Midsummer

The days have slipped into weeks and they’ve been full of activities and events. I’m trying to use the word ‘busy’ less; it’s rather bland and non descriptive don’t you think ?

So, I’ll attempt a little more detail.  I recently joined a book group and last month met a group of new ladies who I immediately fell into conversation with.  We’re all a similar age and lubricated with a glass of wine we were soon all chatting away about all the sort of things that ladies do talk about and we did actually discuss the book too – An Amateur Marriage which was an odd sort of book in that it’s very essence was that not much happened; very subtle and yet it has stayed with me.

Chess went to see One Direction with some friends.  They got the train up to London together and seemed to enjoy themselves, although the journey home does always rather take the shine off an event like that.  Adding in the fact that in the year since we bought the ticket she’s rather less interested in them and has in her words ‘grown up and moved on’ !

I attended a surprise birthday party for a friends husband which was lovely.  There were about 30 of us crammed in to their living room waiting for him to arrive home and I was touched by how much effort she’d put in to organising food, drink and people.

Chess took part in a school trip to The Somme, needing to be at school by 03:20.  We live about a mile away so we walked. My thinking was that firstly I didn’t want to faff with getting the car out of the garage and that if she was to spend hours on a coach then it might be a good idea to have some fresh air and a walk first.  It was lovely out; it was Friday 13th and with a Full Moon which I took to be auspicious.  At the school there was some degree so chaos as all other parents drove, blocking the streets and probably waking all the local residents, but we slipped by it all, enjoying the balmy air and the glow of the moon.

The walk home was lovely too, I love seeing The Broadway – our local shopping area – at night, the trees are lit up and look so beautiful 

I loved the fact that behind me the full moon was shining and ahead of me the sun was just coming up, I felt very privileged to be witnessing this and all alone too.

Teenagers don’t do well with early starts so the day after her trip she was happy to take to the sofa and watch tv while I joined another bbq party and consequently resolved to NEVER drink Jack Daniels again.  I never have, but as the wine had run dry and the party was still in full swing, it seemed a good idea a the time.  It wasn’t.  That stuff does not agree with me and I spent the whole of the next day feeling extremely ill, pathetic and sorry for myself and only perked up after a cobbled together fry up.

Work has been more intense than usual as people have been on holidays so I’ve been covering their work.  I don’t mind at all but it has meant late nights and a lack of energy. There have been meetings an exhibitions at the school so when last weekend arrived and we had no plans at all other than Chess’s usual riding lesson, it was something of a relief.  After, as she did the teenage thing on the sofa, I finished up the chores, the ironing and then went outside to cut the ‘grass’.  Both sets of neighbours were out so it was beautifully peaceful and reminded me why I used to enjoy living here so much.

Although it’s still a bit messy and haphazard, there are some lovely flowers in the garden.

  I love the detail on these geraniums 

 

Once I’d put the mower away I had a wander to see what else was lurking and was so excited to discover that Connie and Victoria have really settled in.  They started off looking like this :

But have grown and blossomed and are now bearing real fruit !

                                                

 

I’m hoping they’ll be ready for picking when the lovely Cheery Jenni  @  acheerfullivingadventure comes to visit later in the summer.   I have plans to raid her knowledge ( and extraordinary strength and stamina) for help with planting the herb garden. Ok, ‘garden’ is a bit grand for what will essentially be a little group of herbs scattered amongst rocks in a home-made circle, but still… it will be grand to have one !

Saturday night passed uneventfully and alcohol-free with just a visit from the pizza delivery man and we were just a bit engrossed with the football.  I’ve never been much of a fan, believing our national players to be grossly overpaid for  very poor performances.  What, are they the bankers of the sport world ?  Do a rubbish job and yet still earn an obscene amount of money hmmmmm.

However, we have a sweepstake at work and I drew Costa Rica, Colombia, Italy and France. There’s a potential £32 to be won and that buys a lot of bacon rolls from the newly discovered fab chef at the pub over the road.  I’m drawing on my ancestral French blood ( quite a long way back on my Grandmothers side, mais je parle un peu, bien sur) and the fact that I do like their kit and Thierry Henri is solely responsible for the car I drive, both he and it have both a certain Va Va Voom indeed !

Anyway, Sunday dawned and we spent the day mainly in the garden again.  We ate baguettes stuffed with cheese, tomato and basil, dusted off our badminton set and leaped about enthusiastically (not particularly elegantly I admit but still, we were keen) for about 2 hours.  Eventually we succumbed to the heat and it was time for the essential summer treat of strawberries and ice cream 

 

I then finished off the very last of the Bombay Sapphire and as it’s another week until payday, it’ll be a dry week !

Drifting until the wind changes

Ohhh, I am a bit rubbish at keeping this updated.  I am not taking all the blame however, there has been an intruder in my writing space;  which has claws in all four corners and gets ever so narky if I try to put my laptop down.  That face means business, “move me and you’ll be sorry” kind of business.

Seriously though, I’ve been at a kind of impasse for what seems like ages.  Admittedly I was busy with work and  getting in to the swing of the new school year, but I was completely stuck, incapable of taking any action or making any kind of decisions; including what to eat, which holiday cottage to book, even which clothes and books to keep and which to throw away.  The paperwork was piling up, the home was a mess… so I did what works for me, I went in to deep hibernation with a box set !  For two whole weeks I read nothing, watched no tv and barely communicated other than the basics.  I was even coming home from work and going to bed for a sleep before ‘making’ dinner.  Other days I was having a bath and getting in to pyjamas by 6:30.

