Not Well

Yep. Still got a sore throat and cough. Got worse over night. Feeling pretty rough so I'm going to go rest and try and get well.

x

Cough Cold

Ugh! Caught some kind of cough. Not really a cold. Got a horrible headache but the main feature is a tickly cough and sore throat. And it's rainy out. And really windy. That's ok though. I'm happy. I've worked most of the day. And this evening I'm going to paint. Yay!

Happy Bank Holiday Monday!
x

Beauty

I'm reading a fascinating book called "Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul". It talks about who we are and who we were meant to be. Why we dream of fairytale princes, watch rom coms and why we love the dream of knights on shining armour coming to rescue us. It's about who we are; our very souls; the essence of being a woman.
I've found it an interesting read and has really helped me with my extraordinarily low self-esteem. Understanding more about my life as a woman and my role in life and knowing that just being who I am is enough has encouraged me no end.

I'd been debating with myself as to whether or not mention it here on my blog and then this morning I looked on the Her Space | My Space challenge blog and noticed that the word for today is "beauty". How very apt. I'd just read a chapter in the book about beauty. The beauty of women.

It's not just about how we look on the outside. Constantly striving to lose weight. Wanting to wear pretty clothes. Get a facial, manicure, pedicure. Huge business eh? And to some degree, it's a constant battle. If we're honest with ourselves, we all want to look beautiful. And I'm beginning to learn that it's ok for us women to want that but we need to also be beautiful on the inside. And when we can achieve that I believe that is what makes us beautiful on the outside. It enhances our beauty.

And to find peace with ourselves. To get healthy but not to constantly do battle about the outward appearance. To accept the way we are. The way we look. It's who we are. It's who I am. I am who I am. I've always struggled with my weight. Constant battle. Even when I wasn't overweight, it was a battle. And I'm learning to just let that go. I want to be healthy. Don't get me wrong. It's not about giving up and just eating everything in sight. No. No. I eat healthily. I exercise. But I'm just not going to keep belittling myself and thinking I'm less of a person because I'm not a size 10 or 12.

I don't think it's about size or weight. It's self-esteem. I had the same fears and battles when I was a size 10 - 12. Somehow though it got worse the more weight I put on. The older I got. The worse it got. It didn't help to then suffer a lot of emotional pain in my first marriage through my ex telling me he was really a "woman" trapped in a man's body. After 20 yrs of marriage. Ugh! My heart broke for him. I could see his genuine pain but then it hit me like a speeding train. The pain.

Suddenly I was faced with alsorts of issues about my feminity and why he'd "done" this to me. Of course there was a lot more going on. It was complicated, to say the very least. Nevertheless, it was painful. And a huge blow to my already low self-esteem.

It's taken a couple of years and the new love of a really good man - a real man - a confident "in who he is" kinda man - but I'm finally feeling ok about who I am. It's helped a lot to read this book. To accept myself as I am. To feel beautiful without any make-up. To be excited about the dreams I had as a little girl were ok and normal. To fully embrace the fact that I love Jane Austen. That I love romance. That I love things of beauty and I love taking care of my man and not feel that I'm somehow belittling myself by wanting to play a traditional role in our home. Slowly but surely I feel like I'm coming into my own.

And getting back to HS | MS photo prompt, beauty. I had to really think about the photo I wanted to share/take. Yes, I thought of the beautiful things in my back garden. The beach down the road. The flowers in my kitchen in a vase. So much beauty surrounds me. And then I asked Steve (hubby) a simple question - "If I say the word "beauty", what is the first thing you think of?" And he looked at me without hesitating, seriously, looked at me and said "you". Ugh! Me. He really thinks I'm beautiful. To him, I'm his beauty. He is my "beast" - my prince. My knight in shining armour. Ha! Yep.

