a done deal ♥

He promised not to break my heart

I promised that I would be okay

(he knew he would)

(I knew I wouldn't)

and that I promised to let him go when he wanted to leave

and that he could choose the time and place

and so he did

on xmas eve

in my arms

he is with the stars now

shining down on me every night

and looking over me every day

and whilst I cannot see him

I can feel him

for he is my LOVE

deep within me, deep within my soul

he is my light

he is my heart

and forever my home

for when I found him online, and saw him in the rescue pen, way way back, 6 years 1 month and 14 days ago, and drove for 18 hours to bring him home 

(he had been calling me)

we lived a Love like never before

deep 

intense 

tender 

gentle

passionate

kind

true

beautiful

he was my soulmate thru and thru, 

we both knew it

~ Wesley ~

*  my heart  *  my home  *  my always  *

her and me

we made a deal, a good good deal

and we will do it again

that I know for sure 

wes xxx

an Arrow to my Heart

my mum saw a neat ad on the TV the other night (I don't have a TV), so I youtubed it, 

and yeah, 

it's pretty neat!

a real gorgeous Eros

shootin' arrows to my heart

*sigh*

which reminded me of one of my most fav movies ever

The House of Flying Daggers

where the handsome hero is pretty darn nifty with those sharp messengers of love 

and daggers  

and sexy hot looks

and....

it's also one of the most cinematographically beautiful movies ever, and I really appreciate sublime beautiful movies that transport you to a different world

the Chinese are real good at that

and some of the most beautiful movies ever are Chinese

ethereal, romantic, breathtaking 

so here is that Eastern version of Eros again..

I had googled 'arrow to my heart' 

and you know what? a cowboy turned up!

it's a pic from a book review, Shine Not Burn, and that sentence was in there somewhere, buried under all that, eh, prairie and muscle...

(note to self: put that book on my read list, looks like just the thing for these dark winter nights)

whew! it's the middle of winter and it's feelin' pretty hot right now, someone must have turned the heat up :)

yeah, lots of nice things to appreciate

here's some Norwegian/Swedish fun with modern day professional cowboys

(got this from Twitter)

Twitter is totally fascinating actually. The stuff you read on there, the stuff you come across, real entertaining. A small world all in itself.    #totallyloveitshashtagstoo    #somuchfun    #youcantmakeahashofahashtagsogoannoworryeh

...(rmy#s2long?)    #whogivesaF!*%

I don't post much on twitter, just my occasional blog update, and pics I adore and want on my front page. Always nice to scroll down to look at them. 

And I use my favourites to heart all those pics that I really love. That is a good facility on twitter for sure. Kinda like the Hearting on etsy. And Pinterest, only it's on twitter.

Hearting is good. 

anyway, enough cheeping on,

here is another modern day cowboy with a modern day bow and arrow

alrighty then, - a professional Norwegian soldier in Afghanistan

these troops work hard out there that's for sure

this is real action

taken by British Army photographer Rupert Frere 

okay back to the God of Love and the arrows of love 

here is Eros today - all snow-globed up at Piccadilly! 

apparently the statue has been the centre of (unwanted) attention over the decades and this is the time of year when he needs protection most (who knew?!)
yeah, they always go for the arrow!

so now his arrows will have to break thru the glass first before reaching your heart

small price to pay for some love eh?

at least he will be keeping warm this winter. Maybe he'd like a copy of Shine not Burn?

Happy / Merry / Hoppy ~ c Рождеством ~

Happy / Merry / Hoppy 

Wesley and I wish everyone a good one

a good good one

and may the bears be friendly

the racoons polite

and the young hares well behaved 

and this is for my good good friend in the States 

( ~ she knows who she is ~ )

an abundance of  **!! HAPPY !!* 

just for her :)  yay!

Happy Christmas beautiful lady! xxx

and may you bask in the light of love

often and always ♥

okey dokey, personal greetings over

I've got my calendar up already

though my tree is still not yet up

- no time! 

I've been flat out bringing many little leverets into the world and sending them safely on their journeys to adorn xmas trees else where

I treated myself to a calendar from the Hare Preservation Trust

I am their volunteer business development manager (big title huh!) and I run their online shop

I've been doing it for quite a few years now.

