Pink Confetti

I’m having a day off in the midst of this five weeks course and it’s a welcome break. I’m having a slight cold today, it’s because the weather has been crazy all week. When I leave in the morning it’s only about 8C° but by the time the course is done it’s about 20C°. Choosing the right things to wear is kinda hard when the weather is like this and would’ve been much easier if I could get to the course by car. But I’m not… I’m cycling each day and it feels great!

On my way there I’m surrounded by nature and each morning I watch birds nesting, green around me getting greener and blossoms being washed down by rain. The wind causes a whirl of nature’s confetti when it touches these tiny pink blossoms lying on the ground. Unfortunately it’s only a matter of weeks or even days -depending on the weather- for the blossoms to be gone again so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as I can while I can…

I had an extremely busy week, running around to get to different appointments. I haven’t had much sleep either worrying too much about stuff that I shouldn’t worry about. I’ve learnt so much about myself especially yesterday when I was told that I should stop being such a perfectionist. That I should cut myself some slack: not to put so much pressure on me by trying to do everything right not allowing myself to make any mistakes.

I had to give a presentation to a group of twelve people: they would ‘judge’ me by giving me feedback on things such as, posture, attitude, facial expression, body language etc. I didn’t have much time to prepare my presentation since I missed quite a few hours of this course having to deal with appointments with municipal offices, providing them with papers and such. The degree of unnecessary bureaucracy in this country still amazes at times.

Anyway, the presentation went extremely well. Something I didn’t expect at all and I was told by the coach to sit back and revel in all the compliments for a change instead of thinking about what could’ve been improved still. I mentioned self-reflection in my previous post but boy, it sure is… and it’s been great so far! The stress has reduced big time after my last appointment on Wednesday when I broke out in tears all of a sudden.

Something that was mentioned touched the right chord at the right time. Some (so-called friends) fail to support me or understand what I’m dealing with, while others (read: strangers at municipal offices) realise what is going on and totally understand how I feel about it all. So I was touched by the empathy and the kind words of this stranger opposite of me, it was liberating to finally get the opportunity to shed those tears after all the stress.

It’s been a strange week but a good one and I’m celebrating new insight by enjoying the free pink confetti party that nature is throwing me!

© Zesty Gal – Pink Confetti, there’s six of them in a row :)

Kew Gardens

The weather has been amazing over the weekend, last Saturday I lost internet connection for twelve hours while I had to work on stuff. It made me realise that I spend way too many hours at my desk because I still ended up retouching pictures for a client while I’d promise myself not to work and go out for a few. The same happened on Sunday, I really wanted to finish retouching the forty pictures from their new summer collection. The sooner I finish it the sooner it will be online and live. So yes a bit of expediency is involved as well but who can blame me, I’ve worked hard to get results…

But Sunday I decided to bring my Mac and my Wacom tablet and make use of the garden facilities of friends so I could work outside and enjoy the sun and a glass of wine too along with some mouth-watering delicate tea-time treats… English sandwiches with ham/bacon/egg, turkey/chicken/avocado and of course one with smoked salmon *a feast!* On Monday I’d promised myself a day off since it was Spring Bank Holiday (last Monday in May) in the UK. I’d planned to visit Kew Gardens because it’s something I’ve always wanted to see and the weather was absolutely perfect for this.

So I had an amazing day out! My favourites were the Palm House and the Waterlily House both the hottest and most humid of Kew’s glasshouses but I was thriving in the heat and the humidity, I loved it! I could’ve stayed there all day long guess it’s in the genes *hehe*. I also climbed the eighteen metres high stairs to get a unique birds-eye view of Kew from the Treetop Walkway. Later that day I had a birthday party in Addlestone Surrey. After all the walking the lovely finger food was another welcome treat…

© Zesty Gal, Kew Gardens (move mouse over picture to show navigation)