Wednesday 30 November 2016

Talented Friends

Some people are full of talent and they don't even realize it.

A friend of mine, Josee, recently decided to try her hand at making portraits from pictures. She registered for a drawing course and after a few lessons, voila! She can produce something quite remarkable.

This is the picture she used to work from.


 And a couple of days later this is what she presented me with.


A while back I gave her a piece of bark from a birch tree and the first thing I knew, I received part of it back by mail transformed into this. My very own log cabin and place of solitude. Perfect!


Me, on the other hand, I am limited in my creative drawing expressions. They are basically more like those of a child.


Nevertheless, they are very much part of who I am.


By the way folks.

Those of  you who are reading my blog from the email notice you get advising you of a new post, please go to the actual website where my blog resides so you can see the new look that my friend, Kate, put together for me.

She's added my book as well as links to a all the places where you can find me on the web.

Check it out by clicking this link: loutoyou.blogspot.com


Tuesday 29 November 2016

In Appreciation....

.....of the little things which really are the bigger things in life. Like having two eyes that function well rather than one good one and one that's totally whacky and uncooperative.

Yesterday afternoon, I was out on one of my walks between clients when all of a sudden it felt like something fell in my eye. Damn, I thought. A stupid eyelash I suppose. So I did the usual thing of pulling the top eyelid down on top the other and moving my eyeball around. I did that several times but to no avail. Whatever was in there wasn't coming out.

By the time I finished work, the eye was giving me a lot of grief and it made the drive home in the dark rather difficult. Andree was not home so I went to the mirror hoping to discover the source of my trouble. I really don't know how I thought I would manage that since I can't even make out the print in a book without my glasses, but it didn't dawn on me until I took my glasses off. That's when I went, "Duh! That's not going to work."

So I put my coat on and went to my brother's place and asked my sister-in-law if she could see anything. Nope. She couldn't see anything either. She did however have an eye bath solution meant to flush out anything that might be in there to try. So off I went.

Do you know how much easier it would be to rinse off your eyeball if a person could actually remove the eyeball and use their fingers to swish the darn thing around in the solution rather than tilting your head forward, holding a little container of solution on the eyeball, and keeping your eye open while you swish your head back and forth, allowing the solution to work it's way around your eyeball? Takes practice is all I can say.  

The eye didn't feel much better by morning so I cancelled my first appointment and took myself to the local hospital to have it checked out. Doc froze my eye and had a good look with some equipment that apparently enlarges the eyeball to four times the size. "Nope, nothing in there," he said. "Although there must have been before because your eye is full of puss modules so you will need some antibiotic drops to put in there to clear that up and a patch to wear for a bit after you put the drops in."

So here I sit tonight, after Andree has put drops in, looking like a one-eyed pirate trying to write a blog post. It's a good thing I don't have to look at my keys when I type and I can just focus on what appears on the screen as my fingers poke away at the keyboard. Reading my book or doing anything else seemed too difficult to do but this seems manageable.
My eye was feeling a bit better today so hopefully I only need one more application of drops tomorrow morning and it will be all cleared up. At least that's what I'm hoping for. But let me tell you, I've sure been appreciative of my eyesight these past 48 hours or so.


Sunday 27 November 2016

This, That, And The Other

By the time I settle down in my chair it is always late in the evening. The smarter thing would be to go to bed but that rarely happens. I enjoy taking some down time to relax, read, cruise the internet, write in my journal or my blog while I listen to some of my favorite radio stations on Tunein Radio.

I like to walk about 5 miles (8 km) a day so between work, travelling, phone calls emails, meals, housework, etc., it doesn't leave much time to sit and do those other things I like doing. But, hey, the juggling back and forth to make it all work is part of what keeps life interesting and I'm not complaining - just saying.

This week, when I had a client that was a no show (hate it when that happens), I went for a walk along the river. It's nice when I can walk in the daylight rather than when it's dark out. With winter here and the time change thing, I'm at work during daylight hours now, so when I get a chance to walk in daylight I take it.



