Archive for home

Bonfire Night and the weekend

13/11/2011 Joh family, gratitude, home

This weekend has been full. We had the kids this weekend and they went for a swim with their dad on the way home whilst I was still working. I got to have a quick beer with Cath and Scuzzi whilst admiring her new wood carving in her back yard. He’s done a great job transforming a tree into a sea eagle. I want one!!

Yesterday whilst I worked Darin and J(10) prepared a garden bed. I am really pleased because J knows a lot about gardening and often tells me about what he’s growing at home. I’ve always wanted a vege garden, so I have enlisted his help and enthusiasm. I am happy to weed and water when he’s not here. I’m very excited about that.
When I got home we went for another swim for a couple of hours. We arrived home famished and had a great meal of plum chicken and fried rice. We strolled down to the bonfire night and arrived seconds before the brilliant fireworks display began. It was perfect timing.

This morning we finished planting the vege garden, to be honest I just watched and enthused. After lunch we went for a drive to the beach to collect shells, we played in the waves. The kids slept on the way home and I am looking forward to my bed tonight.

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Deep Tissue Massage

05/09/2011 Joh family, gratitude, health, home

On the weekend I had a massage that hurt. It was a deep tissue massage and I haven’t had one for over 10 years. This was my second visit to this therapist and I think she was gentle with me the first time, but this time, because I was in a better place… she went for it!

She had told me both times that I was really tired, exhausted in fact. I was quite flippant about it, thinking ‘no more than usual’. I have slept more in the past three days than I have for a long time. I just haven’t been able to stay awake. I feel very refreshed and alive though after each lengthy nap and full night’s sleep.

I honestly didn’t realise I was so tired.

The good thing is that the times I haven’t been napping I have achieved plenty because I feel energetic and refreshed. I have been for a walk every day except today cause I was helping Asha move house, not that I did much, but I was in and out a bit. My home is clean and orderly and I’ve shifted a bit of ‘stuff’. Darin has made a start on our vegetable garden, so I’m excited about that.

Asha’s new place is wonderful. It is perfect for them and it’s close to town (which is my main criteria for a home), and freshly renovated. I’ve just returned from dropping dinner off to them. They are sitting happily among a pile of boxes.

The warm, sunny weather has amazed and I’m booked to work for the next three days now the forecast has returned to cool and rainy. Life is good.

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Clear a Space

16/08/2011 Joh home

Yes, I’m cleaning up and rearranging again. Last night I did the cupboard under the stairs that has become an overflowing pile of books with other random items hidden amongst the piles. It’s clear now with just two items I love in the wonderful space. A lamp Tom bought me and a large ceramic Asha made. I feel so much better. Less really is more.

I’ve been reading my feng shui books lately because I was looking for some colour advice for a specific area of my home, hoping to improve the energy there. I was reminded that the basic, beginning thing to do is make sure your home is clean and free of object that are unwanted, broken, dusty or not used. I have applied this simple cure to a couple of areas of my home and everything has lifted already.

Sometimes I think I need to get stuff or buy stuff to improve my home, but usually it’s best to let go of stuff and clean:). At least as a starting point!

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Long Weekend in Winter

13/06/2011 Joh family, home, random, reading

The weather has been great this weekend and we have managed to clean up the remaining leaves from the big tree at the front of our house that fills a number of green bins during autumn. We had the children this weekend and they have just left to return to their mums. It was great weather to be outside playing in the leaves. There was bike riding, play with skipping ropes,  a number of art works created, an assignment on Scotland, delicious meals and we watched ‘Toy Story 3′ and both the ‘Nanny McPhee’ DVDs. The short days are cosy.

In amongst all this activity I have been reading and cleaning the house. I continue to simplify and shed things I don’t want. This is a constant in my life. Each time I wonder where it all comes from. This time I have removed a massive pile of old cookbooks from my kitchen cupboard. I have rarely consulted them and they will enjoy a new home. I have a small book of recipes I have had an added to, since I was a child that can stay. I also tucked away Tom’s cocktail glasses out of view. They were on display on my kitchen shelves and as constant cocktail parties are no longer a part of our scene, I decided they were just collecting dust and cobwebs. Speaking of cobwebs, I think I have a spider colony cohabiting with us lately. I am clearing cobwebs on a daily basis it seems.

I have been reading some astrology books, some marketing/business books, a fantasy novel and a spiritual book, all in turns. I will review them all as I finish them. I have spent very little time this weekend on Darin’s laptop. I have my emails coming to my phone and my last two laptop holidays a month or so ago have forced me to customise my iPod Touch and N8 to manage anything important that I rely on a computer for. I had an attempt on Friday night to blog from my phone but it was just painful, so that is one thing I will continue to rely on a laptop for. I am journalling by handwriting in a notebook. I have lost a couple of weeks journalling that I hadn’t backed up. Perhaps I need to journal directly onto a hard drive to avoid this and also upload photos onto a hard drive. I have moved almost everything else I rely on, to online services now that I can access from any computer. I guess these three enforced breaks from my laptop have possibly forced me to make my technology work better for me.

