Diva #282 - Spill it

This week's Diva challenge was to use a tile that we'd spilt something on. I chose to drop some food colouring onto some tiles.

Here are my tiles. Lots of them this week. You'll understand why there are lots in a moment.

Where I was when I did my Diva tiles

The last couple of days have been challenging for our family. My husband became very ill on Sunday night. I took him to hospital Monday morning. On Tuesday afternoon he had emergency surgery. The good news is the surgery was considered a day procedure, so he was allowed home that evening.  The bad news is that he will require more surgery in several weeks time and who knows what other follow up. 

The positives out of all this is that the problem was caught and fixed. Thank you Medical System that we have in Australia. Top notch. Wonderful. I was able to care for him and be by his side, which is pay back for the countless days The Husband did the same for me over the years with my health issues (cancer survivor of nearly 10 years). Moo also stepped up by sitting with him Monday night, while BoyBoy did his part keeping the house and pets going.

How does this related to the Diva Challenge? I did the tiles while sitting waiting in hospital. All them done on my knee, not a table in sight.

So grateful for this art form, particularly how portable it is. 

My travelling Zentangle Kit

I have made up a little travelling Zentangle Kit. It includes a lovely, small, hard cover Jasart sketch book with 200gsm pages. This, plus pens, pencil, tortillon, and eraser all fit in a pencil case. This case goes with me to work and to medical appointments, any where where I expect to have to sit and wait for a while.

Here are some drawings I've done lately, based on the chapter about reticula and fragments in the Zentangle Primer. 

Head space

Last week I wrote about being in a black place. That has lifted somewhat although it takes daily effort.

Thanks for the messages of support. Your comments did make a difference. Gotta love this Zentangle community!

Lately I've been reminded of the Serenity Prayer. You would have heard it - it is used by the 12 step programs. I'm not in one of those and don't need to be, but the words of the prayer do resonate.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

One last thing - I've been skiing again

This blog post is soooo long! But I have to share some more pictures.

Last Saturday The Husband and I had another day skiing. The weather was frigid cold, the snow was deeper than it was last time, and our ski fitness levels had increased. We managed to ski for 22km, over 16 runs, over 6 hours. It was a brilliant, brilliant day. So happy to have rediscovered this sport and to have worked out how to get ourselves down to the snow.

Looking up Pretty Valley from the chair lift

Me about to drop down into Pretty Valley. Copper Head Rd, my favourite run, is way off to the left of the photo.

Me taking a break, bottom of Pleasant Valley. It was COLD!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my page. I will get back into visiting yours. Life just needs to settle down a bit, that's all.

Miss L

Diva #276 - moving tangles

This week's Diva challenge is to tangle while moving. I don't have a tile like that or an opportunity to create one - I have only a 10 minute car ride to work and I'm the driver. However, I do have a page of my Zentangle Primer Journal that I worked on at an airport. 

I started the page at Melbourne Airport on my way to Tasmania to draw with Shelly Beauch, I addded to it during the week, and then did some more while waiting at Melbourne Airport for my delayed return flight to Canberra. 


Here's the tile and my selfie, primer opened and pen in hand.

You might notice the pressure garment on my left hand. It extends all the way up my arm, is a relic of having cancer and is something I have to wear every time I fly. It prevents me getting lymphedema. 

Zentangle Primer and Journal

I've had some pretty nice comments about my use of the ZT Primer journal - both on this blog and on the ZT mosaic app. Remember that there are no mistakes in Zentangle. Don't let the loveliness of the journal stop you from using it and making it your own. The journal is meant to DRAW IN. 

Here's one of my recent drawings, based on the image on page 46 of the Primer. My favourite tangle in this is Shattuck - I've learnt how to vary the weight of my pen lines in it, which is something I've not been confident to do before. 

Tasmania trip

Readers of this blog would know that I love to travel, and I'm enjoying travelling solo sometimes. My recent trip was to Tasmania. 


Here's some photos. Photos were mostly taken in the Bay of Fires region in the NE Tasmania.

Have a great week. 

Miss L

Diva #265 - stripes

Here are my Diva tiles for this week.

Getting healthy

There's been a bit going on in my world lately.

For a start, I have added some new pages to my blog. One of the pages is called No More Excuses. That's my health improvement mini-blog, or blog within a blog? 

After spending a week at a health retreat, I've come back home determined to make changes to improve my health. One of the changes is to follow a specific exercise plan and not just say that I'm going to exercise more. As part of that, I got early yesterday and did a half hour weights session on my back deck while this morning I went for a jog/power walk. 

