Wisdom

 

“In the grand symphony of life, each New Year is a chance to compose a melody that resonates with purpose and harmony.” 

                                    ... Ludwig van Beethoven

Me On A Monday - January 29th

 

Local Conservation Park

I saw on a few other blogs that I lurk about on, questions & answers about self care in winter.  Thought I would give it a go.

How Do You Fight The Winter Blues:  I'm no expert on this & I often succumb to the blues & have to give myself a good shaking or two to snap out of it, but some of the things I try to do are; get crafty, read, do an exercise class (online/YouTube). I've also discovered "walks in the woods" on YouTube, it is a wonderful way to give being on the stationary bike or treadmill a lift.   I will also spend some time with seed & bulb catalogues dreaming of my potential garden adventures.

Flannel Sheets/PJs- Yes or No:  oh yes, we both like the cozy feeling of flannel sheets. I also wear flannel pjs in the winter with big fuzzy bed socks, although I don't wear the socks in bed. We also have a few flannel lap blankets about, although the cats usually have laid claim to those before I get a chance to sit down.  We have a gas fireplace in the family room, which is delightful for a reading cozy up under a flannel blanket.

Local Conservation Park 

Favourite Warm Beverage:  tea & lots of it.  Mr Man is more of a coffee drinker but I am turning him to tea, late mid morning.  

Not very often, but sometimes I'll make hot chocolate & not from a powder mix. It is a really decadent treat. I did buy us some chocolate bombs with the hope that we would use in our rewarding hot chocolate, after a walk outside.  For those that haven't experienced the joy/fun of chocolate bombs, here's an explanation: "hot chocolate bombs, or glossy chocolate orbs filled with cocoa mix, marshmallows, sprinkles, and other edible baubles. They are a truly over-the-top way to level up your cocoa game. Once plopped inside a mug full of warm milk, the bombs open up in dramatic fashion, revealing the goodies inside and creating a decadent cup of hot cocoa once stirred together."  There are lots of recipes online to make chocolate bombs.  On a side note about chocolate decadent treats, you can now get chocolate piñatas! 

Suggestions For Fun Winter Time Activities:  stay in doors, craft or read. I know the answer is supposed to include outdoor activities & for lots of folks it does.  Some people, ski, ice skate, long walks, but not me. There are not any local outdoor skating rinks & skating indoors is usually crowded & far too many children racing about. We used to have at least 5 outdoor skating rinks in our village, but over the years because of unpredictable weather (often too mild for ice making) & a lack of volunteers to maintain the rinks, the village is down to maybe 1 & this year, it hasn't been up & running because of the weather.  

Skiing is far too expensive for me at this time. I have done both types of skiing; down hill (not good at it at all) & cross-country skiing, which I liked, but still not very good at it.  I used to visit my friend, M, who lived in Ottawa where there are some fabulous ski hills.  She was an excellent downhill skier & even skied in the Swiss Alps one year. M was a very patient teacher, but I lack the natural balance skill, I never advanced off the bunny hills (beginners & children) & even then I fell more than I skied.  I do like walks however short in the cold, especially if there's a hot chocolate bomb waiting for me when I get back inside.

What about you, how do you make friends with winter? 

Also to note for inside winter fun, the 100 Day Project (crafting) is coming up - begins on February 18th.  Are you going to participate?  I've already got my list of projects I would like to complete during these 100 days.

Local Conservation Park

Wisdom

 

We witness other people's storms, 

from the shelter of our own perspectives.

Let's be mindful that we don't add the 

cold rain of judgement to their already soaked spirits.

...Liz Newman 

Me On A Monday - January 22nd

Source: Internet

Good Morning.  Another very cold week last week, with a forecast of a snow "event" on this Tuesday.  I am just hopeful that the snow holds off until I am home from my errands out.  Also in the forecast is a warm up towards the middle of the week.  If that truly happens maybe we will be able to tackle all that snow left from the snow ploughs at the end of our driveway from the last snow storm.  We were only able to make a hole in the snow bank big enough for the car to get out.  It is definitely a case of threading the needle.  

Currently there is not a lot happening.  Meetings, doctor's appointments & errands seem to be what is taking up & filling my life right now.  In the next couple of weeks there's a big Unity Conference being held in the town close to us.  It will be 5-6 different religions each making a presentation about the need for faith unity.  It should be quite an interesting gathering.  Our church is not included because in spite of it being 15 minutes away, it is a different county, so a different faith community base.  In keeping with the unity in faith theme, I am reading a book entitled, "Why Did Jesus, Moses, The Buddha, & Mohammed Cross The Road?"

My left over feeling from last week; Lypophrenia; a vague feeling of sadness seemingly without cause. Let's hope all this lovely sunshine banishes this feeling quickly. 💗🌞

Wisdom

 

Honour the space between no longer and not yet.

