CHARMED, I'M SURE

thank you all for the 50th birthday wishes!! i had such a great time and your comments made it extra special.

MANTRA MONDAY

in the past week, i received two lots of upsetting news that initially left me feeling down in the dumps. you know, those times when you start to question whether or not you'll ever get a fair break in life. i had two choices. one, to let this news weigh heavily on my mind to the point of depression. or, two, to reach for something positive to hold onto. hence, the mantra card for this week....a reminder that i have a choice. i have the power to release those negative and emotional burdens/emotions rather than carry them around with me. i choose to reach for the positives and welcome joy into my life.

acrylic on 5"x3½" CANSON acrylic paperclick on any image to enlarge

MONDAY PHOTO A WEEK

i don't know the name of this tree but there are quite a lot of them in this area. they look lovely in a group and in bloom. they also line a few of the streets. this one was growing outside the local post office.

one of the joyful moments i had this week was the beautiful flowers i received from my brother and his wife for my 50th birthday.

today, the charmed DVDs i had ordered arrived in the mail! YAY! yes, i'm a charmed fan......well, i'm really only a fan of the earlier episodes which starred prue, the oldest sister. i lost interest when paige came on the scene....nothing against her, i just preferred and missed prue. season 3 is in transit as i type.

i do have some mixed media canvas pieces under way and hope to get more work done on them in the coming days

stay tuned....love, light and peace

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

me just over 1 year old

yesterday, in celebration of my 50th birthday, the kids and i planned to take a drive up to mount tamborine for a family day out. i was shocked when we arrived at my brother's house instead. there were quite a few happy tears shed when the realisation hit me. little had i known that michelle and my sister-in-law had secretly planned a surprise birthday party for me at my brother's house which happened to be on the way to mount tamborine. the kids did a fantastic job at keeping it all hidden from me. what an AMAZING day it was too!!! i don't think i have ever felt so pampered and spoiled.

another huge surprise was that my brother organised for steve and lee to be there too. i haven't seen them in 28 years! steve and i were co-workers way back then and it was so lovely to see them again. i hope it won't be as long before i see them again.

i had to giggle seeing myself in plaits/braids at my 50th birthday party! as mentioned, i was under the impression we were going for a drive up to mount tamborine. on country drives like that, i usually tie my hair back because the boys always wind the car windows down and my hair gets blown to pieces. lol

some of the photos didn't turn out too well with a lot of light glare behind. it was our fault as we were under the shade of the pergola with the light behind us. guess the cameras got confused. lol ah well, still wonderful memories to have. there was quite a few cameras in use which explains why we aren't always looking in the same direction either. lol

me with the kids click on any image to enlarge it

with mum and dad

with deb and bill (my brother)

with my niece, her boyfriend, and my nephews

with maureen, my cousin on my dad's side, and bob, my uncle on my mum's side.they are married to each other.

with lee and steve

it was the best birthday EVER!!!

MONDAY'S PHOTO A WEEK
check out the size of this mutant strawberry all the way from california!!!it's almost as big as aaron's hand!!
love, light and peace

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAU!!!

i remember 22 years ago today hoping that you would be born on my birthday (23rd) but you had other plans and arrived on the 20th instead. we lived in beaudesert at the time and, while some thought i had named you after the town, you were actually named after a character from a romance novel i had read. you on your 1st birthday with remnants of cake on your face

don't you look cute with your floaties on
you and your younger brother, reece, became inseparable as you were growing up. there is only 18 months between you both and you always looked out for him. reece and you (around 4 years old)
you around 5 years oldYAY for turtle power!!!

you around 10 years old here


in high-school, you took up an interest in photography and won awards of excellence for your art and photographic work.

just like me, you adore animals and detest cruelty of any kind towards them
a recent trip out to the property to feed brutus
i'm so proud of the caring and responsible young man you are today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY SON!!

love always, mum xo

I GOT INKED!!!

52 WEEKS OF ME - WEEK ELEVEN

i'm half-irish and half-scottish but, on st. paddy's day earlier this week, i wasn't sitting at a pub drinking green beer, nor was i dancing an irish jig at a celebration party.....instead, i was perched in a chair at the tattoo parlour getting INKED!!!

it is my 50th birthday present to myself. originally, i had planned on getting a wolf tattoo on my ankle however, marty, the tattoo artist said my wolf design would be great if enlarged but, being small and detailed, it would end up looking like a black blob in a few years time. i didn't want a large design on my ankle so i decided to leave off the wolf tattoo. anyways, i ended up designing a spiral symbol which holds spiritual meaning for me. it's a stylised double spiral which, in celtic tradition, symbolises balance and equality. for me, it's about going within and connecting with my Higher Self/Source bringing balance and harmony to my life.

