The new shoes

Today I am grateful, and very excited, to have found, and bought, the most gorgeous pair of shoes!!

I went looking for a dress for my night out (which is tomorrow, so advanced warning...there will be no Blog to read on Sunday morning!!), and came home with a dress, shawl, jewellery (only cheapo stuff!) and my shoes!!

After tomorrow night, I think I'll mount them on a plinth so that I can just love and adore them!!

So excited about a pair of shoes!!!!! Am I sad or what?????

Check them out....

My golden slippers!!

Well.....what do you think???

Gratefully yours.
xx

The right choice

Today I thought, enough already with the melting down and the stressing out.

Today I CHOSE to be happy!!

I started as soon as I felt the dreaded nudge from K, telling me it was time to get up.

Instead of the usual groaning and "do I really have to?", I took a minute to smile and remind myself of the new day ahead of me. A new and exciting day, if I chose to make it so.

I took it as a good sign that on my walk to work I spotted Mr Heron, down by the waters edge with the swans. I haven't seen him for ages, so that really made my morning! I also made a point of smiling at everyone I passed, which drew more wary looks than smiles back, but I didn't mind.

I didn't let anything phase me at work, and didn't even get upset when I could find nothing in my wardrobe to wear for my night out on Saturday!

In the evening I treated myself to Shelac nail polish at my favourite salon, also in preparation for Saturday, and had a good chat with the girl doing my nails, instead of sitting in silence!

All in all, today I am grateful that I remembered that I do have a choice in how I feel, and that I actively chose to be happy!

Must remember to do it again tomorrow!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Drip drip drop

Today I am grateful for the calming effects of a nice, hot shower!

I was feeling a bit unbalanced today.

Or, to put it another way, I was a grumpy mummy!!

Everything was just too much trouble and I felt like a good cry...so I took myself off upstairs and had a nice, hot shower instead.

It was lovely. I guess it gave me the time to relax and let go of whatever was eating me.

It had the added bonus of giving me a chance to dry my hair better....I'd been having a bit of a bad hair day!

Maybe that was the problem all along!!!

Anyway, having a hot shower is going to be my new counting to ten! Well, until they start the water charges, that is!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Re-purposing

It's getting to the time of year when, even if the day is mild, the temperature drops along with the sun.

Tuesday is ballet day.

Meg's class is now half past six till half past seven. So, for me it's an hour sitting in the car with my book. Cold!!

Thank goodness for crocheted baby blankets, that's all I can say!!!

My beloved mother crocheted blankets for me when my babies were born, and once they had outgrown their usefulness, as far as their original purpose is concerned (the blankets...not the kids!!), they were assigned a new task.

They have, for the past 10 years, lived their lives in my car, and they are given a lot of use in this kind of weather!!

So, today I am very grateful for my crocheted knee and shoulder warmers. As beautiful and functional now as the day they were made!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

A whole heap o' somethin'

I have as lot to be grateful for today.

Shopping done. Cupboards full. Bank not broken.

Car given a thorough wash, by own fair hand. Again, bank not broken. Calories burned. Win-win!!

Heart shaped scones made for K (yes, really!!). Chicken rolls for T and sausage and ketchup rolls made for Meg! Some for tomorrow, and some for freezer. Job's a good 'un!!

Gorgeous (my cat) cuddled, stroked and generally loved to bits, and now curled up at my feet.

And last, but definitely not least, my darling now teenage boy fast asleep in the bed beside me. So good to know that he still needs a reassuring mammy-cuddle every now and then, even if he's too grown-up to admit it out loud!!

Yes. Today I am a lucky girl.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Walk the walk

Today I am grateful to have had a wonderful, long walk with Megan.

I've become too lazy over the past few weeks. The cold, wet weather is a great excuse, but really, the weather's not been that bad at all!

I've become a bit energy-less, especially later on in the day, and find it hard to make myself do anything at all, never mind anything that involves having to put boots and a jacket on!

So, this morning I suggested to Megan that we go for a wee walk. No pressure, no set route, just a wee walk.

We ended up doing the longer of our routes, the one that takes us along by the river and back through the wet-lands sanctuary. We were out for just over an hour, took lots of photos, and chatted non-stop!

I still ran out of juice by mid-afternoon, but I'm so glad we went!

I need to start thinking energetic thoughts!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

No pressure

I'm grateful to K for the lovely danish pastry he bought this morning for my breakfast!

He was up for goodness knows how long before I even woke up. He brought me a cup of tea in bed, then went out for his paper and danish!

All in all, it was a strictly no pressure day.

Got to love being spoilt!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Confused

Okay, the bad news is today is not Friday!!

I thought it was!

I was looking forward to the weekend!

