Dec 26

Another Christmas done and dusted. Next up, New Year. A time for getting plans in order, figuring out how to do "it" better and "get  it"....... that elusive "it" which will make our lives easier, happier, more organized, flow better, healthier and so on .... good times ha ha. As Confuscious says "Life is simple, we make it complicated"

December 25th

Merry Christmas.....
As I type this, the snow is falling softly outside.We are having a white one this year. I was thinking how lovely it would be to have a day world wide where EVERYONE stops their usual routine and gives gratitude for each other and this wonderful world we live in. A non secular holiday recognized and honored by all of us everywhere. A day to slow down, pause, and enjoy the miracle that is us and this planet. Peace on Earth.

Thankful

Here in Canada it is the Thanksgiving weekend. I am grateful for many things. One of which is the gift of communication. Thanks for being part of that. xo

Red House

This Is my latest painting....I quite like it. There is a lovely mysterious mood to it I think. It was sold to a person who said it reminded them of their summer house:)

Big Day Downtown 2013

So say the folk at  Ristorante aMano, one of the places I chose to celebrate my 2013 Big Day Downtown! BIG thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Comission for allowing me to once again enjoy this wonderful city I get to call home!! This is the fourth year I have participated and this year the theme was experience. Thirty-one bloggers were given cards with experiences from which they had to randomly choose three and the ones I got were: authentic, cheerful and relaxing. Great huh? Sooooo, I decided to combine all three in each of the two experiences I chose. First up was  dinner at aMano with a good friend.

 aMano is an authentic Italian Trattoria tucked away in Bishop's Landing on the Halifax Waterfront. It is a place I have always wanted to try but somehow never have managed until now.

Inside, the decor is red and rustic with terracotta floors, warm colours and a giant brick pizza oven set right next to the bar. Old Italian films play on moniters scattered around the room. It's a friendly welcoming place.

When it came time to order, selection was difficult. Everything sounded delicious! Great choices.

We decided to share, and started with schiacciata for our appetizer, which was warm flatbread, and a garlic,sweet pepper, eggplant pesto.Yum! It's the only food I got a picture of. I got carried away with eating and the mains were half gone before I remembered I was supposed to be documenting it haha.

The delectable mains we chose were...... 

Agnolotti di Zucca, Handmade pumpkin filled half moon shaped pasta with brown sage butter sauce , Parmigiano dusting and toasted almonds
and...  
Pizza Vegitariana, San Marzano tomato sauce, Artichokes,roasted eggplant,sweet peppers, caramelized onions,basil pesto and fresh ricotta

Both were delicious!! my fave was the pumpkin pasta. Nicely scarfed down with a bottle of red wine mmmm.

I would definitely recommend aMano to anyone who loves good food:) We left feeling cheerful, relaxed and authentically stuffed with great italian food!(Somehow in editing this post,the font has changed and I don't know how to fix it, sorry)

My next adventure was solo. Well, sort of.....there was a person named Anna who made me feel like a princess:)

I decided to pamper myself at one of Halifax's most luxurious spas. Spirit Urban Spa on Granville Street. After a long tiring day standing on my feet at the Halifax Seaport Market, I thought a pedicure would be the way to go.

I drifted through the bright open appointment area into an hour and a half of authentic relaxation and cheerful bliss.

They have  a lovely lounge with couches, soft lighting and pillows that leads out onto a deck ovelooking the harbour with more comfy chairs pillows and seating. I was offered a choice of beverages and settled on a cappucino which arrived with a delightful lemon square to munch on while I waited.

Let's face it, the way my life is at the moment, I probably could have just sat here with my book for the full ninety minutes and been completely and utterly satisfied. Sigh.... Next time I will arrive early just to enjoy the wait.

But wait! There's more. A lovely young woman named Anna came out to collect me and ushered me into a room with more comfy chairs and gave me a soft neck warmer to drape around myself and plunked my tired tootsies into a warm bubble bath to soak. Ahhhhh. She then wrapped them in a warm towel and scrubbed, polished, massaged and lotioned my legs and feet until I was a puddle of contentment.

Heaven. A bracelet of polish colours  was handed to me to choose from and I chose from the new "San Franscisco" collection.

Here is the shy Anna hard at work. Look at her lashes!! She has been in the business for 13 years and loves what she does:)

Tadah! Done! Can you see the tiny splotches of blue paint on my flip flops? I wonder which painting was responsible. Haha. Spirit Spa has a full complement of services, hairstyling, waxing, facials, massage, makeup, the works! I would LOVE to spend a day here getting pampered. My feet haven't looked this good in too long to mention.

And that is how I spent my Big Day Downtown! Now it's YOUR turn. The Downtown Halifax  Business Comission is holding a contest starting September 4th  where you can win your own pre-paid Visa card to have some fun downtown! You can find more info on their Facebook and Twitter

Quotes for thought...

