Smile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu-rLA4POkI

Sunshine of my life

I just want the road that we follow together to be a smooth one - free from sadness, worry or strife whatever form these might want to take and get in our way..........

...........May we will always have a solution ready to hand. Let it will be as simple as kicking it to the kerb unperturbed - continuing along our long, happy and healthy lives taking us to great destinations along the way which I love capturing because you all are just look so darn lovely!!!

Shhhh, Shhhhh, there there my sweetheart.....

Never thought this title for Creative Bootcamp would be so appropriate......

Three hearts are broken, three hearts are grieving

"Hush, hush, sweetheart" these are the words that I say to Dexter this morning at 7am to try to console his grief at the fact that our cat Wee Girl this morning has overnight turned seriously ill. We found hand sized pools of blood in both of our bathrooms, one next to her litter tray and the other in the en suite which is just off our bedroom where on our bed Wee Girl sleeps each and every night.

"Shhhh, shhhhh, there, there my lovely Wee Girl" are the words I said to her as I checked her over to see where the blood was coming from this morning whilst Dexter sat at my feet looking on at Wee Girl and stroked her reassuringly as did I. It was then that Dexter said "she is bleeding from her bottom", and my heart sank as I knew things were not going to be all right.

"Shhhhh, shhhhh", my lovely Wee Girl is what I and thought as I stroked her soft fur as I remembered the lovely nearly 19 years that had passed since she became part of our hearts. She joined our family just after Anders & I got married and I remember her looking so sweet and adorable as she climbed our curtains of our first home and nestled in the fold of the curtain where it was lifted like a skirt by curtain ropes - I will look these photographs out and post them, but not now, just now my post is about hush.....

This morning was the morning I had to explain to my sobbing son that the hush of death which might come to pass was also a beginning a teaching a mother dreads having to teach but knows it must be done in a way that reassures everlasting love and remembrance. The loss which is so hard to stand is one that meets us all, some sooner, some later. Wee Girl had had a wonderful long and full life with us and she had experienced love and given it back in return. I explained to him, if she were to die, then she would move onto heaven and play in the sky. There she would be loved by Hector our previous dog who died 4 years ago and whom had grown up and been great friends with Wee Girl.

My heart was breaking, seeing this beautiful cat who had been part of our family for so long and being unable to know what to do to make her better was hard. Even harder is seeing the pain in my son's face, being unable to save a creature he loved and having to share with him the sadness and pain that a permanent goodbye brings which I thought might the outcome.

As we drove to the vets this morning which opened at 8.30am, there was silence, except for when the reassuring words of "shhh, there, there, all will turn out ok" were being said to either Wee Girl or my son.

Wee girl on my lap in the car...

As we took her to see our lovely and kind vet, we hoped we might hear the words of "she needs this and it will be ok". Instead we were told that she had cancer which was so large that it had now burst and he duly took out a vet's biology diagram picture of what a cat's insides look like and he went on to explained what had happened in words and in pictures which made us all but particularly Dexter understand. She has been on kidney tablets for the last 3 years and so has been monitored regularly and had been keeping pretty well. This cancerous growth had clearly grown very quickly, and even yesterday she had been perky and last night had been on the floor snuggled into Marvin & Anders purring away.

Our vet's head lowered, his eyes full of sadness as he too had known Wee Girl for her whole life and then his mouth uttered the words "I am so sorry, there is therefore nothing we can do". Whilst Anders and I both thought that this might be the case, we all hoped to be wrong, especially Dexter hoped the vet might make her better the way a child does with an adult.

I asked Dexter if he wanted me to photograph him saying goodbye and he said yes, his eyes full of tears. He jumped on the counter and kissed her fondly on the head and stroked her whilst tears dripped from his face and onto her head which he cleaned her with.

My eyes were swollen too with tears and grief for my own loss of our family's dear dear companion, and that of my son.

I went out of the room and hugged Dexter tight and said "hush, shhhh, Wee Girl will be ok, she is going to sleep now and will awaken in heaven".

