Fairy Garden OR Deluxe Apartment?

Wow! This is what I came home to during the week:

Take a closer look...

You can see inside...

I think the little lady has ended up with a deluxe apartment. I'm sure she never expected such grandeur, and neither did I !!!

A few months ago I showed Mister S what a fairy garden was and what I was hoping to achieve with all of the bric-a-brac I was accumulating. This was one of the images I showed him. (Scroll down to see the inspiration for this project). I was careful not to dwell on it too much, as I know fairy gardens are not everyone's idea of a good way to pass time. He was lucky if he got more than a few seconds to look at the photo.

Then last week I caught Mister S working on a small creation out in the shed. He was whittling away, using the branches cut from one of the trees in our garden. I knew it would be lovely but I hadn't realised that he had also been gathering together pieces that had been lying around in the garden. You can see in the photo he has artfully arranged the pieces around the little lady, making her very comfortable indeed.

As if the little lady and I weren't blessed enough, this morning we went to Flemington Craft Market and Mister S comes home with new accessories for the little lady's deluxe apartment. I might be feeling spoilt but this little lady sure is spoilt!

Through the window I watched him proudly arrange the furniture in the new apartment. With considered thought, he rearranged each of the "ornaments" which had been shifted with the addition of the beautiful chairs.

I must say  I was filled with admiration. It's certainly a privilege to watch someone treat their work as a craft and to see what beauty can come of it. I never expected my goal of having a fairy garden to turn out like this. I never expected to see such a masterpiece in my own garden.

What do you think?   A lovely fairy garden  or a deluxe apartment?

5 Things I'm Grateful For

I'm always pleasantly surprised to realise that even when things are busy or stressful or hardgoing, there are still opportunities to grow and learn.

This week I have much to be grateful for:

1. ROSEMARY
Our school garden has a big rosemary bush so I take a few sprigs when I need some for cooking.


2.THE GARDEN
It's so satisfying to see all that the garden provides, along with the promise (?) of more to come. Sometimes it seems to me that gardening is a game of chance and I'm very happy and very grateful when something I've planted grows. Properly.

3. SAFE ON THE ROADS
Yet again, I drove home down the highway after work, in peak-hour traffic, past 4 cars which had all been involved in the one accident. The drivers and passengers stood by their vehicles, looking dishevelled and dismayed as they waited for the police. I'm thankful that I've managed to travel each day to and from work, in one piece, my car and me.


4. TIME OUT and SAYING NO (sort of)
This last month has been one of too much to do. Now I have the largest number of school reports I've had to do in eight years. I've been stressing quite a bit lately. "Time out" helps me regain some balance.
Today I'm grateful for time in the day where I can relax and catch some TV. I've also bought myself some extra time by deciding to go to a friend's party but only for a couple of hours. As dear as these friends are, I'm an introvert and it gets uncomfortable after a couple of hours. So, I will go, but only for a while. Then they can all party on without me!!

5. A HELPING HAND IN THE GARDEN
This week I've had a helping hand in the garden. From now on it's a matter of our garden, not simply my garden.
He's come to stay and we get to make our own life together. He's finding it hard hunting for a job and I do hope that this talented man will be recognised for his strong ethics, skills and workmanship. He hails from a faraway land and spent many years taking care of the family's land. With such limited resources he's learned to manage with very little. In between tending the garden, he's been busy in the shed fashioning something from wooden branches he's stripped down with a knife. I think I'm not supposed to see what it is ... so no photo of what I saw when I peeked inside!!

I'm grateful for the wonderful changes that are happening in my life.

Happy SAD Thoughts: Stress at work can be a good thing!!

Last week I felt buried in the busyness of life. I must say that finally there has been some reprieve. I'm still waiting for the time when I can waste a whole day on the computer and life will still go on merrily, but for now I'm glad the pressure is easing and I can breathe a little more easily.
 tinybuddha.org is a website I have turned to many times in the past and found a myriad of advice from people who have experienced all sorts of difficulties. Last week, right when I was busy, I noticed an article from this website, entitled 4 things to keep you going when you're stressed at work by Raphaela Browne. 
"Not likely to have anything useful...," I thought, but I decided to take a look and perhaps get some self-satisfying confirmation of how stressful life can be.To my surprise I discovered a very helpful reflection providing a rather unexpected perspective on being stressed at work.
One of the reasons I dislike being so busy in my life is that I feel I cannot be generous nor as caring as I would like. It's hard to find the time to be available to others and it's hard to find the space where I can pursue my passions. This article actually helped me to see that times of stress and busyness can still be opportunities for character-building and for growing as a person. As for the time to pursue my interests, well, I guess I just have to be mature and recognise that there are times for work and there are times for leisure.
Anyway, I thought I'd share the article with those of you who might also feel maligned by being too busy. Have a look and see what you think.

