I really must get my bum into gear. When I arrived back in my Island home I started in a whirlwind of getting things done and catching up. Last week a friend came to stay and it made me relax. Now I can't get myself back into gear mentally or physically. Of course I've been doing things: mainly indoors since the perfect summer weather we were having turned back to our normal summer weather but there is a big difference between just doing things and Doing Things!
So today I've resolved at least to start blogging again whilst I'm setting up my new Network Cloud Drive and this afternoon I'll get into the garden and also do some outside house maintenance. Didn't you just want to know all that?
The fish are doing really well. They are huge now. The plastic bag was about the size of a large waterlily leaf so you can get some idea of how much they have grown in two years.
Ah. Yes. Thankful Thursday. I look out of my window at the peace of my garden and the children down on the beach and the pier, swimming and pier jumping and the dog walkers along the shore below me and it makes me realise just how thankful I am and, I presume, everyone of you who read this post should be, for the fact that we are not living in a zone of conflict where even the basic necessities of life, never mind the things we think we 'need' to maintain our pleasant life styles, are denied us.
Amen to that!!!! Something to ponder while I handle all the other issues I'm juggling and it helps to keep it in perspective.... Time to shed a few straws and relax more :)
ReplyDeleteIt's not always easy though Fi, is it?
DeleteI nearly wet myself when I saw the bag of fish on dashboard. Thought you had relented and started feeding Gulls. It was too hot last week, this week is perfect but a bit too damp.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could use Cloud I bet next month you will be wishing you could.
I also bet a pound to a shilling that by December you will be heading to the east side of the Highlands.
I'm doing everything I can to ensure that the seagulls get their food from the sea where they belong! Last week was just as near perfect for me as it gets here. I'm back to wearing a fleece these last few days. The Cloud is on my network so at least I'm not reliant on the internet connection. I still haven't worked out why I should be heading in the direction of Aberdeen in December.
DeleteWas think more of Cairngorm. It's dryer and crisper that side.
DeleteThat's undeniably true Adrian. I can recall some bitter (minus double figures) evenings in Kincraig in October in the '80s and '90s and that was before winter got properly started.
DeleteI fully understand that feeling...when suddenly DOING things becomes just doing...and not those plans that you started off really well with. I think sometimes when we take time to sit and relax it can be hard to get going again. Well it is for me anyway!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see your fish and how they have grown. A fabulous pond. Our five fish seem to be doing well, although not easy to photograph yet. They are starting to come to the top though.
Serenata mine spend a lot of time near the surface attracting the eyes of the marauding gulls. They will come and nibble my fingers when I go to the pond side at early morning feeding time.
DeleteI thought for a minute that the fish were congregating in a shower cap. Lovely to,have you back, GB!
ReplyDeleteI feel extremely thankful this evening because it was my afternoon for nursing at the hospice. I love it, but it also makes me appreciate my health. Some are so young.
Thank you Frances. I was reading blogs but just couldn't post for some reason. Is that what writer's block is like or is that when the ideas won't flow? Nursing at a hospice is such a worthwhile and important thing to do. I would enjoy working on the wards again but I'm not sure how I'd cope with a hospice.
DeleteWell look at that........a thankful Thursday post. I am smiling now. So thankful to have read this :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are smiling Jaz. Smiling is good for us.
DeleteSince gratitude has been (and still is) the dominating feeling for me for some years now, I am well practised in finding loads to be thankful for, no matter what day of the week. In fact, this week Wednesday was the day when I learned that I won a contract I very, very much wanted to win for our company - sort of my "dream" assignment. We'd been waiting since April for the customer to make their decision, and they have chosen ME!
ReplyDeleteMeike I am so pleased for you. I know that you are a 'thankful' person and don't think I can recall you ever making an ungrateful statement. In fact you rarely make negative statements.
DeleteMaybe a sesh of qi gong at 10am Friday might do the trick!
