A Sad Goodbye

“I am a Yorkshire born painter and writer, living in the south of England. I paint the strange things that come as images in dreams and fantasies and write about life as it happens. 
I was raised in a spiritually eclectic family in a landscape where myths and legends were
woven into the stones, and have always had an intimate relationship
with the inner worlds and the understanding that all paths are but spokes on a wheel, 
leading ultimately to the same centre.
It is not the path that one walks that matters, but how one chooses to walk it.
                             Sue Vincent

I am very grateful that so many years ago I discovered WordPress and the joys of blogging.  Over time I have met many folk: some have become friends and two have become sisters of choice – Chris at Bridges Burning and Dor at Country Living. 

Many have come for a short while and then moved on but many more have stayed true and while I cannot name them all here, they know who they are.  Darlene is always there to comment and support as are Catterel, Nancy, Donna, SallyAnn  and Lois to name a few. Others we have bid goodbye either because their life has changed and they are following another path or in a few sad cases, life has ceased.

But one who has been there probably from almost the beginning is Sue Vincent.  Sue it is who writes daily on many and varied subjects, always with a purpose and always managing to bring to mind something on which to dwell for the rest of the day. She also kept us involved; she wrote poetry, had several books published, was an artist and so much more. So it was with much regret that after reading today’s post from the indomitable Sue, I had to reblog it.  Click here to read it.

Along with 19,500 (and counting) followers, I have to say “Goodbye and fly freely to your next stage, your next adventure wherever it may find you.  Know you will be greatly missed.”

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Celebrating

“It is a serious thing just to be alive
on this fresh morning, in this broken world.”
Mary Oliver

We know that New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote – 19 September, 1893, and we are vocal in celebrating this.

Now we have more reasons to celebrate. Our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has been named in FortuneMagazine‘s list of the world’s greatest leaders.

She came second only to Bill and Melinda Gates, well known and acknowledged for the great charity work they do and in particular their involvement in vaccines for the poor and work against poverty.

Ms Ardern is the only elected official in the top ten. ‘”Jacinda Ardern had already broken new ground as a pregnant woman – and then a new mother – leading a nation. And this year, the 38-year-old Prime Minister showed the world her fullness as a leader as she deftly, empathetically, and humbly navigated New Zealand through the worst terror attack in its history, after 50 were killed at two mosques in Christchurch in March,” the Fortune profile read.

She has also been featured  in Time Magazine‘s list of the most influential people of 2019.

Her blurb is written by London Mayor Sadiq Kahn, who writes how Londoners were “heartbroken to wake up to news of the horrific terror attack in Christchurch, shocked by the callous targeting of innocent civilians for no reason other than their faith”.

Kahn states that Ardern’s leadership since then “has been an inspiration to us all”.

And we find she is also featured in Forbes Magazine’s list of TheMost Powerful Women  in the World. Angela Merkel has remained at the top spot since 2006 and we celebrate this for her. She is, Forbes said  the ”de facto leader of Europe, leading the region’s largest economy after steering Germany through financial crisis and back to growth.”

Our Prime Minister is at 29 and of her Forbes said she had used her platform to “create a path for other women” to follow in her footsteps and, at age 38, was the youngest female leader in the world and New Zealand’s youngest PM in 150 years.

So while she wasn’t my choice for leader of our small nation, she is doing very well and has become a world leader in a very short time. I hope this continues for her.

End of bragging and politics for today.

Here it is Easter Saturday. When I grew up and when I first came to New Zealand, Easter was celebrated with church services. That was more important than the easter bunny, eggs and buns. But that has changed. Our country is no longer considered a Christian country. New Zealand is home to a diverse range of religious groups, including Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs and Jews, as well as Christians. Twenty five languages are spoken amongst our very mixed community now and the reason for Easter has fallen into the background.

So commercialism once again thrives. Shopping trolleys are full of Hot Cross buns (although last year there was a movement to change the name), Easter eggs and bunnies.

And now I could like to wish all my friends Happy Easter however you celebrate it.

 

 

 

 

Oh no, I’ve Done it Again

Just when you think you have lived enough years and used a computer for many of those years, you do something that is indescribably “stupid”.

Now I am not saying I am stupid, but what I did today was certainly stupid.

I was looking for an email I received last week, unsuccessfully I might add, when I saw just how many emails were in the boxes and so decided to clear them.  Yes, you guessed it.  This ancient mind cleared all and every one of those emails.  So now I can’t find anything.  So if you have sent me an email you now know why I haven’t responded.

