I have just been reading some old blog posts about strewing. I don't do this at all now. It seems pretty irrelevant and smacks of worry and angst.
The good things about doing it were that I had a reason to search for new items and something to focus on. I could feel satisfied if we had chatted about the item, or handled it. Choosing one thing was a lot easier than choosing a whole big topic or going for a walk. By knowing I had picked up an item and put it on the table, I could allow myself to stop worrying for a day. So it served as a shield to protect me from my and other people's fears.
It helped me to learn how to spot the interactions relating to that one thing. I spotted a new word being used or a new topic. Again, because I was only focusing on the learning happening around that one physical item, it let me off the hook for the rest of the day.
It also helped me realise how central our table was and is in the household. We sit round it and put things on it. I tidy it often and keep order by putting our stuff at one end of it and by changing the table cloth when we have guests.
It gave me a structure to hold onto. Now I only have the weekly log book left. It sits on my desk in the kitchen and is easy to add to because I sit at my desk a lot!
...
This was in my drafts file from February. I may have been all confident then, but now I think I might go back to being more aware of our kitchen conversations. The log book is looking a bit empty at the moment and I'll feel more sure of myself if I make more notes in it.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Slowing down again
All I can hear is the washing machine and the birds tweeting. The doors are open to let a breeze clear the air a little. We have some fruit and brioches left over on the table, extra sausages still in the fridge.
I would like to play some old music through the sound system downstairs, but need to wait until T is available again to ask him to do this for me.
It is a decompression process after guests have gone. Sudden silence and a return to seeing the cracks in the paintwork, the physical things which need doing on the house. It is a lot more healthy for me to be focused on actual people and activities. Time to go out for a walk around the village! The others are resting and having time out on their own, like me.
Our village pub has just changed hands so perhaps tonight we can all go there with our pack of cards and have fun while seeing whether the atmosphere has changed. S can remind himself that he is no longer in the Far East but back in an English Village.
I would like to play some old music through the sound system downstairs, but need to wait until T is available again to ask him to do this for me.
It is a decompression process after guests have gone. Sudden silence and a return to seeing the cracks in the paintwork, the physical things which need doing on the house. It is a lot more healthy for me to be focused on actual people and activities. Time to go out for a walk around the village! The others are resting and having time out on their own, like me.
Our village pub has just changed hands so perhaps tonight we can all go there with our pack of cards and have fun while seeing whether the atmosphere has changed. S can remind himself that he is no longer in the Far East but back in an English Village.
9 in the house and all's well
I slept like a log, even though they were gaming and watching happily downstairs. As I came downstairs I could smell....bacon!
Last night my brother and I went out for a leisurely mint tea and chat before doing a top up food shop for the second big supper at home. That felt odd, though I had my phone and my mother in law was right next door keeping her ears peeled. (I needed a little break from the music to be honest.)
This house smiles when it has a crowd in it. It almost feels bigger too, as if it were built for numbers.
Last night my brother and I went out for a leisurely mint tea and chat before doing a top up food shop for the second big supper at home. That felt odd, though I had my phone and my mother in law was right next door keeping her ears peeled. (I needed a little break from the music to be honest.)
This house smiles when it has a crowd in it. It almost feels bigger too, as if it were built for numbers.
Friday, 22 February 2013
This house is built for parties
Star Wars, gaming, music, sausages and baguettes, overnight bags, sleeping stations which won't be needed, someone waiting at the station, someone else already dropped off at the house while we were out in the car...nice.
Maybe a mum to chat to when someone else is dropped off. Maybe my brother will come along to be another adult to be on hand, but sleeping like me, overnight. Maybe I'll go next door to my mother in law for a chat and some knitting part way through the marathon?
S will return from a week in Manila and Seoul tomorrow to a suddenly empty house.
Maybe a mum to chat to when someone else is dropped off. Maybe my brother will come along to be another adult to be on hand, but sleeping like me, overnight. Maybe I'll go next door to my mother in law for a chat and some knitting part way through the marathon?
S will return from a week in Manila and Seoul tomorrow to a suddenly empty house.
Saturday, 16 February 2013
A perfect storm - Reeva Steenkamp
All these blogs have comment on what has happened:
charlyscomment
samambreen
frothydragon
bigfashionista
thenation
sianandcrookedrib
When I put 'A Perfect Storm' I meant the combination of several powerful comings together of people around the world:
#onebillionrising A world wide uprising to protest against violence perpetrated on women.
#valentinesday A world wide celebration of love and affection.
#hernamewasreevasteenkamp A death, possibly murder, possibly accidental, of a woman in her boyfriend's house on that very same day, 14th February 2013, early in the morning.
#thesun After suggesting it would rethink the concept of Page 3, The Sun puts a bikini photo of the woman who died the day before, all over the front page. That is the tipping point for lots of us in the UK.
