ALFRED COMES TO STAY

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”  

 Winston Churchill

I love quotes and save them for my blog as I come across them. I like to think about them and write a little bit on each one. I was a bit stumped with this one as it just seemed self evident.

But then I thought about how it applied to me and how important it is to remember that what we have or earn is not as important as what we put into life.

Sometimes I get a bit angry about my financial position, caused by divorce and redundancy. I am indeed lucky to have a pension. I have tried a range of ways to supplement my income but for various reasons nothing has been terribly successful - yet.

Meanwhile, when I am sad about things I need to focus on what I can do for other people. I do some volunteer work once a week at Manna House, a place for people to come in off the street and have a free meal. There are often days when I am not at my best do not feel like going, but I must admit, when I do go my mood usually lifts.

But giving in life doesn't have to be through formal processes. It can be in our day to day relationships. So often we forget to be giving towards those who are closest to us.


Alfred comes to stay
 
This week Alfred, my daughter's rabbit spent a couple of nights with me.

He ended up in a pen in my lounge room.

Having Alfred at my place is quite difficult as I have a full blown fur phobia. I have had it for about 50 years. It means I cannot cope with being near anything which is soft and furry such as rabbits or cats. Dogs are fine. They have hair rather than the soft fur of cats and rabbits.

I talk to Alfred and feed him. (He has quite a food regimen of greens, pellets and hay.) But I don't pat him.

 Terrarium

I love terraria and set up a small one with some succulents my daughter gave me.

Interesting sites


1. 27 Beautiful sheds

Photo source

Click here to check out 27 great sheds.


2. Steam powered rocket is legit

Photo source

Click here to find out about this steam powered rocket and the opportunities it brings.

3. One word: plastics

Photo source

An island crusader in the Philippines takes on the big brands behind plastic waste. Click here to read more.

PERFECTION IS THE ENEMY OF GREATNESS

I am looking for the perfect system, or probably more correctly, perfect systems, to help me run my life. I am constantly working at it and failing. Other people seem to have streamlined lives and tidy houses.

I am a perfectionist. Most people who know me would question this or maybe even laugh. My home is often untidy and I just can't seem to keep up with everything even though I am not working.

The reason for this is that I tend to perfect some areas of my life and don't have time to work on the rest. 

I like order. But I never manage to get everything ordered. My cooking and recipes are ordered. I always know what I'm cooking for dinner everyday - usually at least week ahead. I always shop for groceries with a list. I use a list of old and new recites.That system I have works quite well.

I'm sure there is a system or other suitable systems that I can develop so my life will fall into place. Other people seem to be able to put their daily life together a lot better than I can put mine together. But I never seem to find anything that works long term.

Mayo Oishin in her article,  Why Embracing Imperfection Will Help You Achieve Your Goals Faster.said,'It’s easy to get carried away with the never-ending search for the perfect plan to achieve our goals.'

And Leo Tolstoy said, ' If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.' And I must admit there are times that I despair at the chaos and incompleteness of my house and the uncertainty in my life, and feel that I am never going to get things sorted properly. Then I have to pull myself together and think about what is most important in life and all the good things I have even if it isn't all perfect. I have to tell myself not to give up and keep working on achieving a system that works.

A couple of years ago, before it became so popular, my brother gave me a copy of Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying.  At the time I had a lot of trouble with the 'discarding' part of the process. I can always see something that can be made from something else and have difficulty throwing things away. But I am going to give it another go. She states that if you try to do little bits at a time, you never get to the end. So I am going to plan a day to work on my bedroom first and then other rooms.

I love writing and all sorts of art and craft. I never seem to get around to doing all the things I want. I am always too busy just trying to get tidy.

Jessica Able in her article Creative Compass says in regard to art projects that, 'By breaking giant projects down to tiny next actions (and then ignoring the big picture for a while) you can make concrete progress—without freaking out.'

So my latest plan is to relegate a day a week to organising a room, plus do something creative every day. I have 8 rooms I need to work on. Maybe after a couple of months I can get organised. What I tend to do is move clutter from one room to another. I get small spaces cleaned and decorated perfectly but never everything.

So I have to avoid perfection, move faster and just aim at general order, not very detailed order. Maybe everything won't be perfect but it will give me more satisfaction, and I just have to accept that that is just me.

 In my garden

The lyre bird that visits my deck has been back again. He comes and goes - sometimes disappearing for weeks before he returns again going through his repertoire of bird calls.

Jasper

This past week I have been looking after my daughter's dog Jasper. He is my granddog and I love him.

He loves to lie by the heater.

 And lies on piles of clothing.

He is just totally cute.

I love having him but since I don't have fences it is a bit of a challenge.

