Equality for the Disabled...

 Souce..Huffington Post

On my Tray of Bliss today, a wish for my disabled son.

Mr A adores sport. Any kind of sport.

Currently we are somewhat thwarted by an unfortunate incident at a local ten pin bowling alley where a league have voted NOT to accept him as a member despite having a vacancy. I've griped about this already and have taken some action in the form of a scathing letter to the aforementioned league and to the head office of the bowling alley. Discrimination was mentioned.

But at the end of the day there is no point in Mr A participating in their cruddy little league if he's unwelcome, so we still go bowling and family members take it in turns to pair up with him.

Mr A's older brothers have also been making an effort to get him out more as a spectator and he's gone to a number of footy matches over the last several weeks. Cricket season is almost upon us too, and he loves his cricket so we're looking at a family membership at our local big cricket ground for this Summer.

Still, he wants to play a sport.

Fortunately there is no shortage of wheelchair sports around, it's just getting to them that's a problem.

Mr A currently does not have a vehicle of his own and would need to rely upon taxis. Not a good option financially.

So our next big goal is to buy him a car. I don't know how, as they are expensive to buy and insure.

But we will get there.

Meanwhile, we'll occasionally take him to the park where his brothers can take turns playing wheelchair soccer with him.

Thank God Mr A has us. The rest of the world doesn't seem to want to know him.

Makes you want to ask what anti-discrimination legislation has really done for the disabled.

It's infuriating and I am sorely tempted to tackle these bowling people head on. But as previously mentioned, it's no way to start a friendship.

Sometimes I just hate people.

Sorry....rant over.

Not very blissful, but needed to be said.

Tomorrow will be better.

Hoping your Tray is more blissful than mine today, dear friends.

Mum in the stars...

On my Tray of Bliss today is a wistful longing for my Mum.

She would have been 69 in the next few days, but she succumbed to Ovarian Cancer nine years ago.

We decided against a traditional burial and commemorative headstone, urn or object to mark her remains.

Instead we named a constellation after her. We didn't ask permission or pay someone for the privilege. We just decided amongst ourselves and did it.

This is a Hubble Telescope photo of the constellation commonly known as The Jewel Box.

We chose this one as there are seven stars in it and seven siblings. Mum was also something of a bower bird and adored vintage costume jewellery and anything that glittered, glimmered or shone. She had a fascination for astronomy and Carl Sagans 'Chariots of the Gods' was a favourite book.

So this couldn't be more appropriate.

On a clear night, Mums Jewel Box winks at us from the heavens as if she's saying 'I'm here, I'm watching over you, all is well'.

Most days I now remember her fondly and with enormous love and affection and can speak of her without a quiver in my voice. But now and again, grief rises up and bites you on the behind and it's as if it's a raw wound.

Today, and the next few, will be like that. A longing in my heart, a wish for one more conversation, one more chance to tell her all she meant to me and to my children.

As Roy Orbison, her favourite singer says..

"In dreams, I walk with you.

In dreams I talk to you.

In dreams, you're mine all of the time,

Only in dreams"

Here's the song on youtube. We played it at her funeral. It's of course written for a lover, but was extremely appropriate...see if it doesn't make you cry...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqp3ZvL1Y9w

R.I.P. Mum...I hope you and Roy and having a ball up there.

All Things Homespun...magic spells for a magical Gypsy bedroom...

On my Tray of Bliss today....further pretties for the Divas pretty bedroom.

Isn't this the most adorable idea?

Recycled or purchased jars, filled with wild, winsome and woolly ingredients and labelled apothecary style with their supposed contents.

For us, it will be raffia 'Mermaids Hair', a 'Magic Spell' of glitter hearts, dried miniature rosebuds, and shredded rainbow holographic cellophane, a tall one containing a piece of stiffened vintage lace labelled 'Unicorns Breath from a Winters Evening', and one turned into a sort of Snow Globe with glitter swirled through it, labelled 'Dragons Tears'.

You can make a super easy version of a Snow Globe by simply filling any jar with Baby Oil, and adding whatever takes your fancy. We particularly love the little white irridescent glitter scattered with a few white and pastel beads  in these. Just make sure you keep it out of reach of young ones as the oil can be a hazard in all sorts of ways.

This is a gorgeous idea for a home made girlie gift for tweens, teenagers or Boho girls of all ages, too.

What's on your Tray of Bliss today?

All Things Homespun...Peaceful Pastel Bohemian Bedrooms...

On my Tray of Bliss today, some more inspiration for Bohemian or Gypsy style bedrooms. I found that much of the inspiration I was viewing was in bold colours and the Diva is leaning more towards the pastel and delicate.

So I went searching. Can one still have a Boho Gypsy bedroom with pastel tones?

Well, as you can see the answer is a big fat YES. The pretty pastel pink mosaic bed fixtures above are inspirational, aren't they?

I chose this one, simply to show that you don't have to spend a lot of money on furniture, accessories or headboards. A few beautiful mirrors, photos glued to the wall in rows, frameless, some DIY shelves, a comfy mattress on the floor and a lamp shrouded in gypsy toned scarves. What a stunning effect for not much money!

And this one...sort of Shabby Chic meets Bohemian. I'm loving the little beaded bag hanging on the chest of drawers. I have quite a collection of vintage beaded bags, and I think the Diva would LOVE a series of them hung on her wall.

She's enjoying designing her room (with help from Mama). Hopefully it will be a room that will grow with her and give her many years of pleasure.

Back to the mundane, it's plasterers we need next. We've installed the wall chandeliers and moved power points around to accommodate her furniture. So now it's filling holes, and then repainting a pretty pale, dreamy blue.

Then it's onto refinishing the polished pine floors, ready for a beautiful rug.

Stay tuned!

What's on your Tray of Bliss today?