Christmas lights

Christmas tree lights, Covent Garden

I always love a trip to London - the City, my former home, that helps to recharge my soul batteries. I soak up a spot of history, quench my inspirational thirst and revel in nostalgia for a well-spent youth. I always take away something special from a tramp of these streets, negotiating public transport and dodging tourists. I feel good.... grounded.... back on home turf.

London just oozes with history and creativity - with evidence on almost every corner. I could't help but smile with delight when I happened upon a blue plaque informing me that I was standing before the very place where Rosetti, Millais and Hunt formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, then later spotted this one of another of my heros. (I was also thrilled by finding this picture on the wiki page I linked to on blue plaques - serendipity indeed!). This was once my City too where magic happens and I feel forever a part of it.

I was in London for a party last night, but there was plenty of time for some shopping and exploration during daylight hours...

If you put the word 'Enchanted' in any exhibition title you're sure to grab my attention. Add 'Palace' and you're onto a sure-fire winner. What better way to pass an hour or so than wrapping oneself in the magic of Kensington Palace where fashion, performance and dreamlike installations told tales of Palace Princesses set against the backdrop of the gilded decor.

I learned that money and power most certainly doesn't buy happiness; but at least you get to indulge in your eccentricities.

Thank you to Amelia for her recommendation!

I returned home this morning with the music and spectacle of last night's party still powering through my senses (though fortunately, a sensible consumption of French fizz, did at least mean that any alcoholic hangover was gratefully not present!). As a special treat I even got to stay overnight, so I could fully immerse myself in the Cafe de Paris experience without worrying about catching trains. And, while I didn't exactly follow in Monique's* footsteps with regard to dancing barefoot through puddles and seducing handsome Frenchmen (it being much too cold for the former and I have no need for the latter), I did dance until the wee small hours!

(*See yesterday's post!)

Photos (other than the top one) taken at The Enchanted Palace Exhibition at Kensington Palace.

Sharing with Sweet Saturdays.

Sweet Saturday

How I still love to receive snail mail. I even dreamt about it last night. I was back in the flat of my wild twenties. 2nd floor of a converted house with lots of stairs to run down to check for post. A famous actress lived on the ground floor - though being as she was an actress famed to portraying old ladies, there was a distinct lack of wild parties with George Clooney in attendance going on!

The postman always arrives early here on a Saturday. He usually has a parcel and needs to knock on the door and wake us all up which can be something of a trial. Personally, I think he saves the packages up for the weekend so he gets to see me with wild hair in a dressing gown. The rest of the week he rolls up late morning. I wonder how much online retailing has changed the phyique of the postal worker. They sure have to carry a whole load more around than a few brown envelopes and birthday cards these days...

However, I digress. Today is Saturday! Life is sweet! Especially when you receive goodies in the mail (see, I knew there was a link in there somewhere!). These came last Saturday, but I have been a touch busy.

I was so excited to be a winner of Manonpopje's beautiful art from her latest giveaway. It's full of fun and quirky layers - just my kind of thing. Thank you Manon!

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Sweet treasures

I am slowly getting round to posting about some delightful treasures that came my way via the incredible artists I meet in Bloglandia. Their talents and passion fuel and ignite my own. Their accomplishments help fire me to set and achieve my goals too.

Right now art is my burning passion. It feeds my soul with delicious, energy-giving morsels. I love to look, touch and create. I also know that it doesn't matter what becomes of each painting. It has been the journey through the creative process that has worked its magic deep inside of me.

Sometimes I feel the pain and angst when the paintings don't speak to me. They just lie there on the paper with dull features and won't help weave the magic. But then I live for the others, when I make something that laughs, dances and sings across the page. Which prompts wonderful sharing people to comment that they like it, that it speaks to them too. I think that's why I like to paint my girls. To watch their features slowly form and their eyes gaze out at me trying to reflect their story.

I know with every ounce of certainty that without this online community of artists I stumbled upon two years ago that this would never have happened. The supportive comments and emails, the online courses and creative challenges, the friendship and encouragement were just the spurs I needed. I may not be selling hundreds of paintings, have a licensing agreement or written a book about Mixed Media (YET!); but I think I can finally say that I AM AN ARTIST.

So thank you one and all.

And now, after going off at a tangent, I will finally get back to the point of this post. To thank Natasha May, Sheree Wagner and Heather Stillufsen for the treasures they shared with me - the little goodies that dropped through the letterbox with a Bloglandia postmark.

And the 'Sweet' part of this post header - well it is Sweet Saturday and what a perfect opportunity to share my sweet treasured gifts and friendships.

Some fruit for a sweet Saturday

I've been lying in bed this morning with a head bursting with ideas - I even came up with a comedy sketch. It's a bit lame compared to this one though - pure genius!

I had to share this with the bloggers at Sweet Saturdays on Diana Evans' site. To me it is one of the sweetest pieces of comedy writing I've ever seen - and the delivery was just peachy!

While I'm mention the lying in bed business. I might point out that there was a 6 in the hour. Will someone please tell me why, on a 'school day', the alarm has to do its level best to drag me kicking and screaming out of slumber and I spend all day yawning, then on the WEEKEND, yes internal sleep switch - the WEEKEND - I am fully conscious at 6am?

A sweet Saturday (low cal)

Hello my little cupcakes. Did you know that there was a day dedicated entirely to cupcakes?

Of course you did! Have you had yours today? Has the sweet and light sponge melted on your tongue sending little pops of happy thoughts through your taste buds? And what about that topping? For me, it has to be cream cheese... Ah... delicious thoughts...

As you can see, I've been baking. I've pulled out a heap of ingredients and mixed them up a little so you could enjoy a little treat. Shall I put the kettle on?

I love cupcakes, but they are banned at the moment. You know when it's diet time when a new season comes around and suddenly those shorts won't do up any longer. Also, it doesn't help when your son grabs hold of a lump of stomach and jiggles it about a bit...

I'm joining in with Diana Evans who likes to celebrate the sweetness of the first day of the weekend. It also squeezes in very nicely with the theme I set at Inspiration Avenue of Bake. One of these days I might actually have something in mind before I set the subject matter.