Rest and Relaxation ** September 1st**

I`m not much of an artist as you can see, especially by the weird hands and odd angled stick looking cups in this picture. But this is another card I did about eight years ago. Happy with everything but those hands and cups and too busy or lazy to fix them at this point in time. It works well with this post though, so I stuck it up anyway. This is my version of the Angel of Temperance, or rather, the Temperance card. I did end up making 28 of them into actual cards.It symbolizes perfect balance. Balance that feeds the spirit and revitalizes. The depicted angel has mastery in mixing and blending to create this. I used prisma colour pencils on paper, much more brilliant than showing here. This is an old picture of an actual card I`d made. Managed to get about 46 of 78 pictures done, the best, all of three, posted previously. The rest, I`m afraid are drawn more like this one. But still, they all carry a message of some sort. Life became busier so this project was put aside and perhaps also due to seeing other artistic styles I liked so, so much better but just couldn`t do LOL.

The Angel of Temperance is about finding that good balance. I`m going to use some of that, this long weekend. It`s Labour Day long weekend here in Canada. Though I don`t intend to do much in that department...I`ll spend a little less time on the computer, so I may not post for a day or two and more on a good book, visiting with my friend who is feeling much better and coming to visit... and resting between some chore bits and pieces....oh and having a look at those bricks of my brother`s. Hubby and me are planning on going to the movies too. Not sure which one to see yet.

I`ve been an early bird and a night owl all at once most of this week and though both times of day are nice, it`s caught up with me and I`m tuckered! But yaaaaahoooooo....it`s Friday! Happy weekend everyone.


****painting by William Waterhouse called "Saint Cecilia"****

Butterfly Bush

On Monday after work I thought I`d go and have a look out in the back (soon to be finished before the snow flies) garden. Actually my brother happend to mention on Sunday that they have a huge amount of bricks left over from their house that they have been wanting to get rid of for a couple of years! My sister-in-law thinks they are very similar if not the same as the aged looking ones. We`re going to go and have a look this weekend and hopefully take them off their hands. What luck! Back to the butterfly bush....it`s finally bloomed some more. Not bad for having just planted it a month ago....well it was already quite big.



There were even some butterflies, so my sweet hubby took some pictures for me because they were up a little too high to reach with the camera myself.....if you happened to read my first "TOE TALES" you`ll remember my saying about the long legs....well I still haven`t aquired them. We`re new at this, so it`s really something to watch the butterflies land in our very own little back garden. Next year will be fun to see what happens. We started this fairly late in the season. Tea discovered garden blogs after hearing about these strange things called blogs and then looked at her garden and saw how empty it looked. And then became obsessed with reading all the lovely blogs, and then..........well so the story goes......


P.S.
Rock Star Supernova note: Ryan left...boo hoo! Wasn`t fussy on him doing the Who though. Never thought he`d leave yet. But realistically, he will be an amazing solo performer and will become famous.
Toby, Toby, he`s the man or Magni, Magni, he`s the man. Hmmmmmmm. Sorm`s great but not quite right. Still hope this band has some better music arrangements up and coming. I liked Guns n Roses but.... Truthfully in my own humble opinion, all of them need to find a band that suits them rather than the other way around. They are brilliant. But then this show wouldn`t be near as interesting. Lukas did really great but he looks odd with them. Dilana and Lukas were in the bottom three surprisingly. I guess the Dilana drama has hurt her. The voters haven`t forgiven her yet.

Superbly Funny Post at "A Beautiful Revolution"

I`m not into work until this afternoon, so of course I`m reading blogs rather than making the bed and sweeping the floor and getting dressed and....but never mind......
Look what I found here.......
http://www.abeautifulrevolution.com/
Scroll down to the post titled "Equally Epic" It`s priceless! I`ve never witnessed anyone so freely and humorously admit to this comical truth. Read his profile.

