September 8th, 2010
… Were just home from two wonderful weeks …
… in the Highlands of Scotland … with its breathtaking views …
….. The view from our terrace … spectacular … hu…? …..
…… Loch Sunart, Ardnamurchan Peninsular ……
… we took a stroll through the woods for an hour …
………………………………………
……….. to reach our breathtaking destination ………..
…….. the secluded Singing-Sands beach ……..
…….. we had the whole beach to ourselves ……..
………… it was magical …………
………….. Christian and Sophie tested the water …………..
…………………………………………
…. then, we all had lots of fun with a diving competition ….
………………………………………………………………………
….. and long jumping competitions …..
……… can you guess who won ……….?
…………………. I’ll give you a clue ………………….
………..
… every evening we fed Pine Martens …
….. then sat back and watched their antics in the garden …..
…… and daily we saw a family of deer in the 13 acre garden ……
…………….. the baby still had his spots ……………..
…. Mum saw one of these and it made her day ….
…………
….. we saw lots of Highland Cattle too …..
……. this one was having a bad hair day …….
….. all of the roads in Ardnamurchan are single track …..
……. but there are lots of passing places …….
…… We walked across the sands to Tioram castle ……
……………..
….. standing beside Tioram castle … we heard …..
…… the haunting sound of bagpipes travel across by the winds ……
… and we took a ferry across …
….. to the picture postcard village of Tobermory …..
….. on the isle of Mull, so pretty …..
… did you know Balamory is filmed there …
… while I did this …
…………..
…… I did a lot of this ……
………….. finishing two books and starting a third …………..
…….. and I did quite a bit of this too ……..
……… b.l.i.s.s ………
….. Rebecca loved ‘rock-pooling’ …..
……………..
…. when she wasn’t doing this ….
………………
……. or this …….
…………………..
…….. she did …… lots and lots of this ……..
………
……….. and …. this ………..
…. g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s ….
… Rebecca also spent many hours in the sun hand~making these …
…. they’re my one weakness don’t you know …..? ….
…… Christian did quite a bit of this ……
……………………….
…………. this ………….
…………………
……………. and this …………….
………………..
… while Mark had to do a lot of this …
…………………………
…… and between them they caught quite few of these ……
……. though we always put them back …….
…………… they also spent a fair bit of time in the dingy ……………
………. unravelling the fishing line ……….
……… when he wasn’t fishing Christian did a bit of this ………
……….. ha, caught … ya … !! ………..
………. and this ……….
…………..
……….. Dad with his new best friend ………..
…………………..
….. who did lots and lots of this …..
……………………
… and this …
…………
… afterwards Sophie did quite a bit of this …
……………………………
….. with its beaches of white sands …..
….. and oceans of turquoise blue, who wouldn’t fall in love …..
………………………….. Happy Days …………………………..
……. I’m fully recharged and raring to go …….
….. watch this space for the release of my new dolls …..
Lisa x
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open
doors for you where there were only walls.”
~ Joseph Campbell ~
Posted in Our Family, Our Holiday | No Comments »
July 8th, 2010
I thought I’d share with you a couple of pictures of Christian, taken today in my parents garden.
……………… At first he was a little camera shy ………………
……………………. Avoiding it as best he could …………………….
………………..A.N.D………………..
then came the laughter……………….!!
…This picture makes me smile every time I look at it…
… Someone else who desperately wanted his picture taken …
Lisa x
“Sometimes people go searching for a fairytale…
not knowing…if they open their eyes, they have
one right in front of them.”
~ Anon ~
Posted in My Little Butterflies, Our Family | No Comments »
July 7th, 2010
There’s been a lot of Lemonade making in the Johnson-Richards home at the moment…
Firstly, Sophie has been poorly, again………..!
After a visit to the vet…………….. even though she’s not been in a Kennel and she’s been injected against it, she’s been diagnosed with Kennel Cough……………………….. and its fair to say
she’s feeling rather sorry for herself!!
