Earlier on I’d been trying to sort out a problem
Not a big one – just one I could ponder about whilst I was on the back deck.
I’d laid all the necessaries on the table and popped back indoors for my cuppa
Guess what greeted me when I came back outside
less than two minutes later 🙂
My problem was that I’d just finished a sleeve on this little lad’s jumper
then realised I’d knit the wrong size 😦
So rather than unravel all the knitting
I decided to undo the cast off top of the original sleeve and start knitting again.
 Sounds a bit weird – looks a bit weird
Just means I unravel as I come to the end of each row
All will go to plan –Â unless
I have too much uncalledfor assistance from my brown coloured shadow 🙂
Right now many American bloggers are enjoying their special Thanksgiving Day
They are also writing about things they are thankful for
That also set me thinking – about my knitting.
*Â It definitely keeps me occupied
* It likes to travel
* It challenges me, makes me think – makes me use my math skills for one.
* It encourages me to be creative
– finding ways to use all my odd balls of wool –
how to adjust or adapt sizing and the look of a garment
* It bring colour to my life
especially when I’m trying to mix and match colours for fair isle/strand work
* It is always there when I need something familiar to do
* It keeps me company
– seems to enjoy the same music and also the same tv programmes I do –
* It doesn’t mind sitting in the background for a while now and then
I’m sure there are other reasons to be thankful for a skill I learnt as a child
these ones will keep me going for a while
Oh and I’m thankful to have my brown coloured shadow to keep my company
(and for all the others who have lived previously in our home before her)
The Golfer often mentions that when things don’t go quite the way I want them to I only see the ‘bad’ side and there is always another side to be considered. So I must make an effort to see that side and not always get hung up on the other one.
So with that in mind I looked at the pouring rain we had yesterday and instead of grizzling and complaining to myself about the loss of the recent sunny days I thought about the water tank behind our garage being filled and how much the plants were enjoying the drink from above and how much easier it is to weed when the soil is moist 🙂
The warning of an above average summer fire season – especially in the area where I live – has now changed to a potentailly major fire season so even tho’ I live in what is deemed as ‘an outlying suburb’ anything I can do to lessen the risk around my property is all for the good. Think trees and bushes trimmed, grass kept to a reasonable level, no rubbish hanging around the outside of the house – not that way at my place but there are one or two in our neighbourhood could do with a clean up.
I’ve spent the best part of last few weeks going through cupboards, drawers and anywhere else strange or otherwise (think fridge and freezer) I could think of looking for a lost item. It definitely came home with us from overseas and was last seen on October 25th. As you can imagine a lot of grizzling went on in my part about not being able to find it, I knew exactly where I had left it – yet it wasn’t there.
My search was a bit half hearted to begin with (it’ll turn up all in good course) then more in earnest when it didn’t. Finally found on Saturday, in a drawer that had been rifled through several times – why I would have put it amongst some papers that were standing up along the side of the drawer beats me. Relief all round 🙂
So mindful that The Golfer had survived weeks of bad attitude on my part I had to think of the good side of all this:
I now have very tidy bedrooms – in my search I went through cupboards and wardrobes ditching unworn obviously unneeded clothes, rummaged through and tidied drawers (although it appears I slipped up on one lol ) I moved beds, vacuumed floors underneath, changed bedding (upper and lower) and as I was in such a frantic state I even took down and laundered curtains before I cleaned the windows – inside and out!
It means I also have a very clean tidy refrigerator and freezer – and I discovered I didn’t drop the missing item into or even under the washing machine because I moved it – along with the fridge and freezer – to sweep and wash the floor they stand on.
It means we have oodles of soup in the freezer – no more odd looking vegetables lurking at the back of the fridge. Meats that have lived in the freezer for a while are now back there again but in a different form – means I can have a few no cook days when the weather gets back to warm again.
I now have a very clean and tidy lounge room with no ‘junk aka known as craft stuff’ behind the chairs. Said armchairs have no unknown pieces of stuff beneath them now because they were moved so I could check for lost item and also vacuum said pieces of unknown stuff (which made funny noises as they rattled up the hose) and then the chairs were ‘dressed’ with freshly laundered chair covers.
Oh and the ironing is up to date as well – there was the ‘chance’ in my eyes that the lost item could have found its way on to the couch and been covered with clothes – dont ask lol – last time it was seen was 3 days after we arrived home so just imagine washed holiday clothing coming off the line and being dumped.  What? That doesn’t happen in your house??
The cabinet and drawers in the bathroom no longer harbor all those odds and ends that appear to belong in there. All those small travel sized soaps shampoos conditioners skin moisturisers mini toothbrushes and toothpast – you know the hotel give away stuff you think will come in handy one day. As well as tossing donating those things I cleared out (a definite toss in this case) all the other half used never to be finished bits and pieces that were there as well.
So who benefited from my weeks of frustration and annoyance? I suppose you could say definitely the op shops/charity shops from all the excess stuff I found and donated. Then there’s the library because I went there several times to give myself a break and look for new reading matter to take my mind of the problem.
And then I suppose I did.
It made me stop and think about how I treat my (important/valued/loved) possessions (haphazardly/ slap happily) and also how I react to some situations. Mind you it also meant I could look at this and see the good side of it 🙂
A few years ago I held this little bundle for the first time – our first grandchild.
A redhead!
Just like her other grandma and my grandfather.
Two years on there was a mass of red curls as well – as you see here on her swing with The Golfer
Then came school and all the teasing and name caling – not nice for a quiet (sensitive, glasses wearing, not one of the ‘in crowd’) person like our little redhead. As she grew older (last years of high school) it had turned to bullying so she coloured her hair DARK. Very dark – so you would pass her in the street and not realise who it was.