See more here.

Travel to the Snowy Mountains

Another addition to my blog is a page about travelling to the Snowy Mountains last weekend. 

The purpose of the trip was to get out of town for a short break, have some fun driving, do some bush walking, and reconnect with some favourite places. We I had not intended was to get lost on a bush walk or to struggle through thigh high scrub to rejoin a walking trail but that's what happened. I found it stressful but the Husband loves this sort of off-track exploring. Mmmmm.

We stayed at Bimblegumbie. It has the most amazing garden, complete with unusual sculptures. And yes, they are urinals below.

See more here.

Have a good week and thanks for supporting my blog.

Miss L

Diva #258 - Use My Tangle

This week's Diva challenge invited us to use the Tangle Rautyflex. I don't think this is one I will use again. My preference is to choose Tangles that are organic or free-flowing and this one is neither. Plus I still can't 'see' the Tangle.  I spent some time working on it last night and it ended up being my husband who explained the step-outs to me. 

What I should do is add to my list of Tangles that I want to practice when I next work with Shelly Beauchamp later this year. What I should also do is let Shelly know that I'm planning on seeing her again ......

Anyway, here's my first tile. I added Heartstrings, Catkin and Tipple. The tile is meant to look like a door into a garden. That was not my intention when I started but that's the direction it moved in once I added Heartstrings. 

I created my second tile this afternoon. I used 'Nzeppel inside Rautyflex, then added 'Dillo and Ansu with a hint of Knightbridge.

'Nzeppel in real life

Here's a photo I took on the weekend of a rock shelf near Husskison, Jervis Bay. Don't you think it looks like 'Nzeppel?

When it a cold not a cold?

Last week in my blog I mentioned that my cold had come back. Well, turns out that it wasn't a cold, it was asthma that had gotten out of control. 

I was diagnosed with asthma nearly 20 years ago. It's something I live with and manage without much thought. Bad times for it is spring but not this year. No, this time it was during an extended heat wave (which shows no sign of ending!). At least I could fight this without much effort and with fairly quick results. The quick results were a blessing as the Husband and I did a very, very Canberra thing which was to "go down the coast" for the weekend.

Husskison again

The Husband and I stayed at the same beach shack that Moo and I discovered earlier this year. The weather was hot but not too hot, the water was clean, clear and inviting, and the beaches were endless.

Here's me showing how happy I am to be back at the beach. 

Weekends away are not just about the food, the beach, the sand, the peace but about finding cute critters. Or is that just me? Here's a little Eastern Water Dragon just sitting in the sun. This one was only about 15cm long. They can get much bigger - up to 80cm.

Have a great week, wherever you are.

Miss L

Tales of the unexpected

I have just returned from a short break to the coast.

Take a look at the image below. What do you think it is?

Find the answer to this by visiting my new page 'Travel to: Jervis Bay'. You will need scroll down a bit to see more photos of this weird critter.

Miss L

Christmas on Lord Howe Island

Welcome to my blog. It's been a couple of weeks since I last updated it. Thanks for being patient.

For the last week my family and I have been staying in paradise, otherwise known as Lord Howe Island (LHI).

LHI is a little island about 800km NE of Sydney, Australia. It is made up of the very old remnants of a volcano and is surrounded by coral reef. Less than 300 people call the island home and there is a cap on the number of visitors allowed on the island at any one time.

Looking south across the lagoon to Mt Lidgbird and Mt Gower 

Our family has visited this magical place a few times before. The first time for the Husband and I was on our honeymoon, over 21 years ago. Every time since then we've taken the kids. This was their 4th trip and our 5th. Every visit is different and we discover new things each time, despite the island being pretty small and most of it unaccessible, densely forested mountains. (The highest mountain is over 800m above sea level, which is about 200m higher than Canberra.)

We arrived on LHI on Monday 21 December and left the following Monday. Our week encompassed Moo's 19th birthday and Christmas Day.

Lagoon Road

Christmas Day with a LHI twist

The day started normally, with a traditional breakfast of pancakes. Then followed some Christmas present sharing. We brought our own tree and decorations with us. Weight limits for the flight over are strict, so we had to be careful about the size and weight of presents, as well as the tree.

A pause in gift giving while the Husband and I went to church. Church was a 5 minute bike ride from our lodge to the church. The congregation was a mix of locals and visitors.