Rock Star Supernova is Getting Tougher

Dilana from South Africa, may have been self destructing as Ryan described on Monday night. After bashing the others publicly and then in a fit of tears and rage, smashing a glass and Magni getting hit with a piece in the head. Shocking from someone who started out so down to earth. I`m not sure how this will damage her chances.
The wild thing is that we were able to forget all that in last nights performance of "Mother Mother" by Jill Gioia. She looked so amazing and sang so amazing. No recent pictures of last night yet anywhere to see. She is the ultimate female rock star, even if she may be fighting some inner demons lurking below the surface. I think that that may be par for the course with many a famous musician, most likely all of us for that matter at one time or another. But to be fair... the pressure of all this would be unbelievable.

And then there`s Lukas. He also was amazing singing Nirvana`s "Lithium", the song Dilana did at the very beginning of all this. I think the fans (who chose all their songs this time) wanted to see if he could top her. I wouldn`t say he topped her but he was equally good, changing it just a bit. It would be cool if a Canadian were chosen. We`ve got some great talent that comes out of here.

And then Ryan. This New York boy was amazing again, singing “Clocks” by Coldplay. Wow....I think I said that about his last performance lol. He has so much depth when he sings and put so much heart and soul into it all. Jumped up performance!

Magni, the Ice Man from Iceland.............fantastic. He suits the alternative sound so very well. I like Magni. He did great doing "I Alone" by Live. Superb performance.

And Toby.....another wower, who`s from Australia, this time singing Billy Idol`s "Rebel Yell". He really suits new wave and alternative music to a tee.

And Storm from Massachusetts USA, doing "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence. She did it well. It`s a great song too. I have a feeling though, that she may be the next to go in tonight`s elimination. But there may be another one go too because there`s only two weeks left of this I think!
She`ll do okay on her own though. She`s got amazing talent.
All in all it`s getting really hard to chose anymore. The best of the best are left. This is getting tough even to watch. They are all so good!

The Curious Dragonfly and Communicating with Animals

These are pictures I took while on my walk around a few weeks back. Looking closely you can see the dragonfly. I haven`t tried to zoom in yet with the lens unfortunately


While reading a little story about symbols at Epiphany Santuary blog, I was reminded of one of my own experiences.

About 10 years ago now, I was standing outside under the big willow tree when a dragonfly landed on my finger.
Surprised, I held her up closer to my face, thinking she would fly away but I might get a quick close up look before.
Well, she didn`t fly away. She sat there staring at me. I began to speak to her and she moved her tiny head back and forth as I spoke.
It was amazing. As if this dragonfly were as curious about me as I was of her.
I`ll never forget that experience.

Another time I had just finished reading a book on animal communication, called "Animal Talk" by Penelope Smith and decided to something a try for fun.

I was at my cousins the first time I tried it. She had an older dog who was in the other room.

I sat and pictured myself calling her in my mind with motions rather than words.
She came into the room. I was floored.

Then I tried it on Teddy. Pictured somewhat the same thing in my mind from another room. He came to me.

Now convinced that we can telepathically communicate with animals, I tried it on young Angus. It didn`t work. He didn`t come.

Then I remembered reading that it`s harder to get through to goofballs.......errrr I mean the younger ones.

Have You Ever Wondered.....?

I remember as a child , maybe five or six at the time, once travelling somewhere with my parents in the car. I was looking out the back window and saw this woman weeping uncontrollably beside the man who was driving. Her hair was brown and longish, with it teased at the top, the style of the sixties and must have been in her late twenties or early thirties. She was thrashing back and forth, covering her face and shaking with grief. I can still see that image so clearly. It shocked me. What did this mean? What horror had happened to make her behave in such a strange way? I had never witnessed anything so raw before. The poor woman must not have appreciated this little girl staring at her so boldly from the back window of the car in front of her. I remember sensing this, having a feeling of shock. Knowing that I was witnessing something too private. I turned away.

