ABOUT MY BOOKS

VIDEOS

My YOUTUBE site
www.youtube.com/user/sitamouni/videos

MY ONLINE STOREhttp://www.zazzle.com/wearandinspire

I just published my latest Book titled :  SOUNDS OF MY SOUL

http://www.lulu.com/content/7574175

this is a collection of non-fiction philosophical observations about everyday life.

eBooks

I am trying to figure out how to get my books onto NOOK and iBookstore - need to learn ecodeing.

here are my book sites:

AMERICA
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/charmieneusa1950

ENGLAND:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/sitasita1950

EUROPE:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/charmiene_batten


These are human interest and non-fiction narratives set in different countries

I just updtaed one of my publishing  sites and now I have to figure out how to get a video on it!



For Europe:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/charmiene_batten

 I will be displaying my photographic artwork here in February at the Vegeria vegan restaurant. 10% of sales goes to charity   

http://myvegeria.com/Home.php

I will be at the Hilton hotel  monthly wholistic event every third Sunday

www.wholisticfestival.com

I will be at the Hilton hotel wholistic festival on Jnauary 21st

http://www.wholisticfestival.com/4-Seasons-Wholistic-Festival.html

Wishing you all a happy January!

Happy New Year!

“LIFE'S CHALLENGES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO PARALYZE US,

THEY  HELP US DISCOVER WHO WE ARE"

 Bernice Johnson Reagon

Happy New Year!  Another opportunity to feel that new beginnings and new steps in life can be made.  2011 was a bumpy year for me on numerous levels and yet there are so many ways and reasons to feel grateful.

 It was the hottest and driest summer for 150 years and the lavender farms couldn’t produce any lavender this year. It has not been easy taking the bus and waiting at bus stops in the scorching dust and heat.  Our garden and vegetables could not survive the heat either.  Our beautiful 9 year old Sheltie ‘Kali’ died unexpectedly of lung cancer in September – we miss her so much.  My dear friend in Switzerland, Valerie Heutschi died of lung tumors in April.  I cried a lot – and felt such overwhelming sadness at the pain her two children and husband must have felt at the loss of their wife and mother.  There were some other profound losses in 2011.

YET life continues and we adopted our beautiful Sheltie called ‘Spirit’ from the Austin Sheltie Rescue, in April, before even knowing that ‘Kali’ was sick.  Spirit has helped us though the loss of Kali.  I had the wonderful opportunity to teach English (ESL) as a volunteer at an adult learning center for the summer, which I really enjoyed. I joined the monthly Body/Mind/Spirit Fair to sell my books and photography at the Unlimited Thought Bookstore. This is held on the first weekend of every month.  I also joined the Wholistic Fair on every third Sunday at La Taza coffee House, where I sell my art and books and do palmistry readings. I joined a writers group. I have become fascinated with the latest scientific discoveries of our cosmos and how the Universe burst into life.  Quantum physics has began to really interest me.

My handsome great nephew whose name is Jasper was born in May – sthis is the closest I will get to being a grandmother. My nephew Luke met the lovely Tanya, they fell in love and then came baby Jasper. 

I continue to love photography and writing   - it keeps me alive!

Happy New

On Friday we will lose our beloved Kali, she will fall asleep and fly to a heavenly realm - yes!. she was diagnosed with terminal cancer 3 weeks ago and 10 days ago she lost the use of her legs. It has been a very painful time to see her in distress and we have all been unable to sleep much. Here is a picture of her when we moved to Texas 6 years ago - she loved Seattle with the big green dog parks and she was allowed to come on the bus with us - Seattle loves dogs. Even though she really enjoyed having her own garden here in San Antonio, and chasing the squirrels - San Antonio is a place where many people generally don't value the beautiful souls that dogs have. Many people here don't understand the unconditional love that a dog can give - maybe one day they will understand the God given gift that dogs are in this world. But for now, we see stray dogs and dogs kept in back yards and used as alarm systems.

