I blame Pinterest

Anyone who has ever spent any time on Pinterest and clicked on the DIY and Easy tabs, will have come across a multitude of things that you just know are not going to be quick or easy to make and will in no way resemble the picture you just pinned.  And so the term Pinterest Fail was coined. 

While tidying up last weekend I came across several half finished craft projects.  Right I thought to myself, one of these is getting done today.  I chose the beach art project I came up with on holidays last year which technically hadn't even been started but I had everything I needed and I didn't feel like knitting (a blanket project that will probably be finished in time for me to be a little old lady with a blanket round her knees).

The result, while not quite a fail, did not live up to the image I had in my head.  But hey, I managed to finish something.  So I'm calling it a Pinterest Meh.  

(It's a spinifex beach grass wreath, for those of you too polite to ask but who are wondering "what the *$%# is that?".) 😊

Crafty Conundrums

I am not generally a rule breaker.  I don't live on the edge or colour outside the lines.  I like order and clean lines and tidying up (not to be mistaken with cleaning, I could live the rest of my life and happily not clean my house ever again because I would much rather pay someone else to do it for me).  

But an orderly life can be a boring life and sometimes I feel the need to veer off course and shake things up a bit.  Sometimes it's a little thing like hacking up a pizza any old way.  Other times it's bigger, like moving to a new country without knowing anyone (or speaking much of the language) or deciding to dye my hair blue.

Since coming back after my trip home at Christmas, I have been feeling restless and unsettled.  Like something needs to change or start or I dunno, just something.  A recent trip to the library saw me drawn to the craft section.  Maybe this is what I need to start doing?  I have always liked a bit of art & crafts but have come to the realisation that while I like and appreciate art, an artist I am most definitely not.  The local arts centre is running beginners art classes and the thought of it filled me with dread.  

So I am sticking with the crafts side of things.  Over the last few years I have done a variety of workshops - wire lantern making, origami, crochet, silver clay jewelry, glass art.  While they were all quite enjoyable, none of them really grabbed me by the throat and screamed "this is it, this is what you should be doing in your spare time" so it looks like further pondering is required.  In the meantime, I will have to content myself with crafting slightly askew pizza...  

The lost art of conversation

For a while there, I was worried that I had forgotten how to hold a conversation.  I'm spending too much time online, I thought.  I've lost whatever fleeting grasp I ever had on the subtle art of having a conversation with another actual human being in real life.    

The setting for this possibly over dramatic line of thought was the return journey from a weekend away.  We had been to stay with some friends who we don't see very often.  They are perfectly nice people and while I get on well with them, they're technically his friends not mine so there is not that shared history and camaraderie you have when it's your friends you are talking to.  I found it really hard making conversation with people who are not complete strangers but whose day to day lives I am not hugely familiar with.  

I'm fine with a 5 minute chat at school pick up time or the disjointed on - off talking while you are sitting on the sidelines during football practice.  Relative strangers don't require much from a conversation.  The weather is a trusty and perennial topic, especially in a country with weather patterns as changeable as this.  I can easily pass the time of day with a stranger in a waiting room or the queue at the supermarket.  

My stumbling block was more of the "so what have you been up to since I saw you last?" variety.  When you see someone once, maybe twice a year, how could they possibly answer a question like that?  How do you (without sounding weird) ask getting to know you questions when you kind of, sort of, already know them a bit?  With some people a quick scan of their Facebook posts beforehand can provide useful conversation starting fodder.  Alas, not everyone chooses to share the intricacies of their life online.  Leaving me back at square one, over-thinking what I should say next.  

Take the time for yourself

Recently I talked about choosing how best to spend my time with other people.  Lately I am all about taking a bit of time for myself.  Now I'm not going to be ridiculous and imagine that any of us have huge amounts of free time tucked up our sleeves but when I renewed a library book for the second time (meaning I will have had it 6 weeks) and it's not even that long a book, I realised that if I don't make/take the time for myself, no-one is going to hand it to me on a plate. 

So on the odd day that I arrive early to pick up the kids, I sit in the car and read for 5-10 minutes.  I've put a stash of hand cream and nail varnish beside my spot on the couch so while I am watching telly I can try to transform my dry wizened winter hands into something not resembling a witch's.  Note to self, must start wearing gloves.

