Life – Page 32 – Jennifer Michie

October 22, 2015 / 0 Comments

Pumpkins

I have pumpkins on the brain lately. Although I’ve yet to find one for the cottage this year. The grocery store ones have all been very sad and on the verge of rotting and the farmer’s markets haven’t had any. I can’t even find a munchkin! Oh well, I have been pinning a lot of pumpkins on Pinterest instead!

Pumpkin Patch // Matt Matches
Rows of Pumpkins // Cozy Holiday Corner
Wheelbarrow Pumpkins // Hannah Queen
The Colors of Autumn // Fleaing France
A Golden Flecked Orb // Crispy Autumn Air

{Follow my Fall Board // Follow me on Pinterest}

October 21, 2015 / 0 Comments

Tom Ford S/S 2016

Not that he needs my opinion, but skipping the runways for his Spring/Summer 2016 collection and doing a music video with Lady Gaga instead, was an incredibly smart move. Of course it would be, this is Tom Ford, we’re talking about here.

Lady Gaga is such an incredibly talented artist. I would have been thrilled to have had the chance to see her and Tony Bennett, perform at the Jazz Festival in Copenhagen this year. Now, that would have been a treat!

I loved the original version of this song and I’m enraptured with this remix too. So, here’s a little something to pep up your Wednesday, I can’t get it out of my head.

October 19, 2015 / 0 Comments

Maisy

Quiet. That is how I feel lately. Quiet. My family suffered another loss last weekend, this time of the four-legged kind. We lost an angel. I know that everyone feels this way about their pets, but this wasn’t a pet, this was a family member.

We got her just before Christmas when I was home from College and after the holidays, everyone went back to work and it was just me and her. We were buddies. We had almost 13 wonderful years with her.

On her punky days, the fur behind her ears smelled like popcorn. She was a people person, she preferred two legs to four. She was most content when you would just sit with her and she would often call break time when you were busy cleaning the house. Butting you in the leg with her head to tell you it was time to sit with her for a while.

She saved my dad’s life when he had pneumonia, she wouldn’t leave my mom’s side when she was unwell, you would physically have to carry her outside to go to the bathroom, because she refused to leave the room. She was always chief of security and would make her rounds to ensure everything was well. She loved candy. She loved laying in the sunshine, her long eyelashes resting on closed lids with her gentle little face turned to the sun as she sat sphinx style.

She loved children. She would sulk when suitcases came out and would often lie down inside them, daring you to start packing it. She loved visitors and hated when you left. She was so many things, but most of all she was a furry comfort, a four-legged friend. She had been through moves, deaths and births with us. She kept her wings hidden, but we knew they were there. She’s left her paw print on our hearts and for that we will forever be grateful. I’m reminded of this, which I shared long ago, but wanted to share again today, Lessons From Lucy.

October 6, 2015 / 0 Comments

Ai Weiwei

Last Saturday, we went to see Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy. We got there about thirty minutes before the doors were due to open, affording us time to look at and sit amongst his Tree sculptures that now fill the Royal Academy’s courtyard. The piece offers a calm and somewhat uncomplicated introduction to his work. One that is in stark contrast to many of the pieces currently housed inside the Royal Academy’s walls.

The doors opened at 10:00am. We collected our tickets and headed straight into the show. Each room offered a specific insight into Ai’s life and work – celebrating his use of found materials; his creative originality in blending the old with the new; and putting front and centre his will to challenge the establishment that has for so long sought to suppress his views.

Walking out and mulling what we had observed over lunch, it was evident that Ai’s work had profoundly affected the both of us. Each piece was a statement and a question. Through wood, iron, porcelain, marble, and many other materials Ai made us question our place in the world.

In particular we were both struck by his piece ‘Straight’. Constructed from reclaimed rebar from the damaged school buildings, following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the piece is a powerful symbol. Weighing in at 150 tonnes it is a poignant reminder of the strength and solidarity of the Sichuan people following the massacre. It is a also testament to Ai’s own endeavours to seek answers for the parents and families of the children killed due to the poor construction of the school buildings.

This was the tip of the iceberg. Not one piece in the exhibition is superficial – to be taken at face value. Each room implores you to engage with Ai’s story. And it is a deeply meaningful one; fraught with the scars of persecution.

{Guest post by Mr. Michie // Photos by Mrs. Michie}

October 2, 2015 / 1 Comment

Pumpkins

It’s officially October, I saw my first pile of pumpkins today and it made me so very happy! That ribbed orb of flaming burnt orange and tinges of golden yellow, holds within it the very essence of autumn. Happiness is…

September 24, 2015 / 1 Comment

We Must Listen to Our Hearts

My family has lost a loved one this week. It was sudden. I don’t think that anyone has quite come to the realisation just yet. I mourn for the loving spouse and children and grandchildren they left behind.

There is someone else I am very close to who has already walked this path. She knows the loss of a spouse, her child knows the loss of a father. I hope that they can offer some kind words, a bit of wisdom, or simply a hug and knowing look for they have been down this road and they know what is ahead for the ones left behind. Sometimes our most difficult of situations become our greatest blessings as they give us the hindsight to help someone else. We grow in the valleys, not the mountain tops, right?

It is in times like this that I feel we must listen to our hearts, we must do what we feel is right to help someone, to support them. Be that a loved one or a stranger. For life is so very precious and fleeting. We are the tide, we are one wave, that hopefully, slowly builds to maturity before we crash against the shore to return to the vast ocean from whence we surged forth. And, if we’re really lucky, we leave an imprint on those we’ve left behind, not to be forgotten.

September 23, 2015 / 1 Comment

Autumnal Equinox

Today we celebrate the first day of Fall. It felt as if we were quickly being ushered in this morning. The air was crisp, the dew looked almost frosted. As I walked to work, leaves twirled down around me from their lofty branches to softly land on the street, forming little crunchy pools of decay.

Summer fought her way back this afternoon as the sun was blazing and it was decidedly warm. But, the evening is cooling off, there’s a bite to the air. I think we’re moving into sweater weather.

September 21, 2015 / 0 Comments

Lights Out!

So much always happens on a Monday that by the time we’ve gotten home, made dinner, did the dishes, caught up with each other, finished up the chores and sat down to relax a little, it is time to go to bed.

Mondays poop me out.

September 17, 2015 / 0 Comments

Keep A Cork In it!

“Hold on, Vivian! It’s not quite Friday yet. Keep a cork in it, we’re almost there!”

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September 14, 2015 / 1 Comment

The Last Jar

I feel Fall-ish. Our house has touches here and there. I’m waiting to see my first piled heap of golden orange pumpkins. I’m waiting to make my first batch of butternut squash soup of the season with homemade peasant bread. I’m ready for fall apples, so that we can make this year’s batch of apple butter.

We opened the last jar of apple butter this weekend. A simple dinner which consisted of a salad with cranberries, pecans and a mustard vinaigrette and fresh ciabatta rolls with sausage, sautéed onions and a heaping mound of apple butter. A perfect balance of savoury and sweet.

The shadows are changing, the sun is different, almost whiter. It was cold and damp yesterday afternoon, so we made a pot of warm apple cider and sat on the couch listening to tunes. It was a great way to spend a lazy afternoon. We talked, worked on school things and sat blissfully in silence.

Somehow, the weekend slips through my fingers too quickly and I’m all to ready for it to come again. But you find the beauty in the everyday and you look for the little things that keep you going. That’s all we can do.