It’s been a busy couple of days. Tired, still, but I’ve been doing better. Next week starts another round of learning (a short course on business skills), and I’ve had appointments that have taken up time, so I don’t have any words of wisdom to impart… just some photos that I’ve taken over the last few months but that haven’t fit any posts I’ve made 🙂
Light hitting the delicate seed heads, and a faint shadow behind.
The moon! (with a hint of stars…)
Glass, and ceramic, and sunshine on old wood.
Jelly! Tasty and shiny 🙂
Glass, and water, in the late afternoon.
And a bright purple bouquet, catching the sunshine as I walked past.
This world holds darkness. But there are still flashes of light, if you look for them. ❤
…or so I’ve heard. The moon is supposed to be bigger tonight, with a pink tinge. It does seem brighter. Still doesn’t show up well on camera.
We’ve been snuggled in duvets/jackets/unicorn-onesies the last few days. It’s a bit harder to get going in the morning – so today we…didn’t, really 😀 I think most of our virusy things are on their way out, but shivery winter mornings tend to highlight coughs and sniffles. Got a lot of talking done, though!
I love the winter evenings, when the sky turns pink just before the darkness.
As for the strawberry moon –
I took a photo earlier in the evening, when the moon was still hiding behind the big tree. It does seem a bit pinkish.
Here’s the photo I just took – straight ahead, no hiding 🙂
The week has been getting better each day, and I have been getting more done. My boys seem to be brighter and happier as well! ❤ I’m trying not to fall into relapse like last week, so there have been some quick darts out into the world, and some snoozing under the covers…
While I’ve been recovering from the Nameless Virus the cactus under the stairs has been…budding?
I’m not sure if those will become flowers?
Last night I figured out night mode on my phone camera. I think.
You have to hold it very still, but outlines seem a lot crisper.
The cold nights have seen colourful sunsets.
…and the daytime cloud formations have sparkled with sunlight.
But tonight! Fire in the sky, as the cold night fell.
The beginning of last week was great! I did stuff. I even did more stuff! And then my body said, “No.”
Somewhere towards the end of the week fatigue whacked me over the head, and I’ve been trying to sleep/rest enough to replenish. I’m glad I did all the stuff last week 😀 Just might have been a bit more than my recuperating self was expecting! 😆
So, the boys are in varying stages of recovery from the “virus-that-has-no-name”. And my Babe started coughing Friday morning, and stayed in bed for a couple of days. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have caught what we had. Or he just heals really quick…
Today was a new day. Yay! I still needed to sit and rest. But I also managed the washing, and my share of the cleaning/dishes. Double yay!
In my sit-down-before-I-fall-down time I read some Mary Oliver. Then I put my headphones on, closed my eyes, and listened to a CD I picked up a few weeks ago ($1 at a charity shop!)
Here are two poems that sang to me. And two songs that spoke to my (weary) heart.
I Worried Mary Oliver
I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers flow in the right direction, will the earth turn as it was taught, and if not how shall I correct it? Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven, can I do better? Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows can do it and I am, well, hopeless. Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it, am I going to get rheumatism, lockjaw, dementia? Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing. And gave it up. And took my old body and went out into the morning, and sang.
How Would You Live Then? Mary Oliver
What if a hundred rose-breasted grosbeaks flew in circles around your head? What if the mockingbird came into the house with you and became your advisor? What if the bees filled your walls with honey and all you needed to do was ask them and they would fill the bowl? What if the brook slid downhill just past your bedroom window so you could listen to its slow prayers as you fell asleep? What if the stars began to shout their names, or to run this way and that way above the clouds? What if you painted a picture of a tree, and the leaves began to rustle, and a bird cheerfully sang from its painted branches? What if you suddenly saw that the silver of water was brighter than the silver of money? What if you finally saw that the sunflowers, turning toward the sun all day and every day – who knows how, but they do it – were more precious, more meaningful than gold?
Feeling better every day 🙂 Still getting very tired (and a sore throat) – but we were out briefly yesterday (my first foray into the world for a while!). I had to have an afternoon nap today 😆 I’ve been sitting in the lounge chair the last two days, putting my feet up on my unicorn, and catching up with my reading… I had a bit of a backlog of library books – I’ve been getting interesting books from the library, then running out of time to read them. These last few days has been good for my brain 🙂
Unicorns. Good for feet and books! The big book is from Kew Gardens, about endangered or vulnerable plants. The other one is about food sustainability, and various methods of food production across the world. As part of my jaunt yesterday we went to the library, where I picked up a book I’d put on hold.
Someone trying to tell me something?
Hoping to get back in to my normal rhythm by the weekend. Until then – time to read!
