truly spacious

Enter the Bendy One

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Nikko, Japan: Rinno-ji Temple: Dragon Fountain (in Rain)
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pics found at visitourchina, and Cambridge2000

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On my cybertravels to find 'my' Yang Water Dragon for this New Year,

I found that the Japanese ones suit my taste best. Something Extra-Fine about them.

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1. Water Dragon, 2. Nikko Dragon, 3. Dragon

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from mshades on flickr

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and this Exquisite Beauty, by Jason Raish:

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So here we go!

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(from KLGreetings)

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May we enjoy all manner of fluidity and juicyness this year!

xxx

arrivals + departures

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With thanks to Franny Frou Frou for her splendid pic!

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A couple more days, and Metal Rabbit year is outtahere...

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Meanwhile: Farewell Capricorn 2011-12 time,

and Welcome, Welcome; Aquarius 2012 time.

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And; Breathe.

xxx

getdownonit init

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Daisuke; Gettin down On it, like he does.

O!

And a fresh re-shuffle of good vids awaits your gaze over at trulyspacious on YouTube.

xxx

Bunny Tail Times

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On the Full Moon nights, She sails on high thru the Air, for a long, long time. Sinking thru the leafless Sweet Chestnut Tree, on round and down behind the hedge, in the wee small hours when it seems just me and the Birds are joining in.

Beauty-Full GrandMother.

And I just have to make portraits.

This is the last Rabbit Moon. Next up..... Whoooooooooop Here Comes A Dragon!

I realised with somewhat of a shock, that a painting I did called 'The Last Dragon Moon' was, um, 24 years ago. Goodness. A While.

I can feel that Dragon breath already stirring some Monkeybusiness up. It's a kind of twinkle feeling in my eyes. Regardless of challenges 'on the ground', of which there are plenty and various: Even with xyz galore to deal with, I'm a happy end-Bunny-time Tigress, generally.

Here are some swoon-worthy recent gatherings from my Pinterest boards. Plenty more overthere, too.

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O. How I love the synergy. The mirrors. Juicy juxtapositions bringing reflections into clearer focus.

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And O I am honoured to see that Miss Fran Meneley has been calling overhere, and put the lovely Mr Bentley vid on her fine blog.  Thank You for the kind mention! xxx

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Some more portraits, for now:

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xxx

31.12 ~ 1.1

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(pic found here, ~ thankU.)

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December ends... January begins.

2011 becomes 2012.

Mysteriously; It's Still Now!

Happy New Year, Dears!

xxx

Dec 24th: For All Organs.

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and all through the House...

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Xxxmas Eve.

Fabulousness.

Galore.

~  ~ ~

Warm Blessings to you, where you are.

And now, the UberSnuggling begins overhere, in Deadly Earnest.

Ho Ho Ho!

xxx

ps ~ Inner Christmas, too.

xxx

rougefood

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Some years at some Winter moment there comes a specific non-negotiable yearning for Fierce Red.

This year is such a year, and the moment arrived.

YumYum, the right colour at the right time is like the right food. Just so satisfyingly delicious.

More and more snippets of it appearing around my nest, Warming and brightening.

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And of course, all over my lovely Pinterest boards.

Here are glimpses, and there's more deliciousness to savour overthere.

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and some more from 'festive' :

 

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And Sweet Solstice Wishes to you, with my all-time favourite blessing card:

 

xxx

 

Winter-e Morn

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I saw my first Proper snow this morning. Unusually, I was up early... woken by Sunbeams, who, it turned out, were ushering in some Snowies. Here are some other recent pics from hereabouts:

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I turned the last pic into my Winter-e card, and just sent that out too. I took it looking out my front door, during the flurries. Proper Snowing! This year is my earliest ever, I think, for being done and dusted on the cards and gifties all sorted front. The timing of the recent Mercury Retro was Juss Fine for me...

So now comes a time of deepening snuggling. Hibernation is happening overhere. I hope you are warm and Deeply Peaceful wherever you are too.

Time for a Snooze.

xxx

Snowflakes and Solitude

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My annual salute to Mr Snowflake Bentley. I love him, I love what he did, what he made, what he brings.

