Jaded

I give thanks for grey and damp and blow start to the day, just right for staying indoors with my creaky knees and hands. I'm grateful for finding some old fashioned Dylon dye and managing to stir a pot on the stove so that I now have the jadey green things I tried to produce last week.

I give thanks for stirring some scrambled eggs to go on some toast as well, but all that was quite exhausting so I give thanks for a snooze or two during match delay this afternoon in Paris, and for the crowd's Mexican rain wave with their brollies! I give thanks for the neighbour's children waking me up or I might have stayed there for hours... I give thanks for my freezer and fridge for feeding me some tea.

It's got to be...

I'm grateful it's such a perfect day. Whatever your opinion of what you encounter (or don't) it's just a turning of a lump of rock in space remember...

I'm grateful for a rather excellent Monfils match last night so I could rest my aches and pains on the sofa and watch, and a rather boring Murray one today so I could get on with other things...

I'm grateful for this mint copy of a book I wanted for my hols for 1p plus the usual P&P ps on Amazon...

I'm grateful I live somewhere I sometimes spell for people H - E - A -V - E - N. It's not entirely a joke, which if you live here you'll know. Thought I'd treat myself a tuna sarnie on the back beach before it becomes film crew/Colin Firth fan infested next week, and pick up some salad as I ran out of shopping strength yesterday and it turned into a festival of delightful exchanges about all manner of things with all manner of people...and dogs! I'm grateful I treated myself to a slice of yummy lemon cake from the craft market as I managed to get three quarters of the sandwich actually in the sand rather than the more traditional other way round... 

I'm grateful for all the laughter in the cab, on the bus, in the shops, at the stalls, at the cafe kiosk and the Big Issue pitch...even in the Post Office where a customer who took a very long time at the counter saw the long queue when she turned round, apologised and mimed creeping out with head hung in penance!

I'm grateful for an evening meal made of leftovers from four previous ones, plus that salad. Lots to be said for vegetarianism you know!

First class

Unable to get comfy enough to sleep for ages last night, I give thanks for a good meditate instead...

Feeling very tired and rather achey today I gave thanks I didn't have to rush out of bed and about the place this morning and am grateful I managed a bit of a clean and tidy before I went out so that now I'm back and even less capable of doing very much, I have very little I have to do at all...

I have an internet friend I know is a Gemini and have a postal address for, so I randomly sent them a small surprise gift a couple of days ago and today it arrived while they were emailing me and we both gave thanks it was nicely in time for their birthday which turned out to be Sunday!

I give thanks Jenny and I went, as not quite promised, to the library to help out with a children's yarn activity session. It went better than we'd feared and, though exhausting, was quite enjoyable really with nicely behaved and interested adults and offspring! I give thanks for a lift there and getting some recycling in the bins on the way, and getting some essential shopping in my bags on the way back...but most of all I give thanks that in between some mice turned up that had been posted to me there by Ann and which are now sitting on a shelf for the weekend...

I give thanks for all the passers by who rushed to help lift a double decker bus off someone who'd been knocked down today in Walthamstow. It's so heartwarming when humans manage to work together in harmony and in a hurry!

Partial observer

I give thanks for keeping on having a go at those feedplate screws...though they continue to resist. I give thanks for racking my brains for someone I could ask to have a go at doing it for me...though I've only thought of one and haven't been able to get hold of them yet. I'm grateful I thought of ringing the (fairly) local repair shop who did them up with an iron hand in the first place and have been working out ways of getting the machine there...though there's no rush as they're only agents and I've missed this week's collection. I'm grateful I thought of emailing an on line place who will collect and deliver...though their price turned out to be beyond my current means. All that remains for today regarding the matter is to give thanks I've done most of the sewing I meant to do for my holiday, that most of what hasn't been done can be done by hand... and that even at the slow pace I do this there should be enough time to complete it.

I give thanks for these pretty new earrings made especially for me...and that the things they were made to go with have already been finished!

