Further Change

After settling down into a new phase in life, another one rears its head, but this is a good next phase as my husband John, has decided to retire next March, so both of us will be fancy free. Of course it will bring new major changes as we have always said that when we no longer have work commitments, we will downsize to a smaller house in a new area. Now we will need to decide where we want to live as where we live, will no longer be dictated by commuting time or school access. The problem is - what does downsizing really mean?. In my case, it probably only means one less bedroom as it is useful and sometimes necessary to have extra space!

It is important to have something useful to do when you are retired, in order to keep the mind agile and the body active. My hobbies are dressmaking and oil painting and John has decided to try his hand at making the 'flies' used when fly fishing. We could eventually both sell our creations at craft fayres, side by side. At a recent craft fayre there was a man who had retired and put all his time into his hobby of painting which he was selling and they were excellent, but his poor wife was a 'painting widow' as his hobby took over all his time. I can relate to that because when I paint, I become so absorbed in what I am doing that time passes without my knowing. John and I should be well suited if we both have separate hobbies to occupy our time and he also wants to test his joinery skills in making garden furniture and accessories and of course, he will be able go fishing more often. So 2013 will hopefully be a lucky year for us both as we certainly have a few big decisions to make.

Christmas fayres are in full swing now and I'm busy trying to finish all my Christmas shopping before we set sail on our cruise next month. I'm looking forward to 2013 when John and I will be able to please ourselves for the first time in 41 years.

Circles

Life is a massive circle, going round and round in never ending cycles. Circles in the universe as planets orbit and spin on themselves, continuing life and death cycles, seasons coming round again, and so the list goes on. As I approach my sixtieth birthday next month, I am more aware of the effect of these circles or life's patterns that are similar across any generation. My least favourite age was as I approached thirty, the jump from being twenty nine to thirty was like a chasm, when youth would be lost in one fell swoop! Being forty was no big deal however, it came and went fairly quietly but my fiftieth birthday was the first time I really thought about getting old and viewed as such by my peers. Now as my sixtieth birthday rears its head, I feel a little bemused by it all.

I live in a world where appearance is king and so many people and media programmes are consumed with the need to retain youth and all its promises, well what a load of rubbish. Yes, getting older is cruel on the body but there are so many advantages that really can outweigh the negatives. A bit like a fine wine, a seasoned building, an experienced life that has learnt from mistakes and mishaps. There is currently an e-book at number one called 'Thursdays in the Park', which is about a sixty year old finding a new romance http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thursdays-in-the-Park-ebook 
It features older people rather than perfectly groomed and stick thin twenty somethings.

I feel privileged to be sixty, I have my own opinions, I can see pitfalls and I recognise the circles in life to beware or change for the better. There are some grumpy old people but equally, there are grumpy people in all generations. Being sixty today is very different from being sixty a few decades ago. I am not required to grow old gracefully or retire to my armchair, I intend to look for the new shoots and nurture growth, rather than be constrained within the circle of 'autumn years'.

Yes, the skin I life in, is growing old, but inside this skin is a comfort, a serenity and a wisdom that has been earned through experience in the various cycles and circles of the last six decades. So next  month, I will set off towards the Caribbean sun to celebrate my age, I will raise my glass to this new decade, and continue in another circle of life and to enjoy the current cycle in which I live.

Cheers!

Christmas Is Coming

Busy at the moment making Christmas gifts and toys for three upcoming local Christmas fayres. I love having a stall at fayres, not that I make much money but the fellow stallholders I meet and some of their stories are very interesting. People who just love doing what they do, not to make a fortune but to spend their time doing things that make them happy. How many people can truly say that they have their dream job?

The time of year also makes a difference as hopefully people are seeking that unique gift that doesn't cost a fortune. I have always loved Christmas time and all the preparation. Christmas has always felt special and surrounded by family, makes it the perfect time of year.

When I was a little girl, one Christmas day holds a cherished memory. I was about 7 or 8 years old and I knew I was getting a doll because my mum had bought it at Woolworths for £1.10 shilling or £1.50 in today's money. When it was bought it had no clothes and was in a plastic bag. I was totally unaware that my mum had been busy making clothes for that doll so that when I saw it on Christmas day, it was sat up in a pram, with a wardrobe that any grown woman would have envied. It had knickers, underskirt, a dress and an outer coat with matching bonnet. Mum had also made pram blankets and pillows. I was speechless. I named the doll Jacqueline and I still have her to this day, but sadly, not the clothes. I recently found the clothes pattern that mum must have used and only now am I aware of the time and care it must have taken for her to make that beautiful outfit. I intend to use that same pattern for my granddaughter's dolls.

I hope that I am able to be the maker of a toy or accessory that stays in the memories of another little girl this Christmas day. The photo shows some of my soft toys, 2 soft toy elephants. Please feel free to view a small selection of my gifts by following the links on my web page at  - https://sites.google.com/site/essellartandcrafts/.

Take the time to visit some of the craft fayres and support the people who make wonderful items and gifts

Happy shopping!

Life

Life with its twists and turns, its heartbreaks, its joys.

What is around the corner? What is it that lurks ahead?

A life that rolls on continuously, despite the bumps,

A life that that hits you hard, knocks you off your feet instead.

Got to face the world head on and use the props to support

Try to understand this 'topsy turvy' world at my feet

Another stride, another road. a path that leads me on

With no control nor desire to claim what I may meet.

A period of calm, a troubled phase, who knows? We are what we are,

Tasting the sweet effects and also the sourness of life

Clashes, hurts, comforts, love, churned together, all mixed up

Make sense of your being, amidst the love mixed with the strife.

 

Solutions blurred through misty eyes, a fog refusing to shift,

No directions visible to give guidance in navigating the haze

Clinging to a hope that who I am will carry me through,

A hope that I will soon be guided out of the maze.

There is no choice, get up, dust down, carry on and face the world,

Turn down the dial, turn the corner, turn the other cheek.

Soothe my soul, make clear my way, the path I need to take, 

Brighten my horizon that I may tread wisely in another week.