A Place in the Sun

And how time is flying! There is never enough time to do all that I want to do, and before I know it weekend's up! To make it worse, by the end of the day there will be gone the entire month of August - another month of summer over! I cannot say it's that bad now that I have a fixed job - I no longer suffer the extreme cold and wet that comes about from having to drive around for a greater part of the day. Most days I am snuggled up at my desk, working.  However, I do prefer the summer weekends, when I can swim and do all sorts of stuff. Today I feel inclined to sleep. I am just so exhausted. Mondays always begin with me being utterly tired! 

Goodness, goodness! It is the middle of August and I have discovered this website / blog full of lovely recipes! Roberta is someone I knew at school, though we have lost touch a long time ago! Well she is running this blog, Chorizo & Thyme , where she blogs her favourite recipes, and boy are they yummy! This Chocolate Orange Drizzle Cake looks so scrumptious, that I might just try it out! That being said, it is really too hot to be considering ovens at this time of year.... but you never know... I might use my small convection oven (which doubles up as a microwave, but with the oven only option) and make it... just for kicks. Then again, I did promise myself one week of healthy dieting and full out exercise, to kick start my dieting and metabolism.... so I might just delay that a little for now.  I am busy with monitoring food intake, and healthy options, as well as attending Zumba classes as often as I can, since they are my movement for the day - or even for the week, e...

What a lovely concert! Joseph Calleja hit the crowds again yesterday with some of his legendary achievements, wowing the crowds with his wonderful voice. He had some of Malta's best performing alongside, including Winter Moods , Red Electrick and a large choir of children, setting the stage for crowds to cheer and sing. The aspiring tenors, Nico Darmanin and  Cliff Zammit Stevens joined him on stage, making this a stunning performance by three amazing talents.  The Maltese Philarmonic Orchestra with its most competent Maestro provided great backing, with the legendary Carmine Lauri heading the violins. The Maltese music scene has shown a huge upwards stint in the last few years, with ever-increasing professionalism and quality not seen before in this scenario - or at least, not enough to bring such prominence to this amazing talent. The much-loved Anastacia graced the stage a few times, her powerful voice echoing across the auditorium. Well done to NNG Promotions for sett...

I often sit and wonder what it is that so poisons my soul on a Monday morning.  I suppose most people get Monday blues - but I am only delving into my own abyss. Part of the thing that so pollutes my consciousness is that narrow-minded mentality of certain people one comes to meet on a routine basis - be it in the place of work or other environs (e.g. shopping) that one does not engage in during weekends. This is not a specific comment - it's the whole 'starting again' of the week's activities that generates this negativity... Until someone, this morning, landed a large slice of delicious chocolate cake, almost first thing in the morning.  Soul pollution or not, it lifted my spirits - and my calorie count, but who cares? I can make it up later! 

This week I was going out, one evening, and found a nice book sitting on my doorstep. The book, " Falling into Grace " by Adyashanti. Here is Amazon's summary: "Adyashanti asks us to let go of our struggles with life and open to the full promise of mindfulness and spiritual awakening: the end of delusion and the discovery of our essential being. In his many years as a spiritual teacher, Adyashanti has found the simpler the teaching, the greater its power to initiate this awakening. In Falling into Grace, he shares what he considers fundamental insights that will spark a revolution in the way we perceive life-through a progressive inquiry exploring the concept of a separate self and the choice to stop believing the thoughts that perpetuate suffering; "taking the backward step" into the pure potential of the present moment; why mindfulness and spiritual awakening can be a disturbing process; absolute union with every part of our experience and true auton...

  A video published recently, showed, through Birdlife and Littlerock's efforts that the rubbish left behind after hundreds of visitors to beautiful Comino attracts rats to birds' nests, depriving them of their young. Rats prey on shearwater eggs and chicks in their nests close to were people leave their leftovers. They are good climbers and swimmers, and the video shows how easily they can reach the eggs. The Shearwater Once the egg or chick is lost, the birds will not breed again until the following year. Shearwaters only lay one egg a year. Heavy pollution (rubbish left lying around) brings these rats closer to the birds' nests. Birdlife need us to help in the only way we can: by throwing rubbish in the bins or taking it back with home. The voluntary organisation is making the necessary arrangements with authorities to make sure that the rubbish gets collected every evening. Contact Birdlife should you want to know how else you can be of help.

