3 miracles in Lil ol' Dalstorp !!!

ok ok - I know, my miracles aren't exactly earth shattering - nor will they make the front pages of the newspaper ..........but miracles they are - none the less!!! :0)

firstly, grass has appeared in my back garden -

cold ??? yes it is !

snow ??? yes we have loads of it ............

but there is grass and this picture was taken this evening when I came back fom my walk with charlie........see !!! green stuff - flufy green stuff - and in English we call that - grass! Not the smokey , dopey kind ......... but the 'cut it once a week' kind . Yippeeeeeeeee....... this means Spring is only, but a few snow showers away ;-)

and the other picture is of my bulbs I planted last year - and here they are - growing in all that snow!!!!!!!!!!! How can they??? how can they survive????

Ok - for you GB ' ers - I know we are a long way behind - you are picking crocuses, daffodills and are now, well into planning the summer wardrobe and swimming cozzies - but spare a thought for us - up here in the frozen North!

oh .......................and the third miracle??? I have only one more full day and a half a day left to work cleaning 15 toilets a day !!!

That is the bestest miracle of all ;-)

Vävkompaniet - here I come ;-) ................Exhibitions, sketching , drawing - .................being creative!

Zaz ;-)

lost one hour!

OK - so summer time is now started so can someone please explain to me why I have a metre of snow covering my garden and .............it has been snowing all day!!!!

this is how I feel especially after losing an hours sleep ! :0)

But so much better news than snow or weather!!

It is my last week this week at working ............the cleaning sort! I can see light on the horizon!

And I have also joined Vävkompaniet - a great bunch of artists who run a co-operative shop in Borås , the nearest large town to me.

http://www.vavkompaniet.se

I am so delighted to be part of a working group again - and it will also give me an outlet for my 'stuff'

I have been umming and ahhhhing about joining for ages ..........so finally took the plunge! 6 months trial - so its heads down for some serious artwork. I did a trial run on Friday with Maria - the head artist - super person and brilliant at origami and weaving! See some of her stuff in the link.

I know its going to be a good move ..............for me!

Also its heads down for an exhibition in April - figures this time - like my angel in a tin here................

at last I feel like doing art again!

Zaz ;-)

work ............aaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so tired after work that keeping up my blog has just been a virtual impossibility but just had to share this with the world ;-) Whilst out walking my dog I came across a tree where one of our summer visitors - the green woodpecker had clearly been at work!

Oh joy of joys !!! Spring is on its way in spite of the garden being still under 18 inches of snow :-(

The little chap has been so busy - pecking out this imaculate square hole .................and it is so cold in the forest.

More power to his elbow!!!

Zaz ;-)

little bird

now more or less completed .................

I like the very Indian look ................................ one of a series of four!

Zaz;-)

in the beginning ...............

or at least second time around ............I have started some new work!

a small panel entitled 'little bird' - based on Peruvian birds , which i have worked with before ..........and love .......it is a series of four panels - Indian brass frames.

The embroidery is worked on a constructed background of sheers and the little bird is the centre piece - hand stitched..............open mouthed and singing!

It is only the beginning - more stitching needed and the background will be worked more too!

This is more of my work ...............................sort of proof that I can do what i am trained to do

Zaz:-)

monumental decisions

Having worked as an office cleaner now for one week , and after being told that the job was temporary and not permanent as I thought , I have been forced into rethinking my lifes strategy!

So I collected all my certificates together and put them on the table ..................a mixed bunch I can assure you - but I was sure the answer lay before me !

I have teaching certificates, embroidery certificates, certificates for being able to grow plants and look after grass, language certificates , a highly commended at being able to do magic with ties (dont ask ;-)) oh and dont foget the piano certificates and the one for ballet .................now only 42 years old! proof here

Now, presuming that there is no call for a 53 year old who trained as a ballet dancer 42 years ago - and can only just engage in point work - I sat and stared at the certificates and wondered what on earth I could do with this mish mash of educational nightmares.

Of course the answer shouted back but it takes me a lttle while for me to fall in.....................but in all honesty - the screamingly obviously thing I should be doing is teaching and embroidering. My first love - the embroidery - and my inherited talent , the teaching (thanks Dad!). So this was decided then - my lifes path - simple really -cant think why it took me so long to get to it!

So thats it - I have decided from now.............today...............this moment ..............I am an embroiderer. I am going to embroider and try to sell (fingers crossed), I will exhibit, teach, write articles and generally be a poor , starving artist - but at least , I will be happy and doing what I want to do!

I will no longer cleanoffices , shovel snow, shovel snow and clean offices..................I will no longer dig and fill in graves, I will no longer drive a tractor, lug heavy machines or service engines!

I may not have a reasonable income or any income at all, but at least I will have been truthful to myself ...........at last!

I am going to revisit work I did 20 years ago - where I left off - it is going to be a very interesting journey but this time it will have a more professional approach. I am going to do a course in running my own business with the local job centre. I will discover how to keep my own books and produce figures for the tax man.

Everything will be logged and costed....................and last of all I am not going to feel guilty that I do it !!!!! It will no longer be a 'hobby' it will be my work and my wage earner! It is up to me if I fail at this or make a success of it!

So..................here we are - pictures of work I used to sell ....................oh at least 10 years ago...............but they did sell!!!

I am expecting it to be a bumpy ride..........................but a ride is a ride ..............................'

Zaz ;-)

too tired

just too tired to blog this week - but at least my first week in the new job (now temporary) is nearly over! But !!! the problems of working in a factory environment is the waste in the bins!

this is a picture of some contorted plastic that caught my eye on Tuesday ...............and today I spied some lovely plastic beads, some fine shreds of plastic and some absolutely gorgeous metal banding!

All in all I hanker after every skip I go past!

I am going to have to do some rumaging!............................oh the joys!

Zaz;-)