Snuggled In The Corner Chair

It was probably only a few days ago when the days decided to tip over into winter.
It’s been SO COLD!!
Comparatively.
And really, only in the mornings. Late afternoons. Nights.

I like this time of year. It’s sort of crispy clear, and good for snuggling in to warm duvets, and unicorn slippers. I even did a bit of a “spring” makeover – washed the sheets, which dried quickly in the breezy cold.

A beautiful sight!

I chose the blue skies duvet cover for me, to remember the hot sunshine by.

I have also (finally) been using my art room – something I hadn’t been able to get together in the last couple of places we’ve lived in.

My desk.
Where I’m actually doing some work!

And here’s my corner(ish) chair, snuggled in its little spot, and so far still warm during the day. It’s for reading, and writing (definitely no ‘rithmetic!)
I hadn’t realised there was so much colour around it…

Rainbows, and hearts, and toes about to become toasty warm!

I am tired right now – it was a big day of cleaning and washing – but I feel like I’ve been able to do more lately. Even though I lose energy over the day, it feels like I’m starting from a higher point. It’s lovely to be able to actually do something!
Having a bit more strength in the day is great, and there are times when I feel like a child again.

Not quite to this level of activity, though.
Everything else in the song is possible 🙂

This world may be crazy.
But it is beautiful.
❤

Published in: on June 8, 2024 at 10:17 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A Tiny Piece Of Lego And A Big Clean Up

The sun has been lovely lately.
Bright clear days to get the washing dry, and just enough warmth to thaw my toes in the morning!
I got myself some sunflowers the other day, to bring the sunshine inside.

They’ve been lighting up the lounge room for a fair few days, but have been decorously wilting lately.

Still beautiful!

As the sunroom has been warm, but not baking, I’ve been using it a bit more.
I sat amidst the bookcases yesterday afternoon, enjoying poetry and music. Thought I’d do it again today…

Well, it started out OK.
I have some Lego sets the boys bought me, but I hadn’t put them together yet. How long could it take?
The one today was part of a Doctor Who set. The (twelfth) doctor, and the TARDIS is done – just K9 to go.
Those pieces are so tiny!
…and my hands are getting older.

Yes, I dropped a tiny, tiny piece.
A tiny, tiny piece that is also a specialist piece (it attaches the head somehow).
I heard it bounce away, but I can’t tell which direction sound is coming from.
A cursory look at the immediate surroundings didn’t help, so I pulled a few bits of furniture out.
Nothing.

I had noticed yesterday that the sunroom needed a good dust.
How long could that take?

I dusted the tops and shelves, including all the little bits and pieces on the shelves.
The boxes and containers all had to be moved and vaccuumed behind, as well as dusting them.
The (tiny, tiny) piece could have got caught up in the curtains?
The heavy, rubber backed curtains that I’ve been meaning to… do something with.
So, they came down, and were replaced with lovely translucent blue curtains. I still had to fold and store the old ones – the metres of heavy, huge fabric that sheds dust if you just look at it. I had remembered to put a mask on at some point, so the dust didn’t annoy me too much.
It took a while, but everything in the sunroom is sparkling now.
I already had the vaccuum out, so it made sense to do the rest of my cleaning (lounge, kitchen, bedroom, as well as dusting the surfaces in those places).
All nice and clean now 🙂
I normally do the big clean on Saturday morning, but now I can sleep in a bit tomorrow.

Today was a lot more active than my normal days, so I had Panadol and a hot water bottle, after a lovely hot shower/hair wash.
A bit sore, but feeling accomplished.

Still haven’t found that Lego piece, though.

Published in: on May 24, 2024 at 10:04 pm  Leave a Comment  

Fresh Breeze Flowing

Such a day!
I feel like a new direction has been peeking round a corner today, hinting its existence, and teasing its imminence.
I know, that sounds hopelessly vague.
Some things get clearer with time! 🙂
Anyway – I don’t know anything past that hint, so I’ll talk about rose petals…

The rose bush I thought was dormant for the winter decided to gift me a vase full of blooms for Mothers’ Day.
They’ve already started to drop their petals, but aren’t they beautiful?
A delicate drift of scented loveliness –
a different stage of life, with beauty still to give.

Have you ever felt used up
old
petals falling
drifting?

Maybe there’s still time
space
expectancy
– to spread a sweet scent over a fading world,
and bring beauty back into your part of the garden.
❤

Published in: on May 14, 2024 at 11:04 pm  Comments (2)  

Where Have I Been?

