Fairy Garden OR Deluxe Apartment?

Wow! This is what I came home to during the week:

Take a closer look...

You can see inside...

I think the little lady has ended up with a deluxe apartment. I'm sure she never expected such grandeur, and neither did I !!!

A few months ago I showed Mister S what a fairy garden was and what I was hoping to achieve with all of the bric-a-brac I was accumulating. This was one of the images I showed him. (Scroll down to see the inspiration for this project). I was careful not to dwell on it too much, as I know fairy gardens are not everyone's idea of a good way to pass time. He was lucky if he got more than a few seconds to look at the photo.

Then last week I caught Mister S working on a small creation out in the shed. He was whittling away, using the branches cut from one of the trees in our garden. I knew it would be lovely but I hadn't realised that he had also been gathering together pieces that had been lying around in the garden. You can see in the photo he has artfully arranged the pieces around the little lady, making her very comfortable indeed.

As if the little lady and I weren't blessed enough, this morning we went to Flemington Craft Market and Mister S comes home with new accessories for the little lady's deluxe apartment. I might be feeling spoilt but this little lady sure is spoilt!

Through the window I watched him proudly arrange the furniture in the new apartment. With considered thought, he rearranged each of the "ornaments" which had been shifted with the addition of the beautiful chairs.

I must say  I was filled with admiration. It's certainly a privilege to watch someone treat their work as a craft and to see what beauty can come of it. I never expected my goal of having a fairy garden to turn out like this. I never expected to see such a masterpiece in my own garden.

What do you think?   A lovely fairy garden  or a deluxe apartment?

Admire...Don't compare

Last year  I started displaying key words on my desk calendar to remind me what my focus was for the month, particularly in relation to my SAd goals.

Something I really wanted to work on back then was my need to compare myself to the world.

        Well, everyone else is married and happy. I should be. No one  wants to marry me.

        Mary over there dresses so nicely. I don't look as good as that. Down the ranks I go!

And  on and on and on.

Stop comparing was what I needed to do.

March arrived and I knew it was  time to focus on that very idea. At that same time I came across a wonderful message at Bodyheart , featured by The Wellness Warrior. At first, I wondered what the presenter was talking about. By the end I realised the message was just what I needed to hear.  And it was very simple.

Whenever I find my inner chatterbox going into COMPARE mode that's my signal to change over to ADMIRE mode. So I tried changing gears every time I realised I was comparing myself with others. ADMIRE mode certainly felt better  than the drained feeling I had after some of my inner chatterbox comparison rants.  That one positive word was a simple solution for what was really a lot of unhelpful negativity. 

Guess what my key word ended up being for  that month!   Yep! ADMIRE.  During this past week I caught myself falling into COMPARE mode and feeling negative about myself and others as a result. Once I realised what I was doing, the word  COMPARE triggered the solution ADMIRE and I was able to quickly and effectively rectify my attitude. Have a look:


 COMPARE MODE            Look at Jenny. Her outfit is so trendy. I bet everyone looks at her. I don't look like that.  Why don't I look like that? Noone looks at me

                      >>>>>> CHANGE>>>>

  ADMIRE MODE             Wow! Jenny looks great in that outfit. Those jeans really suit her.


(I went looking for the video again but haven't been able to locate it. It was such a powerful message for me at the time I am able to recall the website.)