Freya's Tears of Gold... beautiful

Freya's Tears of Gold
This is a beautiful study by Alice Mason found just now in my facebook newsfeed... But looks like it as been sold and not surprised love it.. love love.. 

"original painting by me, inspired by Anne Marie Zimmerman's painting in the style of Gustav Klimt. Acrylic on canvas with gold and copper leaf/ Dutch metal. Freya is the Goddess of love in Norse mythology, but she is also associated with sex, lust, beauty, sorcery, fertility and gold.
This painting measures 16 inches by 20 inches. 41 cm by 51 cm. It is sent international or domestic tracked and signed-for. I am including shipping in the cost of all my work at the moment, so free shipping. Sides are painted so no need to frame. It is varnished and insured for shipping."

Lulu only helping?!

Adorable photos I managed to get of my cat Lulu Blanche well err sort of helping me to knit squares for a blanket to send to my Family Link Up project. Sometimes she will ignore the moving needles and wool passing by but other time just too much of a urge to have some play fun with me...

Pens for art

My youngest granddaughter Errin got these art pens for Christmas and she is showing some talent and love of art.. she loves the work that Boshra does in my Family Link Up..We were thinking that these would be good for Boshra too. The skin colour ranges perfect for Boshra's love of drawing faces... So I am going to order these to send to Belgium. 
TOUCHNEW 24 Colors Skin Tone Pens Dual Tip

and Errin also got these colours too. 

Amteker Brush Pens Set - 20+1 Watercolour Pens with Soft and Flexible Nylon Tip, Bullet Journal, Ink Drawing Pens, Calligraphy Brush Pens Perfect for Bullet Journal, Painting and Colouring

Nip over to my Family Link Up blog to read more on the project.

•⊰✿Art Materials Fund•⊰✿

✿ღ¸╭•⊰✿
Lets together help rebuild lives for the 
New Year & New Decade!

Tapestry desire

My facebook newsfeed to Ehrman Tapestry is giving me the urge to complete a tapestry.. Something I have not done for ages... The colours and the designs are attracting me .. This one is The festive Red Star from Brandon Mably.  You can see the collection on the link including a project with the Victoria & Albert Museum. 

This one is attractive and so colourful too 

Wild Corn Poppy Midnight' from Annabel Fox 

Logic actvity fun

Sometimes it is good to get away from computers and have fun with puzzle books. These activity pads have been great with 4yrs (will be 5yrs in Jan)..Leen in Belgium Family Link Up  and Kitty my 8yrs old wanna be nurse neighbours granddaughter.  They both are quick to observe differences and get into logic of games and puzzles.. both love the word searches... so well pleased with these that I spotted and got from Waterstones Uxbridge..

Good read over Christmas

Guardian of lies by Kate Furnivall... 

well the last page read and the last chocolate eaten ...been snuggled reading this action packed novel. Glad I bought this from Waterstones Uxbridge for my Christmas read. So well written you feel like you are watching a film and so intense you feel absorbed into the scenes with the characters.. Been brilliant as times when nothing good to watch on telly..so just sat all cosy and read this instead.. a real page turner.. also a thought provoker on the craziness of us humans and conflicting ideologies when everyone really just wants a peaceful life.. We create paranoia and weapons that would result in no winner as we destroy all ..how crazy... the book's story line also shows how we can tangle ourselves in lies and mixed loyalties..
a good review in My Weekly magazine 

Christmas update

★ *¨*★

✿ღ¸╭•⊰✿

Good Christmas day with my family here in London and connecting to my family up North plus Family Link Up. My Christmas started earlier this month with my trip to Belgium and as carried on through the month of December. Though I live alone been a time of strong connections. My daughter and granddaughters put a lovely welcoming table together for Christmas day and the food yummy. It was nice to share time with Grandma Fields too my son in laws mum. I brought some extra deserts from our local coop. The new Clementyme profiteroles looked good and yummy refreshing bites to eat. I went round to our local coop to buy more but they had sold out.. not surprised and really will be a nice food product for all year round.. especially Easter and for Summer treats too.
Pengu one of my cats was rather alarmed and not too impressed with my carol singing on Christmas eve ..I was joining in with a TV show looking at the musical history of carols. I had time on Skype with my Family Link Up girls ..and it was Boshra's birthday Christmas eve.

Love the grandma and grandpa books for the girls in Belgium.. lovely to feel I can be a  link to their grandparents too. The girls in my Family Link Up enjoy the books I get them.

My lovely Lulu Blanche so much better her fur returning to full glory and got her energy back after a skin allergy scare.. so thankful to our kind caring vet in Hayes..

Love these decorative scented candles in a tin ..one of my gifts from my daughter. The tins so lovely to use after for crafts buttons pins storage ...

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas 

and thoughts and prayers with those that could not have a happy time facing challenges in the world.

Alice Mason Art

“Do you know what you are?

You are a manuscript oƒ a divine letter.

You are a mirror reflecting a noble face.

This universe is not outside of you.