I give thanks for lots of tennis to watch, an almost instant pasta bake with some rather tasty frozen Mediterranean veg, and a jam cream scone to eat while I did. I give thanks for downloading two paid apps on my phone. It's rare for me to even use free installed ones unless I have to, but these are the excellent marinetraffic.com and flightradar24 which not only show boats and planes (funnily enough) but also have very good maps unsullied by links to restaurants that have long since closed or route planners telling you how to drive the car you're not in!

I give thanks for Channel 4's excellent observational documentaries - in loos, in police stations, on dates or on night buses. I'm not naive enough to think they feature entirely unadulterated or unaware human behaviour, but they do a little bit and make me laugh out loud with joy, and weep at the poignancy of it.

Going with the slow

Yay, I give thanks for getting enough washing up done last night to get away with doing none today! I give thanks for Jenny assisting in this by inviting me to her house for a spot of lunch on her balcony. I give thanks for arranging sun the weather man had said wasn't on the agenda, and a tanker coming in at just the right time to watch from this perfect viewing spot...

I give thanks for being in less pain, though still stiff and sore and sleepy. I give thanks that it's fibromyalgia making me feel rotten though, and not any of the more serious things I have the matter with me. I give thanks for Phat Bollard playing down in the garden and other music I like. Makes a big difference... I give thanks for trying to do some sewing, breaking a needle and getting the end stuck in the machine as even with WD40 I can't undo the screws of the footplate to try and remove it so I'll just have to rest instead...

Set aside

I'm grateful I made it to choir last night even without Rachel to escort me - there were nice people to talk to, nice things to eat, a lift back...and some singing as well! I'm grateful I managed to lessen the pain of holding the music a little by doing it in loose pages rather than a folder... though turning them was even harder that way of course..

Today I've been grateful for few plans... more than a few would have been harder to give up on as it's been a day of too much pain for doing much at all. I give thanks for little gaps in the neighbourhood noise to nap in, lots of good recorded TV and some live tennis from Paris in which made me literally sit up and take notice for a few games. I give thanks for leftovers less limp than I to save effort in the kitchen. And as usual I give thanks I'm good at looking after myself and have no one to ask to help... as if I did I'd have been merciless today and soon worn out any gentle generosity I'm sure.

Beauty is

Last night I lay in a bath enhanced by a Lush gift from my son, reading a beautifully written book gift from my cousin, and gave thanks for the very rare feeling of feeling cossetted by my family...

I give thanks for beautiful dreams - dreams in which I was captivated and moved by architecture and interior decoration, by light and weather and human endeavour. It was deepest winter and I was in an unusual hospital in New York that in dreamworld I'd seen on TV and recognised, and later worked out used to be a Liberty store which is why there were dark ornately carved staircases and exquisitely etched windows. I kept gazing at these wonders, and those I could see outside in a quaintly preserved neighbourhood and on a frosty river, exclaiming with delight and shedding the odd tear...and had some trouble convincing the staff I didn't have a mental health problem! 

I give thanks for having a bit of a sort out today. Some things are sorted and some things are still out, but the process is as satisfying as the result. I give thanks for realising actually there isn't a result, but only a process! I give thanks for unearthing an unfinished project almost as old as my blog...It's great to have it in view so that I may be moved to continue that process in a more obvious way than letting it languish in the back of a cupboard.

I give thanks for watching yachts race out of sight in distance and in darkness by the miracles of AIS and the internet. I give thanks for stillness on the sofa, snoozing and watching the leaf laden branches waving in the wind. The houses at the back have almost disappeared behind the trees now, but I don't mind - I like it when I see them and I like it when I don't...

Don't be blue

I give thanks for spontaneity, for sterling work in the quick thinking cunning plans department...

For new friends and old, for good souls and good soles, and a great little dog pretending to be a big one by walking on a wall... It's very rare for me to take to a dog under spaniel size so clearly it was acting the part very well.

I give thanks for red sails on a sunless day, and for giving up waiting for an air display...before I found it wasn't happening!

I give thanks for coming home via wisteria lane...

