I Can Only Be Me! (And You Can Only Be You!)

So it seems, for the first time in years, perhaps ever, I am dancing into the New Year. Literally. OK, well nearly literally, the party was on the 30th, and it finished at 9.30pm as we all had to take kiddies home to bed!

But boy did we dance. And woman was it fun.

And you know what my friends said to me? My friends who spend more time with me than anyone else bar my husband and children.

We didn't know you could dance!

You see Lucy doesn't normally dance. Because Lucy gets all jammed up and self-conscious, and feeling not cool. And so she sits quietly, anxiously, doing inner battle and wishing to be somewhere else instead.

Lucy who has had years of dance training in flamenco, belly dance, modern, ball room and the charleston. Lucy who trained at Drama School.

Just like another one I hear regularly: we didn't know you could sing!

My own father was surprised at his wedding a few years back that Lucy has a great singing voice.

Or there's the - wow you look really beautiful line. Because usually I don't. Because I feel fat and frumpy - because I have my own style and shape which isn't, you guessed it, "cool".

Or "I had no idea you wrote" - oh yes, dear readers it's true - probably less than half of the people in my life knew I wrote until a couple of months ago. Because, once again, the topics I write on aren't very.. cool.

Most don't know I edit a magazine. Ditto.

Oh and the drop jawed surprise from my brother and sister that the favourite picture of their on our sitting room wall was, yes, you guessed it, by me. We didn't know you painted, they chorused.

I'm funny too. Very funny. Though many are surprised when they see that side to me. My dad claimed I had no sense of humour a few years back. Little did he know.

I'm sexy too. Very. When I let myself. Little old me!

So you see, there's this little pattern of Lucy shutting herself down and hiding in a corner in mortification because she doesn't feel her "thang" is acceptable, in fact it's down right embarrassing, because it's not quite perfect or cool enough.

So you know what? I think this might just be the year that I really get my groove on. I've been practicing bit by bit, year on year. But let this be the year where I let myself out of the box and just "do my thang". Bright and shiny, sassy and sexy, funny, messy, silly, wacky, creative ...and reclusive, wise, serious, quiet and contemplative when I need to be too.

I might even let myself mother to my own standards too! Wouldn't that be nice, rather than failing every day because I don't do everything the way the books say.

You see, I've always thought that I shouldn't until I was perfect. Because, for some reason, until I was better than the whole world, then I wasn't good enough. So if there was one book out there better than mine, then I couldn't be a "real" writer. If everyone was better at dancing then I wasn't allowed to dance. I'm not allowed to look sassy and sexy until I'm an appropriate (skinny) weight - even though I look great at 12 stone.

So my non-perfect heroes for 2012 are
Goddess Leonie
Jason McLellan - author of Zugunruhe
And Pam, from the blog Pama-rama-ding-dong who did a great curvy woman photo shoot which she shared on her blog (see my blog roll for her blog)

This Goddess Leonie (sorry to keep harping on about the woman, but she is a kindred spirit who is doing her thing and so I identify) - I LOVE her videos - they're not perfect at all. They're blurry, and they go wrong and her baby walks in, and she stumbles over her words... but you know what? They're great - bright and shiny and fun, just the way they are. She doesn't try for perfection until she release her work -she does it and puts it out. Another influential book in my life the past couple of months, Zugunruhe, which I shall be talking about more in the next few weeks talks about the 3/4 baked philosophy, where the author urges us to do our work the best we can, but rather than spending all our energy in refining it ad infinitum, put it out to the world 3/4 baked and let the feedback and the inspiration it creates, and your own distance, do the final honing, because really there is no such thing as perfect.

So here's to a year of funky imperfection, of creative expression and doing it our way. Here's to a book that won't be perfect - but will be wonderful.

Here's to getting our sexy, sassy thing on in our own unique way, of listening to our rhythms, dancing to our own beat, and applying our own standards.

