Hello Monday

I thought in my absence you might have started fretting that I'd run away and joined a circus, but it's okay, no trapeze knife juggling for me just yet. See, here I am, having a jolly old time at Le Artiste's annual junior school swim carnival. Can you see that enthusiasm etched into my features ? That is the face of a woman having fun, fun, fun I assure you.

But really, it's not about us is it folks ? It's about the kids, and whilst Petal was supremely unimpressed that she couldn't leap in and give those Year Three boys a run for their money *le sigh*, I think Le Artiste had a great day. The weather was perfect, there was a sausage sizzle and numerous lolly snakes were consumed (tutt tutt Coach, I saw, oh yes I did).

So anyway, silly season seems to have started early for us this year and my poor little diary is chockablock for the next three weeks. But most of my Christmas shopping is done and the tree is up, yes, we are almost counting down on an hourly basis now, yikes. My plan is to try and enjoy the relative calm before the school holidays begin, that's when things really turn up a notch and we have a house full of 'the crazies'....hang on....just taking a few breaths into the brown paper bag after thinking about it. How are you coping with the start of the festive season ? I am sure we can all get through it together...one, two, three...breathe into the bag, that's the way.

My Creative Space

I don't have many words this week but I want to say a huge "THANK-YOU," for all your feedback last week. It helped me enormously and I'm pleased to say that after some tweaking Witchy is now ready for some colour. I'm so much happier with this piece now and although I couldn't apply all your advice, it gave me heaps to consider.

I also thought I would share this little beauty with you. It's a fairly rough and ready bookmark which according to The Coach (just call him the Bookmark Police) breaks all the rules for allowable book mark widths....whatever....and features three of Petal's latest characters. I just adore them and say "phooey" to the Bookmark Police.

Thanks again to the lovely Kirsty for hosting another week of My Creative Space. I just love it.

Following the White Rabbit, Part Two.

Now where was I ? Stealthily merging in with the crowds at Saint-Lazare station in Paris I believe. After the excitement of the train ride in, Ms Sassy Britches and I decided to move at a much more sedate pace for a spell. We drifted around amongst the throng of hyped up revellers. We took some time out to eat a ridiculously over-priced super thin pizza (and really, who puts an entire slice of ham on the top ? That's just crazy stuff) and we went for the obligatory view of the Eiffel Tower, dodging spruikers at every turn...um hello, do we look like tourists ? We live here *ahem*.

It wasn't long before we were overcome with an unquenching thirst, all that running around you know, and we ventured off to an Irish bar which Ms Sassy Britches was familiar with (fearless and quite the girl around town).

Now I'm sure that you can understand that from this point forward, events become slightly blurred (obviously the pizza and that giant slice of ham), so I will try and keep them in order to the best of my ability.

Firstly, it has been my experience, that drinking in a bar and attempting conversation is a tricky business when you all speak the same language. Throw multiple Nationalities into the mix and it is downright hysterical and suddenly turns into a drunken game of charades. Which in itself is challenging when the person initiating the charades has probably forgotten what it was that they were trying to say about half way through the 'conversation'.

Secondly..actually I don't have a secondly, I just wanted to say 'firstly', so we'll just continue on shall we ? There was a rather diverse mix of characters in the bar that evening, from locals to tourists to drifters like ourselves. But I just have to mention Axl...yes, as in Rose, but said with a French accent of course. Axl was hot, he was a Parisian local, and he had that rocker bad boy thing going on. Axl and Ms Sassy Britches were 'acquainted' from a previous evening spent at the Irish bar and I rather believed that Ms Sassy Britches was still quite enamoured with his rugged charms.

So imagine my surprise when Axl came over and started to whisper (read, holler loudly over the music) French sweet nothings in my ear with a devilish smirk on his handsome features.

"Urm," stuttered I, clearly a master of the English Language, "Are you looking for Ms Sassy Britches ? I think she's right over there,"

"Oh no, no, no," crooned Axl with his velvety accent "It is you I am looking for,"

"Um...er......but I thought...."

Much to my relief, this was the moment that Ms Sassy Britches decided to head back on over. Axl gave my hand a gentle squeeze, winked, kissed Ms Sassy Britches AND I both on the cheeks, then vanished back into the night like a mysterious French vampire.

