Lest we Forget.

Remembrance Day.

My own thought for today..

 ' Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.'
  Ian MacLaren.

Sue xx

November

and my son is planning on doing the 'mo-vember' facial hair growing thing!! That he is old enough to do it is hard to believe, and whether or not he will achieve a whole month without shaving it, well, we will just have to wait and see. Good luck I say!!!

The weather feels rather like the backlash from Sandy with a weekend of so much rain I feel I am drowning! The skies overhead are magnificent however, and the many layers of light to dark storm clouds are simply stunning to see. I stayed indoors the whole weekend in the end, doing some more clearing out in the attic - well, moving around of boxes and reading their contents and putting them back in the same place - and making some Christmas Cards. Like I said, simple this year. Basic criteria being:

• do not buy anything to make them
• use up everything you already have
• every tiny scrap of paper is precious
• yes, you can use the lovely ribbons you have been saving for ever!
• making the same design is not a problem
• only a few are really necessary for those who appreciate home-made
• good for my stress levels
• do it because you enjoy it

So this is what I have stuck to and I am ok with the results so far. Can't help reading lots of lovely

crafting blogs and seeing amazing creations floating past my eyes which are sometimes quite green with envy at their creators imagination and dexterity!!! If this all goes to plan, then I will crick myself up a notch and consider my annual December Daily Project which I have been doing for several years now.

I only do 12 things though. Not having small children any longer, and not being in England, and not having my family around me, it is sometimes harder to make the month special enough to scrap!!!

What I do like, however, is getting the small albums out each year as part of the decorations, and looking back on Christmas's Past....that is the real pleasure in doing it. Once again, same criteria apply though I do think I will need some paper . . . . . a Christmas present to me.

Sue xx

The times they are a-changing

I am sorry not to be a better blogger at the moment but my attention lies on other things that are creating a whole lot of stress and uncertainty for me right now. Not stuff to share really. Maybe once I get into the christmas spirit and start on my cards as a boost to my stress levels, if I can settle on a design I like, I will return. Hope so. Miss writing but stress and being quiet go together with me.
Sue xx

trying hard

to wind up my creative juices for the coming jolly season! I've been approached to make 700 - yes, 700 cards for clients in my old work place, and by that I mean creating something simple with my stamps that they can finish off by themselves, same as last year. So I am searching around on the web, looking up all the sites I used to regularly visit to see if I can find some inspiration there. I am so out of the habit of card making this year. Overwhelmed by other less fun things and a tiredness that comes with the resulting lethargy I have done so very little stamping.  Hardly any at all. I do miss it. I do wish I could think about it again. I am going to try harder to get going again. Maybe it will cheer me up?
Sue xx

Along the dijk in autumn.

Beautiful sky 

A little further round and into the wind!

Busy out there on the water!

Evidence that there is still work being done.

My solitary bike.

Harbour still busy in September.

Enkhuizen.

Last weekend it was cooler weather but not that windy so I decided to get some fresh air and cycle up and down and around the lanes here. It was fine when I set out and not too busy or cold but once up on the dijk it quickly deteriorated and I got cold and miserable and suffered from the increasing head wind on the way back home. Once home I was shattered so did nothing more than lie on the settee, both cats settled on top of me, and we all had 40 winks!
This weekend no chance. Its colder, its windier, its unsettled and I have a nasty cold.
Sue xx

One of my favourite

authors is Brene Brown. I love her books and her insights into vulnerability and she has a new one out!
It's titled 'Daring Greatly'.

The title was inspired by this quote by Theodore Roosevelt:-

" It's not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, who's face is marred by dust and blood and sweat, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again.

Who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.

Who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."

I'm hoping it is going to inspire me to keep working on getting that job in the end.

I'm hoping it will inspire me to worry less about what other's think about me or what I feel about myself. 

I'm hoping that a break is going to come . . . soon.

To fellow darers, we just have to keep on hanging on in there!!!!

Sue xx

The Invitation.

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
And if you dare to dream of meeting
Your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
For love, for your dream,
For the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
If you have been opened by life's betrayals,
Or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain,
Mine or your own,
Without moving
To hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy,
Mine or your own,
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
Without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty every day,
And if you can source your own life
From its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure,
Yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone,
And do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
In the center of the fire with me
And not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
From the inside
When all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
With yourself,
And if you truly like the company you keep
In the empty moments".

autumn equinox

is tomorrow. We are passing from summer to autumn and as I look outside it is obviously more the latter than the former!! Gone are the summer clothes - banished into storage for another year. I've worn my precious boots with tights and a skirt for the first time and am debating when it is ok to turn the heating on and have warmed towels when I shower each morning!!!! In my head I have decided on 1st October. Seems reasonable don't you think? Not too soon but a sensible date to increase our heating bill once again!! Last year we managed to only use four radiators throughout the whole house, all downstairs apart from in the 'wet room' ( well, there is a shower and a hand basin and not much more so I have opted for the posh term)!!! More layers is the answer, both in and on the bed!!
Barring a ridiculously cold winter we shall stick with the same plan this year.

So I am living with disappointment once again. I had yet another interview this week, and once again didn't get selected for the job. It's not doing my self confidence any good what so ever!! It does feel rather like banging my head against a brick wall, and to be honest, it is beginning to really hurt! I have resolved to have a day without tears today, but it is a struggle. I am thinking happy thoughts with all my might!!!

So, the greyness outside speaks volumes for the greyness in my mind. Lets leave it at that for today.
Sue xx