TWO.
Posted in my heart wanders June 14th, 2008 by piablog

pjb_countdown2.jpg

read about it here. see inspiration here. send your submission here.

view some of the latest submissions here, here, here, and here.

THREE.
Posted in my heart wanders June 13th, 2008 by piablog

pjb_countdown3.jpg

read about it here. see inspiration here. send your submission here.

exchanging gifts + writing letters from the heart
Posted in my heart wanders June 13th, 2008 by piablog

jeska_little.jpg

submission from jeska. who commented on my blog this morning, which directed me to her blog, which lead me to this lovely image. thank you.

there are so many wonderful submissions flowing steadily in, my desktop is a mess. but oh how i am looking forward to sorting and organising it all!!

……………………………………….

and I just had to include this handwritten letter that Anne-Maree’s 10 year old son composed yesterday. He left it on her pillow so that she would read it before she went to bed…

letter1-1.jpg

you will have to go over to her house to enlarge, it’s a beautifully written piece that deserves a huge amount of attention. Now I tell you, what is it with the influx of wonderful men coming into our blogging worlds? From my one male reader writing emails about the subtleties and wonders of women, to Joanna’s post about this guy, and now A-M’s son… I tell you boys, we are all swoooooooning. May this kind of behaviour spread across the globe like wild fire.

The most beautiful way to start a day just happened to me:
Posted in amsterdam June 13th, 2008 by piablog

I was standing in the kitchen, making my second cup of tea for the day, rocking away to Jose’s Down The Line and there was a knock at the door.

I opened it and there was a lady standing there, I have never seen her before. In broken English she said she had a rhododendron potted plant that she had on her balcony, she indicated so I followed her finger and looked past the bridge on what I call ‘the mainland’, and there was a young man holding a huge pot plant. She said it was growing too big for her balcony and was wondering if I would like it for my garden. I was flabbergasted. I am never good at receiving gifts, I get very overwhelmed when people give me things (no doubt some of you have already noticed with my replies to your incredible MHW submissions). And here was this complete stranger, offering me a gorgeous plant. I managed to say “yes! wow! thank you!” and we put the pot down on the shoreline. I must have said thank you about 50 times in less that 30 seconds, it was all a bit of a shock. And then I headed back in, almost in tears. How thoughtful, how lovely. I didn’t ask her name, or where she lived, or anything. But maybe we will see more of each other in the street now, or I do hope she comes to visit her plant again soon.

I have never lived in an international city that behaves like a small village, this is what is so unique about Amsterdam.

So here I sit, on day 3 of my deadline countdown. There are props everywhere that need to be returned. The cookie jar has been empty for weeks. There are crumbs on tabletops. Papers and notes all over the pallet bed. The piano is covered in dust. Yet while I have not been outside to see the light for days, tucked up inside this floating abode writing away the hours, your wonderful submissions keep flowing in, a photographer emails me the beautiful jpegs of a recent shoot, a lady comes to the door with a plant for my garden, and Jose sings the perfect soundtrack for our conversations about the importance of saying sorry.

Synchronicity abounds.

my morning pages post that is working its way into the evening
Posted in fashion, humanist, my heart wanders, sydney, tibet June 12th, 2008 by piablog

pjb_still1.jpg

Many mornings I wake up with pages and pages of some yet-to-be-conceived book being written in my head. Some mornings it is a script. and other mornings it is a series of images, most likely inspired by dreams. I look forward to waking. It is one of the most creative times of my day, and it the only time of the day that I just let it be. I nestle into the pillow, pull the covers around me and just let my mind play quietly.

In other news, apparently I do have one male reader. He emailed me yesterday to let me know. It was such a beautifully written email that I wanted to share it with you all and asked if I could write it as a comment to my post, but I had no reply. And I realised at that point, if he wanted to write a comment he would have. Silly girl. But hey, it’s not the first time I’ve scared a male away.

Speaking of males, the Dalai Lama is in town, but not this town. He has just landed in Sydney and will be giving a series of talks, check them out here. Of course I will not be attending since I am on the other side of the world, again. Happens every time he arrives in my part of town, somehow I am elsewhere, what is with that? My friends will be having some special private audiences with him and I hope to be able to share more about all that with you soon. There is also an awesome concert going on as well, this Sunday at the magnificent Angel Place recital hall. If you are in Sydney or near Sydney, do go, you won’t regret it.

In not so interesting news, my outfits du jour have been becoming a little crazy since I have put a ban on leaving the boat until I get my book finished. Yesterday I was wearing this peacock blue dress with gray tights and a cream aymara cardigan, with my hair shoved up on top of my head, dishevelled curls sticking out everywhere, a blue ribbon wrapped around it and one of Marie’s crochet pins in my hair. I was so tempted to show you, but I chickened out. Cooookooo.

……………………………………..

The above pic I took this morning, it is my little tea collection. Oh and a tin of Milo, it seems no one can take the aussie out of me.

I know I know, back to work already. I hear you.

……………………………………..

Well with Manda’s approval below, I am going to keep going, la pipelette is out of the box today. I suspect this could be another never-ending post.

……………………………………..

10:58am: We were all blown away when Australia finally said sorry. tears were shed. lost hearts were found and healing began. I was hoping with all my heart that it was going to be the beginning of a domino affect to spread across the globe. well guess what? it’s Canada’s turn. Go Canada!! I am so so pleased to hear this news, this is another momentous occasion for the survival of humanity.

……………………………………..

11:06am: I’m listening to him. And my favourite song is down the line.

……………………………………..

5:43pm: is 5:43pm too early to pour a glass of wine?

……………………………………..

6:54pm: yes, i’m still working. i think i can see a light at the end of the tunnel. i mean, i think it’s a light. oh wait a minute, ah yes, the brightness button on my screen has been bumped to full capacity. oops-a-daisy.

……………………………………..

7:12pm: i made this today with my dying peonies and astilbes (did I get it right this time? merci à tout!) – a bright little still life for a dreary weathered day…

pjb_still2.jpg

……………………………………..

7:54pm: French Boy has gone out to hunt. straight to the local indian diner for takeaway. just to give you a clue of what is in the pantry: no bread. no cheese. that about means starvation for me.

and just in case you were wondering, there are now only four days left to send in your submission. just FOUR…

pjb_countdown4.jpg

can you tell i cheated today? yep, i just erased the apple core via photoshop.

……………………………………..

and i promise this will be the last entry of the day. i bought jose’s album because it is just that good. and i’ve decided it is not enough to just send you to his myspace, so i have brought you the video of my latest favourite song right here. i advice to turn it up loud as i have been doing all day.

Have a lovely evening, and thank you sooo much for your awesome comments today, i shall respond tout de suite!