Sunday Muse

 I’m sending you love, joy and peace with this beauty from my garden. Have a wonderful weekend my dear friends, I’ll be back tomorrow for Potluck. oxo

 

gardenias saturate the day
clothed in their array of lovely white
their fragrance permeates the nose
and far outshines the perfect rose

white gardenias take me there
while I sit upon my chair
and listen to the birds play
in their orchestrative way

I feel blessed to be
alone in my revery
on a white gardenia day

 

Rebecca Wiles 

Silence

 I think I’ve lost my muse for writing…is that normal????? Argggggg, please tell me you have the same feelings sometimes too?!

 

 

silence of my soul

eternal hibernation

into the unknown

 

©AvdL 2010

WHERE DOES YOUR DOG SLEEP?

 

It has always been a struggle during the night with Coco sleeping on my bed.  He has the tendency to nestle up close and even though there’s more than enough space on the bed, for some reason he thinks he has the right to all the space.  Seriously, so many times he’s taken over the prime soft spot in the bed, no place for me to be comfortable, leaving me grasping the very edges while he stretches out in luxury. It normally starts the minute I start walking upstairs to go to my room, he races me to bed….settling himself FIRST, before I get there.  It would not be a problem if he’s been snoozing and hops off as soon as I show up, but another altogether when I have to order him out-of-the-way or physically haul him aside so I can lay down!!

Which brings me to the topic of this blog…Dog Beds!!!   Over time I think I am the one that has developed a psychological problem because I cannot resist walking pass a pet shop where they sell dog beds!!  I have tried them all, the standard pillow that looks like a cushion, a nest dog bed (with raised edges), donut bed, orthopedic bed, raised dog bed and even a heated bed!!!!!!!!    All in vain because I still can’t get him to sleep in his own bed.   Don’t get me wrong, during daytime he loves lying on his bed but as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, he will not sleep on it during the night!

Yesterday I went to lunch and just happen to walk past this new pet shop with the most beautiful dog beds (yes…..again!!)  Not wanting to go into too much detail, I walked out with another and this time with a “mink” blanket to match.   I came home overly excited thinking that THIS will be the “right” one…….and guess what?  He slept on the bed again…now I’m asking you….who is the one with the problem????  

In my “next life” I want to come back as Coco…..just have to make sure I have the same “PACK LEADER“??????????

This is a repost.

Metamorphosis 2

 

 

 

sea of emotion

storm swirling over the waves

buffeting my heart

 

winds slowly subside

rainbow on the horizon

brings calm to my soul

 

 

Crayfish Salad (entree)

A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be crayfish (lobster) salad and Champagne, the only true feminine and becoming viands.
Lord Byron 

 Crayfish is a freshwater variant of the lobster.

INGREDIENTS

• Sea salt and pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• Juice and zest of 1 lime
• 1.5 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger root
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + more to drizzle
• 1 pink grapefruit
• 150 g (5 ¼ oz) drained cooked crayfish meat
• 1/4 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced finely
• 1 Pink lady apple, cored and diced finely, drizzled with lime juice to prevent discoloration
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced finely, drizzled with lime juice to prevent discoloration
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion + 1 teaspoon
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds, to top
• Watercress leaves, to serve

Steps:

• Have six appetizer plates ready. In a small bowl, combine a pinch of sea salt, pepper, the cumin, the zest and juice of 1 lime, ginger, coriander and olive oil, and whisk to emulsify.
• With a sharp serrated knife, peel the skin and pith from the grapefruit. Cut the fruit into segments, discarding the membrane. Dice finely and set side. Dice the lobster meat finely.
• In a large bowl, gently toss the crayfish meat, cucumber, apple, grapefruit, avocado and 2 tablespoons of red onion. Drizzle with the dressing and toss again.
• Place the ring mold on top of one plate. Pack 1/6 of the fish preparation into the mold and remove the ring. Repeat with the other five plates. Top with chopped red onion and pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and decorate with watercress leaves. Serve immediately.



 “Things that excite me, be they pastry, or crayfish (lobster), or love…”  Jimmy Buffett.

Nights in a Paper Cup (My Amanda)

 

 

She comes to me in the night, she comes from thin air

 

She finds me alone in my dream…

 

She is the wind in the cloud. Eyes blue-green, as deep as the sea

 

Bright as the Southern Cross they gleam.

 

 

 

She speaks in the language of goddesses and gods

 

I know what she means, my leaping heart hears…

 

What she says with her smile, her playful smile

 

The tilt of her head and her tears, her deep blue tears.