Look inside yourself;

everything that you want,

you are already that.”

― Rumi, Hush, Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi

Alice Mason Artist

Deans Yard Meeting

This afternoon was at a brilliant proactive meeting in the Dean's Yard Westminster Abbey for the "Launch of Social Housing, Affordable Rents & Elimination of Homelessness Bill."  Thanks to Taxpayers against Poverty for organising this meeting and putting together the bill to present to parliament. You can join in with this link to the livestream of the meeting and speakers. I took the copy of Gutsy Women with me to read on the train on the way to the meeting and was able to tweet to Hillary Clinton the photo above and where I was. I love twitter for this. The book is keeping me strong after the shock wave of election results.  The problem of homelessness and falling economic systems is a global issue as well as a national issue. I have before highlighted that it is the failing of world leaders to stick to their UN pledge of the 1980s to prepare their infrastructures for the predicted -  now in population explosion. The 2013 Slums & Resettlement report was demonstrating the growing problem of failing to prepare. In the UK we have had 10yrs of a Tory government enforcing their political agenda of austerity with cuts in services and benefits this has exacerbated problems on a grand scale. With this rise in housing prices & rents leading to evictions and homelessness.  So factors - inadequate housing numbers, unaffordable housing, austerity with also the development of zero hour contracts & short term contracts leading to being Precariats as a consequence.   This is my input of thoughts as I write this blog post.  I have hand outs and references to read up on for a further post later in the week. But the livestream you tube of the meeting is linked in to this blog post for you to see and hear the meeting.  You will hear my question to the panel that in the light of the new government and massive new Tory MPs, how are we to get them to listen when over the years they have not listened to the APPG poverty and dismissed the UN report on poverty by Philip Alston... yes I am talking about the UK in the 21st Century and poverty.  We can only appeal to the PM to be a real statesman and act with compassion to ensure citizens have the dignity of shelter. We also cannot have malpolicies failing those in need of help and then accruing said rent arrears and debts when in fact it was not their individual failings to pay ......but a system failing to support them in order to pay.  I will link you to my Women's Voices to be Heard blog for you to see how I have had to battle on the frontline of the malpolicies. My pain turned into campaign as I see a system in URGENT need to be reformed to help the many in need of financial dignity. Below are some of my photos taken from the day and from the Abbey shop too.  

Sleeping Beauty on my doorstep

★ *¨*★
✿ღ¸╭•⊰✿

Suddenly had a mind to go to Beck Theatre this evening to see if there was a spare seat for Sleeping Beauty with Debbie McGee one of my favourite celebs that recently did Strictly Come Dancing.. I was lucky there was a seat so I have been to a pantomime on my doorstep as the theatre is only up the road from me.  Debbie was fabulous and so pretty. All the cast were fantastic some good singers, good dancers and so so funny and able to engage all the audience young and yep me old... as even I got up and was dancing in the end  lol 
Stephen Webb as Carabosse the wicked fairy character was powerful... what a voice and an actor! but as I look on the programme resume he has done a lot including The Rocky Horror Show... The costumes and the set the whole production was captivating and wonderful... The fairy story of course has good overcoming evil even to changing the Carabosse into goodness.
★ *¨*★and the evening was also to collect for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
★ *¨*★★ *¨*★
Back to my post on the election  GOT IT!.. What is feeling not right with the Political Pantomime... of course in a Pantomime Good always wins over evil... but in the election we have had the wicked Blue Baron De Pfeffel creating the illusion of being a Good fairy offering Oven Ready goodies and new hospitals lots of nurses and police... making out the real good fairy as a mean and sinister... evil has swamped good thus far.. but within a few days some of the chinks in the goodie two shoes illusion are showing with even strong hints to private insurance for care! der der der deeeer.. have we got more to come of this horror before the good truly wins over the evil Baron De Pfeffel.... :-( :-) 

I got a copy of Sleeping Beauty for my Princesses in Family Link Up and was thinking only one week ago was at the Nutcracker with my lovely Leen..oh my both Leen and Celine would have enjoyed this evening Sleeping Beauty Pantomime... wish it was filmed for me to show them and how the kids in the audience participate lol and grandmas ... my ears ringing with BEHIND YOU! and my throat sore with me shouting BEHIND YOU! Please lets hope for a Good New Year and problems sorted and a good new decade for all..

Magic diffuser

This Kasper Aroma Diffuser from NYR is brilliant I ordered this with the Woman's balance aromatherapy blend and it is helping me to recalibrate and rebalance... nip over to my Marjorie's Yard blog to find out more.

★ *¨*★
✿ღ¸╭•⊰✿

Christmas offer rejected

Well we are at the other side of a shocking election result after weeks of toxicity and slurs the end of our dreams and hopes of getting a Labour majority if not a win.. and a more rational approach to the Brexit farce..