Back in August last year, I wrote a post Can You Believe It? in which I bemoaned the fact that I had lost all the work that I did during my Life Coaching days because I hadn’t saved everything from one computer to the next.  So who would have thought I could do anything like today’s activity.

Well, this crazy elderly lady .is alive and well in Wellington. Note Grammarly suggests using the word old in place of elderly.  You know we don’t use old in this house.

So with no emails to read what shall I do today?

I started by making soup.  Mushrooms and broccoli in the fridge so that was the basis and having had some for lunch, I can report that the result was good.

Then after lunch, time to read the blogs that I follow.  I must say the writers of these posts are a fairly eclectic bunch.  I read about a house being built with all that goes with it; another queried and mused reality or not, and another showed us the path of Irma heading to Florida, and yet another thought about the  two monsters with monstrous egos about to shatter our world; and how about a fictional time when children and all they know and are, are decided upon by their parents with the help of a machine/computer. And of course, I continue to follow the progress of Wai the potbelly pig being loved and cared for in a small farm.

A good range of things to think on and comment on.

 

Image stolen from Jeff at jccsst-random.blogspot.co

But my thoughts for today are closer to home.  We are supposedly in Spring but alas, one good day does not a Spring make or words to that effect.  Monday was Spring.  Since then we have had torrential rain and winds that Chicago readers would be proud of.  The Met Service warns “A strong and unsettled spring-time northwesterly flow lies over New Zealand this week, delivering periods of heavy rain to western areas through to at least the weekend”.  And we are told “unprecedented” rain has burst river banks and forced the rescue of tourists amid a chaotic morning of weather around NZ.”

Two American tourists were trapped in their car overnight. When they awoke their feet were in water and they had to be rescued by the Fire Service.  They are unharmed but wet and miserable.

Tornadoes, lightning strikes, thunder and more rain are forecast for the rest of this week.  We live in a long narrow country, surrounded by water so we expect this.  But not in Spring.

And now the rain has stopped so I shall take advantage of that and go for a walk, before returning to be a beta reader for Joss Burnell.  She is my blogging friend, sister of choice and a published author who lives in Cuenca.  This will be her third book and I am keen to get back to reading about her heroine/protagonist.

 

 

More New Words

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” 
― Rudyard Kipling

I have always been mesmerised/entranced/spellbound by words and in this, I am joined by both my sisters.  I suspect this is because our father was similarly mesmerised/entranced/spellbound.

Last week I came across the word multifarious and while I was sure I could guess at its meaning I looked it up.  It means having many varied parts or aspects.  And then a couple of days later, one of my sisters of choice, Chris at Bridges Burning posed a question that asked for one word to describe yourself.   Chris chose Flotsam as her word,  and Celi at the kitchen gardens chose eclectic, and I chose multifarious because I think it absolutely describes me. What word would you choose?

And then, my ever resourceful sister in Los Angeles came up with

I’m now trying to find a sentence in which to use this lovely word.  That is of course if I can work out how to pronounce it.

Note:   According to Stephen King

“Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus
is the wrong word.
There are no exceptions to this rule.”

And who am I to argue with the master?

And turning to the Oxford English I find that logophile is the noun to describe a lover of words.

 

 

 

Easter 2014

So far this hasn’t been a particularly Happy Easter here.

Following the fire in the storage units last week we checked the cartons for damage, smoke and water, and took the worst of them away to deal with the contents either by drying or by tossing out. On Friday with my daughter and her two sons, we revisited the new storage unit with the intention of allowing her to remove the outdoor furniture and other things she wanted for her new house.

What confronted us then was a whole lot of soggy cardboard cartons piled on top of each other in a haphazard way. When the movers installed the goods into the lockup we asked that any wet cartons be placed to the front so that we could easily access them. The cartons they put in the front were those we moved early this week. But on second looking there were probably 20 more cartons that were sodden.

We moved some of these; my daughter and her sons cleared everything out of the unit and repacked it so that we could at least see what was there. Then thoroughly exhausted we repaired to her house to unload the things they wanted and for a much-needed rest before all going out to dinner.

Saturday found us back at the storage facility, this time without my daughter but with her sons, with the intention of repacking the soaked boxes. What a thoroughly nasty job that was.

I was fairly lucky in that I only lost two beds and mattresses, some clothes and shoes whereas others lost everything.

