Home again ...

I can't believe I've been home over a week already and not shown my photos and what I got to do while we were on our girlie roadtrip ... I think it might have something to do with all the life changing things that happened while we were on that roadtrip and things that have happened since ... sequence of coincidences - synchronicity= coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related... We took off on the Tues - had a few things to do at the border, on the way south, called into Crystal Castle for lunch - a place I would recommend everyone visit at least once in a lifetime. You now pay to go in but the money is being used to improve the gardens and I can assure you it is, as the gardens are so much bigger and so well kept since my last visit - I think this is the the 3rd or 4th time I've been there. It was a very hot day & I started to get a migriane so we stayed overnight at Sawtell - what a lovely seaside place to stay ... up next morning and on our way to visit with our friend Rob ... who just has the view to die for... in the country, nice and peaceful where we were made ever so welcome and we made art for two days. Here is Rob & me looking through the door of her studio and you can see Lucy there in the window reflection ... I think this is cool as it means we are all in the photo.Our art mainly consisted of paper collage along the lines of SoulCollage but onto canvas boards. Lucy got carried away finding word quote in her magazines she had and her collage was just that all saying that said & meant a lot to her and where she is/was heading in her life. [This is a very soul seaching/mind mapping/ mind blowing art form that we love.] Too many words so she then made a jigsaw of her most favourite saying for the day. Rob showed her how to do beeswax finish. Rob was working on a lovely purlpe collage when we left so I hope she shows it too us soon. I did three collages - 2x 8"x 10" and one small 5x7 which I've called Lucy's journey as it does tell what's happening in her life too. The beauty of these sorts of paper collages is that you don't realise what they mean until you have finished and look at them again through seeing/admiring eyes not art eyes.

Our time with Rob & Len was over all to quick and we had to head home again. Here is photo of Lucy with crystal light on her cheek from Rob's beautiful crystals that hang in her studio window.On the way Lucy took me into a little town called Bangalow to get fuel ... never knew the place existed but was soon to find out why I had to see it. We got back and all sorts of things had happened but all good ... Lucy is closing her business & finding something else in her life ... I will miss her as she is also moving away for where we live but not far ... I've also decided to do some new things in my life too .... We were home by Fri night and I turned my computer on to find that I was invited to a SoulCollage w/s - this is something I've been wanting to participate in for 18 months but haven't been able to organise to get to Melbourne to do so with Karen who is a facilitator of SoulCollage. Now where do you think this w/s is being held??? yes Bangalow on the Byron Bay road ... synchronicity again... This week I've been helping Lucy just a couple of days. I went to the movies on cheap Tues and saw the movie Almighty Heart with Angelina Jolie - gosh she is a good actor. Thurs. hubby & I celebrated 39 years of marriage which is unbelievable, we must of been such kids as we don't really feel old enough to be coming up to our 40th Ruby Anni next year. I'll tell you a funny little story ... during the week I was tiding up the pantry and could see a solid plastic carry-all in the very back of the top shelf so got it our thinking I could use this in my artShed - it also had another container in it that would be useful too. As I was getting it out I came across a packer of liquocrice that my hubby adores - it has fallen in the back & he has forgotten about it so pulled it out to the front again and there was a box of our favourite choccies Ferrero Rocher - now how long had they been there - must of fallen to the back too so pulled it to the front too ... thinking I bet hubby will see these and give them to me for our anni. - I wasn't worried as we both love them. Hubby came in later and when I came in I found my little chair I use to climb up to see into these cupboards gone and door shut, end of story... I thanked him for putting the chair away but told him I was looking for a particular lid for a glass bottle to use as an extra biscuit barrel - 'did he know where there was one' ... well as helpful as he is he found one for me - problem solved and I didn't think anymore about it. On the day of our anni he give me this box of Ferreros and I just smile to myself and he then proceeds to tell me ... he had actually bought them while I was away on my girlie roadtrip and hidden them in the back of the pantry as he knows with my arthritis I have problems getting up there and he couldn't believe it when he found the chair there and 'his' choccies in full view ...well what a laugh we both got when I relaid my thoughts on it ... just two old cronies that think alike I guess ... haha but it was still lovely of him to remember our anni plus give me one of his special lovey dovey cards he always finds for me - don't give up girls when we were first married he used to forget too not until I made a point of forgetting to get/make him a card one year did he do the turn-around. As a special treat we are off on our own roadtrip next week to visit friends and stay overnight up the northcoast. There are so many lovely people to catch-up with and I've lost a couple of old [not in age] girlfriends this year so think life is a bit too precious to miss an opportunity to visit.