Pretty Pretty Petals

After nearly 6 weeks of wonderful whirlwind vacation, I am en route back to sunny Malawi!  In anticipation of the green and the colours that await, here are some photos that I have taken over the months of my fave Malawian Flora.  Enjoy!  :)

Waste

What IS it about this song that always fills me with so much joy!?  
I always just want to dance and spin around the garden - worshipping the magic of one more day...  
What do you think?

One dream come true

"Well go run and give him a hug!', L. commanded, as the weather-beaten sailor dove from the dingy and swam ashore.  

"Hey, long time, no see!", I said, after a big squeeze from my dear old Dad.

(Actually, that is a lie… I omitted the first  thing I said, which was more along the lines of "Ewwwww don't touch me with your wet, slimy body!" hahahah)

This is the first glimpse I have had of my father in almost a year, after he took off in his schooner (Which he slowly, but surely constructed in our back yard), to sail to Mexico.

And who is this energetic, lively and talkative person who has replaced the weary tug boat operator I last saw up in Canada land?  

I don't know if it is the sun, the salt, or the freedom from meetings and commitments, but whatever it is, the guy who met us there on the beach is living proof that following your dreams can only do good for the soul.

Do you have a dream?  If so, you are one of the lucky ones, so don't give up on it!  Do what it takes - toil slowly, over decades if necessary, in all weather, despite what others say - to one day make your dream into a reality.  

A Cerritos Sunset

PS. See what I mean about the sunset being inspiring?  
Yet another "Wish you were here" moment :)

Here comes the sun.... da dee da da

Inspired by:

a) Tellings off from friends for lack of blogging action

b) An awesome Christmas present

c) The Cerritos sunset I am witnessing unfold behind the bobbing surfers,

I have decided to TRY to dedicate more time and thought to this blog.  The effort it takes for me to transform the madness in my mind into something coherent is no easy feat (as is not always successful, as you may have noted...), so bear with me, but I will try my best!

I am off to daydream up some blog posts, but in the meantime, check out this book:

Brilliant. Hilarious. True!

She is one entertaining woman, that Caitlin Moran!

I love this bit, from her acknowledgements: 

"What feminism is, or should be anyway: 'Everyone being polite to each other.'"

So simple!  May I take it a step further by saying that that should just be the way we treat everyone, always?  Would the world just not be so much simpler if we treated everyone the way we would like to be treated?  (Yesss.... teacher Tarrah....)

Anyways, if you would like and entertaining read, and someone with whom you can relate on the trials of being a woman (puberty, boobs, murderous shoes and uncomfortable undies), then I would recommend this read for you!

(PS. I would like to note that if you are offended by crude language and intimate details - this book is NOT for you!)

After the Rain

"After the last of the rain had fallen from the sky and come to earth - leaving the sky clear and the earth damp and gleaming - the world below grew joyful in the cool left by the rain, and the greater clarity of life that returned with the blue of the heavens furnished each soul with its own sky, each heart with a new freshness."

-Fernando Pessoa, "The Book of Disquiet"

I picked up this book at Foyles the other day, kind of on a whim, and it turns out it is the perfect book to be reading whilst sipping gingerbread lattes in London cafes…  Highly recommended for all you who love to sit and endlessly/ fruitlessly ruminating on the meaning of life.

“If I left all this tomorrow, and discarded this suit that I wear, what else would I do?  Because I would have to do something.  And what suit would I wear?  Because I would have to wear another suit.”

“With the soul’s equivalent of a wry smile, I calmly confront the prospect that my life will consist of nothing more than being shut up forever in Rua dos Douradores, in this office, surrounded by these people.  I have enough money to buy food and drink, I have somewhere to live and enough free time to dream, write – and sleep – what more can I ask of the gods or hope for from Fate?”  

Across the Tracks

For those of you who are not yet certain about the awesomeness of ukuleles….  :P

Introducing Fabian!

He came into our lives defenceless, terrified, under-nourished and fragile.  Now a little part of our family, he rules our lives according to his schedule, shrieking whenever he wants something (which is ALWAYS), constantly climbing into corners and getting himself into precarious situations, and pooping and wee-ing EVERYWHERE.

Good thing he is such a cutey….

Let me introduce….Fabian!

Moment of the day:  "Monkey discovers glass"

  Gosh it was amusing sitting there watching him put his hand through the open bit of the window, then put his hand against the invisible force field of glass on the other side of the frame. Back and forth, back and forth…. 

"What IS this strange substance separating me from all of them inside?" 

Then, before we had time to react, he catapulted himself against the window!  (Actually I missed that bit… I only caught the part where his little body went flying backwards onto the floor!) 

Anyways, I think he's got the general idea now... 

Finding my shoes...

If you asked my student to describe me, she would probably reply something to this effect:

"Ohhhh Tarrah!  She is so slow!  Whenever she decides to leave, it takes her at least 5 minutes, because she has always lost her shoes!"

Browsing through some old photos looking for blog ideas, I stumbled across this, taken one misty pub crawl night in London.  Obviously at that time it resonated quite strongly with me (and not because of some hidden fetish for designer shoes....).

(The journey of a thousand miles begins by finding your shoes...)

Clearly some things never change.

In the absence of a supermarket...

When I imagined my life at 26, I certainly did not envision this. 

Lazy Saturday mornings reflecting on life over endless coffee, and baking my own crackers for an afternoon snack.

And what's more, even if I had imagined this, I would never have known how much I could love it.  How perfect it could be.