It’s Pretty Dreary Outside, But Am I Downhearted ....

So then, I’m sitting here on the most dreary of January Saturdays, here in heavenly Devon.  We have one of those really dark, dreary days, and it’s cold!  But then, it IS January in England. Anyway, how are you all  in your little corner of the world?  It’s strange to think that some of you will be reading this during your Summer and no doubt you have sunshine and blue skies!  Please send a little our way - we could certainly do with some bright skies to cheer us all up  here in the U.K.....

BUT, instead of feeling a bit ‘down’, I am doing my best to feel positive, and I have a scented candle lit with my favourite music playing in the background. I’m sure most of you know by now that I love uplifting quotations. I saw this one yesterday and it really seemed to speak to me. After all, these words ARE so true. At the end of the day, it’s all up to us, to try to make our own little piece of happiness. Before I hear some of you shouting at your screen, I know that this is much easier said than done, when sometimes life throws obstacles at us, and we wonder how on earth we are going to deal with them..  but I have finally - FINALLY - realised that it is how we all cope with those obstacles that is the important thing. Do we sit there complaining, thinking why on earth has this happened to us, or do we completely turn it around, and say why NOT us, and try to go forward thinking positively.  We have all of us had things happen that we would rather not happen - none of us is unique in that way, but it really is what we do from here on in that affects how we live  the rest of our lives. Anyway, here is the quotation I was telling you about!

I’ve noticed that I’ve gained quite a few new Followers to my Southhamsdarling Page on Facebook. Thank you all very much ❤️.  It is on that page that I post the links to my Blog Posts, so if you fancy having a peek, please do so!  

I am thankful for the wonderful weather we had last Saturday, which lasted right through until Wednesday.  A real pick me up to see the sun in the sky, and cloudless blue skies.  I was fortunate enough to be able to take full advantage of the weather, and set off on one of my favourite coastal walks with daughter number 2.  

 I really feel very blessed living in this little corner of heavenly Devon - what’s not to like?!  Anyway, I think I’ve rambled on for quite long enough. Thank you, as always, for taking the trouble to read this Post, and I’ll see you again soon ❤️

Time Passing....

So here we are in the middle of August and 2019, to me, seems to be galloping by at an unseemly rate of knots!  Time - it’s such a precious thing, but seconds turn into moments, moments into hours, hours into days, and so it marches relentlessly on.  

It makes me well aware that I am now in the Autumn of my life - I feel that I should be doing more, achieving more.  As women, we have no excuses any more really - opportunities are out there for every one of us.  It seems to me that I blinked, and I went from my 50’s to my 70’s in what seems like a nano second.  I actually remember my dear mum saying exactly the same thing when she was in her 80’s.  She said that it didn’t seem very long ago that she was in her 40’s!  I didn’t take too much notice of it at the time, but, my goodness, I know just what she meant now.  

A funny story - well, I thought it was quite funny.  My youngest grandchildren are aged 11 (boy) and 9 (girl), and it’s amazing the conversations you can have with them.   Children these days seem to be so aware of everything that is going on around them in the world, and mine can speak quite intelligently on a whole range of subjects, and they certainly care about this planet of ours - what they should be eating and what they should be doing to make the world a better place.  It quite astounds me at times.  Anyway, I digress!  My grandson and I were talking about getting older, and I said that I hoped I would still be around to see him grow up.  He said, “oh, you will, Grandma”.  Then a little thought, followed by “but I don’t expect you will see me get married.”  Then he did a quick maths calculation in his head.....”no, you certainly won’t be here to see me get married!”.  (I am 72 by the way....).  

I often wonder whether time seemed to pass so quickly for previous generations, or was it a slower pace of life in those days?  Not so much pressure perhaps, although I know that they worked very hard indeed.  Just think, for example, about the harvesting that used to take days, with so many people involved out in the fields, including young children.  Whereas, now, you just have one man sitting on a 

beast of a Combine Harvester and getting the job done in a relatively short space of time.  

These days, we put our washing into the washing machine, and walk away and get on with something else.  When I was a little girl, I can remember wash day (a Monday in our house) used to take all day., and it was hard work, especially with the sheets etc, which had to be taken out of the Boiler with wooden tongs, and then put through the mangle, before hanging them on the line.  Does anyone else remember the little packets of ‘blue’ to keep the sheets white..?!

It’s funny things that you remember, isn’t it.  I can remember my mum always wearing an overall or apron whilst doing the housework - then she would change into a pretty dress before my dad came home from work!  Amazing to think of that now! 😊.  How the times have changed.  Everything is so much more casual these days.

This one made me smile, I must admit! I’m sure that’s how it really was for a lot of women!!

Well, I seem to have rambled on a bit today, so I’ll  close again for now.  See you again soon ....I’ll just leave you with this....

All pics today courtesy of Pinterest.com