Thinking…. | 1000 Fields of Roses

Shedding The Weight

The barber down the road has had to take some time off, so the boys were not able to get their hair cut when they wanted to… thankfully my hairdresser was able to fit me in, so I’m a lot lighter than I was!
We’re still looking for a house to move to. The boys went to have a look at a two bedroom place the other day (they didn’t get it), so they wanted to look their best – hence the haircut dilemma 🙂
Biggest boy can still get away with brushing and pulling back his hair with an elastic band. Sweetest Bean’s hair is much thicker, and tends to corkscrew out into increasingly wilder shapes.
My Babe to the rescue! 😀
He was planning on a trim any way – we have a set of clippers – so he did Sweet Bean’s hair. It needed a basic cut first, then the clippers – it was too thick for the clippers to get through. Here’s what our sink looked like –

It’s like a full head of hair sticking up through the plughole!

We were supposed to look at a one bedroom place (just for us) the other day. We turned up on time, and one other lady was there. Unfortunately, no-one else came. After phoning to try to find out what was going on we were told that the viewing had been cancelled as someone had already signed a lease. Annoying enough for us, but the other woman had just driven an hour to get there, with her poor little dog in the car as well. It felt as though the estate agents were not too worried about it. The other 13 people who were supposed to look had been sent the cancellation info, and the person on the phone seemed to think it was no big deal for us to be waiting… At the moment there are more people than there are places available, so they’re not falling over themselves to be accommodating.We do have three places to look at next week, so that should be fun! We’re concentrating on four bedroom places, where the boys can live more or less separately to us, and we can all share the bills.
I packed some more things today, mostly from the top cupboards in the kitchen. It feels like taking weight off – not just by getting rid of some things, but also not having to worry about tidying/packing after it’s done, and the feeling of lightness when looking through old, happy memories.
Not to mention the approaching summer, and the days getting lighter and brighter.
Look at these little beauties!

They bloom and grow with no help from me…

The world is still turning.
The sun is still shining.
And sooner or later, we will find our new home!

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Thinking....

on September 30, 2022 at 8:01 pm Leave a Comment

Coffee In The Spring

…and a chocolate blueberry muffin.

Yum!
🙂

It’s been a good week – out for coffee and muffin, home to sort through boxes and other assorted packing… We managed to get through the cupboard under the stairs, which had been my main worry. It wasn’t as hard as I was expecting, and it was fun rediscovering things I’d forgotten or thought I’d lost.
I’ve been more energetic this last week – I had a change in medication a few weeks ago, so perhaps it’s kicking in…
I also got my new glasses, so I can see clearly now (although the rain hasn’t really gone!).
Here I am in my new (pink) reading glasses.

Now I just need a haircut!

The rental market is frustrating at the moment. We tried to arrange to have a look at one place, but it seems we would have to apply for it first, including supplying all relevant documents to see if we were eligible for the shortlist, before we could even have a look. All the other places apparently don’t have viewings at the moment, even though they’re still advertised on the real estate sites. It’s a different world from the last time we were looking.
We’d been looking for places we could move to with the boys, or just on our own, if they find their own place. Now there’s the possibility that one might be able to rent a room…but not the other. We’ve had to try to get our heads around that, as it changes the number of rooms and the amount of rent we could be looking at. Hopefully we’ll have more of an idea on Monday.

Nevertheless, it’s been good to have a clearout. We are in a kind of limbo at the moment, but we are also aware that we’re in a better position than a lot of others right now. It seems like almost every day I’m hearing stories of people sleeping in cars or on couches, often with kids.

Home, sweet home.
A cliche, but true.
It is sweet to be able to have a place to call your own. I pray that everyone between homes tonight finds that one place where they are safe and welcome.
❤

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Thinking....

on September 24, 2022 at 11:25 pm Comments (2)

Little Boxes

Had a lovely time today, going through boxes in preparation for our eventual move. I felt great that I had the ability to achieve as much as I did, but it was perhaps more than I should have done 😆 We shall see tomorrow!
I’ve been packing bits and pieces for a while, but we’ve finally breached the dreaded CupboardUnderTheStairs. After (14…15…who knows?) years of homeschooling, there are boxes and boxes of paper. Sweet Bean finished his schooling at a distance ed school, but up until then we were flying under the radar with the education authorities, and got into the habit of saving schoolwork just in case we were called to account somewhere along the line. It’s been interesting seeing some of the early attempts again (and there’s still lots to look through!) but it takes ages to sort out the keep/throwaway piles.
Part of my packing strategy involves using as much “dead” space as I can – anything with any space to spare gets something shoved into it! This included all my Tardises (Tardisi?) at one point. At least one of them seems bigger on the inside!

There’s still room! 😆

Rest day tomorrow, then I’ll get stuck in again.
We still don’t really know where we’re going yet, but it should be interesting.
And there’s one thing I do know –

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on September 17, 2022 at 11:26 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Tardis, We The Kingdom

Orchids – Or Lavender?

Possibly linens?
We’ve been married 28 years today. I thought I’d look up the traditional gift…the 28th year doesn’t really feature in most lists. The ones I did find were the above options (lavender is the “colour” for this anniversary, apparently). Otherwise, we’re somewhere between silver and pearl 🙂

Anniversary selfie! I haven’t edited this at all (apart from a bit of cropping). Something about the lighting in the cafe makes it seem like we both have make-up on…or at least that we’re a lot younger than we are 😀

We went off for a coffee and cake (or chocolate slice…) together, then celebrated further with a lovely steak dinner. Spent a large part of the evening sharing YouTube clips of songs and bands/singers we’ve each been enjoying lately. It’s been very busy in various ways, with not a lot of time to sit together and talk. We enjoyed taking the time to talk, and also snuggle on the couch, listening to good songs. Here’s one that seemed appropriate for today!