Many a time I`ve wondered about all the people in the cars we`ve passed. Each has a seperate life, a whole story......connected with many other stories......connected to many other lives. So many people. What joy are they feeling? What heartache are they bearing. What adventure are they on? What are their dreams? How do they love? Are they kind? Are they thoughtless? What do they believe? So many lives.........so many stories......
I wonder about these things.............

This Is So True.........

**I love this picture , "The Mermaid" by Howard Pyle , so desperate and tragic. Each from a different world. They are so in love and it`s all so impossible for them. It always brings tears to my eyes at the sadness of it. Someday I would like a bathroom done around this painting.**

I recieved this in my e-mail from my sweet Aunt. I don`t know who wrote it but it`s so true and so beautiful........


I believe-
That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe-
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in awhile and you must forgive them for that.

I believe-
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance
Same goes for true love.

I believe-
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe-
That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe-
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe-
That you can keep going long after you can't.

I believe-
That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe-
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe-
That regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I believe-
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe-
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe-
That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe-
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down,will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe-
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.


I believe-
That just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I believe-
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe-
That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe-
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe-
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are but, we are responsible for who we become.

I believe-
That just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I believe-
That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I believe-
That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe-
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even
know you.

I believe-
That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries for you, you will find the strength to help.

I believe-
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe-
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

Really Good Low Fat Bran Muffins

We`re having a little birthday get together for my brother who`s turning 38 at my parents this afternoon.

Thought I`d make some more muffins in the meantime. I double this to make 24 because I like to take one to work for my breakfast each day and they`re good for such a low fat muffin and very moist still........

1 cup of flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cinnamon
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup all bran cereal
1 egg
2 tblsp. molasses
1 !/4 cups skim milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup plain no fat yogurt
1/2 cup raisins

Heat oven at 350
Mix together the first 6 ingredients
Mix last 8 ingredients in another bowl
Add the dry to the wet stirring gently not overly
Spoon into muffin papers or greased muffin tin

Bake for 10 to 18 minutes depending on how hot your oven gets... checking with toothpick until it comes out clean.

mmmmmmmmmmmmm......butter was for the picture but I`ve ate too many chips and cookies this weekend anyway so what`s a little butter?
Now this is my kind cup of tea.
1 muffin has 112 calories and 1.6 grams of fat without the butter!

Margaritas, Tea and Highlights

I love tea far too much to drink out of these tiny delicate cups. It tastes the best in them, but they`re far too small. Even with the tea pot by my side......too much tipping.
But it took a better picture than my mug , and it did taste good while it lasted.
My friend wasn`t able to come out afterall. She`s taken ill with some kind of weird headache she gets from time to time. She says that she sees stars and parts of people go missing from her view and was afraid to drive out here from town that way. Dissapointing but totally understandable! Hope it goes away soon. Scary!!
But my sister came out and we had a nice visit and of course some Margaritas.
She`s my other best friend. Well female one. My husband is also my bestfriend, and (just in case he reads this...which he probably will), he`s my hero and my knight in shining armour.... .........but it is true..........all the way. You may think that`s silly and sappy but that`s how it is. I`m very lucky and very blessed.
After sis left, I made myself this nice cup of tea and that will be the drink of choice for the evening I think. Well maybe one more Margarita with hubby.
The boys are here this weekend and we`ll probably watch a movie tonight after a BBQ`d chicken wings and mashed potatoe supper and hubby will make us all popcorn. The boys love mashed potatoes....me too.
If the movie isn`t interesting to me, I`ll just curl up with my book. It`s taking awhile to read it, only a few pages a day, but it`s keeping my interest so far. "Midnight Sun" by Ramsey Campbell. Classified as a thriller/supernatural type. I`ve read a few of his and liked them. This one`s a bit slow though. By the middle of a book which is where I am, there should be a bit more revealed. We`ll see.

