Now my instructor wants me to book the practical...eek!
Doxie
Thursday 18 February 2010
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Excited
Tomorrow we go for a viewing at the exhibition. I have a few pics on display and Mr Doxie does too. I am wondering if I should have put them up for sale but it is my first time and I am clueless to know what is reasonable to charge. The chap who is running the exhibition says it is totally up to the individual and the sale is between artist/photographer and buyer, he doesn't get involved...he would just pass the buyer our details. The gallery owner would take a percentage of course. We worked out how much we would have to charge just to break even and I have to admit I wouldn't spend that much on a print so I chickened out of the whole selling side. I am just pleased at the moment to think that we were asked to take part...I guess I will get braver and wiser as time goes on.
Doxie, just wanting to share her excitement
Doxie, just wanting to share her excitement
Wednesday 10 February 2010
What's on your reading list this year?
So what has taken your fancy this year? I started "Beyond Band of Brothers" but only got halfway through...I was really reading it because I thought I should . Not the best reason to read a book...I will probably go back to it sometime but it is a bit boyish for my mood at the mo.
I've had " The Reader" recommended to me and have just bought Mr Doxie "Atonement" so may nick that off him when he has finished.
I so enjoyed the P.G. Wodehouse for light hearted reading last year, so aim to track some more of him down.
Whilst rumaging through the charity shop I came across Brighton Rock on DVD the other day, but have told myself I won't watch it until I have read that again...so that's definately on the list. I studied it for GCSE all those moons ago, so hopefully I have forgotten ( no, not lost )the plot by now!
Top of my list however has to be "Shackleton's Boat Journey" by F.Worsley. I saw an AV presentation showing snippets of the story as part of a photography lecture earlier in the week and it was very thought provoking. When DH and I discussed it afterwards we both agreed that we would have died out there with the dogs. I couldn't shoot a dog any more than fly through the air, so if it came to keeping them or survival I would have been a goner ( is that a word???) I guess that is the difference between a survivor and a victim lol. ... if indeed it is true that they were shot...I shall find out if I read the book as it is a first hand account by one of the men who accompanied him.
Oh bum , there goes the vision...here comes the migraine, that'll be fun if I get it when I am doing my Hazard perception tomorrow...good job I can touch type.
What is top of your list?
Doxie
Tuesday 9 February 2010
New Heading Banner
Did you notice my new look heading? I thought it could do with an update. I don't know if you can remember what the "old" banner was like ( the blossom ), this is the same basic photo with a bit of photoshop treatment. :o)
I nearly gave up, Blogger really did not like the format I had it in, but I got there in the end. :o)
Doxie x
I nearly gave up, Blogger really did not like the format I had it in, but I got there in the end. :o)
Doxie x
Saturday 6 February 2010
Woohoo, new work area
I can't remember if I wrote about getting rid of our exceptionally large fish tank or not...I can't be bothered to check tonight, so if I am repeating myself bear with me.
We had a VERY large fishtank in our dining room. It was custom made and thus was not of average dimensions. We came to the decision earlier this year that it had to go because it was dominating the room too much and if we put the house on the market it would make the room look much smaller than it is.
Fast forward to fishtank gone and LOADS of space gained. Mr Doxie came up with a brill suggestion for now...why don't I make it my workspace? Tonight I have moved in my desk and sewing machines. It is perfect, I can leave my WIPs out and we still have the dining room table to eat on...no more having to clear my projects away to make room for food! It is a small thing that will make a massive difference to my days. I haven't felt able to get my needlework stuff out for ages because of the aggro...some days I only get a spare half hour or so to do "me" stuff, and a lot of that would be eaten up with setting up and putting away. I am now a happy bunny!!!!
Hopefully this means I will get back to sharing my projects with you. :o) You never know photos may even make a return to my blog LOL.
Doxie the contented. :o)
We had a VERY large fishtank in our dining room. It was custom made and thus was not of average dimensions. We came to the decision earlier this year that it had to go because it was dominating the room too much and if we put the house on the market it would make the room look much smaller than it is.