On the road: simple travelling

Two weeks ago I was travelling on the road and feeling invigorated by life. It was a simple, no frills trip. Now I'm back home and, again, swimming in the busyness of life. The sun was shining today and I was itching to be out and about, enjoying this gorgeous world.

Tonight I had my blogging class  and now I'm back home getting ready for some guests who will be arriving tomorrow. It's going to be 34 degrees so I will need to find time to water the garden before I head off to work in the morning. There's beauty around me, even here in suburbia, but not a lot of time to savour it.

I'm putting up some snaps taken while I was over in South Australia recently.  I love getting in the car and driving away from the hustle and bustle. When I'm in the car, out on the open road, I really can't respond to phone calls, student problems or the sight of a messy house waiting for some attention.

   

I'm free when I drive.

 I love listening to radio broadcasts unless of course, it's a Saturday and every station is broadcasting sports events. Now that's a tough ride. I've gotten used to driving interstate so now I know the radio stations in each region, as well as good places to stop. As someone who was fairly uncomfortable with public toilets, I must say that the ones at the parks  approaching the Victorian/South Australian borders are impressively clean.

This time I managed to get a few photos along the way which is not always easy when you're driving down a highway with heavily-laden trucks and 100 km speed limits. It was clearly hay-making season in the rural areas, whereas the previous time I went across the fields were covered in bright, yellow canola.

Canoe Tree - on the road from Strathalbyn to Goolwa

 I've travelled extensively over the years. When I was younger and backpacking around the world I cut down on sight-seeing to stretch the money as far as I could. Now that I'm a little older I still like to keep travelling simple. Like my homelife!! I can squeeze three landmarks into a day if I choose, or I can take on one landmark that I'm really interested in (not necessarily the ones the tourist brochures insist I like). These days I much prefer to find a good walking track or a lovely place to sit , drink coffee and absorb the local atmosphere.

My friends in South Australia are on a tight budget so there were no fancy dinners. We took a walk to the top of a hill which I had expected to  take thirty minutes, thinking it was not far from their house. It was a warm day and we started late. The top of the hill turned out to be beyond the edge of their suburb, in and around the farmland. During my trip I saw many tumbledown farmsheds and rotting fences. I couldn't help thinking that we will lose all those untold stories as they rust and fall to pieces.

An hour and a half later we got back home. I had gone without water and was terribly thirsty but I managed to make it to the top of the hill  and all the way down. There was some beautiful countryside and my legs got plenty of exercise. As we walked, our chatter wandered in all directions, except when we got to the steepest part of the hill....at which point I couldn't do too much talking and had to conserve energy!

I was relieved to get back home but proud to say that I had made it to the top. The fresh air, beautiful views and good company were just as satisfying as any fancy dinner or some over-the-top, contrived landmark. This was my kind of travelling: simple, easy, enjoyable, good company, natural, authentic.

Simple Living Sunday: Thoughts on being too busy

Sunday is here again and I’ve barely found time to put my fingers to the keys. I’ve had a young person staying for the weekend and so this afternoon I have to “rush” to make sure there’s enough time to attend to all the items on the to do list. 

I really enjoy working around the home and for me that includes a simple living approach which allows me to do what I need to do with care and thought, and with pride and appreciation for what I have.  And yet the current reality is that I barely have time to do these things at all. Next week I’ve got visitors as well so it’s going to be another week of squeezing in all that needs to be done.

When it gets to this point I find it helps if I keep in mind what must be done versus what can be done. Generally, the things I feel passionate about are those things which are not mandatory. So op shopping for fairy garden containers has to be put aside while I make sure the washing, meal planning and food shopping are done for the week.