I find living within my moods and states of mind, as opposed to trying to artificially alter them, enlightening and interesting.  In the past I have needed help to alter my frame of mind and I’m now very alert to changes and mostly, I’m able to bring about the shift to a more positive one myself.  I’m fortunate to have been able to do this and I have a deep sympathy for those who can’t manage alone.

Two weeks of immersing myself in seasons 1-3 of The Wire complemented  by 10 refreshing and soothing days away from work have worked wonders.  On day 1 I wrote out a list of all the things I needed to get done during my time off. Today is day 10 and there are just two tasks left to be done. One is booked to happen this Friday and the other will happen at some point this month.

Most of my tasks were home and garden based and I have cut grass,  taken bags of garden waste to the tip, broken up fallen branches, harvested my two pears, and even discovered a few hardy flowers

I have cleared out my wardrobe, again. Packed away all cottonish knits, brought out the woolly ones. I bought a few basic items to replace those which were worn ( yes, I failed at not buying anything new until the end of the year)  and charitized those which still had wear in them, but just didn’t suit me. I  cleared out the bookcase and took all  unwanted books to the library.

I sorted through my paperwork, filed and binned as required.  I sourced new car insurance,  I updated my savings funds, spent quite some time working out my budget for November and have started to make soups again.  We love soup.

I consulted the Teen and booked a holiday cottage for next summer. Ridiculously – and this shows my previous state of mind – I have booked the very first one that we both agreed we liked the look and location of , about 6 weeks ago.  When I say I’ve booked it, I haven’t paid for it all yet.  Some good friends and I take part in a challenge whereby we save all the odd pounds and pence from our online banking and ‘sweep’ them over to another account or ‘pot’ in order to save up for things.  I have chosen to use my  ‘pot’ to pay for the holiday cottage.  Well, I say ‘chosen’ … it’s probably more of a challenge than a choice.  I have until 10th of May to pay the balance.

There will be progress updates.

There have been some home updates going on too.  A few years back I bought a lovely round table and 2 chairs via ebay. I didn’t like the nasty orange varnish colour, but they were nicely distressed looking and full of character.  They were even more distressed by the time I’d finished brandishing the wire wool and sanding paper at them.

Finally, with the help of a very old tin of paint that I’d been keeping for just this purpose … ( full credit due for the paint still being useable after all that time, although they’re no longer in business … and the tin has now gone to the tip along with the rest of the clutter that was in the shed)  I still remember when I asked for that colour ( a pale turquoise aqua – blue rather than green) to be mixed, the young lads looking at me and asking if I was sure.  Err yes, thank you,  and I still have and love that colour now … and vastly overestimated how many tins I’d need !

I now have two chairs in a colour I like, which I’m happy to actually use and have in my home, rather than lingering in the back of the garage … where the matching table still is. In a disassembled state.  The heart hanging on the door was a surprise gift from a lovely friend and is a beautiful magenta and gold swirly design.  I love it.

 

So, one of the chairs lives in my room and is my writing chair, the other lives at the dining table and melds in beautifully with the other chairs.  It intrigues me that I was once very concerned with having all things matching, and yet now I love mis-matching and irregularity.  Probably an age thing; acceptance that life cannot be just packed into neatly labelled boxes and expected to unfold as planned !

Last night’s impulse project was to turn this musty-smelling old thing into something  fresh and pretty.

I found some brilliant spray paint in my local hardware store.  The owner is a magical man who stocks just about anything you want, and if he doesn’t have it, he’ll source it and have it in the shop within 2 days for you.  Now THAT’s what I call good service.

I’m not entirely sure about the result … perhaps if I’d remembered to brush all the cobwebs and leaves off first it might look better.  As I didn’t, it does rather have something of the Miss Faversham about it !

Hmmmm not convinced. It certainly smells better… but I still don’t really like it, maybe a cushion will help.  Or perhaps it can go on our midwinter bonfire.

I love Samhain, Hallows Eve, Hallow’een, or whatever you prefer to call it.  I’ve attended gorgeous celebrations and rituals in woods, under ancient trees, I’ve been to ‘excuse-for-a-blinding-night-out’ style parties and there was the year that the girls and I  dressed up in full costume and went to a theme park event.

They still haven’t forgiven me for that.  Eldest painted her face orange and black and dressed as a pumpkin, youngest had a cat face and costume, I was in full vampire get up, complete with very itchy wig.

We were the only people in costume.

I thought it was hilarious, they were mortified and have point blank refused to go with me again.  So, for the last couple of years youngest and I spent the evening in costume, but at home, we decorated and  enjoyed waiting to scare the trick or treaters, then went out for a walk around the neighbourhood to see how other people celebrate.

This year, Teen went to a party.  I barely knew what to do with myself, I really wanted to dress up and still go out roaming the streets as usual, but that’s a bit odd alone.  In the end I chose to light candles for loved ones who have passed and spent a couple of hours reflecting and remembering, saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming in the new one.

The seeds have been sown for new adventures and I feel lighter in spirit and heart.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the new year brings.