Not quite sure

Often when I am making collages, I work for a long time trying to get the overall effect and then, at the last moment, try and change some small, but fundamentally important detail to see if the change improves the collage or not.



In the last few collages there has been a stripe of white or a patch of white within the collage. Not something I usually do. I've liked the white though. Today, I started with the white in the background of the palm tree in counterpart to the patch of white  in the clouded sky.

Then I tried the boat. What do you think, which do you prefer?

Dusk

The first quiet day spent at home in a long time. Bliss. Rain falls. This American Life podcasts play the hours away. Slowly, dusk comes unannounced and almost unnoticed.

Sunny Summer Afternoon

A gloomy wet autumn morn
Turns impulsively into a
Vibrant sunny summer afternoon.
My heart rolls over
And thwacks with elasticity
I run out the door
Into a crowd of sun seekers
Filling all the tables
At a nearby café.

Raindrop splattered tabletops,
The only remaining evidence of
Those depressing  past hours,
Are ignored by all
And the waiter;
Who shares the luxury of a
Smoke with a regular, and the
Simple dealings-of-the-day.

Didn't Fall Off The Edge Of The Planet

When I started this blog I made a promise that I would not explain my absences nor talk about any illnesses. So, I am not going to say I am sorry that I haven't been writing much lately, but to say I am back! Friends and I just finished giving a tea party fund raising event.

It was a roaring success because,

• family and friends said they would help me this year during the event and they managed 100% to leave me free to sit with the people at the event and get caught up on small talk
• nearly double the amount of people attended this year's event in comparision to last year's
• there were a few hiccups (too many people and not enough chairs), but I have the feeling that they took it all in their stride
• we earned a good sum of money to help the people in Kimilili, Kenya buy land for their school and start a few small-scale businesses
• the event is over and no tears were shed and much hugs and kisses were given

So, thank you Claudia and Daniela for all your help. The same goes for you, my dearest children, you earned 10 Brownie Points today for sure.

Next Trend on YouTube?

When I saw the hand dancing video below, my instant response was brilliant.



It seems like it has everything needed in order to be the next trend: low tech, serendipity, rhythm, humour, musicality, minimalism in movement towards maximum of effect, quirky... can't stop, but I think it would be just as much fun creating a coreography as it is to watch. I can also imagine that each routine, like tap dancing, would look uniquely wonderful.

My daughter, on the other hand, was not enchanted. She says it looks too strange. So, time will tell whether hand dancing will go viral and become the next trend on YouTube.

Overheard Converstation of an Idiot

In stressful situations, not all people can remain cool and calm. Renovating a home: laying tiles, putting up wallpaper, painting window- and door-frames, though not rocket science, can put a strain on any marriage.



Yesterday, I passed a home in our neighbourhood (similar to the house above) where a couple have been working feverishly to renovate their new old home. They been at it since the beginning of the month and seem to be doing all the work themselves.

As I walked by their open front door, where the husband was laying down tiles in the entrance area, his wife came up to him with a cup of coffee she had just pored out of their themos. She was covered head-to-toe in a dusty overalls and paint was sprinkled all over her head. (Yeah, guess who got the job of painting all the ceilings.) As she was handing over the cup to her husband, she tripped and a slurp of coffee fell on his newly lain tiles.

The spontaneous poisonous barrage that came out of her husband was startling. After being rendered speechless, the wife apologized profusely. To which the husband responded, "Being sorry won't stop a plane from crashing." Talk about over-reacting. Talk about being an idiot.


All of this happened in the time it took me to walk by their front door. I know the incident is just a micro-moment in a relationship, but I did wonder if the couple will manage to move into their new place. And if they do,  how long will they stay together.

Small Doses of Happiness

I volunteer once a week at a local charity shop. It is sometimes a strange world to move around in. Strange is probably the wrong word, but it is a new sub-culture of sorts.  Most of my fellow volunteers are older than I am, though I am no spring chicken. They are nearly all women, and I have for the last 30 years worked in a male dominated world.

My fellow workers come from all walks of life, as do our customers. We have our "regulars", people who drop by every few days to see what new products we've brought out for sale.

Not only does the store have it's regulars, we, the volunteers, have our personal regulars. Inadvertently and over time, the customers find out who is working when. Now, not a shift goes by when my regulars drop by to browse around, but also to exchange a bit of small talk. Each encounter is a small doses of happiness.