Thank you dearly, Mr Bentley. xxx

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

My trulyspacious Youtube channel - this vid and several other WInter Wonders are all lined up overthere and awaiting your gaze. Good Snuggling Vids, good music-while-you-work, and so on. I just sorted out the latest running order to present, and then tried the New Fangled looks on offer. Since my vids are all faves, I can't seem to get the new business to do what the current business does for me. So for now, while this seasonal offering is of the moment, I am sticking with oldstyle. Just sose yknow.

This mercury retro portal draws to a close, and I notice my back-to-school-already crestfallen moment, as the flow prepares to go the way most folk seem to like it go, way sooner than it would if This Mercury-Retro-Born Baby Was in Charge ...

Me? I like the back2front, upside-down, inside-out supersonic still~crazy carryon of the retro-flow. It suits something deep within me. Naturally, I guess. It's a resonance thang.

Now.

There are other things:

Pinterest gatherings of exquisite Beauty -

~ these from the painterly board, and there are other ever-blossoming boards alongside it - I resurrected 'festive' and splashed a few new treats in there too. Checkemout!

~ ~ ~

And this little vid:

 

...pointing towards a fine book I just bought. "Solitude", by Simon Parke

Yep. I am going to read a Proper Book. Now I got my reading specs, it's becoming a pleasure once again.

Solitude seems a fine Thing, indeed. I have always loved that word.

 

OK ~ my tender tendons are asking me to stop typing and synthesising pixels overhere.

Enjoy visiting those links, eh. Inbetween attending to cards and gifts and all December sending/giving/making/ whatnot.  Giving kindly to ourselves too, seems a cool Yule plan.

And...   b  r  e  a  t  h  e . . . . .

xxx

swoonworthy synergy

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These instant mosaics which appear, ever-shifting as I find and add new treasures to my Pinterest boards; I love'em.

And since there's no direct photo evidence of any other creativities overhere, I'll post these. Just to keep it cooking nicely.

Whoop! December's nearly upon us. Thank you November, you've been good, if fast.

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xxx

131313131

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I swear, I was not waiting for this numericalnumerical moment. It just happened and I just noticed.

Honest.

More overthere.

 

O yes, and this exquisite vid to enjoy:

 

xxx

Beauty~full echoes

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Selection glimpses from my painterly pinterest board, and from I just like it 3.

For Now.

More detailedness, and more boards, overthere.

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xxx

even the ...

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   ...is joining in the double-single digit~ness of today!

 

 

 

 

 

xxx

Dabble de Los Muertos

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1.11.11 painting.

First I gathered some pics:

from:

Two large Beauties - coloured one found here (ps I just found the original: Dia De Los Muertos Calaca 2011, and a Beauty-full work-in-progress pics post. The original is much larger than I realised. Lovely.)

and black and gold Dia De Los Muertos 2011 - Ernesto Yerena - see it large and fabulous here.

Ernesto Yerena's tumblr page is full of wonders.

(That's one of those good find-as-you-blog links. I was thinking earlier how I'd like to see it larger. And there it is, and a Whole Lot more besides. I love this poster there, too.)

small blackandwhite = dia de los muertos  +  small coloured image original here.  Thanks to all these artists ~ sorry not to know all your names!

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And I put all the pics together and filled my Air screen with them, and got down to some restorative dabbling.

So I had a fine 1.11.11. O so good to paint again. Big Thank you to dear Pamela for keeping me keeping on.

I figured I needed a better 'play' word. 'Dabble' it is. For Now. Dabble's had a bad name for too long. I'm bringin Dabble back.

Happy continuing creativities to us all.

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xxx

this particular night

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I and all my Ancestors wish you and all your Ancestors a truly Happy Hallowe'en.

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And here are some deeply delicious biscuits for you and them, from me and them:

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Mmmmm that third baking session was the Killer. Best Baking Yet! Mmmmmmmmm.

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And some Beauty from I just like it 3, to round off our toast this fine unique evening:

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See these, and other Beauty~full gatherings, more clearly overthere.

xxx

A Proper Scorpio Tune

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... I do Love Jools for bringing exquisitely talented people to my attention.