Slowly she has grown it all out and now we are back to the original colour. Turning 21 last month and getting her licence seems to have brought ‘the real person’ to the front again. A confident happy person.
She even posted this great video on her fb page – remarking ‘this is me’
I realise we all go through changes in our life – physical and mental
and they are ‘ours’ to own whether others like them or not
This change in our little redhead brings relief for us at her happiness and
Big smiles from this grandma 🙂
I think it might have been a Tuesday All I can say is ‘Thank goodness for the mats in the lift that remind you which day of the week it is 🙂
The skies were a bit grey so The Golfer and I came back onboard early.
IÂ wondered where everyone was and if there was anything going on
so took a little walk.
 I could see there were a few cruisers (but not too many) in the Library
Stacks of books – Lots of squishy comfortable armchairs
Thats also where the internet centre is
where the very expensive and very slow internet centre is
(which is why there is always a crowd at the cafes onshore that have free wifi all for the cost of a cup of coffee lol)
Some of these photos are small sized in a gallery just click and they will enlarge for you
Looks like they finished the jigsaw puzzle!
The  Dining Room was being made ready for the evening meal
there was still food at the salad bar but nobody was eating in the Lido
The Front Desk girls smiled as I passed by – the Captain was taking a late lunch near the pool – and the cruise consultant was seeing to ‘new customers’
There was no one in the shops or the casino
or taking a computer class
(one of The Golfer’s favourite onboard things to do)
Anyway we’d left port by this time and the skies were still grey
Then I discovered cards was the thing to keep some of them amused
And these players were deadly serious – you should have heard some of comments coming out of some of them later lol
Trivia was in full swing at the piano bar
Want to be on the losing team – ask me to join you 🙂
And how did I amuse myself on that coolish afternoon – I just sat down outside on one of  the deck loungers rugged up in a nice warm towelling blanket
The Golfer had gone off to the computer class
So I enjoyed my book, the peace and quiet
And watched the energetic deck walkers tootle by 🙂
When you’re wandering round the decks you’ll often see little groups of the crew in what look like strange positions
What on earth can they be doing crouched near the railings. Â Looks like they are rubbing and scraping. Â Think of the salt and the sea and what it can do to metal and there is your answer. Â RUST is a dirty word on a ship lol. Routime cleaning down of the big and the little areas before treating is a necessity.
Now I wonder what’s going on down there?
The deck is out of bounds
and one of the lifeboats has been lowered?
Oh, there’s some real work going on there – I can hear lots of banging!
Plus there’s several men up a ladder doing it
Just routine maintenance they said – nothing to worry about!
Good to know they go in for a service on a regular basis and any necessary ‘repairs’ get done quick smart.
Never know when they might be needed 🙂
Do you remember school outings – those day trips that were supposed to be educational but often (mainly due to the attitude of the ‘teacher’ supervising) turned into a giggle fest for the girls or rowdy knockabouts for the boys. Getting on the bus armed with the ‘info’ sheets full of facts as well as questions to be answered.
IÂ only remember one from my senior school days – a trip to Immingham for the Form 5 girls (girls only school)and have absolutely no idea why we went there.
As she stood on the stage each morning at assembly our head would remind us –  ‘girls, you are the ladies of tomorrow, please behave in a ladylike manner’ Yes she really did speak that way. Anyway I’m sure she would have had a fit if she’s seen these 17yr old ‘girls’ eyeing up the young seamen/fishermen on the wharves in Immingham on that day in 1959 lol
These students having their photo taken at Ephesus look about the same age as I was (well maybe a touch older)  – will the day they sat on the steps of the Celcus Library stick in their mind?
I’m sure they will remember the grandeur of this building better than I can the docks we visited lol
Now these youngsters are much younger than I was at that time but I wonder if they will remember the day they sat on the rocky ground amongst the buildings and the crowds on the Acropolis in Athens?
They were there with what looked like a teacher and possible a mother sitting close to the Erechtheum and not too far from the people filing in through the Propylaea. Most looked tired, some of the boys definitely had a bored look about them except for the boy at the front who kept looking around as if he was trying to take it all in.
It is right on their doorstep and if they visit again as adults I wonder if it will feel the same as when they came on the school outing with their teacher??
How about you –
what memories do you have of school day trips educational or otherwise?
Yes, thats springtime in Melbourne to a tee.
Take Saturday last week for example. Here’s the view of the sky through the gum tree at the bottom of the garden
Sky, what sky 🙂
That was the day I looked out the front door and saw green white??
And green white grass ???
Oh yes that would be the result of the hail storm that came through during the afternoon.
Even the view of the back garden from the deck had a cool muted look to it.
Now fast forward to Tuesday – blue skies and just a hint of cloud
We all felt a bit better
The roses echoed that feeling
See how much they seem to enjoy the sunshine
Yes I do seem to live my life through the garden.
Two years ago I was in so much pain I totally neglected this part of my world and now after enforced rest from all things strenuous plus some ‘gentle’ exercise I’m enjoying being back in the swing of it again.
I’m sure some of you remember the never ending story of the
‘lavender round the washing line’.
The lavender that grew so much it outgrew itself and was given the chop
(new readers might like to use the search box at the side
– just put in ‘lavender round the washing line” and the whole story will emerge)
Well after removing the old plants last June I transplanted some of them to another part of the garden wondering if they’d take.
Nothing ventured nothing gained eh??
Fast forward a few months
a few months filled with lots of rain and then some sunny weather
and now look at what I have!
A small Lavender hedge 🙂
which will be at the back of a part of the garden I’m adding to by dividing and transplanting the smaller plants from elsewhere
My problem was that I’d just finished a sleeve on this little lad’s jumper
Still Waters 