Monday Mood

Images sourced from Marlow Lou Pinterest 

Kiss it better

I feel messy, dishevelled and utterly unprepared for life at the moment. It's funny how one moment you can feel so on top of things, so ready to attack everything the future has in store and then next minute your a crumbling heap of insecurities. 

I am currently fighting of some hideous virus that has knocked my body for six, and apparently taken my self confidence with it too. For the last week I have been holed up in bed sleeping, blowing my nose with aloe vera tissues that now feel like sandpaper and coughing up both lungs. I haven't exercised, the only thing my body wants is sugar, fat laden foods and to be honest I am feeling slightly sorry for myself. 

I think I hit an all time low this afternoon. I was home alone, my nose was driving me insane with its constant river of snot, my eyes were weeping constantly from the infection they too had contracted and I had recently developed and ear infection. *Insert pity hugs here*. I looked in my bedroom mirror and saw someone so unhappy with their current situation, a slob in fact who had let the last week get the better of them. I felt soft, overweight and downright ugly. 

It is weird how a few days of being out of routine and not living my normal happy, healthy lifestyle knocked me for six. I called my mother, aka my sanity, in a sobbing mess feeling truly miserable and sorry for myself. 

I still don't feel happy, something that I really dislike but I am going to have a night to myself, breathe, play guitar, weave and write. Do things for myself that do not involve my physical appearance or my health.  Things that make me happy. I will go to bed shortly and who knows I may wake up tomorrow still feeling shit and your know what, that is ok. I'm taking each day as it comes at the moment - shitty moments and all. 

xx

Winter Warmer - Pumpkin Soup

It may not be every ones cup of tea, but the good old faithful pumpkin soup is hard to pass on a cold, rainy day. I've recently been battling a temperature and a sore throat so I thought what better way to nourish my body then with a bowl full of pumpkin and sweet potato. My pumpkin soup recipe is so healthy and filling making it my go to, quick, easy and oh so delicious winter meal.  

INGREDIENTS 

1 1/2 Sweet potato

1/3 large butternut pumpkin 

3 cloves of garlic 

Coconut Oil 

Vegetable stock

Pinch of cinnamon 

Pinch of nutmeg

METHOD

Peel the sweet potato and pumpkin. Cut into small pieces. 

Scatter the sweet potato and pumpkin on a baking tray. 

Peel the garlic cloves and add to the baking tray. 

Drizzle with coconut oil and pop into the oven at about 180C

After approximately 40 minutes the sweet potato and pumpkin should be soft and fragrant.

Once soft, add the pieces to a large pot. Pour in vegetable stock and add cinnamon and nutmeg and place over heat. 

Bring to the boil and cook for approximately 15 minutes.

Once all flavours have combined and heated through, take the pot off heat. 

Leave to cool for a little bit.

Once the mixture has cooled, use a blender or thermomix to blend into a smooth mixture.

Serve with a sprinkle of spring onion, cheese and a dash of sour cream (if you aren't vegan).

Sooo DELICIOUS. 

This is the type of meal that I make up on the spot and don't measure. So if you are after more flavour add extra cinnamon and nutmeg, cook the sweet potato and pumpkin with onion or add more vegetables to the mix. If you want a thinner soup just add more stock or water to the mix and this will add more moisture to the soup. 

WEAVING

You may have noticed intricate, often colourful woollen wall hangings decorating the interiors of design blogs and home magazines. The textile art of weaving has made resurgence and it is being used to create beautiful pieces of wall art.

I recently attended a course to hone my weaving skills so I too can start creating my own magical, woven masterpieces. For 8 hours I did not leave my chair (that was a little white lie, I did for toilet purposes). I sat all day building my own loom, threading my loom and playing with bright, textured pieces of hand dyed wool. I was engrossed. I think my partner even tried calling me several times and texting me several more, with his final text saying ‘I’m worried, can you just let me know that you are ok?’ Silly man, does he not realise that weaving has now replaced him? As I was sitting there all I wanted to do was finish my current wall hanging, buy some wool and start creating a new one.