Achievements this week

I have done a couple of things this week which I am quite pleased with. They are only small things but things I am pleased with nevertheless.

 I visited someone in hospital who I met through Manna House. (Manna House provides a weekly free dinner for people who may be short of money or just want some company. I volunteer there once a week.) She has an intellectual disability and is having some trouble with a knee replacement. 

The second thing I did was take my wig back to the wig library at Port Kembla Hospital. I had chemotherapy last year and as a result lost my hair. I wore a wig from the wig library for almost a year. It was wonderful. People who didn't know I was having chemotherapy just thought I had changed my hairstyle slightly. It was also wonderful to take it back. 

Poem of the week

I came across this poem, God's Song by Romella Kitchens. I thought it was quite beautiful.
 

God's Song - Poem by Romella Kitchens

God's Harmonic
Melodic.
Song of life sung by God.
Work the rows.

Golden silk of sun light.

God comes...
He laughs and sings with the angels as they all pass through.
He walks in the field of souls.
His harvest is our contentment.
The complete winning over of our beings.
Hear His rolling, sweet voice on the softest air?
How powerful yet gentle are the steps of His merciful feet.
Holy.
Holy.
All is radiant.
All is the figs of abundant profession.
The sprays of joyous green leafs and the cessation
of hunger profound.
We are fed by His tender gleaning.
Race through the fields of mankind and pick
perfect fruit of the spirit.
Song of Praise.
Song of the fulfillment of days.
Golden is the warmth of knowing God...
Golden and with the taste of honey.

Thank you for all those people who try to comment but for some reason the system won't let them. I can't seem to see what is wrong.

Interesting sites

1. Dodgem cars turned into street legal vehicles

Photo source

There are seven of these cars in California. Click here to see more.



2. Ikea and HP want keep plastics out of the ocean

Photo source

 Ikea and Hp have joined a coalition of companies called New Wave Plastics. They aim to include plastic from the ocean into their supply chain. Click here to read more.

I THINK THEREFORE I AM

I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn't believe them, I didn't suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always. 

Byron Katie

A few months ago I had some important medical tests and had to wait 10 days for the results. I really had to battle with my thoughts. There was absolutely no point becoming anxious. That wasn't going to change anything and it certainly wasn't going to make me feel better. In the end the tests were all clear.

I am a catasrophiser. As soon as someone is a bit late my head concocts some terrible reason as to why. It is the curse of a vivid imagination. I am sure my father's very sudden death when I was a child also contributed to this. I am all too aware of what can happen even though the chances of it may be small.

So I have to fight my thoughts. I'm not sure that freedom 'is as simple as 'choosing not to believe your thoughts'. I wish it was that easy to sweep away fear and doubt. I find the best thing is to work a day at a time and I just choose to not think about something for that day. I just try to push the negative thoughts aside and think of other things. One psychologist told me that I tend to push things aside and deny them rather than deal with them and this was not good. Another psychologist told me that there was a lot to be said for denial when things are very painful.

According to Karl Ove Knausgaard, "Meaning is not a property of the world, but something we attach to the world." In other words it's not what happens to us that matters but the way we react to it.

 Buddha on the other hand concluded that suffering is unavoidable. It is a necessary part of life and cannot be eradicated. Someday we will all lose loved ones. Someday we will all fail.

There are a lot of times when we can choose how we view an event in our lives, and take a negative or positive view, but there are times when, faced with the enormity of an event we are plunged into sadness, such as the death of a loved one. So suffering is optional to a degree. We can choose the way we want to think about everyday occurrences - we can be a 'glass half full' person or a 'glass half empty' person.But sometimes life changing events can be so traumatic or overwhelming that our automatic responses take over and we succumb to fear or grief.

Buddha said, "The mind is everything. What we think we become."

And in the Bible Philippians 4:8 tells us  "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is ... is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Deacartes said, "I think therefore I am." How we think and how we choose to think are at the foundation of our being.

Underpinning all my struggles is my Christian faith and belief that everything is going to work out for the best in the end. My non-Christian friends think this is a cop out, but in a world of uncertainty it certainly works for me.

A walk on the beach

I was brought up living right by the beach and loved it. I still love walking on it no matter what the weather. Peter and I took a walk on Towradgi Beach.

Towradgi looking towards Wollongong Harbour

Yacht off Towradgi

In the garden

My herb garden is growing well. The oregano and thyme seem to thrive against the brick wall.

Thyme and oregano

Oregano flowers

Some small toadstools popped up in the coriander. I can never resist photographing toadstools.

Two toadstools

Toadstool in coriander

Design

I came across this site of designer Lisa Luby Ryan and just fell in love with her decorating.