Here's to you. Here's to me. And here's to Eva Cassidy, who will play us into 2012 - she was a great companion on my road trip the other day... (Listen here!)

I Can Only be Me

Butterflies begin, from having been a larva,

As a child is born, from being in a mother's womb,

But how many times, have you wished you were some other;

Someone than who you are.

Yet who's to say that if all were uncovered,

You will like what you see;

You can only be you,

as I can only be me.

Flowers can not bloom, until it is their season,

As we would not be here, unless it was our destiny,

But how many times, have you wished to be in spaces,

Times, places than what you were.

Yet who's to say with unfamiliar faces,

You could any more be;
Loving you that you'd see,

You can only be you,
as I can only be me.

Mama's home!

So after my last post and a couple of comments (all of which I deeply appreciated - they touched my soul), I saw the light. I realised I could ask for what I needed, which was to escape. I asked in love. Mr Dreaming Aloud knew where I was at, knew I wasn't doing a runner on him, and released me with love.

And so I got online, found some wonderful places to retreat - if it wasn't the night before, during the Xmas hols... and so I was left with no final destination.

So I headed for one of my favourite places in the world - West Cork. There is a line that I pass, about 10 miles West of Cork city, where the landscape shifts gears, and opens up, and I go ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I feel like I have crossed a kind of time and date line, into a different land, both internally and externally.

So I drove to a beautiful castle overlooking Kinsale bay.

Image: tripadvisor.ie

It was stormy, wind and rain, my tears were appropriate to the day. I sobbed and felt lost. And there, walking past my car, just as I had done on precious times before, were parents walking with their little children. And my heart strings went. That's what I wanted. You weren't expecting that dear reader, and nor was I. So I drove back past the hotels, past the colourful craft shops and galleries, past the little cafes. I didn't want to eat out, I didn't want a strange bed, I didn't want to be alone with myself. I wanted home and my children, and my husband, and my bed, and my friends. I missed my baby, I was sad that she would be sad about not feeding. I realised that although I may want to escape from being a mama, I was a mama deep in my soul. something deep had shifted, unseen, these past few years. I just hadn't had the space to really feel it, to touch it, and so I doubted it was there.

As I was pondering, whether to wimp out and turn around, a friend called to finalise lunch plans, not knowing that I did not know about them, nor that I was over an hour away.

And so I turned my (sister's) car around and headed for the little fishing village next to ours. And there round a table were some of my dearest friends in the world, a spread of home-cooked food, a baby reaching out to me - mama, milkie!

I sat down, late, unannounced and burst into tears. And being true friends, not an eyebrow was raised, not a comment made. My plate was filled - I fed my baby and ate my dinner. And then we talked and laughed and our children played and our menfolk played Scrabble.

Then I had an early night, baby curled in one side of me and my son the other side.

Mama's home!


p.s. Let it be known that I felt a total wuss chickening out on two precious days alone time,and know that many of my mama readers are yearning for that right now and are probably hurling rocks at me through my computer screen. I just knew that I was getting anxious and needed to be somewhere familiar. So I am taking a 6 hour creative retreat here at the Tea house (and cafe) today, then a late lunch with other dear friends. And I have special retreat places on my to-do list for later in the year once baba is weaned and I am not feeling anxious.

The confessions of a domesticated wild woman

As we head into a New Year, my soul is calling to be free. I am so sick and tired. Literally and metaphorically. Tired, tired, tired of the complications of emotional relationships on every level. Tired of family. This Christmas season has been fraught in just about every family relationship I have, and I am SO done with it. All I want is simple - no feelings, no misinterpretations, no needs made of me, no demands or requirements. I am fit to run from home and hide in a cabin in the wild woods of Alaska.

May I add as a side note that I am not overdoing it with work, nor with house or social commitments. But even the little I am doing is too much. I feel the New Year hovering and with it big new work, new creations to be gestated, others to be delivered. I feel the need to clear and cleanse myself in a way I never have before.

