It’s been a strange old week or two – lots of visits to Birmingham as my mother is very poorly and on Friday was admitted to hospital.  It was really nice when yesterday, my partner, David, said he’d told the bees for me.  Well I had already told them we had concerns but it is a lovely tradition to “tell the bees” of all those important events and I’m glad we were of the same mind.  So, I hope it is not all sad news in my future but I will want to tell the bees when significant events happen – even if I feel they already know.

A creative outlet for #MyTime

I wondered if I might choose a craft or two for #MyTime and, challenged by my partner’s daughter to make her a hat for Xmas next year, and having a little time to dip into my wool bag whilst visiting my mother, I started to play around with a few stitches.  So, for #MyTime, when I have some to spare, I’m going to do some crocheting.  And maybe I will produce that hat for Hannah.

I gave away my crochet hooks and knitting needles a good twenty years or so ago, assuming I would never want to pick them up again.  But crochet is a pastime that seems to resurface every decade or two when I create a hat or scarf (and a few shadow puppets I seem to recall).  In my pre-teen years, I learned to crochet from “auntie Claudia” – a family friend – who was quite the expert, very patient and guided my creation of a white beret which I wore for many years.  So, yes, it may not be something I spend a lot of time with but it still feels good and is a great creative outlet – I don’t really have many of those.  I’m not looking to be an expert but it could be fun from time to time to revisit the wool bag.

There’s a road in our village that, although we’ve lived here some 12+ years, I’ve never walked down.  In fact there are probably a few!  As a friend was visiting and interested in a couple of properties for sale in a particular road, we walked around there and it reminded me I really like to walk around the village – it’s a nice reminder of my close environs and where I have chosen to live.  So, I will do that more I think when I get some #MyTime and if or when I do move home then I will seek to get my bearing by discovering what is nearby – people and place.  I’m lucky that I know most of the families in my street and there is a good feeling of community so getting to know what else is around and about will be fun.

It’s been a good opportunity to clear out some stuff in the quiet post-Xmas period.  We had a lot of work done in the house a year ago and much of the “unwanted” items were relegated to various outside spaces.  But we know we don’t have spaces for them, and the risk is they just lie around for years to come waiting for a new home and at the same time block the better use of both the “pigbarn” (our garden studio) and workshop.  So when old friends dropped by for a New Year visit and offered to help, we took advantage of extra pairs of hands to clear out unwanted tables, cupboards and lamps and lots of rubbish piled up in the garden.  Two visits to the local recycling centre and we can at least get into the spaces we want to use and sort our yet more unwanted items.   There are lots of other things we’ve held on to and which we’ll never use or find a space for so this really is a good time to let go of those things which won’t have a place in our future.

So, for #MyTime too, I want to be sure that I don’t hold on to those unrealistic intentions and the clutter that doesn’t add value to my life.  I want to be open to anything new but whatever wishes and intentions I held at 21, if not already realised, are mostly impractical to pursue in my later years.  So, to avoid any unnecessary regrets, I’ll give myself the permission to let go …