Well, I thought about putting a photo of me, in light of all that I've just spoken about, having the confidence to put a photo of me under the word "beauty", on my blog but then I thought about my daughter. She's beautiful. She's my child. She's a woman. A beautiful woman inside and out. She's young. Almost 21yrs. But she's suffering. She is in a lot of emotional pain. And sometimes physical pain. But she's strong and I believe she will get better and be the woman she wants to be. To fully embrace who she was born to be and not let society, her father's transgender issues or any of life's roadblocks hurt who she is. Any more. And you can be sure that I'm going to be buying her a copy of that book!

Happy, Happy, Happy

Yep! Just happy today. Feeling happy. Contented. At peace. Loving. Happy.

Jen (my daughter) spent the weekend with us and it was so nice. Watched tv, dvds, went for a walk, wandered and mooched through town, had lunch. Lots of good things with quality time together as a family.

Happy to see the sun show through the clouds today. Everything looks so green and lush after the rain. Rain is good eh? I know we moan when it rains but really. Rain is good. Driving to Ashford from Whitstable is so beautiful. Through the Kent countryside. Stunning views. Picturesque. Inspiring. And after a couple of days of rain, you really see how things have blossomed. And the colours just pop out at you. Driving past Challock woods we had to pull up and just stop. A stunning carpet of bluebells stretched out forever through the woods. Awesome sight. These couple of photos don't do it justice at all.

And yes it is also that "sneezy" time of the year. Hay fever. Yep. That's me. Over at HS|MS, they're having fun with the Seven Dwarves as the daily photo prompts. I've missed them up til now due to a crazy busy week last week and also being away for a couple of days as well as having my brother-in-law staying. So yeah. Today is Sneezy. My photo is one I took a couple of weeks ago. Not a great place for me to be. Petting farm animals. Lots of anti-histamine needed as I'm horribly allergic to most animals. Ugh! Including this cute little bunny rabbit my granddaughter is stroking. Makes me sneeze. For sure, I'm sneezy.

Looking forward to getting back into a routine this week and catching up with all the blogs I love. Hope you all have a great week.

Embrace The Difference

Is it something we learn as we get older? Should we teach our children from a very young age to accept other people may not always be the same as you or behave in a way that you would? I'm not talking about racism. I'm not talking about difference in race, creed or religion. Human behaviour. Good ole human behaviour.

Let's be honest, none of us our perfect. Not even close. We all make mistakes. We oftentimes like to think of ourselves as better than the person next door. What about families? Nature v. nuture. Being brought up in the same household doesn't guarantee that we will all get on. Or that we are like our siblings. Its just the way it is.

So what do we do if we are faced with people in our lives that sometimes, unintentionally, hurt us? Say insensitive things? Do insensitive things? Do things we don't agree with? How are we supposed to deal with that? I think this is seen at work more often than not in marriage. When two families are almost forced together due to two people falling in love.

I've watched it from afar and close at home. It's difficult. In the end, I honestly feel that when you don't understand the behaviour of another person, or group of people, you have to just accept them for who they are. You can't expect them to change just because you don't agree with how they behave or lead their lives. And that's difficult if you're the one that gets hurt because someone has done or said something that hurts you or those you love deeply.

Many times I've wanted to say something in that situation. To stand up and say "hey!" but I don't. Partly because of my personality - I hate, hate confrontation but also, I think, because of a wisdom inside that tells me, it won't make any difference in the long term. It just won't. I wish it would. But it wont.

So you have to embrace the difference. Accept that those people are who they are just as you are who you are. Ugh! Does that even make sense? Not good grammar or english really. Step in that person's shoes for a moment. Not in anger or frustration but in grace and mercy. See what it's like from the other side. Perhaps they think you behave in a way that's odd. Perhaps they don't agree with the way you live your life. They may not think they way you do things is right either? It works both ways.

For peace, harmony and real love, embrace the difference. Especially if its a family situation. Close family. Extended family. Dysfunctional family. It doesn't matter. We're all different. Neither is better than the other. Sometimes, it's just different.