Another thing that helps me stay centred is I try to recognise while these few weeks have turned out to be a busy time, it will not always be like this. Time will free up over the next couple of weeks. There will be time again soon for gardening, catching up with friends and other good things.
I spent many of my younger years looking forward to a grand life in the years ahead and missing what was right before me. I don’t want to fall back into the trap of dreaming about tomorrow when today has plenty of good to offer, even when life is terribly busy.

Rather than getting frazzled by the busyness I also need to remember who I am and what makes me tick. The introvert in me is always seeking "time out", time on my own, time to think, time to be.  If I can mange to get some "time out" I can recharge, even if just a little.

When I started this blog  a few years ago I wanted to write about simple living from my perspective, as someone who works full-time, lives in suburbia, lacks many skills, has several commitments and who therefore needs to find a simple “simple living” approach which is cost and time-effective. It was definitely "no chickens" simple living for me.
I also wanted to do all of this as someone who carried the challenges of social anxiety, got tired easily and who was still determined to forge ahead. People with SAd often see things that other people miss. The SAd  and introverted me wanted to share some of those observations and insights with the readers. I'm one of those people who believes that the world really is an amazing place.

This last week it’s really hit home how hard it is sometimes to squeeze in enough time to blog, look after the home, keep in touch with loved ones and simply “enjoy” what each day brings.  Yes, I am overambitious with what I want to achieve each week! And the sun and warmth only makes me want to do more.

So my simple aim today is to work out what needs to be done for the week, prepare a little more for school and do a little gardening to hearten my soul. I don't want to rush anything. I want to enjoy. I also want to find a minute or two where I can start to think about how I might refine my blog so that it is  more manageable while still being a reflection of who I am and where I am going in my life.

How do you prioritise when the to do list is overflowing?

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

 

Goals: One key cleaning job a week

October

 

I got off to a fabulous start with my goal to do one cleaning job a week, that is, over and above the mandatory jobs of dishes and clothes washing.

Week 1       My mum was coming over so the floor got swept      and mopped.

Week 2     I had a young person coming to stay so the toilet and basin got done before the second weekend had arrived.

Week 3         I had a lovely weekend away for a friend’s 50^th.  No cleaning.

Week 4         Not sure what happened but the time seemed to go. Another week passed and I didn’t get the cleaning done.

A new month has started and I’m hopeful that this month I might get the jobs done. There’s a public holiday this week so that will give me some extra time.

I really think that more cleaning would happen if it weren’t for the gardening. I suppose I make that choice as it’s a feature of my home and I've made it a priority. Now with spring and the warmer weather there's even more to do. 

 

I think working full time, as well as having other things that need to be done in any given week, means that I can’t do everything so housework is one of those areas which is “cut back”.  One thing I know is that I don't want my life to be work, work, work.

Simple Living Sunday: Frightfully frugal organising

My Frightfully Frugal Planner

I’m away visiting friends this weekend so I thought I would leave you with a look at the way I keep track of what I'm doing. Here's my "planner"

Pad of planning sheets: $3

washi tape: $2

coloured pens: a gift for a young person that never happened : cost back then/now free on hand

 

I love fussing around, designing weekly planning formats freehand or on the computer. I always reused  A4 paper until I succumbed and bought this pad of weekly planning sheets at a $2-type shop. I actually thought it was a weekly planner but it is, in fact, a monthly planner. It cost me $3. I write up the headings each week and away I go. Headings  include: maybe, definite, meals, to buy, to do, to call, next (next week) and goals.

Maybe: what I need to do on that day, recorded ahead of time
Definite: what I aim to do on that today, recorded and updated on the day

I do use a monthly diary and I usually stick  the weekly planning sheets in there. I reuse bits of paper as shopping lists and I use the back of the sheet when I need more space.

The washi tape is a new addition to my organising palette. And I love it. Yesterday I couldn’t run because I had my nephew’s birthday. Imagine my (ever so simple) delight when I realised I could just lift the tape off Monday and move it ever so easily onto Tuesday. Along with my beautiful markers it all looks bright and colourful.

I love sitting down and planning what I’m going to do. I do have to be careful that I spend at least as much time doing, not just planning and dreaming. Somehow a well-planned week in theory helps me have a well-planned week in practice.