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 It does bring home, though, that all the plans for their childhood are no longer valid – too late for all the places we were going to go, and the things we were going to do.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.
❤

Published in: on July 21, 2022 at 1:38 pm  Leave a Comment  
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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.

No pot of gold at the end…
Just a bit of cheer for the day!

Published in: on July 11, 2022 at 11:13 pm  Leave a Comment  

Small Beautiful

I finally got around to reorganising my roses.
Aren’t they sweet?

That vase is probably only a couple of centimetres tall, so that gives you an idea of how big the roses are. They’re among the remains of a bunch of roses I was given a while back. I find that if I leave them in the vase, they will dry quite nicely. Often the big roses don’t dry as well – they lose their colour and can start to get mouldy. The tiny buds and miniature roses dry better, and can keep quite vibrant colour.

I’ve been enjoying the rain, and even darted out quickly yesterday to change library books and pick up a hot chocolate and a brownie.

They gave me a lovely pink cup ❤ (they’re usually white), and an unexpected marshmallow bonus 🙂

Small steps, still.
But surrounded by beauty.

Published in: on July 2, 2022 at 9:03 pm  Comments (2)  
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Travelling Light

I’ve been out and about a couple of times in the last week or so. In the past, I’ve wandered around the place, enjoying my time, but not seeing anyone I know. These times, I ran into four lots of people, and had a good old catch up (yay!) 😀
I’ve just started on a new, stronger, pain killer. After a day out, I tend to need to stay in bed to recover. I had hoped to be OK this time, but apparently the painkiller takes a few days to kick in properly.
I think I am basically an optimist. I can see beauty, and hope, in all sorts of things. Some (probably most) days I can see the days ahead, and future endeavours waiting for me. I can luxuriate in “not pain” for periods of time (when you have “definitely not not pain” 🙂 you are very aware when it goes away for a bit).
Yesterday was mostly luxurious. Today was not.
Still – life is a wonderful, curious, slightly ridiculous journey.

But…
Some days are sombre, just get through, deal with the now type of days.
Still flashes of beauty. Leaps of joy.
But also a closer understanding of mortality.
Life is good. And sometimes difficult…
Still, the light shines through.

…it’s all about balance! 😆

Published in: on June 29, 2022 at 5:59 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Be In It

…today – live more of your life!
Remember those ads? I remember them from sometime in the 80s.

What happened to the “infomercial”? I don’t remember seeing them much lately. There seemed to be lots of them at one time – ads that weren’t selling a product or touting a company, just passing on information. I like that this one includes suggestions for wellbeing other than sporty type pursuits (such as t-shirt printing or photography).
I also remember this one from way back. I think I still dredge it up in my memory when I want to remember what each vitamin does. Having listened to it again, it seems I’ve been mixing up C and E – thinking vitamin C was good for my corpuscles!

I had a good wander around town this morning, so I feel like I was “in it” a bit more today than I have been lately. I even got the bus home!

If you are of a “certain age” (and Australian) you probably remember Sid the Seagull.

And here’s another one. It’s older (70s), and was put out by the Christian Television Association. Sorry about the quality – there aren’t too many copies of this that I can find.

I’m not entirely sure what it’s trying to say. In my memory, as a child, it was a call to “say g’day” to everyone, regardless of who they were or where they came from – I still think of it as a sort of multicultural “Australians together” kind of thing…

This one is an ad for a company, but it still raises a sniffle 😥
It was used in the sermon (on families) this last Sunday.

We haven’t, as a family, sat around the table for a meal for quite a long time. We do still talk to each other all the time ❤ Most Sunday lunchtimes are spent eating together, watching whatever TV show the boys want to watch. That might sound a bit antisocial, but I have to keep pausing it to discuss various things that come up during the show!

Since I’ve started on advertising for actual products, here are two more that will be instantly familiar to many people. These ones are from well before my time, but I frequently heard the jingles in childhood.
Enjoy! 😀

Published in: on June 21, 2022 at 8:58 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Of Unicorn Hugs And Colour Choices

I’ve just had a lovely dinner – roast lamb and potatoes. I’ve been calming down by listening to Home Free (because that always cheers me up!) And I’ve been cuddling in to my new unicorn pillow.

Comfy and cute!
❤

At the moment, the existing Jobsearch platform is in the process of transitioning to some sort of online company. It doesn’t overly concern me – I’m on disability exemption – but I had an email the other day that (sort of…) explained it. I also missed a phone call today about it, asking me to phone back. I did so…the sound was terrible – very quiet, with even that fading in and out. The person I spoke to had a very pronounced accent which, along with the existing fading problems, made it very difficult to work out what was going on. It seems that the phone call was “by mistake” anyway, but the man on the phone referred me to the previous email. Which somehow no longer exists in my jobsearch inbox. No, I didn’t accidentally delete it after I read it. I can’t find it in the deleted items, since I didn’t delete it. Also, there are no deleted emails in my inbox.There is literally nothing in my inbox – it is clearly saying that it’s completely empty.
No sir. It is not because I’m “not tech savvy” (direct quote).
I asked what had happened to my entire inbox, and also asked for the email to be sent again. Apparently that’s not possible – the system sends them, and there’s no facility to manually send that information. I would have to get in touch with my job provider, so they could send their copy.
Oh yes – he also laughed at me when I kept asking how it could have completely disappeared (from the inbox on their site). It was obviously not their problem. Just, presumably, my incompetence on the internet.

