Curtains from table runners....

  On my Tray of Bliss today are my pretty window coverings made from $2.50 Table Runners, and topped with handkerchief bunting.   Buy as many runners as you need to cover the window opening, seam one end, making sure you first hang them to get the lengths even, and thread them onto curtain wire.   A friend gifted the handkerchief bunting to I don't know exactly how it's made, but you can find instructions here...   http://heavens-walk.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/vintage-handkerchief-buntings.html   Such a pretty boho or shabby chic result for less than $20.   ...Mimi...    

Each day is a little life....whirlygig busy-ness...

 

'Each day is a little life' ... Schopenhauer

 

Earlier this year, I started a series based upon Schopenhauers quote, which is a particular favourite of mine, and one by which I try to live my life.

 

Let's continue that theme....

  I often wonder why people sigh when they say 'I've been busy', as if it's a badge of martyrdom to be worn with a pious face and a slump of the shoulders. Why is being 'busy' a bad thing, all of a sudden?   I LOVE being busy. I relish a full day, a full week, a full ... life.   What's the point of sitting around doing nothing, when you can be doing something?   Our life is as swirling and colourful as a spinning disco light.   We gleefully lurch from one happy event to the next and never really stop to think about being bored or tired. Sure, we have a day of sitting around doing 'nothing' from time to time. But a day is enough.   And even then, our 'nothing' means we're knitting or embroidering or baking or reading or spending time together playing with the dog or watching a favourite film.   Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with doing nothing either. My question today is simply "Why hate being busy?".   As another poet once said 'Live while I'm alive, sleep when I'm dead'.... oh sorry...that was Jon Bon Jovi, wasn't it? Well, same-same. One generations' rock star is anothers' poet!   That's for me. Each day is a little life and I'll live while I'm alive and sleep when I'm dead, thanks.    ...Mimi...  

Recipe in a sentence...Roasted Garlic Ricotta Chilli Pizza...

    Brush one pizza base with oil and chilli paste, top with ricotta combined with as much slow roasted onion and garlic as you can stand, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at 220C until golden and bubbly.   Yummmmm.....   ...Mimi...

Motherly Advice...Do not hurry...

My own photograph...The tree lined avenue at the Palace at Versailles... 

 

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset."

Francis de Sales 

10 ways to support the Arts on a Budget...

 

I've always been a willing attendee of anything to do with the Arts.

 

Art exhibits, art galleries, the Ballet, Musicals, local theatre, local dance school productions. You name it, I've been there.

 

Art as a form of entertainment can be traced back to earliest Human history. Surely the cave dwellers were painting on their walls with ochre, not only to pass the time, but to record events and tell a story.

 

Most Art seeks to tell a story, whether through paint, film, music or re-enactment.

We adore reliving the stories of other lives through all these mediums, but how to do that when money is tight?

 

We are masters of supporting the Arts on a budget.

For example, last weekend was spent at a local University campus, admiring an exhibition of student works. This was as enjoyable as a trip to the more notable gallery in our City Centre, and a lot easier on the hip pocket, I can tell you. The works were just as interesting and unique, each telling it's own tale, and perhaps all the more relished for having been created by locals.

 

We finished our visit, after first speculating on who would have the patience to disassemble an entire house or aircraft, only to reassemble it in a new way to make a statement, with a piping hot coffee in the University coffee shop. We lingered, admiring the towering sandstone faces of the imposing buildings and wondered if the buildings themselves were one of the reasons that students of this particular institution of further education, feel so very important.

 

We regularly attend Independent AmDram (Amateur Drama..also called Community Theatre and Independent Theatre and Indie Theatre) productions, and often find them of a standard very close to the comparable professional productions for a fifth of the price.

 

Here are some other strategies...

1. Visit your local Art and Design College on their Open Day

2. Visit street artists and make a small contribution to their talents

3. Support small local Art Galleries by visiting and spreading the word

4. Take an Art course and get to know other emerging artists

5. Volunteer at your local Indie theatre

6. Frequent the cafes and restaurants in the Arty section of your city

7. Support your local schools and Dance schools when they stage their Annual Recital...you might be surprised at the talent lurking therein

8. Go to the alternative cinemas...the ones that show movies with subtitles..you'll see some real gems!

9. Attend your local Amateur Drama Society productions. You might be pleasantly surprised!

10. Visit the College campuses when they have their Open Day. They always display their students work.

 

Do you support the Arts where you live? And how do you do it?