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It’s back!

29/04/2011 Joh Business, home, learn, work

The laptop returned yesterday. There is much to do! I am doing it all differently now. I have pruned subscriptions and am reducing the online activity to things that are consistently important to me. I don’t seem to have the time to wade through ‘randomly interesting’ lately. I have created a group on facebook whose status I read and the remainder … well they are still friends, but I probably don’t need to know what they choose to share about themselves. The last couple of years many more of my friends have got online, so I think I’ve had an increase in online activity that has made less space for others.

There are also more financial and administrative activities online now. I’ve been amazed at how many bills I’ve muddled up without the records on my computer and the passwords to access different accounts. I hope this time my laptop is going to be more stable but I also think I’m going to be smarter about managing it all and backing up the things I really need.

It’s also now that I finally get around to reorganising my space for winter. I like the rearrangement of our lounge room and fortunately the kids did too when they arrived tonight. They were quite excited by it.

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead and the business is gathering speed (fortunately!). Darin made the most delicious Whiting today it was simply coated in seasoned flour, pan fried with a lemon sauce. It was simple and delicious. He asked me to taste it and usually I just have a bite, but I gobbled the whole fillet, cause it was amazing. It sold out pretty quickly and those who dined in also raved about it (so it’s not just my bias;)). I think he works better when I leave him to it. I was teaching yesterday and this morning after setting up I came home to do some book work. I reckon we muck around too much and get distracted sometimes, which is fun, but we really need to meet more of our targets so I think I might leave him to his own devices a bit more often:).

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So, I still don’t have a laptop- grrr Acer!

27/04/2011 Joh family, film, gratitude, holidays, home, learn, love, random

OK, so what I have learnt about being without a laptop and the internet by association, is that I rely on it for a lot of things. It makes life easier and more enjoyable for me. Perhaps I’ve come to take it for granted, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it:). Yeah I have learnt how to do a lot more on my phone, and I appreciate that too, it makes me even more connected than I was before. Actually I don’t know if I do appreciate that! The thing is you can’t know less and I’m sure it could be useful.

Grrrr… the latest news is that I have to pay for recovery disks because my laptop is out of warranty now! In the space of a couple of weeks of being without a laptop because of a fault that was under warranty and getting it back and then not creating recovery disks, I have found myself without a laptop again for an extended period of time. I use my laptop a lot. I’m bloody annoyed. I can’t even begin to say how annoyed I am and how much I’ve learnt from this experience, so I’ll just get on with saying what I need to say.

I’ve had a great Easter. We had the kids for most of the break, which was lovely. We went fishing twice. The first time we got rained out at the sandbanks. The next day we went out along the creek and had fun skimming stones but no fish were to be lured by our noisy and fun loving party:). Next time! There were some great stone skimming feats and I think that was the more fun activity of the day. I would love to share the photo’s, but alas the laptop I am borrowing doesn’t have the software! 

We got to watch some great films due to the bad weather. Up! What a classic. I will never forget seeing it at the cinema in 3D with Darin and J(who was about 8 at the time). Darin and I kept looking at each other and at Jack. I cried and laughed. It’s a great film. We watched ‘Holes’. I love that I get to share all my old favourites again with Darin’s kids.  The kids went home to their mum’s cause it was her turn this year for the Easter bunny, and they returned the afternoon to have the hunt here. It was lovely to spend time with them and enjoy the chocolately indulgence.

I did manage to work on the clip for Tom’s 21st using my expandable hard drive and Darin’s laptop. I am not a big fan of lengthy speeches(particularly if I have to make them). I made a clip for Asha’s 21st of photos and songs that I felt were meaningful to her. People asked for a copy of it, so I felt that it was effective. I got good feedback:). I find times like that very emotional so I find it easier to just press play on something I prepared earlier, than to speak. I am so excited about Tom’s 21st. I haven’t been to Hamilton Island before so that’s exciting in itself. I hope he will let me publish it to the family once he’s seen it, cause I know many won’t be able to make it to the party and yet would love to enjoy the occasion. I know I have loved seeing photo’s of events I haven’t been able to attend.

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Blogging Holiday

13/04/2011 Joh blogging, family, gratitude, home

I’m having a bit of a break from blogging because I don’t have my laptop right now, so my time online is minimal. I expect it will be back before Easter, so it won’t be for long. I’m spending very little time online right now, just checking email, making payments for the business, updating ‘The Butchers Dog’ facebook page and the bare minimum really. I’m using my phone to check all my email accounts and feeds and when I get online I only follow up the important things. I am reading heaps more and my house is in much better order than it’s been for a while.