 

I am a great believer in the power of quotes. Short pithy statements that cut to the chase and give you something to think about. Here are 50 good ones compiled by Marc and Angel.A wonderful site for inspiration! 

 You are only destined to become one person – the person you decide to be. 

Do good and feel good.  Do bad and feel bad.  It’s that simple. 

You are what you do today, not what you say you’ll do tomorrow. 

We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us. 

Ultimately, it’s not what you do every once in a while; it’s what you dedicate yourself to on a regular basis that makes the difference. 

Stay true to yourself.  Never be ashamed of doing what feels right.  Decide what you think is right and stick to it. 

If you don’t stand for anything, you will remain forever on your knees. 

No amount of money will make you happy if you aren’t happy with yourself. 

You know you’ve made the right decision when there is peace in your heart. 

Don’t worry if your goals seem crazy to other people; oftentimes the crazy ideas are the ones that have the greatest impact.
If you’re thinking like everyone else, then you aren’t thinking. 

Control your own destiny or someone else will try for you. 

Sometimes standing up to your friends can be just as difficult as standing up to your enemies. 

The unhappiest people in this world are the people who care the most about what everyone else thinks. 

When people undermine your dreams, predict your doom, or criticize you, remember, they’re telling you their story, not yours 

There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally. 

No one in the world was ever you before, with your particular gifts and abilities and possibilities. 

Your greatest task isn’t to find love, but to discover and destroy all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. 

A loving, happy person lives in a loving, happy world.  A hateful, miserable person lives in a hateful, miserable world.  The world around you reflects YOU. 

Worry gives small things a big shadow. 

Focus your conscious mind on things you desire not things you fear.  Doing so brings dreams to life. 

It’s not the mistakes and failures you have to worry about, it’s the opportunities you miss when you don’t even try that hurt the most. 

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one over and over again. 

To get something you’ve never had, you must do something you’ve never done. 

The harder thing to do and the right thing to do are usually the same thing. 

Our problems are really our blessings if we use them to grow stronger.  

Anyone can run away; it’s super easy.  Facing problems and working through them, that’s what makes you strong. 

When you have two good options, always go with the one that scares you the most, because that’s the one that’s going to help you grow. Courage is being scared to death, and then taking the next step anyway.

 Sometimes our greatest insight comes from our failure, not from our accomplishments. You need to screw up to learn.  You need to experience it all to create greatness.

 Just because you don’t understand something now doesn’t mean the explanation doesn’t exist. Not knowing everything about your future is a good thing. Don’t worry about what you can’t control and you may liberate yourself. 

People of average ability often achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit.  

Most people succeed simply because they are determined to. 

Temporary happiness isn’t worth long-term pain. 

Patience can be bitter, but the seeds you plant now will bear sweet fruit. 

The less you expect, the more pleasant life gets. 

The more you are in a state of gratitude, the more you will attract things to be grateful for. 

The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for.

 It usually isn’t what you have or where you are or what you’re doing that makes you happy.  It’s how you think about it all. 

Do not dwell so much on creating your perfect life that you forget to live. 

You are not in competition with anybody except yourself; plan to outdo your past not other people. 

To admit that you were wrong is to declare that you are wiser now than you were before. 

Humans see what they want to see. If you spend too much time judging yourself, you won’t have any time to love yourself or anyone else.  

At the end of the day, you can either focus on what’s tearing you apart or what’s holding you together. 

Look through the front windshield and not the rearview mirror. 

You don’t get to choose how you are going to die, or when.  But you can choose how you are going to live, right now. 

Be done with regrets; they are an excuse for people who have failed.  You still have a chance.

Whaaaaat?

Hahah, I came across this pic of my cat Monty today and had to share. Ridiculous whaaaat? The roof of his mouth is spotted. Now he is much heavier and way more laid back....just like us all haha.

Black Rock Beach

This is a fairly recent painting of a place I adore, Point Pleasant Park. It is a different style for me.... as you know, my work is usually full of colour. Loved painting this and now I'm thinking of doing a series of park paintings in this dramatic style. If you are interested in purchasing it, please drop me a line.

Midsummer Night's Eve

This day is magical to me. Not sure why exactly. I suppose Shakespeare might have had something to do with it. The longest day of the year, the turning point, the top of the mountain of  light, a day of possibilies..... I was in the Halifax Public Gardens yesterday and the world was indeed green and glowing.....magical for sure!

All over the world people are celebrating Midsummer's Eve, the wonderful summer solstice.  I just found out that people believed that golden-flowered mid-summer plants, especially Calendula Calendula, and St. John's Wort, had miraculous healing powers and they picked them on this night.

 These two benches in the gardens are everyone's favourites. Something about the cloak of leaves that protects them from the world I think. You really feel as though you are in a place apart from from time when you sit here and listen to the fountain splashing away, while hidden under the green canopy.