Fast forward to fishtank gone and LOADS of space gained. Mr Doxie came up with a brill suggestion for now...why don't I make it my workspace? Tonight I have moved in my desk and sewing machines. It is perfect, I can leave my WIPs out and we still have the dining room table to eat on...no more having to clear my projects away to make room for food! It is a small thing that will make a massive difference to my days. I haven't felt able to get my needlework stuff out for ages because of the aggro...some days I only get a spare half hour or so to do "me" stuff, and a lot of that would be eaten up with setting up and putting away. I am now a happy bunny!!!!
Hopefully this means I will get back to sharing my projects with you. :o) You never know photos may even make a return to my blog LOL.
Doxie the contented. :o)
Making Sweet Memories
This piece of writing is BEAUTIFUL. When I read it this morning I felt compelled to share it.
"We are all making memories in our to-days for our to-morrows. The back-log in the old fashioned fireplace sings as it burns, and one with poetic fancy says that the music is the bird-songs of past years...that when the tree was growing in the forest the birds sang in it's branches, and the music sank into the tree and was held there, until now in the winter fire it is set free. This is only a beautiful fancy, but there is an analogy in life which is actual. Along the days of childhood and youth the bird-notes of gladness sing about us. They sink away into the heart and hide there. In the busy days, the fires of toil and care which follow they ofttimes seem to be lost and forgotten. Then, in still later days, the fires of trial come and kindle about the life, and in the flames the long-imprisoned music is set free and flows out. Many an old age is brightened and sweetened by the memoires of early years. They are wise who in their happy youth-time fill their hearts with pure, pleasant things; they are laying up blessings for old age."
Author J.R.Miller D.D.
Doxie
"We are all making memories in our to-days for our to-morrows. The back-log in the old fashioned fireplace sings as it burns, and one with poetic fancy says that the music is the bird-songs of past years...that when the tree was growing in the forest the birds sang in it's branches, and the music sank into the tree and was held there, until now in the winter fire it is set free. This is only a beautiful fancy, but there is an analogy in life which is actual. Along the days of childhood and youth the bird-notes of gladness sing about us. They sink away into the heart and hide there. In the busy days, the fires of toil and care which follow they ofttimes seem to be lost and forgotten. Then, in still later days, the fires of trial come and kindle about the life, and in the flames the long-imprisoned music is set free and flows out. Many an old age is brightened and sweetened by the memoires of early years. They are wise who in their happy youth-time fill their hearts with pure, pleasant things; they are laying up blessings for old age."
Author J.R.Miller D.D.
Doxie
Friday 5 February 2010
Spring is coming...
The sun is shining, the light has a wonderful quality to it today...it really feels as if Spring is popping it's head around the corner to ask if it is okay to come by some time soon. How I regret not buying the seeds I saw when I was out shopping last night, I have an urge to start some lettuce off on my windowsill!
I was saying to DS this morning how I long to sit on dry grass. I can't wait to pack a picnic and laze with friends in the sunshine. Funny, I don't usually get it when folks say it's been a long Winter...this year I do though, dunno why! Maybe it is my impatience as this year I have so many things planned with the thought that I will have my independence when I have passed my driving test...note I am saying "when" and not "if" :o)
Roll on Spring time, feel free to come and visit asap!
Impatient Doxie.
I was saying to DS this morning how I long to sit on dry grass. I can't wait to pack a picnic and laze with friends in the sunshine. Funny, I don't usually get it when folks say it's been a long Winter...this year I do though, dunno why! Maybe it is my impatience as this year I have so many things planned with the thought that I will have my independence when I have passed my driving test...note I am saying "when" and not "if" :o)
Roll on Spring time, feel free to come and visit asap!
Impatient Doxie.
I have 2 teenagers now!
No, neither Mr Doxie nor I have a secret love child and we have not adopted...hang on, that last bit is not true...we did adopt...dear old Sharp End,when he was a puppy and tomorrow he turns 13!!!!
I didn't think he would make it to the Christmas before last and he surprised us by making that one and one more! He's only the 2nd one of his breed to have got to 12 that the vet had ever had on her books...so he is a anomaly! Perhaps he will be the first she's had that has got to his teens?
