Happy Easter

...whatever it means to you.

Some Spring collages Jake and I made with tissue paper shapes and laminating pouches.

Jake's card to me.

It's been one of those days...

Drawing helps.  

This was inspired by the late, great Maurice Sendak.

Still Winter

           I took these photos a month ago, but it could have been yesterday. 
Will Spring ever arrive?

Hands

Feets!

Hello....

... who's there?

31/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

On the rain soaked, wind swept pavement, a dislodged piece of bark in the shape of a heart.
~

Today is the last official day of January's Mindful Writing challenge, but I will be continuing with mindful writing on my small stones blog. 

30/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

The wind is rattling the window frame.  Outside, the whole silver birch sways and the hanging branches throw constantly dancing shadows on the house opposite.

29/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

In someone else's house

I stop in front of the black and white cat.  It is curled up on a mustard yellow cushion that is too small for it, and which tilts off the edge of a table and is being held up by the radiator nearby.  We haven't met before so I hold my hand above the cat's sleeping head.  It stirs, gives my fingers a sniff and then a barely perceptible nod.  I stroke his head, the fur slightly rough, and am rewarded with three slow deep purrs before he tells me he's had enough.
~
From my seat near the bay window, I see the curve of a red chilli pepper over the TV set.  The pepper is next to a spiky leafed plant on the windowsill outside.  For a moment I marvel that it is thriving in this cold weather before realising it is the top of a gnome's hat.

28/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

I pour hot water into the plastic turquoise mixing bowl and watch the steam rise.  I add two drops of eucalyptus and one drop of lavender oil.  "That smells nice!" Jake says, but I can't smell anything, not even with my head above the steam and a towel over my head.  I open my mouth to inhale the vapours and a light green taste lands on my tongue, but there is no smell and the taste makes no sense without the smell.

27/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

Yoshi pads into the kitchen and catches the sun on his black fur.  For a moment he is sheathed in a suit of shimmering silver.
~
In the kitchen, I hear the sound of squawking coming from the direction of the sky.  I look up into the blue, expecting to see a flash of long-tailed greenness.  Although I know they are here, it still surprises me, to hear parakeets in Walthamstow.

26/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

Jake in red and blue starry pyjamas constructs a makeshift "train station" with a fire engine, the lid of a plastic storage box and some dominoes.  "Mummy, do you want to do the people getting on and off?" 
~
Mid-morning ~ even after a night of rain, a large patch of ice remains on the pavement in the shadow of the bridge at Northcote road, an archipelago on a concrete sea.  I look up.  How wonderful to see streaks of airplane vapour trails against blue sky again. 

25/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

On the pavements, the snow and ice is gone.  A few small patches here and there, but otherwise, back to concrete.  All trace of the snow cat gone, except for one of its hazelnut eyes.
~
Jake in his red Power Rangers costume, with small panda bear tucked into the gold belt, eating cheerios and watching Abney & Teal.

24/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

Jake puts his red plastic Power Rangers mask over my bum and says, "Oooh, has your boom boom grown, I think it has!!"  I burst into laughter.  His face beams in a smile of pure joy and mischief.
~
In the crowded cafe, a fancy cook book is open on a display stand some distance away from me.  It takes me a while to realise that the Scared Foie Gras recipe I'd been seeing was, in fact, Seared.
~
A sip of warm spiced apple cider - tangy sweetness, a hug in a mug, and a star floating on the surface.
~

It's my birthday.  As birthdays go, it's been alright.  I had a lovely lunch and I wasn't forgotten.  I also have a cold and would love to have seen some sunshine today, but at one point, I did look up and see the sky streaked in white and pale blue, so maybe it's coming.  I've also been humming "Young at Heart" to myself all day, have been for a few days as I'm trying to learn the song on the uke, but it is rather apt for today.  Jake asked me what I wished for this morning.  It is this...love for everyone, and to be as good a uke player as this dude one day...
 

23/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

Jake places his dominoes flat and in a line, they make a gentle click click noise as their ends meet.  Then he runs a train over it.  
~
Outside the Town Hall, a man stops in front of the frozen fountain, studies it for a few moments, takes a piss in it and then goes on his way.

22/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

6:20pm ~ coming back into the living room from the bathroom, I find Jake slumped against the sofa, asleep, open-mouthed, still in his red Power Rangers costume.  As I get him changed into his pyjamas, he smiles but is like a heavy rag doll in my arms.
~
Walking up the stairs in my oversized fluffy pink slipper boots, my foot in said stupidly oversized fluffy slipper boot catches on a stair and I lose my footing.  My knee hits a step and I fall forward, spilling the bowl of just boiled water filled with essential oils.  The water mainly lands on my left hand and the carpet but also splashes on my front and chin.  I yelp and run to the kitchen and put my scalded hand under the cold tap but as the water turns icy cold, the burning sensation gets worse.  Then I hear Dr Ranj's* voice in my head, saying something about using cool or lukewarm water to cool a burn or scald down, never ice.  I google it and the NHS website confirms this, and recommends cooling the scald for 10 - 30 minutes.  So I go to the bathroom and fill the sink with a mix of cold and warm water and sink my hand under the surface for about 10 minutes.  The burning sensation fades immediately.  Half an hour later, my skin feels cool to the touch but still tingles and is slightly sore.  So I think I'll go for another dunk.  (*from cbeebies' Get Well Soon - you see, watching hours of children's tv really does do you good.)

So, today's small stone is also educational.  1) Never carry scaldy hot water up the stairs while wearing stupid oversized fluffy slipper boots.  2) Cool a burn or scald with cool or lukewarm water for at least 10 minutes, and never use ice or icy cold water.  The clash of extreme temperatures can damage your skin.  And while we're at it - don't apply anything greasy to the burn or scald.  You can also cover it in cling film to protect it if you have to go to A & E.  3) Just cos a Doc on a children's tv programme (who is actually a real doctor) seems to enjoy singing songs about constipation and asthma and head lice, doesn't mean he hasn't got a bloody good point to make. 

The good news is that my chin and other bits are fine, and the carpet smells of lavender, eucalyptus and lemon.

Light drawings...

I love doing these!  Courtesy of the fairy lights in my living room and a crappy phone camera.  Not bad!

21/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

Reggie the ginger tabby streaks across the snow and under the hedge in front of us.  "Was that a fox?" Jake asks.
~
A black and white cat treads carefully through belly high snow on the garden wall.  The snow is so white, the cat's white patches turn a pale yellow, the colour polar bears are against arctic snow.
~
At the base of a silver birch, and a few yards further along, outside someone's house, mounds of pristine white snow streaked with streams of bright yellow.
~
As I shape a couple of snow ears with my fingers, Reggie the cat comes over to take a look at my handiwork.

20/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

Steadily falling snow.  The pale pink cherry blossoms are pink no more.
~
Out my window: Thick clumps of snow on the hedges, like over-the-top icing.  Snow on the roads and pavements, hardly any tracks or foot prints, still pure white.  And across the street: a black cat with a red collar sits in front of a blind-covered window, watching; a woman in a pink dressing gown, her right hand holding a cigarette hangs out of her open window.

19/31 ~ January Mindful Writing

On the narrow low wall in front of number 72, a strip of snow, undisturbed except for 3 paw prints.