I like that the Trust is primarily concerned with changing the law regarding the status of hares in the UK by political policy. This is a nice approach to do things and we work with all sides of hare interests. 

The calendars are all sold out for this year. They sold well, and fast!

I rather like this pic of a hare.

I usually keep my fav pic on display all year round, so maybe I will be fast forwarding to August, in January (most probably!)

I'm not into dates or numbers or week days or stuff like that. I work for myself, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, so every day is the same to me - work, work, work....

*yaaaaaawwwnnn* ..complain.. complain.. complain..

no, not complaining Wesley! just sayin'

I bought Wes a heater the other week. 

A little one that can be kept on all the time.

It's a tube type thingy and gets nice n toasty and Wes has spent every waking minute dozing by it

his toys wanted to get in on the action too

hey! get them away!

heat hoggers!!

infact Wes has adored his heater so much so, that when I was cuddling him the other night I happened to notice that the inside of his ear was all raw and pinky and *burnt* (shameful blush!!)

so I remedied that right away 

- with a kiss for Wesley (kisses Always work!)

- and a little loose sock slipped onto the heater

(the heater does have huge writing saying Do Not Cover, but hey! just look at Wes and his toys!? it's completely covered in my opinion!) hmmmm

the Edinburgh skies have been all pinky too

beautiful December sunsets over the Scottish capital, so good to see

took this one a couple weeks ago, was so breath-taking

and then got a repeat a couple nights later

isn't it just amazing how beautiful the world can be

truly blessed to live on earth

(em, as opposed to the grey dry desolate moon .. perhaps..)

and as the year draws to an end I am more than half way thru War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

I read this book in high school for my English matric. I studied the persona of the Russian male hero in a few of the classics (Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky et al). 

I read the book in lightening speed ofcourse as I had a few books to wade thru and dissect and study. I loved them all ofcourse, being a huge fan of things Russian. And War and Peace is a BIG book! 

but now that I'm older, not under exam pressure and can relax and enjoy a read, I am taking my time to savour it.

I get it in my inbox 3 times a week from Daily Lit and when it comes in at 11pm I make myself a lady grey and sit down for a cosy 5 minute read. 

This really is a great way to get thru books you've always wanted to read but never found the time.

I've read a few Chekovs, and the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and a few other bits here and there but just now I am adoring my War and Peace with Andrew Bolkonski, Pierre and Natasha. 

It's good good stuff!

Tolstoy is truly a master story teller and such an insightful man. Now that I have some life experience, as opposed to purely intellectual dissemination, under my belt, I can really appreciate his incredible wisdom and sagacity. 

alrighty, enough high-brow

next on my read list is Conan the Conqueror. So, so excited!! LOVE Conan :) *sigh*

I just have to finish my current books, which in no particular order are - Andy McNab ~ Immediate Action, W.Stanley Moss ~ Ill Met by Moonlight, John Le Carre ~ The Constant Gardener and Douglas Reeman ~ Battlecruiser that I started about oh, about a year ago. 

Hmmm, then again, maybe I will just go straight on to Conan. I do like to eat my dessert first. When I go out to dinner I look at the desserts first :)

anyway, whatever book I pick up next

will be because I surely LOVE it

I have always loved books. 

I love their feel, their contents, their voice, their world, their comfort, their....

so, whatever you do this xmas,

whether with friends or family or familiarity 

make sure you have a good good one

and you're happy 

merry

and if you've had a few, hoppy :)

and to all my Russian readers who've been stopping by ~ спасибо!

Done and dusted - Deadlifting 100kg

So I'm pretty proud of myself tonight,

had a real good workout, and on the way there felt like doing some deads 

(deadlifting :)

I can't take credit for that beautiful lady above, that's not me

but every word written is true

I train hard, as hard as I can on the day for my energy level

and tonight as Metallica's 'When the bell tolls' was blasting out the speakers on full I deadlifted 100kg!

yay! ~ BIG smile ~ 

       ~ BIG song and dance~

though I was not dressed as lightly as the beautiful lady above, hell no - this is Scotland, this is winter, it was 6 degrees outside!

so I had on my T, trackie daks and warm sweatshirt. Just until I broke a sweat....