Dear Sharp End is full of lumps and bumps and snores like nothing on earth... but he is still enjoying life. Occasionally he gets a bit stiff thankfully tablets from the vet sort that out, but most of the time when he's warmed up he is unbelievably strong, nobody would believe his age if he wasn't greying around the muzzle. I think the average person would have trouble taking him for a walk such is his power. He's had the odd "accident" lately which we ignore and just clear up, he is not a "dirty" dog and demands to go out when he "knows" he needs to go. In his prime he was 9 1/2 stone. I used to road walk him for miles every day and he was quite a beast, solid muscle! He would take as much as I was prepared to give him. I think that and his good diet over the years must have helped his longevity, at least I hope so.
The other day DS and I were discussing how Sharp End is really no different from when he was a puppy. He is still excitable, he still plays the same games, he has the same sense of humour ( YES, dogs do have a sense of humour, after owning Dobes for over 20 years you couldn't convince me otherwise!), it is just his body that is aging...he is the same character through and through. That is what we used to say about DM, her mind was just the same, it was the body which wore out,which reminds me of another conversation I had with someone yesterday... that is a subject for another day.
One thing that is worrying me a little is when he wakes up with a start from a deep sleep... just the last few weeks he goes straight into full guarding mode which can be very alarming. I think he gets a fright but is not properly awake yet. You can't really talk sense into him as it seems to be an instinctive thing and he only calms when he "comes to" properly. I guess it is akin to an older person becoming confused. As a result I have to be very careful when we are expecting visitors as the doorbell going may put him in hyper mode just as they are coming to visit. I am finding the best thing is to keep going over to him and fussing him to stop him going off too deeply if I think there is a chance that he may get snapped out of it with a start.
I was going to make him a birthday cake, a nice sponge, flavoured with beef oxos instead of cocoa, but I have thought better of it and will make us a cake. He will have a rawhide chew with a bow attached! I have also bought him a tin of the stinkiest wet food they had in the shop. He usually has dry complete food, so he will know it's his birthday, well either that or Christmas
Happy Birthday for tomorrow Sharp End. We love you! XXX
I didn't think he would make it to the Christmas before last and he surprised us by making that one and one more! He's only the 2nd one of his breed to have got to 12 that the vet had ever had on her books...so he is a anomaly! Perhaps he will be the first she's had that has got to his teens?
Dear Sharp End is full of lumps and bumps and snores like nothing on earth... but he is still enjoying life. Occasionally he gets a bit stiff thankfully tablets from the vet sort that out, but most of the time when he's warmed up he is unbelievably strong, nobody would believe his age if he wasn't greying around the muzzle. I think the average person would have trouble taking him for a walk such is his power. He's had the odd "accident" lately which we ignore and just clear up, he is not a "dirty" dog and demands to go out when he "knows" he needs to go. In his prime he was 9 1/2 stone. I used to road walk him for miles every day and he was quite a beast, solid muscle! He would take as much as I was prepared to give him. I think that and his good diet over the years must have helped his longevity, at least I hope so.
The other day DS and I were discussing how Sharp End is really no different from when he was a puppy. He is still excitable, he still plays the same games, he has the same sense of humour ( YES, dogs do have a sense of humour, after owning Dobes for over 20 years you couldn't convince me otherwise!), it is just his body that is aging...he is the same character through and through. That is what we used to say about DM, her mind was just the same, it was the body which wore out,which reminds me of another conversation I had with someone yesterday... that is a subject for another day.
One thing that is worrying me a little is when he wakes up with a start from a deep sleep... just the last few weeks he goes straight into full guarding mode which can be very alarming. I think he gets a fright but is not properly awake yet. You can't really talk sense into him as it seems to be an instinctive thing and he only calms when he "comes to" properly. I guess it is akin to an older person becoming confused. As a result I have to be very careful when we are expecting visitors as the doorbell going may put him in hyper mode just as they are coming to visit. I am finding the best thing is to keep going over to him and fussing him to stop him going off too deeply if I think there is a chance that he may get snapped out of it with a start.