Dark desires

I'm grateful I managed to get some dinner last night before descending into a zombie phase. I'm a non flesh eating zombie quite content to mix my culinary metaphors so it was hummus and bean sprout stir fry with brown rice and quinoa. I'm grateful there are such delicious convenience foods available so I don't have to live on spaghetti hoops and Vesta Chow Men like I did as a child...

I'm grateful I don't live in Liverpool as I have the thinnest palest eyebrows, and lashes to match, and I'm grateful I've found the best home dye for them I've ever used...I no longer look like a badly drawn girl!

I'm grateful I nearly dyed some clothing too, well technically I did but nowhere near the colour I thought I would ie. Eau de Nil rather than rich jade. I'm usually quite successful at this but I suspect the new no salt cool wash formula might be to blame as my machine thinks low temperature means a short cycle and the stuff was no sooner on than  off... I'm grateful for the internet offering possibilities of other options. They changed the formula of the lash dye I used to use too, and now look... I've found one better!

I'm grateful for Welch's purple grape juice. Some may say it's fruit that has failed to fulfill its potential but I think it's just perfect as it is...

Finding my marbles

After another morning of wimping and whimpering in bed I'm grateful I felt better enough in time to get to the Revive monthly meeting and chat to the lovely ladies there who know a thing or two about such states, and I'm grateful I had enough oomph left to get some essential medical and food supplies afterwards too...

I give thanks for finding that awesome fudge now being sold here in town (for future reference as I'm still making my last bag last) and so many other yummy things around competing for my purse's attention like Longley Farm cottage cheese, smoked garlic paste and local strawberries...

I'm grateful the Post Office had some interesting packages to pick up with accessories lengthily chosen on line that proved to be even better than expected. The little earrings especially so as they were an unexpected freebie! I like to shop local and had tried and failed with these items essential only for my travelling vanity...but last week, after a couple of hours searching through dozens of candidates for some just right marbly fabric, I ran out of time to order before I had a bus to catch...and when I got off the bus I looked in the little sewing shop by the stop at the other end and they had the very one I'd chosen so I was very grateful to be able to buy it on the spot!

I'm grateful I've lived so much longer than expected as my bucket list holiday list has taken a long time to save up for, and I'm grateful for counting out some of the change in my sock drawer and having enough to change into a five pound note. Tesco have a saying for that but I spent it in the Co-op and Waitrose instead!

Growing pains

I give thanks for a bit less pain today - it's not been bad at all as long as I keep perfectly still - so I'm grateful I've managed a little of that! 

Yay, the sun came out and it was warm enough to go out without a fleece, and dry enough to leave off a raincoat for the first time in over a week. I give thanks for finding something to wear without having to try on everything I own which would be far too ouchy! I've lost a bit of weight over the last couple of years and I understand my trousers will be loose, but as far as I can tell I haven't grown so how come they're too short as well?

I give thanks for insisting on a quick trip to the outside world for no good reason at all. It's so easy not to when it's so hard but it's been hard for far too long and cabin fever begins to set in, especially as I can't do much indoors either. I give thanks the bus broke down so I had a lovely long rest on the seat, and was joined by a lady who was saying there was nothing to complain about as it was sunny and warm and dry and we had a comfy place to sit - just my kind of stranded companion! I give thanks for the poppies blooming in the cracks between the pavement and wall and the pretty branches overhead with new spring leaves unfolding.

I'm grateful I went in a couple of charity shops and found a couple of garments with enough potential to consider the alterations required to make them fit or look better. I didn't have time to stop for refreshments so I'm grateful the reason I needed to hurry back was a Tesco delivery including ice cream and scones! I give thanks for a nibble and a nap...

Bee's knees

I give thanks for a heartwarming and sometimes hilarious Catfish catch up compilation, a long hot bath and a long and surprisingly deep sleep last night...and well into this morning. I woke up still in stupid amounts of pain but rested and better able to deal with it for which I (and everyone around me) must be truly grateful...and I give thanks for a long lie in with the only aural interruption a text from Christine praising my bee of good cheer at the library. 

I give thanks for discovering when I finally made it into the kitchen for tea and toast that I did the washing up last night. Don't remember that at all!

