sometimes…

enjoy the silence
enjoy the silence. photo by cambiodefractal

… i wonder why i bother writing/saying anything when others around me are more eloquent than i feel i’ll ever be

& gifts">gratitude & gifts

it’s my birthday and
i want someone else to get the gifts…


Kiva - loans that change lives

ask my beloved and he’ll tell you i inherited the pack rat gene from my father…

over time, as i learn more about myself i realise that the reasons i have hung onto things historically are no longer true for the person i have become.

now i live from a place of abundance…
because i have learned that the more i give, the more joy and other wonders i invite into my life…
because i am learning the difference between want and need…
because i have so much and i am grateful for all of it.

so… today, i would like to give a couple of things away.

-1-

we are blessed to have been kiva loaners for a while now and it brings us immense joy to see others flourish because of our small contributions. today, i would like to giveaway a gift certificate worth $25 so someone else can change a life.

-2-

i would like to give away a photoblock valued at $20. this print is currently not for sale in my etsy shop though may be listed there in future. block dimensions: 95mm x 95mm x 19mm
wheatfields
wheatfields, polaroid
(will be slightly cropped to fit)

if you would like to be considered for these gifts, please think about all that you are thankful for in your life and leave a comment here listing five things you are grateful for today.

please feel free to share this with anyone you think would also like to be entered into the giveaway.

i will do the gratitude draw at the end of the week and email the winners.

arohanui
-leonie

postcards from a sunday adventure

dear friends,

the weather here has been beautiful recently and we thought we’d make the most of it on sunday with a day trip out of london…

we caught the train to brighton, picked up a streetcar, then collected our friend debz.

nic has been wanting to see the long man of wilmington for years, ever since seeing arthur c. clarke’s mysterious world. it’s only about 30 minutes by car from brighton so we headed there first…
longman
long man of wilmington, polaroid sun 600 & expired film

before hopping back in the car & driving to the lovely camber sands beach. we had a picnic, then went for a walk along the beach. the water was surprisingly warm, so debz went for a swim while i lamented leaving my bathers in the car – i ended up soaked anyway, despite not technically going for a swim!
camber-sands
camber sands beach, polaroid sun 600 & expired film

nic was fascinated by all the kite surfers, out taking advantage of the 25-30 knot winds…
kitesurfers1
kite surfers, camber sands beach. polaroid sun 600 & expired film

we even had time on the way back to brighton to stop at birling gap for a quick pint and a glorious view of the seven sisters.
seven-sisters
seven sisters, white chalk cliffs as seen from birling gap. polaroid sun 600 & expired film

being near the sea is a way for me to re-charge my batteries. simply digging my toes in the sand, or standing letting the waves wash around me makes me feel grounded, calm, happy.

my american sentence to describe the day
salty legs, damp clothes, sandy hair, twelve polaroids – smile wide as the sun.

with love,
leonie

postcards from the bristol balloon fiesta

dear friends,

those of you who follow me on twitter know exactly where i was this weekend. for those who don’t, nic and i headed for bristol to take a hot air balloon ride as part of the bristol balloon fiesta. we took the train over from london on friday night as we had an early start on saturday morning… we needed to be at the site, ready to go by 6am which meant a 4.30 am start!

nice day for a balloon ride
nice day for a balloon ride

oh, it was most definitely worth it. according to our pilot (who has been doing this for 20 years), we couldn’t have picked a more perfect morning for it. there were no clouds as far as the eye could see, cool still air and the warm sun beaming at us over the horizon.

we were all giving instructions on how to get into the basket, and a safety briefing, then we were off. floating up into the gorgeous bristol morning with the rest of the balloons.
bristol balloon fiesta

we flew for about 75 minutes, commanding a spectacular view over bristol and the clifton suspension bridge
bristol uni balloon & the clifton suspension bridge

after a stunning flight and some very welcome bucks fizz, we headed into to town center for some lunch before heading back to our b&b for a quick nap… then, we headed back out to the ashton court estate to see the red arrows.
red arrows

ak, i was thinking of you as we saw these guys… it’s like the ultimate in drag racing being up there i expect :)

then we watched the balloons go up for the evening flight. there was definitely more of a crowd around this time and finding a good spot was tricky.