What an amazing range of Australian artists there are to choose from!

For a couple of years now I’ve been able to say that I’ve been married longer than not married…
Now we can start working on the next 28 years.
❤

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on September 15, 2022 at 11:22 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: 28th Anniversary, Jimmy Barnes

The Sweetest Bean Turns 19

❤

The partying was yesterday 😆
The cafe he wanted to go to is very busy on Saturdays, so we went for breakfast when it was quieter. The boys went off together afterwards… it won’t be long until the only time we see them are when we organise to meet up!
Today was quiet – just enough energy to have cake and pressies 😀

Happy 19th Birthday, my Beautiful Bean!

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on September 10, 2022 at 9:46 pm Leave a Comment

The End Of An Era

The Queen is dead.

At 96, and having had health problems lately, it was not unexpected. But it still seems a bit of a shock.
I saw the news of her ill health last night, and knew that such an official announcement would not bring good news in the morning.

For most of us, in Britain and the Commonwealth, it is a new era – we have never known another monarch. She has been a constant in a lot of ways. It will be strange to now have to say “God save the King”. There will still be some who remember King George VI, but there have been too many years since then for it to easily trip off the tongue…
Whatever your thoughts on the institution of the monarchy, I think we can acknowledge the contribution she has made in her long life, through many years of world, family and personal tribulations. Though it sometimes seemed as though she was immortal, she was only human, and as such was not perfect. Nevertheless, this quote from her coronation speech in 1953 shows the intention she pledged for her life as our Queen –

“I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”

I believe she fulfilled that pledge to the best of her ability.

_{(Unknown / Library and Archives Canada, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)}

I chose this portrait because it was the image that I first had of her as a child, when her portrait was hung in community halls and other public places. A young Queen, not yet knowing what lay ahead, but still resolved to serve her people and her country, no matter what the future held.

Here’s another quote, from her Christmas message in 2000 –

“To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.”

After a very long life of service, I believe she has earned her rest.
Rest In Peace, Ma’am.
We will mourn your passing.

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Thinking....

on September 9, 2022 at 6:23 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Death Of Queen Elizabeth II

Into The Stars

Another memorial post…
This one is for Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura on the original series of Star Trek.

(It was very difficult to get an image that wasn’t copyrighted – this is the best that I could find…)

A trailblazer, an inspiration to many and, it seems, a lovely person as well.
I watched the original Star Trek as a child, and remember her as elegant, professional, unflappable – when the men were flailing about across the bridge of the Enterprise (60s special effects 😆 ), I remember her as being cool and calm.

Farewell, Ms Nichols.
May your onward journey be one of peace.

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Thinking....

on August 2, 2022 at 5:34 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Nichelle Nichols, star trek

Roll On

Sometimes the world seems a little…too much.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget our roles in life – the possibilities we have of making the world a little better.
…and sometimes we could do with being reminded that we’re not helpless, with nothing to say!

Brings to mind some verses –

“But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
– Amos 5:24

And one of my favourites –
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.”
– Micah 6:8

And if you still need cheering up, here’s one that came out today.
❤

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on July 30, 2022 at 5:17 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Home Free, rend collective

Of The Beautiful Rain

I’ve been enjoying the rain – it’s not too cold at the moment, and this type of rain seems to bring the day closer and open up the years to memory.
I wonder if that’s a universal feeling to rain?
There’s a certain nostalgia, a breath of childhood, to these kinds of day. There’s also a fleeting breeze of possibility, ready for the catching.
I’m not sure why – my childhood memories of rain tend to be more cyclonic… when I moved to England, I would find myself getting soaked at first. The rain I encountered there seemed to me to be so light that I wouldn’t need an umbrella. It was light, and soft, but also inexorable. I would find myself dripping without having noticed how wet it actually was, and somehow even wearing a raincoat didn’t seem to keep the damp out.
On the other hand, the first time my Babe and I came back to Australia for a holiday we travelled around the country a bit. While we were in Cairns it started to rain just before we were going out. He immediately put on a coat. I couldn’t understand it – up north, the rain tends to be warm, and the humidity unbearable. A coat just doesn’t make sense! He soon found that out 😆 but it was just a difference in understanding – in England you put on a coat to go out in the rain, whatever the season…

Thinking about nostalgia…
YouTube gives me suggestions for clips to play. Generally they’re based on what I’ve been watching recently, but sometimes it dredges up an old clip from years before. This is one that came up last night.

😥
As a Mum, this makes me sniffle a little.
My boys will be moving out in the next few months, and I am happy for them to go out there and live their lives. It does bring home, though, that all the plans for their childhood are no longer valid – too late for all the places we were going to go, and the things we were going to do. There’s a sadness to that, but also an understanding that you can’t do everything.
The window of opportunity to do better, to use time wisely, never really closes!

But, for today, I will watch the rain. Dream.
And remember.
❤

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on July 21, 2022 at 1:38 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Slipping Through My Fingers - Mamma Mia

Where The Rain Ends

Back in bed with a cold sort of thing… I had a lovely beef bone broth for dinner, and a hot water bottle (it’s difficult trying to mould it round my sinuses). My lungs still appear to be where they should be – they just hurt a bit from coughing.
All this means that I haven’t been out of the house for a bit. My Babe went in to the library to pick up some books, and also came back with a little fairy from the markets for me ❤

She’s guarding my jewellery 🙂

I’ve been enjoying the rain we’ve had lately. Haven’t seen any rainbows in the sky, but did see one at the clinic before a visit to the doctor. We still have to wait outside the waiting room (because of Covid), so the big doors to the outside let in a lot of sunshine. At certain times of the morning it forms a straight strip of rainbow across the floor.