All in all a really nice day today afterall and the rain held off.
Went to the hair salon this morning for a trim and highlights. I`ve had some real hair disasters due to my liking to be different colours and experimenting, so I was a bit nervous.
I have always wanted to see what it was like as a blonde. Do blondes have more fun, I wondered?
Nope........ I say not. Hey I`ve been a few different shades and colours now and each has been fun.
Until the last trip of my blonde faze when the hair stylist went too far with the old bleach! Then I hated it. So a gradual blonde for 6 months and then a red head and then a chocolate head and then back to my own colour. Hence my bad hair days began and now finally after a year are ending with healthier hair. The pic in my profile was the best stage of blonde, just before the all over solid she did. I looked like ....hmmmmm....I don`t know....but it was awful. Way too harsh for me.
It ended up safe though this time. I wanted my auburn highlights and I`m happy. I guess I`m too much of an earth person to feel comfortable being blonde. But I still do like blonde......and red and blonde....... and red......and brown and red....and brown and copper..and.........

Cheers

http://www.miss-charming.com/recipes/marg.htm




"Woof! What about me?"

Being Female is Like the Moon

On a blog I was reading the other day the blogger was remarking about not being able to figure women out. On another there was a dear soul having a bad day.......like we women tend to have from time to time, myself as you may have read, definately included.
This got me to thinking today......

We are "woman". And that being is full of complexities. Like it or not, for some reason we were made that way.
We are likened to the Moon in that each day our body changes.....our mood changes.
Like the tides that are pulled by the Moon , so too are we pulled... it sometimes seems.

To our beloved mates we seem full of contradictions, full of mystery. We are the "unknown".

But how glorious it is to be woman. We are the nurturers of this world. "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" as the saying goes.
We`ve been given the gift of fruitfulness, compassion, creativity, passion and intuition.

Oh, the pity that "woman" must wait until the autumn and winter of her life to know the fullness and wisdom of womanhood and to reveal that jewell that had been shaping inside.The raw material slowly uncovering a ruby as the years go by. And the inner battle as this occurs my dear sweet female friends, is only us all still chipping away, trying to fully reveal that gem.

We women and the Moon......well, that`s my best reasoning.
Mysterious, complex, secretive, beautiful, enticing , brilliant....... things not being quite what they seem to our poor other halves at times, glowing one minute, shadowy the next, changing.........ever changing..........

**picture is my interpretation of the High Priestess card**

Trumpet Vine Revisited

Another view of the half finished garden. Almost did a face dive yesterday on those loose bricks. Hurry up "more bricks", I want to get this finished. They`re building beige houses at the moment.
My best friend is coming over Saturday afternoon for a visit. I guess we won`t be drinking our Margaritas in this garden yet.

I think my Trumpet vine is celebrating my taking interest in gardening because it has more blooms than it ever has before. It seems to be so excited that it`s grown a bean.

A pretty back garden bloom on one of the two climbers.
Now why can`t they all bloom at once............

Rock Star Ryan?

Wow.....Ryan Star chose to write one of his own songs last night called "Back of Your Car" and WOW is all I can say. He has definately got a fantastic chance of winning this at the moment. Pretty good for someone who was in the bottom three a few weeks ago. They called him Ryan "the dark horse" Star. Ryan`s the man of the moment.

I still really like Magni. His performance of Nirvana`s "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was tops. But my opinion remains the same about him in the band. But he`s talented for sure.He`s come a long way from his first arrogant harsh performance.

Toby was also great. I loved the way he did "Layla". He rocked.

And as usual Lukas has one original voice and I especially like when he uses his less gruff sound in parts of his choices. He did a song by the Killers "All These Things That I've Done". I think he needs to lose that punk look though . He will make it without them. Love his "freeze frame" faces lol Extremely talented guy. He struts a mean one.
My all time favorite, Dilana wasn`t as good last night, singing "Every Breath You Take" by Sting. Sting can only do Sting. She still remains in the top though for sure. I don`t think she can top her first performance though. That made a huge impression. Her song, her style, her look that first night. Amazing.
When she got to sing with the band last week she was great. But I think she`s too good for the band. For that matter, they all are.

Whoever wins needs to change up this bands style a bit. They sound like a typical bar band to me. But maybe they`ll have some better stuff as time goes on.

