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