Frances Antonia

‘I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.’ ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Guten tag,

The clock hasn’t yet struck midnight on 2018 for us in the Northern Hemisphere. It will soon and the fire works will explode! As I lay here in my bed, in the dark, in a hotel room with a snoring six year old next to me – I think I drew the long straw!

Hubby and the older kids have walked into the old town of Salzburg to see the fireworks as they blast off the mighty Hohensalzburg Fortress when midnight strikes. It will be spectacular – I imagine. But you know what you don’t go to, you don’t know you’ve missed. The pure joy of missing out (JOMO) I’m ALL about that. And you never know I might get a little crazy! I could get myself another cup of herb tea from the bar. Nah. I just had a better idea! I’ll cut myself a piece of apple strudel AND because I am letting it all hang out (New Years and all) I will also have a piece of the cheese cake strudel type cake that’s sitting next to the apple strudel.

Continue reading “December 2018, Traditions.”

 “In the same river we both step and do not step, we are and are not” ~ Heraclitus

Ciao!

Could it be? A month already. Yes I believe it is. How has yours been? It’s been a full one here. When we left each other at the end of last month I left you with rituals on my mind!  Timely really as we embrace this period of settling in one place after all the exciting adventures and places our travels have taken us.

The season has changed and not just because the days are short and the air is cold. One of the adults in this house has gone back to full time office life. Not this half! I’m here holding the fort while he’s away travelling (for work) and adjusting the rhythm to the change this brings. I believe you Heraclitus ‘life is flux’ no matter where we land and true I’ve stepped into this river before but of course as always the water is different.

Continue reading “November 2018, Rituals.”

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” ~ Jane Goodall

Hola friends,

There is a sense of déjà vu in this moment. I’ve been here before. The silence in the house, the fresh chill in the air, the world outside my house veiled in darkness. Farmers hours I called them last year. The secret time when the life within these walls still silently sleeps, dreams. I’m nestled at my computer, my feet cosy in my favorite woolly socks. There’s fresh brew of coffee tempting me to sip as I take this time to transpose the cacophony of thoughts that weave through my mind and into a story.

There is a feeling of this being a secret space. A safe space to honour what continues to call me. My secret world. And yet it is not because you’re reading. I know those of you who have found your way here also feel the world in a way that asks you to consider. To ponder. To reflect. To take creative action.

Continue reading “October 2018, Preparation.”

‘Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold’ ~ Helen Keller

Hola friends!

Look! My first paddle on our local canal. A paddle in search of connection. And in the Autumn, that gives me away a bit doesn’t it! Cray-cray. I desperately wanted to feel one with this landscape I live amongst, to be stirred by it. At times the ‘scape here can feel so ordered. The Dutch are neat people. Hedges are trimmed, paths are swept and nothing seems to grow where it shouldn’t. Or perhaps it is because it is flat! I need this connection you see. I need it to keep my spirit awake and to move my soul. My hope was that from the water I’d feel wildness over the order. And I’d be inspired by it in the same way I was by the Irish landscape.

Continue reading “A New Creative Journey Begins”