Yesterday, having realised the tap had been turned to hot and the bath was half full of scalding hot water and therefore not really suitable for children who have a conniption if the temperature exceeds tepid, I decided to lash in some cold water and hop in myself.  Despite having inherited a fancy spa bath when we moved in here, I rarely have a bath.  By the time the kids had finished eating dinner (they are the slowest eaters in the world), I had had a nice soak for myself and was ready to get out so they could jump in.  All 3 of us trying to squeeze into the bath together would not have been remotely relaxing.  As with so many things in life, timing is everything.

Now that I have eventually finished the book, I'm thinking I need to start putting a bit more activity into my day so weather and humour permitting, I'm going to start going for a quick trot round the block while waiting for the bell to ring.  Mostly this is because one of the people I see regularly at pick up time is a particularly active grandma who always goes for a walk rather than waiting around.  Nothing like being shamed into activity!! 

In real life you rarely get a big fat chunk of time for yourself so stake your claim and grab your 10 minutes wherever you can.

Nude Minstrels

Some days it's the little things that have the most impact. 

I've been looking for a nude nail varnish for ages.  I have gazillions of dark varnishes for my toes but it seems like 30 seconds after I put a dark varnish on my fingers it has chipped so I figured it was safer to stick to something more neutral.  Everything I've tried has either been too pale or too peachy or just gick.  I was in a shop looking for a grey scarf (to no avail) when I cruised by the nail varnish section.  Without much hope of success I bought another pale nude looking varnish thinking, hmm this is probably going straight into the charity shop bag but low and behold, I think I might be on to a winner with this one.  It is called "Bride to be" by Essie.

Then a couple of days later when I was looking for a corn fed chicken (which are nigh on impossible to find here), I found Minstrels!!!  Now I appreciate that Minstrels are not normally a cause of great excitement but they don't sell them here and while I was never particularly fond of Galaxy chocolate, I am partial to a bag of Minstrels.  The tag line suggested the bag was the perfect size for sharing but I took that to be optional. 

So the moral of the story seems to be, it's good to have a plan when you go shopping but never discount the fact that you could end up bringing home something completely different.



Choose wisely

Life is busy.  Whether you have kids or not.  Whether you have a job you are paid for or a job where the pay comes in the form of kisses and hugs from your kids.  Sometimes it can feel overwhelming and that there are not enough hours in the day.  There are, you just have to chose wisely how you spend them.  Depending on who you are and what's happening for you right now, choosing wisely may mean spending some time in the kitchen so the freezer is stocked up for the week ahead as you know you have a lot on and won't have time to cook.  It might mean skipping doing a quick tidy and getting an early night instead because there's a bug going round and you feel like it might have your name on it.

For me, last week choosing wisely was spending time with the kids writing crazy made up stories instead of stressing over making dinner.  It was seeing something online that sparked a memory of an old friend and taking the time to write her an email to share that random memory.  Our crazy stories had the kids cracking up laughing and we had bacon sandwiches for dinner (who doesn't love a bacon sandwich?).  I had a lovely message to say my email had brightened my friend's day.

Too often I think "I'll do that later/when I have a chance/tomorrow" but while life is busy, it is also short.  For the most part we can choose how we spend the hours in our day.  Next time you have the chance, choose wisely. 

Tick tock

Things you can do in 35 minutes.

• Take in a wash.
• Hang said wash on the clothes horse as the predicted "great drying" didn't materialise.
• Have a wee.
• Get changed.
• Log onto laptop.
• Discover laptop needs to restart itself as you have been postponing it for about a week.
• Sigh and make a cup of tea instead.
• Check laptop, still not finished.
• Peel potatoes for dinner.
• Decide there will definitely be more vegetables in tomorrow night's dinner as tonight is burgers and wedges and yesterday was a sausage and a bacon sandwich.  May have over estimated how much food would be required last weekend so have a bit of a meat surplus.
• Discover laptop has eventually finished updating.
• Download photos off camera.
• Write a long overdue blog post.
• Realise you need to leave to pick up the kids in 3 minutes and you are only half way through your tea.
• Decide this is plenty long enough for a post and go drink your tea.  Got to have your priorities right!