I rang the job provider. They had no idea what he was talking about. They did take the time to find the information for me and send it to my personal email. I’m not sure why I would want to be transferred from them to the new platform, which apparently can’t send information to enquirers…

Anyway.
I’m. Fine. Now.
Really! 😆

I’ve been doing those quiz things, where you build a house, or choose an outfit. I don’t much care what colour/animal/etc I am in the end; I just like looking at all the clothes and decor… these ones were mostly set to tell you what colour you are. Generally, I’m the cool blues and greens, but for some reason today I was reds/oranges/yellows. Passionate. Feisty. Energetic. 😆
Still…tomorrow is another day –

Published in: on June 16, 2022 at 8:06 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Snail’s Pace

Another foray into town today – went well.
I’ve only tried minitrips so far, with the assurance of a lift home (rather than the bus) and the option of leaving at any point of the schedule if necessary. My goal now is to get to the church service tomorrow, but we’ll see how the morning goes. I was out longer than I thought I would be today, and got a bit colder than I wanted to…
The shop I wanted to get to today wasn’t open, but I did browse the library – yay! Picked up coffee and a toastie at my favourite cafe. Took a detour to have a look at the Handmade Expo (it was just outside the library), where I picked up a sweet little snail ❤

So cute! 🙂

I’m getting there, slowly but surely.
Shuffling along, but still moving forward!

Published in: on June 11, 2022 at 9:58 pm  Leave a Comment  

Platinum

This weekend just gone marked the Platinum Jubilee – 70 years – of Queen Elizabeth II.
I have never known a world when she was not on the throne.
It’s a long time to be doing the same job! I’m not overly into the monarchy, but I’m not anti either. Whatever the issues may be with the institution, the Queen herself has given her life to it, and done so as faithfully and conscientiously as she could.

…and not without a sense of humour 😆

A long life, lived in service of a nation and people she loves.

Happy Jubilee, Ma’am!

Published in: on June 7, 2022 at 7:41 pm  Leave a Comment  
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(Not So Much) Coming Up Roses

…but I do have a vase full of them!

There’s a lovely lady who gives them out at church. I haven’t been to the church building for a while, but my Babe was there last week and brought them home ❤
Want to see some close ups?

They still look lovely, but I’m hoping they’ll dry nicely as well, so I can keep them 🙂

I’m still coughing… apart from visits to the doctor and other medical stuff, I haven’t been out much. Went to the cafe for a coffee, and a quick look at the shops, but I was home within an hour. I had two Covid tests this week, due to a misunderstanding (my fault!), so I’ve doubly tested negative… 😆 Still looking for other stuff, so haven’t got those results yet.

Nice to know there are still flowers blooming.
And fun songs to cheer me up!

Who knows?
Tomorrow, there may be dancing…

Published in: on June 4, 2022 at 8:03 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Galloping Round The North Coast

…of Scotland, that is.
Perhaps “galloping” is too…energetic…a word.
The latest medal for my virtual marathons came the other day. I’ve been waiting for this one! It’s a 500 mile walk through the Scottish Highlands. Thankfully I got it finished before the “Covid interlude”. I wasn’t really powering along beforehand, but 500 miles would be a bit beyond me at the moment.

Here’s the front.

Look who turns up when you move the thistle!

Here’s the back – my favourite bit 🙂

Complete with an inspiring message from Scotland’s National animal…

There are many more walks I’d like to do – the company has just put out a collection of Lord of the Rings challenges, and I’ve been wanting to do the Camino de Santiago – but a combination of (lack of) money and ability has put those on hold for a while.

I no longer have Covid, but I have had a couple of courses of antibiotics lately, and seem to have some sort of cold at the moment. My goal for the time being is to be able to go into town at some point for an hour or so, and be able to get the bus home. Such excitement! 😆

In the meantime, I’m catching up with a Creative Christianity Summit that I got a ticket for last year. I need to watch the interviews and workshops so I’m ready for this year’s summit. It’s been interesting and inspiring – all sorts of creative people and possibilities – everything from lettering workshops, to theatre companies that put on Passion Plays, to excitable vicars giving Bible studies. I’m signed up for this year – if you’re interested, there seems to be a free ticket option available.
Come along and join in! 😀

Published in: on May 28, 2022 at 6:48 pm  Leave a Comment  
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