Retreat

I recently arranged a Women's Retreat with a group of women who were mostly strangers to each other. I have wanted to participate in a retreat for a long time but haven't been able to find one close to home and with the principles I hold dear to; Spirit, Nature,Mother Earth & Drumming. I found a lovely lady on the net who just happened to live in the same sate as me which in it's self is amazing. I contacted Jane and asked her to run a weekend in the North of the state and so our retreat started to take place. We arrived on Saturday morning with an open Heart, good cheer, friendship and food!! The day started with an individual of each participant, which for me was a whole new experience. An experience which I might say was very pleasurable and grounding. We sat in a circle and passed the talking stick and that was another first for me but again very pleasurable and grounding. When the last participant had finished two hours had gone by. My, how a bunch of strangers can talk. the afternoon session was spent singing and drumming on medicine drums, what a connecting time. The second day started with the talking stick and then straight into drumming and singing. The morning was drawn to a close with a long visualization and meditation and then silence for the next 2 hours until the afternoon session was ready to commence. The silence was deafening, I was so amazed at the amount of sounds that a person can hear when there is no conversation to enter into. At the end of the weekend we, who started the previous day as strangerswho shared some intimate stories, singing, drumming and dancing were bonded into a friendship of kindred likeness.

A mid week holiday

I have reached an age where I no longer feel I need to do things with other people. I have learnt that I can have ME time and not have to share my space with another human being if I don't want to. Today I did something I have been promising myself for a long time; I spent a day mid week at the beach all by myself and feel inspired to do it again. The weather was perfect, the water was perfect, the shells were perfect, the sand was perfect and the seagulls were perfect. I walked the beach and quickly found myself in the familiar pose of a frustrated beach comber; head down, hands behind my back looking for treasures in the sand. I found things that no-one else would treasure but me. A piece of brown sea glass to add to my ever growing collection; a beautifully worn shell with a perfect spiral inside to remind me that sometimes life can spiral out of control and I need to take myself off somewhere quiet and reflect on life and gently bring myself back to the centre and move on. Two shells that were so fragile that they broke into pieces before I finished my collecting, then I found a couple of stronger shells. The shells reminded me that life can sometimes fall to pieces unexpectedly but if you look around you can find something strong to replace your broken pieces.
While sitting on the sand the seagulls came to visit looking for food. I noticed one of them only had one leg and he was just ah happy and capable as the others with two legs. He reminded me that life continues no matter what. Just suck it up and move on!!

Collage Therapy

This collage was created out of Love, Frustraion & Fun!!
The Love is a Mothers Love for a Son who was in a long time unfulfilling relationship. The Frustration was that as a Mother I was not able to make my Son happy. The Fun was listening to Nickle Back and creating something that I didn't plan, think about, ponder over, worry about or procrastinate over. I just went with the flow and created whatever came from my Spirit. I incorporated paint, collage, stamping and journaling and when I had finished I was amazed at what had transpired!!

NYE 2009

The NYE fireworks were spectacular as usual. Dissapointment was not an option. Although every year I experience them through the lens of my camera I am still excited to see the flashes and hear the bang of the show.

This was the full moon on NYE. One side the fireworks sparkled while on the otherside the moon glowed an eerly glow through a hazey sky. Look closely and you will see orbs around the moon, strangely enough there were no unseen beings anywhere to be seen around the fireworks. Draw your own conclusions!!

My visions for 2010

I don't usually do New Years Resolutions but this year I have decided to crete a Vision Board and a Vision List. I am starting with my Vision List first because I can easily create that where the Vision Board will need more work and thought.

My Vision List for 2010:

1. continue to be more creative
2. be more positive
3. do a retreat
4. create a workshop/retreat
5. read more
6. meditate more
7. anything else I feel I need to do to nurture my Soul

One of my passions in life is photography. I mostly photograph natural objects and I don't think you could find anything more natural than a glorious rainbow. I was driving home from work one afternoon when I saw this beautiful rainbow in a paddock, the closer I got to home the more I realised that the rainbow seemed to be following me. I'm not sure if rainbows choose someone to follow but it certainly seemed that this vibrant rainbow was following me.
This wasn't an ordinary rainbow it was a double rainbow which made the experience even more special. I felt that I could reach out and actually touch this beautiful creation of nature. The experience was something I will always remember.

I'm excited...

...because I will have a strawberry to pick in the next couple of days. I have never grown strawberries before and am so pleased that this plant has so many strawberries on it. The first crop of fruit was eaten my some mystical creature/animal in the night!! I don't know what the creature was but it only ate the strawberries and not the stalks or any other part of the plant. I have moved the plant closer to the back door behind a fence in order to keep it protected from harm. I know it sounds like I'm a bit pathetic being so excited about a strawberry plant but we have had such a bad summer with none of our vegetables producing fruit for us. The only ones to benefit from the plants will be the chooks when they are let lose in the garden this coming weekend. I will keep you posted on the strawberry plants progress.

How time flies

I just looked at the date of my last blog entry and forgot how time flies.
Last time I blogged I had intended to have some of my creations made and ready to post here but I have to say that I haven't made a single thing in this time. However, I plan to do some sewing this afternoon so I may have something to show for my effort.
So, in the mean time I thought I would share with you my passion of photography and some of my favourite photos of my garden. Some may look overexposed but they were taken on a dewy morning.

Just a small selection......

....... of the beautiful collection of cloth dolls I have from my many friends I have met on the net over the past 9 years.

While re-arranging my studio yesterday I came to realize what a wonderful collection of cloth dolls I have been fortunate to have received in swaps from Internet groups. I decided to keep these wonderful dolls all together on a set of shelves so I could gaze at them and remember all the wonderful friends I have met on the net since I started cloth doll making about 9 years ago.

Until I started making cloth dolls I didn't know anything about the net let alone how to chat on line with anyone and become firm friends with them. Some of my bestest friends are cyber buddies that I have never met and probably will never meet but that doesn't deter me from meeting new net friends almost on a daily basis. The generosity of my cyber friends is just so amazing, when I tell my 'real' friends about my cyber friends they look at me with a strange look and think 'what a loser" but if only they knew!!

Anyway, what I really want to tell you about is the wonderful mountain bike I was lucky to get from Free Cycle today. I have wanted a bike for a long time so I could try to get fit and now I have one I am over the moon. It needs a little bit of work and 2 new tyres but that is minor work that I am going to enjoy fixing. And yes, it was a 'cyber friend' that was there at the right time to help out when needed.

Do the frogs know something?

I am sitting here writing this while family of little brown frogs that live in a garden just under my lounge room window are calling to me. I wonder if they know it is going to rain even though the sun is shining. These little creatures live in a large leafy plant and love nothing more than getting a little shower from my hose when I water my garden, they come out and croak away to their hearts content. Unfortunately they have to be content with the hose and not rain because we haven't had a lot of rain for a few weeks now.
I do wish you could be here with me, the frogs are croaking, the wind is blowing and rustling the trees and the wind chime I bought for my husband is playing a little magical tune for me. So all in all I can say I am reveling in the wonderful nature that abounds my beautiful bush sanctuary.