Passed the house inspection today. We’ve also been given info on what needs to be cleaned to get our bond back – at least we don’t need to pay a bond cleaner. We’ve been turned down for one place, and are looking at another next week. It would be tempting to get a little panicky now.
My Babe sent me this to listen to, so now I’m sharing it with you 🙂
All things considered, it seems we’re right where we should be…
YouTube also threw this onto my suggestions page – not sure why, as I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the One Voice Children’s Choir before. I love hearing children singing out, using their voices – the stated aim of the choir is to “to inspire the world through the power of children’s voices”. The song gives something to think about.
Last year, I wrote about saying goodbye to some of the musical icons of my childhood.
Today, we say goodbye to Sinéad O’Connor. I, along with many others, probably first heard her singing this –
It was, and still is, a great introduction to her. (but if that’s the only song you’ve heard, listen to a few more!)
When I wrote about the icons we lost last year, it was with sadness and nostalgia – they were all considerably older than me, and seemed to me to have been around forever. This is different. I knew, at the time, that she was quite young in the above song. Somehow I never consciously put that together with her being only a couple of years older than me. It’s a sobering thought.
She was fierce. And fragile. Famous. And sometimes seen as infamous (although, I think, unfairly vilified). Often seemed to speak without thinking. But more often speaking (and singing) of things about which she thought deeply. Flawed. Passionate. Authentic.
Thank you, Sinéad – for baring your soul, and for raising your beautiful voice.
When we first moved into this house, we were told by someone we came across that they had been in consultation with the owner, that they were going to buy the house and that we would only have the six month lease here. The real estate agents that handled the rental seemed to know nothing about it, there was no paperwork, and we heard nothing more about it. It still felt hard to settle in and make ourselves at home, but at some point we decided to enjoy whatever time we had, however things turned out. The six months is coming up, but we were told earlier this week that we could sign a new lease – great celebrations! – and we thought we’d take a chance and ask for one year rather than a further six months.
Got a phone call today. Seems the owner is giving the house to the other people. It appears to have been a shock to the agents – they’re not open on Saturdays, but they got the notification today and rang us straight away. We’ll find out Monday what the details are.
I think we don’t really know how to feel right now. I don’t want to move back into some sort of colourless box, where there’s no room to move.
Colour (and space for books…) is important!
I really, really, don’t want to pack everything up again. Eventually, we’ll be able to look ahead to the thought of finding somewhere better, somewhere more settled. Later, sometime…
I love this place. I don’t want to say goodbye. We’ll have two months from Monday to sort everything out (that’s past the end date of the lease, but they have to give two months notice to leave), and it feels like too much of a rush. Strangely, I also feel like working on some of the things I was putting off until we knew we were secure here – to use this time well in the spaces left. Anyone know of any 4+ bedroom ramblers around? We don’t mind quirky layouts and architecture (although we don’t want decrepit!) – it’s the space we’d like. A reasonable rent would be good as well 🙂
Next week we’ll draw another breath, survey the situation, and look for where the light is coming from.
It’s been a week or so of leaden days, with a few shivering mornings as well. The sunsets have been pretty good, though.
We went to the cafe the other day – we’re trying to make it a regular thing. It was so cold they had blankets folded on the outside tables for anyone brave enough to sit there. That wasn’t us… I like the mix of textures they have there (although we did briefly muse about the difficulties of dusting). There are interesting things wherever you look.
Lots of shells and seedpods.
Many friendly bunnies, strategically placed.
……………………………
😆
A whole display of shell necklaces (I have my eye on a couple, when I have some spare cash 😀 )
Painterly effects…
My world sometimes seems small in scope, and it’s tempting to drop into sadness. I love this house – a good thing, since I’m so often here! – but in some ways it should be more difficult. We’re on a main road and diagonal to a pub (potential noise), we look out onto shops and have no garden to speak of (but plenty of flowers!), our neighbours are very close (potential lack of privacy). What could be barren can become beautiful… and we can still choose to hear the music in the wastelands.
My Biggest Boy has decided he is interested in photography. He’s taken different types of photos to see what he can do, and we’ve talked about the importance of “seeing” what is there. I think he’s got a good eye 🙂 One of the photos he’s taken is a portrait of me.
I suppose any portrait of me would have to include books…
Neither of my boys have been at school for a fair while now, so I am no longer a homeschool mum. We’ve moved in the last five months, and I am still not able to work. Life moves on, and life events change us and our sense of identity. I’m happy with myself, but feel a bit like a drifter through time. That’s OK. I still think I’m moving forward! It’s just that there’s probably less time ahead of me than behind.
I like my portrait. It may not physically be the most flattering, but it’s a snapshot of who I am, and a glimpse into my Biggest Boy’s possible future. That’s a lot for one image to convey.
Speaking of portraits – here’s one of a visitor outside my Mum’s place.
Seems it’s been a while since I was here last. I’ve probably got things to say – just haven’t formulated them in my head yet! It’s late, here. Should I be in bed? Yes. Should I be reminding myself of the truth below? Also yes! 🙂
Now, time to sleep, and breathe for another day. I hope the air is pure and invigorating in your life! ❤
Mothers’ Day again! My sweet boys are a lot older than the kids in this video, but I’m still thankful every day to be their Mum. They’re still the funny, weird, wonderful beans they always were. ❤
Just a fun little interlude for you 🙂 This was done sometime during quarantine, presumably to help cheer people up (also as a fundraiser to help musicians who were unable to make a living without live performances). I haven’t listened to a lot of Voiceplay, but this one turns up on my YouTube suggestions every so often. It’s a collaboration with a lot of different people (and includes a cameo by my favourite bass…)
Singing can be beneficial for your health – even if you don’t think you’re any good at it! Your voice, and the way you relate to music, is unique to you. Apart from that, it’s just fun 😀 So pick a song. Any song. And just sing!
We’re back to our “proper” internet connection – yay! It’s been somewhere over a month since all this started, but hopefully we’ll be ok now. Still not sure what’s been going on with the connection… We were given a temporary modem (and then another one), so that’s kept us going. I’ve never used so much phone data before – even had a 2GB warning! The modems worked, but are not too good – there have been some things we haven’t been able to do in the last month. I’ve had to be careful with watching catch up TV as well – that seems to use a lot.
It’s been nice to have the rain the last two days. This house seems built to enhance cosiness in wet weather 🙂 I’ve been watching the new episodes of Midsomer Murders, and indulging in catching up with other random shows – we can’t seem to get free to air TV here, so even with internet back on, there’s nothing for Fetch to record…
I’ve also been watching a lot of YouTube. Home Free just did this song – it came out last weekend.
I love all their songs, but this is one I remember from childhood. This was the first song on the first cassette tape that I bought with my own pocket money, way back sometime in the 70s. It was a “Country Greatest Hits” type album – I think it also had Dolly Parton singing “I Will Always Love You”. …a bit of nostalgia to herald in the colder, wetter days!
a bit of creativity, a bit of eco consciousness, a bit of inspiration.... hopefully not a lot of pompousness and blathering :D
i'm not entirely sure what's going on here... let's travel along and see...
1000 Fields of Roses 