Animal Wednesday / Bangkok

 On the local market

 In a temple

 Near the water

 In  the water

 Dead or alive

 On a local square

Behind the Bodhi tree

 Along the bike path

 On the road

 Sweet....

 Dangerous

 On the job

 Joining the conversation on the street

In the street

On the deck

Animals are just everywhere, making life so much nicer :)

Happy Animal Wednesday!

♥♥♥

Cactus Monday / Bangkok

In Bangkok I found some cacti 

Not many but still......

Happy Cactus Monday :)

♥♥♥

Bangkok with Anna

Finally a post again.............I returned from Bangkok Tuesday with a temperature of 105.8

So I spent the rest of the week on the couch fighting this Thai bug ;)

 Today I feel much better and here the sun is also shining. It seems like spring is almost here....

I will show you some pictures of my trip  to Thailand with my cousin Anna.

We went on a bicycle tour through Bangkok and stopped at this very old Chinese temple

 Here they burn offerings to the Gods

 Anna in the temple

 Every inch decorated

 Singing and praying, that was lovely to watch (see video below)

 In the boat to the other side of Bangkok

 We took our bikes with us

 We had a wonderful lunch! I just ♥ Thai food!

 We crossed a bridge 

 And reached this lovely square

 With a huge Bodhi Tree

 everywhere we came we were greeted by friendly people and children

 Small concrete paths to bike on.

 Always something to see

 Hairdresser or just is she just like me? Cutting the hair of her family members?

 traffic crossing over

 and passing  by

When you enlarge this picture you will see cleaners hanging on that building ...what a job!

 A view from the pool, see that little temple there on top of the roof?

 Our hotel, an oasis in that jungle 

called Bangkok

 I found a tree filled with ♥ 

 Last day I went to the local market to get Marja her kefir lime leafs. I was a wonderful visit!

My flight home was tough as I was already sick then. But I made it.

When you are sick there is just no place like home.

So that's why I haven't been around much.

I will show more pictures on CM and AW;)

See you around and enjoy your Sunday!

♥♥♥

Old and new one

The first

The second

Can you see the similarities and differences?

I went wrong with the year of her birth, in the first I painted 1977 in the second 1967.

One number makes a huge difference in the outcome.

Hope you enjoyed the process of the second mandala 

I did :)

♥♥♥

Arja's Mandala /step 9

step 9: a little violet to enclose the picture.

I always use the course number as a background color but with watercolor to color the whole background would be messy, so instead I just made a violet ring to enclose the picture.

When you enlarge the picture you will also see I added some sparkle and details to the other numbers.

 This last year, with the monkey on my shoulder, I wondered if she knew? Knowing her she wouldn't say a thing and she agreed when I asked her. When I gave the new mandala to her last week she was happy and I found out she had never known there was something wrong with the first one. She never saw the wrong year in the description :).She wouldn't have said it, because of all the work I had put into it and because she thought the mandala was beautiful as well.

We also both agreed the meaning of her life path number 3 matches her character better than number 4.

So after all she would have never found out, but I am happy the monkey hopped of. It is like I paid back my debt now.......

Have a wonderful day!

♥♥♥

Arja's Mandala / step 8

step8: 3 (yellow) suns with a black cat silhouette.

I tried to use as much symbols from the first mandala. And in the first mandala I used 4 black cats, which represented Pommy. Arja's first cat, who brought us together.

Can you believe we met about 20 years ago, in Bangkok?! In the crew bus I overheard her talking about a cat she just got from the shelter, so I turned around and screeched What Pommy?! She was surprised I knew the cat. At that time I worked in the animal shelter of Zierikzee as a volunteer.

It turned out we lived 5 minutes  apart from each other! Both in small insignificant villages in the south of Holland . What a coincidence! We agreed to have coffee some day once we were back home again.

That's how our friendship started. 

Now I live in Zierikzee and Arja just bought a house here and will move to Zierikzee  this summer. 

This proves how small the world is! The meet your neighbor and friend on the other side of the world.

♥♥♥

Arja's Mandala / step 7

step 7: a violet heptagram

A heptagram or septegram is a seven-pointed start drawn with seven straight strokes.

Arja's Mandala / step 6

step 6: 6 (indigo) hexagon with 6 peacock feathers

Peacock feathers are a symbol of immortality and wisdom

♥♥♥

Arja's Mandala / step 5

step 5: 9 rainbow colored lotus petals

Esoterically, it represents inward emptying and outward splendor and this conveys the true nature of reality according to the Buddhist philosophy. 

♥♥♥