This travesty of confusion was brought about by the fact that I had to change my work days this week, because Thomas had no school today. (Parent/Teacher meetings, so the whole school was closed!).

So, I guess, on the bright side I did get all my ironing done.

And on the even brighter side....tomorrow IS Friday!!

Today I am grateful for having a bonus Friday!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The worry box

My worry box has been switched on over the last 24 hours, because my Mum has been ill.

Thankfully she has some very, very good friends. 

Thankfully she also has four daughters who love her very, very much!!

Thanks to that, my worry box has been temporarily switched off again this evening.

I'm grateful to sisters and friends who are there when I can't be!

Gratefully yours.

xx

PS this post should have gone up last night, but in my overly anxious state I put it in "drafts" by mistake!!

Creativity

Today I am grateful for creativity, and the chance to use it!

I've been having some fun today with my photos, cards and the like. I love it when a plan comes together!

I really just need to focus...and switch off the tv!!

The problem is that the Christmas films have started!!

Oh boy!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Fear an phoist

For those of you not of the Irish speaking persuasion....

Today I am grateful for the Postman (Fear an phoist!).

I did a wee bit of on-line shopping last week, and was delighted when three parcels arrived today. One with the parcel-postie and the other two with our regular postie.

Bless him, he was desperately trying to shove them through the letterbox, but there was no way! I put him out of his misery and opened the door for him!

So, I am now armed and ready with our 2014 BIG family diary - essential if I am to keep tabs on what everyone is doing and where they are meant to be! I mean, you all know what my memory is like!! Can you just imagine the chaos???

I can go to bed now with cosy new Sock-Shop socks (try saying that fast!!) and my Cooking for Geeks food science book!

Thank you Fear an phoist!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The weekend

I like weekends.

I especially like weekends when I'm not working.

I especially like weekends when I'm not working because I get left to sleep until I wake up.

It's just wonderful. I feel that I get to catch up on the sleep I don't get the rest of the time!

One of the downfalls of not having kids till my late thirties is that I have gone from sleepless nights with the kids straight onto sleepless nights with the menopause!!

At the rate I'm going I'll be joining Mam and Susan's middle-of-the-night club! (They send each other texts in the middle of the night when Sus is working and Mam can't sleep!)

Anyway, as I was saying, I am grateful to my darling K and kids for leaving me to sleep in at the weekends.

I'm always last up!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Surprise!

Don't you just love surprises?

I know that anticipation can be fun too, but you can't beat a good old surprise.

I had three today.

1. Craft supplies I ordered on Monday arrived....wasn't expecting them for at least another week!

2. Books arrived from Linds. She had said she'd send them to me (books about "green" cleaning), but, again, I wasn't really expecting them. I should have known she meant what she said!

3. Went to do the ironing and there was only one top of K's, and a hanky....so I didn't bother doing it!! Well, I mean, by the time I carted out the ironing board...just not worth it!

Oooh, ooh.....just thought of a fourth.....

4. Got to speak to Judy and Mam this morning on Skype. Mam had said she'd be out this morning, but her plans changed!

So, obviously, today I'm grateful for little surprises!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Synchronicity

What is it that makes us go into just the right shop at just the right time?

I had a little extra time between work and picking-up-the-kids time today, 'cos Meggie has a book club after school on a Thursday at the moment, so I thought I'd try and get a little bit of the Secret Santa shopping done.

No idea, of course, of where to start! I wanted to get things that are appropriate to each recipient, but not something too obvious, if you know what I mean.

I was drawn into a shop that I hadn't even considered, just by the colourful display of stock in the window. I wandered round for a bit, not seeing anything as nice inside. But, just as I was heading out again, I spotted it!

A beautiful object of desire, that I knew would be perfect for one of my friends.

I'm still not sure why I went into that shop. It wasn't something I had even considered getting as a present, but it is, I am convinced, perfect!

So, today I am grateful for synchronicity...being in the right place at the right time, trusting my instincts and getting the right result.

Doesn't happen every day!

Okay, okay....I'll tell you. But only if you promise to keep it a secret!

It's a beautiful and unusual handbag that I think just suits this person down to the ground. Quite fancy it myself!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Hide and seek

I've been having a game of hide and seek.....with the cat!!

When I came home from choir she was at the kitchen window, wanting in. She had a quick bite of supper, then started her usual "mad half hour" routine of haring about, up the stairs and down again, under the chairs and all over the place, at top speed.

I came out of the kitchen, at one stage and she was sitting half way up the stairs. She took off up to the landing and then flattened herself down, looking down the stairs, so I slowly started climbing the stairs on my hands and knees. She watched me till I was half way up then dashed into the spare room. I stopped at the top of the stairs, still on my hands and knees, and waited.