Oh dear, I know I'm going to make you groan, but it looks like we're going to require a Part Three, sorry Peeps. x

Eye Spy.....Joy

I had no idea that choosing this weeks Eye Spy theme would be such a reality check. I have spent a lot of time this year whinging and moaning about all the things that have made me unhappy, but when I sat down and thought about what I would like to include today, I have realised that I have an extraordinarily long list of things that bring me joy. Who would've thunk it ?

I don't have a pic, but it goes without saying that my family and friends bring me joy. They can also cause me many new grey hairs and much frustration, but the joy is right up there.

How good is it seeing the looks on the kids faces on Christmas morning ? I love giving gifts, it makes me bubble over with happiness.

The kids artwork. This is me, with green hair, as drawn by Petal. Check out those eyelashes and the mega tan (?) phwoar.

Bubbly and chocolate cup cakes. How could you not smile at that combination ?

Watching the snow peas creeping up the trellis frame. Quite fascinating and beautiful to behold.

If you would like to see some more joy, go and check out Cindy's, I bet you're smiling and nodding your head by the time you're done.

My Creative Space

I am taking a really deep breath. This is one of those posts that I'm not sure I want to make. I love joining in with My Creative Space, but my space this week is causing me heartache. I was hoping, with a little time apart, that Witchy would some how flow more easily.... hmm, perhaps more time ?

Actually, Witchy has grown on me, but I really don't like the window. I like the boy on the left, but the boy on the right isn't quite what I was after. Oh dear, what to do ?

The Coach thinks I should start again. Perhaps I should take out the stone wall ? If you have any suggestions please let me know, because I'm starting to feel like I'm banging my head against said wall and I'm developing a rather tremendous headache.

For more creative spaces click on over to Kirstys, I'm sure you'll find lots of lovely bright and colourful treasures to tickle your fancy.

What's Hot + What's Not

It's the middle of the week and I am in a serious creative slump. It's a bit like having teeth slowly extracted, but with a pencil...and some paper....and well, actually it's nothing like having teeth extracted, but it is causing me some serious angst and I need a pick-me-up quick smart. Luckily, as it is a Wednesday, Ms Loobylu is hosting another week of What's Hot + What's Not, so I am going to join in whilst I wait for my creativity to return.

NOT :

Planting lettuces just before a heat wave. They have gone straight to the giant salad bowl in the sky.

Humidity. It's great if you have a flowing mane of ringlets. I don't have a flowing mane of ringlets. Humidity is not my friend.

Fat Cat scoffing her dinner so quickly that she proceeds to regurgitate it all over the kitchen floor. Sheesh Fat Cat, how many times have I told you, chew every mouthful one hundred times, at least.

HOT :

Finding new and inventive ways to stay cool whilst watching the television. Yes, that's Petal's foot. She's catching the breeze with her toes, but I'm sure you already worked that out for yourself.

Watching the vegies grow. You may think I'm a dork but I will have the last laugh as I feast on my organic produce. Nom nom nom.

Exercise. No, that's not a typo and I haven't accidentally put that in the wrong category. I'm embracing exercise again, but just to be clear, not that jumpy up and down sweat inducing exercise, oh no. I'm talking calm, controlled, work up a light glow kind of exercise. Thirty minutes of Pilates puts me in a much better head space, must be all that deep breathing and building my inner core strength.

So what's hot or not at your place ? Why don't you play along ? You know you want to.

Eye Spy.....Adventures.

I know, I know, this is still not Paris part two, but bear with me, I promise it will come shortly. To be perfectly honest I wasn't going to play along with eye spy this week, because I couldn't think of any adventure pics to post. Then a light bulb went off above my head (completely alarming Fat Cat who was trying to crawl inconspicuously on to my lap) and I thought about my childhood diaries, full of stories, love found, love lost, friendships and significant milestones. Now there's an adventure or two folks.

