frosty

Teenagers

are we already there chasing a ghost?

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

Thank you

A guy named Leo wrote the following post on a web site John shared with me-Why should the simple act of thinking about who and what I’m grateful for make such a big difference in my life?

Just a few reasons:

• Because it reminds you of the positive things in your life. It makes you happy about the people in your life, whether they’re loved ones or just a stranger you met who was kind to you in some ways.
• Because it turns bad things into good things. Having problems at work? Be grateful you have work. Be grateful you have challenges, and that life isn’t boring. Be grateful that you can learn from these challenges. Be thankful they make you a stronger person.
• Because it reminds you of what’s important. It’s hard to complain about the little things when you give thanks that your children are alive and healthy. It’s hard to get stressed out over paying bills when you are grateful there is a roof over your head.
• Because it reminds you to thank others. I’ll talk about this more below, but the simple act of saying “thank you” to someone can make a big difference in that person’s life. Calling them, emailing them, stopping by to say thank you … just taking that minute out of your life to tell them why you are grateful toward them is important to them. People like being appreciated for who they are and what they do. It costs you little, but makes someone else happy. And making someone else happy will make you happy.

photo shop

crackpot

  An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on
the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

    
    

    One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot
was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
     


    At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked
pot arrived only half full.

    

    For a full two years this went on daily, with the
woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.
     
   

    Of course , the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
     

    

    But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and
miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
     


    After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to
the woman one day by the stream
     

    

    "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to
leak out all the way back to your house."
     


    The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your
side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"
     



    "That's because I have always known about your flaw,
so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and
every day while we walk back, you water them."
     

    
    "For two years I have been able to pick these
beautiful flowers to decorate the table.
     


    Without you being just the way you are, there would
not be this beauty to grace the house."
     


    Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the
cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together
so very interesting and rewarding.
     

    

    You've just got to take each person for what they are
and look for the good in them.
     
    

    SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day
and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! 

Question everything

love this image by Melanie Einzig

10 k for breast cancer

John and I ran 10k on Saturday for breast cancer. I had never run that far before and it was a real challenge. John was really patient with me and stayed with me as I stayed at a steady pace and only upped it a little on the last 100 meters. Vince Jones started the whole thing and finished well ahead of us. All the training paid off.

John's birthday

On John's birthday, 24th Sep. We went to London. We started at the war memorial museum and then went to the National Gallery and then the portrait gallery. We ate in china town at lunch time and then we went to a show in the evening. We saw The mouse trap, which has been running for over 50yrs. We didn't arrive home until 5am - took us a week to get over it! :)

Miriam and Ruon's wedding

Saturday the 1st of September 2007 I attended my niece's wedding - my first niece or nephew to wed. Miriam asked me to do the photographs. It was a tiring experience but I loved it. Being able to capture such precious moments for them so they can enjoy them through their life was a lovely feeling. I took over 700 pictures and processing is time consuming and difficult but I only have a few more to do.
The day was blessed with great weather and being surrounded by family I haven't seen in a while and meeting Ruon's family was fabulous. The whole event went by without a hicup and the bride and groom and their families where very laid back. They were married at Southport chapel and then went on to Preston Temple to be sealed.

Beach bounder

camping baby

camping baby
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys

Camping seemed to have brought out the wild in Imogen - I think she became quite feral. She was dirty from the moment she got out of the car to when we arrived home, where she had to be soaked in the bath to remove the dirt. She seems to be back to her sweet self now. We stayed a week in the woods in Myrthr Mawr, we had a fab time. A friend of ours Giles made us a bbq out of a gas bottle. We sat around it every night and read harry potter (we also cooked on it), which we still haven't finished as kids keep going to sleep at other people's houses and we swore we would read it as a family just like we did with all the rest. 3/4 of the way through. We keep avoiding conversations with people discussing the end. It's like turning off the television before you hear the score of a football match you want to see later because you recorded it. :)

Ha!

Movie test - not bad for a first try

71%The Movie Quiz

FilmCritic.com - Movie Reviews

hip hop

hip hop
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys

I went with Tony Burton (Dad) to the Hay on Wye music festival on Saturday. Tony had a spare ticket and I thought it would be good for taking photos. As I was the only photographer there the festival organizer asked me to send him some shots of the festival and I got permission to photograph any band. I had a great time. I Photographed the bands, danced with a very polite but very drunk man and had a smoothie made for me by a guy who rides his bike to work the mixer. It was a great day and when i got home I showed the kids some of the bands on youtube, including "the anomalies". Caleb dressed up and did some hip hop for us, John did record it on video, perhaps I will get that on here if I can work out how to do it.