I was going to make him a birthday cake, a nice sponge, flavoured with beef oxos instead of cocoa, but I have thought better of it and will make us a cake. He will have a rawhide chew with a bow attached! I have also bought him a tin of the stinkiest wet food they had in the shop. He usually has dry complete food, so he will know it's his birthday, well either that or Christmas
Happy Birthday for tomorrow Sharp End. We love you! XXX
Thursday 4 February 2010
The power of music
My Dad died 10 years ago but tonight he was back with me. No don't worry I haven't lost my mind. Late this afternoon I popped into the local charity shop and to my delight found some of my favourite music...the very same that my Dad used to sing around the house. As I danced around the kitchen cooking the dinner it was as if he was there with me singing along by my side! I wasn't sad, it was so uplifting, It reminded me of lovely happy Dad. That said, there is one song I just cannot listen to ( not on the cds I bought today thank goodness ) and if it comes up I just have to, without fail, skip to the next track...that is "Somewhere over the rainbow". I don't know why this is, but it reminds me of him in a sad way...in the blink of an eye it can take me from cloud nine to the depths of despair. Gee how is that for power? Music is amazing isn't it?
Whilst on the subject of the power of music I can't fail to screech my appreciation of Hans Zimmer...but I am afraid I am not going to natter about "Black Hawk Down" or something so heavy, but instead be a complete and utter girlie and talk about the soundtrack to "The Holiday".
IMHO Hans Zimmer is an musical genius. If you have never seen "The Holiday" and are a romantic at heart you do not know what you are missing. Mr Doxie likes to tease me and tells people that all I am interested in is Disney films...gee he knows how to wind me up, that really gets my goat when he starts on that one LOL!For the record, one of my favourite films is The Pianist, and there aint no Bambi hiding in there Mister! ...Back to "The Holiday"... no, it is not a Disney film but it is a slushy feel good movie and I am totally gaga about it... Watch the film before you listen to the music and you will be blown away when you do sit down and listen to it, the music is great anyway, but if you listen to it in "context" it has such impact...it is better than therapy ( not that I consider myself to need it, but if I did, I wouldn't waste my money, I would just lie back and listen to Zimmer )It takes you through every emotion in the film and you come out of it feeling thoroughly fluffy, romantic and damned good. When I have learned to drive I plan to take up running again and I just know this will be my all time favourite running music...As I slog up and down the urban highways ( and hopefully more scenic routes ), passer-bys will see some middle aged woman trying to get fit but in my head I will be Cameron Diaz running for all her might back to that little cottage, feeling invincible, full of hope, enthusiasm and that "Yes I've found what I want in life" type of feeling that fills us with indescribable energy and zest for life! In my eyes there is very little to rival that soundtrack in terms of the feel good factor.
I like to think I am mostly a happy person and I do sing quite a lot every day, mostly without realising it until I catch myself or DS makes a comment. I wonder, in years to come if he will hear a song and say " That reminds me of my Mum" in the same way I felt about my Dad today?
BTW if you know me and want to curl up on the sofa next to me with a supply of drinks, snacks and watch "The Holiday" please shout... my family have been subjected to this more times than is reasonable, I think they know the script off by heart now! I could never tire of that film!
Doxie who is off to pop some Zimmer on
Whilst on the subject of the power of music I can't fail to screech my appreciation of Hans Zimmer...but I am afraid I am not going to natter about "Black Hawk Down" or something so heavy, but instead be a complete and utter girlie and talk about the soundtrack to "The Holiday".