I also thought of a wonderful memoir that my grandmother put together (that's her up there on the right), starting with some family history from 1848 and continuing on until 1984. It is absolutely amazing and I'm so glad that she took the time to compile her story so that it can be passed down to my children. With her permission, I might share some of her adventures here, they will knock your socks off. You think you're having a bad day ? Try being five months pregnant with your third child, paralysed from the neck down with meningitis and popped in to a padded hospital room so your screams don't disturb the other patients. Now that folks is a bad day.

Thanks Louise for your theme, I think I may have to find a quiet corner to start re-reading again and for more interesting adventures, trek on over to Cindy's neck of the woods.

Cindy has also asked me to come up with next weeks theme and I have chosen.........

Eye Spy...Joy.

It can be anything that makes you smile, that improves your mood on a bad day and that basically just makes you feel good.

Winners are Grinners.

If you are most anxiously awaiting the second installment of my adventures in Paris, then I'm afraid I must apologise. Today I fell into that frightening abyss that is ebay...eek....I feel like my brain has been shredded and fried like a Masterchef challenge gone awry. So the words are a little mumbly jumbly at the minute but I have managed to get the camera back off The Coach just in time to show you an absolutely divine little bundle that arrived in the mail on Friday.

Yes, I won a blog give away, on my birthday no less, from the oh-so-clever Sherrin at Starashan. Such a thrill I have to say and I'm thoroughly delighted with all the luscious little bits and pieces, the kimono fabric bag, the lavender, orange and rose geranium soap and the surprise brooch, so yummy. And just for the record, Sherrin has the most insanely beautiful handwriting, I'm terribly jealous.

Anyway, before someone announces that they are plating up, I shall continue on to the next job on that never ending list. I hope you had a perfect weekend and I plan on considerable more blog love during the next week. (Yeah, yeah, promises, promises.)

Just tell me where the white rabbit is, okay.

.: Image from here :.

Ah Paris, the city of lurv, a city of thespians and artists, the city where I had the single most surreal experience of my life, somewhat akin to questioning whether my name had in fact changed to Alice and I had followed that darn white rabbit down a very long hole.

It was New Years Eve and a night of endless festivities had been planned. Well I use the word 'planned' rather loosely, unless purchasing a train ticket counts as planning. I met up with a fellow Australian Au Pair, Miss Sassy Britches, and we hopped on the train bound for Paris, giggling and excited as any other couple of young foreigners.

From the get go there was a certainty that this was going to be an evening unlike any other I had experienced in my rather pleasant and sheltered upbringing. Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing quite like being surrounded by a large gang of teenage boys for a forty minute train ride. Me ? I avoid confrontation like the plague, I'm a walk the other way or cross the street kind of gal. Miss Sassy Britches, she had a more forward, take the bull by the horns approach. Suffice to say that the situation soon became rather heated, but interestingly enough, not one other person on the fairly crowded train came to our assistance.

It was only on my return home that I learnt from Le Idjut that these teenage gangs were quite a large problem and no one would intervene for fear of being injured. Sure, I can appreciate that a knife wound would be a serious dampener on your planned New Years Eve activities, but sheesh, turn a blind eye and hope the two young girls can sort it out themselves, a little harsh I must say.

Anyhoo, as luck would have it we pulled into St Lazare station just as the language barrier was being broken with a colourful exchange of expletives, and we quickly scurried away and hid in the throng of passengers milling around the platforms. The heart was racing and nervous energy was coursing through me in continuous waves. Miss Sassy Britches grabbed my hand and turned to look at me with an enormous grin on her face and her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Wasn't that insane ?" she laughed "Let's get out of here, where shall we go first ?"

Good grief, clearly I was in the company of a slightly deranged thrill seeker *gulp*, and it was only late afternoon, what on earth was I in for ?

To be continued.....'cause I'm cruel.....and you may have other thing you want to get done today. Sometimes I have to be cruel to be kind.

Eye Spy....A Favourite Gadget.

So we don't really need to say it do we ? I know what you're thinking, you know what I'm thinking....but hey....it's time to play Eye Spy again with the lovely Ms Cindy . And what an excellent theme choice by Ms Kellie over at 74 Lime Lane, I just had to partake, yes I did.

I love gadgets, I do, I think they're swell and this little beauty is one of my all time favourites.