This is not easy as a mama of three little ones. Especially one who wakes throughout the night and does not want to be weaned. And another who demands me to do everything.

It's all just TOO full on in our little world right now - I just need an emotional detox from everything I can and to step back all requirements made on me that I can. I want to dive into my creative life head first.

And so, with those that understand, I am asking for space. Little kiddies do not, it must be said, understand. So I shall have to do my best. Though in reality I despair of the mother I have become to them. I cannot even justify it many days as "doing my best". The truth is that I am here. And that must be enough. I am coming to a rather late conclusion that I am not great long-term mother material. And that does make me feel sad. My creative spirit calls me. I try to keep my heart with my kiddies, not to burn too many bridges. But the call is loud and strong. And I am aware that I am kindling the flames of mother-hate within them, flames that will be fanned by the winds of age and independence.

The voice of the wild calls. I want to be free. The louder it calls, the stronger I feel my weakness as a partner, a mother. My gaping lack of ability. I want to run away, to fly to a far distant land, to be free of my captivity, my drudgery, from this life I have so willingly chosen for myself, from this domestic bliss I have so carefully constructed, piece by piece. It feels like shackles to my soul. It chafes and confines. I long to be free. Just me. Pure, and free. Me and the wind and the moon and the trees, and my trusty pen. Free. How that word sings. I long for freedom. Can taste it like the memory of ice cream eaten on an exotic beach. Everything about my life as a mother is far from free. My day is wound carefully around the needs of others.

I feel like a domesticated wild woman. So often I just want to run. I don't belong here pairing socks and making pancakes, wiping bottoms and lulling fractious children to sleep. I want to be off, wild and free, with  no one to answer to, to be nice, polite to, to make a nutritious meal, carefully cut up for. I wish to wake when I want, and sleep when I want. Alone.

I want to write all day, then to sit and watch the fire and eat chocolate and drink to much wine, then walk in the woods by moonlight, before curling up alone in a warm bed with a book that makes my soul soar before going to sleep for a night full of uninterrupted sleep.

Operation Christmas Spirit

Operation Christmas spirit: this is my last ditch attempt to feel festive, after feeling decidedly meh! after the pottery Christmas party yesterday.

So up with kiddies at 8.30, despite a lousy night, despite it being my writing day. And straight into the kitchen. I unleashed my inner domestic goddess, who has been away these past weeks, perhaps even months, whilst creative rainbow mama has been here writing books. And so in two hours we made:

• clementine jelly
• cranberry sauce
• cranberry, pecan, dark choc and orange cookies
• gingerbread cookies
• mulled apple juice

The house smelt of Christmas. And then breakfast of cookies and mulled juice tasted like Christmas. So I think we can say mission accomplished! Might even head off to see the big red man at the local safari park this afternoon!

After sharing last year's Santa post on my Facebook page (if you're not a friend, make that your Xmas pressie to me...) a good friend emailed me this...

REMEMBER THIS AT CHRISTMAS TIME

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December.

Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.

We should've known... ONLY women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit allaround the world in one night and not get lost.  A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!   

Oh it made me chuckle - thank you Leigh . As did the comment that another reader left at the bottom of my Santa post about collecting kangaroo poo from the Australian bush to act as reindeer poo! Hahaha!

So all it leaves me to say is have a very Merry Christmas, dearest readers. We are set to hit 50,000 page views before Christmas day which is very exciting. Thank you for coming back again and again and sharing the journey. It is all the more rich with you here.

I would love a festive hello from all my readers below. If you've never said hi, take a deep breath and de-lurk yourself (thank you SO much Lucy for your lovely de-lurking email this morning- it made me smile!).

Tell me what you REALLY want this Christmas.

Me? I REALLY want to hold my own book in my hands, and have a "placing it on my own bookshelf ceremony" - which is why I have been working SO hard on it!

