sooooo...it's like this

I come and I go...

I try to do too much! 

I want to try everything!!

I get lost...

I still love photography

and I am falling in love with other art forms...

I want to try everything!

I don't want to sell stuff...

I just want to play!

For whatever bizarre reason I need permission to play.

(I am not sure whose permission though...)

So 

yes, I have been absent

I have been taking art classes

drawing and painting classes at a local Art School

I am loving it!

I am learning AND I am playing!

I have journaled for 20 years - written journals, poetry, morning pages

Art journalling is one of the things I have wanted to do for a few years

'real' art journaling - but I didn't really know how one goes about that

So I have been doing my own little sorta, kinda art journalling...

in the same sporadic way I have blogged over the past 5 years...

To bring myself back to blogging

and to better participate in art journalling

I have signed up for a 30 day project!!

I loved the one I did with Deb last year 

so thought I would try another committed project!

I need to commit to make myself do things...sad but true.

I once read a blogger who made a commitment to herself and her time

Her mantra was "Mornings are Mine"

I wish I could remember her name or blog name

I enjoyed reading it immensely before I lost my bookmarks

I am going to adopt her mantra!

I am going to create every morning!

for a month at first, but with a view to going further..

yes. 

I am scattered. 

I am erratic. 

I come and go. 

I try to do too much.

It is what it is.

It is just who I am....

Janetxo  

You can too!! Just click here!

Random 5ive Friday 13.3.15

It has been a great week!

When one is retired, 

the work world excitement about Friday

becomes a bit irrelevant... 

But Random 5 Friday 

has renewed my excitement for the day!

Today's Random Five

ONE

My daughter got engaged in November.

They recently sent out their Save The Date cards

Original Photo by Ronnie Fung

As part of their engagement photo shoot they had a pillow fight...

They used the photos AND the feathers in their cards!

Original Photo by Ronnie Fung

I love how creative they are!

TWO

Last weekend it was time to "Spring Forward"

...and someone asked 

"just how far forward did it spring?"

 However, it seems to be edging closer this week...

compared to last week's photo of the backyard, a lot of snow has melted!

The dogs are venturing further around the yard now,

as evidenced by all those footprints!

THREE

I had a visitor this week!

We haven't seen a lot of the squirrels this winter,

we assumed because of the extreme cold..

So it was nice to see this little fella 

lapping up the water from melted snow on the railing!

...and to see that all the snow has melted off the BBQ!

Other winters I would have been using it

but this year it was piled too high with snow out there

and far too cold for this delicate flower...

FOUR

I just couldn't wait any longer to get going with my seeds

so I was pretty thrilled to see the local Garden Centre's post 

pop up on my Facebook feed announcing that it was open 

with seeds and decor items for sale

Needless to say I headed straight there

and, also needless to say

I came home with more than seeds...

What can I say?

I fell in love...

I thought it would be perfect for my herb garden 

... easy to move indoors in winter

FIVE

I have continued to work through our vacation photos 

as I had time this week...

Random fact number 5 is that I LOVE the ocean...

so here is a shot of Shete Boka in Curacao

If I listen carefully, I can still hear the roar!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend filled with good weather and good friends!

Thanks again to Nancy
for providing the inspirational meme,
and for the time she puts into it!!

Please take the time to visit her page
and the Random Five contributions of others...

Janetxo  

Random 5 Friday!

So Happy...

That Nancy, over at A Rural Journal

has begun blogging again!

Also happy

that she has re-instituted her 

Random 5 Friday

meme...

Please wander on over and join in...

Random 5 Friday is simply:

"where you share 5 random facts about you, your day, 
your pets, your kids, whatever!"

My Five Random Facts for Friday March 6, 2015

ONE

The timing of this renewal of R5F is perfect,

and it was just the push I needed,

to begin to end my own blogging hiatus!

Sometimes, life gets in the way

Sometimes I try to do too much

...and since Nancy was one of the first people 

to leave a comment on my very first blog,
and my first 'follower' on this blog,

what better way to start back into it.

I have missed it...

TWO

In November the external drive which held ALL of my photos

decided to stop working....

According to the data recovery company it was a mechanical problem

which had to be fixed before they could recover the data...

it was also the longest data recovery they had ever experienced.

They didn't say if that was because of: 

the total disorganized manner in which files were kept,

the 70,000 photos in addition to other files,

or the mechanical problems

but

it took over 2 months to complete

and everything was not saved

What was saved was not organized in any way 

and some recovered files were inaccessible

I now have two external drives

and am beginning all over again

Lesson learned!

THREE

While all of that was going on

we have been experiencing the 

longest, 

coldest, 

snowiest

winter in decades!

 

I am not a lover of cold weather or snow...

but sometimes you just have to sit back and admire the beauty...

from inside

and from outside

FOUR

Last fall, I won a photo contest!

This was the winning photo, taken while on our honeymoon in Curacao in 2012

I won a trip to Curacao!

