Everywhere you go you take the weather with you... plus any baggage you may have of physical ailments and mental anguish. I give thanks I know that... But oh my goodness how grateful I am to be getting away a little way for a tiny break from the daily routine lately of seemingly endless struggles to get anything done. I was in tears of desperation last night about all the frustration and fobbing off so, as I can't seem to fix anything outside of myself just now I give thanks for the chance to recharge my batteries ready for the next round on my return.
I'm starting writing this early in the morning as internet access will be limited. And for once I give thanks for that as I won't have to keep checking for messages not arrived or deal with unexpected twists and turns when they do. Hmm... so what else can I find to say? I give thanks for the 'finest' convenience food tea last night and a gorgeous (bargain price of course!) Uniqlo summer dress unpacked from ebay afterwards. Obviously I won't be wearing it for the foreseeable future (I'm taking a hat and a hot water bottle for this trip) but I will one day... oh yes!
I give thanks for happy wetsuited windsurfers enjoying the current meteorological conditions. For one of them making me laugh in the bath this morning without even being in the building. There's no such thing as bad weather you know...just inappropriate attitude...
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Tuesday, 6 June 2017
Chocolate teapot
I give thanks my electricity didn't fail last night despite flickering on and off for a while.
I give thanks I managed to stand up to the wind today, though it was wobbling me about for a bit... For resolving to eat more cake and buying a brownie (after my blood tests of course!) but it was such a disappointment I had to put half of it in the bin... For finding a posh chocolate shop has set up in town over the last few and buying some of that instead!
I give thanks for being reminded the Citizens' Advice Bureau, for all their sterling work, is also a citizen's advice bureau in that they have no more information at their disposal than any citizen could find if capable of a thorough rummage through the internet. Expert advice or assistance is, of course, for citizens with money not for poor folk being misused by same. I give thanks for not giving up...for having as many bucketfuls of resilience and resourcefulness as rainwater...
I give thanks to Mr Tesco for cooking my tea tonight...if only he could have stayed for the vacuuming as well! Sometimes being wonderful just wears you out...even with the full quota of working body parts I've heard...
I give thanks, all being well, Mima is helping me escape tomorrow. Feel the need for some fun in the sun...but in the meantime, hopefully, I can have a day's worth in the wind and the rain!
I give thanks I managed to stand up to the wind today, though it was wobbling me about for a bit... For resolving to eat more cake and buying a brownie (after my blood tests of course!) but it was such a disappointment I had to put half of it in the bin... For finding a posh chocolate shop has set up in town over the last few and buying some of that instead!
I give thanks for being reminded the Citizens' Advice Bureau, for all their sterling work, is also a citizen's advice bureau in that they have no more information at their disposal than any citizen could find if capable of a thorough rummage through the internet. Expert advice or assistance is, of course, for citizens with money not for poor folk being misused by same. I give thanks for not giving up...for having as many bucketfuls of resilience and resourcefulness as rainwater...
I give thanks to Mr Tesco for cooking my tea tonight...if only he could have stayed for the vacuuming as well! Sometimes being wonderful just wears you out...even with the full quota of working body parts I've heard...
I give thanks, all being well, Mima is helping me escape tomorrow. Feel the need for some fun in the sun...but in the meantime, hopefully, I can have a day's worth in the wind and the rain!
Monday, 5 June 2017
French letters
I give thanks for my bed, a mug of redbush tea and a good book when I'm bad at sleeping.
I give thanks for not sleeping all day as there was much correspondence still to be attended to about repair and mis-management issues here...and many buckets of rainwater to be emptied.
For the joints being in better humour than over the last few days so I could get on with domestic chores and sewing alterations
For some enjoyable tennis at Roland Garros to watch in between
That I spilled frozen fruit on my clean floor...because I could just pick it up and carry on using it of course!
I give thanks for not sleeping all day as there was much correspondence still to be attended to about repair and mis-management issues here...and many buckets of rainwater to be emptied.
For the joints being in better humour than over the last few days so I could get on with domestic chores and sewing alterations
For some enjoyable tennis at Roland Garros to watch in between
That I spilled frozen fruit on my clean floor...because I could just pick it up and carry on using it of course!
Sunday, 4 June 2017
Reliant cat
I give thanks I know it's best not to rely on anything in life...but I still need reminding as every so often I find I've gone and done it, duh! I was feeling a bit lost and lonesome last night, my joints were hurting, there was nothing I could do that I wanted to and I was so bored with the things I could. I realised it had been several days since I'd spoken to anything other than a cat and it felt as if I could really do with someone to cheer me up. And I was grateful I knew not to expect anyone to, or even hope they would...and came up with the idea of watching some Red Dwarf for a bit of a chuckle intead....but, I don't know, for some reason I didn't find a plot line about dying without a kidney transplant tickled the funny bones at all...
I give thanks for watching the folk downstairs and their friends playing sort of cricket outside in the gardens...that looked fun and did make me laugh.