(my only witness to the feat was the mirror :)

I did a post on deadlifting a couple months ago, and I can now do reps easily on 90kg

oh okay, I can do 4 reps, then 4 more, then another 4 then 3 then yadda yadda... you get my drift,

and I'm happy with that. I like my progress, I like to take my time, go slow, at a pace that suits me

It's been so good to deadlift, totally THE best exercise I have ever done and it is such a powerful movement to do, feels incredible. 

I really am in heaven when I'm doing it! ha ha! 

(em... what's she on??! is she really talking about deadlifting...!!?)

and if I don't indulge too much in all the tasty xmas treats out now, then I may just stay lean enough to sport a nice pair of pins like Rachel, above

and I could be the proud owner of a tush to be admired... perhaps..

though tonight, as a lil' reward I treated myself to some chocolate slathered profiteroles, yuu hhhuu mmmmeee. 

They only come in packs of 12 (sheesh! really?)

so, 9 down, 3 to go... 

So I remember before, going on about how good deadlifting is for you, and it really is - it has transformed me like nothing else

my core is now pretty damn strong 

I am sure I could wrap myself around that big thingy above just like that pretty lithe lady (what IS that thingy?? for martial arts I reckon? I thought they used logs of iron, as in Kickboxer...)

and my arms are coming along just fine

though not as big as this impressive lady above, 

what a nice pair of delts she has too, and check out that chain around her waist! cool eh? so tough! 

I will be making myself a dip belt with a nice 1/4inch chain on it, since I do dips with a 15kg plate (not too bad, I do sets of 6 at 10/12 reps)

didn't wanna spend $50 plus postage on that one, though I am sure it is worth every cent, will see how I go stitching one up, rather liking the chain, all that metal *mmm*

and maybe if I keep up my deadlifting and my weighted dips, and weighted chins, then one day I will have a nice pair of guns like this pretty lass!

Such a beautiful girl eh? 

beautiful smile! 

I love smiles :) did I mention that before? so LOVE smiles :)

okay, so I'm finished blowing my own trumpet, patted myself on the back enough, texted my mate to brag about my lift... was congratulated then promptly put in my place :) heh heh

maybe these new hares I made will bring a little smile to you?

(yeah, that's the hand that gripped the bar that had 100kg on it...)

they are looking forward to scampering around your xmas tree! which one do you love?

omg!!! forgot to say - saw my first xmas tree tonight on the way home from the gym! wow! totally love xmas trees and that all sparkly stuff

these little pals are in a Scandinavian floral pattern (came from a Norwegian tea towel, nuff said!)

and then when I got home and looked up at the stars, as I always do - omg!! I saw THE biggest, sparkliest star I have ever ever seen, like ever!

It was to the left hand side of Orion the Hunter, and em, I reckon it could be Sirius, the dog star, and the brightest star in the sky, because it was so bright! it was like the sun!!

alrighty, not as bright as the sun, but nearly as...

hmmmm, then again, maybe it is Venus?? 

all this star navigation stuff is a lil' confusing for me - will have to ask my brother, he will know for sure, he studied the stars and knows where they all live in the sky, I merely admire them as they glisten away

aaah :) so many things to LOVE!

little carrot covered hares perhaps? 

perfect for the centre piece decoration on the xmas table

(that little chap has a home to go to already, I'll have more hopping by in the next few days)

so LOVE the stars

so LOVE my gym

so LOVE deadlifting

so LOVE my strong body

... I could go on and on and...

so here I am - a 'selfie', taken a month or two ago. 

(was for an artist's profile for my paintings actually) (real professional huh?)

Still got a little way to go with my guns eh?

I'm not into singlets (yet) or tight shorts or revealing stuffs. The most I do is turn my sleeves up, that's my vanity taken care of.

oh - forgot to boast (again!) - I now do shrugs on 170kg!!!

yeah, really! 170kg!  I do 3 sets of 6/8 reps  not too bad eh? I warm up with reps on 120kg, then 140kg, then 150kg

okey dokey, 
showtime is now officially over :)

I have warm ups to do....