My Life In The Week Ended 25 January

Howdy all! It's been a quieter week than the last. I only ventured out of town once to get the grocery shop. Sometimes my life is so rock n' roll. My nineteen year old self would be horrified.

But as the years have gone by I've cherished the less frenzied times more and more. Anyway there's still bits and pieces to report. Here's what's been going on.

What Habits Am I Working On?

Photo: Pixabay: ChiemSheherin

I'm so impressed by how using the FInch app on my phone is changing my behaviour in a genuinely fun way that I've written a separate blog post all about it. Watch out for it as it's scheduled to arrive soon.

Two new habits were added for me to work on this week. I wanted to remind myself to offer up a quick prayer last thing at night so that my dreams can be used to guide me. Now I don't remember any of those nocturnal goings on. Most nights, I'm sleeping like a log, a full seven hours. This feels like a miracle!

Conversely the success rate on my other new habit, 'Take a picture of something that makes me smile,' has been woeful. It's part of my quest to add extra joy into my life. The wind and rain has turned me into a proper homebird. Aside from chore runs I haven't been out much at all this week. It means that my search for the novel has been rather limited. Better luck next week maybe?

What's Cooking?

Friends came to lunch on Saturday and I rustled up a roast dinner. This British staple is always such a crowd pleaser. You really can't go wrong. And for a rare treat I made a pudding. The baked New York cheesecake recipe from Delicious Magazine is so easy to prepare in advance. As such it's becoming one of my go to staples.

I really must remember to take pictures of food for my blog before we've scoffed half of it!

What I Found

Last August I bought my partner Paul a glass blowing taster sessions at Teign Valley Glass. Here he is in action. He made three objects that he's rather proud of: a bird, a vase and a decoration for the Christmas tree. But when the festive season came along could I find his beautiful glass bauble? I knew that I'd put it in a safe place. I wasn't quite sure where.

Fast forward to this week and I found it, in the motorhome of all places. I'd cleared out a cupboard in December and popped a load of stuff in a basket, the 'safe place' until I'd found everything a new home. The bauble was in there.

Needless to say Paul's very pleased. And I've promised that the bauble will have pride of place on our 2026 tree. If I don't lose it again in the meantime.

What My Inner Voice Told Me To Do

Photo: Pixaby: olleaugust

The footpath leading to my Mum's house flooded a few weeks ago. I phoned the contractors that the council use and it hasn't yet been sorted out. It rained and rained on the day that my Mum attends her exercise class in town this week She normally gets the bus home alone but my inner voice told me that I should pick her up. I wasn't too enamoured with the idea of her wading through calf deep water with her wheeled walker.

However It was so cosy at home that I almost persuaded myself that Mum would be alright. But the voice persisted so I wrapped up and walked into town. Yes, that was part of the message too. I was definitely being told to go on foot and not take the car.

As I neared the bus stop I heard sirens. As I walked on a rather alarming scene emerged. I don't think that I've seen so many emergency vehicles forming a cordon. Thankfully I found Mum safe and sound, sheltering in a doorway. A woman, who sadly passed away, was stuck under a lorry just yards away. I walked with Mum away from the horror and then phoned for my partner Paul to pick us up. If I'd have brought the car myself I wouldn't have been able to park anywhere nearby. What's more my fears about flooding were right too. Water was lapping at the gate of Mum's next door neighbour and we had to take a muddy detour to get in her bungalow.

I'm telling this story as an example of just how relevant your inner voice can be. Funnily enough mine doesn't sound like a different person. It's just me talking to myself but in a persistent and directive way.

What I'm Planning

I think that I mentioned last week that we're planning to build a kitchen from scratch this year. It's so exciting! My Paul is very handy and will be building the cabinets from solid wood at the fraction of the price of shop bought carcasses. My own contribution will be splashbacks and I thought that I might as well crack on with these.

When I make a mosaic there's lots of thinking that goes on beforehand. It's all part of the fun of the creative process. My plan is to make a shoal of mackerel. Those vibrant fishes have been filling my thoughts this week. And here's some that I spotted on a wall in town that went towards inspiring me.

What I Repurposed

A few months ago I bought an woolly infinity scarf in a charity shop and fell in love with it. What a practical piece of clothing. Because it's a loop rather than a long piece of cloth it stays put around my neck.

But alas it's disappeared and unlike the bauble it hasn't turned up again. So I've made a replacement from another scarf that I found in another charity shop down town.. I used the yarn from its former tassels to sew its ends together to make a loop. The transformation took less than an hour.

And this is a happy ever after story for I'm even more enamoured by my new scarf that the one that I lost. It's thicker and toastier and will serve me well for years to come - if I don't lose it!

Weeks like this remind me that even when life looks uneventful from the outside, there’s still quite a bit going on beneath the surface. Come back next week to find out what the end of January holds for me. Looking at my diary it seems that it might be a little less lively.