Now That Really Must Stink

Stilton launch blue cheese perfume

The makers of the famously pungent Stilton blue cheese have launched their own perfume.

Stilton perfume Eau de Stilton which has been blended to increase the popularity of the pungent blue cheese /PA

And they have approached Cat Deeley to be the face of Eau de Stilton.

It claims to "recreate the earthy and fruity aroma" of the cheese "in an eminently wearable perfume".

The perfume, blended by a Manchester-based aromatics company, features a "symphony of natural base notes including yarrow, angelica seed, clary sage and valerian".

It was commissioned by the Stilton Cheesemakers' Association as part of a campaign to persuade more people to eat their product.

Nigel White, of the SCA, brushed off suggestions that it might not be the most alluring of scents.

"Blue Stilton cheese has a very distinctive, mellow aroma and our perfumier was able to capture the key essence of that scent and recreate it in what is an unusual but highly wearable perfume," he said.

"While we don't have quite as generous a budget as some of her other endorsements, we would love Miss Deeley to be the face of Eau de Stilton and look forward to hearing what she thinks of the scent."

from ananova.com

Bad Teddy...Quick...Get The Camera!

Hubby was just sitting at his computer a few minutes ago and saw something run into the room with Teddy right behind.........

Poor little baby. So sweet. We thought Teddy had retired!
At least the little bunny wasn`t harmed. I took him up... all the while squirming and hubby opened up the door and I walked a good distance through the yard and set him in under some bushes over by the pond. I think he`s old enough to look after himself..hopefully. Poor precious little thing.
Bad, Bad Teddy. But it would have been much worse if Angus had caught him or Isobell.
I hate when this happens! I loathe the fact that I had to leave him on his own.
This is what really sucks about cats!

Blogs I Love

It seems that my "Blogs I Love" list gets longer and longer. At first I began to worry that I would never be able to read them all. But then I decided that I didn`t have to read them all at once, I would just go down the list when I had time at the computer.
It works fine.
I don`t want to give up any of my blogs because they are there for me to find easily and for others to discover too.
I love my blogs. There still may be too many and I`m sure I`ll be finding more but they`re all worth reading.
Now if I could just curl up with them like I do with a good book.................

(painting ~ "Captivated" by Adolphe Alexandre Lesrel)

We made a pit stop when we got near home for a few groceries and this was staring at me before I even got out of the car so............

Fun Weekend

On our way to Oshawa hubby showed me a tree with a carved face on it in someones yard.

My sister-in-law looked absolutely radiant and beautiful.

Here`s the little boat we went on for the wedding.

A view from the boat at dinner. Not the prettiest view at that moment!

But before dinner....mmmmmmmmmm.....frozen Margaritas onboard for me! The boat ride wasn`t as scary as I`d feared. The water wasn`t that deep, being a man made lake, but the air was havoc on the hair!

The rain didn`t happen and it was a lovely wedding and a fun time.
On our way home Sunday, hubby took me to see the famous R.S. McLaughlin Estate in Oshawa, where he is from originally.

McLaughlin was the founder of General Motors in Canada. Quite a few movies have been filmed here. Chicago, X-Men and Billy Madison to name a few. The tv show Relic Hunter also.
We had a tour of the inside which was interesting.

This is a tall sundial in the yard. I liked what it had engraved on it on one side. "Let The Slight Shadow Teach Thee Wisdom"

This would have been much more striking view without that turquiose blue lining in the water I personally think... preferring a more natural look, myself.
I didn`t take any flower pictures because most of the perrenials were over and there were just the typical annuals left.
The white tent was for a wedding about to occur.
We had lunch in the family`s origianl "Tea House" somewhere in that area away from the mansion, while listening to a musician softley play the aucustic guitar. The food was delicious. We had forgotten the camera unfortuantely at first but retreived it afterwards for the other pictures.

The statuary was beautiful.........



A perfectly formed bum with more than one crack.