Feeling a bit.......meh......

It's been a grim week.  For deeply personal reasons I despise August.  This August was even worse than usual because I am coming down from the "being in Europe"-high.  I hate the post-travel blues.  Not only is it so depressing because the holiday is over, but to make matters worse I don't have the travel-planning to take my mind off things.

Oh well, this too shall pass.  In the meantime, it's Friday - so I am going to spend the afternoon with a good book, and the evening with a glass of wine and a take-away curry.  Yay me!

I'm a terrible blogger

I confess, it's true, I'm a terrible blogger.  AWOL more than on the blog!  Oh well, stuff happens, life happens and the blog gets neglected.

One of the reasons I have been away from the blog for so long is that I was planning this amazing vacation and then actually being on said vacation.  The vacation included just over a week walking on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  It was utter bliss.  I loved, loved, LOVED it.  If you'd like to read all about it, pop over to the blog I created here.

What I did this year

2015 is quickly drawing to a close and I thought it might be a fun exercise to look back over the year and see what I got up to.

This year I:

started blogging again

stopped eating my fellow mammals

hosted Laura, the daughter of one of my dear friends from Australia, for a week

gained rather a lot of weight 

worked on forgiving and in the process rediscovered my happy

spent LOTS of fantastic, fun, exhausting, amazing time with my precious granddaughter Issy

planned and booked a cruise for 2016, yay!

began training with my man, we will be walking a 100km stretch of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain in June – bucket list stuff this!

worked pretty consistently at my Word of the Year, which was “Steady”

spent two weeks with my sister-from-another-mother, Lisa.

said good-bye to two of my precious dogs 

welcomed a new dog to our family

marvelled at Paula’s academic achievements and Roxy’s baking talents.

read 57 books

created a fairy garden

spent some wonderful family-time in the ‘berg.

All-in-all, a good year!

Unravelling 2016

For a few years now I have been completing the brilliant Susannah Conway's Unravelling workbook each December.  I find it a thought-provoking (and fun!) way to close off the old year and start the new year on a good footing.  If you want to share in the magic, pop over to Susannah's blog here and download the free workbook.

Restless

I love this quote.  It sums up exactly how I feel at the moment.  I'm restless.  I have no idea why.  We went through a hectic few weeks and now things are pretty much settled and you would think I'd be feeling calm and relaxed - the "storm" is over, after all,  But no, I'm fidgety and distracted and I have this little ball of anxiousness in the pit of my stomach that just won't go away.  It frightens me a bit because when I feel like this it usually means that something is not "right", I may not be able to put my finger on the cause just yet, but sooner or later it will come to light.  My spidey-sense is tingling.  Sounds a bit woo-woo, but that spidey-sense is usually spot-on.  Oh well, time will tell.  In the meantime I will fidget and fret...  Even the weather has decided to join in, with a howling gale to match my mood.

One plus four = Life

Seems this week's One + Four = Life post is allllllll about Issy!

I've been exhausted this week, still am actually, fortunately things should be settling down somewhat now, so hopefully I'll get a chance to re-charge my batteries in the next couple of weeks.  I sure hope so because there is nothing worse than waking up tired and having to drag myself through the day.

1.

I'm not a great fan of Spring to be honest.  To me, Spring seems to be largely about wind and drizzle - not that I would complain if we got some rain at the moment, things are really dry around here.  What I DO love about Spring is the Jacarandas.  Nothing nicer than stepping outside in the morning and seeing the driveway carpeted in Jacaranda flowers.

2.

Issy graduated to a "Big Girl Bed" this week!  She was in such a hurry to sleep in it that she couldn't wait for the bed to be varnished, or for the proper bedding to arrive.  How cute is that little bottom in the air!

3.

I love her in this top because.... those shoulders!

4. 

We popped in to Rox's and Jon's house for a visit yesterday afternoon to be greeted by this darling little streaker!

That's all for this week.  Here's hoping my blogging mojo returns in the next couple of weeks!

Meditation

Sometimes life gets so messy and stressful that eventually I feel like my thoughts and feelings resemble a bowl of spaghetti - all twisted and mixed up with no clear beginning or end.  That's when I know I need to meditate.  I would love for my meditation practice to become part of my daily routine.  I know it would make my life so much calmer and less stressed... I have an issue with discipline right there!  But I'm working on it!

I wanted to share two things that have helped me SO much with my meditation practice.

First of all, the regular 21-day Meditation Experiences run by Oprah and Deepak.  I first began meditating with the help of one of these courses.  The courses are free and they are really, really good.  I find their approach very accessible for someone new to meditation, but at the same time I believe they would have value for someone who has been meditating for years.  There is a new course starting on 2 November, to read all about it, or to register click here.

And then a relatively new find, Stop, Breathe and Think.  This is such a brilliant app!  For those days when I haven't got loads of time to meditate, or I'm just feeling out of sorts and need some guidance, I click on Stop, Breathe and Think and choose a guided meditation.  It's a free app and I find it really fresh and user-friendly.