2 steps backwards can be a good thing!

Oh dear! Just when I thought I was getting better I developed a sharp pain on coughing and breathing in - Pleurisy! this bug is really not to be messed with. I have anti-biotics, painkillers and have been told to rest up, which is frustrating when I think of all that needs doing in the garden.

In the meantime I am back in bed and thinking! a lot! It has been quite a week with the global financial crisis playing out on our tv screens daily. With all the financial worries we are all facing this winter it makes sense to take some time out and re-evaluate our expenditure, this illness is maybe for me a blessing in disguise.

I have felt for a long time that most of us have forgotten what it is to appreciate what we have, replacing that with a longing for "stuff" we think (so the advertisers tell us) we need. Just before the Pleurisy struck I had been sorting out a couple of kitchen cupboards and have found, cleaned and rearranged some treasures I had forgotten about. A lovely large roasting dish and rack (used only once), a vintage measuring jug, vintage pyrex, a colourful set of mixing bowls - all will be back in regular use as soon as I am back on my feet. I don't need to make an order from Lakeland, tempting though their catalogue is, I have had my "shopping fix" at home.

On sorting out the spare bedroom for our daughter moving back in, I found various balls of knitting yarn and some lovely and colourful remnants, including some Christmas prints so I now have to find some sewing and knitting projects, maybe to try to make some Christmas presents this year.

Christmas itself is not that far away and it wouldn't hurt to start to plan it now, not as a consumer panic buying bash but in an alternative way, home made and traditional, using thought rather than lots of cash. The family prefer home made cookies and cakes and there really is no need for the overfilled cupboards of ready made confectionery, apart of course from our traditional tin of quality street (hopefully bought at half price) which look lovely with cotton loops threaded on and hung on the tree instead of those very over-priced chocolate tree decorations the shops are full of. I will try to do a once a week review of my progress towards Christmas on a budget. One book I have at my bedside to read is "Trade Secrets Christmas" by Annie Ashworth and Meg Saunders ISBN 0 75284 4199 published by Orion in 2001 and full of tips for managing Christmas in a hassle free way. Of course Christmas is so much more than this as any Christian knows and remembering the true meaning and being together as a family will hopefully bring comfort and hope to many. Another great book is "Unplug the Christmas Machine" by Jo Robinson and Jean CoppockStaeheli ISBN 0 688 10961 6 - A complete guide to putting love and joy back into the season.

I make no apology for bringing up the subject of Christmas so early on, as the shops are already filling with all the goodies they want you to buy, the best way to cope and avoid more debt and despair is to plan ahead, read all you can and make all you can.

Right now to find that notepad and make a few more lists! lol!

Riches that really matter

Sharon from finding simplicity has written a lovely post listing her "riches that really matter" and has asked me to do the same. At first I thought I would struggle but then found it difficult to stop, this is what I came up with after just a few minutes. Interestingly the more material things seem to pale into insignificance.

Sharing this life with Mr C

Knowing I am one of the first my children phone when they have good news

Ditto when they have bad news as even though it may be sad it means they trust me

Playing fetch with our playful puppy

Cuddles from same calmer puppy

Getting an "all clear" result from drs

Being cosy inside during a thunderstorm

The sound of rain on the conservatory roof

Egg and tomato sandwiches, egg custard tart and chocolate cake (mum's favourite tea both my sister and I still see this as comfort food)

Fishfingers, mash and peas (more comfort food)

Feeding the ducks

Sitting by a river watching the world go by

Paddling in rock pools

Being the first to tramp a path through crispy new laid snow

A field of daffodils

Trees

Decorating the Christmas tree with totally mismatched decorations collected over the years that mean so much to our family

The memories and watching the video of our cats 5 kittens (many years ago now)

Cuddling a new and freshly bathed and talcum powdered baby

My Mum's little aluminum "tea for one" teapot because it reminds me of Mum

A tray of tea and biscuits shared with a friend

A walk in the woods

Sitting by a fountain

Working in the garden and soaking up the sun

Birdsong

Picking the first runner beans of the season and each harvest afterwards

Watching a dragon fly flit across a pond

New baked bread

Cinnamon and spiced cookies baking

Bargain hunting at Car boot sales and charity shops

Making something and feeling the sense of achievement

Seeing happiness in my family and friends

Curling up with a good book (and some chocolate)

Having the time to smell the roses


I could happily go on adding more and more of lifes riches!
I wonder what your list would be?

Energy limits!

The trouble with having an illness, that means very limited energy, is it does tend to mean that new and exciting interests use up vital energy supplies and that means a distinct lack of energy for the normal everyday business of looking after a home, and sad to say, it shows! I am blessed and lucky to have enough energy to at least realise this and care, in the early days it was all I could do to raise my head off the pillow!

Family and friends take us as they find us, it is us they come to see not a tidy house, although that would be nice sometimes.

With the weather being perfect for keeping on top of the gardening jobs, indoors is becoming neglected. Which way to go? How to fit it all in without aggravating the cfs again? I feel another list coming on!

Plumb tuckered out!

The puppy could and still can do this with cute panache but I alas cannot. I consider myself to be "recovering from" rather than "suffering from" cfs/me and often overstretch myself just to try for a while to keep up with the fast pace of others around me, it doesn't last long and I am soon put in my place and have to rest up (no choice in the matter). The house is a mess and needs a good old fashioned "bottoming out" but that will have to wait, in the meantime I can make lists. Truth be told I could make lists for England! and then lose them again in all the clutter! lol So today I am making lists, shopping lists (trying to keep that one very small, still getting over the shock of soya mince doubling in price!), his and hers lists for jobs around the house, gardening list, wish lists, reality lists! Even if I only manage to cross one thing of my lists it will be an achievement and mean I am going in the right direction again.