It is drowned in the first light of dawn having crept up on it across the sand

There’s something poetic about the ancient and abiding characteristics of the olive tree that I find quite mysterious.

When I am cold and soaked through from the Scottish winter, it’s images like this olive tree that help me believe spring is coming again… and then summer. Though the darkness is more prevalent than the day at the moment. In Scotland we get the long days and the early dawns in summer. This is something I look forward to! It feels like everything in Scotland has to reemerge or regenerate after the darkness of winter.

Summer in Scotland is like the root of an olive tree – regeneration of healthy lifestyles and park days and all that stuff emerges once the days lengthen. You notice it when the sun rises higher than your nose by noon. Those lovely long Scottish days, the beautiful sunsets and the ability to wear flip flops clears out the busy and hassled Scottish temperament in a girl, leaving room for some more desirable things –  the compulsion to just sit still and be in the sunlight… the awakening of creativity, the atmosphere for going on long walks, having barbecues… rest.

This is the first winter that I really feel affected by the lack of sunlight in my days. I heard an Italian friend say that the skin turns green in winter because it’s so dull and dark.  Not to let the weather get the best of me, I decided to play a wee trick on myself. Looking at holiday photos is good for the head and heart…

The day I took this photo in Italy was literally beaming with sunlight. I remember being so warm and almost blinded by the glare from the white gravel as I took this photo. But I can still imagine that feeling – sun, warmth and vitamin D in abundance!

Oh go on, then… try blogging once again! Try to make it mean something to you and have an ounce of wit for any reader that should care to pause for it.

A friend shared with me today this verse from the Bible after reading a book by A.W Tozer:

Isaiah 45:3
I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.

She was particularly drawn to the idea of God bringing treasures out of our dark times. The world may think that the darkness is a place of hopelessness, but it is there that the diamonds are harvested (twee little summary, yet I reckon you can all imagine that picture now?)

So, expect a blog every once in a while from me to inspire you in anything musical, photographical, joyful or Italian.

sparpagliato…

A place to scatter thoughts and light.

The gruff farmer type by the rear end of the cattle – not so cute… but then you look down and see wee helpless bairns all struggling to get some fresh milk… and your heart melts.

I can’t even remember how life was before blogs, wikipedia and spotify. Lately I have been looking up loads of crafting, thrifting blogs to peruse for ideas in accessorizing my wee flat. There are realms of creativity and online-community-ness that I am only just now stumbling upon… and spying on! I love a lot of the cheerfulness and international friendliness that springs up amongst creative-y types.

Recently I’ve learned so much from online searching or scrolling. Much ado about painting furniture, about making ‘wreathes’ from household items or making your own logos and signs that say things like ‘mama said there’d be days like this’… plus there are so many, many retro-redeeming tutorials to spice up something from the recent past.

That idea of reclaiming/repurposing items might seem redundant to some folks – or even kinda vain because it’s soooo extremely popular and trendy. However, it’s a treat to see so many people in the Western world taking the time to work on something that isn’t immediate, but custom made, invested in and not brand-spankin’ new! So, I’m all for searching the streets of online stores and blogs to help keep me in touch with the olden days when folks toiled with their hands and not their credit cards…. Hey, even going back to the time when kittens sat by farmers and awaited a wee feed from the other udder.

I just can’t shake my nightmares from last night. It’s been a long time since it happened, but I woke up crying from these dreams and now feel wounded from it all. Sad dreams about friend’s and loved ones are probably the worst ones. Though… They’re only your imaginations.

Lately I have been reading the book of Daniel. I love the way Daniel acknowledges that his dreams are often divine visions and not simply a mind work-out. The bible is littered with stories about dreams and visions- so you know that God works through the imagination and the night!

I will make up for my nightmares by daydreaming today. Nothing so lovely as to imagine… It relaxes your striving and planning mode- and when you’re moving house, there is a lot of planning to be done!