At this Dexter said "oh I do hope so as I couldn't bear it if that was just the end" - neither could I!

When we entered the room again, she was lying just as we had left her but this time asleep. Silence filled the room except for the shhh of comfort or sniff on pulling back tears. Anders, Dexter and I all hugged and then gave our final kiss of goodbye. Dexter took off her collar and said he wanted to keep it to remember her by. Leaving the room still and full of hush.......... and will return there next week to collect her ashes which we will bury in our garden somewhere nice.

Wee Girl's last ever photograph taken whilst alive

RIP Wee Girl 1991 - 9am, 16th June 2010 (90 years old in cat years)

I am so glad you have been part of the last nearly 19 years, until we meet again....

When I'm 63 according to Dexter

Found these drawings that Dexter did late last year. Interesting to see that this is how Dexter thinks I will look (cheeky monkey, he gets sarcasm and has a fantastic sense of humour so he was being funny with me when he was drawing these - humour he gets from Anders, his father always at my expense as I am their "straight guy" to their "funny guy" and all funny guy's need one) - perhaps I will look like the old lady in the photograph I took and put up on the blog this month (When I'm 64) - oh I do hope I will look a lot more youthful and will not require a walking stick to get around!!!

I see Super Mum has a similar resemblance to the drawing of me in 20 years time! Amazing how I am able to fly in one drawing but in 20 years from now I will need a walking stick - maybe that is my Clark Kent alter identity or maybe I am just knackered after all that flying and lugging about of the metal wings!!!

Now I think about it, Dexter has managed to do better interpretations of Fly, Grow, Metal & Multi-layered - and be psychic as to what I was going to be doing at boot camp!!!

First: Grow

Second: Fly

Third: Metal/Multi-layered - clearly both being Zombified & Robotic constitutes being multi-layered too!!!

Oh and Drizzle too as clearly there is sweat coming from my armpits!!!

Do you think I inspire him as much as he does me!

Drawings by Dexter last year - that's my boy!

The Love Monster

The Love Monster would be ever so cold and sad without being able to give out the big hugs and kisses she needs to survive.

This love swells up and bursts from deep inside.

Your it's inspiration and it will never ever run away and hide.

No, the Love Monster just wants to drizzle you with kisses for ever and ever and ever - and you know you love it!!!

*************************

To Dexter - the best piece of art I ever made with your Daddy.

Nice to see I have the ability to change from The Wasp Woman (part one in June Blog particularly I really like even if I do say so myself as it makes me laugh, especially reading it now the weekend has ended) - but I suppose this one too can be annoying!!!

Cleo de Merode 1875 - 1966

“Ornament” {which by definition is something that lends grace or beauty}.

So many things lend itself to this but I have chosen:

Cleo de Merode as I think describes this beautifully on any different levels. The beauty of this statue by Falguiere depicts her as a naked woman, vulnerable yet strong, strikingly beautiful and sensuous, hauntingly seductive in the movement of her pose (dancing) and timeless - remember she was born on the 27th September 1975 and died on the 17th October 1966! In some ways you could look at her as being the equivalent of the Madonna of her era!

I think this is just such a beautiful sculpture and both depicts a person of ornamentation as well as being an actual object of ornamentation.

Cléopatra Diane de Mérode was born in Paris, France, the daughter of the Austrian landscape painter, Karl von Merode (1853-1909). The painter belonged to a famous Belgian noble family 'de Mérode'. Nicknamed Cléo, at age eight she was sent to study dance and made her professional debut at age eleven. She grew into a beautiful young woman, noted for her tiny waist which was accentuated by tightlacing that was popular with women at the time.

Cléo de Mérode became renowned for her glamour even more than for her dancing skills and her image began appearing on such things as postcards and playing cards. A particular new hairdo she choose to wear became the talk of Parisian women and was quickly adopted as a popular style for all. Her fame was such that Alexandre Falguière sculpted The Dancer in her image, which today can be seen in the Musée d'Orsay. In 1895, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec did her portrait, as would Charles Puyo and Alfredo Muller.

