The passing of the years

Well today’s post is a short one.

Yesterday was M’s birthday.  We had a great night out at ‘The Alex’, various visits from his family during the day, lunch with his dad, step mum and step sister and a shopping trip.  I got him a Kindle which he loves (he loves reading and gadgets, so the perfect combination).

During the shopping trip I had a very spontaneous moment and bought a huge canvas print of 5 women sitting on a pool side, with Pink Floyd album covers painted on their backs.  A picture entitled Pink Floyd * Back Catalogue.  Happy Birthday M, hope you enjoyed your day.

Of course being involved in a birthday celebration means you end up pondering the passing of time and the speed in which it passes.  During my pondering I found myself transported back to my teenage years, school, college and of the most fondly remembered Guides.  It is most apt that a very good friend from that period in my life is celebrating her birthday today.  Sadly I lost contact with her some years ago, something I deeply regret. 

So here’s to you old friend, Happy 27^th Birthday.

Crafty

M and I have made the decision to start selling items on a certain buy & sell website and to attend some car boot sales (not that we have a car or boot).  I have to confess to being inspired by a pagan forum I contribute to, they had a thread on lost crafts and it would transpire that quite a lot of people have craft skills.  The list is long, going from; jam making to being able to make fences.  I’m ashamed to say I didn’t posses any of the skills (apart from cooking from scratch).  So I have been researching tie dyeing, wood burning, buying and selling clothes and possibly card making. 

It will be a long process but hopefully not only we will be able to develop skills or a craft we will also be able to increase our income.

To curl up with a good book........

I’m settled down on the sofa, coffee poured and waiting to be drunk, book in hand..... open the cover, start the first sentence...... and then it starts.

What I hear you say?  Well the thing that has been blighting my reading for about 18 months.  Basically every time I settle down to have a good read, my mind; instead of picturing the scenes being described on the page starts to race through a long list of things that I ‘should’ be doing.  Better uses of my time, tasks that need completing. 

Dinner could be prepared early for a better taste, that washing sitting in the basket could be done now instead of tomorrow, hoovering should be done everyday not every other day....... a whole list of tasks screaming at me;

“What are you doing being so lazy, how dare you sit and do nothing?”

And that you in bold is very important, because it does feel like it’s personal.  Someone doesn’t think I deserve to read, to further my knowledge, hell even to just get totally absorbed into a bloody good story.

Of course that someone is me! (the mask is removed, the music builds and the audience gasps).  The question is why am I stopping my self from taking time out to read, write and generally discover new things?

As I see it there are 2 roads that could be taken here:

The first being that some part of me doesn’t want me to read, for fear of what I might discover (possibly) but lets face it I’m not reading secret files!

The second is that it could be a result of living in a culture that places a high emphasis on what people have achieved; saying well today I read a really good book doesn’t really compare to saying: the front room was decorated, a four course meal was prepared, the curtains went to the dry cleaners, 3 hours of working from home (unpaid)........

But why should I feel guilty about feeding the soul, what’s wrong with getting home from a long day at work and spending some time focusing on doing some thing I want to do? Ok so when I have finished a book, you can’t see a result of what has been achieved but does that really matter?

Well from now on I’ll say: “listen here me, I’m going to sit down and take time out to feed my soul and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

That will undoubtedly be a conversation worth hearing (and seeing).

Muppets

As I sit watching our second Muppet movie of the week I come to the conclusion that I owe it to the world to list me favourite Muppet characters. As to why the world would want to know what my favourite Muppets are, I don’t know but just in case it suddenly becomes very important........

My favourite favourite characters are of course The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat. They are a double act in most of the movies (Christmas Carol, Treasure Island and Muppets in Space). Rizzo spends most of the time thinking and talking about food and Gonzo spends just as much time attempting to narrate the story with of course interruptions from Rizzo.

Then off course we have my secondary favourite characters Bunsen and Beaker (Beaker being M’s favourite). Two mad scientists....who wouldn’t love them.

Then we have.....well all of them really.  Let face it; it’s the Muppets.

Raspberry