ugly as...forgetting the little stuff...

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared on Vimeo


so true...if we don't use our creativity...
we fail to enjoy the creativity in others...
maybe...
only when we become vulnerable enough...
will we accept others creatively, enjoying our differences
and not be so
hardhearted and life stealing...
demanding that everyone fit into our ideal...
an ideal we ourselves abhor...
   because if that's the case...we may as well be dead...
                  
          and my nana always used to say to me...
                     you're a long time dead...
                 i think she said that to scare me...
                             but it's true, nonetheless!

ugly as...deciding not to delete their swear words when you are being supportive

of apples and trees and things...
sometimes it's just who you are....

                          "my mama told me...there'll be days like this"

                        This is fucking cute, I took a picture of myself when I got to Gareth’s...
                                                                 t.i.f.c.by Chanelle Kennedy.
                                                                       

ugly as...an introverts ideal residence

ugly as...yep that's what it feels like most days

ugly as...secrets

...i hate secrets...i hate keeping them...i hate it when the only reason you are keeping a secret is because someone you know will get in deep shite with someone else if they found out...and you know that the secret you are keeping is one, that should be out in the open...because someone is being hurt without them knowing it...know what i mean?

while looking through my stuff that i had stored at a friends place
i spied this cabinet stored off to one side...the wood was ugly and dirty, it's stain had yellowed to ugliness, covered in dust, kids felt tip drawings, finger prints over the doors, spilt coffee marks,...just ugly and discarded as if it held some deep secret and would never see the light of day again...because it knew too much...

of course...i poked my nose in...i couldn't leave it like that...i saw it's potential...did anyone want it...was it to be thrown out...was it for sale...
  secret revealed: 

1. yep it was for sale
2. it had been hidden there
3. the owner's wife had moved out of the home
4. the owner had been having an affair
5. the owner had told the wife he had sold it 
6. but he hadn't
7. he was denying the affair
8. the person storing the cabinet was his friend and the storer knew the secret
9. the owner was using the friend as his alibi while he was out and about with other women
10. the owner would take whatever i'd pay for it, because apparently, it was sold anyway...so he couldn't really argue!

     so...
                 

           i bought it! what's $20 among secret holders aye?
                     
           i had in mind to paint the whole thing cream...


                 but i cleaned it down...took the doors off and started painting...and realised i don't paint all that well....and i was getting too frustrated...so i put it back together and stood back and well, i just fell in love with it...sometimes less is more...
             and now it has life...and no secrets...no shame attached...
                      hmmm... man isn't life funny...
                              just as you are writing about a funny little cabinet....
                                                 you just go pop....and you get it!

ugly as...a pot rack - bookcase - coffee table - thingy...

oooohhhh love it....that's a bit of me...
a pot rack....!  it was on trademe and i just had to have it..first bid $20...only bid $20...mine (apparently, there's one born every minute) 
but i had a coffee table in mind...(having sold everything, remember)...but i haven't found 'legs' that inspire me yet...so $6 coffee table sits perfectly on top of pot rack...

which is now a bookcase....

a $26 potrack/bookcase/coffeetable
..

                                                                 
and wallah....


...all set to be anything else that springs to mind...

ugly as...curried sausages!

 i hate curried sausages!
then my brother Matt, moved into my garage
he was on home detention and needed somewhere to live
so into the garage he moved, lock, stock and smoking barrel!
my brother loved curried sausages...like mum used to make
          but because of my utter dislike for them
i had never made them...and wouldn't have...until my brother Matt moved into my garage!
              i had a go...why not...?


So, here it is....my curried sausages recipe:




   i used:

• 2 onions
• 8 precooked sausages
• water 
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1tbsp curry
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 dstsp vinegar
• mixed veg

i like easy... so....easy does it...

