Getting back in the swing

The journey to one my schools in Queens is a bit of a trek from the subway crossing a very busy section of Queens Boulevard and finally arriving at the school some 15 minutes later. The advantage of this place (has nothing to do with work) is that on the side street next to it there is a fabulous Asian grocery/ supermarket which has an absolutely fantastic fresh fish section. It is so cheap! I have finally got into the habit of going there on my way home and buying up fish and seafood for our meal plans.
Today I planned to add to our purchase from Fresh Direct as I know the vegetables and fish is soooo much cheaper there. Having (been organized) made a list I knew we wanted a few things like bok choy , asparagus and cilantro. I found everything but be blowed if I could find the cilantro. I asked two of the guys working there then proceeded a funny conversation with me trying to get them to understand that I was asking for cilantro and for me to undertsand their Asian pronunciation of cilantro (whatever it is in Chinese). Eventually we understood and I went to where they indicated and sniffed some crushed leaves. On my way to find the fish sauce I went past them again and said thank you and one of them jokingly said "You should speak Ingrish". Much laughing all round and I departed for the subway with my great purchases.
So now all that needs doing is the cooking of bok choy and prawns- it is so quick, easy and delicious.
Sue was home when I arrived sitting in the same place she has been most days over the break. I am certainly not complaining as she has sat and trawled the internet for accommodation and deals for our final leg of Route 66 which we are doing in April. Instead of staying in hotels if we are in a place for three nights she has managed to find apartments- the deal she got us in Barcelona was stunning. So I am perfectly content to feed and provide drinks to my travel agent! Apart from anything else I don't even need to leave the apartment to get my next vacation organized- just agree to the great arrangements she makes.

Brunch

The highlight of the day really. I got fresh air in my lungs, walked a few blocks and then came home to get organized. I find that I am pretty organized- enough to spend each evening preparing my brain for the next day's work!
We went to The Beacon on 56th St. Sue had asked me if I'd survive until 11am without breakfast and I said I could however it was not an issue as this little lay-a-bed didn't wake up until 10:10am! I don't know how long it is since I have done that. The fact that I didn't turn out the light until 12:45 may have had something to do with the sleep in.
Part of what kept me awake was reading and then looking through an art magazine. I got some good ideas about things I could do in my Art Journal (I told you I am becoming obsessed) and actually tried some of it out today.
Sue gave me a small notebook which I have kept by my bed to write down ideas and thoughts about all manner of things including the art journal.
I had planned to "take a photo a day" this year but have managed to miss some already including New Year's day and yesterday so the photo here is an effort to get one taken for today. It is also one of the last ones of me with red hair as I am in the process of going back to my "natural" colour- that means I am going to looking very different soon when Francois finally gets the scissors to my locks and cuts off the final dyed hair and I see the "real" grey haired me! Can't wait but have to be patient and let it grow a tad longer so I don't appear too shorn!

Her indoors

It was all I did really... remained indoors and attempted to get organized. I have become obsessive about my Art Journal and spent part of the afternoon painting pages and gesso-ing in preparation for the week of doing my Art Journal.... oh and working and getting on with things like earning my living! I decided if I got that done on the weekend it would be easier to do the the collaging when I got home from work.

I started by getting my goals written and then planning my week based around those goals for the year- how sensible is that? Getting my goals written is part of a routine that Michele and I have- it started in about 1994 (I have them all in a little book) and we rate ourselves on them each year. I haven't done very well over the year- less than 50% most times but it is interesting to see that things I set as a goal have now become part of what I do and who I am for example in 1994 one goal was "To plan for birthdays and Christmas by buying gifts through the year" now I do it without thinking so that most birthday and Christmas gifts are ready earlier than the last minute.

During the day I also worked out where and what I was doing at "my" schools in the week- still have logs to print and things like that to do but getting there. My head is a bit clearer of jet lag (can't work out how to make that sound less grammatically incorrect).

Sue and I spent time planning the menu of meals for the week, then ordering the food which will be delivered tomorrow. But I'm also at one of my schools near the great Asian market so will buy fish and things to bring home for our "grand" menus. I couldn't believe how cheap some of the fish was and the vegetables (like bok choy) were so fresh they last for ages. Makes one think about how "old" the ones are in the local supermarket.

