We have moved!

Please note: We have moved our blog and website to: Altered Angels Attic. Where I continue to share my personal path to simplicity, my inspiration art and snippets from Life with bipolar and surviving cancer.  You can also find me on Instagram, Twitter Pinterest and Facebook.

Please do come and connect with me. I would LOVE to keep in contact with you and share.
Blessings and Thank you for being a valuable part of my Journey.

1st January 2014 - My Life, page 1 of 365

It's fairly safe to say that in 2013 I could've been voted the worlds worst blogger!  Well forgive me, my bi-polar often got the better of me and I didn't feel I had anything worthy to say.  I enter this new year feeling differently.  I learned a LOT last year and suffered greatly, mostly of my own making.  I saw this quote on a friends facebook last night and it spoke to me.  It echoed a whisper that has been quietly nudging me for some months.

Recently I have started reading Mark Boyle's book The Moneyless Man and what an inspiration he is!  I'm totally in awe of the choice he made to live entirely without money and his reasons for wanting to do so.  I don't feel able to take such a large step myself as a single mother of two teenage daughters still living at home, it doesn't feel the right thing for me personally right now.  However as I sit here, the first day of a brand new year I'm fully aware that I am surrounded by almost a hoarders amount of "stuff" both physical and mental and spiritually I am running on empty.

Without trying to sound negative I am also aware that this coming year holds some challenges for me, ones that I already know are heading in my direction, I need employment, my income is decreasing while living expenses are increasing, my two sons are both facing homelessness, as possibly are we.  I am going through a very messy and particularly viscous divorce and my list already goes on.  There will also be challenges this year that so far I am thankfully unaware of.  Sometimes I think it's fortunate that we don't know what is around the corner.

Having said that, I also go into this year with some degree of excitement.  I feel stronger this year, I've learned a lot about myself and I feel ready to meet the new year head on and see what it has stored for me. I'm on a journey to spend less, save more, and grow my own business this year.  I WILL blog about the experience!  I'm not claiming to be able to teach you anything, I'm starting from complete scratch and necessity myself.  I have SO very much to learn and I'm sure there will be many times I will fall flat on my face.  If you're following along (lol at me) and you know an easier way, please don't be shy to share ;)  I'm just journaling about what I do, how I do it, what works and what didn't.

I have no idea as I start this new year what it holds for me, but I do know that I have a say in it.  I'll plan, fail, succeed, fall, laugh, cry and write about it.  Maybe you'll join me, and maybe you won't, this is about MY journey, I hope yours will be kind to you, I hope our paths cross a little and we connect and hold each other up, I step into it though with no expectations and much to learn.

Bring it on 2014 - I'm ready.  

Look how long it is (again) since I wrote! I'm clearly not the best blog keeper in the world lol.

So much has been happening.  It would be hard to fill you in on it and maybe you aren't that interested anyway, so let's begin a new page!

I'm currently fighting to save my dog from the BSL (Breed-specific legislation)
You can catch up and follow those happenings (which I've updated much better than this) on facebook at: Save Our Spud  
Or if you'd like to help please sign (and share) Spud's petition at: Sign and Share Spud's petition here 
You can follow Spud on Twitter at @SaveOurSpud
And Spud has a regularly updated blog here at Blogger.
Spud has been in police kennels for 5 months now, so all in all it's been a stressful and busy time. 


I'm also doing some on-line art courses.  Actually I seem to always be doing that, but I have some new ones that I'll be sharing my work from.


I finished daily trips to the hospital (Yay!) That was tiring leading right up to Christmas, but thankfully now I hope it's behind me for a while at least. 


So here I am again, trying to discipline myself enough to do the blog. Onward and Upwards, it's never too later to start over again.

 Painting I did from one of my new courses at: Doll Dreams, I'm making a Junk Journal out of old magazines, junk mails, flyers etc and this is Peter Andre's Daughter, Princess Tiaamii Crystal Esther Andre.

Here's another new one from that same course. These are Black and White Scribble faces, all to go into my Junk Journal 

And this is a poster I made for Spud's Group. FREE SPUD! END BSL.


Thanks so much for still being here with me, I'm sorry I've been so lame with my blog.  Now let's see if I can change that this time. 

Blessings, Happy Monday

Bev. xxx

Today was a LONG day!

I left the house for the hospital this morning at about 8.05am.  I had a pre-surgical appointment at 9am and a consultants appointment at 9.30am.  The short story is: pre-surgical were running late AND that appointment takes approximately an hour anyway, so they re-booked me for 2.30pm.  I saw the consultants registrar who told me they had seen something 'else' suspicious on my MRI scan and were sending me back to ultra sound and possibly biopsy, which meant I STILL wouldn't have any results until about Thursday, but it wasn't looking good.  I'm cutting it all short as I'm very tired this evening and really need to relax, but that whole experience took a long time and stressed me out more than I can explain in words! 

Thankfully (Praise God!) I went for the ultra sound and they thought my second suspicious lump was probably a cyst, so they did a needle aspiration and indeed drained it - immediate panic (mine, not theirs) over. :)

I eventually got my pre-surgical assessment, after time out to shop for my mums birthday on Thursday, some meds as I have a bacteria on my skin swabs to clear up before surgery day and FINALLY got back home, very tired, very stressed, but back on track with hopefully the news that we wanted - That surgery will be on Monday, hopefully a lumpectomy and some lymph glands for testing and possibly home the same day?  And then will be recovery, results, radiotherapy and whatever else they recommend depending on what they find.

