JOURNAL PAGES AND BELLA'S WALK ON THE BEACH

I never thought I would be saying this but I have two more journal pages ready for a swap on milliande.com .I have tried the whole journal thing in the past but never kept it up but hey this is my third month.

I think the fact I am given a prompt helps and this month it was A MAN OF TWO MINDS AND

YOURE A QUEEN AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH . it took a lot of thought but I am quite happy with the results. the last two months I sent without taking a photograph so i just had to hope they would arrive.

Another ongoing swap is to make a spirit doll with natural elements included . I really enjoyed the last swap I created MEME and I was lucky enough to have BELLA sent to me from KIT.

So I thought Bella would enjoy a trip to the beach to look for items and she came up trumps (well almost) I put her down to take a photo and to my amazement she was sat by a crab (dead ) so best not to use but the only one I found. But better than that a piece of seaweed in front of her was a perfect Heart .(this means something ) how strange was that. Anyway I think she enjoyed the trip .

Beth's ATC

The Gift Of Sight

Today I received my ATC from Beth Meador www.myspace.com/blindgirlartist I met this remarkable woman through the online community for women www. milliande.com.

Beth is losing her sight because of Retinitis Pigmentosa and only has 1% of her vision left,and yet she has set herself a challenge.Beth wants to have a piece of her art in every country around the world and in doing so raise awareness of blindness. I for one am in awe of her determination spirit and talent and I will treasure my gift from her for ever.

It made me think again how our sight is so precious and how we need to take care of our eyes.

I am short sighted and need glasses or contacts in to see any distance but I have had friends and family who have lost their sight or have been badly impaired.Several years ago a friend lost her sight in a car accident in her 20s and another friend in her 60s with Macular Degeneration, a close aunt has vision only in one eye and that is impaired with a cataract. Because I have been short sighted since my teens I have always hoped it would not get any worse I hope Beth will not mind if I relate a funny story which happened to me.

Not long after I was married in the 80s we had very thick heavy curtains in our bedroom and one night I woke in the middle of the night looked towards the radio alarm.

Usually if I squinted very hard I could just make out the blurred time ,but there was nothing it was pitch black I stared to rummage on the bedside cabinet desperate to find my glasses and all the time I felt more and more panicky.The glasses were found but made no difference and by now because of all the noise my husband was awake and at this point I let out a scream and shouted at him I'VE GONE BLIND . He is not prone to panic but I was a little surprised that he was laughing and then he turned away and calmly said WE'VE HAD A POWER CUT.

I can still remember how I panicked but I could wait for the lights to come back on. For others including Beth this is not an option and for that reason I will carry out Beth,s wish to raise awareness by showing as many people as I can her art and tell them her story.

Beth used my profile picture on milliande.com for my ATC and she also included details of her condition and pinholes in paper to replicate it.