We had dinner at home with Julia and I have mucked around with stuff like ordering photos and getting things tidy. The photos I need for the class with Debbie- still need to read the notes book.

Cropping the year away?

The possibility of going to an all day crop/meetup in Lower Manhattan was so tempting that I went along for the day. I actually left them still cropping at 9:30pm with many of them planning to keep going until 2am!
I spent part of the morning getting my photos sorted and realize I have nothing that is current or inspiring enough to create too much from. Perhaps I'm being a tad harsh..... but I do need to get some photos printed for the new class I'm doing with Debbie Hodge . But I managed to gather a heap of photos and pages and then made a trip to the supermarket. Cheryl, the meetup organizer, has over the past few months been asking members to bring along something for City Harvest - I bought some tinned food and also some contributions to the snacks for the day.
A short train journey (four stops) and I was at the venue. And I wasn't the first to arrive. Eager scrapbookers were there on the dot of 12 noon!.
Cheryl is so generous with her time and the company's office space. She had set up tables in a range of spaces (which she does on a regular basis I just can't do Friday nights!). I found a possie and set myself up and by sheer chance I was near the heater- it had begun to snow outside.






I started on my Art Journal pages and manged to get two more done . I was really pleased with the results of both pages. Sue had given me a book on Art Journaling for Christmas and I read it all the way to Melbourne on the plane (plenty of time then to peruse!) and combined with the great inspiration and instruction from Dina Walkley at Get it Scrapped I feel quite inspired and confident about what I am doing. Can't wait for the new class later in the year to add to my repertoire of ideas and processes.


The day proceeded with members coming and going so that at any one point in the day there were about 26 people scrapping and chatting. Just before dinner time the noise level did plummet and rose again once everyone had partaken of Cheryl's great Crockpot of chili and the trimmings- this is what I mean about her generosity.

Conversations drifted around a range of topics- home and family being one main one. The exploits of family conversations were derived from the photos people were using and then there were the work related conversations or the lack of work which was a bigger theme with many being affected by the downturn in the economy.

I eventually left at 9pm as I was quite tuckered out. I got four pages done and two journal pages done so an okay effort I think.

A New Year

Happy New Year to all!
Having had a flying visit home to Australia for Christmas was a great journey but quite disorienting. The result was a New Year morning where I really felt achy and as Leunig said in one of his cartoons (not this one couldn't find the actual one) I not only felt achy but as though I had been to the "tired and wan-arium".
It wasn't due to celebrations from the night before but I reckon a combination of jet lag having arrived back in NYC after 24 hours traveling and 8 days of meals and celebrating in Melbourne prior to that. So even though I dragged myself out of bed late I then threw myself back in to bed for 4 more hours. Hopefully this isn't an indication of my pattern of days for the remainder of 2009!

Eventually I felt okay enough to struggle out of bed and did a page in my newly formated Art Journal. I really like the process of visually representing the thoughts of the day or moment or time.
We (Julia, Sue and I) then headed over to Julie and Dave's on the corner of 47th St- this merely involved a short walk around the corner but it was absolutely freezing!!! We rugged up in coats scarves, hats and gloves and were so pleased we only had a short distance to go.
It was a New Year drink we had been invited for and took a couple of bottles of wines and I showed Julia how to use her furoshiki I had given her for Christmas to carry the wine in. I didn't have a photo but the links explain what we did. At Julie and Dave's they had made some Aussie style tucker including home-made sausage rolls and some lovely soup. There was some delicious nibbles and so after a couple of hours we made our way back home and spent the remainder of the evening scanning through the internet and watching TV.
By the end of the day I felt okay and hopefully have put most of the nasty side of jet lag to rest.