Strange that many of our northerners that have been labour through and through did the unthinkable and voted for Tories. Tories that have hurt the working man and those sick, vulnerable and elderly with politically induced austerity and resulting poverty that had the UN Reporteur Philip Alston investigating poverty in the UK yes UK 2019 with cases sounding more like Victorian times. Hunger and some not able to afford funerals for the lost loved ones.. yes UK 2019! 

But the selling line was getting brexit done with an oven ready deal and after years of hearing brexit brexit brexit voters yielded to getting it done.

Strange that we had packed halls for labour even on Thursday a packed hall in Uxbridge with keenness to win the PM seat with a great local man Ali Milani.  I did a piece to camera for an Italian TV company as they had been interested in my suffragette sash. I told them that this was to remind us all of women's vote and that a group of 1950s born women had been a target to rob us of £46,000 of pension with the shift in age of retirement..that 3.6 million women had been affected. That it was a vote loser for any politician that ignored us.There was a lovely loving atmosphere with solidarity and the TV team hugging me and lots of hugs in the Labour meeting place.  Some brilliant young Labour members lots of students and graduates full of eagerness to reshape a new future for society. Over the weeks we have had national webinars with thousands upon thousands attending and lots of innovative ideas particularly on our Green Industrial Revolution. 

But all this was nationally turned down for the Blue promise of Getting Brexit done. The electorate with the Tories turned their backs on us Grans that have been robbed of our pension! I have been feeling abused and battered with the toxicity of the constant knocks and slurs on Jeremy Corbyn.. and been in purdah to sit quiet at home.,.. and wow what an amazing revelation from reading Hillary Clinton's Book Gutsy Women.

 
It was the chapter on Margaret Chase Smith that it suddenly made sense what had happened as there was a feeling nothing is fitting about this election. The pattern of slurs and overt bullying and harassment of Jeremy was the technique that Senator McCarthy had used in the late 1940s early 1950. He would destroy his opponents with attacks on their reputation.  Margaret challenged this with as famous speech... " I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horseman of Calumny - Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry  and Smear." Wow this is what the Tories and sadly some of the centralist Labour party members had done to destroy the hope and fairness that Jeremy was offering the many. With the many able to help fashion the future policies to heal old wounds and move to a future of financial dignity and respect for all.  A message that seems to be seen as a threat to the establishment... 

I am through my period of hurt and mourning and shock been nursing myself and as Marjorie is Marjorie the daughter of my mother and born in the 1950s i GET UP and turn Pain into Campaign... so my campaign and my projects go on.. as we are still European citizens till Brexit I have reached out to the European commission and the European Age Platform to get support and direction. Plus I have a meeting in the Deans yard Westminster Abbey...More on this later! 

Magnetic art and power

Love the idea of a magnetic brooch to prevent pin damage to clothes and scarves. I spotted these in the Thursday Market in Oostende.  I decided to get a lovely owl one for my eldest daughter... and today back in London just given her this as a gift.... but wowee the magnetic pull is powerful..... and we had a laugh at some shared spontaneous imagery of her walking down the street wearing it and nuts and bolts flying to the magnetic and cutlery in restaurants.... But it is good idea providing not collecting other metallic objects lol The brooch does work at holding a scarf together with confidence....

Here's your happiness.....

Yes here was my happiness taking my Princess Leen to Ballet and waiting for her in the cafe while her class finished. Parents, Grandmas, friends cannot stay in class to watch the Cuties in Tutus...as it is a distraction.  But me and other mums, dads & grandmas were itching to peep and see the class... While I was sat in the sports hall cafe I was watching a tennis class and was so impressed with the teacher... She was showing her students how to use the shape and form of their body to maximise the connection with the ball. It was like watching tennis choreography... The teacher could sense me watching and looked up so mouthed you are amazing! With a hand love sign... I was telling Leens papa and he said he had seen and was impressed so when Leen is older if she wishes she can join the class. There is so much sports, arts and culture going on in Oostende and love the healthy way of life with its own rhythm of life.

  and so we all got a peep at our Cuties in Tutus at the end of class :-) 

✿ღ¸╭•⊰✿

Don't forget we are also trying to help 
Boshra, Leens mama with her Artwork too!
•⊰✿Art Materials Fund•⊰✿

✿ღ¸╭•⊰✿

You can email me on marjoriesyard@gmail.com 
& find me on twitter Marjorie's Yard to message me.  

Winter in het Park

Some photos of my evening walk in the park in Oostende to take in all the lights of the night and winter scenes when I was visiting my Family Link Up... Winter in het Park is on till January 5th... 

 

 

 

 

Greta Tunberg - Stop & Listen!

Another good purchase at Uxbridge Waterstones as I really want to learn more about this amazing young woman Greta Thunberg.  There is a good book for the children too so I have bought one for my lovely 8yrs Indian girl Kitty that comes to spend time with me.. Kitty is very intelligent and caring about people, and all life on this wonderful plane, if you remember me talking about her you will know she wants to be a nurse... So we get on very well retired nurse/midwife with future to be nurse and possibly midwife too.. All our youth have their work cut out correcting the mess we have created on this Planet home Earth!