I give thanks for the sunshine today. Plan A had been to enjoy it by taking a scenic bus ride but it took til mid afternoon to get dressed, so I'm grateful I had a Plan B which was to take a taxi down to the back beach...and when my knees were quite insistent that no stairs featured in the schedule at all, I'm grateful I had a Plan C which was to melt the bergs of ice in the freezer in between bouts of gasping with exhaustion in front of things recorded on TV. I give thanks for Sky's Enfield Haunting (very good, and a bit scary too), a programme about mums who bling up their children (very scary) and for the motor finally kicking back into life on the fridge after an agonisingly long wait when I switched it back on (most scary of all until it did!). 

I give thanks for the sight of bright sails on the blue sea in the evening races.

La la land

I give thanks for a tasty co-created dinner with Rachel yesterday, the washing up done while I absorbed an excellent treatment, and a most enjoyable choir practice where, though we were learning new songs, they were ones that were easy to pick up so that we could let our voices ring out rather than being a bit frightened to. I was in post acupuncture la la land anyway so extra appreciative of the convivial atmosphere, the strange way almost everyone was in colour coordinated clothes and the excellent home made cakes at break time!

By the time I got home I was shattered and sore and woke up the same way too, so I would have been grateful only to get up for tea and toast making if someone living nearby hadn't wanted to listen to their radio in the garden - without actually having a radio in the garden, but instead having the one in their flat loud enough to hear there through their open window. I'm grateful the screamy child the other side was out so I could doze on the sofa for a while instead and that eventually I was driven to go down and ask them to turn it down...because there's no harm in asking politely is there? Well, I hope not! They seemed genuinely puzzled that I could hear it better indoors than they could outside so we'll have to see if they work out why and remember or care. It does take a lot of consideration to live here considerately and we can't restrict our activities to only those no one else can overhear even if we mean to....

Anyway I give thanks for earplugs to enable a restorative nap, that it's quiet this evening so I can have a bath without the taps rattling, and I give thanks I've a smoked haddock fishcake with cheese sauce inside in the oven for my tea...I love those!

Appreciation society

I give thanks for coming over all bustly yesterday evening and getting a few more bits and bobs done. I give thanks for sleeping late, waking slowly, eventually connecting to the world via my tablet and thus being reminded just in time I needed to get up, dressed and ready to receive a delivery. The driver arrived at my doorstep when the web page said he was still 15 mins away so I was very grateful he read the instructions on the package and rang...and waited for me to find and put on my specs and shoes.

I give thanks for numerous small rests in between the things I needed to do this morning, and for Jenny giving me a lift to and from the library this afternoon, where I was up to a little light knitting, nattering, tea drinking, internet enabling etc...plus eating of a chocolate Hobnob thank you from the staff for our lovely knitted display whilst appreciating the fragrant lilac. I give thanks for the appreciative comments from visitors in the book they provided for that very purpose...

I give thanks I've got this post written before Rachel comes, and my part of cooking tea is done too. I give thanks for remembering to check and seeing Jan's cruise ship sailing out of port - via marinetraffic.com!

'Ear 'ear

I give thanks for the pretty pink cross hatch clouds last night after sunset.

I give thanks for a long lie in this morning and then cleaning the kitchen clean later in the day. You have to walk through the dirty, untidy dining room side to get to it but you're so dazzled by what's up ahead you hardly notice at all!

I give thanks for getting the ironing board out, deciding ironing was too strenuous and thus discovering if I sit on the sofa the ironing board makes a just the right height 'work bench' for crafty purposes. I give thanks that this stops my neck and shoulders from seizing up so quickly, but neither my hands not my eyes have been working very well today so I'm grateful eventually I managed to make a pair of earrings to go with a top I prepared earlier (in the year) from fabric bought from eBay...before a little nap! I'm grateful Violet Elizabeth, though in fine voice today, was on the other side of the building to assist in this enterprise...

I wrote the above earlier too...so now I have to give thanks for the little cherub making so much racket I had to do some more vacuuming to drown the sound...