Then… later that very same day Christian, flew over the handle-bars of a BMX bike… and that little stunt…
{forgive the pun}
…left him with a cracked collar bone……. AND the consultant explained it appears from the foreign body showing on the x-rays he also has a fracture……
{……………Way to Go Christian……………}
Poor Christian, now the tears have gone, all I can say is…
‘Boys will be Boys’………….!
Lisa x
“You don’t need a weatherman to know
which way the wind blows.”
~ Bob Dylan ~
Posted in My Little Butterflies, Our Family, The Other Love in Our Lives | No Comments »
June 29th, 2010
Not only do I want to give my warmest
W.E.L.C.O.M.E
to all of my ‘New Friends’…………..
…………..but I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big
T.H.A.N.K Y.O.U
to my ‘Friends of Old’ for your continued support and wonderful comments…………..!!
Finally, and by no means least……. I thought I’d share with you a picture of my gorgeous son Christian… (13)
Its one of the few ‘recent’ pictures I have of him, because he hates having his picture taken…
{unlike someone else who shall remain nameless………….}
….Anyway, this one was taken while he was sleeping in the back of the car with his ipod on…….
…….”caught ya” bonnie lad……. !!
Lisa x
“The shortest distance between
new friends is a smile.”
~ Anon ~
Posted in My Little Butterflies, Our Family, Welcome | 5 Comments »
June 28th, 2010
I wanted to share with you some more pictures of my little Beckie Boo.
They were taken at a professional modelling shoot last month, I think you will agree she really is quite gorgeous………………..
I wouldn’t change a thing about her,
she really is ‘My Living Doll’ made with love & care………!
…………Of course I see her through rose-tinted glasses…………
(…………and perhaps I’m a little biased too…………)
Oh but she really is quite GORGEOUS both inside and out!!
Lisa x
“A mothers love is peace.
It need not be acquired…it need not be deserved.”
~ Erich Fromm ~
Posted in My Little Butterflies, Our Family | 3 Comments »
May 28th, 2010
I wanted to tell you about my ‘Gorgeous’ daughter, Rebecca, at the sweet age of 12 her dreams are coming true… because she just got signed up with a modelling agency in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne…
Well you can imagine can’t you, a little girl signed up by a modelling agency… she’s just as excited as she can be… so I thought I would share a couple of pictures taken at the photo shoot…
Anyone who knows me, knows I love all things shabby chic… especially if they have hearts on them… I have hearts scattered all over our home, so you can imagine my excitement when I came across a ‘Gorgeous’ blog…
“Busy Bee Studio“
And what’s even better, she has a shop only a few miles away from me… wonderful…! Take a look at her ‘animals’ you will fall in love as I did…
Finally, last but by no means least… I wanted to give my warmest W.E.L.C.O.M.E
to all of my new followers…………..
…………..I’m so thrilled that there are now 102 of you ‘Gorgeous’ people following me… and I Thank You all from the bottom of my heart…………..!!
Lisa x
“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be…
The last of life…for which the first was made.”
~ Robert Browning ~
Posted in My Little Butterflies, My Love of Shabby Chic, Our Family, Welcome | 5 Comments »
April 28th, 2010
Where has the time gone?
I’ve been so busy renovating… while working on doll order’s along with dolls to sell on my web site… I blinked & almost three weeks have passed without my posting a thing! By way of an apology, I thought I’d share with you, something very precious to me…
This is my youngest, my daughter Rebecca, she is desperate to be a model…!
Sick of her constant begging & pleading, finally after a year I gave in and asked a friend’s daughter, who is a professional model and also a keen photographer if she would take a few pictures of Rebecca.
Thinking, a friendly ‘photo shoot’ would fill her curiosity but, I also thought because Rebecca is so quiet and she appears to have no confidence I thought she would hate the attention it would bring and thus, she’d would decide not want to take it any further… but no
{errrr… wrong}
she loved it and I think you will agree considering this is her first ever time in front of a camera, she really shines!
The pictures above & below were taken during the Easter holidays in a play park which was “full” of parents, children and older boys… and posing while having her picture taken didn’t bother her at all… in fact to my surprise, she was very confident in front of the camera.
