Thursday, April 16, 2015

Never say Never - all things are possible if you believe you can do it!





When I first started Yoga, after my beautiful son Simon had nagged me for around two years, constantly reminding me that I should join a Yoga class. That was over five years ago now and I am doing poses I never thought possible!

No matter what your age, if you believe you can do something you can! My PT asked me once what was my secret to achieving so much and I told her that I saw myself doing it and eventually I did. You know if something doesn't challenge you, you will never change. No matter what age or your circumstances you can achieve anything, if you believe you can.

Everyday I challenge myself with something even if it is only small, I still do it. I see so many people who are my age or younger, who appear so much more older. When I told my Yoga teacher my age, she told me that she thought me 20 years younger - (I then told her if she told anyone my age I would have to kill her!) She laughed and promised not to.

Use it or lose it has so much more meaning as you get older, so for me challenging myself everyday is my goal. You know what we repeatedly do is not so much an act, but rather a habit.

Honey, my beautiful little companion puppy, and I walk everyday - come rain, hail or shine. I can never get away with out our walk, she knows when we go and is smiling up at me, wagging her tail and running down the stairs, as if to say, 'Hurry up mum, I am ready'. So off we go and the beautiful endorphins set in and my day starts with a great feeling.

So here is to the beautiful word exercise it truly keeps us going. Tried for over a month to do this and then one magical day it happened and my PT took this photo!!


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Simon's 'Modern Ambience'

Today is a beautiful Autumn/Fall day with the temperature reaching 28 degrees Fahrenheit today - love sunny days and warm weather. Simon's latest magnificent quilt - Modern Ambiance is just that -- it reminds me of sunny days, warm weather and is totally glorious.

Simon is back being so creative and the above picture is of his latest quilt, with each section of the quilt being totally pieced, embroidered and quilted in the hoop. Simon chose to use Jenny's Invisa thread to quilt with, as in doing this the fabulous Japanese invisible thread takes on the color of the fabric it is quilting - so clever Cy. Simon exclaimed to me that this is the flattest and the best quilt he has ever made and piecing it with the Jenny Join meant that when it was pieced it was finished except for the binding.

This quilt is for everyone, no matter what level of sewing, quilting or embroidery you are at - at last there is an amazing quilt that is achievable by anyone - and do not worry about measuring quilt sections as each piece has built-in stitch cutting lines.

The design CD, eBook and an added bonus, will be available next month. They say anticipation is better than reality - let's hope that reality is at least if not more than reality!

Here is my thought for the day - I do love having one of these each day! Remember to  carry a big umbrella!!

 


Tuesday, April 14, 2015

It has been nearly 12 months since my last blog......




Simon has been nagging me to write my Blog, which has been sadly ‘found wanting’ as I had lost inspiration. He told me my Blog was about me, not always about sewing, quilting and embroidery but about me and what I do, am doing and want to do so here goes.
Life dealt my family a terrible blow, we were and are not unique, but we never imagined it happening it to us. When Simon got cancer, my mind, body and spirit went into over drive, not having him in my life was not an option, and taking one day at a time took on a whole new meaning. So for a year my life, body and spirit became and centered on Simon! My first thought in the morning, last at night, but now it is nearly two years since he was diagnosed and now he is finally coming back to his old self -  giving me orders – you know how it goes: ‘Simon says…’.
So regular blogging is my new challenge, my goal is to make this blog a record of my life, up front and honest – you may like it or not, be it as it may, it is my blog, my life and my challenge. My hope is that in sharing with you, my online friends, that maybe I will touch a chord in you and give you the courage to ‘live the life you imagined’ before it is too late.
I will deal only briefly with my life before ‘freedom’. For years I lived with fear, in so many ways and days, it sapped my soul with me living such a false persona – no one knew only me. It was only when a friend told me how ‘perfect’ I was in home, husband and children, that I faced the fact that this was only a show and that I was totally unhappy and the only person who could do anything about this was me – feel the fear and do it anyway and that ‘on the other side of fear is freedom’.
In the ensuing years, I recreated myself totally, became the person I always wanted to be and built and worked in my own business. Yes it was hard, challenging and demanding, but at no time did I consider giving up. Anything you do repeatedly becomes a habit, rather than an act, so I started the journey of ‘change’ in my 40’s would you believe.
You know I always thought I wanted to be that ‘helpless woman’ who needed to be looked after – I shared this with my doctor once and he laughed and replied: ‘Jenny you would only last a week.’ I think he was correct even if a little pampering doesn’t go astray, but becomes boring very quickly!  
‘Feel the Fear and do it anyway’ became my mission statement and a whole new life opened up to me. So today I am starting the journey of keeping a paper trail, in the form of a blog of my life, to prove I do exist and hopefully inspire, motivate and touch a chord with those who read this.