finish my book and publish it because it will be used in the future by professionals in the field of mental health.

She told me that TM and I are not using our knowledge and expertise in ‘positive energy and movement’ properly, or enough with The Happy Abode. She gave me some suggestions.

The hour went quickly and instead of talking to her while she wears her professional clairvoyant’s cap, I would like to chat with her as a regular person because I think we share a lot of common ground.

She didn’t, or couldn’t tell me much about me, which I was disappointed about.

Anyway, from there, AH and I went shopping for art supplies for the shop as well as for me. We did some grocery shopping and arrived home with time to spare before attending hoop dancing, which I loved and learned a couple of new tricks.

Now I’m tired and ready for bed. I haven’t decided whether to attend the lady’s lunch tomorrow or not. I’ll decide in the morning.

Nite all.

Getting it Together

Confession time.

Today was day three since I showered or brushed my hair!

I forced myself to make a plan for today. Get out in the sunshine, speak to people and get some exercise. This meant that I had to make myself clean and presentable and this morning’s shower was enjoyable, but the hair brushing was more time consuming than usual!

I got clean, dressed, minimal make up and then pedalled in the sunshine to the post office first and to visit The Motivator at our shop.

I was out for about 3 hours and had a great catch up with TM.

I also picked up a parcel from the PO full of paints and varnish which was exciting!

I was feeling a bit annoyed because there was no space left for me to paint in the studio. My table and my drying area was all full of drying paintings. My crankiness was leaching into my conversations with Adoring Husband so he decided to remedy the situation by clearing space in a second bedroom for me to put my ‘almost dry’ stuff.

So after dinner, I quickly produced this ...

It was enough to ease my tension.

Now I need to sleep because tomorrow I have coffee with the girls, followed by an appointment with a clairvoyant, followed by shopping, followed by hooping class. It’ll be a big day.

Nite all.

Sloppy Sunday

It took me an hour to clean my bucket full of cups and tools from under my art table in the studio.

The job was long overdue and I had to clean 32 plastic cups, 12 lollipop sticks, 2 small shovels, 2 strings of pearls, 6 bamboo skewers, 2 plastic sheets and 4 plastic lids, all of which, even though they had been sitting in water, had dried paint stuck fast that had to be scraped off grain by grain.

I have another bowl with about 30 lollipop sticks soaking and I’m trying to decide whether to clean and reuse them or just chuck them and be done with it.

By the time I’d finished, I was well and truly ready to do some art!

I decided to participate in an online art challenge that required us to use these colours in a dirty flip cup (which means layering these colours many times in one cup and then flipping it onto the canvas).

While I was squeezing the brown paint from the tube to a container for mixing with pouring medium, the tube slipped out of my hand and knocked the container to the ground slopping paint all over the floor, 6 of my paintings, my camera bag and the doona cover!

It took me 30 minutes to clean THAT mess up.

Finally, I got to create this ...

And I LOVE the colours!

Now I have no drying space left so I need to take a break from painting until some of them dry.

Tomorrow I’m going to practice my hooping!

Nite all.

In His Absence

Adoring Husband is doing the first aid course this weekend, which means he is out of the house between 8am and 2.30pm.

At 9.30am I got out of bed and made myself pancakes with banana and maple syrup, which I then took back to bed with me, along with a cup of tea.

That’s where I stayed, trying to figure out what sort of art to create, by watching YouTube videos.

Yesterday, I had posted the photo of my rescued art in an acrylic art Facebook page and as we speak, it has had 459 views and 108 very positive comments! Quite a surprise to get so much positive feedback so I was inspired to get back into my studio today.

Neither of my attempts turned out the way I expected, but one has been sold already. That’s four sales in less than four months!

Imagine what I can do when I get really good at this!?

Anyway, now it’s time for bed. I just realised that I forgot to eat dinner 😳 AH went out for dinner with the first aid trainers tonight so I wasn’t required in our kitchen unless I wanted to eat. Ah well, looks like it’ll be another big brekky for me in the morning!

Nite all.

Triple Fail

I attempted a Dutch Pour this afternoon.

A ‘Dutch Pour’ is a method of fluid art. Watch Here for what I was trying to accomplish.

All I succeeded in doing was blowing paint all over the wall behind the table (much to Adoring Husband’s dismay) so I thought I could save it by swiping.

‘Swiping’ is another method of fluid art. It should have looked something like this ...

This too failed because there wasn’t enough colourful paint remaining on the canvas for it to be effective.

I thought that some balloon kissing on the canvas might save the day. It should have looked like this ...

Due to the fact that there were not enough cells OR enough paint, this was my third fail.

In my desperation to save this painting and not have to scrape all the paint off to start again, I decided to add some ‘chain pull’ stems to the circular blobs that I had created and then draw some swirls, squiggles, spikes and dots to create some sorta, kinda but not really flowery type things.

It looks a little Winter Wonderland-ish and even though it’s not amazing or fabulous, it’s passable and I’m happy that I don’t have to trash it!

The finished product ...