Paper Scraps

Ok, so I never got into the whole paper scrapping thing. I went straight for digi. But I've always been a crafter and there's a huge crossover between scrapbooking and other paper crafts. And I've noticed it a lot recently as I've taken up a new hobby creating mixed media art.

As I've mentioned before, my hubby bought me a bunch of art supplies knowing how much I've loved doodling in my sketch pad and talking about how much I'd like to paint. So anyway, I discovered the joy of creating mixed media pieces and use a lot of scrapbooking papers. Scraps of anything really. Old books. Card. Magazines. And yes, scrapbooking papers.

See this little folksy art house canvas I created, the house and flowers are a mixture of scrap scrapbooking papers, paint and torn up book pages. Cool eh?

So if any of my blog readers and paper scrapbooking friends keep their scraps, I'd love to take them off your hands. Will be happy to pay a small token for them and postage of course. I'm looking for pieces that are about 2" wide or bigger.

Don't throw your scraps away. I'll have them. Email me if you have any so we can sort out payment/postage etc.. And I'll be so very grateful. Waste not, want not. x

Oh and before I go, here's my photo for the HS|MS photo word prompt, lines. We've had some super dupa weather lately which means lots of walks down to the beach and harbour. Those dunlins birds are so funny and are everywhere. They love all the ropes and netting at the harbour. Anyway, lots of lines in this photo!

Hope everyone has a fab day!
x

A Little Time Away

Been away for a few days with my daughter. Had a special time with her and been enjoying this beautiful warm, Summer sunshine.

Got visitors staying now so will be away a little while longer!
x

Rambling Things of the Heart

Feeling very reflective today. Very spiritually reflective. Boy, my mood swings have been extreme the last couple of days!

Got a lot on my mind. Good. Bad. Happy. Sad. My precious daughter. She's suffering at the moment. Just really needs lots of love, hope and encouragement. There's a lot going on with her and I'm going to go and spend a couple of days at my sister's with her. I'll be sharing a room with her and so we can have some really good mother daughter time.

My children are all in their early twenties. You never stop worrying about them. My mum always used to say that to me and I never really got it until recently. I realised they were all independent, leading their own lives. Well adjusted young adults and yet every day, they're in my thoughts. Every day I wonder if they're ok. Are they truly happy? Do they need anything? Are they safe? Communication. That's the key. Stay in touch. Talk to them. Love them unconditionally.

About 15 yrs ago. Where did that time go?
In a heartbeat, it's gone.

And so in this quiet time this morning, while my husband is sleeping after working all night, I've been reflective and thinking about all the things around me that I love.

That inspire me. Things in my office/studio. People. My family. My friends. The peace of where I live. I'm truly blessed. I know that I'm blessed. Thank you God for all you have given me. Thank you for the hope of tomorrow.

Yo Yo

Yep. I'm up and down like a yo yo today. Ugh! Guessing that it's that rotten time of the month. Is that too much information? Oh well. No other explanation for my mood swings today. I didn't work in the end. I couldn't. I felt so yucky. Annoyed. Frustrated. Sad. Fortunately, I have the best friend and hubby in the world all rolled into one. I told him immediately this morning how I was feeling. And it helped. We always try to work through this together otherwise I think I'd just close him out during these few days a month. And I don't want to do that.

I took a couple of photos for the Her Space | My Space daily challenge this morning. I tried to get enthusiastic about working but it wasn't going to happen. I got more and more frustrated and so I started working on some new 3d characters for my collage art. That helped. I also created a flikr account and uploaded my digital photo collages. Felt even better after that. Achievement. Creativity. And then this afternoon, I got one of my Somerset Studio magazines, my fave throw and crawled onto my bed. Next thing I knew, Steve was waking me up and it was gone 6pm. Ugh. I slept and slept. Guess I needed it.