americans v canadians

The Dragon Festival

This weekend we attended the dragon festival. The children had a fab time. There was a reenactment of the taking of Newcastle Emlyn castle by the welsh from the english. There were crafts and story telling and plays. They had a giant dragon's egg that hatched. The festival was put on to encourage tourism in Newcastle Emlyn. They had over 1,500 people attend on the Saturday so perhaps it will be a yearly thing. Our kids had their faces painted like dragons and there were different stalls where they could make masks and tabards for the parade. Our younger children were all in a chinese dragon shown above and really enjoyed the whole day. As for me, I was a wreck from trying to keep an eye on 10 kids (Caitlin was at a beach party) all I did all day was look for one child after another as they wandered off to look at all the attractions, I'm glad they had a great day and I am even more glad we all made it home safe and sound :)

Welsh Not

Last night John and I attended a play at our children's primary school. Our children attend a welsh speaking school so that they can speak both Welsh and English. This week their school is celebrating their 100 yrs since the school first opened. They have a log book which each of the headmasters have kept for the whole 100yrs, documenting war, prisoners of war, changes in politics and schooling techniques, illnesses and epidemics. The teachers of the school demonstrated the fact that 100 yrs ago it was against school policy to speak English in school, even though all the children and the teachers were all welsh speaking. The children were taught that English was the language of communication even though many children were raised in a welsh community and stayed in it when they were adults. If a child was caught speaking welsh in school they had to wear a "welsh not" sign around their necks and were often caned. Unfortunately this did not shock me as the same ignorance and intolerance still surrounds us even if it rears it's ugly head in different ways, like bullying or through extremist religious groups. John and I discussed afterwards why the play had been a little uncomfortable (except for the obvious of having a teacher parade up and down the isle pointing a stick at us telling us to sit with a straight back and have our heads held high chanting 'cleanliness is next to godliness') We came up with many conclusions, but the most important one was that we are glad we feel uncomfortable when ever faced with discrimination - in what ever form.
The children did a wonderful job, I always feel at these plays that we sometimes sell our children short, as they show themselves capable of remembering long complicated lines and songs in welsh. We were very proud of them.

Baby you're my light

John sent this to me - he heard it not long after we got together and loved it

C.S.Lewis says -

C. S. Lewis on Atheism

"When I was an atheist my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it?... Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless. I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning."-C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity).

Who runs this place?

The band that supported arctic monkeys were reverend and the makers and the lead singer recited this poem-

WHO REALLY RUNS THIS PLACE?!?

Descending in my flying saucer from some spot called outer space
I encountered you, well how dya do we're the human race
I've seen what you're about and how you act is a disgrace
N all this got me wondering who really runs this place?
I've only been here for a day or two and my snowman's disappeared
You ought to check the thermostat it's getting hot in here
No need for Will Smith, I mean no harm, i'm sure we can be mates
I was merely pondering who really runs this place?
And i've made like Phileas Fogg and i've been North, South, East and West
N I can't work out why seven percent own almost all the rest
I've visited your capital in the United States
But no one truly seems to know who really runs this place?
Your planet's large, but who's in charge, anarchy rules the roost
Christian meet Mohammed, have you two been introduced?
And I can't say **** but bombs are fine? Have you got any taste?
Take me to your leader man, who really runs this place?

sounds about right :)

Arctic Monkeys

Yesterday I went to the first concert I have been to since De La Soul (1989) HA! I have never been very fond of big crowds, so have avoided these kind of events, but now I feel I really have missed out - it was great fun. A fab opportunity to let your hair down and just enjoy some really good live music. When the best known songs were played like"Brianstorm", "when the sun goes down" and "mardy bum", the crowd sang along to every word and threw themselves around - the atmosphere was electric. I also probably lost a stone in water perspired through the event, very holistic :) Vince invited us to tag along and I am so glad he did, it was a great experience.

A Careless Child

I Would I Were a Careless Child

I would I were a careless child,
Still dwelling in my Highland cave,
Or roaming through the dusky wild,
Or bounding o'er the dark blue wave;
The cumbrous pomp of Saxon pride
Accords not with the freeborn soul,
Which loves the mountain's craggy side,
And seeks the rocks where billows roll.

Fortune! take back these cultured lands,
Take back this name of splendid sound!
I hate the touch of servile hands,
I hate the slaves that cringe around.
Place me among the rocks I love,
Which sound to Ocean's wildest roar;
I ask but this - again to rove
Through scenes my youth hath known before.
Few are my years, and yet I feel
The world was ne'er designed for me:
Ah! why do dark'ning shades conceal
The hour when man must cease to be?
Once I beheld a splendid dream,
A visionary scene of bliss:
Truth! - wherefore did thy hated beam
Awake me to a world like this?

