Friday, February 22, 2019

Have a look at my new jewelry line for men. Have a sacred grounded object! And have a Sister Day!

Fish skin for men jewelry.


In my last post I have a picture of the fish skin I ordered. The skin is not very supple nor flexible or bendable, almost brittle. I should have thought earlier on to make a small bracelet for myself  and test out how flexible or supple this skin actually is. I can still do this of course. I guess I was too eager to create something new. What I did is making a regular bracelet and embellished it with a strip of fish skin. Since I claim to make unique pieces I have to be true to my word and I made 3 bracelets in size S, M and L (I looked up on the internet what is a standard measure for men wrists) in different leather and with separate strips of fish skin.


Lovelea's leather&fish skin bracelets
Lovelea's choice of
leather&fish skin bracelets


This style of bracelet would suit a dressy outfit perfectly as a more casual one..


Lovelea's leather&fish skin bracelet
Lovelea's leather&fish skin bracelet



Your sacred grounded object

Negative thoughts attract negative thoughts and once you are in a negative mood, you get more and more gloomy, dreary and somber. But how do you get out of this spiral?

Jen Mazer has different ways for you to do this:  whenever you catch yourself having a negative thought, "Focus on what makes you feel good— on what you want to attract", says Mazer, Jen. Manifesting Made Easy: How to Harness the Law of Attraction to Get What You Really Want (p. 145). Adams Media. Kindle Edition. It is obvious that negative thoughts in itself or not to avoid, see them as an opportunity to refocus on what you really want! Just don't get caught in a downwards spiral of negative thinking, do make an effort to get out!

A second thing you can do is to "find an opposite statement". Change f.i. “I have so much work to do” into “I’m so lucky I have a thriving business and get payed well". Mazer, Jen. Manifesting Made Easy: How to Harness the Law of Attraction to Get What You Really Want (p. 146). Adams Media. Kindle Edition.

A third way is "to choose a sacred grounding object that will remind you that your dream is on its way". Mazer, Jen. Manifesting Made Easy: How to Harness the Law of Attraction to Get What You Really Want (p. 146). Adams Media. Kindle Edition. Language is very powerful and your mind believes everything you say, so pay attention to what you say and how you say it!

What does this mean? How do you do this? Find an object that talks to you (jewelry or a stone, a shell) that you can carry easily; hold it in your hand and envision your dream manifested. By doing this your stone or piece of jewelry that you have chosen becomes sacred. Now it is not a random stone anymore, at least  to you but a stone with a meaning, a sacred stone. Use this sacred object as a reminder of your dream or a reminder to be in a positive state of mind. Your sacred object takes you back to a better state of mind and grounds you to this state of mind.

Until now I have used a tree. It works splendid, grand. I only have to close my eyes and look at my tree and I feel instantly better. I didn't want a physical object as a sacred grounding object because you need a pocket to carry around an object. While I was writing all this down for you my reader, a thought came into my mind: I'am carrying my alliance all the time, I could use my alliance as a sacred grounding object; you could use your alliance or any other ring or necklace you wear all year round as you sacred grounding.object

Sister Day in Lille, France.


Though we saw each other during the family weekend (read here and here), we held a sister day. The reason is that one of my sisters lives abroad and it was now or next year to come together just the 4 of us.


4 sisters in Lille, France
4 sisters in Lille, France; second to the left is me.



We chose Lille/Rijsel because of the nostalgic attachment we have to this city and to see the amazing scenery painted on the walls of Lille-Europe Station.


