Thoughts and...stuff

The days seem to be flying by. I kept thinking today was Friday as I messaged with my sister today as she is going away with her children and grandchildren for a long weekend at a holiday camp. I also had quite a long video call with Baby A. Daughter picked her up from daycare and she was a bit upset and said she wanted to talk to Nana, so she was in her car seat with the phone and crying. I asked if she wanted to hear a story and she said yes so, I had to grab a book (luckily, I knew where I had one stashed) and read to her. It quietened her down a bit and then we chatted some more when she got home. It did my heart good to know that she enjoys chatting with me. Sometimes, it makes me a little sad that I am missing out on so much as I am so far away. This is one time that makes me feel good that I have a mobile phone!

I've been thinking a lot lately about the simpler things in life and living a simple life. What makes a simple life? There are a couple of YouTube channels that I enjoy (Beltaine Cottage and Joy of Things) but if you put in simple life (usually over50 goes with that in my case lol) there are a lot of channels that pop up where the people just seem too perfect and not real. I want to watch, listen to, simple life over 50 but I don't want perfect people with perfect bodies, perfect make-up and perfect houses. That doesn't scream simple to me. That would take too much work! 

Is it Simple Life or Slow Living or are they the same? Sigh. Big questions lol. I'm not even sure what I'm searching for, perhaps just less of the stuff and more of the taking life as it comes. I sometimes think about moving as I'm not entirely happy living where I am now. I'd love to live somewhere with a bit more space around me, not a bigger house, but just less neighbours lol. A place where I can sit out and not hear traffic (it doesn't help that the main road adjacent to us is a lot busier now than when we moved in and people race up and down our hill to avoid it). I'm not sure it's feasible. I am really thankful that we do have our own house. I know a lot of other people aren't that fortunate. Should I instead think about how I can cultivate my space to make it closer to what I'd like? 

Perhaps all these questions racing around in my head are why I can't sleep! Or perhaps I'm going through a (really late) midlife crisis lol. You have to laugh. 

Things That Made Me Smile today

* Having a lovely chat with sister. It's always lovely to catch up and we always find lots to chat about

* Video chatting with Baby A. She is adorable. 

* Having a walk despite the rain. I got wet, yes, but I was distracted by seeing two Great Horned owls in the trees. We're back to snow this weekend. 

* Pulling out a different mug and having a nice hot cup a soup

Thanks for listening. I'm not moaning, just writing down random thoughts that have been on my mind. Let me know what your idea of simple living/slow living is. It seems to be the 'in' thing right now. Maybe I'm already doing it and not realising! I certainly don't try to keep up with the Joneses. 

Snow and Random Thoughts

The rain has turned to snow, and it has snowed all day today. The winds were quite wild too. I ended up staying home. The roads were horrible as any standing water turned to ice and then there was snow on top of it. Too many people had to go out to work and such so I just stayed off the roads. In truth, I'm a bit of a chicken anyway. It seemed a bit pointless to try to get out and take photos when the weather is something like a snow globe. I did stand out on the back porch a couple of times and take some photos of a few of the birds coming in for food. 

I was not too productive the rest of the day. Not going for a walk really throws me out of whack. Oldest son is home too and that makes things not normal too lol

I'm starting to give a little thought to plans for next year. Ideas are still forming. I know that I want to work on finances. Buying less, saving more, using what I have, sorting through what I have. I haven't said much on the blog, but I did quite a bit of reselling in late 2024/2025. It's a way of making a little extra money now and maybe once husband retires. However, I'm not sure it's working with the decluttering. I get rid of a bunch of personal stuff only to bring more stuff into the house to resell. Our house isn't big enough to have dedicated space to store a lot of things. I have to decide whether this is something I want to continue or not. Going into 2026 the goal will be to limit any items coming into the house and trying to get rid of the things we already have. I do like doing this to finance the trips that we take. Something to think about.

I am going to do start up my Phone Photos Things That Make Me Smile 365 project again. I've been feeling a little down and thinking about things that make me smile makes me consciously look for things that bring me joy. It's a good goal to have. 

Other photography projects - still thinking about. My Big Project this year was documenting the beavers' lodge at Asylum Lake. Part of my project next year will be organising these either into a photo book or an ezine. I haven't decided which yet. 

Crafting Projects - I really want to get back to doing some craft projects. Unfortunately, the craft room is even more of a mess than it has been. Late in the year it became a dumping ground and now is taken over with items I need to relist for sale. See dilemma above regarding reselling. Sigh. 

Are you thinking about goals for next year? 

Wednesday and Random Thoughts - books/Scrapbook/Journal/Ephemera

Another dreary start to the day. I did go for a walk. My friend and I were about ten minutes away from our cars when the rain started to come complete with wind. I got a little bit wet. Sigh. This afternoon brought a few brief glimpses of sun between rain showers. Not nearly enough though!

I did my food shop, and I did get to the library to renew my library card and to drop off the books/DVDs I've been decluttering. I did have to go inside to renew my card and was going to stop at the library bookshop, but it didn't open until 12 and I was there at about 11.15! A little bit of me was disappointed, but I was also pleased as I wasn't tempted! 

I came home and did some house stuff and a little bit of sorting and even more procrastinating!

A bit of a random twist in the post but these thoughts evolved from my thinking about decluttering. 

I enjoy nature journals. If I could draw at all I'd have lots of them. As it is I take photos, and I enjoy creating nature journals. I keep an eye out for interesting bird/flower/nature books at secondhand shops with plans that I can use the illustrations in journals and notebooks.  However, I'm struggling with pulling them apart, using them. Anyone else or is this just a part of my funny brain's thinking? It isn't just the old books. I have several previous planners by Marjolein Bastin that I can't seem to cut up and use. If you don't know who she is, google her, she does the most wonderful nature sketches. I love her planners! It shouldn't be hard to at least pull those apart!

It's another lot of things I have to decide what I'm going to do with. Do you have any trouble pulling apart books or magazines or such? 

Photo today - one of the beavers being busy before winter comes!