That and a night's sleep. But I've been asking for that for 7 years!

Merry Christmas one and all, and to all a good night ('s sleep!)

Losing my religion

That's me in the spotlight,

That's me in the corner,

 losing my religion.

(REM)

I have a feeling that part of the problem with Christmas this year, is that it's the first year in my life when I really, truly know that I don't believe.

It will be the first year that I do not go to church or a carol service of any sort, by choice.

You see, I have wrestled for years with my Christian faith. And have come to the conclusion that it is not OK with me. There are too many central tenets which are antithetical to my personal beliefs.

I do not believe in the Christian idea of heaven.
I do not believe that god is "our father"
I do not believe in a virgin birth
I do not believe in the creator god of the old testament
I positively abhor the god who smites and advocates death and destruction as judgement against his enemies. That is not what or who GOD is.
I despise what has been done in the name of god throughout the centuries
I do not believe that Jesus is the only son of God
I do not believe that god is male... or female
I do not agree with only men being allowed to minister.
I do not believe in the resurrection
Nor do I believe in the rite of eucharist.

It is pretty undeniable that I am NOT Christian.

To paraphrase Emerson, " I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called religion is".

I have read and re-read the bible. Debated on the doorstep with Jehovah's Witnesses. I have read spiritual texts from many people and belief systems. At grad school in Cambridge I used to go to church twice on a Sunday - mainly for the beautiful music. As a mum of one I used to go to Quaker meeting most Sundays. I have had a lot of religion in my life.

But I now know that I cannot call myself Christian.

I am spiritual. Deeply so. And believe in a universal god energy.

But I know that my rejection of Christianity puts me at odds with so many - some who analyse their own faith deeply, and others who live inside it like a cosy old jumper which was handed down to them by their grandmother. A large part of me is sad that I cannot do that, be like that too. It would be much safer, easier, accepted, acceptable, straight forward.

And so here I am this Christmas - knowing that for the first time in my life it really isn't about the baby Jesus for me. It truly isn't. It is about the light and darkness. And celebration, feasting and family. And so tomorrow, we shall celebrate Solstice with friends, food and creativity. That is what feels most "true" for me. But the Pagan festivals are not settled in my soul either. They are new to me.

So here I stand. Between traditions. Knowing what is not true for me. Sensing what might be. Everything is shifting, it feels uncertain.

Children are for life... not just for Christmas

"True dat!" As my brother would say.

Though it feels like a life sentence at times.

And then they are so sweet. So vulnerable. So funny. And my heart melts. And then again...

Festivals of light

We are in the middle of a six week period where cultures around the world celebrate light - candles and twinkling fairy lights for Hannuka, Eid, Christmas and Advent, Diwali and Winter Solstice. There seems to be strong human urge to gather together, to feast, and to lift our spirits with sparkling lights.

Today is St Lucia's day. A festival of light. And my patron saint. Our name, from the Italian, luce and Latin lux means light. I loved this post from Twig and Toadstool last year about it, it's the first time I had heard of the celebration. Needless to say in an ideal world we would be making costumes and the like - but this, dear readers, is the year of enough- and that means enough guilt for all that we are not doing this season!

Driving home after yesterday's rant, we drove down the main street - and marvelled at the street lights, drove home past houses lit up inside and out. And my spirits lifted. This, this is what I love about this time of year, more than anything else. It used to be the music too, but with my failing Christian belief (more of which another time) and the fact that Christmas adverts start on the 1st November, I find them less rousing than once upon a time. Except The Snowman, I LOVE The Snowman - am linking to it here to get you feeling all tingly and magical.

But the light, the even the garish lights on the over decorated houses - you know the sort with a hundred inflatable flashing reindeer on the roof - they spark my soul with beauty and hope. And I realise that that is what we're missing here in the Pink House. Because of being energy conscious we don't "do" many lights - we have some on the stairs, our solar powered tree ones don't work - of course. I love lighting the (wilting) advent wreath with the children. I want to do more of that. And they love it too. They adore lighting candles.

