Thinking…. | 1000 Fields of Roses

Catching Up

The holidays are drawing to a close, and I’m feeling the start of the new school year breathing down my neck…
Thankfully I’ve had a few good days, at least good enough to get stuff done! We’re ready to leap in to lessons again – me as well 🙂 I’ll be doing a year long online course, so it’s all students in our house this year.

My beautiful new dollhouse bookcase is now full, as is the bookcase below it. All my mysteries are there, apart from my Cadfaels and Trixie Beldens – they’re in the bedroom. I’ve also moved some of my stuffed toys and Pop Vinyls up to those shelves.

Sorry about the photo quality – the light got in the way.
Here’s another angle…

That strange looking red and green thing up the top is the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I’ve also been receiving some treats in the mail – things I sent away for as a Christmas present to me, but that have been delayed by the present shipping situation (I’m still waiting for some things from the US that were shipped in November). One thing I bought from Ebay was a T-shirt that seemed to be something I could wear. Unfortunately, the company that makes it seems to think that a Women’s size M should be smaller than a Youth size M (which would probably have been OK). I can’t really send it back, as the original sale post did include measurements. I just drastically miscalculated…
Thankfully, I have a very large teddy that can wear it!
The design is based on Futurama’s heads in jars, but with “all the doctors” – see how many you recognise! 😆

I’ve already started some of my course, and also some other mini classes I signed up for before I knew I’d be doing a larger programme…
We’ve still managed to get some coffee, to enjoy some time together before everyone’s busy with other things.
❤

Latte, with the ever-present mask, ready for service…

Onward, to a new phase in my life!

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Thinking....

on January 23, 2021 at 8:05 pm Leave a Comment

Frangipanis, Unicorns, And A Dollhouse For Books

We weathered the lockdown, and have continued to wear masks when we’re out…
We’ve also been rearranging the furniture!
Sweet Bean decided to go through his cupboards and give away all the stuff he’s grown out of, or just doesn’t want anymore. This amounted to quite a lot of stuff. After giving away what we could, we took the rest down to Lifeline, and got our space back again…
The recent rain over the last few weeks meant that our grass grew quite quickly. We couldn’t see the planting boxes, and I couldn’t get to the hose on hot days because there was a jungle in front of it. Neither my Babe nor I could do the mowing, so we asked some friends, who have started a new business, to come over to do it. They worked really hard, and did such a good job, that now I can see my garden again! 😀

Such an expanse of space, inside and out!

I’m still trying to get to the pool each morning, and gathering the fallen frangipanis when I go. I have a collection of tiny vases which I don’t normally use, but are just big enough to fit one flower.

…and I can sit on the patio again with my smoothie for breakfast, and my unicorn mug with dandelion coffee, enjoying my garden!

I’ve been trying to tidy the place for a while – certainly wanting to get it done before school goes back! I can’t do strenuous stuff much anymore, and try to do things in bursts as I can. It’s frustrating…
For a long time, I’ve thought there was no spare space in our house for another bookcase. If you’ve been to our place, you’d know why – there’s certainly nowhere downstairs for one! I realised that we could fit one at the top of the landing, if we could find one of a specific size. There’s also the possibility of another one in the bedroom, but it would have to be narrow and not too deep. I looked for ages for the landing one, on Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace. Bookcases tend to go quickly!
Eventually we bought a half size bookcase that would fit in the area, and then someone posted about a dollhouse that had been sitting out for collection not far from us. We left it until the afternoon in case someone else wanted it, but when we went to have a look, it was still there. It’s large, but sturdy, and I thought I could use it as another bookcase. It fits really well on the other one 🙂
It was a bit water damaged, although the main structure is sound. I had to tear paper off and clean it down, and in some cases paste fresh paper over gaps and stains. It looks good, if a bit patchwork!

Now to fill it up! A bit at a time, as I have the energy…
Mostly my mystery collection – Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, P.D.James, Ngaio Marsh, Ruth Rendell, Colin Dexter, Kathy Reichs, and others.
Yay!

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Thinking....

Chaos Before The …Storm?

Today was our normal scheduled fortnightly shop. There’s usually no dramas – we go in, get what’s on the list, go home, have coffee. Today just happened to coincide with the hours before the three day lockdown for Brisbane and surrounds.
Notice that it’s for…three days.

Thankfully we tend to get there not too long after the shop opens, so that we still have the rest of the day to do stuff. It was a bit busier than usual, but we got a parking space, and there was still plenty milk and toilet paper. By the time we got to the checkouts there were lines stretching towards the back of the store. Trying to get out of the car park was another story… there were lines of cars circling, waiting for a space. Someone offered me money for my trolley as she waited in her car for us to vacate our space (I refused, as we use a token that I wanted to get back). I could see here point, though, when I got back to the trolley park – there were none left at all!
I really enjoyed that coffee once we got home…

This lockdown goes until Monday night. I presume it will be reassessed when there’s more information about the possible spread of the new strain of COVID, so perhaps it will stretch for longer than Monday. I’d be surprised if anyone is likely to starve within those three days, though. Especially if you can afford to fill trolleys full of …stuff.
Still, I can’t really talk. We have a full fridge.

The uncertainty of 2020 looks like it will pop up throughout this year as well. I hope we remember the lessons learnt last year, of giving to those in need and taking care of the vulnerable, of simplifying life and relishing the quiet spaces.

Here’s a bowl of frangipanis.
Because the trees are still flowering.
❤

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on January 8, 2021 at 6:07 pm Leave a Comment

Musings From A WOMI

I’ve been reading.
Mostly cosy mystery type books – they’re easy, quick, and helpful for those days when you just can’t muster up the energy for too much…
Which brings me to the book I’m reading at the moment.