I loves - but those I love are gone;
Had friends - my early friends are fled:
How cheerless feels the heart alone,
When all its former hopes are dead!
Though gay companions o'er the bowl
Dispel awhile the sense of ill'
Though pleasure stirs the maddening soul,
The heart - the heart - is lonely still.

How dull! to hear the voice of those
Whom rank or chance, whom wealth or power,
Have made, though neither friends nor foes,
Associates of the festive hour.
Give me again a faithful few,
In years and feelings still the same,
And I will fly the midnight crew,
Where boist'rous joy is but a name.

And woman, lovely woman! thou,
My hope, my comforter, my all!
How cold must be my bosom now,
When e'en thy smiles begin to pall!
Without a sigh would I resign
This busy scene of splendid woe,
To make that calm contentment mine,
Which virtue know, or seems to know.

Fain would I fly the haunts of men -
I seek to shun, not hate mankind;
My breast requires the sullen glen,
Whose gloom may suit a darken'd mind.
Oh! that to me the wings were given
Which bear the turtle to her nest!
Then would I cleave the vault of heaven,
To flee away, and be at rest.



Love this quote by Byron-

I can never get people to understand that poetry is the expression of excited passion, and that there is no such thing as a life of passion any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who would ever shave themselves in such a state? Lord Byron, in a letter to Thomas Moore, 5 July 1821

differences in love

sleeping out

For the last three days I have been sleeping out in a hammock in the middle of a huge wood in Dorset. Peeing in a dug-out trench and showering under a bag that dribbles water out, into which I have to pump water. John spent a good part of the evening I got home removing a tick from my bum - lovely! He grabbed it by the body like we were instructed and twisted it out, but there was still bits left in and as I was paranoid about lyme disease, he spent a good while inspecting to make sure he got ever little bit.
My brother-in-law Tony runs bushcraftuk.com web site and magazine, and asked if I would go along and take some photographs. It was a great experience, I observed a group making cordage out of bark and nettles. They also made spoons from wood and a flint napper demonstrated how to find flint, then chip it into spear heads and ax heads. I also followed a hyperactive Dutchman and his students on a trek - they all had full back packs and I was doing my best to keep up with my camera. I would stop to take a picture and then have to run to catch up before I found myself stranded in the middle of nowhere :) They caught trout with their own made fishing lines and then cooked them out on the fire. It was a great experience and although awake at 5am with the dawn "hallelujah" chorus waking me up, I think that it is a great way to get away from the madness of life and just enjoy nature at its best.

The flowers withered
Their color faded away
While meaninglessly
I spent my days in the world
And the long rains were falling.



A thing which fades
With no outward sign
Is the flower
Of the heart of man
In this world!


Two short poems by

Ono no Komachi

watch out for those ninjas

To dream

beach run II
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys

The kids have just had a week off school, just enough time for us to spend two full days at Gellie playing volleyball and football, get to the beach, sort out a messy house and enjoy some friends over for a meal. We have definitely had a work hard, play hard week. My dream is to have an organised house, happy children and a fullfilling life... go here to see some other people's dreams... http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com/v2/Ecard/
what's yours?

tiger food

Life

leaves
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys

Yesterday a friend popped in and said "you and John go and have lunch together somewhere nice and I will watch the kids and feed them." Not many people would offer to watch 11 kids for a couple of hours. John and I grabbed the opportunity and went for soup at snapdragons in Newcastle Emlyn. As we sat there by the river just enjoying the peace and quiet and each other I realized our need for others. I think sometimes I like to feel I can cope just fine by myself as relationships can be hard work and demanding. But it is that old philosophy of 'what goes around, comes around' and when we reach out to those around us amazing treasures come back to us like lunch at snapdragons.

jpg mag

Made me laugh

Ron Mueck

This image above is my favourite. As a photograph it works perfectly never mind the brilliant sculpture.






Ron Mueck is a London-based photo-realist artist. Born in Melbourne,Australia, to parents who were toy makers, he labored on children's television shows for 15 years before working in special effects for such films as Labyrinth, a 1986 fantasy epic starring David Bowie.

Mueck then started his own company in London, making models to be photographed for advertisements. He has lots of the dolls he made during his advertising years stored in his home. Although some still have, he feels, a presence on their own, many were made just to be photographed from a particular angle??one strip of a face,? for example, with a lot of loose material lurking an inch outside the camera's frame.

Eventually Mueck concluded that photography pretty much destroys the physical presence of the original object, and so he turned to fine art and sculpture. In the early 1990's, still in his advertising days, Mueck was commissioned to make something highly realistic, and was wondering what material would do the trick. Latex was the usual, but he wanted something harder, more precise. Luckily, he saw a little architectural decor on the wall of a boutique and inquired as to the nice, pink stuff's nature. Fiberglass resin was the answer, and Mueck has made it his bronze and marble ever since.

