Now......!!

You know how it is....

you're talking with a friend and suddenly.......

at the furthest corner of your mind....comes 

a 

Wisp of Remembrance.

It curls itself

slowly around the corner of your thoughts

like the delicate tendrils of a sweet pea

half remembered....

almost like the ghost of a half remembered dream....

and....

while you are still talking

your mind tries to tease the verse to give away a little more of itself 

so that you can see whether it really does apply!

Having fluttered in your memory

the few fragments of words are loath to expose themselves further to the light of day

and shyly

flirt with your memory

until you say something like...

"Do you remember this verse.......?"

At this point

and because you're not sure whether

you've 'got it right'.....

you're taking a chance.........

This is what happened to me a few weeks ago...

I can't even remember the occasion....

but I do remember the verse

because

I finally nailed it and was able to look it up...

since then I've thought about it a lot...

It was "IF"

(by Rudyard Kipling)

and the little fragment that 

seemed to mean such a lot.....

and which I have tried to think and live in these

last few weeks

is

"If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run

Yours is the earth and all that's in it,"

I feel that.... with this post...

I'm taking a chance with you , my blogging friends...

as I am not showing you........ 

my glorious Pembrokeshire

nor am I sharing...

the china that I love to use....

This time I am opening up............ 

and sharing some of myself!!

These last few months 

as I have become more housebound

I have started to ask myself

'how fulfilling is my life?'

As a counsellor

both during my training

 and when I was training others

I used the Myers/Briggs Personality Types

to enable people to discover more about themselves

and also, when they were trained,

about their clients

Last summer

as part of a team building exercise

we used it again

and this time I was on the receiving end.

This time I took it, not as I can or could be.......

......but as I am now.

I knew I was really an introvert 

but could make myself

be extroverted

Now I decided to look at who I really am

and what I need out of life

right now

As the poem says...

"If you can dream..and not make dreams your master

If you can think..and not make thoughts your aim"

As I am here at home these days...

I am starting to dream again

and get in touch with what I need ....

and what pleases me.

I've been given these flowers I've shown above.. 

and really enjoy having them in the house

they touch something deep within..

Something to do with

Filling " the unforgiving minute"

Stopping to really look and allow their beauty

to touch a needy place within...

As I arranged them in the vase one broke off

so I found a little vase and went

into the garden

to find a little greenery

to go with it

as I cut a little Pittosporum

and a touch of the Winter Jasmine

I loved its colour against the deep red of the rose

I paused.....

in the winter sunshine......

and thought...

"What is this feeling

that I have

in this minute 

as I enjoy the crispness of a frosty day

the warmth of the winter sunshine

and the birds playing at their feeders....

and I realised.....

It was....

HAPPINESS!!

Cats Sleep Anywhere

A couple of months ago

when I was reading Meredith's blog

Mereknits

I noticed her cat sleeping on the bookcase and looking like a bookend!

It reminded me of a poem that my younger daughter learnt at school.

Cats Sleep Anywhere

(Eleanor Farjeon 1881 - 1965)

Cats sleep anywhere, any table, any chair

Top of piano, window ledge, in the middle, on the edge

Open draw, empty shoe, anybody's lap will do.

Fitted in a cardboard box, in the cupboard with your frocks.

Anywhere! They don't care!   Cats sleep anywhere.

Since then

I have had my other daughter's cat,

as a lodger, while they were in a rented home

See my earlier post

The Visitor

I knew virtually nothing about cats

Yes we did have feral cats on the farm but

a cat in the house.....

Let's say

she was getting me trained nicely

when she left at the beginning of December

and I do miss her!

She determined where she would sleep

and I followed behind her...

and moved her bedding accordingly

She had liked to sleep behind the farm overalls

(can you see her blanket on the right?)

But, once the boiler was lit

that is where it had to be..... so our towels

could no longer dry there!

If I went to sit in the garden room

she would sit on the window sill outside

looking sorrowful

until I could stand it no more and let her in!

and then she would sit on the back of my chair

tapping my shoulder with her paw

and nudging me with her head

So...yes I miss her

but

I'm telling my family please don't think

to buy me another

I don't think I could take more training!!

I am feeling a little better

and so have picked up the crochet that I started, while I was feeling so ill,

before I was admitted to hospital

It's the Ripple pattern

found at Lucy's Blog Attic24 Neat Ripple Pattern

I have read others say that it's very relaxing

if you need something gentle to do

and I must say that

I'm enjoying it

Before I went into hospital

I was offered a recliner chair.....

and by the time I came home it had been installed

and my lamp beside it

It is just so cosy and exactly what I needed!

*****************

I know it's a bit late but I would like to wish you all

a Happy, and Healthy New Year!!

I'm linking withShare your cup Thursday

Morning has broken

The other morning

I watched the sun rise as I lay in my hospital bed

It was so glorious

that I wanted to share it with you



I came home from hospital last Friday afternoon

I find it hard to believe that.......

I was there for 2 weeks

and that

Christmas has been and gone!!

I am still very short of breath and have been warned

that I am not allowed to do anything

for the next 2 weeks

and very little more for the next 6

or

I will be back in...

what a difficult choice!!

No guessing which I choose!

But...for me

staying still is sooooo difficult!

At the moment I haven't even the energy to crochet!

Thank you all so much for your messages of love

and support.

