Quite the break between drinks....

 So its been quite the break here on the blog...

 a six month break which I certainly never planned

 but somehow the time just ran away and before I knew it, it felt like the blog was just one  thing too many in a sea of too much on my plate.

 But I missed it, and then I felt like it had been too long since I posted so I should abandon it or I couldn't really just start again could I, but then I just thought bugger it the blog is something I love and miss so I am going back in baby

 In many ways the website, business and my professional life in general has taken precedence for six months. Its been fun and quite the ride

 but now it is time to reclaim a bit of a personal space back, and for me that is blogging.

 Sharing my life in long form again

 not just in an Instagram photo or story, a Facebook post or a Pin

 but sharing the words as well as the pictures

so I've done a bit of a spruce up with the look of things here, though like all things it's a work in progress...but I am back in the swing...

so whats been happening you may wonder... well lots actually...

The house renovations were epic

and it looks fabulous if I do say so myself.

Is it finished? ... not quite... in fact lots of little things still to go, but all the construction is done, and it is all fun stuff really and we are taking our time and enjoying the finishing touches and even though it's not quite finished the house is transformed

 I will share some pics over coming posts because I do love it

It feels like the house really reflects us as a family now and it is light and fresh and open

not that we were all dark and gloomy before, but it just feels better

Gone are the dark floors, scary downstairs bathroom and dated kitchen, and the rarely used dining room has become a space we practically live in

So overall it is a joy to come home too.

Was it stressful?... at times

Did the tradies drive me nuts? ... sometimes

Did it feel like we would never live free of dust and debris? ... often

Was it fun?... mostly

Was it worth the time and money and sheer exhaustion it led to? ... totally

We love it...

In the interim lots of other changes have been happening as well

Barry has completely won our hearts and has proved to be gloriously odd

and surprisingly snugly for a cat that lived as a stray for so many years

he is certainly a healthy sod now, some may even say a tad portly

but he is also magnificent

Sinus Man is still snoring like a trucker

teasing all and sundry and asking us to pull his finger regularly

and Barry has learned to tolerate being woken up and cuddled at odd times and also being patted with enthusiasm and vigor by Sinus

they are forming quite the friendship it would appear

Phants, that sweet and slightly odd little girl 

that so many of you have gotten to know over the years turned 21

scary right?

she is still the same weirdo... just an old weirdo now

and her and Barry make quite the pair as she has somehow trained him to be the most dog like cat I have ever come across

There have been lots of work changes too

I have a solo exhibition locked in for next year

the online store has been booming

commissions and illustration work kept me very busy

and even Etsy has managed some sales

people continue to trickle into the online classes

and I now have an agent who looks after wholesale sales 

which has been a steep learning curve and it has certainly kept me busy

and in general I paint and create lino prints at every opportunity

in short my creative life is full and happy

But the biggest change is personally

Cancer returned a few months ago and now we are deep into chemo again to shrink the bastard tumours that spread from a single cell that escaped treatment of a few years ago when lefty went rogue and now breast cancer has appeared in my liver

which sucks... I'm not going to lie and say it is all ok... cause some days it really isn't

and I get very pissed at the unfairness of it, and sad to be in this position again 

hearing words like incurable are shattering, and life altering and scary in the extreme

but then there is such advances in treatments and what used to be a quick-ish slide now is treatable for many many years, and especially when caught insanely early as it was with me

and while it sucks being bald again

and chemo is not any prettier, there are gifts as well

there is hope and advances in treatment every day

I can expect years between invasive treatments thanks to clever clogs researchers

trials also offer hope of even more time, and the changes in just a few short years are mind boggling, so the plan is to embrace all the advances and hang around for a good long time.

The confidence of the doctors and treatment staff is inspiring and keeps me positive

plus I have an incredible team and such support around me

And you know what it does focus you and gets you thinking about what is important

granted it is quite the extreme way to reassess your priorities

but its always a good thing to stop and look at what you are doing and decide what's important right...

and one of the things I kept coming back to was missing blogging

so here I am... 

happily back in blog land

 So you are all caught up... kind of

and it feels good to be back

actually it feels fricking great...

happy painting all... xx