For finding this link about loneliness which made me feel worse
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/5a5db873-bc83-4159-9006-57a4d689f902
and this about gratitude which made me feel better
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/d5afc70b-cc3f-4321-960c-d11f68f24c88
For remembering to be grateful for sheets (I'm reading a book set in Ireland a long time ago where straw and a blanket were the thing) and later for modern urological technology - when it functions as it should. Sometimes you don't know what you've got til it proves unreliable!
Today it seemed as if doing nothing at all might be the best plan so I give thanks to Mima for luring me out with the promise of cake...and cleaning! Though the cleaning part turned out to be truer than the cake...I give thanks for a lift from door to door to door anyway, getting rid of some bulky recycling and tea and conversation. For the changing light in sea and sky as bands of rain passed over.
I give thanks for watching the folk downstairs and their friends playing sort of cricket outside in the gardens...that looked fun and did make me laugh.
For finding this link about loneliness which made me feel worse
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/5a5db873-bc83-4159-9006-57a4d689f902
and this about gratitude which made me feel better
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/d5afc70b-cc3f-4321-960c-d11f68f24c88
For remembering to be grateful for sheets (I'm reading a book set in Ireland a long time ago where straw and a blanket were the thing) and later for modern urological technology - when it functions as it should. Sometimes you don't know what you've got til it proves unreliable!
Today it seemed as if doing nothing at all might be the best plan so I give thanks to Mima for luring me out with the promise of cake...and cleaning! Though the cleaning part turned out to be truer than the cake...I give thanks for a lift from door to door to door anyway, getting rid of some bulky recycling and tea and conversation. For the changing light in sea and sky as bands of rain passed over.
Saturday, 3 June 2017
Some attachments
Why don't Buddists vacuum in corners? Because they have no attachments of course! I give thanks I've not vacuumed anywhere today actually...
I give thanks for making dhal for tea this morning, pasta with roasted veg, feta and sundried tomato pesto at lunchtime for lunch and a batch of unfortunately irresistible flapjacks in between. I would have made someone a wonderful... Haha, oh no, I wouldn't...not unless they worked on an oil rig or something and were only around some of the time!
Um, what else? Well the clouds were pretty last night...little puffs of peach turning pink against the streaky stormy grey. I didn't get a picture, only of the retreating rain beforehand, but I give thanks for that, for Come Dine With Me making me laugh...and for finally battling my way into that cunningly and tightly sealed package. For the iron inside being as good as you might expect for £4, if not slightly better! My bank balance was too light this week to buy a proper one, but proper ones are too heavy for my weedy wrists anyway, so no need to fret about that.
I know some people are surprised I still iron at all, but when you've hand made beautiful cotton bedding, it's much better to use it smooth... and I'm mid-alteration of a Monsoon silk top (second hand off ebay of course) that I've loved for two years but never worn because it is silly too big, and that needs a bit of a press on the new seams. I give thanks for my cunning stunts with pins and needles and sewing machines...
So...I'm a chef in the kitchen, a seamstress in the living room...in what other rooms do I shine? Ahem...well I'm pretty damn good in the office too! In between cooking, and laundering I've been gathering documentation from all manner of devices and converting to attachable formats to send to a chap in housing who may be able to help with the long running sagas of non management here. I give thanks for my perseverance.
And talking of long running sagas and perseverance, I realise I've been writing this blog for a few days shy of SIX years. I give thanks for being f-f-fantastically awesome too!
I give thanks for making dhal for tea this morning, pasta with roasted veg, feta and sundried tomato pesto at lunchtime for lunch and a batch of unfortunately irresistible flapjacks in between. I would have made someone a wonderful... Haha, oh no, I wouldn't...not unless they worked on an oil rig or something and were only around some of the time!
Um, what else? Well the clouds were pretty last night...little puffs of peach turning pink against the streaky stormy grey. I didn't get a picture, only of the retreating rain beforehand, but I give thanks for that, for Come Dine With Me making me laugh...and for finally battling my way into that cunningly and tightly sealed package. For the iron inside being as good as you might expect for £4, if not slightly better! My bank balance was too light this week to buy a proper one, but proper ones are too heavy for my weedy wrists anyway, so no need to fret about that.
I know some people are surprised I still iron at all, but when you've hand made beautiful cotton bedding, it's much better to use it smooth... and I'm mid-alteration of a Monsoon silk top (second hand off ebay of course) that I've loved for two years but never worn because it is silly too big, and that needs a bit of a press on the new seams. I give thanks for my cunning stunts with pins and needles and sewing machines...
So...I'm a chef in the kitchen, a seamstress in the living room...in what other rooms do I shine? Ahem...well I'm pretty damn good in the office too! In between cooking, and laundering I've been gathering documentation from all manner of devices and converting to attachable formats to send to a chap in housing who may be able to help with the long running sagas of non management here. I give thanks for my perseverance.
And talking of long running sagas and perseverance, I realise I've been writing this blog for a few days shy of SIX years. I give thanks for being f-f-fantastically awesome too!
