A New Perspective

Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. (Marcus Aurelius).



For years I have worried that I didn't have the certainty of opinion that me to say- this is how it is. I know I am right. I would envy those I worked with who carved a soapbox of stone right where they stood and didn't budge from their adopted position. How can the need to be 'right' more important than the need to listen, and learn, and even change? Nowadays I relish the thought that the little certainties of life are constantly challenged. In photography, especially. Vignetting? Bring it on. A bit of grain? Love that. Focus, schmocus. There are no rules. On my (expensive) camera I have placed the (relatively cheap) little plastic, selective focus lens, my Lensbaby, (never was a lens more aptly named) and once again I am looking at the world with a different perspective. The focus of life will fall where you choose.

M is for Magical...

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

Calm.

Calm.
I can do that.
I can.
I think.

Holidays

I'm breaking myself gently into the holiday season- it starts later for us in the UK I think. We painted a few twigs and adorned them. We've made fudge for gifts and laid out a creative card making production line. The turkey is ordered and a pile of presents wait to be wrapped. The house smells of hot sugar and cinnamon. It feels nice, and safe, and hopeful.

Home Made

Making things is my therapy. When I have least time to make things, is when I need to do it most. The busy, creative girl's eternal paradox. A few hours crafting can take me from zero to hero in the mummy stakes:)

I'd love to invite you girls to visit my recent blog post here where I am celebrating my 500th post by offering 20 of my readers a chance to 'win' a piece of homemade mail art from me to you, wherever you are in the world. Just to say thanks for being there. I've loved seeing a glimpse of your world on this wonderful blog. I am also donating £1 per comment to the Children in Need Charity. Please pop in and say hi! See you there!

Like the first {morning}

This is a sight I haven't seen for a while. For the past few days the sun has not shown her face , let alone cast her rays into my face to warm and cheer me. It hasn't even really got light enough for you to ever call it 'daytime'. But your pictures this week have lifted my spirits. Thanks girls. x

Things are looking up, oh finally!

Lyrics from Paramore, Sophie's fave band of the moment.
Could have given up so easily
I was a few cheap shots away from the end of me
Taken for granted, almost everything that I would have died for
Just yesterday,
Just yesterday...

Apparently, the song is about how the band almost gave up, just before they made it to the big time. Message to frustrated teens everywhere- hang on in there, and keep looking up.

My window

Whether or not there is rain on the pane, there is love inside. However much I look outside for challenge and excitement, it's always inside these walls that my heart really beats.

A proper cup of coffee

All I want is a proper cup of coffee,
made from a proper copper coffee pot,
I may be off my nut,
but I want a proper cup of coffee from a proper copper pot.
Iron coffee pots and tine coffee pots,
they're no good to me!
And if I can't have a proper cup of coffee from a proper coffee pot
I'll have a cup of tea...

I'm too old to remember the song, of course, but somehow I do find myself singing it as I perform my coffee making ceremony every day....

Orange Bright...

'He hangs in shades the orange bright,
Like golden lamps in a green night.'

Andrew Marvell, 1621-1628.

There is beauty in the blur...

We all have to work hard to adjust our vision sometimes. Especially if we're tired or preoccupied. Sometimes, through the blur, comes clarity, sometimes it does not. But even then, we can often find beauty in the abstract, which is enough in itself. We don't have to try any harder to make sense of it.

Who I See

Every day I see people who are good.
Most people are good, most of the time.
What you read in the papers is not a balanced view.
Don't be scared.
People are good.

Abandoned but not forgotten.

Abandoned but not forgotten,
Deserted but not delinquent,
Ruined but not relinquished,
Broken but not seedy.

A congregation of walkers and nature lovers come to pay homage to this ancient church of St James at Lancaut, in the Wye Valley.

The church, parts of which date back to the early 13th Century, was abandoned in 1865.

I live...

I live to love and be loved.
I live in a place where I am warm and protected.
I live in a place to which I can retreat, and from where I can venture out.
I live in the moment and I live for the day.
I live in a place where you can stand with one foot in England and one foot in Wales.
A place of castles and rivers and History with a capital H.
This is where I live.
Chepstow, GB