"Time flies when you are having fun", or so the saying goes. So I must have been having so much fun in December I didn't have time for my blog. Truth is, I had time, I just didn't have the energy. In fact, I had plenty to write about, only it were all sort of irritations, Moaning Mini items which were a result of world or local news events, happenings in and around the area or just wet, dark and dismal weather influences. Stuff happens!
So here I am on the 11th of January and it's the start of another year in which time will continue to fly. The weather isn't what it used to be this time of year. Not sure whether winter will re-appear after only having been around for about 10 days early December. Maybe it won't be back at all or it won't start till spring. One of the things I am still grateful for is that there isn't a weather dial, well I tell myself there isn't one, so that humans decide on what the weather might be today or tomorrow. Although we do have an effect on the weather by the way we have treated Mother Earth all these years. But that's another moan.
I'm an early riser. In the summer that's quite a different experience than in the winter months where it's dark till after 8am. At the 'height' of winter it is even dark till 9-ish. That makes for a different experience than in summer, where I can sit on the balcony with my morning coffee and welcome the day. It does however, give me more time each day to get things done. I watch videos on YouTube I've subscribed to, there is ample time to chat with friends in different time zones and I get to read the paper and do the crossword - hot of the press so to speak all before 9am when our pensioner life gets going! As we live in an apartment I get to walk downstairs and back up thus bagging the first bit of exercise for the day. A great mini work out, we live on the third floor and there are 54 steps to descend and then climb. My iWatch is pleased with me.
Having met my commitments to my subscribed channels I then have time to work on my own videos. Editing takes quite some concentration and dedication. The software is great but not without flaws and instabilities. Occasionally after saving my hard work only to find upon resuming the task that the files have miraculously 'gone missing' whilst I haven't done a thing to cause this. So it's back to the drawing board. These days I find myself at my desk working furiously to get the video out in a day. Once converted I am safe. Phew, neck strain, backache but a sense of achievement is soothing ointment for my wellbeing.
And so I trundle on. I visit my bonus mother in law twice a week, I do the grocery shopping before everyone wakes. Done and dusted by 8:30- I love going early when it is quiet and spacious in the supermarket. No trolley bashing. I try to get a decent walk in each day - though the motivation is sometimes lacking. We may not have the weather we usually do but rain is not a fun weather type to walk in and certainly not to bike in. My bike will be hybernating till spring I am afraid. There is a book I am slowly getting deeper and deeper into, The Sisters of Auschwitz by Yvonne van Ieperen. Heavy reading due to the topic but fascinating at the same time.
Plans for a break away are in the offing. Last year France was our Valhalla ( check the videos here) This year we have somewhere else in mind, plans follow in a future blog when the plan has taken more shape.
A few invites noted in the diary and a few dinner parties in the pipeline. The year is shaping up to be quite enjoyable, Now I'd be thrilled with a large win in the lottery as there are some projects I'd like to support both near and far.
So, 2023, I'll do my best to be a regular spiller of thoughts, frustrations and ideas. Hope the year pans out the way you, my reader, wants it to. Blessings and strengths to you all.