Friday, 2 June 2017
Heaps
Standing in the rain, in pain, waiting for a late bus by the side of a busy road it's easy to feel as if you're at the bottom of the heap... so I give thanks there's always at least one passenger to make you think 'Heck no, a long way go yet!' Though that probably isn't kind, I know...
I give thanks for all the people out and about who seemed to be enjoying themselves including the little boy with a scoop of ice cream almost as big as his head!
I give thanks I've a mac, comfy shoes and a zip up shopping bag that water runs off. I give thanks though it's frustrating when things break and I can't fix them that I have the money to buy (astonishingly cheap) replacements and (just about) the physical wherewithal to go and pick them up. I give thanks that instead of presenting the two items in two almost impossibly large and unwieldy boxes like they did last time, they had crammed them into one, slightly unwieldy and slightly too heavy package instead. I give thanks for getting some other bits I needed/wanted without too much hassle and bother, including what looks and smells like a good loaf of bread but which I've not had the energy to cut a slice from since my return.
I give thanks for this lovely little wildflower bank at the end of the terrace where once there was just a heap of rubble and rubbish. For pausing a moment, putting down the big box and bulging shopping bag and just standing watching flowers in the rain...
x
I give thanks for all the people out and about who seemed to be enjoying themselves including the little boy with a scoop of ice cream almost as big as his head!
I give thanks I've a mac, comfy shoes and a zip up shopping bag that water runs off. I give thanks though it's frustrating when things break and I can't fix them that I have the money to buy (astonishingly cheap) replacements and (just about) the physical wherewithal to go and pick them up. I give thanks that instead of presenting the two items in two almost impossibly large and unwieldy boxes like they did last time, they had crammed them into one, slightly unwieldy and slightly too heavy package instead. I give thanks for getting some other bits I needed/wanted without too much hassle and bother, including what looks and smells like a good loaf of bread but which I've not had the energy to cut a slice from since my return.
I give thanks for this lovely little wildflower bank at the end of the terrace where once there was just a heap of rubble and rubbish. For pausing a moment, putting down the big box and bulging shopping bag and just standing watching flowers in the rain...
x
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Snow good
I give thanks for a much needed nap on the sofa, which woke me up enough to do the evening stuff...and then a good long late sleep with a lovely dream about living in my (so far) dream flat, walking on the beach (which would be very close by) and then having a nap and waking to see snow on the roof tops (which would also be very near). Ah well...dreams do sometimes come true and I give thanks for a happy week or so believing that one might do, but it's been snapped up by some other happy shopper now. I give thanks there's no one around to see how gutted I really am about this...
It's so easy to think your life will be better when...if...and in the meantime your life goes on...until it doesn't! I give thanks for thinking about how lucky I am to know that, to know to make the best of things...for typing it and then hearing from the estate agent that the viewer of my place was interested enough to be asking about running costs. Live in the moment but don't give up on the next one being better eh?
I give thanks for more travellers' tales and photos, and dealing with the envy by thinking 'Well, I've neither the money nor the energy to go anywhere today but I shall emulate the holiday experience by not trying to run the world from my laptop or run around being a domestic goddess...' Sometimes physically doing stuff is a huge challenge for me...and sometimes not doing stuff is a huge mental one but with pain levels high and spirit levels low I give thanks for trying not to put myself under any pressure to succeed or achieve today.
I give thanks for all the folk (myself included) who realise I might seem to be weak, but actually am exceptionally strong. For having me to provide cups of tea, kindness and sympathy. For the sunshine drying my sea green towels by the window instead of browning my skin by the sea... For looking out the other side and seeing a rusting car taking root there had been removed.
I give thanks for playing with working out clues for my next crossword. Once in a while I come up with one I find particularly pleasing in its simplicity...and today's is: Airline 100 club (5)
It's so easy to think your life will be better when...if...and in the meantime your life goes on...until it doesn't! I give thanks for thinking about how lucky I am to know that, to know to make the best of things...for typing it and then hearing from the estate agent that the viewer of my place was interested enough to be asking about running costs. Live in the moment but don't give up on the next one being better eh?
I give thanks for more travellers' tales and photos, and dealing with the envy by thinking 'Well, I've neither the money nor the energy to go anywhere today but I shall emulate the holiday experience by not trying to run the world from my laptop or run around being a domestic goddess...' Sometimes physically doing stuff is a huge challenge for me...and sometimes not doing stuff is a huge mental one but with pain levels high and spirit levels low I give thanks for trying not to put myself under any pressure to succeed or achieve today.
I give thanks for all the folk (myself included) who realise I might seem to be weak, but actually am exceptionally strong. For having me to provide cups of tea, kindness and sympathy. For the sunshine drying my sea green towels by the window instead of browning my skin by the sea... For looking out the other side and seeing a rusting car taking root there had been removed.
I give thanks for playing with working out clues for my next crossword. Once in a while I come up with one I find particularly pleasing in its simplicity...and today's is: Airline 100 club (5)
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