80% of all life on earth lives in our seas and oceans!  A new photographic competition is being organised in advance of CHOGM 2015: "A great opportunity to showcase the value and importance of our blue planet is coming in November 2015. The Heads of Commonwealth Governments will meet together in Malta to discuss issues of critical global importance, such as the future of the planet’s Blue Economy – that is, the economic activity that is dependent on oceans, seas and coasts. A vast area of our global ocean lies within the jurisdiction of Commonwealth countries. More than half of  Commonwealth countries  are islands, to whom ocean matters are of vital importance. These global leaders therefore have critical decisions to make such as how best to ensure the future health and viability of the ocean. Good pictures can tell stories in ways that words sometimes cannot. We hope that ‘Out of the Blue’ will inspire Commonwealth citizens to use photography to engage with the va...

That was my summer's fix of Shakespeare and it was a great show! MADC did it again.  Pity about the fireworks and aeroplanes from time to time in the background - these sometimes drowned out the voices since no amplification was used. Perhaps in some instances actors could have faced the audience more, to balance the sounds and cover the background noise.  That being said, this is in no way deflecting from the quality of the performance.   All being said I thoroughly enjoyed it and I definitely recommend seeing it! 

Tomorrow I'm off to see MADC's Romeo & Juliet!   Every year, the Malta Amateur Dramatic Club sets up a Shakespearean play - most often with a modern twist - at the beautiful San Anton Gardens.  This year it's the two star-crossed lovers again, and this is the synopsis that they give: "This drama is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. The famous story of the “star- crossed” young lovers Romeo and Juliet. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are young teenagers who fall deeply in love but their families are bitter enemies. Regardless of the feud between their families they  marry in secret. They make every effort to conceal their actions but their story ends in tragedy." MADC has been established in 1910 and continues to attract young actors to the stage, as well as crowds of audiences with all its productions, particularly the summer Shakespeare at San Anton and the Christmas Pantomime.

It always amazes me how life changes from one year to the next.  Only a couple of years ago, I could not imagine myself without my boat.  Last September, I returned from Monaco Yacht Show only to find that she had sunk - possibly after receiving a hit during the night. This year, the summer kicked off with a trip to Istanbul with my friend and colleague, Geraldine Noel of Acumum Services Limited, where we spent time shopping for beautiful things as well as chatting about career developments. Her practice is doing really well - and I am sometimes unsure of whether I should continue to enjoy a rather laid back pace or go back into the rat race of life.  I know I could make more money, but this really isn't half bad.  I get plenty of time to play, since I leave work to go home at a decent hour most days.  I still have my office at Saga Juris , the law firm in Valletta, with whom I started off my career more than 15 years ago. I also visited THW, a German res...

Over the last year I have discovered the beauty of photography and the fun of wielding a camera. I am also soon going to start lessons on editing those pics - not that I haven't tried my hand. My country is small, but well, there is always some new angle if you look carefully, or a different way the light falls on a spot, a point you would focus on, or perhaps an object...  My camera has travelled with me quite a lot and I have learnt much with it.  Here is some of my work .. .

New store selling health and slimming products. Some of it is really interesting stuff, like the Acai berry capsules and the Tava tea. Check it out here - It is called The Slimming Corner .

It must be high time for me to reactivate my blogging.  I have been very inactive, somehow unable to settle down to type posts. Possibly because I spend so much time online at work.  I then do not want to sit at my laptop. But I will try to be better this time.... Some of my updates are in +Geraldine Spiteri on google+ It's another lovely day in Malta.  Have a great one, wherever you are!

