Trust in yourself

At the moment I'm a little lost for words …

A rare occurrence, I assure you, so make the most of it ;-)

(My father used to say I could talk under water with a mouth full of marbles)

It appears that some of the fog clouding my decisions has melted away with the last of the snow. To continue homeschooling or not to continue homeschooling. To blog or not to blog. Which end of my art project to get off the ground first and how much extra sleep deprivation I will  need to pull it all together. Whether or not housework should be counted as an issue in all that...

Trust in yourself

Apologies for the bad scan. I haven't had time to download photos of any new pieces. Scanning's quicker. 

Trying to cut corners

A special friend dropped in for 10 days just when I was looking for direction.

Some early morning meditation by a log fire.

A few sessions watching 'time management' videos on YouTube

Some 'concentric circles' practice for (re)defining clear objectives

AND EVERYTHING WILL FALL INTO PLACE

Trust in your Self. 

And everything will fall into place

Acrylic, Ink and an interesting piece of metal as a makeshift tool.

I won't be back for another couple of weeks.

There is much work to be done :)

Blessings to one and all

Staying Creative

Hello possums.

Found these pearls of wisdom 'here.'
And how delighted was I to see some things I do already: shopping lists, to do lists, weekly menu lists, homeschooling ideas lists, art ideas lists, places to visit lists, grateful for.. lists, ways to improve myself lists … and don't get me started on 'pinterest ideas' PULEEEESE!
Thinking of keeping a list journal to keep track of just how much I do get done over a week, month, year… Lifetime. Might help me in trying not to be 'someone else's perfect.'


29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

And you? How do you stay creative?
Love

If you can't beat 'em???

Back on track. Desperately searching for ways to motivate the messmonsters to a) Concentrate on acquiring minimal literacy and numeracy skills when the temptation of the freshly fallen snow lies tantalisingly on the other side of the window pane… and b) Arise on the cold February mornings that there is no snow when I have a hard enough time doing so myself!

Source: bitsotruth.blogspot.com via Cindy on Pinterest

Flirting with the idea of putting them back in school regardless of what I said HERE.

Nah! I RESOLUTELY REFUSE TO GIVE UP. 

Tomorrow a science lesson in certain laws of physics, using the slope beneath the house, makeshift sleds and varying weights (read: more or less children on one sled) may be in order. I shall record the results from a warmer perch in a sunny corner of an upstairs bedroom as I work on my own project. I may just win that war yet ;-)

Almost, but not quite.

The race for sanity in this household is still in full swing. I have been flirting with notions of chucking in the towel and abandoning the blog forever…

Source: Uploaded by user via buddhagirl69 on Pinterest

Naaaah. Not gonna!! Think I'll use the towel to stifle the little voice instead ;-)
Hope life's peachy for you all
Much love
xxx

The problem is...

Everytime I go onto Pinterest to find a fabulous quote to share with you all, one that really gets me moving myself. I get lost. Lost in ideas. Lost in possibilities. Lost in a future that is different from my today. Lost in another world. The fantasy world of Pinterest!!

This invariably means that the half hour I allow myself to blog fizzles out in a puff of virtual possibilities that, while magical and marvellous, don't allow me to achieve anything productive at all!! This has been happening EVERY DAY! Arghhhhhhhhhh! Sigh... The spirit is wiling but not as strong as the draw of the screen...

Source: gatekeeper.tumblr.com via Angela on Pinterest

So in a desperate bid to regain my psychological freedom, last night I set myself a goal! No peeking at what the rest of the world is up to - just getting the job done.

This morning I have exactly 15 minutes before I have to get ready for an all day book-binding workshop, which includes making a yummy lunch, a usually simple task that will be riddled with pitfalls that involve the needs of wee mess monsters...

Source: Uploaded by user via Angela on Pinterest

That's it! 15 minutes up!! Eureka! Isn't it great when you set yourself a little, well defined challenge and you meet your goal. If I can keep it up, I'll be blogging more often at this rate. Then I could sneak over and spend a bit of time catching up on what the rest of you have been up to...
Think I'll dress like Audrey today ;-)

Much love!

