What can I say ...

... I'm a bad blogger (again!!)!!!
I could say that I was away on vacation, but I can't, because I stayed at home whole Summer! It has been a bit of a hectic period though with lots of things going on with both my parents and with my son. I (still) get overwhelmed quickly by things happening around me which affect me and makes me feel stressed and tired.
And although Summer started with lots of sun, these last few weeks, there has been a lot of rain and it makes that I can feel that the fibro is still active in my body. I try not to pay much attention to the pain and the fatigue (not to feed the negative) but sometimes it's hard to not think about it when I feel like an old lady of 80+!

I try to do something creative as much as possible and that helps most of the time to forget about the pain and the fatigue. So, I finished the pages in my art journal, made 2 angels on small wooden embellishments boxes and recently started a new online workshop (about mermaids) at the Suzi Blu Academy.

This is the final result of my art journal page. I called it love, freedom and aloneness! It's the title of a book from Osho. These three words mean a lot to me. IRL the colors are way better and also the shading of the face, but for some reason I can't make a good looking picture of my page.

I made this angel on the back side of a small wooden embellishment box. I like to work on small surfaces. For the background I used a page from Shakespeare's work. The dress of the angel is made with vintage fabric. I gave this one to Cor!

This angel is also made on a small wooden box. The big heart is actually made of felt which I covered with modeling paste and after it was dry I painted it. The bird is a print out which I gave a little touch of red paint.
The words are cut from a vintage book. For this angel I used techniques from Suzi Blu and Kelly Ray Roberts.

PS I'm so happy with the changes at Blogger. I can finally put my photos wherever I want to!

Working in my art journal

I've had a busy week with my dad suddenly taken to hospital on Wednesday with a high fever and being very confused. He ripped out his drip 5 times! Luckily the fever dissappeared overnight and he could leave the hospital the next day. But he still was very confused!

On Friday there was a bonescan planned and he had to go there with an ambulance. I went with him because he was still confused and very tired. The doctors wanted to get him the bonescan as soon as possible because of the pain he has from the cancer, so that's why they decided to let him have the bonescan despite his condition. Luckily he's doing much better now!

However I was feeling very tired over the weekend and decided I needed a break and do something I like to do and which gives me energy and pleasure. So, yesterday I started working in my art journal again. It'll be a page about love and freedom, two very important words to me!

I also went to see a friend who recently was on a holiday in Denmark. Her sister also dropped by and she used to work with my son so it was nice talking to her too!

When I went for a walk I stopped by a small birdsnest that Cor's dog molested on Sunday, hurting one of the still naked birdies. I managed to repare the nest and put it back on a small branch in between the stinging nettles with the 2 birdies in it. Today I discovered that there was only one birdy left and that the mother was still taking care of her little one.

Bees on lavender.

Still enjoying the warm weather and taking it easy. I was glad with some heavy rain-showers Saturdaynight and last night. Although last night the water came dripping into my son's room. This morning a guy from the house-renting company (?) came over to look for the problem . There was a lot of mud, leaves and other rubbish on top of the roofwindow in between the window and the roofing-tiles and the water couldn't run down anymore and found itself the easiest way to escape: into the house! He had just finished his cleaning job when another rain-shower came pouring down and it seems that the problem is solved.

Cor and I had a quiet weekend. We went swimming on Saturday evening after we went to his house during the day to take care of the animals and to visit his mother. I also took some photos of bees on lavender in Cor's garden.

On Sunday we slept in and went to see my dad in the afternoon. We found out that he has an urinary tract infection and he was feverish and confused. Last Friday we went to see the urologist together and he was just fine that day. Things can change so quickly when people are as old as my parents and not in a very good health. The urologist has decided that my dad needs radiation treatment on his back. They already give him 45 mg of morphine every day and his back still hurts him. He now has to wait for a new bone scan and a visit to the radiologist. I hope that he doesn't need to wait too long!!

More butterflies

Yesterday I took some other photos of the same butterflies at Cor's. We think that they were busy making love. What do you think?

All kind of different creatures

This Saturday it was time to shear the 3 sheep of Cor. He didn't let them shear last year and they looked like 'rasta' sheep. We managed to put them in a small shed just before the sheep-shearer arrived. He took them out one by one and put them on their behinds and then started to shear them. In just a couple of minutes the job was done and the sheep was naked. Cor now has 3 large and very thick fleeces which we're going to wash and then probably use for felting.

Very close to Cor's house I also took some very nice photos of a small butterfly called in latin Zygaena trifolii. In Dutch it is Vijfvlek-Sint-Jansvlinder (literal translation in English: fivespotted-Saint-Johnsbutterfly). It actually is a night butterfly that lives during the day. In this part of the country it is called a rare species.

