Le Petit Prince

"The Little Prince" was one of my favourite books when I was young. And still is.  Of course, I still remember seeing Gene Wilder playing the Fox in the 1974 Stanley Donen's production. Beautiful.
And being a big fan of SuperPoke Pets, I decorated my very own Little Prince's habitat starring my dragon Ryu-chan! Here it is...

"If for example, you came at four o'clock in the afternoon, then at three o'clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as  the hour advances. At four o'clock, I shall be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am!

But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is ready to greet you..

One must observe the proper rites. . ."

 

(Antoine de St. Exupéry, "The Little Prince")

Late again... And a new necklace (はなび)

Again, I spent too much time without blogging. This is a shame, since it's something I enjoy and feel it's important to me somehow. But I've always been known by the lack of "continuity" in most of the things I do. Unfortunately. I try to change that from time to time, but it is hard and frustrating. Again, and again, I will try it. Maybe one day I will elaborate a bit more about it but, right now, I need to do more and perhaps think a bit less!

Since my last post and today, I made another necklace. Or perhaps I made it before, not sure right now. Somehow, I forgot to post it, I don't know why. I mean, I probably had some lapses of memory during that time, involved as I was with all the colds and flus that never cease to get inflicted on me, ha ha! Seriously though... Lately it's all about colds and flus (and a diet), and my pretty Bella!

I decided to call it Hanabi －はなび。The word means literally, "fireworks" and it was given to the piece because of its colours. Reds and golds and deep night, ultramarine blue, very much like the night sky where fireworks during Summer festivities occur.　

Here's what I used for Hanabi...

- 1 large and quite heavy oblong Murano glass bead in gold foil with speckles of red, green and blue coloured glass and two round ones with the same kind of work;
- 2 medium round Chinese vintage Cloisonnée beads in the same shades and with a flower motif in shades of pale pink;
- Several, several, several Swarovski bicones in different sizes, shades and effects;
- My usual signature stardust antique gold plated small round beads near the clasp;
- Ten antique gold, plated bead caps around the cloisonée and Murano main beads;
- Tibetan gold plated hook clasp.

And here are the pictures...

Some details of the necklace are shown below. On the next two pictures we can see the details of the focal Murano bead. It measures approximately 40mm and showcases a different style of glass work, very similar to molten enamel...

Follow the auxiliary Murano beads, round and smaller, but with the same kind of finishing... Note as well, the Swarovski bicones and the stardust spacers...

In the next screenshots, we can view the cloisonée beads, and hook clasp in more detail. These cloisonée are very pretty, heavy and hard to find nowadays. The contemporary ones are normally quite light and look very hollow indeed, and the artwork is not nearly as detailed. I love the fact that the colours are so delicate and displaying midtones, like a real painting...

As I mentioned before, the Muranos feel quite heavy. However in the overall result, the necklace itself feels very light and looks quite delicate, oddly enough. I might try and take other pictures since these are a bit too dark and the colours don't seem quite right. The final piece is much nicer in real life though!

The Tudors

Bella with her new scrunchie! These are supposed to go on her neck, but we tried to make her look like a little Tudor lady here!

St. Francis of Assisi

OK. I am not a Catholic, or have any religions (at the moment at least - it may change again one day though!). I mean, I don't follow anything, I am there for no magical, supernatural powers, maybe because I already had my part on it when I was younger and less cynical. In the other hand, I am all for mythologies and studying religious manifestations and the sort. I love magical things, symbols and beautiful legends. Point made.

Now that I have a dog, I've been thinking a lot about St. Francis of Assisi. He loved animals, and treated them as brothers and sisters. And protected them. Then I reminded his Prayer, or the famous prayer that is to him attributed. I used to love it when I was a kid. Actually, it was the only prayer with which I identified myself somehow, even knowing it by heart. I think it's really beautiful, albeit very simple and straightforward.

Even not being a believer, or a mildly religious person nowadays, here it is for you as well to appreciate it in its very own understated beauty...

The Prayer of Saint Francis

"O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sorrow, joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved
as to love; for it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."

(Credit - the beautiful illustration above was found on a very interesting blog, from writer Nancy Imperiale, based in Florida. Like her, I also tried to find out the source for that, but could not find it. Thanks to Nancy for having discovered it, and to the unknown artist for such a delicate piece!)

Baby Bella and the Waves

Here is Bella today, in Mullingar, looking at the lake. She was on her way down to Ballina with Pappy Mark. He sent this to me via mobile and said: "Bella is fascinated by the waves, but also nervous, not trying to jump in the water, not that I would let her anyway!"

Bella's Picture of the Day!

I used a sepia treatment on this one. Love the way she looks and the blur caused by her moving, making it look a bit like a dream... Her eyes look like little beads as well!

Joys of having a dog...

I always say that having Bella has changed my life for better. She is adorable, and a big motivation too. She cheers me up. I must admit lately I haven't been feeling my best, but having her around makes me a happier, less negative person. Anyway, she is our little "baby" now!

Yesterday we were out a lot. She was a bit hyper though. Her main problem is that she still pulls quite a bit, even with her Lupi harness - which used to be quite good when we started using it.

Latest trick she learnt is called "Find the Bickie". I carry a bag of dog treats with me. When I feel she is getting hyper, I make her sit. Then I grab one bickie and hide it in one of my hands while she is sitting down, observing (and drooling). I cross my hands in front of me and say: " Bella, where is the bickie?" She comes, sniffs my hands and then uses her paw to touch the hand where the bickie is hiding. She never misses of course, since her sense of smell is amazing, but... The beauty of it is that, before, she used to do the same but using her nose, pushing the hand where the bickie was. Now, without me teaching, she decided to use her paw. Well, may seems a bit silly for anyone else alright, but I see it as a progress in her training and that makes me really happy. And she looks lovely when she does that!

Bella and her Pappy

Bella's Snap of the Day...

Pillow says...
"Life without friends is like a garden without flowers"

(Click to magnify...)

Her Name is Bella...

Long time without blogging, it seems! Mostly because I went to Rio by the end of the year and, when I arrived back, was feeling a bit depressed and down. The usual! I will try and re-start writing (once again!).

But the big news is... We finally have a dog now! I was resisting a lot to that idea, since I tend to get way too attached to them and, when it's time to say goodbye, I really get way too sad. But thanks to Mark's insistence, I gave it in. And it was the best thing that could have happened to me.


We adopted her from Dogs Trust. Bella is her name. A border collie cross, although some people say she is a "Wicklow Collie", whatever a Wicklow Collie means (apart from coming from Wicklow, of course). Black and white little bundle of joy, more or less 2 years old. She was very skinny when she came to us, but gained almost 4 kgs already. She is lovely and house-trained, and also very sociable and a quick-learner. We love her to bits!

Some more pictures of our 4-legged furry Baby... And more will follow, of course! :)

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