And so, I think, this year I will pass on the carol service and the huge amounts of festive cooking. Gingerbread houses and dressed up santas in shopping malls be damned. I will celebrate a festival of light, a simple, gentle season of light and magic in the dark and cold. That will be my focus this festive season, in this year of Enough - to celebrate the light - to absorb the magic of the twinkling lights, and add a few of my own.

Beware the troll!

Who's that trip trapping over my bridge?

Well bugger off! I'm too tired to eat you.

I feel as much like Christmas as... I'm too tired for metaphors. Is it just extreme tiredness, two migraines in a week and a deaf right ear, or is it getting older that makes me so unenthused about Xmas this year? I can see it out there - but I don't feel it. At all. And I feel bad for my kiddies. I feel bad for us all, because we had such a wash out of a Christmas last year because of sickness, so I've been looking forward to making up for it all year. And now I'm not.

Everyone's cranky. Me most so. Girlies were out of sorts all last week - tantrums and wakeful nights all round. Mr Dreaming Aloud can be quoted as saying "the novelty of having little kids is wearing mighty thin".

I am in full agreement.

A little secret for you - last week's Joy Pockets were written the Friday before - the last time I felt, what's it called? - oh yes - joy - at being a mama.

I know I get like this when I'm super-mega-tired. I know I get like this when I'm sick. I know I get like this when I've had to be touching a baby every second of the night otherwise she wakes up. I know I get like this when I'm at a critical part of a project and just want to concentrate on it. I know I get like this because my life is ordered in its totality around my kids and I am angry that Mr Dreaming Aloud's isn't in the same way.

Bah humbug.

Joy Pockets

Sharing this week's gratitudes

Bedtime family dancing to The Gipsy Kings

...

Twinkling fairy lights

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Walking home from a creative day's "work" to a roast chicken cooked for me

...

Baby Ash playing air guitar! Yes really!

...

Homemade chips

...

Our boy's pidgin Spanish picked up from said Gipsy kings CD

...

A winter chill in the air 

...

Fluffy socks

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Making hot chocolate on top of our wood burning stove 

...

Playing Christmas carols (badly) on the piano and everyone singing along

...

My chilli n holly wreath on the front door - it makes me smile every time I see it

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A 99% finished book. The first ever - I've started 7 in my life!

...

3 little kiddies - perfect in every way - most of the time!

...

A husband who understands everything - well me and WordPress - the two most complex things on the planet

And you? I'd love to hear your joy pockets for the week. Share them below in the comments or link up here with me and with Mon over at Holistic Mama

Woooosh!

Woooosh!

What was that?

That was my life.

Woooosh!

Zooming along at a million miles an hour.  Doing twenty things at once. Distracted. Impatient. Rattling the cage bars. Come on, hurry up!

I have been watching myself this past week, noticing how I take on more and more projects, ideas, how the work piles up - the faster I do it, the more is waiting to be done. Just how many plates can I have spinning on sticks before they come crashing down. The deadlines are building up and breathing down my neck. Deadlines for projects I am excited about. That I really want to do. Yet in chorus they shriek and paw at me, threatening to maul me to death.

I recognise, perhaps a little belatedly, that I am a complete workaholic - like my father before me - and, I get a sense, his mother before him. I get my deepest pleasure and fulfillment from my work. And I exhaust myself doing it. Racing around. Being mindful...ly mad!

So much for the Year of Enough - it lasted about a week!!!

So, once more I am recommitting myself to it. Even if just for today!


"Before Buddha awakened under the Bodhi Tree, he wasn't dealing with
spam, computer viruses, voicemail, insurance claims, credit
ratings, childcare, coordinating busy schedules, or any of the
other complexities we face on a daily basis.

