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Sunday 28 May 2017

Carpe diem.... not to mention tempus fugit...

Today I thought I would show you a few photos of the garden, with apologies to my Facebook friends who will have already seen them!

 

So then, another week is over, and on Thursday we will enter the month of June. JUNE!! Surely it was only five minutes ago that I was packing all the Christmas baubles back into their boxes for another year. 

 

Hence my thoughts today on seize the day, and time flies. How many of you Seize the Day?!  Or do you just live life in a routine sort of way?  Which I suspect most of us do, especially if we are still  working.  Of course, finances also play a big part in what we are able to do with our lives. 

 

Certainly, since I retired, life has taken on a new meaning for me, as I have the freedom of time to be with people I want to spend time with, and to do things that I love doing. How many times do we hear people saying, "I don't know how I ever had the time to go to work!"
There are so many Opportunities these days, as well, for women of a certain age to learn new things and to get involved in so many interesting things. Far, far more, for example, than women of my mum's generation ever had. 

 

Yes, I love to go out to lunch with friends every so often, but there are so many other  things to do, which doesn't involve spending money. 

Most of you know that I love walking by the sea.... I also love watching sunsets, reading a good book or meeting up with friends for a chat. I have a large garden and I used to love spending time out there, but these days I find that to be a little too much like hard work, to keep on top of it all, as I do love it to look nice...BUT it has to be done, and it's all good exercise for me. I think the wonderful thing about not working anymore is to NOT be tied to time and to be able to do things when YOU want to do them. 

 

There is, however, one thing that wastes quite a lot of my time, and that is....wait for it....FACEBOOK!  When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is to check to see what everyone has been up to and then I check my Instagram account to look at all the amazing photos that people have posted on 
there, and, before I know it, almost an hour has gone by, and, if I'm being honest with you, sometimes it's more than that. 

 

My daughters are always telling me that I don't have to comment on every single thing I see - I admire them, as they very rarely go on to Facebook. You could say that they're too busy living life in the real world!

 

I daren't actually own up to how long I spend on there each week. That would be time that I could spend on much more productive things. Now, I don't want you to think that I am some sort of saddo here, because I do lots of other things as well during the week, and meet up
with friends for 'real' conversations. 

A couple of sunset photos for you now. Both of these were taken in Door County, Wisconsin, where I  was lucky enough to be last year. 

 
 

To give me motivation to spend less time on Facebook, I'm putting it out there that I am going to spend far less time online - perhaps just 30 minutes of an evening, if that. Eeeeek!  

I'm aware that it's Memorial weekend over in America, so I wish you all a happy weekend. Here it's a Bank Holiday weekend, so a time for families to spend time together.  

I hope you are all keeping well, and in fine spirits. Certainly, events that have occurred in this Country this past week make me feel very lucky and glad to be alive. 

14 comments:

Unknown said...

I can't agree more with you on time spent online. I'm purposely reading more and spending time outside as well. Skype has been a blessing to chat with friends and interact. It's so important and I worry our youth is losing that focus. Your garden is so beautiful and know that for all your hard work, we so appreciate looking at the photos. It's beautiful my awesome friend.

Southhamsdarling said...

Hello there Bee Bee. You're not late to the party today!! 😊😉. You're right, Skype is such a good thing for keeping in touch with people who are a long way away from us. It's interesting to see that you also think that we spend too much time on line. Alison has said that she's not going to let Eli and Ruby go on Facebook when the time comes!! It will be peer pressure that they will have to contend with of course! Thank you so much for your kind comments about the garden. Have a good week over there my awesome friend. ❤️

Lili Sulastri said...

Hello! It has been a while since I read your posts. You have a beautiful garden. Lovely. I agree with you about time spent online. Sometimes that is the best way to connect. I spent about an hour daily now online and spent the rest doing something else. I have recently retired. First thing first. I am organizing my home. A time of simplifying and decluttering. So far, 20% completed. Making progress albeit slowly. Have to take it easy, too, since it was three months ago I underwent hysterectomy. Can't push myself off-limits.

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

I just KNEW that someone would mention the season of commercialism and thr choosing of gifts from the ARGOS book .. I cannot even bring myself to write the word Hahahaha ..

FB and being online has its advantages and disadvantages ..If I wasnt online ..I would speak to no one. (I sometimes don't speak to anyone, cold be das.
Apart from guests at the bed and breakfast ) . I wouldn't have my blog and made my good friends. . And visited them.or them come here. I wouldn't of connected or even met some of my immediate family .. disadvantages are the time it all takes and being indoors.