it might not everyone's cup of tea but I LOVE IT!!!

yes, it hurt but it was a bearable pain,kinda like the initial part of a bee sting but repeated over and overwould i get another?YES!
beau designed his tattoo as well and it looked AWESOME!

then, to top off an already great day, i arrived home from getting my tattoo done to find a gift in the letterbox which i had won on julie's blog giveaway. i LOVE the colours in this needlepoint...thank you, julie!!!

today, i had actually planned to work on some art in the studio but first i visited a few blogs. robyn's blog was one of them and she gave a link to another blog which was fantastic so i spent a while browsing there. that blog gave some links to other blogs which were also fantastic so i ended up browsing those too. before i knew it, half my day had gone blog-hopping. i think that, if i'm to get any art done at all, i really need to limit my time at this computer! lol

love, light and peace

mantra monday and photo-a-week

MANTRA MONDAY

i had a hard time thinking of ideas for my affirmation card this week until, earlier today, when i got to thinking about michelle's and beau's birthdays this month which, got me to thinking about motherhood, which got me to thinking about my femininity and how much i LOVE being female.

so my affirmation for the card this week is
acrylics on 5"x3½" CANSON ACRYLIC paperclick on any image to enlarge

MONDAY'S PHOTO A WEEK

again, i felt like i had nothing to show for my photo this week but, this afternoon, brad and i walked to school to pick aaron up. on the way back, i spotted an australian bottlebrush tree in bloom. my dilemma solved....YAY!

australian bottlebrush tree

australian bottlebrush flower - close updefinitely worth clicking on for the close up view

then, around 5PM, we had quite a bad storm move through. it went from sunlight to eerie darkness in minutes. i snapped a pic of the sky before the downpour started.

we ended up having another storm around 7:30PM and it lasted for some time which is why i'm only just now finding time to do my post at 10PM.

tomorrow is the big day! i get my very first tattoo!!! SCREAM!!! that's a scream of eagerness and excitement though, tomorrow, it may well be replaced with screams of pain. lol i ended up designing a very simple symbolic tattoo and i'll be sure to post a pic when it's all healed up.

love, light and peace

week 10 self portrait and indian cuisine

52 WEEKS OF ME - WEEK TEN
sometimes, i lie on my bed throughout the day to just relax and wash my cares awaymy bedroom is my havenmy sanctuarymy sacred space
click on any image to enlarge

SACRED LIFE SUNDAY

sacred life sunday is about sharing what i hold dear and sacred in my life so time spent with my kids definitely fits into that category. today, in celebration of michelle's birthday which was yesterday, we went to a local indian restaurant for lunch. the restaurant - PUNJABI DHABA INDIAN CUISINE - is fairly new to the area and makes quite a statement with its bright orange and yellow walls. the tables are dressed with red, white and blue linen and we were treated to some indian programs on flat screen televisions mounted on the walls. there were also some lovely indian themed prints in frames on the walls....i really liked the mood of the place. it was our first time there and i can tell you the service was great and the food was DELICIOUS!!! Prawn Vindaloo (extra hot) was my choice for lunch. YUMMY!!! i'm already looking forward to going back for more.

beau & aaron

michelle & alex

brad was there too but i neglected to take his pic....shame on me. michelle took one of him with her camera though. reece and his girlfriend, sarina, didn't make it to the restaurant as they were training at the gym in town so we ordered two meals to take home for them.

for dessert, later that afternoon, we had pavlova which i topped with freshly whipped cream, strawberries, cherries, kiwi fruit and passionfruit. i forgot to take a pic but, not to worry, that gives me a perfect excuse to decorate another pavlova for next weekend when we gather again to celebrate beau's and my own birthday.

i feel like i've been such a slacker lately with my blog and also creatively. hopefully, that will change soon so please bear with me.

love, light and peace

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL GIRL!!!

WOW!!! 24 years ago today you entered the world and claimed a part of my heart that will be forever yours. we bonded instantly and that bond has remained strong to this day.

you at six months old
so many special and precious moments
around 7 years old with jessica and angelOH, how you loved your cabbage patch dolls!

you with alex - new year's 2009

michelle, my darling daughter, i couldn't be more proud of the beautiful and amazing young woman you have become
thank you for bringing such joy and happiness into my lifei hope your birthday is filled with many magical moments!
love alwaysmum xox

monday photo-a-week & finished bag

MONDAY PHOTO A WEEK

there i was hanging out the clothes today when i had the strangest feeling that i was being watched. check out these big, brown eyes! i ran for the camera and, oh so carefully, snapped a few pics while he rocked back and forth wondering what the giant human was up to. he was very patient and actually turned his head to follow me each time i moved. i thanked him for the photo shoot, wished him well, then headed indoors.

