Reprieve

I am trying to see this strange and uncertain situation we're in in a more positive light. I am in a position where I no longer go to work, no longer balance antisocial hours and school runs, or really manage time. Of course, there are many pressures and stresses that come with the current restrictions, but in a way I am experiencing a kind of freedom too. Despite having two young children to entertain and educate and a husband recovering from a hip replacement, I've suddenly found I have time to do things I never got round to before. 

A few weeks ago I started putting up the plasterboard that got my family into our current mess in the first place*. It took a few days and it was hard at times, but I felt satisfied to be getting something done. Simultaneously, in the evenings, I picked up a crochet pattern I've wanted to try for many years, one that I hadn't started simply because I needed to download and print it, and I didn't know how to work our printer. Not only did I print the pattern, but I learned to use the printer in the process. I started baking bread again, mainly because we ran out and were depending on others to shop on our behalf, and we weren't always organised enough to arrange this in time, but we had a good supply of bread flour. I tried a new recipe with the children: we made hot cross buns on Good Friday for the first time, after many years of aspiring and failing to make them for Easter. 

I don't know when life will return to normal, when I'll go back to work and the children will start school again, and I suddenly find myself snowed under with numerous responsibilities and very little time to myself, but I am trying to see this time as an opportunity, a reprieve. It's a deliverance of sorts, the chance of a lifetime to break from the norm and discover ourselves and what really matters. And so I am using this reprieve as productively and industriously as I can, with the hope that whenever we return to our old routines, I might have got ahead with various projects that have been on hold so long, and perhaps even achieved something worthwhile. I can only hope that one day I'll look back and see this as a turning point in my life.

*my husband's accident happened when he tried to move ten pieces of plasterboard in one go.

Slow Down

In the past I've sometimes adopted a word to be my focus for the new year. This year I've chosen an expression: Slow Down. For me this is not about doing less, but about taking a more reflective approach towards life,  effectively slowing down and being more appreciative of the process, rather than rushing to reach the end goal. As a person who's naturally busy and industrious this has been quite a challenge. 

January has been a restful month, with various DIY projects on hold and so there's been plenty of opportunity to read, write, knit and crochet, all of the things I love to do. 

I have taken on an entirely new approach with reading: rather than working through one book after another, I now read several books simultaneously, and I find this quite refreshing. I have swapped my daily devotional readings to morning rather than evening, which means I am more alert and can take in more. Currently, I have two novels, a poetry book, and a Shakespeare play on the go. I am really enjoying the variety, and again, I've switched my focus to the process of reading, rather than getting to the end of the book. 

Perhaps as a result of this I have experienced a burst of creativity with my own writing and have managed to write six poems over the last few weeks. It's not a form of writing I normally turn my hand to but recently the poems have flowed effortlessly from my pen and the few people who have read them have been quite complimentary.

Picking up my knitting and crochet projects in the evenings has become quite compulsive. Consequently I've made headway with the Frozen crochet set I received as a gift last year, having completed three of the twelve characters and I have also finished a few other projects besides.

This is all in the midst of organising activities for Moth and Ever, and keeping on top of the housework. All in all I have started the year feeling very balanced and I hope this is a feeling that will continue.

Space to Breathe

I don't have to go far these days to find fields and open spaces. I can see them from the upstairs window, abundantly green and beckoning. Beautiful views are to be found just around the corner, or down the road. There's always somewhere to walk when escape is needed. I am writing again because the inspiration is all around me, no longer drowned out by an urban landscape,

Local traffic passes our front window, but at less of a frequency than it did before; the by-pass diverts the rest. At the back of the house we could be anywhere. 

Our home has a long way to go, but as I take in the beautiful mess before me I see the potential. I close my eyes and see the home we're going to make it into. By the end of the month, the asbestos will be gone and the bare walls will lie in wait of our vision. 

Here is my haven. I've finally found the space to breathe. I love this place.