Artistic Musings

Enjoying some R & R ...

Yes, taking a break from the 'unpacking thang' and instead enjoying checking out some local beaches, in search of potential surfing spots for the surfers in our family. It was an overcast day, and ended up in rain, but we enjoyed discovering a few new (to us) surf beaches. Here are some photos from our expedition ...

I remember visiting this lighthouse when I was in Year 12, many many years ago, and it hasn't changed much, just looking a little more rundown ... Funny to think that my children are now roaming around the same lighthouse. More next time ...

Weekend shoppe news ...

Me and my aching legs are having a short break from all the frenetic unpacking ... I'm sitting on the aubergine lounge with my feet up on the coffee table, watching a rerun while the rest of my family ambles off to explore the lake shores near our new home! Very peaceful, I must say!

First of all, a sales' alert ... :)

You can find jot & scribble's sale here ...

I thought I would share some new things in the shoppe this weekend ... most of our twolittlepixels' designers are having a little 'christmas/new year break' this week ... I haven't even had a chance to get to my computer to design, and I think the rest of the girls are enjoying spending time with their families. But there is something new (and gorgeous) from creashens and from cherpea designs. :)

From creashens, three new (to twolittlepixels) products, beginning with ... Three Little Birds!

[Available here ... ]

Swell Set No. 5 ...

[Available here ... ]

Stitches No. 1 ...

[Available here ... ]

From cherpea designs, two new products ... Dreaming in black and white paper pack!

[Available here ... ]

Dreaming in black and white alpha ...

[Available here ... ]

Don't forget, these new products are available at 25% off the usual price for the next 24 hours. You can find our *SPECIALS* here ... enjoy your weekend! :)

Welcome 'home' ...

Almost there. Not quite there yet, but almost there! There was a knock on our brand new door a couple of days ago, and instead of the gas man, or phone man, or rubbish bin man, there was a nice man holding these gorgeous flowers from my best friend, welcoming me to my new home. Isn't she the best? The flowers have pride of place on my desk, and they make me smile everytime I walk past my room.

It's been a long, hard shift ... I don't remember it being this difficult last time, eleven years ago. Maybe it's just that I got older, and we collected more stuff, and I'm tireder this year end. Maybe that's it. Anyway, I'm in the home stretch ... the Internet arrives late next week, which will be wonderful. I've been using wireless broadband for the last three weeks, and as good as it has been, it will be a relief to have Internet access that doesn't drop out all the time, at my big desk/computer/monitors where I can work properly. (I've had a corrupted SIM card in the wireless modem, so that has meant two forty minute trips to the local shops to get it replaced.)

Yesterday was 'work on Sharon's room' day ... I'm incredibly fortunate in that I have a room of my own in this house, and I have my work desk, my white bookcases and my aubergine lounge in there. Yesterday the girl and I sorted out my 600+ books, getting them ready to shelve, while DH mended my precious white bookcases which did not travel well. They are lovely to look at and store books dust free, but they don't like being moved, and the backs fell off, and one door fell off. I'm not sure they are going to be able to travel back home in four years time ... sob!

 

The girl has been 'working' in her room for four days now, and still hasn't got it sort out yet, the boy unpacked his computer, his TV and most of his games consoles and is happily existing in the middle of a pile of boxes. He would probably live like that forever, so every now and then I do a little bit of unpacking for him. The biggest problem is that we are seriously short of storage space, so I'm having problems finding spaces for everything.

Here's a look at what we enjoyed for dessert on Christmas day ... it was totally delish! I'm back to the unpacking ... see you soon!

Christmas pics ...

Christmas fun ... my wonderful MIL was recently at a church fair, and saw something that she was sure her 'almost 6 ft, 15 yr old granddaughter' would like ... a faerie headband, I guess you could call it. She saw a lil girl running around the stalls with a pretty pink feathery piece of stuff floating behind her, and asked her mum where she had bought it, as she had a granddaughter who would love one. And she was right!!! Our girl wore it all day, and it looked beautiful against the blue seascape behind her.

 

 

[trying to beat (ok, she thrashed me!) her mother's score in Jungle Jewels ... ]

[getting straight into a new Christmas book ... ]

[relaxing with a book and the ocean ... ]

[even I got into the festivities ... ]

It was a lovely day all round ... some surfing, lots of dessert, conversation, even some morning napping/snoring by some (older) members of our party! We had a low-key Christmas lunch, too many chocolates, and then lots of reading ... Santa brought lots of new books! Hope your Christmas was as peaceful as ours ... :)

Season's Greetings!!!

 

Summer daze ...

Holidays, as my children get older, are becoming much more relaxing. It sure is a different thing to take adults and 'almost adults' on holidays, to taking toddlers on holidays. For one thing, grown-up kids happily entertain themselves and don't need constant supervision. I just floated around our unit checking on what everyone was up to. The girl was busy consuming a chocolate bar and watching Season 4 of LOST.

The boy is busy playing a game, reading his game guide, with one hand on the remote control, checking out whats on TV every now and then.

DH is stretched out on the bed, reading a book. He's got quite a surfers tan going on there, from the sleeves of his wetsuit down, lol. Each to his own, each chilling out in his own fashion, each quite content and relaxed. This is the way holidays should be ...

Each year we book the same unit, and each year, it's fun to check out the latest renovations/improvements. The unit is right on the water, fourth floor up, and I can easily see my surfers from the balcony. Because I love with 'grown-ups' now, food prep and cleaning up is pretty stream-lined; again, so much easier than with little people underfoot. We keep our meals very simple, and each person is responsible for cleaning up their own dishes. But on the rare occasion that there is something on the kitchen bench that needs washing, I'm happy to do it. Who wouldn't, with a view from their kitchen window like this ...