They really.......really helped

The wifi in the hospital was terrible

it came and went

I read some of your posts,wrote a comment

and it would disappear.

In the end I just gave up!

I hope to catch up with you all

and your doings...

as I get more energy and rest!

I am so sorry that my posts these last months seem to be all about hospital......

.....I look forward to Spring.....

and being out and about!

Hubbie and I were talking the other night

about his father

who, as a young man,

went to America to get work and see the world

He lived in Michigan

in a place called Peach Ridge, Sparta

This was in 1912

100 years ago!!

Recently

we found a letter from someone named

Slaughter and think this may

be the person

for whom he worked

so next year

we would like to see what we can find out!

Interesting...

Exciting!

Fancy...100 years ago

setting out across the pond in search of work.

No technology

Just a longing to explore......

and work in new fields...

literally!!

I

A Very Hapy Christmas

To all my friends

Who have allowed me to be a part

Of these last months

And who

Have 'been there' for me

And encouraged my every effort

I wish you all a happy and blessed

Christmas

A time of joy and 

Wonderful peace be yours

I will still be in hospital

I am happy about this as I am not well enough

To go home

The family are bringing in 

Christmas Lunch

And have arranged to visit

And that is good!

It has all given me quite a different perspective 

I have met some wonderful people

Nurses

Other patients and their relatives

And have been privileged 

To be with them at difficult times in their lives!

I see a 'purpose' in this

Time apart

Which makes it all OK

My thoughts and good wishes

Are with each one of you

My dear, dear

Blogging Friends

Be Blessed

This morning

I woke this morning to a glorious 

Sunrise

From the windows of my hospital ward

I took a couple of, I think, unusual photos but wasn't able to download them

From my iPad

I look forward to showing them after I return home!

From here I can see the queues of panicking shoppers trying to get everything done before

The Big Day!

Cars queuing in

And cars queuing out.........

It seems so strange to be sitting , as it were, as an onlooker

Seeing but not a part of it all!

Down there there are battles being fought for parking spaces...

Getting the last minute presents 

And food

Up here .... In my ward .....there is a battle for life being played out .....

Not mine but another dear old lady!

Reaching for each new breath...............

And surrounded by her family

Puts things in perspective

Doesn't it?

At home are all the half done 'things'

That I had been planning to accomplish this week.......

There's no point in my fretting

They say I'll be in here quite a while longer

So I just have to let it all go

As a friend emailed me

" at least you have to rest now!"

So...thanks for all your caring thoughts and prayers

I so appreciate each one

And please....please in this Season of Joy

Think of those who are suffering

And say a prayer for Barbara

As she walks .........

Back in Hospital

The chest infection that saw me taken into hospital in an ambulance
last Sunday and spending most of the day in Resus

Has made me have to be readmitted!

I saw the Doctor this afternoon

any he said I had to go straight to Hospital


( do not pass go....do not collect £200 etc)


I have been able to catch up with a lot of you while being unable to
leave the sofa !

Those I didn't. I'm so sorry!

I had a new post planned for my return from the Dr....

I had been going to show you the ripple blanket that I have started whilst lying down
But that's for another post!

Thanks for your support
Joan

Deck the Halls?



When we were staying with my mother

only a couple of weeks ago..

...seems more!

We took my daughter

to a place I always have to visit

on my trips to see Mum.

The above is the entrance .....

to the little coffee room

Sitting...looking out...

is another view of the treasures hidden around.

I hardly manage to 'escape' from here

without buying.....

some of the unusual things that I rarely

see elsewhere

(That's my excuse anyway!)

Needless to say...

I didn't escape this time either!!

Thank you all so much

for sharing your thoughts with me

after my last post

It's not so much that I feel pressured to blog...

because I don't!

It's more that sometimes I don't manage

to visit you

and that makes me feel guilty ....(isn't really

the word that I'm searching for!)

I find that, since I started blogging,......

 I view my surroundings differently!

I so want to share my world with you,

my friends!

Equally, I have learnt so much from you all.

I have looked at my china etc

and decided to change around the tops of

the mantle or other  tables.....

Instead of keeping them always the same!!

I have cleared out my front porch

and am waiting...

...... for inspiration on how to 'dress it'

Yes...I know it's a little out of focus...

but hey....

I'm not perfect ...and....

 ......I so wanted to show you

I digress.....

I have been encouraged to try out things...

like crochet and, even,

actual blogging!

I have pushed myself to walk a little further so that I could show you some of our beautiful county....

places that I haven't been able to enjoy for 4 years!

and...all along the way

... you have been 'there' for me and with me...

encouraging me...telling me that, yes, I could do it!!

You have also supported me when I was waiting for hospital appointments....

through surgery...

through other emotional family problems.....

through hubbie's stroke

a few weeks ago

So why.....

should I want to stop blogging?

I don't...

so could you please tell me........

how do you feel...manage...

visiting and responding to the lovely and encouraging comments?

I could ...and have...spent hours visiting....

I LOVE IT

but life 'happens'!

and the comment

I had a couple of weeks ago saying

why hadn't I visited in a while and that...

 'friends visit'

made me feel that I was 'short changing' you all!!

I would really appreciate your feedback!

As we were driving away

I realised that I hadn't taken a picture of the outside

(I was so keen to get in)!!

So this is taken through the back window

Sorry!!