 Yep, late June is a beautiful time of year. Late Autumn is the other favourite of mine.

So, inspired by this time of year I painted something a little different. Midsummer's Eve. 24 x 36" Drop me an email if you want more info:)

Pink Lilies

New painting available for purchase! It is 20 x 12 on a wood support with painted sides. Send me an email if interested:) I really like long rectangular paintings. There's always an odd nook that needs filling. Rainy morning here in Halifax but the sun is supposed to shine at noon! Hooray!

Getting my groove back..

My goodness it was gorgeous out there this morning!Took this snap with my iPhone a few hours ago.
 I started running last July ( love it and hate it haha) and did really well up until November when it started to get cold and dark in the early mornings. I went to the gym sporadically over the winter and started running/walking outside a month or so ago. What a difficult time I've had getting into the routine of it.
Last year I was up at the crack of dawn and off I'd go. It was such an uplifting and inspiring way to start the day. By 7:30am I'd have my exercise over for the day and would be wide awake and ready to tackle anything!  For some reason, those really early mornings are eluding me at the moment BUT I managed to get out at 6:18am today and am so GLAD I did. The air is cool, the light is soft, the dawn chorus is winding down, hardly a soul about. I think as the days get hotter, the early mornings will happen naturally again. Here's hoping!

Don't want to lose me? Read more...

Nothing like a rainy June to make the colours pop. I don't mind the rain, I really don't. I am a minority I know. We will have sunshine soon enough and lots of it as the summer progresses. For now, the wells are getting topped up and the gardens a good start and it looks so pretty. I woke up at around 3am and the sound of the rain pouring outside combined with the darkness and my cozy bed made for bliss.

 So.......the reason for this post..... If you follow/read my blog with Google reader or have liked it using Google friend connect..as of July 1st that service will be shut down. So.....I have found Bloglovin, a great way to follow all the blogs you love. You set up a free account and then you can add all the blogs you love and can read them all in one spot. To import all the blogs you already follow/like on Google Friends Connect / Reader go to this page and import them to Bloglovin:). So easy. Also a plus with this site is you can comment on blogs directly without leaving the reader. Yay.

Things that are round....

How cool is this? It's the Hansen Writing Ball. The first commercial typewriter ever made. Invented in 1865 by the reverend and principal of the Royal Institute for the deaf-mutes in Copenhagen, Rasmus Malling- Hansen. I love the look of it. Apparently Freidrich Nietzsche used one:)

And...while we are in the realm of balls...check THIS out! Beetle Sphere by Ichwan Noor at the Art Basel Hong Kong fair in Hong Kong.

Last but not least in my mini gallery of round things....A hair perming device from Germany. 1929. Waves supposed to last a year!

 

Ok, ok, this isn't round but it was so pretty I had to share it with you! A toaster from the 1920s.

Wild Leek, Vegan Restaurant

A friend of mine, Kirsten Taggart, has just started living a dream of hers! She has opened a cozy Vegan restaurant and Juice Bar in Halifax called Wild Leek. A trained chef, Kirsten has had a love affair with wholesome food for years. Her blog, Kirsten's Kitchen is full of yummy recipes that showcase her special connection with good food.

Located at 2156 Windsor St. on the corner of Lawrence, Wild Leek  is sandwiched between a small variety store and a used book shop. You can't miss it. Painted bright green with two flower baskets and a lovely mural on the side of the building.

It is a tiny spot with just six tables I think, I can't exactly remember the number but it is bright and cheerful and has free wifi!

Dominating the high ceilings is an amazing light fixture, I love it!

The menu is simple with only a few basics available on a consistant basis and the rest is dependant on Kirsten's mood and what fresh produce is available and eventually, special requests:)

The day I was there I had the special which was a Shepherd's Pie,  (lentil base and mashed potato topping) slathered with gravy,and a yummy salad.

My mum who was my dining companion had the broccoli and caramalized onion quiche which I have to say was DELICIOUS! Hard to make it look pretty but you get the gist:)

Wild Leek also makes their own seitan and there are a few things on the menu that utilise it including their own version of Bahn Mi which is a Vietnamese sandwich.

I have to say everything I ate was yummy.Lots of dessert to choose from also. These were to die for, chocolate, pecan, peanut butter thingies...

Mum had a coconut cupcke:)

I know there are a lot of food pics here but hey....it's a restaurant. This was moist and dense and aawesome!

I haven't even touched on the juice bar side of things. Lots of choices there. One which caught my eye was "strawberry fields" Strawberry,banana,coconut and vanilla,mmm
They are open Tuesday to Saturday opening at 8am and closing at 4pm except  Friday 7pm. Friday at suppertime  Kirsten will be doing a dinner service with a lovely plated special meal. Saturday they serve Brunch!

 Pop by and say hi to Kirsten and her sidekick Andie:) Tell em I sent you!