Photo source

Her style of decorating just resonated with me. I am in the process of very slowly repainting my house from a light misty blue to the off white in the photo above. I am trying to redecorate on a nil budget, but feel this is a style that is possible to copy with some paint and imagination.


Interesting sites


1. Mirrored house blends into forest

Photo source

This house with its mirrored facade blends into the Mexican forest. Click here to read more.





2. The rise of sponges in coral reefs.

Photo source

Sponges in reef systems are far more likely to survive climate change than isolated sponges. Click here to read more.


3. How biophilia can improve your life.

Photo source

 What is biophilia? Click hear to read more.














 

IF YOUR LIFE HAS TAKEN A TURN LEAN IN AND MERRY BEACH (2n May 2019)

If your life has taken a turn, remember to lean in. You never know what new opportunities might be waiting around the corner.

Ken Reid

from

3 Lies We Believe When We Grow Up 

I am waiting for something to turn up. I am hoping a new opportunity may be waiting for me around the corner. 

I was unexpectedly made redundant from my job 6 years ago at the age of 58 and I am waiting for something to turn up to take its place. I could have done some casual teaching at a local Catholic College, but just couldn't face it. In the past I have done enough casual teaching to last a lifetime. After many years I still have nightmares about it. And I have been out of mainstream teaching for too long to do any work in the state education system.

I had been working at a small 'last resort' school for year 10 students - students whose life circumstances meant they were unable to go to mainstream school. These were mostly kids who had been excluded from  schools because of their inappropriate behaviour.

I loved my work but I must admit that after 15 years I was becoming a little tired. Anyway, despite the fact that I had thrown my life into my work it was taken out of my hands and I had to finish. 

Since then I have tried a number of things. I have tried restoring old furniture; selling cosmetics; marketing on the internet which lost me money; and tutoring. For various reasons nothing really worked. Either a venture was just unsuccessful or caused me too much stress.

Way back in the 3rd century BC Epicurius said,  Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

Should I just give up? Should I just accept things. But there are  are still things I want to do. I want to travel. I want to fix my house. My car has seen better days. I'm not quite ready to settle for things

My next plan is to try a more professional blog based on budget Plant Paradox compliant recipes for Australians.

In the words of Tony Robbins:“If you want lasting change, you have to give up this idea of just trying something, and you have to commit yourself to mastery. That means not just “dabbling,” but fully immersing yourself. Because your life is not controlled by what you do some of the time, but by what you do consistently.”And according to W.B. Murray,  “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.”

So number one is commitment.

I need to commit. And I need to believe. Author David Schwartz  says, “Belief, strong belief, triggers the mind to figure out ways and means how to.” On the other hand he says, “Disbelief is negative power. When the mind disbelieves or doubts, the mind attracts reasons to support the disbelief.”


 So I need to set out on my new venture with commitment and the belief I can do it and 'lean in' to what comes across my path. So keep posted for my new blog.

A Trip to Merry Beach

Meanwhile we have been away for a few days to Merry Beach on the New South Wales south coast. We went at a moment's notice when we realised we had a week without appointments or commitments. Peter's daughter and her husband and three little girls were there so we enjoyed our time with them.

We went to see the movie Dumbo and had a game of mini golf. We also spent time at the beach.

We stayed in our little caravan and there were plenty of kangaroos around.

Our caravan is about 20 years old but very neat and clean. We bought it a few years ago

We had a lovely few days. It was beautiful weather. We realised that it had been about 2 years since we had been away in our caravan. I had forgotten what was in all the cupboards so it was like camping in a new caravan. Poetry Robert Frost is one of my favourite poets. I came across this poem in my reading. I love it and thought I would add it.

Mending Wall By Robert Frost

Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone, But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, No one has seen them made or heard them made, But at spring mending-time we find them there. I let my neighbour know beyond the hill; And on a day we meet to walk the line And set the wall between us once again. We keep the wall between us as we go. To each the boulders that have fallen to each. And some are loaves and some so nearly balls We have to use a spell to make them balance: "Stay where you are until our backs are turned!" We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of out-door game, One on a side. It comes to little more: There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours." Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: "Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down." I could say "Elves" to him, But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather He said it for himself. I see him there Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. He moves in darkness as it seems to me, Not of woods only and the shade of trees. He will not go behind his father's saying, And he likes having thought of it so well He says again, "Good fences make good neighbours."

Interesting sites  

1. Swedish glamping pod

Photo source

Nestled in the woods about 3 hours from Stockholm is this cute pod available for rent. Click here to read more.

2.  Over 30 uses you never thought of for WD-40

Photo source.

Click here to find about 30 uses for WD-40 that you never thought of.

3. The desert of ghost ships

Photo source

Thirty years ago the Aral sea was this planet's 4th largest inland water mass. Now it is bone dry and littered with ghost ships. Click here to read more.