Hi there
How are you doing? We are experiencing gorgeous weather here today. It's truly beautiful. My Beloved and I have been up in the East Neuk in Scotland for a seaside break.
We walked along the Coastal Path which covers many miles, admiring the wild flowers, hearing birdsong and looking out to sea.
There were so many fields of yellow, I've been inspired to paint the patchwork land up there..
The day before we left for the holiday we had a Garlic Sausage Incident. I'm not entirely certain how the garlic sausage made it into our garden but we have known birds to drop food from their beaks into the garden on occasion.
I imagine a Crow or Seagull was dashing homeward with beak full of garlic sausage for the family. Maybe it called hi to a passing Jackdaw and the garlic sausage dropped from its beak into our garden....
It was a great drying day and I came out of the house with an arm full of washing along with my dog. I went towards the washing line and my dog went the other way.
There I was hanging the washing on the line, enjoying the sun and slight wind thinking it would all be dry and ready to put away before bedtime. I turned for the back door to find my dog, head down munching Something with great gusto.
It's amazing how we all have such different reactions to things. I imagine my dog had looked skyward with delight, thanking the Universe for dropping such a delicious snack at his paws... And my reaction? Horror... imagining days and nights of doggy diarrhoea ahead of us. Cancelling our holiday.... Sleepless, smelly nights. Oh woe.
Then came the Garlic Sausage Fight between my dog and I. He obviously was concerned that I wanted to tear it from him to eat myself! er, no....!
The sturdy plastic wrapper was in shreds with only crumbs of sausage meat left. I tugged the slippery packet out of my dog's clenched teeth, wondering how much he might have devoured, praying that it was almost empty when it had landed in the garden. It was quite a scuffle. He doesn't give in easily.
Once I had prized the empty wrapper from him I tried to see the Use By date... it was well out of date. My stomach sank deeply...
Luckily however there were no adverse effects and we were able to get away as planned. Phew...
What a peaceful and wonderful break it was. Going to sleep to the sound of the sea, and waking up to it too.
We chose a new book which I read to us both - The Sound of Wales by Kerr Thomson. I can highly recommend it. Set in remote Scotland by the sea. Quite apt. It's a novel for 9 - 12 year age group. I appreciate this may seem odd reading books for children however, the books I read are beautiful, powerful and therapeutic. They address hugely important issues, mostly Loss and Grief. Here are more I highly recommend if you love reading: I suggest a box of Kleenex to hand.
A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean
Artichoke Hearts by Sita Brahmachari
Red Leaves by Sita Brahmachari
Dancing In The Dark by P R Prendergast
I often recommend books to clients when a particular book addresses a relevant issue. If you would like me to email you a full list of my favourite books please just ask.
We found a couple of pieces of matching broken china on the beach. It was very well worn at the edges. White with purple floral pattern. From this we made up a fun story about who may have owned this pottery. In brief, we decided it had belonged to a couple called Louise and Dave back in the late 1970's. They had come for a picnic to the beach and brought with them a cup each from their favourite Tea Set. (I always take two of my favourite mugs on holiday for us to drink from). Louise and Dave ate tuna and tomato sandwiches, paddled in the sea and sipped tea from their cups. They didn't take the cups home with them however... and so the story continued... It kept us entertained during our walk.
We passed a sign for a forthcoming tribute night to Neil Diamond. This reminded us of a recent Sunday afternoon standing in the pouring rain watching and singing along loudly to a local band who did a great version of Sweet Caroline with a few encores. We sang Sweet Caroline (loudly) in the car pretty much everywhere we went during the week. It became very annoying singing it in my head when trying to get off to sleep however.
....and I painted which I found very relaxing and therapeutic.. Below is a work in progress.
I also put together a new six week course I will be providing in the early autumn. It's called 'All About Eve'. I hope to convert this into an eCourse shortly after.
Thank you so much to those of you who offered to trial one of my eCourses. This will be available to purchase for CPD and Personal Development purposes very soon. I intend keeping prices very low as I am aware of just how expensive CPD is becoming.
I'm back home and back to work. I feel so grateful that I can employ my self in the way that I do. I feel so fulfilled and love my work so much.
Until next time, thank you for visiting me here,
warmly,
Kassi