In 1896, King Léopold II attended the ballet and saw Mérode dance. It is said that the 61-year-old Belgian King became enamoured with the 22-year-old ballet star and gossip started that she was his latest mistress. Because the King had had two children with a woman reputed to be a prostitute, Cléo de Mérode's reputation suffered and she had to live with it for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, Cléo de Mérode became an international star, performing across Europe and in the United States. At the peak of her popularity, she chose to dance at the Folies Bergère, taking the risk to do something other elites of the ballet had never done before. Her performance gained her a whole new following.

Very popular in her ancestral homeland of Austria as well as in Germany, her character appeared in the 1926 German motion picture, Frauen der Leidenschaft, played by Fern Andra. In Vienna her beauty caught the attention of painter Gustav Klimt whose primary focus was on female sexuality. Their story is retold in a film released in 2006 titled Klimt. In it, the American actor John Malkovich stars as Gustav Klimt and the British actress Saffron Burrows as Cléo de Mérode ("Lea de Castro").

Mérode continued to dance until her early fifties when she retired to the seaside resort of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France. In 1955 she published her autobiography Le Ballet de ma vie.

Cléo de Mérode died in 1966 and was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

The Wasp Woman - Part 2, Flying High!

Part Two of The Wasp Woman!

you need to read part 1 first to stage the scene and understand my mindset (also love the picture I found of The Wasp Woman)

- a day of cleaning of my 8 year old son's bedroom! No time for me to be creative, just getting this room tidy again - woohoo (being sarcastic here) - but here is the result of hours of cleaning!

One tidy bedroom which my son is trilled with (just as well!)

Toys on the top of one of his bookshelves he has a lot of space related things and astronauts, well they fly very high which I suppose compliments this topic. Even they look happy (as they should)!

A ray gun Anders & I bought in Amsterdam before Dexter was born - I think it is really cool - just wish it worked in a way that you pointed it at what you needed cleaned and it would take care of it - alas, it doesn't....

Another bookcase which is now all dusted and sorted.

Now although I said all I would be doing is tidying all day I did manage to get out for about 45 minutes to grab something to eat outside. I couldn't stand the fact that it was actually really nice outside and I was stuck indoors. Well, as luck would have it or maybe it was destiny, when I was out, I saw some people skydiving in the middle of Edinburgh - izn't dat wierd (said in Dutch Austin Powers accent)? I mean, parachuting in central Edinburgh what are the chances?Three people were in the air parachuting down with some smoke which they made look like an arrow. Clearly I was destined to capture Fly, albeit it isn't a great shot but better than nothing!!

And this picture in Dexter's bedroom is rather apt flying!

Fate clearly wanted me to still get Fly in by getting me out of the house to see the parachuting - who would have thought it!

The Wasp Woman - Part 1, Aaaaargh!

Part One

This will be me this weekend I am sure! Why you ask.... well please read on......

Fly - well my perfect caption I did earlier this month when I entitled a blog entry "I am Free" - it was perfect for this topic as were some of the (what I think were great entries) of my dogs Marvin & Carly from earlier late May - they are always free when running around together and are really beautiful which would have made this task for me a doddle! SO I THOUGHT "AAARG - SHIT"!

But it's Saturday I hear you saying, you should embrace this time! Quite right, it is Saturday, and normally I would most definitely be thinking yey I have lots of time to spend on this topic and given it is the weekend, my usual own personal challenge of trying to do these as quickly as possible can slip and I can really allow my creative side to fly off into my own little fantasy and actually you can really go so many places with this word so you would be right. However this is no ordinary Saturday - no I am gutting out two bedrooms this weekend as I have to get this done now for Monday a definite deadline there you see which was only sprung on me yesterday late afternoon - so the pressure is most definitely on!

If this was not the case then I would most definitely had the luxury of getting excited by this topic as to me the word fly can represent flying and in turn being free (hence earlier blog entry) or elevated to extreme happiness - really uplifting topic. Of course it can also mean sadness too or indeed winged creatures.