So moved by this. A Proper Scorpio Tune.

xxx

October foliage

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One of these is not a leaf... can you tell which one? Yes! A rare sighting of Snippy the Blackbird!

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The Sun sinks lower and quicker beyond the fence. Tomorrow this will 'be' an hour earlier... hmmm...

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Such a rich lavender harvest this year, and plenty more to come. It smells Divine.

xxx

bakebakebake

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My second batch of wheat-free baking proved even more delicious than the first.

These are the Honey Cornmeal Cake and the Apricot Thumbprints, from the Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book.

The first baking book I have ever really Loved. Lovely, simple recipes. Lovely size - smallish - to work with in the midst of a worktop-full of ingredients and utensils.

The cake was going to be 50 mins in the oven, and I felt like doing some more mixing "just quick".

As it turned out... the cake was out of the oven again, before my Apricot Thumbprints went in. I was learning as I went, it all took a liitle longer than jussquick; making organic puree and indentations and whatnot, and it got to that full-blown crazy kitchen thing for a while there... But I pulled it round, and ended up with all these fabulous new things to eat. The tastes and textures turned out so well.

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I'm fascinated by this practical nutritional alchemy. It never made sense to me previously, to put so much effort into baking when I could buy fine wheatytreats so easily. Now that the no-wheat-zone is in effect, it makes perfect sense. A whole new playground of making to explore. And eat. And not be bloated by.

I think they look so Beauty-full when they emerge into this early evening kitchen light too. Which is why I took their portraits, before sinking my teeth in... So so yummy.

The raisin circle (not in the recipe) is made from well-tasty Cherry-Infused Raisins. Just sose ykno.

xxx

JedHugs Galore

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It's Jedward's twentieth Birthday today. (They say they are now "TwinTeen".)

Such fun online: JedwardGenius made a lovely celebratory page, (Yep, - scroll down: this one is in there),

and of course there is twittering like a rainforest symphony. 

Youtube fan HB vids galore, made with care and collaborative creativity. 2011 style.

Something deeply sweet about all those Happy Wishes flying around, with so much Love.

xxx

YumYumYum

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A new era has begun. jaihn is making wheat-free cakes. YumYumYum!

These were a version of a recipe for muffins, using cornmeal  and rice flour, found in the recently acquired, and lovely, Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book.

I improvised with slight variations in my ingredients, and added hazelnuts and almonds, and experimented with two forms. Cakes and loafyness. Nice. Both Nice.

Lemon and vanilla and nuts all taste goooood together, I find... Texture pretty good. I'm very proud of my first batch.

A splendidly enjoyable project for a Sunday late afternoon in early October, 2011.

You may notice there is one less cake in the pic after they are out of the tin.... I could not resist. YumYumYum.

I went wheat-free a few weeks back, and feel hugely better for it. Long term bloat and belly pain all just vanished. Altogether feeling like a fresher, more comfortable, version of me. Whoooooop.

~ ~ ~

In other news: I am going to vanish the 'ragster espial' blog very soon. I've said something about that overthere, for those of you who were in on that. Time for simplifications online - there will be more. It's the Autumnal streamlining tuning-time again...

xxx

"Your Time Is Limited..."

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Thank you, Steve Jobs, for all the marvels you brought my way, while you were here.

1955 - 2011...Not such a long time, to influence the way the world carries on. Likeyadid.

Today I just happened to have a one-to-one session booked at my local Apple store. There were some honouring flowers left at the storefront, and a couple of the guys inside mentioned them to me. I like that people did that. It was a day I didn't have my camera on me, so no pic. But you can imagine.

I found this fine stellar pic here. And I really like the quote Yolie has put here.

Peace Be With You, Mr Jobs. And thank you for these exquisite keys under my fingers, this Beauty-full screen before my eyes.

So very much I couldnadone without your creativities... xxx

ps ~ edit to add ~ Ms Moss made a lovely honouring post, "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish"  and there are more good links in the comments there, too.  xxx