 

 

The good news is that the arsonist was caught fairly quickly and has been charged with setting the fire. But this doesn’t help all those who have lost so much.

So today, Easter Sunday, we are having a quiet day at home, albeit still washing things recovered and tomorrow we will go to the facility for the final time, taking those things still to be stored until we return from Europe at the end of July.

“Everything is funny, if you can laugh at it.”
― Lewis Carroll

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Time To Move On

I have been absent from the blogosphere for several weeks recently and I apologise to my faithful followers for this.

The reasons have been many but at the top of the list is a decision I have made.  I have decided to sell my house and then take several months to travel around Europe, and France in particular.

Why now one may ask – well  I have always had “itchy feet”.  This was pandered to by my husband and his moving around the world during the busy years making a name for himself and a life for us.  When he died I spent several years between New Zealand and England where I had been born and raised; eventually deciding to settle down again here in NZ.  But here on the other side of the world, we are so far away from everything and I am feeling that if I don’t do something about this restlessness now I never shall.

Then a few weeks ago I read a post from Kathryn McCulloch about major changes she and her partner Sara have made.  Apart from selling their house and getting married in New York, they have embarked on a new life in Ecuador.  How very brave is that!  This, of course, set me thinking.  Oh sure, they are younger than me and there are two of them, but so what.

So I determined to have an adventure of my own.  I do have two special sisters, one in Los Angeles and one in London and of course, any odyssey will have to start with them.  Added to that my sister in London has agreed to come to France if only for a few days while we/I decide where to spend the next few months.  Isn’t that exciting.  And I have a very good friend in Paris that I have been threatening to visit so Kay watch this space.

And yesterday, to add icing to this cake, I heard that another blogging buddy, Joss at Crowing Crone has put her house on the market and plans to travel to France in September.  So I shall have the opportunity to meet with her and her husband IN REAL LIFE!

 

The excitement continues to mount.The house is on the market and the marketing has commenced.  It will be tendered over two weeks with the first Open Home on Sunday.  And if the other properties my Real Estate friend has sold over the past couple of months is anything to go by, it should sell easily.

Oh, and if you are wondering about the Beautiful Miss Bella – I have a very good friend who will adopt her for the time I am away.  I fear though that I might not get her back.

So Europe here I come.  I will attempt to be in the blogosphere more often now that the decision has been made.

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.  I travel for travel’s sake.
The great affair is to move. ”
Robert Louis Stevenson,  Scottish novelist, poet,
essayist and travel writer. 1850 – 1894

and

Waltzing Matilda

My family and most of my friends know that my favourite song is I Hope You Dance.  This song sums up my attitude to life and I love it.  And I have chosen it to be played at my funeral.

Imagine my delight then when I received an email this morning with this video embedded – please watch it.

This unbelievable 94-year-old dancing the Foxtrot with a young man.  Whatever she has been doing for the past 94 years I want to do – and whatever she is on I want some.

And here are the lyrics for you to sing along with Lee Ann Womack.  Yes, yes I know I have given you these words before, but in case…

“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.I hope you dance….I hope you dance.I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances but they’re worth takin’,
Lovin’ might be a mistake but it’s worth makin’,
Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin’ out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.I hope you dance….I hope you dance.
I hope you dance….I hope you dance.
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.Dance….I hope you dance.
I hope you dance….I hope you dance.
I hope you dance….I hope you dance..
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone)”
Songwriters: Tia Sillers, Mark Daniel Sanders
Copyright: Soda Creek Songs.

Maybe this is why I can’t dance like Matilda.

But these bears are having a good try

Related posts:

• I Hope You Dance
• Life Surely is a Dance
• Shall We Dance

One Year On

I have so many much more attractive shoes!

It is exactly one year today that I broke my ankle when out walking Lotte.  For the next several weeks I endured first a back-strap (absolutely useless as it kept slipping being held in place only by crepe bandage) and then my big red Santa boot.  During these weeks I had to learn and employ patience and acceptance of the help offered.  Obviously as soon as the boot was removed the learned patience and acceptance both flew out of the window.

Looking through my notebooks for an apt quote I came across this one from Ambrose Bierce

“Patience – A minor form of despair
disguised as a virtue”

There was no notation as to who this Ambrose Bierce was, when he lived etc etc.  In later books I did make notations against quotes.  So I took myself off to our friends at Wikipedia and there learned that

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (born June 24, 1842; died sometime after December 26, 1913)was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist.