On top of this we are to put a feeling of ornamentation into it - creative grace, like I am really in a mood to be graceful!

So I know I am therefore going to be somewhat frustrated buzzing around (both in my head choosing what to keep and what not to keep where to put things....) and also with the fact that I am having to do this in the first place (I really do not like cleaning in this boot camp fashion but I do love the results)! There is also every possibility that I will get annoyed with my husband if he tries to show some sarcasm or wit which normally I would find funny, but probably not when I am being a martyr - a card I mostly play when I am doing this hated of chores.

So actually when I came across this picture of "The Wasp Woman" I thought it was perfect as it represents me this weekend (and sometimes other times too)!

I am married to a man who loves Marvel and DC Comics and has kept them since he was a child. We both love the drawings that they have, and in turn the old style 1950's and 1960's paperback books that you used to get. Old movies which have inspired Tarantino too which have fantastic trailers which cannot help you laugh - all good stuff and today very apt even if I do say so myself! With a start like this therefore, perhaps my ordeal of cleaning might turn out not to be so bad - maybe I will be able to sing la, la, la and some birds will fly into the window along with some squirrels, neighbourhood cats who will all duly tidy up the bedrooms whilst I dance around in bliss like a princess - I do love that film Enchanted it makes me laugh it is so great. Yes maybe I will be Giselle..... nah who am I kidding, I will be Queen Narissa.... or will I - you decide!!!!

With that I am off to start.... well after a cup of tea and a graceful attempt to sum up some birds by singing the "Happy Working Song" ... go on have a look at this and think of me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb2si7fClqA

Come my little friends as we all sing a happy little working song
Merry little voices clear and strong
Come and roll your sleeves up - so to speak - and pitch in
Cleaning crud up in the kitchen as we sing along
Trill a cheery tune in the tub as we scrub a stubborn mildew stain
Pluck a hairball from the shower drain to that gay refrain of a happy working song
We'll keep singing without fail - otherwise we'd spoil it
Hosing down the garbage pail and scrubbing up the toilet - ooh!
How we enjoy letting loose with a little ladadumdumdum!
While we're emptying the vacuum up it's such fun to hum a happy working song - ooh! -
A happy working song
Oh how strange a place to be
'till Edward comes for me, my heart is sighing
Still, as long as I am here I guess a new experience could be worth trying
Hey! Keep trying!
You can do a lot when you've got such a happy working tune to hum
While you're sponging up the soapy scum
We adore each filthy chore that we determine
So friends, even though you're vermin, we're all happy working (Duh)
Singing as we fetch the detergent box for the smelly shirts and the stinky socks
Sing along
If you can not sing then hum along
As we're finishing our happy working song!

Stop, Look, Listen

Rushing around, it all starts early on,
Everything seems to be buzzing around,
What should you action or tie up and bind.

Life..... hell it’s about choices some good and some bad,
It's that fluidity that is exciting and keeps you feeling alive,
Our decisions can define us, so just do what feels right.
Hopefully that path will turn out bright!

Of course a haven for calm and time to reflect should also be embraced.
Just make a few seconds to "stop, look & listen" and let your heart do the rest!

This was such a charming sign on the pavement which I found outside a school playground, it had a stain on it which I thought made it even more "real"!

And for a wee bit more, some childish fluid humour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkXBsYDfFk&feature=related go on, look it up, you know your nose is telling you to have a peep!

When I'm 64......

Growing old together

Park Life.....

Two generations of couples - wonder if the younger couple in the distance will be together when they grow old and grey......

Ironically, both couples are looking over the river, at a children's play park!

Wonder if they themselves are contemplating their lives as they watch the children play - will they grow up to be old, grey and happy - who knows!

Think the couple look older than 64, but when the Beatles wrote their song, I am sure they had this type of "old" image in their head, bit more psychedelic though!!! Just so happens the Beatles are one of my son's favourite bands (or has been for a long time) so he will have grown up with them too. How can anyone not like the Beatles?