Human life has improved tremendously in so many important ways, and
yet in other respects, we face challenges to our serenity and
happiness that could scarcely have been dreamed of three thousand
years ago."

 Integral Enlightenment email

What are you giving yourself during this season of celebration?

The tree is up, the nature table is adorned, as is the mantle piece. The fairy lights are up, the door wreath and advent wreaths smelling of evergreen glory. Presents bought, cards to be written this week (we managed to get one of the last boxes of handmade cards I talked about here), that's before I even think about menu planning and shopping, and planning the craft for our women's group Christmas craft tea this Sunday. Yup, Christmas is coming and mama's getting panicked all over again!

The Christmas rush has started - and though I love and adore it, and love to do it in homemade style - there's no denying it can be pretty exhausting and overwhelming making sure that everything is taken care of.

When really, the most important thing to take care of is... yup, YOU! Your health, your happiness, your sanity!

So I ask you - what are you giving yourself?

Last week I talked about giving myself gifts each Christmas and birthday - and you know what, I think it's vital. It doesn't have to be expensive at all - but it has to be something which makes your heart sing, your  spirit shine and your soul glow. It has to make you feel WOW! 

It might be a full body massage. Or a glossy book you don't need, but you really want. Or a meal out... for one. Or a painting class. Or a meditation retreat. Or if you need someone to take you by the hand and sing some love into your soul - and guide you along the way of self care then I’ve got something for you. Something amazing.

This incredible holiday gift pack includes: Goddess Leonie's 2012 Goddess Year book ( for more on that read on!), meditations, interviews, MP3s, e-books, teleconference, a vision board... 17 gifts in total to get you feeling good in your body, loved up in your relationship, visioning for the year ahead, creating energy for yourself... There is so much good stuff in there I don't even know where to start.

With gifts from 14 influential women like Gabrielle Bernstein, Amy Ahlers, Jennifer Louden, Goddess Leonie, LiYana Silver and more! Please, go, right now, this instant and check it out!

But what is I love about this package, is that its creator Daphne understands that though we all may want to feel like a million dollars, we don't have that to spend on self care. And so,  for the next 72 hours, it's all for the price you pick. That's right, you choose what you can afford! Which is why I am sharing it with you. Or perhaps it would make a wonderful Christmas gift for your mother, or sister...

Or just get a 2012 Goddess Yearbook by itself direct from Leonie - perhaps one for your best friend too! Or one for your women's group to share?

Although they come free with the Goddess Circle membership, I only printed off, and filled my 2011 one out a month ago, because I was like - meh! I'm not printing that out, I'll do it in my head... but oh my, the colour, the zizzy inspiringness, I love the way it gets you into a visioning mindset of co-creating the year ahead, and blessing the year behind. It is pure goodness in technicolour hand-illustrated, paper form. I LOVE it! In fact, I am heading off right now to print off my 2012 Yearbook - steaming hot off the press!

Really, as you know, I recommend the circle membership - because you get ALL her goodies for one price. But if you wanted a little taster, the cheapest way in to try Leonie's stuff and see if it is for you. If you want to dream big and bold for 2012, then this is for you!

And talking of hot off the press - the December issue of Wild Sister e-zine is out - this month's theme is Celebrate. If you need a little, instant cheer me up and soul surge inspiration, then this is for you. You can pick up the first three issues for the bargain price of AUS$8 right here!

For even more lovely goodies, do check out my post on supporting women's craft this Christmas.

What are YOU giving yourself this holiday season? Take care of YOU.
xxx

Sharing the e-love - hardcore blogging for women!

Apparently there's something called mercury retrograde happening right now, which, if you're into astrology, means that everything stalls, goes backwards or generally buggers up.

I can say without a doubt that this is true.

Listening to other people moan about their technical problems is about as tiresome as listening to them give out about their partner. 

So I won't. But let's just say this week the Happy Womb has been re built three times, went AWOL on numerous occasions, changed hosts, changed software, drove me cuckoo.