I think I’m ready for some sleep now. I have thoroughly enjoyed my day off and I think my creativity will improve even more tomorrow 👩‍🎨 🖼🎨

Nite all

Catch Up

It was a quiet day in the shop which worked out well for The Motivator and I because we had a LOT to catch up on!

We spent the day talking, opening birthday presents, talking, checking out the new clothes steamer, talking, ordering stock, talking, viewing all the art in the training room, talking, talking and more talking.

We left the shop right on closing time and while I considered doing some art, my body, knowing there is no work for a few days, is slowly shutting down and I lost the energy and the motivation to do anything except cook dinner.

It is just after 7pm and I’m ready for bed. I’m going to watch The Bachelor in bed and then fall into a coma until whatever time tomorrow morning.

That’s all I have say for today ... except ... it’s good to have The Motivator back. The Happy Abode is whole again 🤗

Nite all.

Emotionally Charged

Today was my last opportunity to spend quality time with my friend and work colleague, The Gypsy, before she ends her time as our resident Natural Therapist. She only has three more days of work before she finishes on 28th Aug.

This is great for her future plans of focussing on all of her groups and classes and reducing her work hours, but very sad for me, because even though she will still be running our meditation classes and the hooping, our quality time will be minimal and I will miss our deep, meaningful, philosophical and spiritual discussions.

Still, I feel like we share a special connection and I doubt that we will completely disappear from each other’s lives.

We made the most of today and shared an emotional farewell 😢

It was a steady day of sales and a couple of our artistic ladies dropped in to pick up their artwork.

At 3pm Adoring Husband arrived to help me close the shop and we headed into The Bay. We picked up our FROG box on the way to Tinkerbell’s where I had this beautiful pink and green tourmaline ring that I’d asked them to hold for me during my last visit.

I placed the ring in a silver soup spoon so that it would sit right for the photo.

I really must stop looking in their display cabinets because I instantly fell in love with this gorgeous sterling silver, clear quartz and blue kyanite pendant. I wore it out of the shop.

Spotlight had a sale on their canvases and some paints, so we popped in there to add to my art stocks.

After a couple more stops, we chose the perfect time to drive directly into the afternoon sun to get home! Luckily a big solid cloud placed itself in the perfect position to ease our discomfort.

We had to stop at The Happy Abode on the way home to turn off some display lights that I forgot to switch off before we left.

The Motivator is now home safe n sound so we’ll be working together tomorrow before I take a well earned break.

I cant believe that it’s already 9.30pm. Time for bed.

Nite all.

To Not Do

I had a ‘to do’ list that didn’t get touched today.

That’s how busy the shop was.

I missed most of our coffee morning because I was serving and I got to sit down at about 1.30pm for all of 20 minutes.

At about 3.10pm I left Adoring Husband to close the shop so that I could get to hooping class in plenty of time.

It was an intense class and my body was just about done in by the time I finished! I think I push myself a bit too hard ... I think we all do really ... because we are so eager to learn the next trick!

Now that I have my own hoop I’ll get to practice every day and hone my newly learned skills. One day I’ll take a video of my tricks so you can see me in action! Ha!

There was nothing easy to prepare for dinner so we had toast. I had last night’s leftover mash with tomato on mine. AH had ham and tomato. Minimal effort for these tired muscles.

It’s 7.30pm and I am ready to greet my cosy bed because it’s an early morning of meditation tomorrow.

I believe that The Motivator returns from Sydney tomorrow and should be back in the shop on Thursday. It’ll be nice to have a few days break, catch up on some cleaning, shopping, art, study and work on my health course.

Right now, my yawning is out of control, so I bid you farewell.

Nite all.

Hippified

I dressed quite hippy-ish today and felt very comfortable in doing so!

Between hers and my customers, I had some nice chats with The Gypsy, but there were a lot of people in the shop and they all spent small amounts of money as well as being in for a chat.

We have visitors from Yamba, Coffs Harbour, Mt Gambier, Brisbane and Gympie at the moment.

The Gypsy presented me with my newly made hula hoop!

I had a little practice and successfully showed AH one of my tricks. 

While I wanted to create some art this afternoon, all my drying space is taken with varnished paintings drying! So I had to show some self control and watch more YouTube videos of art instead. I’m building a long bucket list of methods that I want to try.

I cooked a mash of potato, sweet potato and cauliflower with chopped shallots added. Cabbage and leeks cooked in butter and all of last night’s leftover veggies added to that. Adoring Husband had leftover chicken and gravy with his veggies.

It was all quite tasty.

Now I’m ready for bed.

Nite all.

Short Sunday

My Sunday felt very brief.

I watched some YouTube paint pouring videos.

I did some study.

I ordered some art supplies online.

I purchased an intense treatment plan for building a strong, disease fighting immune system.

I made breakfast and took it back to bed.

I had a short nap.

I varnished three more paintings.

I created this ...

I baked a big tray of vegetables for dinner - potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, onion, brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes, red capsicum, garlic, fresh rosemary, him salt, cracked pepper and a drizzle of honey.

I served it with Hainan chicken for Adoring Husband.

I served fresh berries with coconut ice cream for dessert.

I am now off to bed so that can start a fresh new week feeling fresh and energised!

Nite all.