 I've started to work with students from two different schools again this year. This week I asked 2 of my younger ones to express what they were feeling with some molding clay. One child has parents who fight and argue all the time so he made his parents arguing with each other, then he made the angry dragon that grows inside him when his parents fight.



Yesterday we went to Grande Prairie to do a little Xmas shopping. We stayed overnight at Nicole's place and watched a movie with her and her companions who happen to think they belong to the human race.


The sisters - my three wonderful daughters, building memories while on a trip to Vegas to celebrate Jody's upcoming 40th birthday. When I asked them what they did in Vegas the answer was, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." LOL! Maybe there are times when it's best not to know everything!


Thursday 24 November 2016

My Bird - The Eagle


The eagle has always been my bird. In fact there's an eagle on the gold chain I always wear. I guess you could say the eagle is my spirit guide.He seems to always show up for me when I'm in deep contemplation over something or other. He appears and guides me in the right direction.

I didn't see an eagle today but my partner and my friend, (lucky buggers) did! They were kind enough to share their pictures with me. Made my day.







What a beauty! The wing span on that bird is enormous. Here is what the internet describes the eagle as:

Eagle conveys the powers and messages of the spirit; it is man's connection to the divine.

The eagle along with constantly, and consistently, having the number 1:11 or 11:11 appear in my life day after day, speaks volumes to me.

Sunday 20 November 2016

Step It Up

It was mighty chilly walking into that bitter East wind this morning. I had to step it up in order to stay warm and keep my walking buddy happy. He was bound and determined to follow his nose and investigate all the different smells on our path.


But after a couple of miles I gave him the command to sit so I could snap a picture or two and catch my breathe. He's not my dog so I'm not too familiar with his habits but it soon became apparent how unsure and anxious he is when out in a place he's not familiar with. Scared of his own shadow that one. He was side stepping and freaking out when I walked by the big statue in front of the church. So I took him out of town for a walk by the canal but he wasn't much braver out in the big wide open spaces either.


There was no snow on the ground when I went out this morning but when I went out for my second walk late this afternoon, the ground was sparkling white and still is.

No sunshine today. Maybe tomorrow. If not, I'll plug in my SAD lamp and get a dose of fake sunlight to keep a smile on my face and a bounce to my step.

Friday 18 November 2016

Drops of the Pen


BEHIND MY EYES….

 Behind my eyes lie the spoken and the unspoken of lives I’ve lived in the years I’ve been here. Much has been written about in my book, “In Search of Oneness” but there is more. 

Behind my eyes lies the lessons to bring to paper. I need to reach back there and find what more needs to be written. 

I have no idea what those lessons are – but know they are waiting to be discovered and that when I have the time and space to connect to my deeper self and let my thoughts formulate, I will reach for my pen and they will appear on the page. 

Sometimes I get impatient. Tired of the everyday necessities of life that seem to hold me hostage to my words. Sometimes I want to run from it all. Escape to my inside world where I can focus my attention until things spill out of me. 

Many things wait behind my eyes.
  

WHAT MATTERS…..

What matters is what I think, do, believe, and bring to the world.

What matters is being true to who I am no matter how difficult it may be.

What matters is a sense of connection with self, family, friends, purpose, and a sense of something bigger than I am.

What matters are the smaller things of life that we often take for granted like our ability to think for ourselves, to not have to think about each breathe we take, what our organs are going to do next or how. 

What matters is the beauty in a sunrise, a sunset, a fog rolling in across a prairie field or Northern Lights dancing in the sky.

What matters is that with each step we take we live our best self as much as we possibly can.

What matters is that we love with all our heart instead of holding back out of fear of being hurt in the process.

What matters is that we give without expectations and the ability to receive with a grateful heart. 

What matters is love - for without love nothing can exit.


Sunday 13 November 2016

Pleasant Sunday

Did a little writing this morning while I ate some granola and sipped my Alpine Berry tea. An awesome way to start the day.  I need to get up earlier during the week so I can have time to do that before heading out to work. Of course that would require that I haul myself off to bed a little earlier too and that never seems to happen.