OK, sorry, a little moan, but now to share what I have learned, to save any of my dear readers the same stress if you find yourself in a similar situation. I will break it down into simple parts and share my e-love with you...

1) Did you know WordPress is not just WordPress? Oh yes. There are two: Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org. Am I the only idiot who did not know this?

If you want a personal blog. You go for .com.  Like blogger but sharper and more modern looking. It is free software and free hosting.

BUT

If you want to build a site for a business. Basically if you want to be able to earn money from your site using a shopping cart, the WordPress.org is what you need.

Simples... no?

2) Well, no. Because to use WordPress. org you need a HOST for your domain. You also need a URL. Which you can buy via them, or many other places. So I had my URL (www.thehappywomb.com). But now it was parked on WP.com

3) So to find a host - there are hundreds out there. And they cost. Between $50 and $150 for a simple package. Where to start?

Well I can say, without a shadow of a doubt - go with HostGator - they are in the top 10 hosts,they are some of the most affordable packages, they have won masses of prizes, but best of all, and this is INVALUABLE - if you get in a pickle - which I did every day for four days, you have instant free support - by free phone in the US, and by instant messaging. And they're SO nice, and SO helpful. And rather than doing the whole "computer says no" routine. They understand what's wrong. And then fix it online for you in minutes. They fix all the things that you have spent 24 hours singlehandedly buggering up. For free. And I didn't ever have to wait for more that 3 mins for service. They are open 24/7 - and staffed by the sort of young men you would definitely bring home to meet the parent - if you weren't already married. If you're in the market for a domain host - do not think twice - just step their way.

HostGator also has an easy to use control panel and one click installation of most of the software you need to use.

4) And then I got my knickers in a knot about images - for the website and the e book cover. And then I thought, you know what Lucy, you don't HAVE to do it all yourself. So I started looking for images. I know there's loads of great image sites out there. But I loved this Dreamstime. Because there were loads of great, and affordable images to buy, but also the best free library I've come across in my searches. There are lots of creative images and designs too. And they can be used on blogs, ebooks and real books free of charge. I got these images for free from there!

5) Then I was wondering how do you put together an e-book cover so that it looks the real deal - and found this - it looks a great resource on all aspects of blogging too.

http://www.standoutblogger.com/tutorials/tutorial-how-to-create-an-ebook-cover-with-photoshop/

6) And finally, I wouldn't be embarking on any of this if it was not for the inspiration and practical goldmine which is Leonie's Business Goddess e book 

So there we have it a round up of my techie week.

I would love to have your feedback as I compile The Happy Womb - I love this image of hands making a heart over a womb - it says love, happy, womb and woman to me - but I don't want it to seem like it's just a pregnancy site...Because it's far broader -  It's about womancraft - see the first post up - so our fertility, creativity, self care, honouring our bodies, and celebrating being women - red tents, womens circles...

I wondered about making it rich and red - like a womb space or a red tent - but there are a lot up like that. I though pink - but I know a lot of alternative women are anti pink - I am currently going for light and clear...

What do you love in a website, and what do you hate? Dark colours or light. Flash screens or simple? I would really value your input...

Joy Pockets

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Having one of those days where you get everything done on your to-do list that you've been avoiding for months

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A baby who loves peeling tangerines all day - but not eating them!

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Waxing and glazing my sculpted candle angels

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Chocolate advent calendars

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Making our advent wreath - eucalyptus and peacock feathers this year!

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Masterchef: The Professionals - four nights a week, every week - hurray!

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Turkish delight

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Wonderful friends

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A teacher who's willing to be flexible and put the student's needs before her own ego

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Receiving the first glowing testamonial for my Moon Time e-book

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Figuring out Wordpress - all over again - long story!
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I'd love to hear your gratitudes for the week.


Linking up with Mon over at holisticmum.blogspot.com/