We decided to go for a nice walk then had dinner and really felt much better. I can still feel the frustration. Chocolate cravings. Sadness. But mainly feel better. Lots of hugs. Positive words. Sunshine. Creativity. It all helped.
Word for photo challenge today is "View" and so I took a photo of my view from my favourite chair in the living room:

Family, Hearth and Home

Today we went to my parent's to celebrate my brother's birthday. Had an incredible day. I love my family so much. Great time with my granddaughter. That child is soooo entertaining. Was also nice sitting in the garden catching up with my Dad and brother... not seen them for a while. Really, really missed my mum and sister and her family thought. They're on their way home from holiday as I type. Can't wait to see them.

So anyway, on the journey to my parent's we drove past the most amazing, amazing woods that were carpeted with bluebells. Eeeeeek! I can't even begin to explain the natural beauty before our eyes. Steve pulled as soon as he could and we proceed to walk through the woods taking photographs. And the photos don't do the scene any justice. You had to be there. We were both awe struck. And our imaginations went wild. I guess that's the result of us both being artists. Fairies, medieval maidens, knights in shining armour, unicorns were all wandering through those woods. Yep! Incredible.

Oh and I created a mixed media collage art piece for my brother and sister-in-law - joint birthday presents. They were thrilled with it. I think more that I made it myself and thought of them and their family. I was very nervous giving it to them. Not everyone's style, y'know. But it came from my heart and I think that's what matter to me in the end, and to them.

And although it's Bank Holiday tomorrow, I'm going to work. Yep. Really am. Going to work. Of course, you know I work from home so it's not such a chore. And I'm blessed, greatly blessed to do work that I love and is a passion to me. Seriously though, I need to do some work so tomorrow I'm going to have a lie in and then work for the rest of the day.

Ok - gotta get this posted before the stroke of midnight. Hope everyone has a great Bank Holiday tomorrow! x

Sunshiney Day

It's been such a fabulous day. Sun's been shining. Soft, warm breeze. Just beautiful. Just perfect. I spent most of the day cleaning. Cleaning. Cleaning. Moved the living room round. Did a deep clean in every room. Fantastic. Feels great. Got 2 loads of washing done. Oh and the smell!
Don't you love the smell of washing that's been drying outside all day? Wonderful. A great day of warm sunshine, pretty smells and a satisfying feeling of being active and getting an awful lot done.


So tonight, I'm going to paint and watch Saturday night tv.

Oh and here's my self-portrait for HS|MS. It's a fave photo of mine. Me with my four kiddos taken about 15 yrs ago. Ugh!
Hope everyone has a fabo evening!
x

All Change

Wow! Two posts in one day.

Ok, I'm making some little changes. I've been online in one form or another since 1996 eeeeek! A longgg time. I've been blogging since day one. First with Diaryland and now with Blogger. And it's always been "Di's Dailies". Not anymore. I'm changing my blog name to "Charmingly Simple". Which is my life, basically. It's my idyll. Charmingly Simple. The url will stay the same [for now]. Only the name is changing. I need something new since I've moved on so much and my life's changed so dramatically over the past 2 yrs. Just time for something different and new to celebrate my life as it is new.

And of course, I had to do a new graphic for the header as well as a new avatar for my profile. Hope you like. Was a nice couple of hours just pushing pixels round this afternoon! Oh and here's the larger version of my avatar. x

Friday Ramblings

Is that right? It's Friday? But it was only Monday yesterday. Well, it felt like it anyway. And it's May. Whoa. Almost half way through the year. Ugh!So today I got up really late having not gone to bed til 3am. That seems to be happening a lot lately. But hey it's ok. I got enough sleep and also meant I did some painting and got some work done yesterday.

Looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend and not working. Steve and I are going to go see my family on Sunday to celebrate my brother's birthday. Well, some of my family. Some are on holiday at the moment but will be back early next week. Either way, looking forward to just relaxing with everyone.

Oh something I wanted to share is that I recently bought "Somerset Digital Studio" from these lovely people, Altered Treasures, and what a beautifully put together magazine special.