Wall Paintings of Lille-Europe station
Wall Paintings of Lille-Europe station


This pictures are huge and cover several m²:


Wall Paintings of Lille-Europe station
Wall Paintings of Lille-Europe station


Our family is native of the Lille/Rijsel region, the same region where the movie Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis.takes place. You might not know that this city ones was part of Flanders till 1667 when Louis XIV conquered the city. My grand mother had her dressmaker in Rijsel and occasionally she invited two of my brothers and sisters to come along. Even though we had to wait a long time while my grandma's new clothes were adjusted, we loved to come along because we could have a drive in her car, a fabulous dark gris Citroën DS with ultrasoft cushions (few people had a car at that time) and once my grandma's business finished we had hot chocolate and croissants in a pastry shop. 55 Years ago, only in France did they have croissants, now every bakery makes them.

We agreed to visit The Museum of Fine Arts. It is housed in a very imposing building and is said to be the second best or biggest I can't remember after The Louvre. I' ve never visited the Louvre, but this museum is huge, chock-full of paintings, sculptures, faience etc. We started out at ease before noon with the Antiquity - (a summary section) and Middle Ages section but realized soon that the museum was unexpectedly big and huge and immense. We had a good look at paintings of Brueghel and Bosh, The impressionist were located in a corridor and I could examine and marvel at all the brushstrokes right in front of me of  Manet, Monet, Turner, Goya. The Renaissance section was visited swiftly and at last galloped through the Modern period because at 14.30 your brain can't take any more in and your body is craving for food.

We tasted a local dish with maroilles, a kind of cheese as lunch and decided to have our coffee at Meert's, Lille's most famous, most visited, popular and stylish patisserie since 1761. Compare it to Florian's in Venice. Meert's  is not very big and there was a waiting line of 10 people, waiting time: 30'. I asked for and got the permission to take a picture at least.


Inside of Patisserie Meert, Lille, France
Inside of Patisserie Meert, Lille, France


Meert is a beautiful jewel in a  jewelry shrine; please admire this facade!.


 Patisserie Meert, Lille, France
Facade of Patisserie Meert, Lille, France


Thus we strolled through the small and meandering streets of the old center. My sister had a must see address: la droguerie with beautiful yarns, cute buttons, special sewing haberdashery. I bought an interesting and tasty round goat cheese and  very tasty running Corsican herb cheese at Fromageries Philippe Olivier;


Goat cheese from Fromagerie Philippe Olivier, Lille, France
Anneau de Vic Bilh, Goat cheese from
 Fromagerie Philippe Olivier, Lille, France


 by the way, we past by a lot of small "fromageries" with very mouthwatering looking window displays. We visited the bookshop Librairie Furet du Nord where my dad used to buy the very good Michelin Road Maps. The last place we visited was "la vieille Bourse" a magnificent building with a superb inner courtyard full of stands selling old books, old prints, postcards, maps before heading back to the train station.


Book stalls at Vieille Bourse, Lille, France
Book stalls at Vieille Bourse, Lille, France



Why having a sister day

or a friends day: what counts is that you are together with people you love and can trust totally; people you know well and who know you well and you can say all you want without holding back because your sisters or friends know it is you speaking and know what you mean. It is very refreshing and liberating and leaves you full of energy. A sister day is like a hot bath on a cold day! Organize your own sister day!

See you next week!

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine Day to everyone! Family Weekend Update with pictures! Fish leather you said?

I wish all my readers a Happy Valentine Day. May we use this day as a reminder that we NEED love in our life. Let's start with giving Love and thus make space for getting love in return! Not only today but for the rest of our lives. Remember: Love is the absence of judgement!

Day 1


My last post hadn't any pictures because my laptop was in the shop. Again the battery caused problems so either I replace the battery or I get a new one;  my laptop surely is 10 years old. I refuse to use Cloud; I know it is handy but I don't want to give out of hand the little control that is left to us, end consumer.  All is well now and I have pictures for you.

Let's go 1 week back in time. My big brother would get the keys of the ex-hotel now gite around 4 pm on Friday February 1;  we had a save drive through a snow landscape and on arriving 10 people were already there. We brought the food we were responsible for to the kitchen, choose a room and I made the beds right away; nothing more awful than you want to crawl into bed, drunk with sleep and your bed is unmade.

