My Life, In Coffee

The last few days, at least!
I had a busy Thursday/Friday – those are the days my Babe is away at uni until late. They were also the days we were given to inspect a couple of houses…
I don’t travel well these days. In my youth 🙂 I could walk wherever I needed to, carrying whatever was necessary for the day. At the moment it’s too much to walk to the bus stop from here, so I get a lift in when my Babe goes in to catch the train. This usually means sitting in a cafe with my coffee, waiting for the time of the appointment I’m supposed to be going to that day.

There are worse things to do with my time.

Thursday was an 8am drop off, with a viewing time of 1.30pm. That meant whiling away some time at breakfast, a bit of shopping, sitting in the library…unfortunately that viewing (the only reason I was in town) was cancelled at the last minute. I got the message just as I was gathering up my things to get the bus to the house.
Friday started off even earlier – 7am drop off at the other end of town. I found a cafe open at that time –

This was my view.
This was also my view!

It was still a bit chilly at that time of the morning, so I did move to the indoor section fairly soon after this.

The first house viewing was at 10am, which left a few hours to sit around or wander in. The boys came down to look with me – that house wasn’t as small as it looked from outside, but I’m unsure about it. We put in an application for both places though.
I was reminded of a verse earlier that morning, so I looked up the psalm it came from. Do you think Someone’s trying to tell me something? 😀

Went to my regular cafe with my boys after, then library for a bit, then the viewing that was cancelled the day before.
Why do houses never look, in reality, the way they do in the real estate ads? We know to compensate for the photo stretching that seems to infect all the listings, but it still can be hard to work out what you’re really looking at. This house was the one we were most interested in. It is probably still the one, but there were differences to the photos. For one thing, the people living there at the moment have “stuff” lying about everywhere, and there were quite a lot of other people also looking at the place, which made it hard to gauge sizes of rooms or overall space. They also have pets (dogs, I think), so there was some sort of pet fur pretty much everywhere, piled up in the window/door runners. The screens in the outside doors were full of claw marks, or almost torn out in some places. We were assured it would be cleaned before the next tenants came in.

It’s been a long few days, but I’m feeling optimistic.
I was glad to have been able to get to where I needed to, but I hurt today…for some reason, overdoing things seems to also make me feel a bit flu-ey.
Today, and probably tomorrow, was/will be taking it easy days. There’s still packing to do, as well as the regular stuff. For me, most days are doing things bit by bit.

Hopefully, by next week we’ll have more of an idea of where we are.
Or where we’re going!
Until then –

❤

Published in: on October 16, 2022 at 12:27 am  Comments (2)  
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And The Earth Smiles Again

…even though it seems a bit unsure what the season is! 😆
It’s nice to have a bit of a slight chill from time to time, but I can feel the summer lurking behind, waiting for its turn.
Last week I was in town for most of the day. My Babe was out to uni early, so I hitched a lift in for a very early (for me) breakfast.

A composition of contentment. 🙂

The cafe I go to has a lot of greenery, both inside and out. There’s lots of little “still life” areas – wherever you choose to sit is welcoming.

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There are flowers bursting out everywhere!

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I had to get the bus to my appointment, then had planned to get a bus back to town, so I could get another bus home. I don’t know what was happening with delays, but I eventually decided to walk back in to where I needed to catch the bus home.
Guess what?
More flowers! 😀

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Everywhere, signs of new growth in amongst the old.

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It was a very long day for me, but I managed it – almost pre-covid energy levels! I’ve had to take it easy this week. Fatigue has whacked me over the head again, and I’ve got similar journeys that I need to do in the next few days. We’ve got a couple of house inspections, and have already filled out as much of the application for tomorrow’s property as we can (you have to go to the inspection and get a code to proceed with finalising the application). We’ve got a good feeling about tomorrow!

I got home mid-afternoon last week.
There was another pigface smiling at me as I got through the gate to the complex. This is from the gardens further down from us. They don’t have as many flowers as us, but the ones they do have are very big.

We’re about ready to really get in to packing and moving…
Roll on tomorrow!

Published in: on October 12, 2022 at 5:07 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Grab The Popcorn

…although I don’t really know where we are in this “movie”! 😆

We’ve had a look at three places so far – the first is still being decided, the second we were quickly told our “application has not been successful”…don’t know why. The third, we saw today. It looked promising online (4 bedrooms/2 bathrooms, separate living areas), but reality was disappointing. Sometimes I “feel” a place when I enter it – this one felt unsettling to me, and even faintly distressing. I felt locked in, like a prison. I’m not sure why. It was a weird sort of place – the downstairs had been built in to create “bedrooms”, but one of those had no powerpoints at all – just an extension cord dangling from the ceiling, through the hole in the floor above. There was a “kitchen” and a “kitchenette”, which included a sink and worktop in each. Apart from that, the “kitchen” had a stovetop, and some sort of toaster oven. It all felt quite industrial and institutional. There was no air conditioning at all, which is not uncommon in a lot of places I’ve seen online – some only have air conditioning in the living room and/or the main bedroom. This place didn’t even have fans, in any room or living space. The doors to the outside required a key, so we couldn’t just go out to see what was out there… we didn’t put in an application, and the estate agent didn’t seem to expect us to.