On the same plants we also noticed 2 big green grasshoppers. We could see their jaws moving when they ate from the plant!

SUMMER!!!!!

Finally the sunny and more than warm weather has arrived! It's Summer!!!

This weekend we had a bbq on Saturday with Cor, Zander, one of his 2 friends and I. It was nice and I'm so glad to see that Zander totally accepts Cor now. It almost took him a year to adjust to this new situation.

Yesterday Cor and I went to our Municipal Hall, together with a lot of other people from our community to try and break the picnic record for the Guiness Book of Records. We didn't succeed but it was fun and all for free. There were lots of other things to do and Cor and I took a workshop Djembe. I liked it so much that I also took the second class. Cor went to the hairdresser to cut off his long hair and it looks great!! I had my eyebrowes done with a thread. The lady who did them worked very fast and in no time she gave me beautiful eyebrowes.

Back at home we sat in the garden under the trees and enjoyed this refreshing breeze. It was a perfect weekend!!! Hope yours was too!

I love deer!!

This evening I went for a walk close to my house and I took my camera with me. I was hoping to see some deer and I was lucky. I startled a deer that was very close to the path. I tried to take some photos while she was looking out for a way to escape but she was very fast and there were a lot of obstacles between her and me. Finally she ran into a small piece of wood and when I went over to look for her I saw her with her baby. I managed to shoot a couple of photos of the mother but her little one was behind her and a lot of branches. It was only when the mother decided that she and her little one weren't in any danger that I could take a photo of the behind of the fawn when it walked away behind it's mother. The photos aren't my best but as you can see there where a lot of branches between my camera and the deer and I also had to use the 12x optical zoom which makes it even more difficult to get clear and steady photos.

I also took a photo of a small tree that is standing in the middle of grass-land. I took a photo of the same tree last winter when there was lots of snow. I'll upload them both in this post so that you can see for yourself how lovely this little tree is all year round.

Some new old stuff

When I was at Cor's place last weekend we went to "Het Goed" in Hoogeveen. It's a great recycle store where I love to go. I bought some warm clothes (because it was really cold this weekend and I forgot to bring some warm clothes with me) and in the back of the store I saw an old wooden step-ladder which I have been looking for for quite some time. The best part is that I got it for free! I like getting stuff for free, don't you?

Later that day we went to see an old schoolfriend of Cor who is the owner of La Brocante, a nice thrift shop with lots of stuff from France. I bought an old stew-pan where I'm going to put in some nice colorful plants.

Jenny Lane video

Shame on me ...

... for not keeping you updated about my life!

A lot of things have happened these last few months and by times I feel exhausted and not in the mood to sit down and write something on my blog. I make an effort today to tell you about what is going on lately!

The bad news is that the cancer is spreading further in my dad's body and he's on morphine now. If that's not helping enough he has to get radiation. The wound on his back is healing nicely but it is still a large wound. His therapy is going great!! He can walk in between the wooden barres by himself and they have also started to let him walk behind his rollator. We keep up hope that he and my mom will end up living together in a home for elderly people. My mom doesn't like to be alone and she asks a lot of my attention.

My son is doing okay but is giving me a lot of headaches. The school he was in for the last couple of years doesn't want him anymore. He missed out on his exams this year! They want me to put him in a special school for kids with behaviour problems. I'm not thrilled about those schools for kids with autism because there are a lot of kids with acting out behaviour who are using drugs and alcohol and whom are using the kids with autism for their criminal activities. I've heard that about 70-80% of the kids with autism attending these schools end up with a criminal record. That's not what I have in mind for my son!

My relationship with Cor is still standing strong and I love him to pieces!! We both like to do things outside and go to concerts. Last Wednesday we went to a concert of Deva Premal, Miten and Manose in Almere together. I have been to their concert last year with some friends but Cor also wanted to hear them sing live. It was great to hear them sing again!

And we also went to see a Dutch singer a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Jenny Lane and she gave a fab live performance in Groningen. I just had to buy her cd called Monsters after the concert and she signed it! Just go here to see a video I made during the concert!

My creative activities like painting and scrapbooking are on the hold for some time now. I have just recently started crochet because this is something I can take and do everywhere. My dad's not much of a talker and it's very calming to sit with him and work on my bed cover.

Photos:

1. Jenny Lane in Groningen
2. Deva Premal, Miten and Manose
3. Orchids near Cor's house
4. Cor's house with the orchids at the front
5. A Squirrel in a tree behind my house
6. A cormorant drying his/her wings near Cor's house