Armchair travel has taken us to the western isles of Scotland this week as we again watched
"I Know Where I'm Going" ,a wonderful classic movie which is also a fable. Watch this movie, if you get a chance....!!!!!

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An artist, Winifred Nicholson, whose work I have been looking at this summer, also worked around and painted in this part of Scotland.

She used lots of white in painting this sunlit window, "Borage in Sunlit Window". Through the window, you can see the mysterious, beautiful islands and the sea.

I've been "needing" a new painting for our bedroom....something light, airy and peaceful...
SO, I made a painting based on Winifred's. Mine is a little brighter....I love the blues!

After doing the painting, I began to wonder what borage really looks like.....so I found the photo below on the Internet. It turns out that borage is called the "herb of gladness" and that the oil is very healing....it has GLA....gamma linoleic acid (also found in Evening Primrose which I sometimes use as a supplement).

Is it cold and snowy where you are? Icy winds and gray skies?

I recommend arm chair travel....start in the working world of Great Britain and end up in the Greek Isles! Simply get you hands on a copy of "Shirley Valentine" a movie from 20 years ago which is still fun!

It is about a "40-something" homemaker who leaves her "small world" and goes on a vacation to Greece. This leads to more possibilites!

I first saw "Shirley Valentine" while visiting my friend Macrina. This week, I am planning to again visit Macrina, who is now recuperating from hip surgery.
I will be taking my friend Karen, who is recuperating from a broken arm, to meet Macrina. Karen is staying with us for a couple of weeks...
So while there may not be much sunshine around here this time of year ('though Arkansas does get more than many of you!) we will be sharing the warmth of friendship. I will try to post more about our visit later in the week.
My job really takes my time these days....funny thing about that! My computer and blogging time is limited! I hope to get around and visit more blogs, a few at a time!

She wants "Instant Gratification"...

An on-line group I was joining was called "Soul Journal". Each week an art journal page could be made following a prompt from the organizers. The first week's prompt was "Instant Gratification".
I thought of things we grab on to seeking to find joy. And they do work, at least for a time. I haven't done the art page from that prompt yet...but I think these photos relate.
---Going to see "Mamma Mia", 3 times so far.
----Partying with my own girlfriends...including my daughter and granddaughter.
-----Recent E-bay purchases. The kurta (tunic) from exotic far-way India; a silver ring which fits my index finger. [Inspired by the one Donna (Meryl Streep) wears in the movie I've been seeing over and over! LOL!]

Of course, instant gratification isn't related just to shopping and "things". I'd like a "quick fix" of several problems....but of course I will learn more and find true inner peace by learning to "balance" my burdens...whatever they may be.

John O' Donohue mentions finding the point of equilibrium in each burden that we are given to bear."When in patience and in prayer we painstakingly manage to discover the point of equilibrium within our burdens, we are able to carry them more easily." [Eternal Echoes, p.155]

----Now this reminds me of my October birthday and its horoscope sign, Libra. The scales, seeking balance.

... And with self-indulgence being allowed somewhat in one's birthday month, I come back to the "gratification" thing again.

Now off to do the soul collage or some laundry. We'll see.

[Note: my collage about this is on my "ARTY COLLAGES AND DOLLS" blog]

"Quirky is Good"........

I've been tagged to do a MEME telling quirky things about myself....and am too lazy to think that through....so I do have some quirky recommendations for the moment.

The first is the New Zealand "fairy tale" movie, "The Price of Milk". It is very different. The scene above shows the bride to be being fitted for her wedding sari with the longest flowing scarf in film history....much longer than Donna's when she is singing, "The Winner
Takes it All" in the film "Mamma Mia".

The image of the orange silk flowing and undulating over the green hills stays in my mind. (This is not a movie for families or young teens...an adult fairy tale!) It also features a quilt in the story...

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Next is "Kinky Boots", a wonderful uplifting film about a drag queen (yes! the actor is fabulous!) who helps save a shoe factory.....the ending is so energetic and makes me want to sing and dance(which are not my gifts!).....rather in the same way that "Mamma Mia" did!

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Then we have the novel, "Garden Spells" which is quirky and charming. I just finished reading this one about a family of Southern women and a VERY QUIRKY apple tree in their garden!

Before April is over I must watch this again!

"Enchanted April"

A wonderful movie based on a 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim.

It tells the story of four dissimilar women in post-war (WWI) Britain who leave damp and rainy London to go on a holiday to a secluded coastal villa in Italy. Two housewives, who belong to the same club but have never spoken, become acquainted. Each in her own way is suffering through an empty marriage and faces the prospect of a lonely and almost isolated middle age. After seeing a newspaper ad for a villa for rent on the Italian Riveria, the women set about finding two other ladies to share expenses. Joined by a beautiful young socialite and an elderly dowager, the four find rejuvenation in the tranquil beauty of their surroundings. (Based on Wikipedia article)
It is the beautiful scenery of the villa overlooking the sea in Portofino, Italy which is the real star of the movie...everything in the movie moves at a leisurely, slow pace!
(This story has also been a Broadway play.)
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When I am not "escaping to the movies" this week, I will be savoring my "real life".

Friday, a good friend from my high school and our college years, Cheryl, came for dinner with her son. (We had Chicken Jambalaya...spicy and good!)

Saturday, we struggled to find the paint for our living room...ending up with this (the taupe color...it isn't really that rosy?!!!).
Our new drapes are going up and I am still painting walls and trim....getting ready for that new carpet!

Spending the weekend with my mom and cooling off at the movies!





Yesterday, Mom and I saw "Hairspray"....with a very talented young newcomer playing the lead role of Tracy.

We laughed out loud at least once...so that was a success!

Last Monday, I saw "Stardust". It too made me laugh as 400-year old witch, Michelle Pheifer, was battleing age spots with magic spells!



This is becoming habit-forming so I'm planning to go to the matinee to see "Becoming Jane" this afternoon......movies are cool and it is about 100 degrees here in the afternoon. I love the visual delights in period pieces like this one....the costumes, houses and English countryside!

I have been knitting socks [that is "knitting on socks"...I am not whipping out pair after pair!] and reading "The Yarn Harlot", the funny essays of knitterStephanie Pearl-Mcphee. She writes and knits with apparent abandon!

My niece and great niece from Wisconsin are here to take Mom up to the dairy farm for a visit...so I will be giving all of them a lift to the Little Rock airport early Monday morning.
The niece brought us a dairy-land treat....squeaky curds....yes, cheese so freshly made that it squeaks when you bite into it!

I'll be back later to post about the other book I am reading....(I visited a locally owned bookstore in my hometown last week and found two non-fiction....the Yarn Harlot, and a book about the naturaly history of the palette...colors, you know. ) I am considering reading "The Golden Compass", chosen for the children's book club on the Today Show. I also saw previews of the movie based on the fantasy book at the theatre yesterday. More about this later!