Round and about, really.
I hadn’t realised I’d been gone so long – nearly a month!
Well.
Hello! 😀
I’m enjoying the new season. These chilly nights feel languid yet full of possibilities…I’m not sure why. Some sort of sense memory lingering underneath the now…

These last two weeks have galloped by. I had to have a minor procedure up at the hospital two Mondays ago. I had thought I’d be OK fairly soon after, but it took a bit longer, and then I apparently caught a bug from one of my boys. They’re so generous! 😆
I’ve also been settling into doing a year long course at TAFE (online). It’s run through a uni in Central Queensland, and one of the preliminary tasks involved safety procedures on campus – even though I’m doing my studies online, I can still visit the campus if I happen to be passing through.
You can tell it’s a Queensland campus. One of the first topics cautioned us against annoying the kangaroos on the campus grounds, closely followed by what to do if you find a snake – in or out of the buildings. There’s even a dedicated number to ring.

Apart from that – I finally got the clock up.
It even keeps good time.

There was a rose on the bush at the back yesterday, clinging on to the remnants of summer.
The hibiscus bush seems to be exploding at the moment. They’re very vibrant.

And somehow frilly…

I have enjoyed cups of hot chocolate.

And a muffin or two!

Orange and poppyseed – a treat from my Babe, when I still wasn’t up to going out.

Yesterday I caught the bus (just up the road) to get some stuff 🙂 It’s the first time in a long while I’ve been out by myself! Had a good long look at the charity shops, and treated myself to some purchases, like a pedestal trinket bowl, to balance my pet crayfish on.

Also – books.
Lots of books.
😀

Nearly time for a new week to begin.
Lots to do!

Published in: on May 10, 2024 at 9:15 pm  Leave a Comment  

Glimpsing The Sunshine

I was surprised to see the sun today, since the forecast had been talking about rain over the week ahead, and we’ve had downpours here lately.
I love grey days, especially when they’re just on the comfortable side of cool. I often feel a bit more energetic on those days – not sure whether it’s the “grey” or the “cool” that helps…
Still, nice to see blue skies today!

I just finished a book about sunshine.

It was written earlier in the pandemic, when people were still trying to comprehend the “new normal”. It’s a compilation of stories about people making sunshine out of life’s storms…that sounds very airy-fairy, but it’s really about those people standing in their grey cloud realities and looking for the light. You can’t just wish tragedies away, or wish the good stuff in. You can stand where you are, and find where the cracks let the light in. Or let someone close to you see them, if you just can’t get there ❤
One thing that runs through the stories is the kindness of others. That’s something that we saw during lockdowns, and have experienced at other times in our lives.
Light will always overcome darkness.

Also, clouds come in different sizes, and shades.

Look for the blue sky.
Reach for the light!

Tonight I found out that a friend had died, earlier on in the year.
We only knew each other online, and there were many others in our group who knew him better.
Still, we had various interactions, and he sent me two books that are still in my bookcases. I will get them out to look through again tomorrow.
This song came my way tonight, and I thought it fitting for this post.

I don’t think that his life was “troubled”, as such, but a long life lived kindly and openly will have pain and trouble in it. And then – rest…for someone who spread ripples of love, and shone light where the clouds had formed.

Published in: on April 6, 2024 at 9:13 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Singing A New Song

…or is it an old one?

❤

Published in: on March 31, 2024 at 12:30 am  Leave a Comment  
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A Rainy Walk For Good Friday

I had wanted to go to an Easter set up at a church we go to sometimes – a “contemplative journey through the events of the first Easter” – but somehow it didn’t happen. It was a modern take on the traditional Stations of the Cross, which I’m not overly familiar with, but thought it would be interesting.
So, I didn’t get there.
It’s been raining a lot lately.
And then, up popped this YouTube walk up a rainy Irish hillside!

Friday’s nearly over.
But Sunday’s coming!
❤


Published in: on March 29, 2024 at 10:29 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Turn The Seasons

Seems like we’ve turned the corner into autumn.
I’m enjoying the feeling of being pleasantly chilly! The rain seems entrenched for a bit, and I can give the air conditioner a rest for a while.
We’ve had some interesting visitors with the rain.

He stayed for a while, but disappeared in the night…
My roses are lingering, but their best days are past. We seem to have a hibiscus in the garden, though!

I associate them with summer, but Google tells me they actually flower in spring and autumn.