She's just like the bairns...no patience!...so after a few seconds silence she crawled to the door to see where I was! When she saw me she darted back into the room and hid in her favourite spot - the bed-side locker! As soon as I came into the room she was off again, full pelt up to my room.

We had a great game!

I'm grateful to Gorgeous tonight for reminding me that a little bit of fun every now and then is a very good thing!

She is now sprawled out on the bottom of my bed, while I write my blog here on the lap-top. And I have a child on either side, reading their books!

Just as well Daddy isn't ready for bed just yet...no room!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The bird-man

For the last few weeks, along by the river, where I walk on my way to work, I've passed a man feeding the birds.

He seems to go there every morning, feeding the swans, sea-gulls and pigeons, with a bag of bread and scraps, and I would say they love to see him coming!

This morning he was standing with his arm out, covered in pigeons, with fully grown swans eating out of his other hand, as gentle as you like!

I had to stop and tell him that I thought the birds must be delighted to see him every day, and he looked up and said "I just love coming here".

Now, he's the kind of man that, to look at, you wouldn't want to meet on a dark street, and yet here he is, every day, feeding the birds, and getting so much joy and peace from it.

It cemented in my mind what I said the other day: underneath the surface, we are all the same.

It also reminded me not to judge a book by its cover!

Today I am grateful for the ripple effects of one good deed.

Not only was he giving himself pleasure, and all the swans, seagulls and pigeons, but he gave me a boost of good feelings to carry with me for the day.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Where's me grub??

The C word

Well, I'm sorry to have to bring it up, but Christmas is just around the corner!!!

I started my shopping today....although, I must admit, I only bought a couple of pressies that need to find their way to Oz for the big day - and by that I mean the Antipodes, not the Great and Powerful!

More impressively, K brought home our first presents from an outside party!!! In fairness to her, she's heading off to Fiji for three weeks very shortly, so I guess she had to be organised! I could be organised if you sent me to Fiji for three weeks, honest I could!!!

I've seen some Christmas adverts on the telly too, and I have to say I'm not impressed with the one from Boots, which all but tells you you're a bad person if you don't buy a present for anyone and everyone you know, from their stores, of course!

John Lewis, on the other hand, has a fabulous ad about a bear and a hare. It is so, so touching...much more about the spirit of Christmas.

Today I am grateful to be getting my Christmas groove on.

Bring it on!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Stuff and nonsense

Today was a day for getting stuff done and taking no nonsense!

K asked me what my plans were for the day this morning. My reply was "as little as possible!".

It didn't quite work out that way!

Not quite sure where the day went, but we didn't sit down till tea time!

One thing we did do was to clear out K's wardrobe. I could hardly get room to hang up his shirts!

I do my own wardrobe fairly regularly, and the kids ones, but K is not such a clothes-hog as I am so I can't actually remember the last time (if ever!) that his was done!

I was taking no nonsense. If he wavered, even slightly, it went into the charity bag! Well, in fairness, he lost a fair bit of weight over the last year and half the shirts and trousers in there don't fit him any more!!!

So now he has a tidy wardrobe with lots of room in it, and he knows what he might need to buy in the January sales....yes, he will wait till then before he ventures into a clothes shop!!! Like I said, not such a clothes-hog!!!

Today I am grateful that we tackled some jobs together. It felt good.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Every cloud...

...has a silver lining, or a resultant rainbow!!

It was a yucky morning. No better word for it! It was cold and wet and dark.

Driving to work I was delighted to see not just one, but a double rainbow.

I just love when you can see it coming! The really black sky, filled with rain clouds, then the sudden bit of blue sky as the sun comes out behind you...and you just know that the rainbow is going to appear!

It kept me going all day! Just remembering it.

Today I am grateful for the sun, the rain and their hybrid baby, the rainbow.

Gratefully yours.
xx

All done

...but not quite dusted!!

I had a good day though.

Ironing done......check.
Laundry room (utility!) cleared of all laundry....check.
Stairs hoovered....check.
Toilets cleaned.....check.

Coffee at Cost with the kids....check!!!

Well, I didn't quite have the energy to bake myself a treat, so Costa was the next best thing!!!

It's a good feeling to know that I am looking after the place that my family live. It is our shelter, our refuge, our place to be together, and I am finally realising that it is a privilege for me to be able to keep it a warm, tidy and relaxing place for us all.

Gosh.....I think all the cleaning must have gone to my head! I feel a little faint!!!!
Ha ha ha.

Today I am grateful for FINALLY accepting the role of housekeeper with good grace!!

I knew all I had to do was to see the job in a new light. I'm a bit slow....but I get there in the end!