praying mantisclick on any image to enlarge

earlier in the week, i found a bird nest lying in the middle of our backyard. i guess it must have fallen out of the large tree overhanging the fence. i was relieved to see that the nest didn't contain any baby birds or eggs.

bird nest
i finished painting the recylable bag
acrylics

mantra monday will be late again this week, sorry. i wasted a lot of time today checking out tattoo options online but couldn't find anything i liked. i was going to get the OM symbol but then i read that it is frowned upon to wear this sacred symbol anywhere below the hips. i would hate to offend anyone so, after a lot of indecision, i ended up designing my own tattoo. i can hardly wait until the 17th!

love, light and peace

52 weeks of me - week 9 & bag swap

it's been years since i've worn my hair in plaits but i'm trying to think up different ways of taking my self-portrait each week.....still 43 of them to go! i took this self-portrait in the studio today while i was working on this.....

click on images to enlarge
it's one of those recyclable shopping bags and a group i belong to is doing a painting swap with them. this is only the first layer so doesn't look like much at the moment but, tomorrow, i hope to find time to finish it.

MANTRA MONDAY - albeit a little late

i was inspired to paint this affirmation card after an experience i had while driving to the local shopping centre late yesterday afternoon. i was almost there when the thought suddenly crossed my mind that i should check in at crystal harmony (a mind-body-spirit shop) to see if my abraham-hicks DVD had arrived in from backorder yet. of course, after spending a chaotic afternoon at the mater hospital (see yesterday's post), i really wasn't in the mood to walk down to the store and, besides, i figured they always call me anyways. so, i bought some groceries and drove back home only to see a message chalked up on the chalkboard in the kitchen saying that the DVD was now in stock. she had called the house while i was on the way to the shopping centre and beau took the call. RATS!! this got me to thinking that i really should pay more heed to those little messages from my higher self as it isn't always just mind chatter. i would have saved myself some time and money in fuel.

so, this week's affirmation -i am listening to the whispers
acrylics and pen on 5"x3½" CANSON ACRYLIC paperclick on image to enlarge

if you are interested in participating in creating a mantra/affirmation card for posting each monday, feel free to check out the mantra monday picture link under 2009 happenings in my sidebar.

MONDAY PHOTO-A-WEEK

it was a little like manic monday for me today. brad had a specialist appointment at the mater hospital which is in south brisbane....a high traffic area. i've been travelling back and forth to the mater for specialist's visits since brad was six months old so i'm very comfortable with the drive. however, i've never had a problem finding a parking spot in the public carparks before......until today! both of the hospital's multi-level carparks were full which, of course, sent me into a mad panic as street parking in the city areas is limited to meter parking of 15 minute or hourly slots and are usually taken that late in the day. i don't do well outside of my comfort zone and the parking dilemma definitely stretched those boundaries for me. after a hair-raising 15 minutes of driving around a few blocks, we ended up down at the southbank public carpark so i was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. we had a much longer walk in store for us but, luckily, we had left home early enough so brad wasn't late for his appointment.

today's photos were taken on our walk to the hospital and at the southbank walkwayclick on any image to enlarge

aaron walking ahead along the bougainvillea trellis walkway

i LOVE those trees in the background

WWII monument with clock tower in background

part of the queensland maritime museum at southbank parklands

lighthouse at the museum

i haven't finished my mantra monday card yet due to a busy week so i will post it tomorrow instead ~ :)

love, light and peace

HAPPY AUTUMN, AUSTRALIA!!!

today is the first day of autumn here in australia!
photo - courtesy of chucky1988 - flickr member

i think this pic was taken in one of our southern states as, up here in queensland, we really don't see the obvious seasonal changes at all.

52 WEEKS OF ME - WEEK EIGHT
this pic was taken on monday, in the cinema, where brad and i went to see the movie, twilight.

SACRED LIFE SUNDAY
photo - courtesy of topcatrucker - flickr member

it's been another hectic week for me so, again, i found myself with very little time at the computer. michelle, my daughter, stayed over for a couple of days too which was lovely as always. then, today, my mum and dad visited for lunch and a fun afternoon of playing cards and general family chit-chat.

today, i was grateful for -

• a beautiful fine day


• quality time spent with my family


• yummy food and sated appetites - mum brought a salmon loaf and a veggie loaf while i did the garlic cream potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin and brussels sprouts


• music - brad was in charge of the music playlist and it went down very well. I've always loved background music as I think it helps set a relaxed and happy mood


• the dishwasher - what a blessing! to think, at one point, i never wanted a dishwasher....what was i thinking??!!!


• the nana nap i had late afternoon


• my nice, cosy bed where i'll be headed to shortly

love, light and peace