Leaving church on my bike, Christmas morning

Back to our lodge (Ocean View Apartments - we've been staying there ever since we first brought the kids to the island and now wouldn't stay anywhere else) to finish gift giving.

Lunch was great. All the other guests of the lodge had lunch at one of the restaurants. We couldn't be bothered with a heavy meal so we stayed at the lodge and had the place to ourselves. Lunch was whatever we could throw on a BBQ. Bacon, haloumi cheese, onions, pineapple, and a few sausages of course.

After lunch was time for a quiet sit to allow the food to digest and time to look over our presents.

I normally find Christmas afternoon a bit dull and a bit sad. Our family is so, so small (only 4 or 6 celebrate it together out of a possible 8). There isn't the noise and activity and hours of eating and talking and making merry that the Christmas hype leads us to expect. This year, however, was different.

This year my little family of 4 went rock-pooling. We spent about an hour and half exploring the rock shelves at Middle Beach. It was brilliant. We found sea hares, sea cucumbers, hard coral, hermit crabs, giant clams, soft coral, fish, star fish ...... We stopped because the tide was coming in which covers the whole of the rock shelf.

Pink coral, Middle Beach rock shelf

On our way back to the lodge we stopped for a swim. It was low tide so the swimming wasn't that great off the jetty but at least we did it.

Another bucket list item ticked off - snorkelling on Christmas Day

Dinner was cold roast chicken on burger buns followed by chocolate for dessert. We played a couple of games that had been under our little Christmas tree.

Christmas this year was so, so special. Everyone got along, there was no tension, and everyone pitched in and helped. Then we got to spend it in on LHI doing very LHI things - bike riding, rock pooling, swimming.

Hanging out with the turtles, Old Settlement Beach

Jumping off the jetty

Swimming in the rain

Other things we did on LHI

• swam with sea turtles
• swam with reef sharks
• snorkelled at Old Settlement Beach, Lagoon Beach, Ned's Beach, Comets Hole, Horseshoe Reef, Erscott's Hole and the Sylphs' Hole
• rode bikes
• walked a lot
• ate wonderful food (can you eat too much fresh sea food?)
• got rained on
• viewed coral 
• got friendly with sea hares and hermit crabs
• poked giant clams
• took photos of nesting sea birds
• got rained on
• paddled on the lagoon in kayaks
• got rained on while paddling on the lagoon in kayaks 
• spent time with the Husband, Moo and BoyBoy
• looked at the view
• jumped off the jetty
• swam - in the lagoon, at Neds Beach and in the pool at our lodge
• I also had a 2 hour spa treatment at a Day Spa. 
• sat on the deck just doing nothing much

Things we did very little of

• did not drive a car
• used the internet very sparingly
• did only basic clothes washing
• not much cooking
• didn't draw much, which surprised me
• very little shopping

Happy New Year to all.

Miss L

Weekend getaway

This weekend The Husband and I went to the Blue Mountains to visit my brother and sister-in-law and to get out of town for a bit.

The Blue Mountains are west of Sydney. The area is known for sandstone cliffs and valleys that rival the Grand Canyon in the US in terms of size. The big difference in the Blue Mountains is that the cliff tops, valleys and canyons are lush and green, not desert.

The Husband and I did a short walk to a look out called Pulpit Rock and then walked for a while along the cliff top. The views were spectacular, as always in the Mountains, but not as good as normal because there was a lot of low cloud. We enjoyed it anyway and took lots of photos of the wildflowers.

In the afternoon we wandered amongst the shops in Leura, which one of the better known villages in the mountains. Dinner was spent with my brother and sister-in-law.

Ian has recently come back from fishing in Alaska. His stories of meeting Grizzly bears, black bears and moose were pretty funny. He even saw a bald eagle steal a salmon from a grizzly bear who was fishing just along the river from him and his friends.  Pretty amazing stuff.

It rained on Sunday so we didn't get any walking in. I had hoped to walk along the cliff top track which has stunning views in the Jamison Valley, or at least wander around town looking at the houses and gardens. Not to be this time. Instead, we took our time over breakfast then went browsing through some antique shops on the way down the mountain.

I managed to add to two teapots to my collection. They are made of tinted aluminium. These were popular in Australia in the 1960s I think, and something I associate with my Nan's house. I can't imagine how awful the tea would be. They will do nicely in my eclectic teapot collection.

We took lots of photos on our walk. I've made a collage of them. Hope they turn out well on the screen.

Enjoy.

Miss L