Pick up

Well.....I promised you a story on Saturday, so here we go.

Saturday was sunny, so we ambled to the school car boot sale. On arrival after an initial look round it didn't look promising. We did a second tour of the stalls; and there lying on a table we spotted it.

My friend and I both looked at each other and smiled; in a second we had another bond between us as we realised we each had common memories from childhood of playing a game with sticks. We spent our 50p and brought them home.

We took them out and got ready to play:

There was much mocking as to how this game could be exciting- you just wait we said.....

Addiction till midnight ensued.....

And at the end of the evening they were left arranged.....

For 50p new shared memories created of the fun and frustration that can be had with sticks......A perfect pick up for the weekend, if you have never tried it I dare you.....

Jane

this week i have

danced around my living room on a friday night to this:

learned to sing this:

and remembered singing this:

it's been a good week.

Emma

Interim

Well, tonight I was going to tell you a story about something that has brought much amusement to our house since mid afternoon. However, my email is failing me, and without the pictures there is no story, so that will have to wait for another day.
So, this is an interim post to catch up, as I haven't posted in over a week. This last week has been a tough one work wise, I've been away on a course which I think was supposed to inspire, but instead has left me feeling flat, and not quite sure what to do next.
We spend so much of our time in work, it can absorb our piece of the world, it can become defining, driving everything.
Today, I woke up and the sun was shining, the rain had finally stopped. In the sunlight today there has been opportunity to enjoy other's company, to drive in shades, to plant sunny geraniums, and to smile.
These are things that have made my day, warmth, light, laughter.

Whilst away I read this:

There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

This is a great poem- and I love it because it reminds me that there is a right time for everything, and thats what are days are for, work is just a small part of that. It doesn't define us,  or make us the person we are. Days are about learning what the right time for everything is and relaxing into that, so we can be the best we can be.
To-day was about restoration.

Tomorrows post will have pictures.

Jane

...raising a smile this week...

...sharing a "virtual coffee" with a good friend...
...a nephew who realising when he wakes from his sleep that i have gone home, phones me to say bye...
...cucumbers rapidly growing in the greenhouse that is my sisters kitchen...

...receiving an email from an old friend full of compliments and encouragement...

...mistakes made by large companies = receiving pampering gifts. for free...

...hearing this song on the radio this morning and instantly being transported back to christmas and laughing with my brother...

 

...all this and it's only wednesday...

...life is indeed a happy song...

Emma

weekly snapshot

Emma

space for life

after the madness of the week
i relax.
the long weekend beckons.
i run into it,


with open arms.


the to do list
is long.
the distraction, 
welcome.


i clear papers,
magazines, 
recycle.
i make space,


space for life.


i wait.
expectantly.
ready 
to embrace,


embrace future;


without fear,
with hope.
joyful.
with love.


arms outstretched.


open.


Emma

Moments

Life is too busy. That's a fact. To-day has been stupid busy, lunch consisted of a Twix and a coffee at 2pm as that's all I had time to get, the work pc has just been closed down.
But within that there have been little moments that have made the day. This afternoon I popped to the shops, and there in the charity shop window where these:

Em; that is for you, you would have loved them. This last weekend as you know Em came down to visit. We drank wine, shopped, cooked, gossiped and drank more wine. It was lovely, spending time with Em is like spending time with family, she knows the back story and understands. The magazines reminded me of my friend.

Tonight to help me through the drudge of washing up I switched on Radio 2. Now, I pride myself on being a Radio 1 girl (Radio 2 is for people far older than me:)), but weekday evenings Jo Whiley is on, and I love her. She brightens up the evening and always plays great music. Tonight as I switched on Newton Faulkner was playing.
Immediately, I was transported from the stress of the day to a different place. I love the way music can do that for you, to take you in an instant out of your reality to somewhere else. I was in a world of my dreams, of both angst and hope tumbled into one.
Here's the song:

So, at the end of a long day, peace. Peace in those moments that catch you by surprise.Tomorrow is a new day. I intend to have more than a Twix for lunch.




Jane