We went for two weeks in January...

Just what the doctor ordered for the winter we have been having!

(Have I mentioned it was the coldest, snowiest, longest winter in decades?)

Included in the prize, among other things, was a painting class

with a local artist and I had a ball!

FIVE

I love to garden!

Last summer we put up a greenhouse

I can hardly wait to get in there and start puttering

...but it is covered in snow

(Have I mentioned it was the longest, snowiest, coldest winter in decades?)

I want winter to be over so I can get in there!

In the mean time I guess I will have to settle for store bought signs of spring

 They (whoever 'they' are) 

are calling for above zero temperatures this weekend!

I feel that it is my right, as a Canadian, to complain about winter weather

but I promise you will never hear me complain about heat in the summer

I also promise there will be no more cold, long, snowy winter complaints next week

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Big hugs and an extra Thank You to Nancy 

for returning to blogland

for Random 5 Friday and

for being YOU!

Janetxo  

Colours of Fall

Somehow the sun rises with more brilliance in the fall

(minor exposure and contrast adjustments to photos not identified as SOOC, which are unprocessed) 

SOOC

SOOC

The harvest is rich in taste, colour and quantity...

Blooms and leaves also seem to reflect the rich colours of the morning skies...

Janetxo  

Hello, Friday...it's been a while

I have learned a few random things since my last post...

ONE

Sometimes, when life throws you a curve ball

you curl up into a ball until you can deal with it...

Often, with more clarity and a more positive perspective...

Sometimes, you just need to move forward,

a moment at a time...

Always, it brings you back to 'the moment'

THIS moment

the only moment we truly have...

TWO

The kind of moment that is found in a sunrise 

the day of an important doctor's appointment

or the beautiful sky at dusk 

after getting somewhat encouraging news at that appointment

I am choosing to take that as a good omen!

THREE

The kind of moment that surprises you...

when neighbours bring a pot of daffodils, those sunny harbingers of spring.

They bloomed on the windowsill earlier this week, despite the snow outside...

It is almost like those blooms, or that wonderful sunshine, 

made all the snow disappear this week!!

FOUR

The moment when you realize that spring is really,  really here...

and the ice is gone from the pond!!

(and it is even warm enough to go outside without a coat to take a photo)

FIVE

The moment when you are toiling away at a mindless task 

and you unearth wonderful memories! 

A perfectly wonderful Friday Find!!

  

Both photos processed with Kim Klassen's 'kk_Barelycolor' Lightroom preset

March was a long and eventful month...

April brings sunshine, and hope and an opportunity for renewal

.... an opportunity to pay attention to the reminder

 to always be present to the moments in our life...

Janetxo  

* * * * *

Sharing with 

Nancy's Random 5 Friday

Kim's Friday Finds

and

SkyWatch Friday

SkyWatchFriday

Random Five and Friday Finds 28.2.14

Happy Friday!!

Jumping right in to Random Five Friday...

ONE

The SUN is seriously shining today! 

This has been the most brutal winter here and that I can recall
in my 60+ years on this planet!

Frequent waves of temperatures in the -30 Celcius range
- they call it a Polar Vortex

More snow than I have seen since I lived in ‘the snow belt’
with drifts taller than me
- okay so I am a bit short (5’4”) but not THAT short…

I am happy to see the sun making shadows!
(I think it has been a darker winter too!)

But I need more….which leads me to..

TWO

I am packing for a tropical destination vacation!!

Not going for a while yet
but it makes me feel warmer just pulling out the summer clothes!

We couldn’t get what we were looking for
(it is called ‘you snooze, you lose’ for waiting too long)
at our much loved Curacao
so we are heading to Barbados for the first time…
I am soooo looking forward to it!

THREE

Combining with Kim Klassen’s Friday Find:

This week while going through boxes in the basement to get ready for renos,
I found some of my childhood books that my father had given me years ago…
I am not sure why I had separated them, at the time,
from Winnie the Pooh and Ferdinand the Bull
which have always resided on my shelf...
but they are together now

but now that Dad is gone
it was very moving to have found the inscription in this particular one…
my Great Grandfather was also like a father to my Dad
as my Grandmother was a single mother
from the time my father was four years old...

FOUR

Kitchen Report….
still thrilled with my CSA bins…
today I am making maple glazed carrots and pork chops,
roasted garlic and creamy smashed baked potatoes
with double cheddar bread..
oh yeah…

FIVE

20 more sleeps until the official first day of spring and I have flowers!!!
 Okay…so they are INSIDE…but just seeing these pretty pink blooms
has lifted my spirits and renewed my hope and faith
that the universe will unfold as it should…

Wishing everyone a wonderful (& warm) weekend and a good week ahead!

Please pop over to A Rural Journal
and see what Random Five things others have to share!!

...and don’t miss all the fabulous finds at Kim’s Friday Finds

 Thank You, to both of these wonderful women
for their time and for providing the space
for all the wonderful sharing that goes on...

Janetxo