Heart's ease

I give thanks in retrospect for the last couple of days being delightfully light on pain so that it's been easier to catch up with out of the house things...today I've actually been grateful it's settled back in so I've been able to settle in to catching up on snoozes and rest. I've been grateful for the sunshine for those who've been out and about, and for the warmth to have the windows open and get the washing dry. I'm very grateful for my washing machine and clothes racks too...and the almost not there smell of Method Fresh Air.

My beady eyes are not what they used to be, my beady hands even less so (and let's not even go there regarding co-ordination between the two!) so I give great thanks for finishing making my first piece of jewelry for several years. It took in hours close to what it would have taken in minutes before but hey I could do it, and now it's done! I give thanks to Jan for sterling support in the supplies department...

I give thanks for another day's menu of left over bits and bobs from fridge and freezer. There's usually some pretty good things in there so it's no hardship, certainly less hardship than all that preparation malarky when you're tired. I'm grateful I'm in the midst of a big sort out so there's too much stuff lying about to do any other household chores apart from washing up.

The truth is out...

... Or is it in? I give thanks Lush's sacred face mask is back on the shelves (and in my fridge) anyway.

I give thanks for discovering a site that doesn't make you feel it's a deformity...
http://www.britishcurlies.co.uk and for thus discovering the joys of plopping. Heavens, at this rate I might even formulate a beauty routine...well, a brief one anyhow.

After a very tiring day yesterday I give thanks for feeling quite pleased with myself for being up, dressed and fed with clean teeth and my (baseball) boots on by not long after noon... And also for not beating myself up for then needing a short nap and a long lie down before I was ready to go out. I give thanks the renal consultant is going to talk to the oncology one about a drug that was denied me before that would help with the anaemia and maybe help me to stay upright more without feeling I'm going to fall down...

I give thanks for all the lovely people I met to chat to during my trip to town here, including two jolly cab drivers I've not seen for a while and two separate women I used to see around quite often but haven't for so long I thought both had left the area.

I give thanks for my power company unexpectedly giving me a chunk of money back. It's so unusual to see something unscheduled go into my bank account that for a few minutes I thought it had gone out and was all ready to phone them up and complain!

Hard rain

I give thanks for a hard rain falling while I was waiting for the bus as this meant I could sing my heart out without anyone wishing I would not. Yes, I did actually... the Bryan Ferry version. I give thanks for quintessential covers...including my both beautiful and useful cagoule!

I give thanks for the little house in the woods with smoke curling out of the chimney, looking extra cosy and fairy tale-esque with dark dripping leaves all around.

I give thanks the consultant wasn't handing out harsh medicine today, but that I got myself some sweetness as I was in town anyway - Lush treats and a bag of that divine organic fudge.

I give thanks my blue eyed son got his birthday parcel in time, and that he was content with the contents.

Seeing to it

I give thanks for opening the book that Tamsin sent and seeing this pretty card. Always lovely to see the sea! 

I give thanks for remembering a kind shop keeper yesterday not only going to the stock room for non refrigerated water for me, but opening the bottle as well. Keeping yourself hydrated is a fine plan...but not quite so fine if you need to put your arm in a sling afterwards.

I give thanks for how especially pretty and abundant the clematis and wisteria seem to be this year. Not that I've seen any today but over the last week or so I've kept meaning to remember to express my gratitude.

I give thanks for asking very little of myself today and managing to achieve it...and I'm grateful the next task on the agenda is lie flat on the sofa ans do nothing at all except gawp at the TV screen!

No change

I give thanks for exploring a town not far away I've not spent much time in before...and for deciding I don't need to again! It's a town that sounds as if it might hurt to go to, and physically it certainly did to walk around (and financially somewhat too - how much for an ice cream?) but it's a pretty train ride with no changes so I gave thanks for that. Plus my good friend Gary lives there so I was grateful to spend a couple of hours catching up with him.

I give thanks for sunshine to be out in, and a stiff breeze bearable with thick cardy and scarf. I give thanks for leftovers heating up for my tea as my knees and elbows say please don't stand and chop or stir. I give thanks for the gift of a spray of home grown lily of the valley from Rachel, a book recommended to read from Tamsin and not having anything remotely strenuous to do for the rest of the evening and tomorrow.