Gaudi Gaudi and Montserrat

The ever reliable cab/tour driver turned up exactly on time and took us on our personal tour of Barcelona. First through the narrow cobbled streets of the old quarter (where we are staying) past the Cathedral and the Brandenburg style gate to the business area and onto La Famiglia Sagrada. LaFamiglia is the most grand and differently ornate cathedral designed and commenced by Gaudi but unfinished due to his death, then the Spanish Civil war (I think- must check), the World War and the cost of its completion. However now it is being worked on and getting closer to completion which is fantastic but it mean there are cranes everywhere which does interfere with ones possible photo angles. We walked around the perimeter of the building and then back to our reliable tour vehicle.
Next stop was Gaudi Park- it is actually called Park Guell as it was commissioned by Eusebi Güell who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy. The park contains amazing stone structures, stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. There is a walkway supported by twisting rock pillars that seem to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks. It was photographers heaven trying to capture the shapes and colours.
But there was more to see in our tour so back in the car and off to Montserrat. The Benedictine Monk retreat at Montserrat offered some of the most spectacular mountain views of Catalunya. There is a holy grotto and our guide timed our trip so that we were there in time to hear the Montserrat Choir boys recital. There is no better way to admire the beauty of a church than to be there when the choir is singing. I had visited the monastery in 1980 and my memory of it included the black Madonna and really very little else so it was lovely to be able to admire the views yet again.
Despite the time of year it has been warm enough although on the mountains a long sleeved t-shirt and vest weren't quite enough.
Back in to town and the end of our tour, where our guide dropped us at the Picasso museum, at least at the end of the lane along which is the museum. We availed ourselves of the opportunity to try some gelati and strolled along the lane. Sue left us as she needed to get a little work done for one of her schools which had sought her help- so she headed back leaving us to stroll through the museum. Picasso is not my favourite artist I have to say although there are enough of his early works and some of his later work that I do like. I didn't particularly like his ceramics despite the fact that they said it marked a change in the way ceramics were done?!
The adventure continued after our sojourn at the gallery- we had to find our way back (without Sue our GPS) with a rather skimpy map. However we managed very well as luckily the "placa" we are staying in is one of the points of interest and we were able to find little blue tourist signs indicating our way.
We ended our day with.... tapas having strolled around our area doing a little shopping and some more photos.

Where do I begin?

Barcelona!!!! What a wonderful place! The main parts we have explored have been to do with Gaudi and still I have not had my fill.
When we arrived here yesterday, all five of us, we needed a larger car than one would normally so we found a company with larger cabs. I wasn't going to travel by train or bus again to get to our apartment. We had be on the go for 12 hours after a days work and as far as I was concerned we didn't need to use public transport- get me there the fastest way possible. So eventually Sergio arrived- charming and Spanish- sorry Catalan and absolutely chuffed to be driving Julia Roberts! (That's another story).
He was wonderful drove us to where our apartment is in the middle of the old district (where no cars can regularly go but cabs can) and then found the apartment in the middle of the Sant de Josep Oriel Placa (the Spanish sorta doesn't translate here). When I say in the middle it's actually above a Tapas bar which has become our local tapas. I digress.... our cab driver was wonderful... he not only worked out where the place is but rang the bell and schlepped our luggage and arranged to be our personal tour guide tomorrow to take us out to Montserrat and other locales.

We spent the remainder of the day seeking our equilibrium- that is trying to work out who and where we were. We made the most of our local Tapas place and then walked around the local shopping area. Of course we got lost as it got dark and shops shut and shutters cam down and things looked different but we made our way back through the windy narrow streets to our square and our apartment on the first (2nd for USA) floor apartment. Oh our apartment! It is a 5 bedroom place with three bathrooms and an enormous kitchen and a smaller lounge room.
And so to today- it is Sue's birthday and she has had a grand day as have we. She chose to try on all her birthday gifts at one time including the funny hat Judy had me bring for her
Breakfast was late and a feast of scrambled eggs and the grand idea of getting coffee from our tapas bar. It was great coffee and they actually had home delivery!


Once we were finally organized we headed for the subway and for our first Gaudi locale. La Pedrera, the Gaudi apartments, another having first spent time working out the train system and watching the amazing street performances.
A late lunch (3pm) at ....Yes a tapas bar ... and onto the next Gaudi gorgeous environment Casa Batillo. Talk about photographers heaven we snapped and snapped and then departed from the building and headed back to the Ramblas and walking toward home but first a stop in the market for some food for dinner (9pm) and an evening at home.
The day has been one glorious vista after another.