doitnowceciliasmith

Ever thought of running away to the circus?

Whilst researching this years christmas pantomime at the Everyman i noticed a link to  Giffords Circus.  Imagine being paid to do this?

If there was ever a circus to run away to, this would be the one.  Must put it on my to do list for 2012... not to run away to, (for now anyway)....just to take my 9 year old to, (before he thinks he's too old).

Let's keep performing arts live!

 

Do it now: go to Brimfield Antique Show

Well, after 8 years of procrastinating and planning and every year the intention of going to BRIMFIELD – I finally made it. Time to check off number 12 on the to do list.  Cant really believe it, but it happened.

 

Thankfully I had a dummy run at Rowley a couple of weeks ago and I felt vaguely prepared for what was in store.

I say vaguely because I

a) forgot my camera – an absolute essential at Brimfield

b) didn’t have any business cards – the connections I made were amazing and a card would have just made the whole thing a lot easier – and a lot more professional looking!

c) I  should have booked accommodation ahead of time – but didn’t do badly pricelining it the day before. $85 for a room at a three star in Sturbridge.

d) should have taken a bigger vehicle, but even that worked out as I found a trucker –  Arthur bit expensive, (and who knows if the stuff I bought will show up on Monday as he promised – there is a lot of trust in this business I realize), BUT if it does work out then he could be a good person to know.

e) shouldn’t have forgotten my wheely trolley – we wound up dragging a wheely trashcan around laden with our goodies – which I must say, turned a few heads and is a whole other story. If it wasn’t for point a) I would be able to show you pictures!

here's what it all looked like when i got it all home.... in every junk yard there's a jewel, right?

 

So I’m 3,000 dollars down, but have lots of great Garden-alia  to show for it and The Potting Shed is all set, at least for the next few weeks!

 

Check out the hose store/trolley thing – in red, green and yellow; I love it..... and the Wringer (“mangle” to the English)…. Isn’t it gonna look great with a couple of wash tubs on it brimming with flowers?  I also got a plough (plow to the Americans), its painted silver and will look great amongst a flower bed or on a lawn.  Plus a vintage advertizing tool rack which says “for your gardening pleasure”  I love it and plan on filling it with vintage hand tools.

 

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I am armed with a whole new lease of life, I committed to a freight forwarder in England today, to bring over some of the Baileys things and spoke to my mum also to make sure she gets the bits and bobs she has been putting together ready so the forwarder can ship that too.

 

I am so excited to get everything listed and priced so we can begin to Sell Sell Sell!!

Do it now: surprise my mum for her birthday!

To travel on Thanksgiving day is a dream - I recommend it to everyone.  Not only do you get out of all that cooking and eating, you travel with about 25 other people. Check-in was over in seconds,  there was a staff to passenger ratio of perhaps 6:1 at security, and the plane was empty!  I actually felt a bit sorry for the people in first class who paid 3 times as much for their seat than me, because I got to lie down TOO, (three seats to myself in the middle section all the way to Heathrow. Nice!).

So I arrived fresh as a daisy at 6:55am, and when I emerged from the train at Paddington Station, London was waking up.  It was still a little bit dark and that smell hit me. The familiar London smell of diesel and fresh newsprint, or something... I dont really know what creates it, but that smell is very uniquely London.

everything but the kitchen sink.

I was asked by someone recently if I had a suitcase that was 20" wide. I said I would measure mine and let him know.  I was badgered every day about it until finally I went up to the attic with a tape measure and measured the damned thing... It turned out to be just 18" wide.

do it now: wish you had discovered Aloe Vera

I tell you , that Anita Roddick, (sorry, DAME Anita Roddick – when did they make her a Dame?), from The Body Shop, was onto something when she discovered the healing properties of Aloe Vera.

Here come two Aloe Vera stories from my recent trip to Jamaica.

Aloe Vera Story number 1:

Feb  25th: The past two mornings I have woken up with a rather unsightly rash – first of all on my forearms, forehead and bottom  and then this morning on the backs of my legs and arms again.  Each morning I had everyone’s opinion on what it might be….