I have been working out how to organise a cert 3 online. I have managed to enrol, but it seems to be up to me to decide what subjects I do, and when. What happened to the days when you enrolled in a course and the educational facility told you what your timetable was? I feel like trying to work out what I’m actually doing has been more work than I’m anticipating the course itself will be!

I will be studying visual art. I did an Advanced Diploma of Art somewhere around 35 years ago, and I’m expecting this to be much less involved. The tools and methods of creative processes have changed in a lot of ways over that time, so I’m hoping to learn more computer based skills this time around.
It’s all been dredging up previous creative endeavours, and thinking about ways to merge then-me into now-me in an authentic way. We’ll see what happens.
One of the things I’ve done in the past is ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), small works of art (2.5 x 3.5 inches) that were originally meant to be traded between artists. They’re often themed, and one theme I did a series on led me to this song, which I’d half forgotten.

I listened to it a lot back then, but I don’t remember seeing this video before I looked up the song recently.
I can’t remember the exact theme of the ATC series – something like “heavenly bodies” – but I used the stars motif for mine.
Well, once again it’s looking back before going forward.
Who knows what will be this time next year?

Published in: on March 26, 2024 at 12:12 am  Leave a Comment  
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Bugs, Mugs, And Handfuls Of Paper

We’ve done our voting – went down yesterday to the pre-polling place.
Been a bit off colour lately, and having to run the gauntlet of random people shoving paper in our faces wasn’t helpful. Biggest Boy found it difficult as well, so we both just put our head down and strode on through…
Maybe there’s a case for having a sensory friendly entry point for elections? There was a lane roped off for people leaving – maybe one on the other side for those who just want to get in and out? By the time we get there we’ve already done our research and made our choices. Does anyone really wait till they’re in line for the ballot box? The crumpled, discarded wads of paper left behind in the boxes seem to suggest not.

Well, we got there in the end.
To cheer me up afterwards, I decided to spend some of my birthday money, since it’s been waiting around for me to find something nice.
My big mug, the one I normally use, has been annoying me lately. The design on it wore off ages ago (no, it wasn’t “dishwasher proof”). I bought some ceramic paint to repaint it, advertised as dishwasher proof (Reader, it was not…). What I ended up with was a nicely sized cup, with purple globs in odd spaces.
Not the look I was going for.

And so – I went to Trottie Becke in the mall and treated myself to a new mug 🙂

Dragonflies, and bugs, and flowers – and a sweet little ladybug inside!

Here it is in its natural habitat.

😀

Published in: on March 14, 2024 at 11:54 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Here For…

Just taking a break from a strenuous programme of watching YouTube and episodes of Death In Paradise 😆
Seriously…I’ve had a good day of catching up with transcribing notes, and revisiting the concepts from the lessons they came from. It’s taking time, but is also inspiring.
I’ve been thinking about the “faces” we wear, and the importance of finding why we are here, in this life, in this place. I was watching a cover of a song from Barbie (the recent movie) – the original is hauntingly lovely/sad, but I thought I’d share this one. If you haven’t seen the movie, there’s a theme here of authenticity – of being “real”.

We all spend some amount of time finding out what we’re made for. Some work it out while they’re still young. Some never get there.
I think most of us get there at some point…but sometimes, when things change – we’re off again, trying to find our place in the world, and our people. It’s the question everyone’s asking, even if they don’t know it.

I’ve never been big on makeup.
There was a brief time in my life where I was an Avon lady. I had a lot of samples, and tried all of them out. It never looked quite right, and I’ve always hated the feel of it on my face. I found a more natural range, which felt quite nice, but still looked odd to me. In the end, I couldn’t really be bothered…my face is mine, and it’s good enough for me 🙂
There are a lot of boxes in the world – ones that people are supposed to fit into, and then stay in forever. By the time we’re in school, and often before, we’ve been put in a box somewhere. It’s generally one we haven’t chosen, and it’s hard to get out.
I don’t feel like I’ve fitted in any of the boxes I’ve seen. Maybe there’s room to make a box? One with open doors and transparent sides…flowers and colours and perfumes and songs!
After all my years, I’m happy with myself. Not perfect, of course. Still a weirdo to other people. But “me”, as much as me can be. I still have a lot to learn and grow into – that’s a lifelong thing, really – but I’m learning what I’m here for.
I hope you are too.

And here’s another song, for when people tell you you “can’t”.

Find your music.
I know it’s there.
❤

Published in: on March 9, 2024 at 11:10 pm  Leave a Comment  
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