I used my hands to thread the wool through the loom, creating knots, carpet textures and braids. I loved that I wasn’t surrounded by technology, that I was getting back in touch with myself, my artistic mind and the use of my hands for creation. It was beautiful to be so captivated by something so natural and calming. I have difficulty meditating for half an hour but sitting and weaving for hours on end put me in a very meditative state.

It was interesting to see the colours, patterns and texture’s each person used to create their wall hanging. More often than not, the colours chosen by each individual to weave with were very similar to the colours they were wearing. It comes back to that theory that we dress and wear colours depending on how we feel that day. I think the same theory can be translated across into art.

I will stop rambling on about my obsession with weaving for now, but keep an eye out for future posts as I will be sharing my creations with you very soon. Here is a sneak peak below. 

XOXO

I Am Water

I travelled for an hour to find myself on the outskirts of a forest. I walked aimlessly along a well travelled dirt road, over hills and across broken land until I stumbled across this sanctuary. I finally reached my destination and it felt like I had reached home. 

I stood on the edge of a rock cliff looking down on the cascading waterfall. The large pool of water called to me as it has always done. From my earliest memories I can remember feeling a strong connection with water; so fluid, so strong, so powerful. 

I have a great fear of shallow living but a great depth and desire to be more than what I am. Like water I am a contradiction of so many things. Water can move mountains but it can also destroy cities. Its beautiful but terrifying, strong yet fluid, it can cleanse life yet so easily take life. 

I am a water being, I feel connected to myself and to mother earth when I am embodied in the element of water. I close my eyes and I float, my body is weightless, my mind is clear and I am home. 

History

I could not love you if you could not understand.

I could not love you if you could not understand that your skin colour does not define who you are. If you are white, black, caramel, yellow, red or any other colour you have been blessed to be. Embrace it. Love it. I have been fortunate enough to never experience racism first hand. Friends of mine have. A male friend of mine with darker skin told me he wanted to scrub his skin off so he could be a better person. My heart died hearing him say this. For anyone else thinking the same please hear me when I say - WE ARE ALL EQUAL. You are beautiful no matter what skin colour, race or religion. If someone tries to put you down for your beautiful skin colour that radiates over your entire body they are not worthy of your time. Just because I have pale skin does not make me better than you. Just because you have darker skin, in know way makes you less than me. We are both one in the same.

I could not love you if you could not understand that all love is the same. It does not matter if a person prefers the opposite sex or the same sex. It does not make them different, it does not mean they need a label to define them - the love you give to another human does not define you. The love we give to another human is the same no matter if it is male or female. If I love a woman that does not mean I am confused. If a male friend of mine is in love with another man that does not make him disgusting, or weird or 'gay'. He is still the exact same person he has ever been. He does not need a label to define him, to shape him, to condemn him. All love is equal whether it is between a boy and a girl, two men or two women – heck lets throw an orgy of sexes in the mix. It does not matter.I could not love you if you were racist, sexist or homophobic. 

I could not love you because I refuse to love someone who empowers the oppression of others. Who demonise's and marginalises other beings for having a different skin colour, belief system or for being born a certain sex. I see each and everyone one of us as equal, if you cannot than I am sorry.

All images are by Eleanor Landford

Crazy/Beautiful

'You are crazy,' he said. 'That's why I chose you.'

I have been described as many things - crazy, eccentric, insane, charismatic, even wild. 

I like to think of it as a positive attribute. If someone was ever to ask why, I would merely say that I am an adventure, you just never know what you are going to get, and thats what makes this wonderful life I am living exciting.

I don't want to be you or someone else. I want to be and feel every single part of what makes me, me. If I want to scream I will scream. If I want to make love with a stranger, dance naked in the rain, I will. Why? Am I self destructive, a loose cannon perhaps? Maybe. Maybe I just want to do and experience everything I feel. Thankfully those feelings are harmless and just a little fun, but I don't want to bow down to what people think is appropriate.

A man said to me recently,'You are crazy. That's why I chose you. You were not following the norm. You didn't seem to care about yourself or others, you just did what you wanted.You were crazy, but  god you were beautiful.'