New Year's Eve Poem

New Year's Eve in England

Sorting through the past

Holding on to what is new

Hoping it will last

Trying to be mindful

Grounded, not unkind

Working with a happy heart

to have a happy mind

The journey starts with clearing a drawer

Lisbeth has cleared out a drawer. It's not a lot but it's a start. The contents of this drawer is now transformed into a bag of rubbish; a box of stuff for the charity shops; a small selection of things to give away and a small bag of things for keeping. Brilliant. Go girl!

Letting go the old to make way for the new

It's certainly the right time of year to be going through this sort of exercise. I can't believe Lisbeth hadn't realised the significance of it, especially with New Year's Eve tomorrow. I know she's put off clearing out the English end of her life for many years. I am also sure that she understands why she hasn't tackled it before and how she keeps herself stuck. That being said, it still isn't easy to do what needs doing.

However, this time, I am confident that she will be able to make some progress. If you're sure about the big picture, I tell her, just do what needs to be done to make it happen. Or as Susan Jeffers' book title says "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway"

Tackling 'letting go' and 'moving on'

Lisbeth's in full swing cleaning and tidying so that the house is more relaxing to be in and she feels able to start sorting. The activity itself is important because she has a tendency to slow down and get depressed on these trips to England, so keeping active is crucial.

This time, however, she has resolved to be different - or at least to manage it better. She is determined to make real progress sorting out her stuff from the past. By 'stuff ' I am referring to stuff she has accumulated over her life and then more stuff inherited from parents. All this stuff is stored in boxes and containers all over the house: in the cellar, under the beds; filling cupboards, even stacked up in the corners of rooms. She has had a real block about doing this because: 1) She's been a serious hoarder; 2) She doesn't know what to do with it all; 3) It represents the drawing to a close of her life in England. She's attempted to tackle it many times before. Many, many times! Yet the emotional stress of letting go and moving on has always overwhelmed her.

I don't understand it. If she can get herself to France, buy a house on her own (with no French); start a new life from scratch; be learning the language and dealing with all kinds of problems, why can't she sort through a few boxes?

Fiddling about with letters

Lisbeth's been fiddling about with the idea of having Mr dog write to me via the blog - which he did - and I replied. Now she has deleted both these letters as she believes it will become too complicated with two of us posting. (It took me ages to work out how to have a 'team blog' and make it so that someone else can post!)

I know life is very different in England, so I had anticipated something of a transition period for her to find her feet. She's been cleaning today. She hates it. Perhaps that's why she's changed her mind about the letters?

Today I are mostly listening to sheep

There has been no word from Lisbeth today. I suppose she's caching up on everything that needs doing after her trip away. I liked all the fun photos from her time in Wales and am hoping for more of the same.

To pass the time, I've been listening to this:
http://www.ics.uci.edu/~pazzani/4H/sheep.au

Just birds

So here we are: Two birds on plinths made by an octogenarian with a sense of humour and an appreciation of all things creative and fun. The small one (on the left) belongs to Lisbeth and is just getting some plinth-practice from it's larger cousin before leaving Wales with her for a new life in the North of England and eventually in France.

Birds and bottles 2

The neighbour is very creative and makes lots of things out of other things. The bottles get cut in half, then made into boats. On the left of the photo you can see an unfinished one. Just below is a small pile of halved bottles. The person on the right is holding one of the birds and there is another one with a large beak just behind the glass. These are carved in such a way that when the wood is burned a little down the bird's back, the grain looks like feathers.

The photo on the right is very intriguing. One person is holding what looks to be a home-made flying swan. Next to that is one of the birds on its mount - note the feathered effect - and behind is...................the world of the weird................?

Lisbeth has made me re-open this post and edit it. She says it isn't 'the world of the weird'. What I should have said is: "Welcome to a house where creative people live".

Birds and bottles

Lisbeth has sent this photo through. I'm posting it but can't say that I understand it. She says one of the neighbours gave her some wooden birds and several cut-in-half wine bottles while she was in Wales. I will have to get more information and more photos before I can talk sensibly about it.

Christmas in Wales

Lisbeth's back home full of her trip to Wales. She is tired after the journey as the traffic was terrible and it took ages to get back. Apart from that, she says she had a great time with lots of eating, drinking, laughing; catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

It seems to have been a real food fest. Over the two and a half days they ate rabbit stew, pheasant casserole and roasted pheasant. There were roast parsnips and potatoes, carrots, swede, sprouts, red cabbage, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, chestnuts etc., etc. To drink, there was home-made beer and home-made cider, champagne, home-made liqueurs and lots of wine from France. There was home-made cheesecake, mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake. There were different kinds of breads; home-made garlic butter; various cheeses and home-made preserves. Before leaving today, they had breakfast of venison sausages, eggs, bacon, smoked salmon, cheeses, warm bread and preserves, coffee with frothy milk....... I can't go on.........

She says she's much more roundy than when I last saw her!

A couple of non-talking days

I've had a great couple of days to myself. No word from Lisbeth who's been in Wales. No talking, nothing to do and no stress: the perfect Christmas. She's due back later today so I expect I will hear all about it and we will resume our talking practice.

Christmas

So now is come our joyful feast,

Let every man be jolly;

Each room with ivy leaves is dressed,

And every post with holly.

Though some churls at our mirth repine,

Round your foreheads garlands twine,

Drown sorrow in a cup of wine.

From A Christmas Carol by George Wither

Lisbeth in England

Lisbeth left me just after 9 am and arrived in the UK just after 3 am the following morning. (Film on boat = The Devil wears Prada) She said she had to stop a couple of times in the early hours to sleep and that the journey was difficult and tiring due to the fog.

All quiet on the house front

Phew...........

The house is now quiet. Lisbeth is on her way to the UK and I can relax. It was so chaotic before she left. I feel quite exhausted. She says I'm not to relax too much as she wants me to keep up my talking practice! For the moment, though, there is nothing that needs doing. The weather is cold but sunny. I think I'll get on with some serious grazing on the web.

Coming out

I suppose I'm not the first blogger to have been doing it in secret. It's not been long: a couple of months, maybe? Anyway, Lisbeth thinks that I'm making such good progress with my talking practice that I should take the next step and 'out' myself as a blogger to our friends.

So...........Hello............. It's me talking.

Welcome to my blog.