My curiosity is spiked... can gooey jellyfish taste good?! Stir Fried Jellyfish Head with Asparagus : Stir Fried Jellyfish Head with Asparagus ($15.95) from Duck House in Monterey Park, CA uploaded by crazypooh

Isn't it just so hard to keep in touch with everyone and everything?  I have completely let go of my online journalism - as I call blogging - because of time.  Some time late last year - October, it was - I moved in to my new house. Settling in has not been easy - what with juggling work commitments and getting used to being on my own, this has been rather hard. However things have turned out well so far and I am happily settling down with my own life - so hopefully you will be hearing from me soon!

It's unbelievable how time has flown.   Not only has the winter ended since I last wrote, but summer has also come to an end.  A lot has changed in my life since then, and I am still on the doorstep of a new life, as I am rediscovering myself.  I have let lots of things go, and embraced new things, but of course there is still lots more to embrace before I consider myself ready. I was handed over a couple of books which are of interest, written by Norman Vincent Peale. They are a little unorthodox but very encouraging, and I am trying to fix my thoughts permanently in a positive fashion. Other than that, I have gone on to a new routine and consider myself well accustomed to it now.  Therefore I am reasonably content.  I cannot believe how much time has passed since I last stopped briefly here.  I must do it more often ...

It is funny how sometimes we come across quotations right at the moment when we are thinking of something.  My most recent find has been this one: We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. This is said by W. Somerset Maugham. Another delightful quote is one which I believe is by Neitzche: Those who fight monsters must beware lest they become monsters. For when you look long into the abyss, the abyss looks into you . The greatness of these writers is in that they can make sense of our thoughts, sometimes, with what they say - pertinent and clear. More understanding of us than any of those that are closer to us.

Christmas is finally with us, and I have hardly had the time to think of the forthcoming holiday season. While I do not really practise the Christian Christmas, I find that it is an excellent time to get close to my family, and spend time with them, and also to get a much-needed break. These last three months have been very hectic. I've been appointed a judicial assistant, and I have also started lecturing Maritime English at the Maritime Institute of MCAST. This has increased my workload greatly - though very pleasantly indeed. I am also enjoying all my original work too, so that I have been kept busy. Gordon also got a larger boat, which has kept us busy with restoring it and repairing it, and putting her down in the water. She is finally down in the water, which means that I can get back to doing some of my work again. I have so much to do before Christmas - shopping, finishing some handmade gifts, and so on. So I'd better be off to start my things..... Speak very soon!

October has set in well, and with it come the clouds and rain. As I look out of the window, the sky is not very dark but the pane is wet - it has started to rain. It rained very hard this morning, and the clouds have been looming all day. With winter come lovely thoughts of Christmas, or cuddling up befoer the TV... for those fortunate of course to have loved ones with whom to share this warmth. Others less fortunate may be lonely, even if well provided for, and may sorely resent this sudden greyness. I think that while fortunate, I also suffer from winter blues. I tend to hit a low when the sun goes away, and although I love the cuddly sensations, I strongly resent the early sunset, the late sunrise (even if I never watch it) and the grey skies. Of course, I do love the DVD nights, or reading under my quilt, but boy, is it winter yet?

Yesterday and today morning I woke up to see less of the sun shining than usual. August is almost over, and as we are heading into September, a kind of melancholy hits me. I am enjoying summer greatly, and a hard winter awaits me - plenty of work (thankfully) which will keep me busy through the colder months. I've been working on my new website, The Ballet Shop , which is entirely new in concept, as well as The Ballet Shop Blog , which runs alongside it, and which I use to market the site. These have taken up quite some time during the summer, as I want them to look great and be user-friendly. I have also taken plenty of time to swim, which is my favourite form of exercise. I love being in the water, preferably the sea, though the jellyfish have not allowed me to be as comfortable as I used to be in the water beforehand. Nowadays I always have a pair of goggles at hand, to keep an eye on the water around me. I still managed to get nabbed twice by the nasty things, but this did not...