Have you ever seen one of these babies in action before ? If not, prepare to be seriously dazzled.

You take one lovely green apple.

You turn the handle around and around and around....

And voila, a you beaut apple slinky. How insanely cool is that ? The kiddies think that they are the bees knees and I think they're ace too. (By the way, I am single-handedly attempting to get the word 'ace' back into circulation, so feel free to throw it around as much as possible over the following week. That'd be ace.)

My Place and Yours..A View of your Secret Weapon

I was going to resist the urge to play another Meme...I totally was....and then I saw this weeks My Place and Yours theme, thanks to My Bricole, and I just couldn't stop myself. Anyone starting up a group for Meme's Anonymous, I think you better sign me up.

I know, it's not so much a secret weapon, more an entire arsenal. Once a make-up artist, always a make-up artist it would seem. I'd show you the 'Professional Case,' but it could cause you to keel over in amazement, and I don't have any blog-read-related indemnity insurance, so you'll just have to take my word that it's pretty darn impressive.

If you're like me and just love having a little sneak peek at other people's lives, head on over to Pip's for more My Place and Yours fun.

My Creative Space

It appears that I have hit a snag with a hag. Yes, I possess rather exceptional poetic wit also, but that's not what today is all about, is it ? I fear that I may have alluded to much creative greatness this week...something about 'many little ideas....busy, busy, busy,' or some such waffle.

Well I'm afraid that I have stumbled into a small creative void. I have attempted to start a new piece but I'm struggling, poor old Witchy, she's just not floating my boat.

There are aspects that I like, but more that I don't. The biggest problem is that she is for a very dear friend of mine, so I am determined to make this work. *Sigh*, I'm sure if I keep my cool that she will eventually start to fall into place. Deep breaths Waffles, deep breaths.

In the meantime, I thought I would share some bright and cheery kiddie pieces. Petal's brightly coloured butterfly which looks to me rather more like a hungry and unimpressed zombie.

Le Artiste's birthday masterpiece which features Petal...with fangs. Hmmm, it would seem that Halloween has indeed influenced our creativity with witches, zombie butterflies and fangs. Either that or I should book us all in for a happy family group therapy session. Excellent.

Oh, I also thought I would include a panel of 'The Petal' series, as there were a few requests last week. It's quite lovely to see the difference when they are all placed together.

You know the drill now, don't you ? Quick, over to Kirsty's you go, for many, many more snippets of creative cleverness and inspiration.

What's Hot + What's Not This Week.

"Why Waffles," I can hear you exclaim in disbelief "You're joining in another Meme ?" Well, yes. Yes I am and this Meme is the brain-child of the lovely Ms Loobylu, so how could I possibly resist ?

I have decided to follow the reverse Not/Hot option, 'cause I like to finish up on a positive note.

NOT :

Sad, soggy, wilted herbage from the green grocer. I tended them with care, sang them little lullabies, but alas, my parsley seems to be heading to the great Vegie Garden in the sky.

Ticks. Ticks are never hot, no they are not. Especially when they are embedded in the heads of the bebes. Totally not hot.

An unidentifiable, not right, odour lurking in the fridge. Erk. Nothing worse then sniffing through shelf by shelf. Moving things, tossing things, then quietly tearing your hair out when the source remains hidden.

HOT :

Yours truly. No, no, I don't have tickets on myself. Quite literally I'm sweltering away from that fiery ball in the clear blue sky. Seems like someone may have decided we should skip Spring this year and launch straight into Summer. Phew.

Fresh, lovely green herby goodness, relocated this morning onto my kitchen bench. I love fresh herbs, just can't get enough I tell you. We also have a freshly planted up vegie patch just over-flowing with an assortment of herbs and vegetables. That is hot, yes it is.

Chocolate cupcakes, of course they're hot, especially when they have a birthday candle planted in them. Birthdays mean negative calories, which means more cupcakes, but I'm sure you already knew that.

Hot Tip for the Melbourne Cup.

And.....they're off. But quite frankly it could be hard to pick a winner, seems like half the field aren't even certain which direction they should be running in. Just go, go you good thing. Oh yeah, a hot tip from the Waffler, my money's on the black. You can do it......woo hoo....