Ill logical

I'm grateful I didn't post the following on Facebook earlier. The mood everyone seemed to be in it wouldn't have cheered them up I guess, although it was meant to... 'Special thoughts today for all my Facebook friends without permanent painful and life limiting conditions. I see you all grumbling on here and realise how lucky I am!' It's true though that having your day boil down to simple questions like 'Can I get out of bed/get dressed/feed myself/wash up?' can be marvellous for focusing on priorities. I give thanks that ill health has taught me so much about well being...

And while we're on the subject, I give thanks for the capricious nature of the pain I have and how, when it keeps me awake at night, I can entertain myself puzzling over which activities might have caused which bits...and then puzzle over why I do this! Because while thumbs and wrists, neck and shoulders, elbows and knees are usually easily explained by any of the above, there's always toe joints to dumbfound me or the muscles in my chest...have I been breathing without due care and attention, or using my feet to type and forgetting about it?

I give thanks when I felt nauseous this afternoon I figured it was fear of seeing my latest blood test results rather than symptoms of the various malfunctions they show... and that I thought to sit in the evening sun on the back beach to open them so I felt fortunate to be there whatever they said. And I'm grateful I then didn't drop dead of shock at how good they were! Last month's were the worst for some years and, aware that the doctors can offer nothing but the life support of dialysis and there are no miracle alternative cures, I'd remembered being in a not dissimilar situation before and beating the odds, and decided to try some of my own ideas of ways to approach it...And as this month's were the best they've been for a long long time, I'm thinking maybe I'll carry on!

I'm grateful both Rachel and I made dishes for tea today and they went together most tastefully...

All here in black and white

Every time I open the lid of my laptop the last couple of days. I've given thanks I've finally got round to changing the desktop background after meaning to do so for over a year! I didn't realise quite how many photos I have on it (yes, sorting them out is on my to do list too!) and I didn't go through them all but when I saw this one I thought it would work well, and it does...it looks like there's a window onto a sunny sparkly patch of sea instead of a screen.

I give thanks for a lazy couple of hours watching the Adjustment Bureau which reminded me of the above with its opening of doors to other realities...

I give thanks for a peaceful evening and morning so that I could catch up on some more sleep...and, when it seemed I would never get enough oomph to get on with the necessaries of the day, for thinking to try finding a few favourite can't sit still tunes on Youtube. I give thanks that inspired me to find better quality versions and even getting round to downloading some that I was sure I had already had on some format or other but couldn't find...I'm very grateful I eventually realised the day was slipping away doing that and got to the shops before they closed, but could thus take my beloved Beat tracks with me on my Walkman. I saved them for later you see ;-)

Choice words

Often it's my second choice, but today I was grateful to go with plan A and snooze away much of the day...

I give thanks for finally getting out of and stripping my bed and that as I've failed to make it again I could, small squealy children permitting, sleep on the sofa tonight

I give thanks for all the help I had making my lunch - the folk who grew the veg, rice and grain for the flour for the pie...and the cows who produced the milk to make the butter and cheese; the ones who processed and packed and transported the ingredients, the ones who made the utensils I used to turn them into a meal, including the cooker and cupboards and sink...and all the ones who work to bring water and electricity to our homes! Wow, it's amazing when you start thinking about it eh?

I give thanks for the phone engineers for fixing my line...and for no one calling me or needing to be called today.

I give thanks for these well thought out cards for thoughtful friends of cancer patients
http://twistedsifter.com/2015/05/cancer-survivor-designs-get-well-soon-cards-that-dont-suck/

And I give thanks that Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is on tonight. It was a funny and touching book that translated to a great film, which doesn't always happen of course.

Re: count

I'm grateful for negotiating the rain and pain to get my son a birthday card and gift. I'm grateful for a sliver of take away spinach and feta pie to eat for my lunch, a patch of sunshine and a vacant spot to sit in.