BONNE ANNEE! Skidding in there, champagne in hand, to wish you a Happy New Year

Resolution number one: NO MORE BEING LATE! Gloups!!!
Having said that - I'm not exactly LATE. Technically in France we can send our New Year's wishes up until Jan 31st... However, apparently one's resolutions should be resolutely set before end December. Pfffff! Time is such a human invention!

If "To Change One's Life = Start Immediately! I see no reason to wait for Jan 1st to do so!! Anyone else with me on that one?

In fact, I've been collecting fabulous inspirational resolutions over the last few months on Pinterest and for all sorts of mental health reasons, got started working on them before the New Year popped over the horizon. One of them was a Facebook Sabbatical so you won't see me on there for a week or so ;-) The most inspiring of them I've decided to share with you every day until the end of January, starting with this one:

Source: byebyechubbydays.tumblr.com via Angela on Pinterest

If I get the time while I'm Carp(e)ing the hell out of my Diems to actually scribble some of these down in my own style I'll be sure to substitute them in. It depends how long it takes me to light the wood stove in my atelier in order to keep my fingers warm. How much relative benefit is there in taking half an hour to light the stove for half an hour calligraphy? I'm thinking I may be better off going for an hour's run in the freezing rain, or 'saving' calligraphy hours for one long stretch when the time it takes to encourage some heat out of the stove is less disheartening, n'est ce pas?

In other words, sometimes Carp(e)ing one's Diem means knowing how to prioritise and best organise one's self in order to get the most out of the 365 things one should be probably be packing into a year rather than trying to fit into 24 hours!

While I'm prioritising and organising, however, you're welcome to pop by for a quick coaching session and a daily pretty Pinterest pick me up. Sort of like a visual wheat grass smoothie for you!

Have a wonderful DIEM yourself friends :) It's time I woke the kids for their homeschooling...
xxx

PS. I will be forever thankful to you Meredy for finding this on Pinterest :) It motivates me even on the darkest European winter mornings as the wind howls outside and the rain rattles against the window pane and I fight the urge to go back to bed and wait until Spring dawns...

Tout simplement…Merry Christmas

Simply

Wishing you all

Some good humour

(Bruce, the French snow man)

simple pleasures

and a splash of colour

This festive season. 

Joyeux Noël

See you after a good deal of food I don't really need :)

xxx

Joy to the World!

If you wander around La Rivière with me, 

you are likely to find tiny glimpses of 

 hidden in the most unlikely places. 

I find them peeking out at me when I least expect it!

I wandered through the door last week to find that Chickpea,

my darling eldest daughter,

had thoughtfully tidied my wooden letterpress blocks for me

Sometimes it's great to be a messmonster myself.

I wouldn't have thought to put them away like that ;-)

Then Pokemon, 

as we whittle through our Pinterest list of Christmas craft tutorials,

came to the conclusion that the letters that spell

LOVE 

also mean FLY (VOLE) in French.
(I take that as meaning let your heart fly)

And Libellule has been busy documenting our family efforts to
'make' this Christmas

a 'hands on' team affair.
Full of laughter and surprises to discover.

Since the successful and surprisingly joyful passage of
the Inspecteur de l'Education Nationale
during which I was deemed fit to continue educating my 3 messmonsters
(Luckily they attended school long enough before hand to learn to answer questions politely ;-)
we have been celebrating.
I have all but abandoned my own artistic endeavours in favour of joining the messies to
bake shortbread, make candles

in favourite fleamarket finds...

and help Pokemon string pinecone garlands

So my brushes are down until the New Year

YUp! I'm letting it all hang out (literally with the food I keep ingurgitating)

 and getting in some real world, messy, Family Joy like this:

Candle making (pink pot) in the middle of getting a roast chook in the oven 

One still needs to feed the starving elves as they are busy at work...