I’m still climbing out of the dark chasm of feeling-absolutely-horrible. Probably sitting somewhere between ordinary-icky-take-a-rest and ooh-let’s-go-to-the-shops-(if-we-don’t-take-too-long) right now. Biggest Boy is not too well at the moment, although his 4-in-1 test was also negative. So, we have/had something. Just not something with an easily identifiable name 😆 I’m able to read and watch YouTube (and enjoy both!) without overdoing it. I was even able to watch church online yesterday – yay! The week before it was too much to stay upright for that long…
The weather is still cooling, and I’m hoping to do some work this week. I’m booked for a Micro Business Skills course later in June, so it makes sense to get some work done towards the business itself!
No interesting photos to share. I have a variety of views from my window (as seen from the bed), not sure anyone wants to see a range of cloud formations… But I have a couple of new songs I’ve enjoyed over the weekend 😀
No Beyonce. Enjoy anyway!
…and here’s a way to have a laugh at yourself, while gently teasing your fans… (you’ll need to put the captions on [that little “CC” button on the bottom])
Well, public holidays… There’ve been a lot lately. This is good for rest and relaxation – not so good for organising appointments! I have finished my course now, although I haven’t yet got my final transcript (or “testamur”, apparently) Because of all the holidays I’ve found it difficult to find out what I’m supposed to do next. I have an appointment on Wednesday that should sort it out 🙂
I’ve had a request form for some blood tests hanging around. They were due in May (presumably anytime in May) so I got those done yesterday. It was one of a few different errands that had to be accomplished, so it was easier to go to a different place than my normal one. The phlebotomist was great 🙂 Quick, no pain (apart from the initial scratch – don’t think they can do much about that), and got the vein first time! That’s not always the case – sometimes they have to wiggle the needle around a bit. Then take it out and use the other arm 😆 She was cheerful as well. And there was a hand crocheted drop of blood in the corner to cheer me up.
We voted today. The actual election day is Saturday, but we like to get in early… our area has a lot of independents running (the senate paper overflowed the voting booth), so it took a bit of research to figure out who was running for what. A friend posted a link to Build a Ballot, which we found helpful in sorting out preferences. Have a go! 🙂 There are also links there to the various parties’ sites – you can check out what their actual policies are. We didn’t want to waste our vote by not knowing who we were choosing. Sweet Bean spent ages weighing up different parties and policies – he’s happy to have made his choice 🙂
Although we usually go for a coffee on a Wednesday, there’s an appointment to stay home for tomorrow. So we indulged in a Tuesday coffee!
(… and cake! ❤ )
And, speaking of democracy – what great things can people do when they get together! I have never been to a Pub Choir evening in person (I will one day!), but I did a few Couch Choirs in lockdown. Over the last few years they have been recording a phrase or line from Bohemian Rhapsody in every place they go. Here is the end result.
My Babe and I go out for a cuppa together every fortnight or so, but we tend to get any shopping we need after, and then go home. Because of some lovely people, we were able to go out on an Actual Date today 🙂 We had wanted to see “The Chosen:Last Supper”, but hadn’t managed to before Easter. It’s still on at Hoyts in town, though, so – yay! 1pm on a Tuesday afternoon – we were the only ones there. We’d looked at the daybeds, but decided against them – too close to the screen, and the danger of falling asleep… So we chose recliners.
Leaning back, with a footrest and plenty of space to stretch out. No, we didn’t fall asleep 😆 It was very comfortable.
As for the movie – loved it! (Go and see it!) It was only part 1 (it ends with Jesus turning over the tables in the temple courts), so we’ll go and see part 2 mid-Mayish.
Afterwards we had a look at a pop-up gallery in Booval Fair, then back to town to pick up some proper curry (i.e. not the cheapest option) at Indian Mehfil – another recommendation for a great day out. We got there just as they opened, so had to wait outside for a bit, as the sun went down.
A lovely day out, and one I’m glad we got to choose! ❤
Somewhere, in the not too distant past, I read of someone who liked to “rescue” people’s handmade trinkets from charity shops. I thought of that when I saw this.
Cute? I think so. It does seem to have strange deep pools for eyes, though. I wonder what it’s seen?
Here’s a side view.
Why? I don’t know… Feeding Kitty obviously wasn’t a high priority for its previous owner. Nor, apparently, was a sense of proportion.
This week saw the mowing of the grass (yay!) after recent rain kept the ground too soggy for a while. Not only do we have a lovely short lawn, we also have fruit on the tree near the fence! 🙂
We think they’re guavas.
It was a bit of a surprise. I hadn’t even seen flowers! There was a wasp buzzing around, so not sure if the fruit is any good.
Autumn is wandering in, and fruit is appearing randomly. Maybe it’s the start of a metaphor…
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 