A favourite song of mine is Amos Lee’s Dreamin’. A smooth voice, unexpected vocal lines and lovely opening line:

“my soul is as open as the sky, most of the time it’s just as blue”…

When I got home I watched the C4 show which explores how beauty obsessives engage with folks with facial disfigurements. The one show that I watched proved to me that the seeking of ‘plastic’ beauty was a way of hiding one particular woman’s need for love and affirmation – mostly from strangers who would most likely nod approvingly at her unwrinkled 50-year-old face.  The woman who had the facial disfigurement didn’t feel unloved or unlovely. She genuinely had a lot of love and life to offer.

So, with Ben and Jerry’s in hand today, I had a think about how amazing it is to know that you are loved.♥

”This is the amazing new videoblog by HowWeSang. Open Swimmer were blessed enough to be the first ever installment. The song is the b-side of our forthcoming single: Sugar Bowl, released on the 28th of Feb. for download everywhere good.”

When we shot this video, it was probably minus 12 and faintly snowing. The cold had seeped inbetween our toes and we couldn’t breathe in through our noses for fear of sniffing on ice. There is a beautiful ‘still’ that the snow brings. Everything is white and eerie, but the air is clean and calm, as though lighter than usual. As we stood singing, the curls in my hair fell out and froze up. Our voices hit the bare trees without echoing, and our smiles were a little frostbitten, but it was lovely.

This song is a favourite of mine and is about the Kelvin River.

I hope you enjoy.

I watched The Bucket List recently and loved this opening voiceover:

”It’s difficult to understand the sum of a person’s life. some tell you it’s measured by the people left behind. some believe it’s measured by faith. some say by love. other folk say life has no meaning at all.Me? I believe that you measure yourself by the people who measured themselves by you. By any measure, I can tell you for sure is that Edward Cole lived more in his last days on earth than most people manage to ring out of a lifetime. I know that when he died, his eyes were closed and hie heart was open.”

From my window, I can hear to an angry, or rushed, driver beep their car horn annoyingly late. What is such a big deal that has caused them to get so disgruntled that they have to disturb everyone’s Sunday evening lull with incessant and inane driver’s noises like car horns and revving etc?! It made me think about how much people’s lives affect those around them. Sometimes in a good way… othertimes not. But, our lives do interact and affect each others’.

We were challenged at Re:Hope this evening to trace our family heritage, asking questions to see the Faith-history of our ancestors, eg. which of our grandparents followed God, which of them lived well…

It makes me wonder about how much my life is affected by my family history – the genes, the tendencies, the faith and the finance.  I start to wonder about the future- if I get to make a home and a family of my own, I want to affect them with GOOD. I’d like to make a godly imprint on the fabric of our ancestry.

In The Bucket List, the characters discuss, I think it was, the Egyptian afterlife. They say that Egyptians would be asked two questions to determine whether or not they could enter the final resting place:

DO YOU HAVE JOY IN YOUR LIFE?

HAS YOUR LIFE BROUGHT JOY TO OTHERS?

-good questions!!

A future, and continually changing, bucket list may be endlessly edited in light these questions. You may have the blessing to bring joy to those around you at the time you live. What would bring me joy, is to find out the my great, great, great, great, great grandparents and then my great great great great grandchildren all knew God and followed Him.  We’d all be linked… The way I have live, is no doubt affected by how others have lived before me.

You can find more details on the website in time for a wee Christmas shopping for lovely stocking fillers.

In light of next year, you may also add a Royal blue sapphire ring, with 14-fellow-diamonds, to any girl’s Christmas list.

- a pair of Royal stocking fillers…

Hopefully you enjoy our new video for now. It just so happens that once again this year I get sick.. flu! It’s so sad to feel old when you are still young- but sickness will do that to you! I don’t recall much about recording this vid except I was on lemsip (but the blackcurrant one) and that I felt very tired- I feel it may add to the demure and measured mood of the song! Recording the track with the flu was kinda frustrating, if not a great learning experience too, as I ran out of breath on those longer notes and didn’t get a whole lot of oomph. Ha, infact, listening to it now makes me feel breathless with sympathy!

Take care of yourselves my dears… you only get two arms and legs and lungs… one wee heart and a deep seated conviction to live each day at a time- incase tomorrow never comes.

Check out the band’s new website and lyrics etc here and let us know/me know if you are looking for a cd, as I’m sure we can oblige.