IMHO Hans Zimmer is an musical genius. If you have never seen "The Holiday" and are a romantic at heart you do not know what you are missing. Mr Doxie likes to tease me and tells people that all I am interested in is Disney films...gee he knows how to wind me up, that really gets my goat when he starts on that one LOL!For the record, one of my favourite films is The Pianist, and there aint no Bambi hiding in there Mister! ...Back to "The Holiday"... no, it is not a Disney film but it is a slushy feel good movie and I am totally gaga about it... Watch the film before you listen to the music and you will be blown away when you do sit down and listen to it, the music is great anyway, but if you listen to it in "context" it has such impact...it is better than therapy ( not that I consider myself to need it, but if I did, I wouldn't waste my money, I would just lie back and listen to Zimmer )It takes you through every emotion in the film and you come out of it feeling thoroughly fluffy, romantic and damned good. When I have learned to drive I plan to take up running again and I just know this will be my all time favourite running music...As I slog up and down the urban highways ( and hopefully more scenic routes ), passer-bys will see some middle aged woman trying to get fit but in my head I will be Cameron Diaz running for all her might back to that little cottage, feeling invincible, full of hope, enthusiasm and that "Yes I've found what I want in life" type of feeling that fills us with indescribable energy and zest for life! In my eyes there is very little to rival that soundtrack in terms of the feel good factor.
I like to think I am mostly a happy person and I do sing quite a lot every day, mostly without realising it until I catch myself or DS makes a comment. I wonder, in years to come if he will hear a song and say " That reminds me of my Mum" in the same way I felt about my Dad today?
BTW if you know me and want to curl up on the sofa next to me with a supply of drinks, snacks and watch "The Holiday" please shout... my family have been subjected to this more times than is reasonable, I think they know the script off by heart now! I could never tire of that film!
Doxie who is off to pop some Zimmer on
Out of my comfort zone again.
Mr Patience has been telling me that I need to build my confidence so took me out of my comfort zone and off to practice some city driving today. I hated it...no,that's not right, I mean, I HATED it with a capital "H". I know it is something I need to do. I want to be the kind of driver that can go anywhere, but I hate the city even on foot...this means that I can probably count the number of times I have been there voluntarily in the past 20 years on my fingers and toes...in truth probably, just my fingers, or just my toes!!!!!
I did a "turn in the road" on a hill...last time I did this I cried ( cringe ).Today I wanted to, but I don't "think" I did...I just felt on the verge of it for most of the lesson...it's odd how I get like that when driving. It usually takes a lot for my eyes to spring a leak...in fact there are very few people on this planet that have seen me cry, so it surprises me that I get like this when I am driving... I guess since I have been an adult not much has really SCARED me to this extent. I should be thankful for that I guess. :o) Anyway I did the turn in the road in spite of this horrid feeling that the car will tip sideways and roll with us in it, LOL. It sounds daft when I read that, but that is how I feel at the time, strangely disorientated.
A couple of days ago I wrote a list of some of the things that scare me when driving that I need to push myself on...I had "level crossings" written down and lo and behold, today I did my first one. I am sure Mr Patience is psychic...or Mr Doxie is secretly texting him telling him what scares the pants off me and where I need practice! Nah, maybe not, Mr D knows his life wouldn't be worth living if he did that,I guess Mr Patience is just a damned good teacher.
Anyway, I survived the city. I don't think I did very well being in panic mode most of the time, but I did it. Doxie, feeling challenged...but still happy
I did a "turn in the road" on a hill...last time I did this I cried ( cringe ).Today I wanted to, but I don't "think" I did...I just felt on the verge of it for most of the lesson...it's odd how I get like that when driving. It usually takes a lot for my eyes to spring a leak...in fact there are very few people on this planet that have seen me cry, so it surprises me that I get like this when I am driving... I guess since I have been an adult not much has really SCARED me to this extent. I should be thankful for that I guess. :o) Anyway I did the turn in the road in spite of this horrid feeling that the car will tip sideways and roll with us in it, LOL. It sounds daft when I read that, but that is how I feel at the time, strangely disorientated.
A couple of days ago I wrote a list of some of the things that scare me when driving that I need to push myself on...I had "level crossings" written down and lo and behold, today I did my first one. I am sure Mr Patience is psychic...or Mr Doxie is secretly texting him telling him what scares the pants off me and where I need practice! Nah, maybe not, Mr D knows his life wouldn't be worth living if he did that,I guess Mr Patience is just a damned good teacher.
Anyway, I survived the city. I don't think I did very well being in panic mode most of the time, but I did it. Doxie, feeling challenged...but still happy
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