More and more people dripped in and around 8 pm we were "plenary", 29 in total. We had decided on a potluck dinner for the first evening and it was fun to discover what was displayed on the table: mostly cheese, cold meats and soup. I had brought  an avocado salad and a dry pea soup; pea soup is just what you need when it's snowing outside. My nephew you can see in the picture is ALWAYS in shorts, inside and outside!



Discovering our Potluck Dinner
Discovering our Potluck Dinner.


My sister-in-law Gudrun (Concept Smalle) made a doodle and we signed up in advance for 2 corvees and food for 15 people for Saturday and Sunday; on the spot everybody knows what she/he has to do and once supper over clearing the tables and doing the dishes went smooth and the kitchen was spic&span in no time and we could start our games, play pool or just talk and catch up with family. I played Cluedo with my sisters, a  niece and my goddaughter; then we played Codenames with my nephews and around midnight I went to bed.


Young and old playing games.
Young and old playing games, no generation gap.

Day 2

This 3 nieces slept in one room, did something with Musically until after midnight and were out of bed at 6.30 am eager to make their slime:



3 girls making slime
3 nieces making slime

After breakfast the next morning, we left the hotel for a walk monitored by a guide. He showed us a beaver dam, traces in the snow of a badger, a wild boar and deer. The children walked along bravely without complaining, we only heard their cries of joy when seeing a field covered with untouched snow; in no time a small snowman was made!



Ready for the walk
Assembling before the walk.


That noon, my husband and I had signed up for preparing lunch. Luckily we had prepared our bolognaise sauce at home, it is a nuisance to cook in an unknown kitchen; my sister Lieve made a salmon sauce and Catherine and Mieke  a Far Eastern type of noodles. The young ones were hungry after the 5 km walk and were first in line to serve themselves heaps of  pasta and went back for more before everybody else was served.


In the afternoon, we visited the city, La Roche en Ardennes; some of us went to the WWII museum, I went with my nephews to visit the local castle built wholly with local schist stone. Sadly it was closed by the time we got there so we went for a hot chocolate.

For Saturdays supper, we catered; we did some speeches and I took word to tell that this year I had presents for all the guys: a little pouch or a memento mori for the bikers. Supper finished I took my box and let them choose a pouch or a skull bracelet for the bikers. They all loved the idea of the memento mori. That evening, the ladies occupied the pool room and my brother in law started dancing later on. I am self conscious but between family I feel secure enough to dance.



Day 3

My second brother is born on December 24 and my mother used to adorn the Christmas Log for his birthday with a marzipan baby Jesus. He continues this tradition and got us special breakfast bread with little pink Jesus'es.




After breakfast on our last day, we walked the 2.5 km to the castle; one of my nephews, who is an architect, told us that he is "going through a medieval period" and he was very excited to finally visit the stronghold/feudal castle; very impressive with its courtyards, cistern, prison, guarding towers.The building was started in the 11th century and is entirely constructed with shale held together with chalk and sand. It is built on various impressive rock formations. The structure is visible in this picture.






Below an overview of the different courtyards and defense tower with the semicircle of the cistern visible in the foreground.






My sister in the foreground, my daughter on the right and my niece with boyfriend are enjoying the view.



Family members enjoying the view
Family members enjoying the view



We stayed at this ex-hotel

Gite Les Merlettes, La Roche en Ardennes, Belgium
Gite Les Merlettes, La Roche en Ardennes, Belgium



At noon we had our last meal together: a delicious chili-con-carne and when the kitchen was tidied up, we left. 


And this is the youngest of the family, Gust with his grandpa, the second eldest of my family. 



little Gust with grandpa; courtesy of S. Ozonder
little Gust with grandpa; courtesy of S. Ozonder



Fish leather!