A little later, I ran into the shower and left Andree to answer the door when her sister and brother-in-law stopped in for a surprise visit and caught us both in our pj's.

After lunch, Andree and her sister decided to go play crib at the senior's club here in town and I headed out for a nature walk along the canal. I threw my journal, my pen, and something to sit on in my backpack and away I went.

I walked 5.5 miles altogether but I stopped to wrote for a while. Who would have thought that on Nov. 13th, in Northern Alberta, I could sit outside and write without freezing my fingers or my butt off.

Out in High River where 2 of my two daughters and 3 of my grandchildren live, it's been exceptionally nice, even more so than here. In fact they've been warmer than the Okanagan for the past couple of weeks.

So for sure there's no snow in High River, or in Mariville, which is about 45 minutes North West of High River, so who would have thought that while they were out there they would run into Santa and his Reindeers. But that's just what they did!
Carys and Jesse having a heart to heart with Santa
Finn showing Santa the Christmas pictures he's been drawing in his book
Look! I caught a reindeer!
And here's the rest of the heard
This evening, we were invited out for supper and a game of cards with some friends of ours. It was a delicious meal with wonderful company and a great way to end the day.

Saturday 12 November 2016

November You Say?

I will take it any day.

How beautiful the month of November has been so far. With the sun shinning and the wind blowing the farmers have been like a swarms of bees madly trying to bring in their crops while it lasted. I think most of them were lucky enough to reach the finish line.


Here I am taking a walk when the sun was out and the weather was more Spring like than November like.


We are back to cloud cover and drizzle today but that's okay. Much better than old man winter showing his face. I'm not ready for that yet. As far as I'm concerned it could snow on December 20th and all disappear by Jan. 20th. That would be enough winter for me. But, I live in Northern Alberta so I should be a little more realistic.

Here I am today hiding under my umbrella on my 5 mile walk in the, on again, off again, drizzly rain of today.

Look at these 6 little cuties all cuddled up in their outside makeshift home. Yes, there's actually six. One is so black you can barely see him. "No more cats," my honey says so I try and fill up on kitty love when I go to her son's place.


I got a new book the other day. I didn't dive into it yet but might just snuggle into my chair by the fireplace tonight and crack it open.


The Appalachian Trail stretches across 2,190 miles and goes through 14 states. In 1955 at the age of 67, Gatewood told her children that she was going for a walk and headed for that trail. She hiked the it again in 1960 and a third time in 1963 at the age of 75 when she did the trail in sections. Apparently, Emma sometimes averaged 22 miles a day.

I can't imagine it. I do 5 miles and I think I've walked a long way. I would love to build up the endurance to take a hike of that magnitude though.

Walk and write. I think I'd have no trouble living life that way. Who knows. Maybe someday.

Saturday 5 November 2016

A Gift For You & Me

Why do we cower at the thought of revealing our true selves to the world?

Fear of judgment? Fear of ridicule? Fear of rejection? Fear of not being seen for who we really are? Fear of not being understood? Fear of being hurt? Or is it fear of our own greatness, owning it and having to live up to it?

Either way - it's a damn shame!

We only get one chance at this life as the person we are now. Let's wake up and quit dwindling time away. Let's make the most of each and every day by revealing our true selves to the world.

And, what our true self looks like doesn't matter. What matters is that you are you. The real you. Not someone you think you should be, or limit yourself from being, because of the fear of, ,,,,,,, fill in the blank with your own fear or fears.

We have to be willing to dive deep to uncover the limiting belief that keeps us from owning our power, standing in our truth and revealing our true selves to the world. Not doing so is cheating the world of who we are and what we have to offer.

Even if the only thing we have to offer is a smile, a touch, or our presence, for it is in the simplest of things that are the greatest gifts.

I believe that one of our major sources of unhappiness, is when out of fear or a need to protect ourselves, we go into hiding. For in the hearts of all people there's a basic human need, a yearning, to live from the truth of who we are.

If you want to gift me, let me see the real you. If I want to gift you, I will let you see the real me.

From this place - you and I will connect and become One.