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When I lived in Spain I had my own beach - this is my loch, and it's within walking distance of my new flat...not that I would consider walking. I feel as if the mountain is within grabbing distance, but I would only go up it as far as the highest car-park. Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond all covered in snow, this close, just make life almost perfect.

BEING A GRANNY FOR 3 HOURS

They use my car as a toy, these boyz from hell!

Off in all directions - which one will hit the sea first?

Out of the car and straight up a wall turning me into a serious complainer!

Jackets off and get stuck in there - where's the nearest dirt?

WAITING IN TRAFFIC

CHARITY SATURDAY

Saturday afternoon in a sunny Glasgow - now this is the September I was dreaming about. I took myself off to the West-end; the poor end, Partick and all its wonderfully cheap charity shops - after only two I was weighed down with bags. So lumbered that I had to find somewhere to relax with coffee; and here we are, well just me because I couldn't get hold of Herman, in a window with sharp shadows and bright sun making it all look very arty.
One of the books I found was I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith, the other is a beautifully new hardback collection of Scottish short stories - both of them for £1. So, I settled myself in this wonderful cafe that wasn't there last time I tramped the road; it's called Yasmine's and if you ever visit that part of Glasgow, get yourself in there, it's fab. There are twin sofas, a little bamboo 3-piece suite, two black leather sofas and your ordinary tables and chairs - even those outside for the smokers.
In between the toasted cheese and latte I took some pics but I wish I could've captured the atmosphere, with a mixture of jazz and blues and then a whole album of Madeline Peyroux - I was in heaven, just chilling, reading my new book and being so impressed with the whole day. The thing in the pic is a lamp I got for £2.50; it's made with hand-crafted paper and has sparkly bits sprinkled through it. I finished off my late lunch with a melon, mango and strawberry smoothie. They've got internet access there too. Oh I need to go back soon; I only did two shops.

In the last year that I've been back in Glasgow I haven't spent much time, or money, in cafes - except when on the romp with Tilly and ZaZa. So this was bliss for me. I think I'm going to go back there to write. I found another cafe further along the road, that had a mixture of art and clothes but I couldn't decide if it was a charity shop or a business; the paintings were priced over £200. I didn't ask because they were busy with a couple but I will find out next time. It might be somewhere to sell my arty-farty stuff.

I also got 5 videos for £1 in The Solidarity shop - it took me half an hour to choose them because I don't want to litter the place up with old movies I'll never watch again; I'm only allowing myself reference stuff, like music, dance etc and the very odd old favourite film that I know I'll watch again and again, like Lord of The Rings and Pricilla, Queen of the Desert - which I got too. So I ended up with Riverdance, Celtic Feet, Cher-fitness and Country Line-dancing! Go Irene.

GAY PRIDE GLASGOW

CAKE DAY! WAYHAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
And a fine day for it; summer came back. ZaZa baked again, in honour of my birthday. We began with home-made ice-cream in brandy baskets with strawberries and sauce….mmmmmmmm!



Look at the beautiful china, and real napkins! There was silver sugar tongs too.



Then a gateaux arrived bearing a single candle for me to blow out – I stopped to take a photo first, of course, and they sung happy birthday to you, of course. You don’t really expect stuff like this when you’re 54 do you? I forgot to mention the white wine cocktail we had on arrival, and the beautiful bottle of bubbly blackcurrant & cassis I was presented with. I thought I was just going over for some cake, but I brought ZaZa one of my blankets for her knees in her old age as a thanks-for-feeding-me-gift. Tilly told jokes but I’ve forgotten them now



Sandwiches of home-made bread and salmon just blew me away; this is the most fabulous bread in the world – I think I’m going to move in with ZaZa and May; it’s the only sensible thing to do…and then again, perhaps not; not a cake or biscuit has passed these lips for a fortnight, nor chocolate (except for Aero mouse) and I was well on my way to normal breakfasts that don’t consist of a packet of chocolate-chip cookies. I had cornflakes twice, and Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut for supper once in work. And then came the scones and butter and jam and cream (no I don’t think she milked the cow and churned the butter), and then there was the meringues! Oh dear God, what is this life if not full of cake?


 
So, how does Money Oil fit into all this? An earlier post covers the beginning, but back to the present; ZaZa presents me with a scroll which is a spell to bring your money back to you, and a little bottle of Money Oil in a tiny pink and sparkly bag. Outstanding! Fantabulosa! and Fandabidozi! What a brilliant and wonderful afternoon with beautiful friends (I'm hurrying now to tell you what happens with the money oil).