after the launch we decided we needed to be closer to the arena, so headed for one of the beer/pimms tents, where we managed to grab a table & chairs right on the fenceline for the finale of the evening, the night glow. set to music & beautifully choreographed, the night glow had the ballooons lighting up for us in an amazing display.
night glow

by the time this was done, neither of us could bear the thought of queueing for hours to get on a bus, so waved down a cab and headed straight back for bed. a most amazing day from start to finish.

nic and i both have a stack of photos to sort through… these are just a few of the highlights.

unfolding

Bbc
i had the most fabulous day last sunday hanging out with five other delightful women i am blessed to call friends.
they all
inspire me,
provoke me,
make me consider what is really important,
keep me real,
motivate me to live my most authentic life…

besides the fact that we needed to hang out together, because it had been far too long since the last time we met, we had a purpose.
susannah had ordered us the unfolding your life vision kits – which thankfully arrived just in time…

we started out with most amazing lunch to nourish our bodies, then of course had to play outside with the cameras.
i love it that we all get each other in this respect…
creative, laughing photographers, capturing precious, shared moments.

Unfoldingkits

then, we settled in to assemble our folding vision boards and listen to the guided visualisation that came with the kits. jennifer lee talked us through areas/facets of our life, inviting us to notice anything that came up.

then the magazines came out… there were toast catalogues, psychology magazines and everything in between. we shared some of what had come up for us and what we were looking for.

the first vision board i completed was about nine years ago. on it, i remember sticking things i thought i really wanted. one of them was a BIG diamond ring. i now have one of those and i realise it wasn’t something i truly wanted. at the time of my first vision board creation, given the people i was hanging out with, it seemed like i did. now i notice that it was something i thought would make me feel like i’d made it… like i was successful.

since then, my definition of success has drastically altered!

another vision board i have since created was during one of christine kane’s retreats. this one was in a medium format and is in the form of an exercise book. the pictures in this book feel more like the vision i have of living life as my most authentic self. it even features in christine’s ebook The Complete Guide to Vision Boards.

Visionboards
the unfolding your life vision board created on sunday, is smaller than i’m used to and it’s been both a challenge and an opportunity.
challenging because i have only tiny spaces in which to work.
opportunistic because i have had to get some clarity around what it is i am asking for.

i especially love hanging out with other people, doing these in a group…
sharing what i’ve learned (and am continuing to learn) about myself…
listening to others, hearing their stories, sharing their visions, encouraging their dreams.

there are tons of resources out there on the internet about how to create vision boards. there’s certainly no right or wrong way to go about it that i know of.
trust yourself and listen to your heart.

i am a white cloud, hanging on the line

britbloggers1
jo, emma, me, meg, pen. photo by susannah

i still remember how it was when we first arrived in london… i felt overwhelmed, terribly alone and like i knew nothing about the world or where my place was in it.

back then, the likelihood of finding any really amazing people in such a populated land as the uk seemed impossible.

it was through this blog that i’ve formed some amazing friendships with people i’d probably never have met had i not ever turned up here.

today, i got to again hang out with five amazing women i have met through being online. they are all gorgeous and, though this was only the second time we’ve actually hung out together, for me it was like being amongst friends i’d known forever. i wish i had the words to explain to you all what their friendship means to me.

every single one of them is a treasure. a gift. a rare and precious jewel.

meg, penny, jo, susannah, emma – you all make my life a better & brighter place, simply by being in it.

i am a white cloud, hanging on the line
summer breeze brushing
eyelids, fingertips… a
wellspring of laughter
escaping through ruby lips;
playful adventures
with friends of mine,
today i am a white cloud
hanging on the line.