The world is all gates, all opportunities...

... strings of tension waiting to be struck.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Prayer beads in hand, photograph Sam Webb 2010

I too have prayer beads in hand.

They have been very useful 

ever since I realised last night 

that I'd COMPLETELY forgotten 

ALL ABOUT MY VACCINATIONS!

Which gave rise to a lovely discussion between three girlfriends 

about all the horrible diseases I was likely to catch while I away...

If I wasn't vaccinated

... did I mention my car's broken down

and has been for two weeks?

Oh well

Lucky I have a bike

and strong shoulders

 OUCH!!

Anyway, I don't need a car to announce the winners of the giveaway.

Thanks to the horsey, arty, muddy fingers of my 3 messmonsters

We drew 3 lucky numbers!

Once I had wiped the smudges off the paper

these are the names I found:

Julie, from Being Ruby! 

(A chic chick whom many of you know already, and if you don't you should)

Helen Lewis, from Illuminating Words

(who popped by for the first time to join the game - and won!)

and

Caterina at La Dolce Vita

(Whose fabulous talent I very much admire)

I do wish I could send something to all of you.

Maybe I will when I get back from India

Create a giveaway where everybody wins 

a trinket, a colour, a thought, a word

Just for fun!!

In the mean time I'd better get to bed with those prayer beads

Or more than one messmonster is likely to strike my own chords of tension

tomorrow morning ;-)

Bonne nuit and love to you all

PS - don't forget to email me your addresses tomorrow girls!

If "the world belongs to the energetic..."

And ...

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

Then (if I am to believe Mr Ralph Waldo Emerson)

that must be why I'm still up burning the midnight oil on exciting projects...

Lucky I converted this old storm lantern into a lamp a while ago

Midnight oil's not easy to find in these parts ;-)

Back soon...

C'est quoi une Vie Réussie? (it's my French day today...)

Emerson l'a expliqué ainsi :

Laurent Gounelle s'est penché sur la question et nous donne ceci comme réponse:

Une vie que l'on mène conformément à ses souhaits et en accord avec ses valeurs

Une vie où l'on donne toujours le meilleur de soi même

Une vie qui nous donne l'occasion de nous dépasser et de nous consacrer à autre chose que nous-mêmes.

Une vie où l'on apporte quelque chose à l'humanité - ne serait ce qu'un sourire pour les autres...

A travers des siècles et des océans il me semble qu'il n'y a qu'une recette universelle du bonheur..

N'attendons donc pas 2010 pour réussir alors! Commençons de suite!

S'il vous faut un petit coup de boost pour être pleinement heureux, je vous suggère de lire le livre

(MERCI SKIPPY, de me l'avoir passé)

Self Reliance: the quintessential Dr M

I do not wish to expiate but to LIVE. My life is not an apology but a life. It is for itself and not for a spectacle. What I must do is all that concerns me. Not what the people think.

From "Self Reliance," by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

These are words that incarnate Dr M.

Versatile is another one.

He is one of the few people I know who is capable of both meeting me in the forest at precisely 6am on a cold, grey winter's day, in the rain, for a spot of mountain biking through the mud, and hitting the cocktail bar that very same evening, chic as ever, without changing his character.

We are alike in that way. Extreme. But adaptable.

Unlike me however, he quite simply doesn't give two hoots what any one, whoever they are, could possibly think of him!

Which is why, I'm assuming, he picked THESE colours for me to decorate his walls with!! Not that I don't like them of course. I love them! I just rarely have the opportunity to paint them.

"Ange, paint what you like! Use the phrase that you like...But it has to have these colours! And you know I don't like things too straight and I love lots of texture!"

Here is my response Dr M: The phrase is you! The colours are you! (Think I'm pretty close to what you wanted, and I can tell you my pigments have never played together so much in their lives).

The metal is you and the wood is you! And I know YOU well enough to know that you will tell me honestly what you think... I am consequently biting my nails in anticipation of our meeting next Thursday. Oh dear! I will endeavour to put it out of my mind until then (NOT!)

FINI! C'est FINI!!! Je l'ai FINI!!!

Phew! Now all I have to do is hang out the two loads of washing that have been waiting patiently in the laundry since this morning, vacuum the floors, go get the messmonsters from school and paint both a chandelier and an antique mirror to take with me to see My Fabulous Friend L on Sunday, all before my mother in law arrives this evening...

Forgive me Dr M but to change my scenery, I believe I need a bit of ... sparkly grey!

Going to have a great weekend teaching L to 'patine' everything from chandeliers to lamps to mirrors to maybe even her Mr FF. Be warned! The girl with the paintbrush is coming...

Back on Monday, paint-stained and happy with the Paris Episodes: my first apartment in Paris! As in :"That's not an apartment, it's a closet!"

VIVRE

Je ne souhaite pas expier mais VIVRE

La VIE existe pour elle-même et non pour la parade

Ce que je dois faire est tout ce qui me concerne

Et non pas ce que pensent les gens...

Emerson

Un travail en cours ... dans le cadre de Art Every Day Month

Pour Dr M

Fill your paper ...

... With the breathings of your heart

William Wordsworth

Wednesday flew by in a breath under a curtain of rain... a blur of inactivity!

Oh dear, it's Change the World Wednesday and I have only just emerged.

Haste! Haste! Time to go fill my pages...

The breathings of my heart can no longer be contained!

Many thanks to Instinct and Grace who brightened my day with Wordsworth

But before I away - a last wish for I have just found a Wednesday Wishcaster too
Today I wish for Courage to stand my ground, and Grace to direct my speech.
Tomorrow? With Emerson...

Counting my Blessings

Any one else have days when they think they should be doing more? Being more? Just when I sigh in frustration about not having reached all my goals - I reach for this little piece and count my blessings!

Hmm - no I haven't finished all I (unrealistically) set out to do, but I have laughed often and much! Have YOU?