It’s an interesting read.
The author is writing from the perspective of a WOMI (Woman with a Mysterious Illness) and her long fight to find out what’s going on and what to do about it. I haven’t finished reading it, so I don’t know yet how that turns out… She comes from a family of doctors, and has great respect for doctors as a whole, but there’s the acknowledgement that mainstream medicine has no protocol for the myriad of “mysterious illnesses” that are suffered mostly by women, and therefore tends to dismiss any mysterious symptoms as psychological or just “women’s stuff”.
I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia, although I’m not sure what that actually means in my case – I’ve been dismissed from the hospital clinic that gave the diagnosis as they can’t do anything for me. Whether the medical establishment mean it or not (and in my experience over the years, some definitely do mean it, and verbalise it freely) these types of symptoms/diagnoses come with a mental eye roll and a sense that you’re just whining and need to sort yourself out.
In the bit I was reading today there was a list of common symptoms found in WOMIs, some of which I hadn’t realised could be linked to the others.

I can check off 50 from that list.
Thankfully they generally don’t appear together, and not necessarily severely – some more than others. There never seems to be a time when I’m not experiencing some combination. Some days are really bad, some are bearable – and I think over the last year or so I’ve learnt how to ignore some things enough to function. I’m certainly not in as dire a state as some people I know, and I am grateful for how well I can function.
But sometimes, I get tired…
And it’s very discouraging, when you’ve had stacks of tests and you still feel generally horrible, to be told that – good news! – there’s nothing wrong with you!
Yay? 😥

The book discusses nutrition and alternative medicine, and sees it as a positive thing. I know that watching what I eat and keeping up with vitamins/herbs etc helps me quite a lot. These can be restricted by cost and sometimes the difficulty in using them (if something requires preparation and it’s a bad day, it’s not going to happen). I would recommend finding a good practitioner. But also realising that there’s no magic pill/herb/concoction. Sometimes, it’s just a balancing act.

I’ll have to finish reading to find out how it ends…

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on January 6, 2021 at 10:24 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Sarah Ramey

Facing Forward

Happy New Year!
May it bring unexpected blessings, whatever the circumstances…

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on January 1, 2021 at 6:05 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Jess Ray

The Languid Pause

Once more it’s that small space between the years, where the bustle of Christmas festivities has ended, and the dawn of a new year is still to come.
We nestle in for the week, not really committing to much – each day has its own shape, which can be stretched to whatever lengths is needed… the Boxing Day sales have been braved (and they were pretty quiet round our way) and the chocolates are in the process of being steadily consumed.
It’s nearly time to start again.
Wonder what’s coming next?

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Thinking....

on December 30, 2020 at 5:58 pm Leave a Comment

My Song

Christmas Day, and we’re in the “eat and chill” part of the schedule…
Opened the stocking presents before breakfast, watched “Mr Bean’s Christmas” while eating breakfast, then opened the tree presents.

Both boys got each other things they knew were going to be special presents for the other, and have been excitedly waiting for the big reveal… Biggest Boy was especially on tenterhooks, and even put his presents aside until his little brother had opened his ❤ I was loving the gleeful anticipation and evidence of love – the reception of the gifts was all that had been hoped for as well.
My gifts were a combination of books, coffee, and Doctor Who – I am fairly easy to buy for!

From my boys – 13 and TARDIS (she has a tiny detachable sonic screwdriver!), and a Dalek pendant.
My Babe got me the books and coffee things, but also wrote me a song… on one of those days I thought he was racing to uni to finish an assessment, he was actually recording the song with a couple of mates from the course! ❤ (I have tried repeatedly to download the song in a format I can use here, but haven’t been able to – I’ll add it as soon as I work something out!)

For now, it’s back to doing nothing much…
Hope your day is going well, and don’t forget to take time to rest – have a nice Christmas biscuit, and take care of your elf! 😆

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Thinking....

on December 25, 2020 at 3:13 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Christmas

All Is Calm

…and peace has come!

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on December 25, 2020 at 6:01 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Christmas, JJ Heller, rend collective

A Complex Party

Last week we had a Christmas party for the complex we live in. We got platters of food (and a huge chocolate mud cake!), soft drinks, chips… there were sparklers and glow sticks in there somewhere as well.
It was originally organised for the week before, but had to be postponed because of the storms. What had been planned became just sort of put together. We had good food, but the decorations were forgotten…
I took some of our decorations from home down to the pool area, where the party was, and some of the other neighbours brought theirs as well.

It wasn’t the most spectacular of light shows, but we all pitched in and had a great time!

It’s nearly Christmas Day. Our family party will be on Christmas Eve, and we’ve been cleaning, shopping, mentally organising… I have to ration my energy output these days so I can get stuff done, but we’re on schedule. I’ve done pretty much everything I wanted to.
And again – it won’t be spectacular.
But it will be enough to have a good party.
It won’t matter, in the end, if I don’t get everything cooked, cleaned or decorated to the standards I’ve held myself to in previous years. We’ll have the parties and eat Christmas food. We’ll also take time to remember Whose birthday we’re celebrating.
And it will be enough.

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on December 22, 2020 at 10:11 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Christmas

Good Morning…

Another voice from my past was lost to COVID-19 over the weekend.
Charley Pride was part of the soundtrack of my childhood – Mum and Dad had his albums, and I remember putting them on our big old wooden record player/radio cabinet (a huge piece of furniture, where I encountered a variety of old music). I remember the deep sweetness of his voice – beautiful!
Thank you for the music, Charley.
Kiss an angel good morning…