So to finish off with, if you fancy, have a hop over with this link to listen to the Beatles "When I'm 64", go on and knock yourself out.... you know you want to!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3chFhCP5mQ

Heavy Metal, not so heavy after all and makes you feel good......

Well, my first thought was "Heavy Metal" well at least the topic is not as "heavy" my take on "Multi-layered", ummmm!

I love taking photos, as it is so easy to put up on the blog - it is not my "preferred" choice, that said, for the blog, it is what I always use.

So my initial reaction after that was oh, um....well (light bulb flash and quickly extinguish as I thought) I could say music, and look up you tube for Metallica when they played with the Philharmonic Orchestra which is fantastic - but then that was a bit obvious for the topic hence light bulb off. That said, if you are reading this and you have not heard Metallica you really should it is a great take on it. And the light bulb flashed again - twice!

Heavy Metal - the gym, the pumping and grinding that has made my husband look fantastic - I think a bit of a Spartan and lucky me! It has not gotten the same results for me, but it does work, as you can see when you watch the dramatic turnarounds the Biggest Loser US & Australia gets from their contestants. Luckily, I don't have the same volumes of weight to lose, but we all need to do exercise - it lifts the soul, it makes you feel better, look better and hopefully live a longer and fuller life. And if you really put your foot to the metal, the results happen sooner - all positive stuff really. I know some people think "nooooo, I think it is boring", I did too, but now I love it - I come away feeling uplifted and great and more importantly I see a huge smile on my husband and son's face they are proud of the fact that I have done something that is really good for me and them. I also like to do the bootcamp exercise as an immediate impulse reaction - not necessarily the right thing to do, but it is how I am choosing to do this so there!!

Heavy Metal therefore is not really as heavy as all that the results bring joy, pride and accomplishment. My son wants his Mummy & Daddy to be around for a long long time, so I do this for him as well as me - I would be a stinking Mummy if I didn't and I really would not want to see him with a heavy heart because he was worried that I was growing overweight (we all know that being overweight is not good, and dieting does not lift the spirits especially and it is so hard to share in this pleasure with your loved ones if you have to deny yourself it - better to lift the heavy metal stuff I think!).

And whilst thinking about this and en route out of the door this morning I spotted a treasured picture he drew for me and his Daddy when we were in New York nearly 4 years ago now! It is amazing and of a huge lump of metal and I love his take on it:-

My inspiration for my going to the gym to pump the "Heavy Metal" my beautiful, funny, creative, lovely, sweet and amazingly dynamic boy Dexter who has inspired me every day of his life and now that I think about it inspired me to make this "Heavy Metal" necklace above left (he makes even cooler ones, believe me he really does and has even sold 4 of them at the age of 8)!

And actually, now that I am in such an uplifted mood there are so many heavy metal things that I could photograph to show you (much quicker you see) - Heavy Metal is a beautiful thing it is all around us and if you let it in will uplift your soul. I know your first impression can be "nooooo" but then for me anyway I begin to nod my head in a rhythmic but not all out hair tossing way and think "yes, yes, yesssss" long live heavy metal and the joy of it in all its shapes and forms.......(my head is now spinning with the possibilities, that light bulb is well and truly flashing like a huge light encased in an even bigger lump of metal that makes up a lighthouse - Heavy Metal, its a beautiful thing baby)!

Multilayered

Definition: Consisting of or involving several individual layers or levels!

Well me and my family are all complex in that way

My lovely husband and son have such wonderful depth of great and strong character which can take on many forms like the sea.....

.... just like me!

I would like to think we are solid like the bark of a strong tree which matures and ages through time and even though it can feel like there has been some tough times (and in the grand scheme of things they can turn out to be nothing) we try to always retain dignity, charm, depth and beauty.....

...and we of course we can sometimes have our head in the clouds dreaming, hoping and moving on with our lives!

Lets face it, this is a bit heavy man!!!

Picnic

Wonder what little camper left behind their picnic tea set in the woodland?