We’ll wait and see what happens with the place we saw yesterday. It’s got the number of rooms and bathrooms we wanted, but it’s overall a bit smaller than it looked online (I wish they wouldn’t stretch the photos out so much!). I liked the feel of it, though. 🙂

We’ve been taking photos and scans of a multitude of documents for applications, which all seem to take hours, so here are some photos I took of the flowers in my garden.
A little bit of sweetness and colour amongst all the paperwork!

These little pigfaces again – they’re putting on quite a show for me this year!

My sage is flowering 🙂

I don’t know what these are called, but they turn up bright and cheerful each year, whether I remember to water them or not.

As for the popcorn… I needed a giggle this evening.

Published in: on October 5, 2022 at 9:40 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Shedding The Weight

The barber down the road has had to take some time off, so the boys were not able to get their hair cut when they wanted to… thankfully my hairdresser was able to fit me in, so I’m a lot lighter than I was!
We’re still looking for a house to move to. The boys went to have a look at a two bedroom place the other day (they didn’t get it), so they wanted to look their best – hence the haircut dilemma 🙂
Biggest boy can still get away with brushing and pulling back his hair with an elastic band. Sweetest Bean’s hair is much thicker, and tends to corkscrew out into increasingly wilder shapes.
My Babe to the rescue! 😀
He was planning on a trim any way – we have a set of clippers – so he did Sweet Bean’s hair. It needed a basic cut first, then the clippers – it was too thick for the clippers to get through. Here’s what our sink looked like –

It’s like a full head of hair sticking up through the plughole!

We were supposed to look at a one bedroom place (just for us) the other day. We turned up on time, and one other lady was there. Unfortunately, no-one else came. After phoning to try to find out what was going on we were told that the viewing had been cancelled as someone had already signed a lease. Annoying enough for us, but the other woman had just driven an hour to get there, with her poor little dog in the car as well. It felt as though the estate agents were not too worried about it. The other 13 people who were supposed to look had been sent the cancellation info, and the person on the phone seemed to think it was no big deal for us to be waiting… At the moment there are more people than there are places available, so they’re not falling over themselves to be accommodating.We do have three places to look at next week, so that should be fun! We’re concentrating on four bedroom places, where the boys can live more or less separately to us, and we can all share the bills.
I packed some more things today, mostly from the top cupboards in the kitchen. It feels like taking weight off – not just by getting rid of some things, but also not having to worry about tidying/packing after it’s done, and the feeling of lightness when looking through old, happy memories.
Not to mention the approaching summer, and the days getting lighter and brighter.
Look at these little beauties!

They bloom and grow with no help from me…

The world is still turning.
The sun is still shining.
And sooner or later, we will find our new home!

Published in: on September 30, 2022 at 8:01 pm  Leave a Comment  

Coffee In The Spring

…and a chocolate blueberry muffin.

Yum!
🙂

It’s been a good week – out for coffee and muffin, home to sort through boxes and other assorted packing… We managed to get through the cupboard under the stairs, which had been my main worry. It wasn’t as hard as I was expecting, and it was fun rediscovering things I’d forgotten or thought I’d lost.
I’ve been more energetic this last week – I had a change in medication a few weeks ago, so perhaps it’s kicking in…
I also got my new glasses, so I can see clearly now (although the rain hasn’t really gone!).
Here I am in my new (pink) reading glasses.

Now I just need a haircut!

The rental market is frustrating at the moment. We tried to arrange to have a look at one place, but it seems we would have to apply for it first, including supplying all relevant documents to see if we were eligible for the shortlist, before we could even have a look. All the other places apparently don’t have viewings at the moment, even though they’re still advertised on the real estate sites. It’s a different world from the last time we were looking.
We’d been looking for places we could move to with the boys, or just on our own, if they find their own place. Now there’s the possibility that one might be able to rent a room…but not the other. We’ve had to try to get our heads around that, as it changes the number of rooms and the amount of rent we could be looking at. Hopefully we’ll have more of an idea on Monday.

Nevertheless, it’s been good to have a clearout. We are in a kind of limbo at the moment, but we are also aware that we’re in a better position than a lot of others right now. It seems like almost every day I’m hearing stories of people sleeping in cars or on couches, often with kids.