                ... Nancy Levin

Me On A Monday - January 15th

Good Morning.  What a wild snowy blustery winter weekend we had. I would use more describers but you get the picture! Thankfully any driving I had to do on Friday was done well before the storm arrived. We were able to stay bundled up at home.  We lost power on Friday night but not for long, thankfully, battery back ups on all the devices took care of everything, so only the microwave & stove needed their clocks adjusted.  With the winds still raging & snow falling & temperatures of -18 (c) on Sunday morning I decided to practice my Hurkle Durkle skills.

Currently Watching: We finished series 1 & 2 of Happy Valley, which we borrowed from the library & we now have series 3 on order.  We had seen both series of H/V before but wanted to refresh our memories on the story.  Both Mr Man & were once again in awe of Sarah Lancashire's acting.  She has come along way since Coronation Street days as Raquel. As a matter of fact there are SO many previous Coronation Stars in H/V.  

We finished up with the current series of Shetland, with the introduction of Ashley Jensen as DI Ruth Calder.  It was a great series, I O O (in our opinion). Searching on BritBox for another series to watch while we wait for the new Vera series to begin, so we have started No Offence.  Not sure yet, only two episoides in.

Currently Reading: I did finish The Amor of Light. I mostly liked, not "I loved it" book.  I am waiting on several books from the library so in the meantime I am re-reading my all time favourite book EVER.  The Thirteenth Tale. This book still holds my attention & imagination like no other book I've read.  A close second would be Lord of The Rings & The Hobbit.   And speaking of favourites, I may just pull out another favourite, The Keeper of Lost Things.  

Currently Baking:  this week it is my group's turn to bake for the whole group at Ladies Coffee Bible Study.  It has to be nut aware (free), so I'm baking from a pre-packaged mix, gingerbread squares. On Sunday morning, once I got up, I baked a new to me recipe for cinnamon muffins. Best served warm.

And to wrap things up,  Hurkle Durkle is an old Scottish word or phrase meaning to lounge in bed long after it is time to get up.  With the forecast of cold snowy weather all week, I may be practicing this skill much more often.  Happy week to all & to all stay warm!

Wisdom

 

When you have exhausted all the possibilities, remember this: you haven't.

                ... Thomas Edison

Me On A Monday - January 8th

 Good Morning.  How is your 2024 going so far?  In our region Old Man Winter has made a blustery appearance on the weekend.  I knew that the unseasonably mild Christmas weather would not last.  

Currently Reading: Ken Follett's book; The Armor Of Light.  It's a big book,735 pages.  Even though I am a hundred pages in I am not sure I am "loving" this book.  There are parts that really engage me. I enjoy how Ken writes novels with lots of historical information in the content but there are some elements that I just don't feel are necessary to move the story along.  But I've got another 600 pages to go either way on the book.  😀

Currently ScrapBooking: these are a couple of pages I created over the Christmas break.  I enjoyed working with the paper collection, such high quality paper.  It's P13, Cozy Winter collection, that I have had in the stash for a few years.  I made up two pages when I got the collection, but never used the pages. These two pages will go along with the previous two made pages into my garden album for December's garden photos. On the new newly made pages, the elements in the corner clusters were all fussy cut by me & I am quite pleased with them.  I later did find the package of premade die cuts; I had put them in a "safe" place to easily find later ... hahahaha

Weather Page - new this year

House Page - new this year

The two previous pages, these pages will get finished when my December photos arrive.  I'll get to use the found package of die cuts on these two!

Currently Ponding: I've many things to work out, not least is what I am going to do with my blog.  I think, even with a few breaks over 2023, I have lost a lot of the mojo for creating.  How you of those that blog daily, do it, I'm truly in admiration.  I had thought at one time that having just the two regularly scheduled posts would help me with the discipline of habit.  A little, maybe.  For now no final decision made. 

Another ponding is on OLW.  I am definitely not going to do as a scrapping project or even a journaling project.  I will think about my OLW phrase from last year of "more or less" when I am planning out my week.  Which leads me to another ponding in the realm of stash busting, decluttering; PHDs - project have done.  I have talked about what I was pondering about to do with these.  Last year's mini scrapbook for OLW was less than half done.  I've decided to cut & run on this project.  The first 3 months of 2023 the pages were not really full hearted creative pages, so I've no problem shredding & moving on.  That was a first clue that I was done with OLW.   

And now we ready ourselves for another week of January 2024.  Kids in our region return to school after 2 weeks of holiday.  A full on week of appointments, meetings & outings.  Fingers crossed that the weather folks have "the storm of the century" brewing, are wrong; some of my appointments & meetings require a bit of a drive!!!💨

Wisdom

 

Your assumptions are your windows on the world.  Scrub them off every once in a while, otherwise the light won't come in. 