I love to try exotic food: fruits, vegetables, meat, the more exotic  and strange, the better! That does not include insects and the like. Not surprising at all that one day on Pinterest I saw a pin about fish skins: flexible enough to be used in jewelry! Last Monday my trout skin in dark chocolate arrived in a big box. Despite the good care, the skin was bent and did not straighten out. I thought about ironing the skin but my gut feeling told me it wasn't o.k. so I emailed the company about it. I got a mail back in a couple of hours: especially no ironing, just put a heavy book like a dictionary on top of it for a couple days. What I did and here is the skin:



newly arrived trout skin in dark chocolate
newly arrived trout skin in dark chocolate


detail of my newly arrived trout skin in dark chocolate
detail of the trout skin.


It is a lot more brittle than expected so I'll have to do a good thinking session what I can do with the skin. One thing I know: it will be jewelry for men. Jewelry for men is doing very good on Pinterest, so I 'll follow this lead. The biggest challenge will be to protect the edges from crumbling or so I think, I might be wrong. 

Anyway, if you are curious about this fish leather, don't miss my next post, I'll have more news for you.

Have a nice Valentine Day, keep away from judging and you'll be loved by everyone.

Friday, February 8, 2019

Family weekend story; Ho'oponopono is your savior.

Family Weekend


I am back from the family weekend loaded with energy. Everybody was in a good mood, happy to see each other what created heaps of energy. We are a walking family; when coming together our main activities are walking, eating and drinking, party games and sometimes dancing. We discovered the environment while walking with a guide, saw a beaver dam, badger tracks, special plants, played pool in the poolroom, played party games and did some dancing.


The girls, between 9 and 12 made slime, and this is a nice example  that the way is equally imported as the goal; they spent good time on making the slime and having a lot of fun comparing each other results: whoaaa, yours is so malleable and mine is still sticky. The boys, between 12 and 18 played pool and my grandson, the youngest of the boys learned pool and became a good player in a short time.

At the moment, I am not able to show pictures, since the lamp of my laptop crashed again! I downloaded all the pictures to my laptop and deleted them from my camera, no pics at the moment. I hope my laptop will be done by publishing time. I have a family picture that my husband made before starting the big walk in the surroundings. I haven't heard yet from the shop where I took my laptop, I'll make a phone call right after publishing this post!

LoveLea's family weekend at La Roche, Be; courtesy of S. Ozonder
Family weekend at La Roche, Be;
courtesy of S. Ozonder

Saved by Ho'oponopo!

Two weeks ago we got a big screen to watch movies we download from the internet. Then I got an email from my provider that my 150 GB were almost finished; this is when I learned that a big screen is a pixel hoger and we used half of our GB by watching 3 or 4 movies. At this moment we have no GB left; we can still surf but very slowly. I can't even use Tailwind, only 3 or 4 pins at a time! I am doing my homework to find a solution for this new situation.

Luckily there is Ho'oponopono. What's that? Since all that happens to us, we have attracted, we can forgive ourselves with this Hawaiian clearing prayer, says Jen Mazer in Manifesting Made Easy. You say out loud 10 times:
- I love you= to get in a state of love;
- I'm sorry= you take responsibility for what you have brought into your life so far,
- Please forgive me= for forgetting that the Universe is love
- Thank you= is acknowledging that your petition has been heard.
You can say this prayer whenever you are upset or notice others upset around you.

These technical problems give me reasons enough to get upset but thanks to this prayer, I can take the situation without fretting, I can accept the situation without worrying. Isn't that great? If I am not manifesting, at least my life is getting more sereen.

I hope I'll be able to show you pictures of the family weekend by next week and I'll tell you what I did for my technical problems.




The event of the year (in my town), Pro's of having a dog, How I excorcise inspiration; My revamped quote!

The event of the year Last Friday it was my daughter's birthday and it was the first day of Suikerrock, a 3 day rock festival in our...

The event of the year (in my town), Pro's of having a dog, How I excorcise inspiration; My revamped