~ turn the page ~

A little folder on my desktop called 'blurb' winked at me today.

It's full of edited photos taken by me, for an imaginary book.

So this afternoon I set to work making that a reality.

Sounds good ~ except the software to do this is painstakingly s-l-o-w.

My poor old mac was groaning nearly as much as me.

Plenty of layouts to choose from, so why not the ones I want?!

Keeping my thought concentration through phone calls and big smiles at a text from Hayley.

Editing and saving, moving and saving, tweaking and saving.

Persevering, I made cups of chai or lady grey in between uploads and rushing out to get the washing in before it rained.

Again.

Until finally, after a day of huffs and tuts and yays ....

.... my book is complete and ready for print.

.'- things are so much brighter in the sun -'.

I'm back from a week of Andalucian sunshine.

Eyeing storks cruise on thermals, their legs dangling oddly while wings
   spread elegantly.

Strolling abandoned streets of Jerez in 47 degree heat after tapas and
   cervezas.

Collecting shells and stones on Sancti Petri beach while daydreaming
   to the sea and cloudless sky.

Ambling down cobbled alleys in Cadiz, adoring Moorish cupolas and
   kooky shopfronts.

Paddling in the pool until sundown then waiting for the stars to come
   out and the owls to swoop over the pines.

Eating sweet pink prawns and fresh sardines from the bbq.

-time crawls like an insect up and down the walls-

*. a little help for my friends.*

I'll help anyone with anything if it's within my remit, so today I have been cleaning and hoovering for Amy & Emma at CoExist. It's all hands on deck as they prepare for Tantalum Memorial & Phone Wars, Base and GPO Documentaries ~ a private viewing at the 'TAP' tomorrow.

After a whizz round with Henry and a rub down with Flash ~ I can safely say that the main entrance is now devoid of disused webs and spider carcasses. Daisy fresh *ish*.

Then a dash home to some dining table productivity for my business partner, Robert. He has taken the mantle of manager to a local four-piece named The Bakerlites. After enlisting our daughter to take photos of the band, he asked me to burn some discs for distribution. Robert has many talents but computer technology isn't one of them *he won't mind me sharing that*.

A little bit of home output, sleeve design, cutting, copy, fold and sleeved ....

.... 22 promo discs to be set free for someone's listening delight.

.... out of place ....

If my little sister's tea was too hot, she would say it was 'crooked' ~ *pronounced crook - ed*

It was her way of expressing the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

The word crooked can mean twisted, bent or out of place. In Australia and New Zealand it means unpleasant or unsatisfactory. Considering she was only about 5 or 6 at the time ~ her word use was succinct.

I'm strangely drawn to even numbers ~ when I'm turning up the volume, I prefer 12 or 14 over 11 or 15. Pick a number, any number. Mine will be even.

Even though arranged objects are better if they are odd in number ~ I will choose 2, 4 or 6.

I think it's a symmetrical thing ~ I love it. If it's not balanced, it jars with me.

I eat eggs for my breakfast most mornings and absent mindedly find myself taking the eggs from the box evenly. I'll even re-arrange them sometimes, to make a pattern. But while talking on the phone one day, I selected my eggs from the box and without thinking they ended up in this shape....

.... and it didn't give me that feeling of imbalance or mess with my mojo.

Perhaps it's because it's a recognised shape and it has relevance.

Actually I don't live my life by this rule. It's a subconscious thing, nothing sinister or ritual. I have been known to be haphazard *what a good word*.

My friend Helen gets a similar feeling if she wakes in the small hours, glances at the clock and the time is not 'significant' *her word*. 4:44 and she is happy, 5:32 and she feels swindled.

So what are you? Odd or even.

^/\ what to do when /\^

^\/ you are given a large piece of sparkly black paper

^\/ fold \/^

~*~ overwhelmed ~*~

.... with the garden growing ....

~* come outside and see what you're missing * ~

.... graffiti bench fighting shrubs ....

~* before you know, there'll be nowhere to sit *~

.... the de-grannification of our haven ....

~* strip me down, dress me up *~

.... the cracks are showing but I haven't the heart to cover them up ....

~* fill the gaps and smooth *~