Happy New Year…
to all my friends and loved ones. Can’t say that I am sorry to see 2010 go, a thoroughly shit year for many, and including me. Trying to remain hopeful that 2011 will be a better year in the face of certain hardship thanks to the current Tory government. But still, I remain optimistic and determined to achieve as much as possible.
So, my goals for 2011 are thus.
1. Get fit and start riding my bike again.
2. Paint and create every single day.
3. Take my cameras out, every trip.
4. Take more time out to read.
5. Spend less time online.
6. Don’t shout.
7. Count my blessings every day.
8. Be a good Mummy…all the time.
9. Be more forgiving and let things go..
10. Stay optimistic.
That’s it. Not earth shattering. Just simple.
Buck up buttercup…
As my husband would say.
Not been very active on here lately, or on my Art blog, or even been working much doing anything.
Since Gladys died and consequently ‘some’ contact with my estranged parents, plus menopausal episodes, ergo…hot flushes (yes I know, everyone says I am a bit young to be having them, but it doesn’t make it any less of a bother), I have lost my creative mojo to a degree. So, have not been doing a lot of artwork lately. I have done some sketchbook work and revisiting some subjects and ideas from the past, like letter art and pen and ink line art.
So, I am working hard to get it back, and try to keep my mood levels consistent. Sadly, not always easy. I have good days and bad days. On good days I am able to work, and on bad days…I worry about getting older, having to deal with health ‘issues’, having to cope with anxiety and OCD, and all the other attendant psychological crap.
But, I remind myself that it could always be a lot worse, and pays to count ones blessings. So….I do.
Cowboy builders + a dream shattered
Anns Hallway
I want to tell you a story about a friend of mine. A friend who worked and saved hard for her dream home, and had that dream shattered.
Many of you may have seen that show “Cowboy Builders” on five, whenever I have seen it I have sat aghast at the sheer devastation these unscrupulous people leave in their wake. It’s not only the buildings they destroy but very clearly the lives of the people/families who they prey upon.
Sadly, a friend and designer-maker Ann of handmade eco homewares Snowdrops and Daisies and The Tea Cosy Shop and her family have fallen prey to just such an unscrupulous builder. The house, which was meant to benefit from a beautiful new extension, now lies in a total shambles: no electrics in the kitchen, wonky floors, windows that open inwards instead of outwards, in some areas no protective material on the outer skin of the extension, exposed gas pipes and electrical wires in outside walls, garden used as a building materials dumping ground….I could go on. You can read the whole nightmarish ordeal here on Ann’s blog.
What WE can do to help Ann and her family:
- Spread the word!! Obviously Ann cannot name the builders in question for legal reasons but by telling Ann’s story and raising the profile of this all too common issue we can help! So, get blogging, twittering and facebooking about this.
- Subscribe to Ann’s blog, just click the “subscribe” button;
- If you live nearby (South Lanarkshire, Scotland) donate your time to help them out. If you have specialist skills (electrician, plumber, carpenter, plasterer etc) even better! Ann says there is room to camp if anyone is willing;
- Donate something: If you are an artist, designer-maker, crafter Ann and her family would welcome donations of your work to make their house feel like a home again. They won’t have any funds left for little luxuries like these as their funds will be wiped out with trying to fix the botch job they have been left with;
- Buy something from Ann’s shops: Snowdrops and Daisies and The Tea Cosy Shop.
Read more details of how to help here.
Ann's Cup Cosy
It’s loss…
Lorrie 1997, aged 35.
Those who knew me more than fifteen years ago, or even ten or so will remember I was a pretty girl. I wasn’t terribly vein I don’t think. In fact, until I was about 30, I really didn’t think I was anything special at all. But, I was slim, had long silky hair, pale with green eyes that held a somewhat steely glint at times, and…I was pretty. I took it for granted, and at times enjoyed it. It was not the most important thing to me certainly, and why I didn’t spend too much time on it.
I held my looks I think until I was about 40. Certainly when I look at my wedding photos I look good, and definitely not 40, lucky me. Sadly, with the birth of Orla, recovering from a traumatic and gruesome delivery, her colic, sleepless nights without end, her illnesses, and nary a full nights sleep in five years etc, have taken their toll.
I don’t know when it was exactly that I suddenly looked old and tired, and most definitely not young and pretty any more. I also can’t seem to remember when it was that I lost interest. I was photogenic when I was young, and loved having my picture taken. Now, I avoid the camera at all times, and stay behind the lens if I can rather than in front. These days, unless carefully composed, it’s almost impossible for me to get a good shot of myself without looking old, tired drawn, exhausted and a face that looks positively sagging. Being overweight doesn’t help I know. I look in the mirror now, with the knowledge that on this day, this is as good as it gets, and this premise will apply for every day here after.
This is not a whine tough, it really isn’t. For after all, what can I do? Starve myself and end up looking like an old chicken, fill my face with poison and look like a piece of sweaty playdo? And indeed, what I got in exchange was infinitely more wonderful than looks. I got my little girl, who I could not live without. The most amazing, vibrant, exciting, loving, funny, clever and adorable little creature that brings utter joy to my life.
No, one must accept it, and I do. Beauty is purely subjective anyway, and being a middle aged woman is now become quite trendy and cool, but, I do sometimes miss being young and pretty.
New Glasses
Recently I got my eyes retested, and this time instead of going to Specsavers (which my husband describes as the’ fastfood’ of the optometry world), I went to the optician that tested my daughters eyes. I had the most thorough eye test of my life, which lasted nearly an hour, and having discussed what my needs were (glasses for close work) I went to choose my frames.
Let’s just say I got a little carried away. Normally in Specsavers I would point at a rack and say ‘how much are these’ etc. This time I just started grabbing frames and trying them on, accompanied by ‘oohhs’ and ‘ahhhs’ and, ‘aren’t these pretty’. I found a pair I liked and that felt comfortable. ‘How much are these’ I asked, ‘£180′ was the reply, which meant added to the cost of my eye test, I would be paying over £210. ‘They are made of Titanium’ was the response to my silence, ‘not gold then?’ I replied.
So, given they are important for my work, I accepted with good grace, and paid the deposit, rang my husband and gave him the happy news. A week later we went and got my new glasses. When they handed me the glasses in their case, my first thought was that the case had probably cost as much as the glasses.
Oh well. They do look nice, and I got a free makeup mirror as well.
Lorrie Whittington
Visual Artist and Designer
Chichester, UK