                ... Issiac Asimov

Me On A Tuesday - Happy New Year

 

Source: Internet

What did you do in 2023 that you've never done before? Late in the year we discovered a new to us tea café. We are excited for them to return from Christmas holidays in mid January.  On my own I started attending the free adult craft workshops at the library. Easy crafts that you can make in an hour. It is fun for the adult company.

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? I don’t make resolutions. In 2023 I worked with my OLW phrase of More Or Less.  I felt this phrase & I worked well throughout 2023. Although I’ve decided not to stress over picking OLW or phrase for 2024.

Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes, my friend gave birth to her second son in June.  

Did anyone close to you die? Yes, one of my older brothers died January 2023.

What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2023? For me, less anxiety & fewer emergency needs for Mr Man’s eyes.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Still fitting into my clothes without the waistbands getting tighter.  I held my counsel (tongue) & tried to apply the wisdom of taking it to prayer rather than the telephone.

Did you suffer illness or injury? Not sure if this falls into illness, but I struggled & continue to struggle with sleep.  Anxiety & panic attacks happened a lot this year, which I know play into my inability to get quantity & quality of sleep.

What was the best thing you bought? I got an Oral B Pro electric toothbrush for my birthday. Now I get that just been to the hygienist clean feeling after every brush. The bonus with this gift was that I got replacement heads to last me for two years!

Where did most of your money go? Maintenance of our home.  Food was a close second. On the food front, Mr Man & I joked that if prices continue to soar, we may have to each eat on alter days.  I don't know how many families are doing it.  But with all joking aside, we definitely upped our contributions to the food bank as we counted our blessings of not being hungry.

What did you get excited about? The Coronation of King Charles III on May 6^th.  While I still mourn the passing of our great Queen Elizbeth II, I’m not disliking our new King (& Queen Consort).  My only comment to the Royal Family is, Catherine I’m done with the pantsuits.

What do you wish you’d done more of: more of even close to home adventures. And more walking.

 What do you wish you’d done less of: Fretting, worrying, brooding. As a child, my Gran said I could brood for Wales. (??) 

 How did you spend Christmas? Quietly at home.

 What was your favourite TV show: no longer a favourite but I continue to watch Coronation Street. Oh it is horrible writing IMO, I watch to be entertained, not lectured at.  I am giving serious thought to quitting this show. We watch a lot of shows on Brit Box; current ones were Vera & Shetland.

 What was the best book you read in 2023? I did not have a favourite of the year, I read a lot of books that made me feel I wasted my time or just made me feel, OK, so.  A few of the self help/decluttering books that I read, gave me one or two points, but that was it.  I'm done with decluttering & organizing books & videos  I re-read several favourites to excite me about reading.

 What was your greatest musical discovery of 2023? MecryMe’s old but new to me song, Greater.

What did you want and get? I wanted to get a handle on my crafting clutter/stash & I did. I feel ready to continue with the using up of stuff. And not been so over whelmed with choice, I think I created more layouts that I like.

 What did you want and not get?  A horse friend.

 What was your favourite film this year? I cannot think of one, so that says a lot.  A friend loaned me her copy of the Bridgerton - Queen Charlotte series & although there is almost no historical truth in this, I still quite enjoyed.  Netflix does not spare the cash on costumes.

What did you do on your birthday? Nothing much, tea party at home.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023? I did make an effort to wear more of my clothes rather than just grabbing jeans & a t-shirt. I tried that old sage decluttering wisdom of turning the hangers backwards & every time you wear something put it right way around.  Thankfully as the year ends I can see only one thing that is still sitting backwards & that’s my New Year’s Day blouse, but it will get turned around today.

What kept you sane? Crafting; scrap booking & card making. Gardening helped a lot. My cats bring me a lot of joy & love.  I need to ensure I do more walking this year to add to my choices of sanity inducing activities.

What political issue stirred you the most. Oh there were many & most are too sensitive to discuss here. 

Who did you miss? My two best friends, both alive & well but living a long way away from me.  Regular chats are great, but I miss being in their presence.

Who was the best new person you met? I did not meet anyone new, but I was in a different group for my ladies bible study & I got to know a couple of ladies I had only ever said hello to.  We were known as the laughing group & our discussions about the first 14 chapters of Exodus were never dull. One thing I gleaned from our study was that each of the plagues were tied to a deity that the Egyptians worshiped. 

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023.  We now know that our cats are both allergic to poultry & grain based food.  When we finally switched them to a fish no grain food the throwing up stopped (except for fur balls) & of course this is the really expensive food.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2024.  We get a bonus day this year, let's make it count  💝