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.

BACK AGAIN #1 September 2017

 

 

It is the first Saturday of Spring. I promised myself I would start blogging again today. Although I am retired from full time work, life remains very busy. I tutor some very special students with different learning difficulties for a few hours a week. Peter and I have also had a few health problems which have gotten in the way of our plans this year.

With rearranging rooms, and not finishing one before I started another, everything in my house had become a bit chaotic. So  I decided to take a more organised approach to my organisation and work on one room at a time. So far I have finished my craft room...

 

 

Craft room

...and my loungeroom.

 

Lounge room

 

Everything that doesn't fit is going into my back room and then I am going to have a garage sale and sell what is left over.

After that I have to decorate each room and paint the whole house. It was last painted 13 years ago by my wonderful brother and mother, and I chose blue. But that is a bit dated now and I have chosen white.

 

I remember blogging about my plans about a year ago. But health issues for Peter and myself seemed to get in the way and slow things down. I still have a budget of virtually nothing, so I am hoping creativity and paint will make a big difference.  

 

In the last few months I have done quite a few enjoyable things. One of these was camping at Belangelo State Forest with some of my family. Below are a few photos. they are not great quality as I am having a few computer issues.

 

Jade cleaning foraged mushrooms and Jasper

 

The forest

 

Foraged Saffron Milkcaps

 

 

Toadstools in the forest.

 

  Mothers' day was lunch at Berrima, at Zen Oasis, an unusual Asian vegetarian restaurant. The surrounds were full of surprising sculptures.

 

Giant butterfly sculpture

 

  A lovely, interesting fungus in my front yard.

 

Unknown fungus

 

The past few months have been full of great walks on the beach with Peter.

 

Towradgi Beach

 

 

Towradgi Beach

 

To top it all off I had a birthday. Peter bought me these beautiful flowers among other things.

Peter's flowers

My wonderful son-in-law Bill, whom I love very much, promised to take me out for cocktails, so Jade and her partner Frew, Rhiannon and Bill, and Peter and I went to The Little Prince. I drank 2 flaming shots and 3 cocktails. One of these was particularly delicious, containing fairy floss, but my favourites were the flaming shots. They were most spectacular but I have no idea what was in them. I rarely drink but I did enjoy these and surprisingly was not in the least affected by them.We did go and buy dinner in the middle of these drinks, from the street stalls selling food in the Wollongong mall on Thursday nights. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I will leave you with a poem that I came across and found thought provoking,

 

Lindy :-) 

 

 To the Western World

by Louis Simpson

A siren sang, and Europe turned away

From the high castle and the shepherd’s crook.   

Three caravels went sailing to Cathay

On the strange ocean, and the captains shook   

Their banners out across the Mexique Bay.

And in our early days we did the same.   

Remembering our fathers in their wreck

We crossed the sea from Palos where they came   

And saw, enormous to the little deck,   

A shore in silence waiting for a name.

The treasures of Cathay were never found.   

In this America, this wilderness

Where the axe echoes with a lonely sound,   

The generations labor to possess

And grave by grave we civilize the ground.


Interesting sites


1.

Garden House

Photo source

The new Binh House by Vietnamese firm Vo Trong Nhia Architects can actually grow enough food for three generations of one large family. Click here to read more.

2.

 Giant ship worm

Photo source

Want to see a video of a giant ship worm? Just click here.  

3.

 Student crime solving club

Photo source

 Student club devoted to solving crimes. Read more here.

  

PLATYPUS CREATIONS 1 IS BORN

If you think you can’t, you won’t. If you’ve already resigned yourself to defeat, you’ll never experience victory.

Every Positive Change Starts With These Two Words 

Written by Joshua Becker

Oh  wow! Saturday already - half of the holidays over. It is great to have a break from tutoring (for the most part) and regular church activities.


My friend Michelle and I are going to sell some of our craft work. So far Michelle has done all the work, setting up our Facebook  page Platypus Creations 1. Now the holidays are here I hope to start pulling my weight. Michelle has been very busy making beautiful sock dolls.

 I have finally put up my first item for sale on Platypus Creations 1.

This is my little felt owl brooch.

You'll find him over on Platypus Creations 1, posted on 9th April.


I am looking after little Jasper the grand-dog for about 10 days.
He needs a lot of attention. He belongs to my daughter and son-in-law and is definitely a 2 person dog. But I love having him with me.

I will have him until Monday.I enjoy our daily walks and find I am much better walking up the hills at the moment. I am putting this down to my bike riding.

Peter and I have been out in the boat a couple of times. We tried some fishing but weren't very successful. But it was great just relaxing on beautiful Lake Illawarra.

My diet is mainly plant based. I really enjoy my tofu toasted sandwiches.

• Cut 2 slices of tofu. (I buy my tofu from Aldi.)

• Dredge the slices in paprika with a few fennel seeds added and a touch of stock powder.

• Spread two slices of multi-grain bread with pesto. I used home made mushroom pesto. (I have a recipe for home made pesto in my 14th March post. Use 2 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms in place of herbs. I used almonds instead of walnuts.)

• Sprinkle some grated cheese on one slice. (You can use vegan cheese now available at Woolworth.)

• Arrange the slices of tofu on top.

• Add a layer of fresh basil leaves.

• Top with more grated cheese. (As thick or thin as you wish) 
• Top with the remaining slice of bread and cook as you usually cook your toasted sandwiches.

Enjoy!



Interesting sites

1.

 Lego Apartment

Photo source

This apartment is very small and has everything hidden away. It is called the Lego apartment. Click here to see inside the apartment.


2.

Starry bike path

Photo source

Twinkling solar bike paths inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night. Click here to read more.

3.

 Crazy facts about stuff we buy

Photo source

Here are 21 surprising statistics about how much we own. about how much we own. These figures actually relate to the USA but I'm sure they can be applied to us. Click here to read more.