I went straight to work, loaded down with birthday cake and merringues and of course a couple of sandwiches for my break. I couldn't wait to tell Angel about the money oil - see original and earlier post. We had an hysterical first hour and everyone had a bit of the beautiful gateaux and praised the skills of ZaZa, which I went on and on about. Then when we got our wages (cash) we did as instructed in the scroll; we oiled our fingertips and rubbed our money with the oil, all the while imagining it returning to us! All that was left to do was to put the money in a special little bag and sleep with it under our pillows for it to work. So here's hoping!

And please give a round of applause to the Samsung phone for capturing the lovely pics, though close-ups are not its forte. Today is the actual birthday and summer seems to have gone again; I can hear the wind roaring behind me as I type. Merringues for breakfast then it's off to the bank to lay my magic money down so it can be whipped away and, hopefully, spirited back.

Amazon and PowerRanger just showed up with a bagful of lovely goodies and now I'm sitting (still in my nightdress) stinking of ROUGE by Christian Lacroix - let's face it, I am Ab Fab!

BUMBLE BEE & BOY SCOUT

I couldn't resist this when I found it: I am the bee and Carrie is the scout. See my sting! This was probably around 1985/6 when we spent a lot of time on fancy-dress-pub-crawls for charity; this might even have been the one we did three-legged! It was very difficult going to the toilet tied to someone else and hauling a bucket full of money too! Not to mention drunk.

MORE PHOTOCHROM PICS

SIX RETREATS

TRIP TO LOCH LOMOND

This is Balloch, on the River Leven, which flows into Loch Lomond. Yesterday I took myself on a date, my Artist's Date, and bought an all-day bus ticket in Glasgow for £3.20; it took me 90 minutes and three buses but I eventually got there - it's only about 15 miles from where I live and maybe 25 minutes in a car.


Ooooh, lovely fish and chips out of the wrapper, sitting by the river; you can't beat it, especially if there's sun glinting off the water.


There are two dogs here, having a paddle but by the time I got to them with the camera they were leaving.



I just missed the ducks here.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY

 

I've been trying to learn the workings, or some, of my phone; beginning with photos and the whole editing suite that comes with the package. I am slightly more informed than I was a couple of hours ago, but still clapping my hands at happy accidents and insights but confused most of the time. Now, I am able to twist and turn upright; I suppose it's always a good thing to be upright. The images from the phone wouldn't let me edit them on the computer's software, but now I'm a wiser woman. My god, the places that photos can hide on a phone is amazing, but I got the little buggers.




These above are from the Art Galleries at Kelvingrove, and the fireworks from my bedroom window maybe at New Year; I really can't remember, but I thought the phone camera had done a great job here.

KLIMT TAROT

These have been very hard to capture; the gold embellishment glares back at the camera – I’ve tried it from all directions and this is the best I can get. I haven’t got a scanner. The art is just wonderful but there is no explanation as to how they’ve created them or who for that matter; I assume that Klimt is dead and these seem to be collages of his collages – some kind of insightful collaboration.



I’ve been browsing the cards at work – not using them yet; I need to know them a bit better for that. Angel and I were discussing the interpretations of some of them last night; for example the 4 of Wands is a woman with a baby – we are more used to the house image here, but I suppose you would have to feel secure and safe to create a family…barring accidents. And I love the way the women swim under the 7 of Swords, with that knowing and clever manipulation. The 9 of Cups is satisfied indeed but the absolute beauty in the overall picture of the 5 of Wands takes my breath away; you have to allow yourself the freedom to see the fragility of bones here as strength and determination to overcome obstacles – the background is stunning.

The 10 of Cups is a true representation of the life I lead in my early thirties; it was all wine and beer and 'Does my bum look fat in this?'

It’s always amazing to work with a new pack of cards; there is suddenly space inside your head, room for reaching out and catching new inspiration – time also to discard familiarities and lazy readings. I’ve got about six but used to have a lot more. There is always more than one way to read a card so replacing the usual image in front of us frees our minds. I spent time with a spiritual mentor many years ago and she taught me to read from nothing; the cards are just tools and we take notice of the details that are meant to capture our attention – that’s how the connection or bond is made between the reader and the questioner, that’s how we can pick up and describe parts of their lives that we could never know.

I’ve found reference to the designer in the little book (I hadn’t looked properly). It says, ‘Klimt and his strong allegorical subjects inspired the Tarot designed by A.A. Atanassov…The symbolism inherent in the Tarot is perfectly coherent with that symbolist culture that also gave origin to Klimt’s artwork.’

OF LUNCH AND CULTURE