So inspiring. I loved seeing lots of different artists and it made a change from seeing the "same ole, same ole" faces you normally see especially in some of the more popular digi scrap and trad scrap magazines. Don't get me wrong, I love all the popular scrappers/artists but it is nice to see something different.

And I loved that this magazine wasn't just layouts but all kinds of art created digitally. Fantastic read.

Ok, what else? Oh yeah. Today's Her Space | My Space photo word prompt is "strings". So the strings in my space are from my hubby's guitar and bass. That's another thing I love about him. He's musical. Actually, I'd say he's an all round very creative person. Oh and did I tell you he writes? Will share about that another day though. Here's my photo of string:

Art Journal, Pinchbecks, Up North and Thunder Storms

Yep, it's a big 'ole blog post today. Cool eh? Really wanted to share some things I've been up to lately. Started an art journal. My gorgeous hubby bought me some wonderful new art supplies a couple of weeks ago and I've been dying to get my hands messy and slap paint around a bit. He really indulged me and has been keen for me to be able to get creative in new ways. Apart from my crocheting and fabric crafting bits and pieces, most of my art has been done digitally. And I do love that but I wanted and needed a new creative outlet since my work is on a computer every day. It's been good to get back to hands on art. And of course much easier now I have "an empty nest".

This is a new chapter in my life. I've had a lot of heartache, painful emotional trauma and family tragedy over the past 10 yrs which included the ending of my 20yr marriage. My self confidence was next to nothing. And then I met my Steve. The love of my life and now darling hubby. From day one, he's been so encouraging and has always wanted me to feel free to express myself in any way I need to. I don't know if it's because he's also an artist and an extraordinary creative soul himself or just part of who he is. Either way, he's created an environment in our home where I feel safe, happy and excited about trying new creative outlets.

So yeah. New art supplies. Creating an art journal. The first one is about Steve and I. Just day to day stuff. How I love him. Why I love him. We can't have children which breaks my heart and so I wanted to leave some kind of legacy of our love. I need people to know how special our relationship is and writing it down, painting it and creating in an art journal seems the most fitting way to do it.


What else? Oh yeah. Up north. Steve and I went up north to visit his family over the weekend. We've not had a chance to go before now due to work etc.. It was a lovely weekend. We drove through Pinchbeck - yep, there's a village called Pinchbeck, like our surname, how cool is that? And what a lovely little village. So pretty. Took a ton of photos. The weather was so beautiful. A warm, sunny day. Not too warm. A gentle breeze. Perfect. We just couldn't believe it.

On Sunday morning early, we took a lovely walk on the beach at Cleethorpes. Again beautiful weather. A little misty but it was quite early. Another perfect day.

In the afternoon, we took Steve's nephews to the park to play and kick a football around. Interesting. Ha! Poor Steve. Not done that for a long time. Run round a playing field playing footy! Ha! The boys had so much fun though and it was great spending time with them.


And then today. We decided to go out to see if we could get some cheap flooring for our studio/office for when Steve is painting, to protect the floor. And also for the living room, where I paint. Anyway, the sky turned so dark and a thunder storm rumbled in the distance. We just had to get some photos as the sky was so dark in one direction, out at sea, while the other way it was fluffy white clouds and sunshine. Just amazing so we went to the beach and took photos and just stood there watching the sea, clouds and thunder storm sky.

I love this life I have with this man. It works so well, I think, because we have so much in common. We love so many of the same things. It's kinda shocking sometimes when we realise that we spend 24/7 together and never argue. But laugh. We laugh so much. And just generally being together. He's my best friend ever and he says the same about me. Sorry. Feeling a bit loved up today about my man!


Ok. Enough. Diane, move on. Right. Photo prompt for today is "spectacle". I chose to take a photo of my spectacles. I wear them for reading and working on the computer and of course crafting etc.. I have a habit of putting them down on my keyboard whenever I get up from my computer. I really need one of those necklaces for them. So anyway, these are spectacles in my space today.

Hope you all have a great evening!
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