ReplyDeleteI think, Andrea, that a morning gardening is more likely to do the trick.
DeleteYou're so right, GB. We are so lucky to be out of harm's way -- at least for the moment. I've been trying to catch up on my reading, but after doing quite a bit of cleaning and tidying of late, every time I sit still for more than five minutes, I nearly fall asleep. Makes keeping track of the plot in the book a challenge! Must way -- time to feed the dogs. This week, we have three, as we are dog sitting for our daughter, as well as caring for one mutt of our own! xoxox DeeDee
ReplyDeleteHmm .. that was supposed to read, "must away," not "way.' Ah well, I did warn you! :)
DeleteIf you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
ReplyDeleteTecumseh
Your post reminded me of this quote. Did your contraption work that you put over the fish to deter the seagulls? You are so clever! You should send the suggestion in to the RSPB.
That's a very apposite quote Kay. The contraption seems to have worked in that the gulls have given up. I think the RSPGoldfish would be more interested!
DeleteI understand totally what you mean about not being able to post when one is "Doing Things."
ReplyDeleteI have spent the last three weeks working everyday on a project upstairs and even though too tired to post regularly still made it a point to check on other blogs....I found it relaxing.
Glad to see that the fish are okay and getting bigger and stronger every day.
Won't it be fun for one of your big fish to grab the swooping gull by the scruff of its neck and toss it sky high from whence it came....I know, I know, my imagination gets the best of me....I just want the fish to get one up on the gulls that's all.
I too am thankful that I do not live in a war torn country....that must be a hard life.
You certainly have a very active imagination Virginia but it would certainly give the gulls something to think about.
DeleteSometimes it take effort to get organized and make oneself look after day to day things. We look around the world these days and can be thankful we live peacefully. I worry that the middle class being squeezed out of existence may cause us some problems.
ReplyDeleteSociety can't afford to squeeze the middle class out of existence Red. It's the part of society that has to pay for everything: the rich won't and the poor can't.
DeleteIt's obvious how much pleasure the fish bring to your life, GB. That is something to be really thankful for. I'm stuck at bring thankful I found my passport, must move on. At the same time, the house got a really good tidying, something else to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteThe fish bring the pond to life Pauline. It was just a static part of the garden until they came and now it's a home within the garden with things going on constantly.
DeleteTrouble is we are rarely genuinely thankful Graham. I can hardly imagine what life must be like for the beleaguered people of the Gaza Strip right now - or the displaced Syrians or Taliban women in Afghanistan or Christians in Mosul or the long term unemployed of Speke or Skelmersdale or the families left behind after two Malaysian airline disasters or... etc, etc, etc.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things that happened to me YP was being told that I had cancer. One of the worst was losing a son to cancer. Whilst I don't advocate personal tragedies there is nothing like them for focusing ones mind on things for which to be thankful. I agree with you wholeheartedly that it's difficult to imagine just how terrible the lives of so many in this world are. However that doesn't stop me from being very thankful that I am fortunate enough not to have those problems. Some might say that I should feel guilt at not having these problems given the things you mention. I didn't feel unthankful when I went through bad times and I don't feel guilty now.
DeleteLove your Thankful Thursday posts because they always remind me to stop and think about my week too. Thank you Graham.
ReplyDeleteCarol they make me stop and think. I rarely cease to be thankful but actually forgetting to think about it is so easy.
DeleteSo true. Strange, I find myself thinking that every day. Well, actually perhaps not so strange, considering the news. I also think I am lucky to have been born who and where I was.
ReplyDeleteWhether it's luck or whatever Jenny we are certainly fortunate.
Delete....I mean, rather than in some poverty stricken village in a country where half the people die before adulthood and women are treated like animals.
ReplyDeleteJenny I think I would prefer not to be a woman even in some very affluent countries.
DeleteWhat Jenny said...... goes for me, too.
ReplyDeleteSo, Violet Sky, my answers would apply as well.
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