Home, sweet home.
A cliche, but true.
It is sweet to be able to have a place to call your own. I pray that everyone between homes tonight finds that one place where they are safe and welcome.
❤

Published in: on September 24, 2022 at 11:25 pm  Comments (2)  

Little Boxes

Had a lovely time today, going through boxes in preparation for our eventual move. I felt great that I had the ability to achieve as much as I did, but it was perhaps more than I should have done 😆 We shall see tomorrow!
I’ve been packing bits and pieces for a while, but we’ve finally breached the dreaded CupboardUnderTheStairs. After (14…15…who knows?) years of homeschooling, there are boxes and boxes of paper. Sweet Bean finished his schooling at a distance ed school, but up until then we were flying under the radar with the education authorities, and got into the habit of saving schoolwork just in case we were called to account somewhere along the line. It’s been interesting seeing some of the early attempts again (and there’s still lots to look through!) but it takes ages to sort out the keep/throwaway piles.
Part of my packing strategy involves using as much “dead” space as I can – anything with any space to spare gets something shoved into it! This included all my Tardises (Tardisi?) at one point. At least one of them seems bigger on the inside!

There’s still room! 😆

Rest day tomorrow, then I’ll get stuck in again.
We still don’t really know where we’re going yet, but it should be interesting.
And there’s one thing I do know –

Published in: on September 17, 2022 at 11:26 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Orchids – Or Lavender?

Possibly linens?
We’ve been married 28 years today. I thought I’d look up the traditional gift…the 28th year doesn’t really feature in most lists. The ones I did find were the above options (lavender is the “colour” for this anniversary, apparently). Otherwise, we’re somewhere between silver and pearl 🙂

Anniversary selfie! I haven’t edited this at all (apart from a bit of cropping). Something about the lighting in the cafe makes it seem like we both have make-up on…or at least that we’re a lot younger than we are 😀

We went off for a coffee and cake (or chocolate slice…) together, then celebrated further with a lovely steak dinner. Spent a large part of the evening sharing YouTube clips of songs and bands/singers we’ve each been enjoying lately. It’s been very busy in various ways, with not a lot of time to sit together and talk. We enjoyed taking the time to talk, and also snuggle on the couch, listening to good songs. Here’s one that seemed appropriate for today!

What an amazing range of Australian artists there are to choose from!

For a couple of years now I’ve been able to say that I’ve been married longer than not married…
Now we can start working on the next 28 years.
❤

Published in: on September 15, 2022 at 11:22 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Sweetest Bean Turns 19

❤

The partying was yesterday 😆
The cafe he wanted to go to is very busy on Saturdays, so we went for breakfast when it was quieter. The boys went off together afterwards… it won’t be long until the only time we see them are when we organise to meet up!
Today was quiet – just enough energy to have cake and pressies 😀

Happy 19th Birthday, my Beautiful Bean!

Published in: on September 10, 2022 at 9:46 pm  Leave a Comment  

The End Of An Era

The Queen is dead.

At 96, and having had health problems lately, it was not unexpected. But it still seems a bit of a shock.
I saw the news of her ill health last night, and knew that such an official announcement would not bring good news in the morning.

For most of us, in Britain and the Commonwealth, it is a new era – we have never known another monarch. She has been a constant in a lot of ways. It will be strange to now have to say “God save the King”. There will still be some who remember King George VI, but there have been too many years since then for it to easily trip off the tongue…
Whatever your thoughts on the institution of the monarchy, I think we can acknowledge the contribution she has made in her long life, through many years of world, family and personal tribulations. Though it sometimes seemed as though she was immortal, she was only human, and as such was not perfect. Nevertheless, this quote from her coronation speech in 1953 shows the intention she pledged for her life as our Queen –

“I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”

I believe she fulfilled that pledge to the best of her ability.

(Unknown / Library and Archives Canada, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

I chose this portrait because it was the image that I first had of her as a child, when her portrait was hung in community halls and other public places. A young Queen, not yet knowing what lay ahead, but still resolved to serve her people and her country, no matter what the future held.

Here’s another quote, from her Christmas message in 2000 –

 “To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.” 

After a very long life of service, I believe she has earned her rest.
Rest In Peace, Ma’am.
We will mourn your passing.

Published in: on September 9, 2022 at 6:23 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Sitting In The Dust

Packing for our coming move proceeds…sporadically, and with some difficulty. But it is still ongoing.
I’ve been finding that I have bursts of ability, so I dart about, trying to do what I can in that space. Then the next day or so it feels like I’m coming down with flu!

Today I thought I’d tackle the stuff under the bed. In my head, it seemed simple (I do a lot of “packing” in my head). In reality, I found I couldn’t pull the larger boxes out far enough to clean them down, and ended up sitting on the dusty carpet, crying… Thankfully, my Babe was around to help ❤
I cleaned off the dust, in preparation for packing more in the boxes that have space. Then I was able to do the ordinary cleaning, before luxuriating in a lovely hot bath 🙂

We still don’t know where we’re moving to. We just have to trust that it will all come together when it needs to.
In the meantime – here’s a song that came out today!

Published in: on August 27, 2022 at 8:34 pm  Leave a Comment  
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