My eyes view;

pretty huh?

Couldn't find any of the things I was trying to find to this evening (bar an umbrella) 

so bought some Carnations instead. 

Job well done.

Got home in the dark. All dance classes cancelled. Sky satellite connection broken, (cable may have been pulled out by the weight of all the snow!?) so a nice quiet evening. Mulled wine, brie, applewood, crackers, home-made grape chutney and Christmas card making, all accompanied by the wonderful sounds of Lucy's 1980's class music. yum.

11.03pm, about to get in to bed and read more of my book, it has just started to snow, again, again again again!

x

  

A Winter's eve

A Winter's eve by kclarion featuring 3/4 tops

Dream night out set.

Snow.

                                            

Lovely snow. Only bad thing is we ran out of gas this morning and I walked to the corner store and not only A) got covered in brown slush as a bus thundered past and sprayed us, but also B) put money on the darn electrical key instead of the gas card, so got back to realise I still had no hot water to shower in! BAH! Good thing the snow is so pretty, so I don't mind.

Love Among Social Animals

 - images of Ryo Honda, Japan.

I have decided to take on the age old cliché and wise piece of advice; 'aim high and you'll succeed.' I don't actually know what the common phrase used is but it's something along the lines of that. So, after my winters' holiday Christmas trip to Scotland and my New Years summer holiday trip back to New Zealand I will sink myself back into the 'no superfluous spending routine' and only spend money on the essentials; training tools and things I need to get started on some projects I have waiting eagerly up my sleeve to be put into action.


I have a tonne of things on my 'to do' in life list when I get back to the cold, cold, northern England in the New Year and I plan to be the most proactive and positively ambitious me I can be for the next wee while.
I am young, I am healthy and I am not required to be in any specific place or to do any particular thing (I DO need to pay off my residual student loan which I WILL, promise Mama!) and so shall therefore plunge myself into the deep world of ambitious ventures and see where I end up. Let us just say I should very much like to be largely self-employed, work from a lovely little office from home, wherever 'home' may be and be a creative busy bee and social butterfly all at once at some point in the future. 

All this talk in animal metaphors leads me to think of a new favourite of sounds for me - Sonny and The Sunsets - 'Love among social animals'


Soak it up people. That sh.. stuff is good. no swearing allowed Miss Merryweather. It is uncouth.

The beautiful illustrations in this post are that of the lovely Ryo, who I met just briefly about 5 minutes ago. Born in Japan and raised in the UK, he studied at the University of Northumbria here in Newcastle (I think that is correct!? Ryo?) and was oh so so lovely just for the few minutes I spoke to him. He said it was hard starting out, but he loves it and is now drawing for magazines and books in Tokyo, just visiting the United Kingdom briefly. He made me very excited about the entrepreneurial world and all things arts related. YAY for all the lovely people in this world. Let us not give too much of our time to too many of the rotten ones.

fresh beginnings.

So it has been a little cold over here, in ways more than one but I am not letting the temperature of my toes dictate my mood constantly as that would be a horrid bore!

A wee set of shots from my room with now both (yes both!) floating shelves up on the walls and pictures mounted. I finished off Lucy's present tonight and am right chuffed with it. A new friend of mine is learning journalist shorthand so he translated a poem I wrote, which I then painted as Lucy's present - do you like it??

              

              

I must climb into bed as I plan to get up bright and early to make Lucy some birthday cupcakes. She say's "I don't care much for birthdays" so I have decided to ignore this and am instead making sure at least she has a present and a cake of sorts waiting for her when she wakes up (hopefully before I leave for work so I can see her reaction.)

I have very nearly finished all of my Christmas shopping. Granted I am only supposed to buy something for my sister as we do a 'draw-a-name-out-of-a-hat' gift type thing, so as to not have to buy for 6 other immediate family members every year. But I wanted to take back something for everyone when I head over to New Zealand for a 3 week holiday and dose of family endorphins. So Anna, alas, you may have to watch everyone else open presents.. or of you're reaaally lucky I'll get you something extra. To be honest you're already going to get a super awesome little parcel for Christmas, of which I am slightly loathe to give up, which means it must be super cool as I want to keep it all for myself, but shall instead humbly gift it to you!

My Last day of the "first year of adulthood.."

... and it went a little something like this;

up early ish.
realise i have no food for breakfast..
steal flatmates bread for toast.
eat toast and a large black cup of coffee as my cream has gone off.
change sheets on my bed.
mount two pictures on the wall above my bed.
Vacuum my room.
eat left over pasta i made the night before for lunch.
watch half of the final of project runway.
make some grape-chilli-cinnamon chutney.
watch the second half of project runway final.
nearly burn my grape chutney.
make some strawberry, basil and plum jam.
Vacuum the lounge.
clean the bathroom.
make some flaky puff pastry.
wrap it in 'cling-film' (as the English call it)
and put it in the fridge for tomorrow.
Eat prawn, mushroom, leek, basil pesto pasta courtesy of Lucy.
Help Lucy put up the giant wardrobe from hell.
Save Lucy's life by catching the falling top of the wardrobe.
bandage Lucy's cut arm.
defeat the wardrobe after three set-backs.
Start to decorate the lounge with paper doilies and wool.
Pull tiny shards of wood out of Lucy's cut in her arm with tweasers.
Finish decorating the lounge whilst Millie (the dog) whines as
Lucy has gone to bed and Lucy is her favourite.
Realise I have actually already been 22 for the most of today
as I was born in the Pacific time-zone not a European one!
Shower.
Bed.

Bob-tough-stuff

My lovely brother wrote this in response to one of my recent posts. I thought it needed to be shared.
Love you my Jamin.


--Bob-tough-stuff--

She's rough and tough and full of stuff
that twinkles in the night.
Won't take no guff when she's had enough,
you know she'll put it right

When the chips are down and she's still in town
with paintpot and brush thats red
If you're still around and see that clown
please tell him what she said:

She said "I'm rough and tough and won't take no stuff
that tries to put out my light,
I've got love enough and from heaven above
my heart will win the fight!"

xxx
I love you you little ruffian


-© Benjamin John Merryweather 5th November 2010

Smoke and Mirror

She won me over right away, I bought her and took her home. She's sung me to sleep many a time and in those moments she has made me feel not so all alone.. what a voice.

break me off a breakfast and haircut.

       

Breakfasts have been a thing of leisure as of late. Either I have not started work til midday or I have been getting up early, either way I generally have a nice slow breakfast... so it's been plenty of good'ns;  french toast, butter-pan fried spinach and olive oil tossed cherry toms with parmesan... (mmmm you can never have enough cheese eh!).. In other news I had another haircut, first one since before Paris (July) and I let Ruby cut off quite a chunk... I have wanted a bob for a long while and I thought, why the heck not now!?

Admittedly I look a little like a boy and I cannot decide whether I look like the 5yr old me, which was when I last had a bob or whether I look like a sophisticated woman who won't put up with any tosh... I think I feel a little like the latter. Lets just say for some reason, looking a little less feminine makes me feel a bit tougher.

And sometimes, I need to be tough. Now might be one of those times.

Love you all and am looking forward to my trip to New Zealand in January but before that it'll be Christmas in Ardrossan, Scotland!!! aweeeeeeeeee.

On a last note, Bob Dylan has been spending a lot of time singing to me in my room.
he said to me this afternoon; "time is a jet plane, it moves too fast. Oh but what a shame that all we've shared can't last. I can change I swear, Ohhh see what you can do. I can make it through, you can make it too...
You're a big girl all the way."
what a good man.