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What are you willing to give up, to have what you want?
This has been my mantra for the last couple of years. At first it was floating quietly in and out of consciousness. Gradually, as months of efforts toward downsizing wore on and health issues made themselves known, the question grew louder and my answer became clearer. But it is a many faceted answer. About four…
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the mo-poke is back…
A few weeks ago in the wee hours of the still, dark morning I heard the familiar two toned, almost mournful, sound ‘mo-poke…mo-poke…mo-poke’. It is the sound of Australia’s smallest owl. There has been one around our garden on and off for years. Last year about this time it would perch in a low branch…
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the desk…
As 2024 closed I was processing the many events of the year, not least our recent trip to the subantarctic. That trip was always a stretch for me, I wanted to do it, but knew it would require fitness I wasn’t sure I had or the discipline I needed to get it. Isn’t that the…
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eyes of the beholder…
Many years ago when my husband was still getting used to me, he commented to our friends that I was ‘often extravagant but seldom wasteful’. Our friends laughed and one of them said ‘that’s ridiculous how do you separate the two?’ This morning as I poured the last tablespoon of baking soda into a glass…
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the movable self…
Winter is coming. Actually, as far as I’m concerned it has arrived. When I grab my favourite winter stretchy jeans and dive back under the covers to warm them and put them on, it is a sure sign. (This is a latent childlike behaviour, a lived out fantasy to be able to return to bed…
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my mind on minimalism…
It’s the end of round three of Don’s cancer treatment away from home. We are back in Alice and very glad to not be in a hotel for a while. Nice as it is, it is not home and lacks some of the ammenities…like a bed that our backs like. After a day and a…
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pretty good, sorta nice, kinda fun things…
Two days ago I deleted the ‘6 month free with purchase’ membership to Apple Music. The trial membership came with a new pair of ear pods and the option to subscribe at the end. At first I was enthused. I listen to classical music every morning on my early walks. It relaxes me and eases…
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the management apologises…
The resizing project is having its ups and downs. For the last three mornings Don has had trouble getting his oats to cook as they should. It wasn’t working and he was eating very watery, soupy oats.(as I’m proofreading I stifle a giggle—not kind, sorry) We both stared into the bowl, then into the microwave…
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land of the long white cloud…
The weather is straight out of Antarctica today. The rain has pelted down all night and the wind whistles every now and then, just to let you know it is there too! We are in Haast on the southwestern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. If we were at home on a day…
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The blossoming.
“Progress is incremental for us, both as individual creative beings and together as a society and civilisation. The flower doesn’t go from bud to blossom in one spritely burst. It’s just that culturally, we are not interested in the tedium of the blossoming.” —Debbie Millman I thought you might like to know how my…
ardysez 