Gratefully yours.
xx

A little effort....

....goes a long way!

Thomas has been on at me for about two weeks now to make chicken rolls (as in chicken instead of sausage rolls).

They are incredibly easy to make, yet it has taken me two weeks to do it!!

It's the same story with healthy scones for K...although I am now back in the habit of making a batch regularly for him.

It's back to my old chestnut, motivation!

But I think that I am (finally!!) getting better at the self-motivation malarkey. And I am definitely starting to realise that a little effort does go a long way. It goes a long way to improving my peace of mind and general well being!

So today I am grateful for a little effort, and, of course, the results of that effort!

Now, what can I bake tomorrow, after I've done the ironing and hoovered the stairs???

Gratefully yours.
xx

All for one...

No-one's life is perfect.

We all put our pants on one leg at a time.

You can never know what is going on in some-one else's mind.

It dawned on me, as I sat contemplating my day, that we are all the same, and none of us are perfect.

We all arrive on this planet in exactly the same way, and we all strive to make our lives the best that we can make them. We all have bad days, and we all have good days.

So maybe if we all remember that, then when some-one beebs their horn at us in anger, or shouts down the phone at us, we might find it easier to put ourselves in their shoes, and respect that it's their turn to have a bad day! We can then secretly rejoice that it's our day to have a good day!!

Easier said than done, I hear you say. And I agree. But it's worth a try!!

Today I'm grateful for deep breaths, counting to ten and calm reactions.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy!

Gratefully yours.
xx

A good start

There is nothing better than a day that starts well.

It just puts you in such a good frame of mind that everything just seems to fall into place.

Nothing, and no-one can bother you. You're in a good place.

I was taking mental notes today, just to see if I can work out a formula to re-create that wonderful good-start feeling!

What would be needed?

A pleasant walk in the cold morning, with a heavy sky but no actual rain?

A beautiful view?

A good deed on the spur of the moment?

Getting something off your chest at just the right moment?

The perfect cup of coffee?

Today I am grateful for "good starts".

I'm not sure, but I think mindfulness plays a role in there somewhere!!!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

TV Times

I just love this time of year.

Strictly
Downton
Grand Designs
The Great British Bake Off
The Choir

Need I say more??

Nothing to watch all summer then....BAM!!! How's a girl supposed to get anything done in the evenings with so much good stuff on the telly?

Poor K's taken to reading a lot! Or watching rugby on the wee telly in the kitchen. Poor soul. Yes, I know I should be giving him a shot of the big telly every once in a while,, but he's not as square eyed as I am...and I wonder where Meggie gets it?????

I am still, however, grateful to the mighty programmers at the Telly Place on high for their wonderful choices.

I have to ask though....what's the verdict on Gareth's strange, red facial fuzz?????

Gratefully yours.
xx

Done and dusted

No...I haven't been doing housework like hoovering and dusting all day!

I just mean that the day is done and dusted!

Strictly results show is watched and Downton is on in 5 minutes!!

Beds are changed and re-made, clothes horses groaning with the weight!

Lovely dinner cooked and eaten. Dishwasher emptied and re-filled!!

Food shop is done for the week, as I'm working tomorrow morning.

All done and dusted!

I'm grateful for all the help I've had today with the above mentioned, and I'm glad to put my feet up, watch Downton, and go to a nice fresh bed!

Day done.

Bring on tomorrow!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Small world

Today I am grateful for a fairly hassle-free day at work, Strictly, and checking into my blog and finding out that there were nearly 50 page views yesterday!!

I know in my heart of hearts that a lot of the viewings are people stumbling here in search of something else....but it's still nice to see! And hopefully it will bring a smile to a face somewhere in the world that I've never even visited!

I know that on my Facebook page, I follow some people from Australia, America and New Zealand, and it's wonderful to be able to see into those people's worlds, however briefly.

The world really is shrinking, and the people in it really are very similar at the end of the day.

How lovely!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Pandacam

Today I am grateful for modern technology!!

I have a new obsession....watching the Pandacam at Zoo Atlanta!

Two beautiful baby pandas were born there on July 15th - 2 minutes apart!

Since I was very, very small, I have loved pandas, (the black and white ones!) but have never seen one, other than in photos. (Yes, I know they have some in Edinburgh Zoo, but they are new since we were there a couple of years ago!)

But now, thanks to some amazing technology, I could watch the mammy panda and her babies 24/7, if I wanted to! And have, in fact, been flicking back and fore watching them while writing this!!!

How wonderful is that???

And it's fabulous to think that so many people are out there protecting, and looking after animals that might otherwise, thanks to the thoughtlessness of human beings, become extinct.

Rock on Zoo Atlanta!!

Gratefully yours.
xx