Aging gracefully???

Quartet the movie was fabulous & fun.
Old age is scary.
Or is it the thought of it, the unknown?
"Old age is no place for sissies" so said one of the characters.
Sounds like good advice...



Christmas wishes...

My hope for all is that santa blows some christmas dust your way.
May you spend the holidays with family and friends, in peace and joy.
My wish for the world is that some of the madness ceases, and loving thoughts
and deeds take over instead.
I hope that 2013 is full of beauty and fantastic times for all.



Think about it...

I am.
About so much.
You only need to watch the news, read a newspaper, listen to people around you.
So, I am thankful about lots...



Pretty...

Another lovely piece of art from Kelly Rae Roberts.
How fab are the wings?



Ha Ha Ho Ho...

Sooooo true baby...



More chrissy deco...

Can't help myself.
Just keep coming up with ideas for more chrissy decorating that I must do!
I found this china dish at the Paris flea market for 5euros so I used that to hold a fave
photo of the kids with santa.
Add some vintage buttons, a glass dome, sit it all on some old books.
Done!

The blackboard in my kitchen where I write up quotes that amuse me got it's
own special wreath for the season...



My new wall...

Sooooo excited yesterday when the courier delivered a very big box to me.
It was an order of 15 photos that I had put onto canvas.
Love Love Love them!
It was easy to edit & order them online, and the company I found were a lot cheaper than my local stores.
I had fun arranging them on my new shelving that I had made not long ago.
The first photo shows an idea I came up with to display photos.
I had old books lying around, I found some vintage nails in a junk shop, put them together
to hold the canvas upright, and voila, I love the result.
Easy to do, but so decorative...



I love walking into this room and seeing memories of our family & our travel experiences...



Have a little merry...

Some fab original art from Kelly Rae Roberts as a reminder to give thanks...



Must see...

Saw this recently.
Brilliant.
Funny.
Poignant.
All of the above and much more.
Story of a man who relies on an iron lung to breathe.
He decides that at the age of 38 he wants to lose his virginity.
He enlists the help of his priest and a sex surrogate.
I believe this to be a must see...
 

Helpful advice?...

 



Some advice to get you through this season.
Perhaps to help keep things in perspective.
To remind you of what is really important.
To remind you to breathe.
And to hopefully, help you enjoy the things most important to you...



(no words)...

This is for all those sweet angels taken, so cruelly, from their families.
And for all the brave souls who died protecting them.
No words can express, as parents, as humans, our anguish and despair...

Oh happy day...

Our youngest daughter graduated today.
Such a proud parent day!
She completed 3years of an arts degree, so now 2 of her teaching course to go.
We had a quick coffee with her before the ceremony.
Her friend Sally also graduated...

After the graduation, we went for lunch at a fave of mine.
Two on Rathdowne, in North Carlton.
All the sweet things looked delish...

Fabulous styling of the cafe/store.
I had sour dough toast with smoked salmon & pistachio pesto, topped with poached eggs.
Thought I was in foodie heaven...



New recipe...

Tried something new last night.
It was a great dish.
Hokkien noodles, eggplant strips roasted with garlic & oil, chopped up spring onion,
mixed with sweet chilli sauce, light soy sauce, little sesame oil, little balsamic vinegar.
I pan fried plain cashews & a heap of sesame seeds with a small amount of sesame oil until brown & crispy.
Tossed together, served at room temperature.
Utterly, utterly delicious...
I think I will be making again today, perhaps add sliced mushroom?
Bean sprouts?



Yum for my tum...

Whipped this yummy bread & butter pudding last night.
Topped it with fresh mango pieces prior to cooking it.
Soooooo delish.
Creamy.
Refreshing.
Tasty...



Walls are a bit drafty...

Found this stick/branch house at Federation Square a couple of weekends ago.
Had a squizz through it, taking photos with my man...



No cobwebs in my nooks...

We went to Hanging Rock market a couple of weekends ago and bought this!
No, not my man, the sweepy cobwebby stick.
Fab-u-lous-est contraption ever!
I used to look up at our really really tall ceiling/windows and gasp at the webs there.
No more I say1
With a swish & a little elbow grease, the thingy reaches into all the nooks & crannies.
Web free and beautiful...

I feel Christmas in the air...

Just a few pics of my version of Christmas decorating for this year.
Lots of old decorations, some new as well.
In the 2nd photo are 3 decorations that I picked up in Venice & Paris...

Next to the tree sits my new feather mask from Italy.
The little glass tree at the bottom is the one my daughter bought in Italy last year...



Last view...

What a wonderful way to finish off our trip!
Night time water works to Whitney's song "I will always love you".
 

 

Good bye to Dubai.
Back on the plane tomorrow for final trip to home...



Shopping day...

Last day in Dubai was a shopping day at the humungous shopping mall.
The details, colours, price tags, flavours all made the day fab...

The stunning and very high art works...



The aquarium was getting a bit of a clean by divers...



More entertainment...

This young lady certainly knew how to shake her stuff!
So rythmic and graceful.
And a little sexy as well...

Waiting for our drive back to the hotel.
Just chillin' in the oasis.
And I did not try the smokey thing...



And the food...

The food was amazingly tasty and lots of it...



Stunning, simply stunning...

This rivetting performance blew my little mind.
This man "twirled" on the spot for about 20 minutes.
No joke!
It was thrilling, and so colourful.

With hand drums...

A very colourful "dress/cape" thing happening here...



Desert fun...

We took off, a little wary, for a 4 wheel drive in the desert.
OMG!
How much fun did we have!
I could not stop laughing the whole time.
Would definitely do it again...

Our dinne in the desert set up.
How fabulous is this?

Art in a bottle with sand.
See the camel in the desert scene?

My henna was sooo beautiful and delicate...



Stunning water works...

Every 30 minutes, the water "dances" to a different piece of music.
This time it was an amazingly beautiful opera.



Amazing sights...

The huge aquarium in the shopping mall in Dubai.
A very calming place to stand in front of.





Finally in Dubai...

Visiting the markets...

Fancy fabrics galore...

*dried limes
*saffron
*rose petals
*saffron
*myrrh

The sparkle of the gold was astoundingly bright...