"Wisdom has built her House, she has hewn out her Seven Pillars" Proverbs 9:1
I look forward to having you come join me as we work to turn our houses into homes.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

8 Scrunched Tissues.....

Wearing the scarf I just finished knitting
It's Saturday afternoon, and I've spent the morning pulling the bookcase/TV  corner of the lounge room, and a couple of other spots to pieces.  You see, when I got up this morning I noticed I had a pile of scrunched up tissues sitting on my bedside table......... although that in itself is nothing too much, it kind of represented how I felt the house was looking right about now. Items of furniture and other bits and pieces have been moved around our smaller home (we downsized just over 4 years ago), in order to accommodate 2 of our adult children who are living back at home for the time being.  I've been putting off finding new "homes" for  these things as I kept thinking they would just get put back, or go to where they were meant to be going when we first moved here 4 and a bit years ago.    The 8 scrunched up tissues this morning were the tipping block so to speak.  And with a wood fire, everything becomes rather full of dust during the winter months........The lounge room was thus attacked lol........ so after lots of dusting, sorting, and rearranging........  the wooden furniture has been oiled down,  and things rearranged......... it looks and feels sooo much better!   I'm sure many of you can associate with that feeling!
There is something freeing about having things uncluttered and organised.  It makes me realise why I have this goal to achieve a more simplified, uncluttered lifestyle....... even though that goal  often feels a very long way off .   I've heard it said that it's the journey that counts more than the destination.  Moving towards a more simplified way of life is what I'm hoping to achieve.  At this time we still have quiet a decent sized mortgage, but thankfully all our other debts have been paid off.  With the next two weeks being leave from work I plan to revisit my goals and set about planning the next phase of this journey!  I think this below sums it up nicely.....

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Patience.......... and Amish Proverbs

Well what else could I call this post when I look and see my last post had a pic of the foggy morning (which really showed it looking much clearer than it was), together with a short post saying I'll be back in a couple of days to post!!!  Goodness!  Either you have been very patiently waiting (knowing that I seem to have numerous family life issues being juggled), or you've decided I must have fallen off the planet and you've given up and left.  Sometimes, life can just be plain difficult ....... I love the Amish Proverb  "Be like the teakettle; when it's up to its neck in hot water, it sings."

 On the other hand, I can't say I could blame you, especially these days with so many involved with Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Ravelry and who knows what other "instant" things are out there.  And to be very honest, I myself get caught up with some of those quite frequently ( I have several knitting projects on the go from various KALs), and because of the almost instant responses, it's quiet easy to get caught out for a longer period of time than you had set aside, hence other things get pushed back.  As I was once reminded by an old friend, we each of us have 24hrs (1440 mins) to every day, how we choose to use those minutes, or allow others to use it for us, is up to each of us.  We get out of our days, what we put in....... the old "you reap what you sow".  Or the Amish proverb "Enjoy today....... it won't come back".  I think that says a lot for itself!!  All the best laid plans are to no avail, if we don't actually carry them out!
Ovens River, Wangaratta - lots of rain around here lately

For the past 6months we've had 2 of our adult children living here at home (DD has actually been back for close to 4 yrs now). Since we had downsized before we knew this was going to happen, it's been a bit squeezy here at times, piles of stuff often occur as they wait to find new homes to live and I juggle other items.  In the next couple of weeks DD is set to move to Melbourne to a little unit, so she is currently busy learning about decluttering, sorting and packing.  I think July is going to be a month for decluttering in general as I shift things around again.  However its also winter, and time for working with yarns.  I finally finished my hitchhiker scarf, and I'll be wearing it to Bendigo to the Woollen Show which is on the 18th July!  I'll be away with a group of girls for a few days as we indulge in hours of knitting, crochet, chatting and visiting the show together.  But now, I best get using some of those minutes I was talking about to get a spot of cleaning done here and a pot of something yummy onto the woodfire to begin cooking ready for tonights dinner.
Have a blessed day,
Hugs Sharm     
My hitchhiker scarf made using Wollmeiser Yarn