Photo of the day is one of my pre-surgery assessment that D.H. took and put on Facebook before I'd even left the room! LOL.

Thank you so much for all the support you've all given me.  I do appreciate it and it brightens my days no end.  I'm so sorry that I haven't had the time to get back to so many of you, I feel awful about it. I hope you'll forgive me.

Until next time
Much Love
Bev. xx

Weekend Bonding and Journal Stuff

I've spent this weekend doing a workshop led by Steve Crabb on Success with my older brother.  It was extremely well presented and thought provoking and I got to spend two days of quality time with my brother, which I haven't had the opportunity to do in a long time, so it's been a productive and happy experience all round, although now I'm worn out to begin the week! lol.

I'm also at the beginning of an online art journaling course at Wild Precious Studio called Elements, which I'm taking to try and inspire me to journal more often and hopefully help in some way to work  through my feelings and experience with my current illness.

This is the 1st page that I've finished working with the element 'Earth' and relationship to my body.

For the coming week, I have an appointment with my consultant on Tuesday morning to discuss how deep my cancer is and whether or not it's spread.  I also have a pre-surgical appointment to discuss my surgery (obviously) and any risk associated with it.

I think that's about all the news for now? My brain is tired now and fighting with me to concentrate, so I'll wish you all pleasant dreams, hoping you've had a happy and blessed weekend and I'll catch up again with you in the week.

Sweet Dreams

Bev. x

Hospital Visits and Art

Good Evening.  Firstly I'd like to thank everyone that signed up recently to follow my blog in different ways and the love and support I've had on facebook from so many.  I've been overwhelmed by how kind everybody has been - Thank you, it means so much and helps make the days so much more bearable.

I'm also sorry that as yet I haven't replied to so many, I've found my life has transformed into an almost never ending circle of hospital visits and catching up with friends and family as well as the normal everyday round of housework, shopping, cooking, etc. etc.  I'm already exhausted LOL!  I can only imagine how I will feel once my treatment begins.

Today I had to go to the hospital to have my MRI scan to determine how large and deep my tumour is and if my cancer has spread or not.  Now again I  have to wait until Tuesday for the results of that.  I'm not the worlds best 'waiter' lol.

My doctor gave me some Valium for the MRI scan as I have a dreaded fear of being enclosed and just the thought of it had freaked me out.  The nurses are all so kind and patient.  I was quite proud of how brave I was being and what a warrior I was, until I came out to see a child of about 10, who had lost his hair to chemo and was standing with a happy smile for me waiting for his turn! Life has a habit of bringing reality sharply home to you sometimes.

My apologies for the lack of photos at the moment, I have to admit to being easily bored if things don't have pictures to look at lol, however I haven't found image appropriate content the last few days?

I've found my current situation to have had a plus side already, something to perhaps be grateful for.  My art is a powerful release in my life and recently I've done very little, I've been 'stuck' somehow, with few glimpses of inspiration and doubts about if I ever make anything that can be considered 'good enough' (for 'what' exactly I'm not sure?)  Anyway recently I've signed up for some on-line classes that I'll try to link to later, when I have a working brain cell to try and figure it out.  I'm slightly concerned that I've put my name down for about 5 courses that all start around the same time and will come in time with the beginning of my treatment.  Maybe that was a little optimistic?  But I tend to be an all or nothing person anyway and the courses are mostly self paced, so I'm hoping it will be a blessing and not something to stress about.  I've already found though that my creative side is 'speaking' to me more clearly and that, I love!

My Thanks again to you all, your presence means the world to me and I really hope and pray you'll pop in and stay a while with me occasionally and perhaps I'll get to know some of you so much more over time.

Love and Blessing to you all
Bev. x

This time I DO have a good excuse!

I've not done too well so far with keeping current on my blog.  I'm by nature a 'real book' person.  By that I mean, I never really got on with electronic organizers, I'd rather write in a filofax.  I don't really enjoy reading books on-line or on any 'device' - I'd rather have strokable, turnable pages, that I can mark with real pens and I never really took to the blog, I'd rather journal and glue my ticket stubs somewhere, so I've had a real challenge even trying to remember sometimes I have a blog!  For anyone that is patient enough to actually follow me, I'm sorry.

Anyway, now I do finally have something to write about.  Is that a good thing?  I guess we can only answer that with the wisdom of being able to see the 'big picture' or with hindsight.

I found out on Thursday 6th October that I have Breast Cancer!

Now anybody that knows me, would tell you that I'm a born pessimist and a bit of a panicer, so you'd imagine that I'd be beside myself with worry or grief or something?  So far that hasn't happened.  Maybe this is so big my head has shut down?  I really don't know?  I feel sometimes like a bit of a fraud when I say "I have cancer".  I think: "That's a bit dramatic" like I just made it up or something, then I have to remind myself it actually IS true!

I have an MRI scan on Thursday this week, to determine how big and deep this thing is and also whether or not it's spread.  I'm guessing once I find out and then have surgery of some kind and start treatment, somewhere along the line the reality of this nightmare may sink in?  For today it hasn't yet.  I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not?

Anyway, as you see, my blog has taken one of those unexpected crossroads in life and I guess this will be focused a lot on my journey with cancer.

Just for Today, Thankfully I still feel well and I've made a journal (a real strokable one!) to art and write and scream, cry, celebrate - whatever, the days ahead.  I'm planning to be sharing that journey, as much as I'm able, here also.

Hang around, say Hi, share the ride, pick me up when I fall, I'd value the friendship. Let's not face this world alone.

And so begins - My journey with Cancer........