My blissful three-week holiday at home continues. How lucky do I feel to be given this time to float through the days and just be. It's actually been interesting to watch myself and see what happens when I'm given the precious gift of free time. For the first few days, after the post-Christmas crazy, I just wanted to binge-watch shows and eat leftovers. Way too many hours went by as my mind and body remembered how to relax. But I think perhaps that was the point. It made me sit and paused my mind from the normal faced-paced jig it dances daily to keep all the balls in the air.
Two weeks in and I'm loving getting a few things done that normally I don't have the time for. I've mulched garden beds, sorted/sold/donated things the family has outgrown and done a few odd housework jobs. (And barely even glanced at the TV.) I like the way my mind has started to ponder things and become a little curious again. I miss that side of myself when I'm under the pressure of time.
But enough introspections (for now) - and please enjoy some pretty, but fake, flowers instead. These guys are the first thing I see when I come out of my bedroom every day. I put them there, for lack of anywhere better, when I brought them home from mum's care facility soon after she passed away from late-stage Alzheimers in November 2021. (I have a story to tell about how I managed to be sitting with her for the last three hours of her life - despite COVID and border restrictions - but that is for another blog post.) My mind twigged onto just how serendipitous that decision was this week, even though made without thought, as every morning I feel a moment's connection with her when I see them as I wander out to start the day. And that my friends brings me happiness.
Do you like my Latte Art? Me either - but you have to start somewhere. Santa brought me a brand-new coffee machine for Christmas and I've had the time to play around with it (and drink a lot of extra coffee). This was one of my very first attempts and I was actually kinda proud of myself that I could make anything happen. Watch this space - I'm going to learn. I'll be consulting you tube and presenting you with something awesome soon. Promise.
And now I should get back to floating through my last 6 days of time before the only beverage I'm drinking is realit-tea. (Sorry bad joke - should probably have come with a warning.) Three more years of paying school fees and raising my little woman and then maybe I can bring more balance to my life and indulge my introspective spirit more regularly. Leaving you with a snap of some cute butter-yellow pansies that are currently thriving on my front deck. Loving their happy little faces too.
Caz