"Power Me" Altered books

Spent the week with two 8 year old girls, Maya and her long time friend, Allison doing an altered "My Power Book" project.  Here are some visuals....

Frida Kahlo - An Icon & Goddess

Frida Kahlo - 1907 to 1954, is one of my icons and a goddess in her own right, for whom I have great admiration - view this You Tube video, which has images of her life with some cool music too. 

Someone asked me why I love Frida so much, and her work...and I have done quite a bit of reflecting on this lately... Obviously I did not know her, but from what I have read and seen, on the surface I love her because she is so colourful, flamboyant, wild...I imagine her to be frank, bold, boisterous, compassionate, passionate, moody, emotional, imaginative, loving...I find myself deeply respectful of her journey in life; her determination to conquer life's tests, she showed great courage to succeed over not succumb to her life's pain.  She'd probably be quite opinionated, a social justice advocate, a feminist..all of these things are what I imagine her to be and for which I admire and strive towards in my own life.  Over the years she has had a great impact on many people, particularly womyn in the world, myself being one of them.

Embracing 40 - Another new door opened

I turned 40 last week and am embracing every moment of it...this will be the year I will wrestle less with 'trust' and accept the present moment, roll with the punches, leave worry behind the closed doors behind me...my wise friend, Rhonda said once, that 'worry is negative prayer', how true this is and how this treasure of wisdom has resonated and echoed over and over again in my mind over the years.  I accept that I have no control over a lot of things in life, and instead allow myself to accept the journey I am on and know that I am less than perfect, such is most of life, that in all our imperfections we are so BEAUTIFUL, natural, and connected to each other.  This will be my 40's, embracing all that I am connected to, feel and share the compassion and love more, accept more, just 'be' more.  This is my gift to me and in turn this is my gift to all those around me that mean so much to me.  Compassion, love, acceptance.

Summer Camping Days bring to mind ......

days by the water, in the water, watching and playing with water...When I was a child, my parents would often plan camping trips in and around the Southern parts of England and other lovely parts of the Britain, including Wales and I even remember some great camping trips to France. Now with my little cozy family of 3, we have ventured a few times over the course of Maya's 8 years on some of our own camping trips.  This year after a bit of a hiatus from this summer time adventure, we decided to go on a bit of a camping get away....what heaven it was to just get away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday grind, (cliche I know, but it is so true),...we were lucky enough to get a camp site at the Cypress Lake, Bruce Peninsula National Park and it was such an awesome get away...it really felt like the world around us had been boxed away and we could just immerse ourselves in being away.  It was a time to read, to play games, to have campfires, make smores, go for hikes, eat and sleep, just stare at the stars and get away entirely from the all the things that we think we need and can't live without, but in actuality we can. Who would have guessed that my daughter would have said, yep I can live without the t.v. if I had too...just a great reminder to turn it off a bit more when we are home.  

I absolutely relished her zeal about hiking the trails, up to the grotto, climbing rocky trails and then playing in the lake.   These are the days we will remember, these are the things that life is made up of..and too soon we forget this, while we spend each day figuring out a living....Camping reminds me to just 'be'....to accept what is and let go of what will be, for I really do not know what is around the corner...I truly felt at peace, still, calm and more connected to my family, myself and life in the moment during this time...and today I found myself in a bit of a blissful hazy pace as I went about my day with my daughter and her best friend Allison.  Not a bad feeling to manifest more of....

Blessed Friends & Family - Lovely Summer Days

Birthday Divas - Cancerian Goddesses...what a lovely group of womyn to share a birthday sign with....My sis, Tina, Rhea, my sister-in-law and Cheryl, a great friend....and then there is lovely little Ella, a Cancerian wanna be...Thanks Honey for the lovely birthday cake.

Lambrina and Brett, a lovely couple, and blessed friends..thanks for your friendship and support.

Dida (my mum) and Ella (my neice)-- enjoying the BBQ.  My mum, my personal hero...a great womyn to aspire to be like. 

Cute little Ella, always the jokester.

Friends admiring Cheryl's creations.  Leigh (dear and lovely friend), Joanne (healer and magnetic friend) and Cheryl (another kindred creative diva).

Water spray...cool shot Bryce and Michelina.

Noah (my nephew, big brother to Ella) in action...and the other Noah in action below.

All soaked, chilled and having loads of summer fun. 

Noah and Noah...new friends.  All dried off now.

What a lovely after "artshow" bbq party..thanks Jeff, for the great BBQ feast, and friends and family for all your support and help with the take down at the show...what a lovely summer party.   Thanks to my friend Tracy for sharing these lovely photos....