1. i chopped the onions and threw them in a pot with a dash of oil to 'sweat' (cook term for cooking them gently, i think)
2. i didn't bother 'browning' the sausages, precooked means never having to do things like that, in my book, i just sliced them up and threw them in the pot with the onions
3. i poured in enough water to cover the sausages and turned them on to a simmer
4. in a jug, i mixed the rest of the ingredients, except the mixed veg of course, and blended them together with about a half cup of water
5. i poured this into the 'sausage' pot and stirred it all together and brought it up to the boil
6. i know that doing this will cause the 'flour' ingredient to thicken, so i continued to stir until it bubbled
7. i turned the heat down to low and let it simmer to it's hearts content (i let it simmer for about half an hour...while i did the rice which i always do the same way: 1C rice, 2Cwater, bring to boil, turn way down, lid on tilted, and wallah...just leave for about 20-30mins or until little air pockets appear in the top and the water is all gone
8. i threw the veges in with the sausages about 10mins before everything was ready, just to let them cook and take on the curry flavour
9. that's it, easy as!

 you may have noticed that all this really is...
is just a curry mixture that you can use anyway you want to...
all the sauce is doing is adding the curry flavour and thickening the gravy 
              so...
i love veges, so i just make up this sauce, put it in with the broccoli or/and cauli while they are cooking and wallah, vege curry
          or...
i'd probably just add it to a beef stew or chicken casserole before i put it in the oven to slow cook...or mince or whatever...


anyway, long story short...i actually tried this and i love it...curried sausages hater, no more!
the bro was keen as well!
      oh and...add more curry powder if you're that way inclined...not too much though, it gets bitter apparently!     
                      


  

With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart: Trash to Treasure ~ A Garden Screen

With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart: Trash to Treasure ~ A Garden Screen

...a woman after my own heart...

not many around....

where i live anyway...

...just doing what you love....

because you love it!

ugly as...finding the answer to your problems the day it's over

clarity

 you've done the right thing...you've taken steps to change your life...to step out of the mire.......to put your faith into action....


and even when you don't understand why


you find yourself alone...


      ...and then you face it and say, okay...
                                         if I have to be alone, then okay....
           i hate it, but if i have to be here, right here, alone...okay...
                                 i asked for a change...i prayed for a change...
  so a change it is....and then i realise that a change won't look like what i used to see...
        a change won't feel like what i used to feel....
                                  a change won't even act like anything i expect...
but...it is a change i prayed for...


               so, i will document this for future reference....

life is indeed...

a tapestry...

of intricately interwoven threads.

ugly as...things I love...

$1 window that I haven't the heart to 'do-up', now used as a frame for a fabric remnant I bought for $1.40
only to find
when I got it home and unraveled it, that it was 'Audrey Hepburn' fabric and I love her...so it only made sense
to cut a piece and hook it up to my frame with two wooden pegs....wallah

typical or not...I just couldn't resist this 'scarf' that I found at the Waipuna Hospice in a basket full of 'wool scarves
for a dollar each...and there is no point having something that I love hanging in my wardrobe...where I can't
see it...

absolute genius idea by Kyle and Anna...a teapot which we all signed using a black 'porcelain pen' for Chanelle's 21st
a keepsake that holds 21 keys with tags attached with messages written for Chanelle
with love...

a wine bottle carrier, I know...but I found this after I gave that hobby away..(wine bibbing, I mean)
but just loved the simplicity of this $1 bag from the op-shop, that it now sits by my
'fire-place' holding candles, so I can find them easily during the common winter power cuts...

two bottles for $1....dunno yet if I want to use them...but I will, I'm sure...for now I will just admire them.

ugly as....some of my favourite finds...

...I was at a friends place, helping her pack up to move and after a reasonably hard days work...(not) we decided it was time for a wine...
                               of course...
...as I went through her garage to get into my car...                        
           I spied this crockery
     ...sitting on the top of the garage framing
          ...covered in dust and cobwebs...
     definitely NOT a place for things so beautiful!

...she was going to leave them behind...apparently she was over them...

...I love them, I think they are beautiful...
and they have had centre stage at my place ever since...

...and being into beautiful things, just because I think they are...
...because something inside tingles and giggles with delight....

little finds like this...remind me of how delightful life can be...

I don't know exactly why....
But, they speak to me of love and miracles...and I feel loved...