(Yes it does still have its head - Welcome to France)

 If you forget your skewers, use what you can to keep your wick up ;-)

More joy - thy perfect house and garden shall be reserved for 2012. Having the studio is a godsend, but I admit to missing the creative mayhem reserved for a household that tries to do everything, and too much, at once.  If you don't mind a little mess as you drink your champagne, you are welcome to drop by, stand at the bench and get your hands grubby with us.

We hereby guarantee:

Loudly sung Christmas carols,

 at least one glass bottle of sparkly liquid 

the comforting aroma of Christmas goodies as they waft through the house

Not one square centimetre of anything that remotely resembles tidy

here at La Rivière.

Until the night before Christmas ...

Joy to you all

My Mama arrives from Aussie on Monday.

Goodness knows when you may next hear from me then ;-)

xxx

Love to all 

PS: Saw this and it made me ponder.  

"I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness."
- Julia Peterkin
A Plantation Christmas
1934

Pokemon believes with all his heart in Santa - which doesn't stop him being the most mischievious of imps at times… I like him believing in Santa. The day he doesn't - which will most likely be next year, we will be recycling cheer and good will into a year long affair, terminating in a huge treasure hunt for the most 'special' but inconsequential gifts on Christmas Day
My soul would wither if there weren't a little fantasy and magic in every Christmas
Your thoughts?

Playing (with) the right cards… A Christmas tutorial of sorts guaranteed to appease even the most upset MiL

Once upon a time my messmonsters were given a lovely pack of 7 Families that had belonged to my Mother in Law when she was a child.  Unfortunately, the cards had been placed under an evil curse that would force some of them to be separated from the pack; lost forever in the great Bermuda Triangle formed between MiL's House, the Car Ride and Our House. To this day they have never been seen again.

The spoilt Messmonsters, of course, were completely unperturbed by the disappearance of several of their dearest grandmother's beloved cards. Yours truly however, was horrified! An evil curse? At La Rivière? What was to become of our reputation of being 'La Maison du Bonheur?'

I searched for ages for those lost cards. Crying in vain against the din of noisy messmonsters,  I delved repeatedly into all the nooks and crannies I usually reserve in desperation for socks that have gone AWOL. To no avail. I had to admit that the evil curse had vanquished our household and that my next Christmas dinner was likely to be little more than stale bread with raw garlic and water as the others revelled in Sauternes and Foie Gras. 

Oh Cruel Fate.

Oh endless shivering in my boots. 

Unless ...

All this getting up for some peace at 5.30am has finally paid off.

I had, what could only be called, for a Blond, a BRAINWAVE!

What if those gorgeous vintage cards were 'repurposed' or 'upcycled' (love that word) into an assortment of garlands to colour the Messmonsters' rooms. Would that get me at least a sip of Sauternes at my MiL's table this Christmas Eve? 

I'll let you know in the New Year. In the mean time, I spent all last Thursday evening punching holes into every cursed pack of cards I could find, including MiL's childhood favourites. A trusty hole punch for a side kick and some Divine Twine or other thin cord and you're off and running with a splash of colour for your Christmas tree, your kids' rooms… your garden shed…

This has invariably led on to a string of other 'garland' ideas for the bits and pieces of children's toys I find lying about the house arranged  in interesting places but can't bear to throw away… Did someone say de-clutter?

It gets worse! This month has been Pinterest month for us. Having spent an inordinate amount of time collecting photos of amazing and tempting tutorials, we have set out to actually create one item per day. I never actually got around to finishing my own Advent calendar, but the Messies made theirs, along with candle recipes in old cups, snowflake cut outs, moss painting and home made decorations. The adventure continues and seeing as I've been organised enough to take photos for once, you'll be getting a bit of an update as to how each tutorial has worked out for us over the coming weeks.

Happy Christmas preparations possums. 

Looking forward to catching up over the next couple of weeks :)