 

 

 

 

She came from the heavens, never earthbound angel

 

She surrounds me and whispers like the Zephyr…

 

She lifts me from the doldrums of the melancholy blue

 

And when she is done I am rested, and she, my Vesper.

 

 

 

I will not know love if for eons I stand here in the dust

 

I will never hear the three holy words spoken aloud…

 

I will not know peace and comfort will fail

 

Until I can find her and Love her in the cloud.

 

 

This week at Monday Potluck the theme is LOVE AND ROMANCE. Someone very special wrote this poem for me and it’s been treasured from the heart for a long time.  I thought it appropriate to post  on this special occasion.

Please click on the link and don’t forget to check out other’s writings as well, thank you very much!

Downunder

My friends, you might have noticed that I’ve not been around for a couple of days…apart from the fact that business has been very demanding this time of year,  my current situation compels me to not post on a daily basis like I have been for the last 7 months….I’m not disappearing completely…… I will continue to respond to comments made on all entries ………talk to ALL OF YOU, read your blog daily and  still post regularly…just not on a daily basis.  It has taken me a while to work this out, I have been on a spiritual journey…a lot has been happening in my life over the last 2 years and I know that I have grown and moved forward a lot.  This place, right here, with all of you, has given me so much …you have opened my eyes to so many things that I thought was not possible for a long time…..and I want to thank each and every single one of you for the part YOU have played on this journey.

All I know TODAY…is that I have a life to explore…one I want to embrace with everything inside of me….Wayne Dyer said….”Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.”…this is how I want to live….one day at a time…but with all of my heart and all the passion I have inside of me…..I send all of you so much love…always 🙂

On a lighter note…I’ll share with you my Sunday morning….(many of you might know that I live on the water and not at all hard to catch fresh seafood)…Late last night I’ve put the crab pots out…..when I woke this morning…….

Now who can argue that there’s not many a thing that can beat a brunch like this….

Crab omelette with Veuve Clicquot (and YES..you can have this all by yourself:)

Pottering in my garden (my favourite thing)

Ending the day with a platter and good friends…..

Love from Downunder…have a happy weekend..see you for Monday Potluck my dearest friends oxoxoxox  

Eyes – Windows of your soul

 

 

We spend large chunks of our busy days with our minds far away from where our bodies are.

Rushing toward the next moment, this present moment passes us by. And it will not come again.

Often this means that we are ”too busy” to look at people-even at the people we love.

 Even when we are sharing good news,we frequently do this without making real contact.

Yes it’s the contact we make that keeps our relationships alive.

Make it a habit to look at the people you love when you talk to them or when they are trying to talk to you.

Send love through your eyes.

Celebrate and enjoy moments of closeness.

The eyes truly are the windows of the soul.

We can give so much love to another person through a simple glance.

We can let someone know that they are loved or understood or value without a single word being spoken.

Why don’t you do it TODAY.

 

I am attending a seminar for the next two days and might not be able to write but will visit you if I can  🙂  Take care and I send you lots of love xx

 

Stephanie Dowrick.

 

Sweet Potato and Spinach Pie

This is not my recipe, my girlfriend passed it on and it truly is a winner!  This is in my mind the best savory dish to bring to a party or even cut  into small squares and serve as finger food.  It’s very moist and full of flavour….and good for you!!  (The recipe’s still in “oz”…the way they used to do it in New Zealand)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs
• 6 +1/3 oz all-purpose flour
• 7 oz sweet potato
• 3.5 oz fresh spinach, cleaned
• 3 oz hard cheese
• 1/2 cup (minus 1 Tbsp) milk
• 1/2 cup (minus 1 Tbsp) olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp baking powder



METHOD

• Peel the sweet potato and grate it coarsely.
• Chop the spinach leaves coarsely.
• Grate the cheese thinly.
• In a bowl, mix together the eggs and flour.
• Add the oil first and mix, then add the milk.
• Add the vegetables and cheese and mix.
• Then add a pinch of salt, coriander powder and baking powder.
• Pour the batter in a rectangular greased cake pan — my mold measures 8″ x 3″ — and cook in the oven at 250C  for 50 mns.
• Let the cake cool down before unmolding.

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY

 

 

in my awaken dreams

I want wings to fly

where night never falls

I’ll leap from that cliff

reawakening of life

no more room for ashes

in my country of thoughts

where beauty unfolds

from all it has known

with no end in sight

my flight in transparency

moulding my untold wishes

like a butterfly I’ll soar

 

©AvdL 2010