Flollopped on the sofa on my return I'm grateful for realising what I thought was a strong smell of neighbours' cooking was actually some peppers I'd put in to roast and rescuing them in time...

I'm grateful some people are happy with the state of political play today. Whatever side we're routing for in whatever contest it is, we do like to bathe in vicarious glory if they win, don't we? And for those who're not so pleased I'm grateful I know whatever the details the picture is really ever the same - the haves still having, and the nots not, and both sides suspicious the other is stopping them from having more, because we all want more and all tend think it's our right to have it no matter whether we're right, left, centre or anything else!

It's still a worrying time to be poor in health as well as wealth, so I give thanks for a smattering of wisdom - it must be all those early nights! The one thing I'm rich in is compassion, so today I've been sending as much as I can to the people in positions of decision making power so that they remember the ones they make decisions about are people too. I'm grateful I give as generously as I can to the local food bank so I should be good for a meal from them if times get that hard, and that I've got my burial plot booked and paid for so whatever else happens I've somewhere to go in the end...

And as my phone fault's past its ERT without resolution, I'm grateful the other half of my copper pair is holding out and that I've so far managed to avoid making any pricey calls on my pay as you go mobile.

It's not what you know

I'm grateful the sun came out while I was as it's been a mite nippy again today...

I'm grateful I live in a country where people can vote in elections if they want to. I'm sceptical about how much power this actually gives you, other than to give someone else the illusion they have more, but I get the impression a lot of people rather like the impression they can change the world that way so if they're grateful I'm grateful too!

I'm grateful for getting some shopping from shops, and Internet shopping from the Post Office. I'm grateful for sharing chuckles there with a customer and a member of staff reorganising the way a T shirt was folded to save on postage costs, and for more mirth in the greengrocers. I'm grateful for exchanging hellos with various people I know and hearing others do the same, and for listening to people starting up conversations with folk they don't know too. I'm grateful for living in such a friendly place.

I'm grateful for getting some jobs done here, and being slightly more successful with sewing this afternoon than I was with beadwork yesterday. This isn't saying much! I know what my right arm's for, and some tasks are great for reminding me what my left was once for too...

I'm grateful the shouty people are back next door after a few weeks' absence or almost silence. If they're shouting here they're not shouting elsewhere so someone else is enjoying some peace I'm sure... And I'm grateful they shut up for a bit just when I needed to have little nap.

Magic roundabout

Yesterday evening, particularly poorly, I was grateful to remember the night before that I'd felt unbelievably well for a while so that I was bouncing about like Zebedee instead of getting the impression I was about to fall off the magic roundabout all together. I give thanks for all the times I feel reasonably OK, and even more for the ones I feel unreasonably so, but also for another hint that all things change and getting attached to a way you'd prefer them to be is a surefire recipe for disappointment.

Today I give thanks for trying to get more rest and do more nothing - though it's not my strong point a gripping episode of Catfish helped and some idling around on eBay where someone hitting the s instead of the w meant a common teem for monochrome came out sounding rather rude. I'm grateful I found a way to describe it without writing the word.

I give thanks for finding out you can not only put a tick instead of a cross on your ballot paper if you want, but even a smiley face by the candidate you choose as long as your intentions are clear.  Be fun to draw emoticons demonstrating your feelings about each of the parties wouldn't it? They're missing a trick there I feel...

I give thanks I've Greek salad and garlic bread for my tea. It's blood tests again tomorrow so I should probably just stick to water, air and prayer but really sometimes I can't.

Wild and woolly

I'm grateful my internet is working even though my phone line isn't, particularly as this meant I didn't have to call anyone to report it! 

I'm grateful for the wild wind which may have something to do with it but which I find rather exhilarating nonetheless. Well, I did for a bit but I'm quite exhausted now so I'm also grateful I can stop... I'm grateful for having lots of wild and woolly hair to blow about in it and not get noticeably messier than it was to start with!

I'm grateful we have knitted, and nattered, considerably...and partaken of tea and cake! I'm grateful for what we have achieved and for how well it's being received, that a little idea has made so many people smile.