We are having Darin’s children overnight tonight because they are on school holidays and it’s an opportunity for us to spend more time with them. That is one of the primary purposes of creating our business, so it’s great that we can take it up. Asha is also coming for dinner. We are having Roast Pork!

 I have this little snippet of time when the house is quiet and Darin’s laptop is free. I’m not complaining though, he’s very generous with his laptop and not on it half as much as I used to spend on mine. I think that will change now that I’ve had this break. It’s helped me to become aware of some of the time I waste online doing unecessary but time filling things.

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Super Fudge by Judy Blume

01/04/2011 Joh family, gratitude, home, love, reading

This is the first chapter book I had read aloud to me in such a long time:-). Darin has been phoning his son each weeknight and reading a chapter from the book to him on the phone. It is one of my favourite times of the day. I absolutely love the whole idea of father/son bonding over a book, as a mother and a teacher. It’s such a great way for them to stay in touch. I recommend it for separated parents.

The story as it turns out is perfect because J (9) has just got a new brother. In the novel, the central character’s mum has just brought a new sister into the house and his younger sibling, Fudge, is not enjoying it. It’s really very funny and I’m sure there are things J can identify with. We didn’t plan it like that, J recommended the book as they were reading it at school, but  it has worked out really well. I’m really enjoying the story and it’s a series of books, so there are more to look forward to.

The good thing is tonight the kids are here! I love watching Darin with his children. He is such a patient and loving father. It’s beautiful to be around.

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I Dream of Rearranging

31/03/2011 Joh holidays, home

Today one of my past students visited me at work. It’s always lovely to see them. He asked me what I was doing for Easter. The first time someone has asked me what I’m doing for my now drastically reduced holiday period. I realised what I would really like to do and what I usually do at Easter holidays is stay home and rearrange. In fact if I look back on the past that is what I’ve usually done at Easter. If I were to do a timeline on rennovations to my home, painting, etc it would often be at this time of the year. I like this time of year. I really love Autumn light.

It’s when I set myself up for winter and each sunny day is appreciated. It requires a rethink of living space.I want to move our furniture so we are facing the fire, instead of having it to the side. I want more blankets draped around the lounge room. I want a rug on the tiles. I want to prepare for the colder times ahead.I want to prune the summery things from my wardrobe and make sure I have the warm clothes available.

Daylight savings ends Sunday. I’m looking forward to winter. It’s more comfortable working in a kitchen when it’s not hot outside.

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The Fridge

29/03/2011 Joh family, friends, gratitude, home

Just read this post at Semantically Driven: Declutter or not with a revealing photo of her fridge. I love it. It tells so much…. like all our fridges. I would love to see a collection of fridge photos. Jen is clever.

They are a snapshot of the members of a home and life shared. It’s rare to come across a totally bare one. It kind of reminds me of that film ‘The Castle’ with the dad who put all the precious things in the billiard room. I remember my nana used to put special things in her crystal cabinet and in other homes the mantle piece over the fire place was the spot. Perhaps the fridge is more changeable though and less formal. Most homes have these spaces. Display houses don’t and that’s why no matter how many decorators put them together, they aren’t homes.

I love the things on my fridge. I love the randomness of it. I love that when the kids return, they always check out the fridge, not just what’s inside it either, although that usually comes! Photo’s of all our children and  artwork by the children are at the centre. The poetry art that Cath gave me and the magnetic pictures R (4) got from Asha for Christmas are top and bottom.On the side are invitations, reminders of really important things and little scraps of paper with sayings that speak to me. A vintage postcard with the line ” I dream of storage space.”  There’s a Baci wrapper saying about love, a magnet with a picture from the M.I.L.K series and other sayings mostly about love.

I have stripped my fridge at times and started again and looking at it now, it’s probably due for that kind of treatment, along with the rest of my house to be honest. I usually put most of the stuff off the fridge in a shoebox. I have a few of those now, I’ve never been through them, but it feels like artifact central of my life. I could spend too many hours recollecting if I start sifting. Perhaps I will rearrange at Easter. There are postcards on it from my parents last winter holidays and 21st invitations alongside 7 year old birthday parties that were attended or not, months ago.

I always check out peoples fridges when I go to their houses, and if it’s my mum’s : what’s inside too. I have a beautiful collection of photo’s of Darin the first time I went to his mum’s house as he went straight to the fridge and began examining it’s contents. I’ve seen it time and time again, peering into the fridge as if it’s a TV set, we all do it in the homes we feel most comfortable.

I wanted to take up Jen’s challenge and photograph our fridge, and I may. I’m still not comfortable with posting photo’s of my children on the internet, let alone Darin’s children. It feels like a private space to me.  I did want to share my fridge in some way.

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