Ron Mueck's work became world-famous when a poignant sculpture of his dead fathers small, naked body caused shock waves in the Royal Academy's Sensation exhibition in 1997. The attention to detail and sheer technical brilliance of his figures are incredible, but it is Mueck's use of scale that takes your breath away.

His work is lifelike but not life size, and being face to face with the tiny, gossiping Two Women (2005) or the monumental woman In Bed (2005) is an unforgettable experience.

The huge 4.5m crouching Boy was the centerpiece of the Millennium Dome in London and of the Venice Biennale in 2001. The artist's work is becoming ever more intriguing, ranging from smaller-than-life size naked figures to much larger, but never actual, life size. Consequently his hyper-realistic sculptures in fiberglass and silicone, while extraordinarily lifelike, challenge us by their odd scale. The psychological confrontation for the viewer is to recognize and assimilate two contradictory realities.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2005/12/29/GA2005122900888_index_frames.htm?startat=1"> Click here for more

receive bacon

To the sea!

I have lived near the sea most of my life. As a teenager I would go to the sea when ever I was frustrated or sad and scream at the sea. Not really sure why, I'm sure a psychiatrist somewhere would have a theory. I just felt it was somewhere I could go and not be judged and just scream my head off. I have done this a few times as an adult, but unnerving passers by is a little more on my mind now. And perhaps being sent to the nut house :) I also feel that the closed in feeling you get when life seems a bit too much can be eradicated when surrounded by space.
Last night we took all the kids to the beach for some family therapy. We played wrestling, sandcastle building, kids getting soaked and adults trying to stay dry :) John went to the local chippy and we enjoyed fish and chips on the beach. What could be better.

Sunday, Sunday

It is my nephew Thorin's ninth birthday today and Cameron, Owen and Harry celebrated it by sleeping out in the tree house in our woods Friday and Saturday night. Thankfully they didn't freeze to death or get attacked by some psycho as me the paranoid mother worried about :) They had a great time and did what lads their age should! I hate the fear factor that comes with kids. They just want to innocently walk down to our local shop to buy a bag of sweets and I am watching the time until they have arrived home. John helps by asking me to think about the very worst thing that could happen and the best and then find some rationality somewhere in the middle :) That is usually something like - they go to the park on the way home from the shop so take a little longer.
Anyway above is Thorin opening his new tarp which he got with a hammock so he can sleep out under the stars without getting wet.
Cameron who is pictured above looking lovely in his suit, was set apart today as the teacher's quorum president. Bishop set him apart and it was a lovely blessing - I reminded Cam on the way out of Bishop's reference to listening more to his parents :)
Beautiful sunny afternoon and while the kids played pass the parcel John and I escaped up to Wilkins to get Dave and Marie a Wilkinet for their baby due now. John's mum and dad left today to fly over to see them both, and to await the new arrival. We are all excited to see what Dave and Marie's offspring will look like, send us lots of photos Dave !!!!! xx

Have a happy Friday!!

Work and play

Saturday was the 'running with angels' run that I have been training for and I got a job in Cardiff at the last minute, so money took precedence over marathon. But my girls went and took part, it was a 5k run and Ceilidh won! She showed determination and fitness and John and I are so proud of all the girls for completing it. The run was for raising money for breast cancer, an all female run.
The job in Cardiff was for a family that are emigrating to Australia in a couple of weeks and want to leave some family portraits for friends and family. (Niamh above was such a little character, she had us all laughing!) So I couldn't change the date. It was my first on location shoot in their home and it went smoothly. John and I always love having time together and with the great support from his parents who had Will, Caleb and J. Shelly who had Harry and Imogen. Catherine who had Caitlin. Angela who had Cam and Owen. Hazel who took Ceilidh, Devon and Cerys to the run - wow we have such great support. We had a child free day, working and then went for lunch at Ikea and bought Imogen a pop up tent :) Which she has lived in since, we even had to make a bed in it so she could sleep in it.
John and I marvel daily at how things all come together, we look at our lives and see a wonderfully organized chaos with family and friends loving and supporting us through it! Thanks people!!

William's baptism

Triple baptism with his two cousins, Emma-Lee and Becky. We all gathered at my brother Scott's home for a bbq afterwards, our family has out grown all our houses now so we were grateful it didn't rain and enjoyed the garden. There was water fights, a bouncy castle and lots and lots of food!! Thanks Scott and Deb for a great day :)

fire!

fire!
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys.

SPLASH!