1 EAGLETON NOTES: 2017 So Far

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Sunday 8 January 2017

2017 So Far

It's 14 days since I posted on my Blog.  I think (though I could be wrong) that is may be the longest time since I started blogging  that I haven't posted on this or my New Zealand Blog. I haven't run out of topics nor have I run out of photos (although I haven't taken many for a while). I just seem to have succumbed to a mental greyness which is rather like the weather here when it's not blowing a gale or storm force winds.


In the days before my New Zealand life started I just hunkered down in the winter and did winter things. The long nights and 6 hours of daylight didn't put me up or down. Then came nearly a decade with no winter. Last year I had a 6 week break in New Zealand just about now to look forward to and that glorious 6 weeks and a Lewis summer kept me going....until a few weeks ago. Then my current house projects completed and Christmas dinner over (the first one I had ever cooked) and a break from working at Gaz and Carol's house have seen my mind slip into a sort of grey area longing for New Zealand, the sun and croquet. It's not that I haven't got lots of things to do. I have. Being physically active isn't a problem. However I'm finding being mentally active very hard.

I wrote a New Year post only to find that I wrote the same post last year. I couldn't believe it. What amused me, though, was that two of my regular readers (you know who you are) would immediately have remembered my previous post even though I hadn't.

For a lot of reasons I am not contemplating a New Zealand trip this year. That makes me very sad so I try not to think about it.

On the plus side I have been writing far more letters and cards and planning my next couple of projects. Before too long I shall be making another trip to the City where it is possible to ride the Clockwork Orange (although I rarely do), meet up with friends and enjoy the Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Perhaps when I return I shall be more alive and ready for Spring.

32 comments:

  1. Don't worry, Graham... You're not alone in thinking pretty much the same kind of thoughts (and writing the same blog posts) around New Year that one did last year (and the year before, and...) I hope your trip to Glasgow will be a nice change even if it probably can't quite compete with sunny New Zealand! :)

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    1. Thanks Monica. My trips to Glasgow are likely to get more frequent this year for a variety of reasons. The sun is not likely to be one of them though.

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  2. Mental greyness? It sounds like your mind is sort of hibernating, resting in a way. And before you know it, all your neurons will be firing again at high speed, and your head will be brimming over with ideas and thoughts, some of which you will be sharing with us here, I hope!

    My blogging sometimes stops for a few days or even an entire week because I need time to write what I mean to write. When I'm at O.K.'s or he is at my place for the weekend, I am online only for brief periods at a time, if at all, because our time together is so precious.
    But when I am on my own for a few days, I am happy that blogland is still there, patiently waiting for me.

    Like Monica says, writing similar posts for the same occasion (such as New Year) is not so unusual, and I actually like to recognize a sort of pattern in some blogs.

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    1. Meike my mind has never been noted for brimming over with ideas and thoughts particularly if imagination is involved. My mind is rather more plodding but I do hope that it will plod a bit faster and produce some more posts soon.

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  3. One of the reasons I have written so few posts in the last year is for a similar reason. I would go to post then think, "Hey, wait on, I've already done that idea !!"
    I'm hoping for a better blogging year in 2017.

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    1. Well Helsie I shall be there to see how you get on.

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  4. There is always a variation in posts, even the ones that repeat so never think that everything you do has to be completely original.
    I'm sure the fog will lift. Enjoy the big smoke!

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    1. You do, of course, have a point Kylie and there are also often different readers from one year to the next for many people.

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  5. Here we call your situation , "the winter blahs!"

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  6. Its been a lot longer since I wrote on my blog - but the creative urge hasn't hit me. I hope the winter blues pass soon for you. NZ isn't having a good summer so far so you aren't missing much here .

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    1. Yes Fiona I've heard that the NZ summer is occasionally leaving a lot to be desired. I'm sure that the blogging blues will pass before very long. Thank you.

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  7. I always get 'winter blues' after Christmas, and my neighbour was saying recently that he has no energy. I think it's very common. Only 350-ish shopping days till Christmas 2017.

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  8. The weather can play havoc with one's mental state. We have had some very hot and humid days and they give us what we clash "Can't be bothereds". We can't be bothered doing much at all. Hopefully you'll brighten up soon.

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    1. Diane I used to love the heat when playing croquet because so many opponents couldn't stand it and I loved it. Of course in Hawkes Bay it was rarely a humid heat.

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  9. Ahhhh....it does no harm to have a little "mental greyness" at times. Resting the mind is needed as much as resting the body is. And what better time to do it...than at the end of one year and the beginning of another. That's what I believe, anyway! :)

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    1. That sound like good sense and reasoning to me Lee.

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  10. Graham, you've got the January Problem. I think next to November, this is my least favourite month of all. But the snowdrops are coming up, and I have a big bunch of daffodils in the kitchen, and the days are beginning to get longer, so take heart. But I'm so sorry you can't get to NZ this year. That must be a huge loss.

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    1. Frances I noticed this morning that my daffodils are about an inch high and I thought of you but I didn't think you have your daffodils yet. My snowdrops are showing signs of life but that's about all.

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    2. Graham, my daffodils came from Sainsburys. Cheery bunches for £1 each. I can't resist them.

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  11. The After Christmas Bussiness Blues is quite common even here Downunder.

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    1. I hadn't noticed it Kate but then I had croquet and Aftermas to which to look forward.

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  12. The Scottish Symphony Orchestra? I would be looking forward to that too!
    Hey, guess what, one of my co-workers told me that he is addicted to drinking brake fluid.
    He says he can stop anytime.

    There, made you smile!

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  13. So sorry to hear you have been suffering from the winter blues Graham. You may not be jetting down to NZ again but you could cheer yourself up with a week in Yorkshire. For example you could visit The City of Culture (Hull) - taking in a couple of arts events and meet me in Sheffield for a beer drinking competition. As Americans say, I would "whup your ass"!

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    1. YP I'm sure that you would when it comes to beer drinking. I've never, even as a young man, been able to drink quantities of beer. I'd stand a better chance if it came to red wine or even Cognac. I should be saying Whisky but it's not really something for which I have ever developed a taste.

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  14. Graham, I follow your blog but this is my first comment. I noticed that you have put that you are a potter at the top of your web page. My husband is a hobby potter making pottery vintage tractors. They are really very detailed and I wonder if you still do pottery and if so what do you make? We visited New Zealand a good few years ago and really loved the lifestyle so I can well understand how you must miss it.

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    1. Beverley it's good to see you here. You have been intriguing me for a while.

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  15. I'm sad to hear about the grey feelings, Graham. I have always thought that living in the far North, although wonderful in so many ways, (specially in summer) must be hard during the winter. But of course it is people as much as places and activities that make a place what it is. I hope that things change and you will be able to return to NZ sooner than you think now.

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    1. Jenny before I lived in New Zealand the winters here (30+ of them) didn't seem so long because I was working and when I wasn't (ie in the evenings and some weekends) I did 'winter' things and all the things that couldn't be done during the time I was working. Although I'm fortunate to have a very busy life being retired and missing the NZ summer means that I seem to be more aware of the winter. As it happens since I wrote this post I've been working six days a week at my son's house and have been only to glad to get home and relax (and more often than not spend a couple of hours in front of the television).

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