We have our wonderful dog 'Spirit' who joined our family 4 months ago and he is like an angel, so tender and gentle with Kali. He is also a Shetland Sheepdog like kali, and they look very similar.

Swiss Book

I have just edited and updated my book about Switzerland.  I also wanted to edit a name, so as to protect the identity of my first husband  and the father of my daughter - who is Swiss

Yes Switzerland really dances in my heart!

Slideshow of my photos

Just click on any of the photos to see a description

slide show of my photographs

This is a slideshow of my photos, just learnt how to post this

Loss and Love

Life's journey IS about the ultimate experience and ache of  loss as well as the brimming bliss of love and joy. It is an art form, a picture that is painted with a kaleiderscope of colours - I have heard this Life journey, described as......... 'Leela'.

here is a video that speaks to the ache of loss:

and here is a video that speaks of the bliss of joy:

So far my books are about real life, real feelings and honesty expression - maybe I will one day write a novel with fictional characters. 
But for now, I write and I write ....and I write and its real

Swiss Books

I am saddened to say that I have had to remove my Book about Switzerland from the online bookstores  - or more correctly said  - it has been removed.

My books are memoirs written in short story form, with a focus on a shared and human journey though life . I am convinced that we, as a unified humanity, share the kaleiderscope of feelings, experiences, challenges and joys - though we may process and work with the nuances in this 'painting of life' in our own uniqe way - nevertheless I find it profoundly beautiful to air some of those personal experiences and  feelings in the spirit of unity. How else can we join hands in our aspiration to evolve, learn and gain the clarity of spiritual and emotional wholeness.

My first husband, a Swiss man, for reasons of his own, apparently does not want his name or his past to be known or shared.  Therefore he had my book removed from the internet.

I will re-write those chapters in order to "hide" him, before publishing my Swiss book again.

In my Swiss book, I wrote a chapter about my first marriage, which was written as a deeply intense mix of tragedy and beauty because we lost our baby girl. The beauty of her birth is something that lights up my heart and to this day brings me waves of joy - the tragedy of her death leaves a wound. Perhaps my writing did step on her father's personal boundaries and expose too much for comfort - and yet it is my life I write about. He was a part of my life for ten years.

I will have to reflect on how to re-write this part of my life while respecting his privacy.

Writing for me, has been such a comfort and form of authentic expression. 


I also published a tribute to our daughter here:

TRIBUTE TO FAYE

Her grave has been taken away, as is the Swiss custom. After 20 years, graves are removed.

Can you imagine my joy when I found an online site to pay tribute to my daughter, it was almost like having her grave. AND  I finally was able to have her birth certificate in my hands, after all these years.  In Switzerland births and deaths are noted in a 'Blue Book, which only the husband has access to. Maybe things have changed now.

I took the time to request her birth certificate, which was sent to me from Switzerland and I joyously posted it with her tribute.  My tears of joy were so deeply rooted in the heart - and yet this too has been removed by Faye's father.  Her birth certificate was removed a few days ago.  I miss seeing it on her tribute.

The older Swiss culture is very private - and though I respect that trait,  I am aware that, in my view, my Swiss ex-husband had a particularly rigid outlook on life.

I will honour the memory of our daughter for my whole life - and I celebrate her existence in this world. It puzzles me why her father would not wish this to be publicly known, yet  I respect his choice, even though it appears to be denying his own footprints in life.

Here she is, my little angel who would now be 37 years old

FEBRUARY

Its February, time really flies and I have a birthday coming up - again.  February always reminds me of snowdrops, which is the first sign of blessed growth  after the cold winter months.  I wrote a story about snowdrops in my book about 'Childhood'.
Click on the link below to see my story:


http://www.redbubble.com/people/sita/writing/5888780-snowdrops


I don't have any photos of snowdrops myself, but one day maybe I will find some and be there at the right moment. Here are some bluebells!!

Here is a video and music that I think is really beautiful by Jon & Vangelis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0rX_iyUkfg&feature=related

Charmiene's Books: MIDDLE AGE

Charmiene's Books: MIDDLE AGE