"Did I go in the water?"  Yes, went snorkeling on the reef……"then it must have been a jellyfish".

"Did I eat something…?"  Well yes, I’ve eaten a lot of things… "then it must be something you ate".
 
"Are you allergic to anything...?"  Don’t think so….. etc etc…

do it now: make some new friends part 2

And this, dear friends, is Harold Tomlinson.  Met him on the beach one afternoon, he is a friend of Ansell's, (the owner of the place we stay).

Look at that face ....

....go on, guess how old Harold is?...and guess when he last trimmed that beard of his?

From our brief conversation I learned that he is a wood carver and the knitted hat that contains his mass of dreadlocks is made from yarn from Germany.

He is going to Chicago and Wisconsin in June, to get new teeth – he is completely toothless right now.  He was hoping for four gold ones, but is only able to get one this time!  I told him he might be able to melt down one of his rings – he has a large well worn gold band on each wedding ring finger.  He said he “Kaaant do dat” because one is  "di 'usband “ and one is ”di wife”…..clearly far too precious to him to be used for something a trivial as new teeth.

Harold let me take a photo of his hands in exchange for a cigarette.

do it now: make some new friends

My "to do list" and my "vision board" did include "making a few new friends" and here are some of them.

 This is Marcia. she delivers the newspapers every day.

Always smiling and friendly and always happy to share with us, a new pair of extraordinary earrings. I hope you can see them in the picture. These ones here, she told me, were $5 US.  Not a small sum to a newspaper seller.

She has asked me to "leave her some-ting" when we go ... I dont know  quite what she wants. My left over shampoo? The remains of our Heinz ketchup?  My Oprah magazine?

Perhaps I'll just leave her money, which is all anyone really wants here.

Does it seem a little like I am "buying" my new friend 'though?

do it now: yoga in Negril, Jamaica

The Negril Yoga Center.  A little oasis away from the madness, hustle and bustle of the beach road .

I have been coming here for years now and love it, its like a home from home.  Its my little escape.  Even if it does have lousy internet , (apologies Gloria, Marcia and Scarlett in the office, you know I am very grateful for what I can get!)

This is Fanette Johnson - mentioned previously, who gives a lovely basic Iyengar style class every morning at 9.30.  After which one can enjoy a Jamaican breakfast of eggs, ackee, pancakes, bacon, homemade yogurt,  fresh squeezed juice or smoothie and blue mountain coffee, in their lush tropical gardens..... I'm beginning to sound like like the Rough Guide - (at least I wish I sounded like the rough guide).

There are vacancies, as you can see,  if you feel like a break!

do it now: quick weather report

This is the weather forecast from The Gleaner - Jamaica's broadsheet. It might as well say "today", "tomorrow", "the next day".  It's perfect every day!

do it now: Got it, lets see how long I can keep it

I found somewhere “reasonable” to get on the internet, I say reasonable because it is in and out like a “fiddlers elbow”, (as grandma used to say)…

So this might be a quick post.

It's only in the last 3 or 4 years that Jamaica has even had wireless internet – we used to have to go to a sleezy, mosquito infested café, and pay something like  $1 a minute for dreadful connectivity, so I guess I am lucky, in fact I am EXTREMELY LUCKY to be sitting here right now.

I lied to my family and said I was off to yoga - not entirely a lie as I am at the yoga center, just not taking the class today. Instead I am sitting here drinking peppermint tea, surrounded by tropical trees -  ackee, lime, breadfruit and palm. Bird of paradise and bouganvilla flowers plus others I cant identify. There are hummingbirds and parrots and little lizards running about… the sounds of trickling water all but drowns out the sound of the weed wacker and traffic going by and I hear the hypnotic tones of Fanette, the French Canadian yoga teacher with a Jamaica/English/French accent taking the class behind me.

“feeeel the muscles descending away from the bones, feeeel the brea movement, don’t be deees-tracted by your toughts, cum bak to your breat, cum back to your breat every time, ev-er-ry time….”