1000 Fields of Roses

The world keeps spinning, but sometimes it seems the spin is faster with every year…
As I look round at what’s happening in various corners of the globe, it brings the thought that there is only so much time in a life, and we all get to decide how to use it wisely.
Make time for the small things…
Maybe they’ll all add up to become the important things?

I don’t yet know how my time will go this year – there are still things to find out, and decisions to be made.
I can do some small things in the meantime!
This project has been on the backburner for a while. Our clock has been with us for nearly 30 years (it was a wedding present) and has travelled without breakage, or even losing time. Not long after we moved to this house, it fell off the shelf it was on. I didn’t even know that there was glass over the dial and pendulum! Thankfully, the large glass circle over the dial survived, but the pendulum glass smashed beyond repair.
I put it all aside for a bit, had a cry, and tried to work out how to fix it. I think it took so long because I was trying to make it the same as it was.
Some things can’t be fixed. But you can still make the best of what’s left!
Not only was the glass smashed, but the dial face was old and crumbling.
I tried to glue it down.
I tried to paint over the cracks.
That just made it look worse.

And so…

I made a new clock face (or, at least, downloaded one 🙂 ), and repurposed an old frame insert in place of the pendulum (which hadn’t worked for a while anyway).
It’s not perfect.
The glue buckled the paper a bit, and I think it’s slightly off centre. We still have to stick the plastic cover down. It works, though!

Time.
Unless I live to be 110 or older, I’m at least halfway or more through my life.
Time –
to use the days wisely,
cherish the important things,
and remember to be grateful for the years still left.
❤

There’s always time for tea!

Here we are – coming up to the end of the first week of 2024.
If the week between Christmas and New Year feels like all the engines are off, the first week of January can feel like the gears are just cranking up, broadcasting complaints, and getting ready to launch creakily into the unknown.
Not quite nothing happening.
Just not quite sure what’s happening!

I’ve taken down the Christmas decorations, and started a bit of a plan around drawing and writing throughout the year. Nothing spectacular, but probably more sustainable than a big New Year resolution 🙂 .
I wasn’t too well at the beginning of the week, but getting better now. It helped me see how easy it is to be recuperating in this house – comfortable, able to stay cool fairly easily, and all the essential living areas are on one level and easy to get to.
I’ve still managed to do washing and dishes. You don’t realise how lovely it is to be able to get things clean until you have random times in your life when you can’t manage cleaning…
The roses are still taking their place inside, joined now by geraniums.

With a bonus dragonfly!

The space left after packing away Christmas decorations seemed just right to hold my collection of teapots, cups and plates. They’ll probably need a wash before I use them – not sure what will happen with the dust. Nice teasets need to be seen, though 🙂 .

Who knows what’s ahead as we swing into 2024?
At least we can remember to stop sometimes for a cup of tea.
❤

It’s hard to believe that it’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow.
It’s just as hard to believe that Christmas Day was less than a week ago!

We’ve had the lights on a few times this week.

Reindeer flying around the world!

This Christmas we decided to hold back on the cakes and bikkies. I still had some chocolates, but I think my favourite indulgence was a bag of cherries. Some meals this week have just consisted of a bowl of cherries, with a bit of cream. Yum!
It was cheaper to get the chocolates than the cherries, though…

I’ve been out and about for a couple of weeks – getting to church a few weeks running, going to the Rocklea Markets, even visiting friends or having friends over 🙂

The view from the car window on the way home from our friends’ place.
It’s not often these days that I see the sunset from outside the house!
Unfortunately, this gadding about has come with a bit of a crash…I’ve had a cough thingy the last few days, so haven’t been up to much. Caught up on the washing, though, on the first hot sunny day this week. Otherwise – books and YouTube 😀

There have been storms here, although we haven’t had the damage that other places have had. Some spectacular lightning out the back…

…which is pretty hard to capture on the phone.

My roses are still blooming, although the storms have beaten them about a bit. I’ve left them on the bushes up until now, but decided to enjoy them more inside and save them from the weather.

I’ve even got some yellow roses growing.

I have to keep culling them, as they get older and petals start falling off.
Today I have a good mixture of the old and the new.

A bit like the years, really.