I'm grateful after I've posted this there is nothing else that has to be done tonight...or even tomorrow if I don't feel like it then either.

Not the white stuff

Mmm...I give thanks for coming across the proper red Tiger Balm last night - so much better than the feeble pound shop white stuff for tackling aches and pains...

I give thanks for lots of lovely stay at home rain...but for popping out to the bins and the post box and smelling the delicious damp air

I give thanks for a small but essential Tesco delivery and thus for a scone with jam and cream for afternoon tea

I give thanks for going to make the bed, having a better idea and climbing back in to read my book for an hour or so...

I give thanks for putting 6 music on, accidentally bumping into some Desmond Dekker and being unable to sit still

I give thanks for finishing off finishing off some last little odds and ends for tomorrow...my hands have seized up again, I can do no more tonight...

Intensive care

I give thanks for more sunshine today for those for whom it enhances what they'd like to do...and for some acceptance that pretty much whatever I'd like to do today I can't. I'm grateful for all the not doing I wanted to do that I could...for a home to stay indoors in, for furniture, power and food, for getting dressed, feeding myself, washing up and watching TV. I'm grateful for reminding myself I don't have to do more of anything just because others do less, except possibly be more caring and loving.
 
After a week of intensive training, I'm grateful for a bit more practice at interpersonal challenges - you don't have to go outdoors for those these days. Humanity in the abstract I have boundless compassion for, but the behaviour of some individuals I encounter can render me aghast with flabber, including an eBay seller who, presumably as a last resort to avoid a refund (after first trying to insist there was nothing wrong with the lace I'd bought, and then that it was lost in the post) accused me of damaging it myself because I hadn't liked it. What? Seriously?

I'm grateful for Nick Stokes and Jesse Pinkman for being not real and therefore easier to get along with. I'm grateful for jaw dropping (people free) Icelandic scenery in HD plus real characters who sounded made up, like Thor who raised Eider ducklings.

I'm grateful for a bit less physical pain so that I've been able to move a bit more, albeit gingerly...or mousily I should say as I've been reminded to remember I'm not ginger any more!

Beautiful rain

I give thanks for the sound of the rain against my window making me feel cosy indoors

for having to go out in it too - because I actually rather like getting damp and chilly if you can get warm and dry again afterwards

for buying tea bags and crumpets to feel cosier still

for a lifetime with little access to cars so that I know there's no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate attitude

for my cheerfully floral new cagoule

for a stiff neck and severe pain in my shoulders - don't know if it's the chips on them or the weight of the world, but moving my head and arms must be kept to a minimum so a great excuse to lounge around

for making feta pastries before I did with cherry tomatoes, yellow pepper, red onion, black olives and green pesto. Nomnomnom indeed!

Not on the road again

Earlier this week it seemed I'd be doing something pretty cool today, but then the person I'd been going to do it with decided not...so I was really grateful I came up with a plan for something else, not too demanding for craft crazed hands or annoying for gnarly knees, something slightly scenic and of benefit to myself and others to take the edge off the Wilhelmina without companions Bank Holiday weekend feeling... I'm also grateful in the end I decided I really couldn't be bothered, the physical pain involved in trying to alleviate a bit of psychological pain is sometimes too high a price to pay. I give thanks the universe is encouraging me to find fresh ways of solitarily processing emotions now that drinking, smoking, dancing, going for long walks, playing the guitar and even comfort eating are off the agenda. Aha, and I give thanks for suddenly understanding why people often assume I'm far more saintly than I am!

I give thanks for Rick Wakeman and assorted contributors leading us on a BBC4 history of music tours with vintage pics and footage to stir up memories for anyone, but especially who has ever known a band with a man with a van...

and for Mike and the Mechanics' recent slant on it too 
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/golden-years-m-grateful/story-26419914-detail/story.html  

Oh and for these moving photos of eagle hunters moving and still! 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32410874#1

I give thanks the weather was pretty cool and windy so that I didn't feel the urge to emulate my crafts but to get on with them...a bit...until the pain put an end to that too. I'm grateful for easy food for tea!