10/10/10

The tenth of the tenth two thousand and ten. I wonder how many coockoo fundamentalists are waiting for the world to end today......and tomorrow , the sun will rise...again. But it does get me thinking: if today were your last day on earth, what would you do. How did you spend your day. Have you given today your all?

Well for me , my husband is away, so I would be very sad to not see him, I had a low key braai with my parents at our house on the farm., my dad fixed my bedroom cupboard door and I actually made the fire and braaied the meat!( which for me is QUITE a big deal)

How was that on a scale of 1 to 10. ...I think a 6.

A day of family is always great, but I felt a little subdued without my other half.

Its funny, when he's gone, I actually realise just how connected we really are. Yes, we might fight and bicker...but most of the time we flow effortlessly with each other. Its almost as if the more you live with someone, the more alike you become.

So on the 10th of the 10th 2010....take stock and love the ones you love and forgive the ones you don't. Make this day matter; as should every day in the rest of your life.

I love you Marcus!

Cycling...a death wish

Yes...I am doing the Argus AGAIN. I always say : THis is my last one...and then I enter AGAIN.
After last year's wind, I thought , Well it couldn't get much worse that that.
so I am training again, albeit a bit late. I am going on 4 cylces a week and really enjoy it, except in areas where there is no yellow verge. It seems that cyclists don't have a right to be on the road( according to big lorry drivers). I literally had to veer off onto the dirt, in order to survive. I now have to think twice about cycling on my favourite road, past De Meye. I mean, obviously a cyclist is going to come off second best, so does one just have to accept the fact that there is no place for us on the roads?
Is it too much to ask for cars and lorries to slow down and give me a wide birth?
What is the solution?
I enjoy mountain biking, but there is something about being on the open road that appeals to me....and any way, my mountain bike was stolen.
So I will carry on taking my life in my own hands, cycling on the glorious Wineland roads and just brace myself for countless puntures , and go on to the dirt when a lorry comes past.
Yours, Cathy Milner

Doing the best you can. Working with the Pebbles Project.

Last year my dear father was stabbed 6 times last month in their house by a youth who was high on TIK( methamphetamine). My father has recovered, but I was left with the nagging thought that if we don't do anything about the YOUTH culture in our disadvantaged communities, attacks like my father's will carry on happening. The youth have no outlet for teenage energy. Their only options are very often gangs, drugs and alchohol.
I want to make a small difference....to give some of them a place to be creative. I have taught teenagers in a formal school setting, and art is a wonderful tool to delve through emotional turmoils.

I am working in conjunction with Pebbles Project who is a charity that runs creches, after school clubs and educational trips for farm children on the various wine farms. They currently run these on 11 wine farms.( please look at their website to see more info. http://www.pebblesproject.co.za/ ) If any of you have been at my last 2 exhibitions, you will remember that I donated some of the proceeds to this worthy charity.

They choose 15 children at a time to attend art classes in my studio for a term. Therefore we touch 60 childrens lives in a year. They are brought to my studio by bus , where they are taught art skills in a fun way, and my aim is to cultivate an interest in the creative side of life, and, who knows, find hidden talent to perhaps study further. My ultimate aim is to fund a scholarship program so that each year I can give one student money towards studying further in the creative fields.
The children are well behaved and are very excited to be given this opportunity. Very often they only really ever leave the farm to go to school, therefore, to attend an art event at a REAL art studio is a very exciting adventure!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!
Please let me know if you are interested in giving up your time or if you could donate something in the way of art materials and paper, or put some money in their account( see their website) or mine for a donation towards art materials for this project.Please remember, It doesn't matter how small your contribution. Every paintbrush, box of pastels and piece of paper count!

We also need cooldrinks and biscuits to give to the children before the class, as sometimes they have not eaten since the morning when they left home.
My details are as follows:
CA Milner
Go Banking( run by Nedbank)
branch # 123009
Acc # 1230582770
Please put as a ref.Pebbles Project/art materials

Mondays. Why I always feel like I havn't done my homework

It s funny...My first Art class I teach is on Monday, and even if I'm super prepared( I have been doin this since 1997), I still wake up feeling nervous that someone is going to catch me out that I havn't done " my homework". When the class is going , it all just flows out of me and come s so naturally, but the angst that I have before hand...You would think I'm a complete novice or charlatan, who is faking a fine art degree.
Talking about homework...When you finish school, varsity, post grad etc. you think" well now I'm done, no more homework , studying etc.".
WELL....If you have kids( and mine is in grade 2)..You do it ALL over again. I'v just finished my home work today with him. 8+1=9, 1+8=9, 9-8=1, 9-1=8.......AAAAHHHHHHH. I have no patience with my own flesh and blood, and yet have oodles of the stuff with strangers...Whats wrong with me.? I am reading Kipper and the Giant at the moment....PLEASE save me. I wish I could read it for him, so it could be finished faster.
(I'm going to write to the teacher and tell her" I've passed grade 2 a LONG time ago, do I REALLY have to do this??????)
But , I through all this, I am still vaguely responsible, so I will plod on through the Grade 2 syllabus AGAIN. but this definately has to be one of the BIG sacrifices a mother makes for her kids.

Surviving the Red wine Hangover

I've really been good lately and avoided the ubiqious Red Wine Hangover for a few months. Partly because I'm trying to loose weight and partly because I just can't do hangovers any more, BUT sometimes( like last night) Red wine just tastes too good, and down i fall into pit of" lifes a jol, you only live once, I'm having so much fun, I don't care what tomorrow brings".....Well this morning I DO care. ( added to this I only slept for an hour, as we only went to bed at 2 : 30am, and I didn't drink enough to pass out, but drank too much that it acted as a stimulant)

But here are my tips to survive:
1. Have a shower...alchohol seeps out of your pores...I already feel 10% better
2. Have breakfast...something healthy like fruit, yogurt etc
3. Have a mid morning snack....my favourite: Toast with butter, Bovril and cheese....mmmmmmm I feel 20% better
4. Have an afternoon nap...Nothing better...and I feel 50% better
]6. and unfortunately the rest on the day, you just have to go with that 50%, cos there aint nothing on earth thats gonna take that hang from hell completely away!!!!