I feel blessed and I realise that not having what appears to be plenty...

opens my eyes to the plenty I have....

...and so now...he is all put together....
looking absolutely nothing like the 'fella' on the box...
looking more like a 'rat' than a bear...
and I got a bit disheartened when I realised that I couldn't make him
look like the one on the box...I actually felt a bit stupid...useless...and not as
clever...crafty...creative... as I thought I was...

but....

I realised that I 'shouldn't' be upset if I am unable to recreate, what has already been
created...the little bear on the box was someone elses creation...
and this little fella...
this funny little 'ratbear'...
is my little creation....
and his name is russell...
and he is going to the UK!


(bet the one on the box isn't going to the UK!)

ugly as...russell

...ugly as....lol
...young russell was just four balls of wool 2 weeks ago...
...he was all unmade and lying in a box at mum's...
...she wasn't keen on putting this chap together...
...and as is my 'nature'...(try to make something beautiful out of uglyness)
...I brought him home in his unmade state...
...and spent my quiet, contemplative moments...
putting him together...

ugly as...photo manipulation

....is that what it's called?
....digital something or other...?
... anyway... I'm not really a fan!
...well, I didn't think I was...but then I realised that there is a huge probability that I have no idea if the photo or picture that I am looking at has been enhanced to suit my eye or not...which reminds me of something I heard quite a few years ago...
                "believe nothing of what you hear

isn't this beautiful

                                   and only half of what you see"

I 'nicked' this off the internet...well I didn't nick it...I was just having a nosey at graham leslie mccallum's art deco motifs and I saw that he had paintings...and I just love this 'painting'...which could actually be a painting...and it probably is, no offence to mr mccallum at all, in fact... I think I'm complimenting him...if indeed this is straight off the cuff..paint to canvas...I'm impressed!
....and if it's not...then I tip my hat...to the creativeness of mr mccallum and everyone else who sees something in their minds eye and does what they have to do to share that with the rest of us...I'm inspired to tilt my head a little higher...to lift my eyes from what I haven't done... because I thought that I couldn't...I couldn't replicate the wonderful things that others had already done, that I found so beautiful...I am inspired...in fact...I am more than inspired...I am determind to prove that there is nothing more ugly than...not sharing the beauty that you see in your minds eye.

ugly as...political correctness being somehow confused with politeness...

...I don't think you can have a blog called 'uglyas' without mentioning something about political correctness...
                               can you?

...dunno really, but I think....(and I've just realised that there might be a possibility that what I think, may be more important, to me, than what other people think)... that the 'political correctness' somehow takes away the willingness from one's heart to be polite, to be kind, to consider another, just from the place of humility, rather than the place of ego or correctness....

..political.... just looked it up....hmm not sure how it works with...
...correctness...are we being bamboozled...?

is anyone really taking it all seriously...?

am I taking it all too seriously...?

ugly as...me

I was pretty disappointed (understatement) last year, when my home failed to sell, after I faithfully, sold just about every bit of furniture I owned.  After the realisation that, my life, my passionate life, would once again, come to a grinding halt, I sat outside on my step, facing out to the world, and cried.  I just cried for all the hope I seem to have, though I don't understand why, I cried for myself and for every moment I have had a dream, a crazy dream, a crazy feeling in my heart, that now is my time and seen it slip away, and I cried because, still, after seeing how the outside world would think me just a crazy dreamer who has less now than she has ever maybe had, still, can find hope and beauty and faith, that He knows better..
...and you know, maybe He does...
...maybe He really knows...
...how to bring me unreservedly to my hearts desire...

I have detailed and recorded my painful life, my sad losses and my broken heart.
I have fought against the odds my life has dealt me.
I have walked on, stumbling, running, strolling, staggering and not stayed down.
And I won't this time either.

...but I will now, take the time, blessed to me...
...to record and honour, my makers creation...
...to pay homage to my strength...
...to record in detail...that I am being renewed...
...I am being undone...
...my old dirty worn out covering is coming off...
                and I rejoice to be made a new!