Twitter is incredibly helpful in all this, tips on actions to take, a hashtag people can gather around, the accurate phone number of a news desk, open in the middle of the night as papers go to press all night, internet compaign tools like petitions and online Press Complaints Commission access, work email address for the editor of The Sun, and a sense of common but varied expressions of upset and rage. There is already an array of anti-sexist organisations and twitter addresses.
I am so glad that my previous experience at calling Governors and an Embassy meant I could simply pick up the phone and dial. I spoke a few simple sentences. I hope I said thank you as I am glad when the phone is picked up and someone politely takes a call of complaint.
I wonder what the next step is? Someone said it is contacting the major advertisers in The Sun, there is a list of about 10 who spend the most currently on advertising. I can't find the link now, but here is nomorepage3 's page on the major advertisers. Read around their blog and follow it if you can. They are speaking up for us all.
I wonder what tomorrow's front page will be? How does a campaign like this unfold, what is the pace? It could be very quick. The undercurrent of dismay at the way women are portrayed has been present for years. The MP Clare Short brought it up years ago and was mocked roundly for it. But I do remember that she did it.
Is this all combining to create a perfect storm for saying No Thank You to having females treated horribly every single day of our lives? Here's a thought, can older women be involved in this? They of all people have experienced even more decades of this than we have. Can they help to change our culture for the better?
Finally, sign this one day old petition asking The Sun to apologise.
charlyscomment
samambreen
frothydragon
bigfashionista
thenation
sianandcrookedrib
When I put 'A Perfect Storm' I meant the combination of several powerful comings together of people around the world:
#onebillionrising A world wide uprising to protest against violence perpetrated on women.
#valentinesday A world wide celebration of love and affection.
#hernamewasreevasteenkamp A death, possibly murder, possibly accidental, of a woman in her boyfriend's house on that very same day, 14th February 2013, early in the morning.
#thesun After suggesting it would rethink the concept of Page 3, The Sun puts a bikini photo of the woman who died the day before, all over the front page. That is the tipping point for lots of us in the UK.
Twitter is incredibly helpful in all this, tips on actions to take, a hashtag people can gather around, the accurate phone number of a news desk, open in the middle of the night as papers go to press all night, internet compaign tools like petitions and online Press Complaints Commission access, work email address for the editor of The Sun, and a sense of common but varied expressions of upset and rage. There is already an array of anti-sexist organisations and twitter addresses.
I am so glad that my previous experience at calling Governors and an Embassy meant I could simply pick up the phone and dial. I spoke a few simple sentences. I hope I said thank you as I am glad when the phone is picked up and someone politely takes a call of complaint.
I wonder what the next step is? Someone said it is contacting the major advertisers in The Sun, there is a list of about 10 who spend the most currently on advertising. I can't find the link now, but here is nomorepage3 's page on the major advertisers. Read around their blog and follow it if you can. They are speaking up for us all.
I wonder what tomorrow's front page will be? How does a campaign like this unfold, what is the pace? It could be very quick. The undercurrent of dismay at the way women are portrayed has been present for years. The MP Clare Short brought it up years ago and was mocked roundly for it. But I do remember that she did it.
Is this all combining to create a perfect storm for saying No Thank You to having females treated horribly every single day of our lives? Here's a thought, can older women be involved in this? They of all people have experienced even more decades of this than we have. Can they help to change our culture for the better?
Finally, sign this one day old petition asking The Sun to apologise.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Gestures for Valentine's Day
I bought a bunch of 12 red roses for our households. So our table has 6 in a vase looking lovely and my mother in law has her 6 in a different vase looking lovely in a slightly different way.
We shared some fish and chips in the shade of the red roses. H has been paying close attention to Top Gear from a cosy spot on the sofa. I have put a redundant drum to good use as a side table for him. T is out extremely late tonight watching a school show.
We shared some fish and chips in the shade of the red roses. H has been paying close attention to Top Gear from a cosy spot on the sofa. I have put a redundant drum to good use as a side table for him. T is out extremely late tonight watching a school show.
Saturday, 9 February 2013
The power of paint
Fantastic TED talk by the Mayor of Tirana, capital of Albania.
Beautify your house and your table and see what happens. Put on that lovely top and some make up...
Beautify your house and your table and see what happens. Put on that lovely top and some make up...
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Stand Up To Deliver Support For Independent Midwives - particularly if you are home educating and used to all sorts of campaigning and puns...
You get the picture from the post title.
A petition to the UK government asking for a way forward on insurance for Independent Midwives
Enthusiastic blog post about having an Independent Midwife for the birth of her son
Cross support between different interest groups is vital. When I was at the demonstration to support political prisoners in Bahrain last summer, no one I spoke to said they were from Bahrain, so we came mainly from other countries and backgrounds.
A petition to the UK government asking for a way forward on insurance for Independent Midwives
Enthusiastic blog post about having an Independent Midwife for the birth of her son
Cross support between different interest groups is vital. When I was at the demonstration to support political prisoners in Bahrain last summer, no one I spoke to said they were from Bahrain, so we came mainly from other countries and backgrounds.
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