We sent the pictures off via e-mail to a leading modeling agency at 10pm on Friday evening and before 9am Monday morning we received a phone call inviting Rebecca along to do a to ‘test shoot’ to see how she reacts and cope’s around strangers and also to see if her personality shines through…
My little princess has her fingers tightly crossed that they will decide to take her on their books and represent her, she also has any money she will earn ear marked already! I wonder who she takes after?
Lisa x
“Do not regret having lost yesterday…
Do not fear that you will lose tomorrow…
Enjoy today.”
~ Robert Ingersoll ~
Posted in My Little Butterflies, Our Family, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
March 2nd, 2010
Thank you so much for your lovely thoughts and wishes regarding Sophie, she is doing well and sleeping peacefully as I am typing this…
Good news the x-rays were inconclusive in that they didn’t show up anything too worrying. The vet gave Sophie ‘strong’ anti-inflamatory pain killers, which are helping to ease the pain. She has to have complete rest and that means no running, no playing and certainly no walkies for 6-8 weeks! We take Sophie back to the vets in two weeks by which time she should be improving. If there is no improvement, then she has to have further tests.
Six to eight weeks rest… I ask you… and how do we explain that to Sophie? It may sound easy but believe me, she is such an energetic dog who lives to play, run and have fun. Its not easy making her rest even now when she’s lame, never mind as the pain killers start to kick in and she is feeling better. Poor, poor little Sophie…. “Rest & No Play”…
Still it is good news… and were very hopeful it Sophie has just a sprain!
♥ Have a Wonderful Day Everyone & Thank You for your Kind Wishes! ♥
Lisa x
“Distance tests a horses strength.
Time reveals a person’s character.”
~ Chinese Proverb ~
Posted in Our Family, The Other Love in Our Lives | 11 Comments »
March 1st, 2010
This morning, we took Sophie our much loved 3 year old Labrador, to the Vetanary Surgery with what we thought was a sore paw. Yesterday she was a little lame with a reluctancy to put any weight on it… unless of course the word “walkies” was mentioned when the lameness would miraculously disappear…
Expecting the vet to tell us, she’d has strained it… I was quite upset to hear the vet explain that often Labradors can suffer from hip and elbow joint complaints. Unfortunately, the she seems to think this could be the case with Sophie. So, reluctantly, we had to leave her there while they run some tests and x-ray her legs! It was so upsetting as she cried as we walked away leaving her there.
We have to call the surgery this afternoon to see if she has recovered sufficiently from sedation for us to collect her… and of course to be given a diagnosis and I imagine a rather large bill!
I can’t tell you how quiet and lonely my home is without my sweet Sophie here with me today and I don’t mind telling you I feel very sad!
Lisa x
“The joy of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile,
nor the joy of companionship;
It’s the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
Posted in Our Family, The Other Love in Our Lives | 10 Comments »
February 9th, 2010
…… and not what we think others want us to be!
I like to think I express myself through my art, whether that be through my dolls or my paintings. However, like most artists, I suffer from the “Artists Curse” where by, I’m rarely satisfied with any new piece.
Rose… Acrylics on Canvas 24×30″…
You may remember my rose painting, above, which I began before Christmas? Well, this is a prime example… I wasn’t terribly pleased with it and thus its spent the past few months sitting in my parents house behind Dad’s easel. However, today when I visited my Mum and Dad, I saw it had been positioned up on the wall in their kitchen and I have to admit to thinking it looked rather very nice!
My painting in Situ on My Parents Wall in their Kitchen…
It made me smile and I thought perhaps you may like to see my new piece which is obviously a ‘work-in-progress’…
Work in Progress… Lily… Acrylics on Canvas 24×30″…
And now for a true work of art… this is my Dad’s creation, he too suffers from the “Artist’s Curse” and he is not happy with this piece either… me, I think its absolutely wonderful!
Poppy Field… Oils on Canvas…
Something which makes Dad’s painting all the more incredible is that it came out of his head from his memories of Provence and a time when Mum was well.
“You are not discovering yourself, but creating anew.
Seek, therefore, not to find out who you are, seek to
determine who you want to be.”
- Anon -
Lisa x
Posted in Our Family, Things I've Made | 3 Comments »