I didn’t know what a fabulist was so once again to the internet where I found a fabulist is a writer of fables.  So another new word to add to my rapidly expanding Lexicon.

Well we are all well aware of Aesop as a fabulist but we can also add Beatrix Potter with Peter Rabbit, Kenneth Grahame with Toad, Ratty, Mole et al

and of course, Lewis Carrol with the White Rabbit.

Copyright Disney

And I can say that when I told my very young grandchildren stories they always were about animals to which I had given human attributes.  James (the eldest) had a very favourite rabbit who got into all sorts of trouble and adventures.  So maybe I am a fabulist. too!

Well another rambling post comes to a close.  Apart from a big rant about computers.  I wrote this blog several hours ago and then lost it.  I know that I should update/save the draft as I work but this morning I didn’t.

From Freeimageslive.co.uk

I am surprised you didn’t hear the expletives from where you are.  But it’s all written again and now will be posted.

Happy Christmas!

Related articles

• The Austerity Dictionary (ritholtz.com)
• Pause. Patience. Post. (mind2mess.wordpress.com)
• New Bierce story readings (infocult.typepad.com)

Eleven Hints for Life

And yesterday I received an email with the following attachment.  It does seem to me that at this time of the year, leading up to New Year’s Day when we make all those resolutions, it is good to sit back and consider how we want to live our life.

Eleven Hints for Life

1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return.
But what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let that person know how you feel.

2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who
means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you just have to let go.

3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a
porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve ever had.

4. It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve got until we lose it, but it’s also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.

5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone-but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

6. Don’t go for looks, they can deceive. Don’t go for wealth, even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.

7. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

8. Always put yourself in the other person’s shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts that  person too.

9. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may heal and bless.

10. The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you’re the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

What Are You Reading?

“Progress is impossible without change
and those who cannot change their minds
cannot change anything.”
George Bernard Shaw.

I have long been a follower of Dr Wayne Dyer from way back in the 1970s when I first read “Your Erroneous Zones”, “Pulling Your Own Strings” and “The Sky’s the Limit”.  Over the years I have read many of the books he has written, bought videos and CDs and in fact think he is great.

On his behalf, I was upset to learn that his 20-year-old marriage had ended in divorce following closely some major health problems he had suffered.

In 2007 Dr Dyer published the book “Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life“ after taking himself off on “a year long journey of research, contemplation and application of the Tao Te Ching book of wisdom.”  I have had the book since it was first published when I tried to read it, but up until now haven’t read it all.  So about this book..

Five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ a Chinese man named Lao-tzu  put together 81 verses that many regard as the “ultimate commentary on the nature of our existence.” The text and the 81 verses offer advice and guidance on achieving a balanced, moral and spiritual life.

Dr Dyer reviewed many translations of the work and has now written an essay for each of the verses showing how we can apply this ancient wisdom to today’s modern world.  Each chapter is devoted to living the Tao and concludes with a section entitled “Doing the Tao Now”.  The titles of some of the chapters are:

Living Without Resentment; Living By Being Here Now; Living By Letting Go; Living By Contentment; Living Naturally etc, etc.

This is not a book to sit down and read as a novel.  It is a whole work to be read slowly, one essay at a time.  As Wayne Dyer says, “This is a book that will forever change the way you look at your life, and the result will be that you’ll live in a new world aligned with nature. Writing this book changed me forever, too. I now live in accord with the natural world and feel the greatest sense of peace I’ve ever experienced. I’m so proud to present this interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, and offer the same opportunity for change that it has brought me.”

So I am starting from the beginning again and this time intend to read all 81 chapters and take time to understand them.  Verse No 1 is “Living The Mystery” and here we learn that “The Tao is both named and nameless.  As nameless it is the origin of all things; as named it is the Mother of 10,000 things”  As I said, not a book to be read to fill in an odd half hour while you are waiting for the dentist.

And because the water in the waterfall keeps moving onwards, day after day, I shall keep this in mind as I work my way through this book.

Related articles

• Need to change? Try the I Ching (culturalcreativestimes.wordpress.com)
• WISHES Fulfilled by Dr. Wayne Dyer (margauxdenador.typepad.com)
• living in the treasure-house of the Tao (sarahchyb.wordpress.com)
• Tao Te Ching – the history (thetaotechingblog.wordpress.com)