My eldest grandson is 13 and he isn't on fb .. he has instagram but doesn't use it much . Even lily age 10 has instagram but it is a private account. Thomas has a phone being at senior school ..and plays online with his friends ..They don't live near each other .. and Olivia well she thinks she should have a phone, fit bit and all ..and she is 8 ..I am not the parent!!!! .������ xx

Southhamsdarling said...

Hello Lili! That was a surprise to see you hear. I appreciate you reading my blog and stopping by to leave a comment. I'm glad you like the garden, but it does take an awful lot of hard work! I remember when I first retired, I had a burst of decluttering - but it's a good thing to do. I wish you a very long and happy retirement, and a good recovery from your operation.

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Anne. Sorry for mentioning THAT word, but I was talking about the LAST one, and not the one to come ! Eli and Ruby are both on Snapchat, but just with the family, and they love that. It's a good way for them to have fun contact with their aunty and uncle away, and, of course, Eleanor, whom they love! My daughters and Eleanor rarely go on Facebook. But, I agree, it can be a lifesaver for many, to have that contact. I use Messenger to keep in touch with my friends in America, but I look on that as different from Facebook. Thanks for popping by x

Unknown said...

A lovely post for sure my sweet friend. Saturday I had the pleasure of being at my grandson Matt's birthday party and seeing my 2 out of town daughters and other relatives. Then yesterday it was my sister Marie's birthday and she came by to see me and Rocky and of course Rocky had the time of his life being rubbed on by her. We had such a great time. I usually spend a little time on here in the AM and then again before bed but not too long. I am still working but this week it seems more like I am retired with 3 little jobs on Tuesday and nothing else until next week. Rocky should like that a lot. Have a wonderful week and know you are loved by so many.
Odie

Suzanne said...

Hi Thisisme. I am running pretty late this week. So much going on with Scootie. He will only have 3 days of school left this week, so I'm getting things ready for his last day.

You are right about Facebook, I check early in the morning, and later at night. In between I am trying to get things done around my house. I let Scootie play on my computer after dinner and homework in the evenings, and that keeps me off of facebook. Like you I am glad I don't work anymore, and I hope I have enough time left to enjoy some of it. Friday, I did get out and go to the Senior center in town with my neighbor. We had lunch, and played Bingo. It is the first time I've been out with an adult crowd in quite a few months, and I enjoyed it.

The weather is quickly getting hot here, and I've not spent much time in my gardens, but have enjoyed the flowers that come back every year. School is out today, so Scootie is home with me. We have some flowers to take to the cemetery for a visit to Karo's grave.

Your gardens are so beautiful, I still love the purples and peachy colors together. Your weather looks so refreshing and lovely. Thank you for this special post, and have a wonderful day! Sending hugs your way. ♥

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Odie, my friend. Thank you for your lovely comment. I'm so happy that you were involved in Matt's birthday and catching up with two daughters and other relatives. That's good that your sister also popped over. I'm sure little Ricky will be thrilled to see a bit more of you this week! Have a good week 😊

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi there Suzanne, my Texan friend. It's so kind of you to come over and leave such a long comment, as I can see how busy you are. That was good that you went out and played Bingo. I hope that you will get more outings like that, so that you have some adult company. I admire you for looking after Scootie. I'm sure he will thrive and do well because of it. I hope you've had a good Memorial Day, and that you have a good week ahead. I've said before, that I don't think I could cope with your heat over there! I'm looking after Eli and Ruby for a couple of days this week. Take care my friend.

Sally Wessely said...

I love what you had to say in this post. I am really working on focusing. When I retired, I had great plans for consulting and doing the things that I loved such as writing and teaching. I did do some consulting for a short time, but then it seemed to much like work. I started the blog as a way to write. That has been a great thing in my life, but I also find that I don't blog as I once did. I think Facebook is a real time waster, but I spend my time there way too much of the time. I have been cutting back. I'm trying to get a bit more of a schedule going because I find that without one, I have no structure. I have a hard time creating my own structure. That is why teaching school was good for me. I had to get what I had to get done before the bell rang. LOL I guess I'll have to put a bell in this house that goes off every 55 minutes.

Penny Gadd said...

There are so many distractions, aren't there? The telly is another one!

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Sally. Your comment did make me smile. Perhaps we all need a bell in the house to keep us focused! You're right, facebook is a real time waster, and I'm afraid it's pretty addictive. My daughters say that I'm worse than a teenager with my phone and iPad. Oh dear!! I'm sure the teacher would say 'could do better', or 'must try harder'! Your writing is so beautiful Sally, and I really used to enjoy your blog posts, but I think everyone has dropped off from that now. Always good to see you over here 😊

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Penny. Yes, so many distractions in our lives these days! I do try to keep focused, but it's not always easy. To be honest, I enjoy just going with the flow sometimes, and being able to do things in my own time!