Busy (Gently) Doing

It has been a much busier month for me here, despite that the rhythms that I so love, as the foundation and shape of our lives, have now returned to us.  We have finally found our groove and have settled in to it with a loving sigh, after what has felt like the longest wait.  The long pause was, although hard to navigate, an absolute necessity as we took stock of things.  Cameron starting college last September, along with friends also changing course in their own lives, had a dramatic effect on myself and Alice.  We both needed time to work out where we fitted into all of that and, what Alice, in particular, wanted to do now that her circle of friends had diminished to the point where there was no circle any more.  Time is the greatest of healers.  It never feels like that when you are in it, but looking back it is so often the case.  Time has allowed us to work out what our new rhythm needs to be for us at this time of our lives.

My intention to get out and walk everyday is still very much with me as an intention but there have been many a day when this has not translated into an action.  I have really loved walking in the dark, of an evening and now that the clocks have changed, and the days are getting longer, to continue means going out much later, which is not happening right now.  I know that being busier means I simply forget some days!  I am keeping this intention in mind and hope that I can continue to fit in a walk even when I have busy times.   The signs of spring slowly emerging have been lovely to see on recent walks.

I have however continued to declutter a part of the house each week.  I have cleared out under our bed, which is a valuable storage area in our small house, it needed a good hoover to remove the dust, there was rather a lot of it so the whole process made me sneeze.  A lot.  Several items have made it to the ever growing pile to be rehomed, I really need to remember to take it all to the charity shop when I next visit the local town.  I have also been through my wardrobe and cleared out any clothes that I have not worn in the past year, sometimes longer.  I usually do this every year, but as I had no where to donate items during COVID it has been neglected.  I have not bought any clothes for a long time, even from a charity shop, despite this I had a small pile of bits that can go to new homes, including a couple of pieces that can go back to the company that I bought them from as they are buying back old clothes in good condition.

Alice and I had a lovely spring equinox celebration during the week it occurred.  It was not the equinox itself but we were glad we waited until a day that felt right as it was really warm and sunny on the day we chose.  After we had shared words, songs, and meditated we lay in the sun listening to the bird song.  They were so loud.  It was a lovely way to spend a few hours.

I arranged to have a chat with my oldest friend recently, oldest in the sense that we have know each other since she was four and I, five.  I love that our conversations always meander all over the place.  We have not spoken for a while, I think the last time was my for my birthday in 2020, by complete coincidence that was eighteen months ago, to the date this post was published.  We only stopped when our phone batteries were on 1%, it was two and half hours of loveliness.  A true friendship is, for me, one where the conversation picks up straight away regardless of the time that has passed since last connecting. We had to arrange it as she is so very busy and our previous attempts at hoping it would happen some time soon were just not working.  I remember my late Great Aunt telling me about her weekly calls to a friend she too had known since the same age, she was devastated when her friend died a couple of years ago, they both lived to be over 100.  I hope my friend and I grow old together doing the same for many a year to come.

The needle felting is still happening apace we have nearly 60 hearts now.  We have a few more days until we need to start stringing them up into garlands.  They are taking up most of my crafting time for now but they are for an important cause.  I spent a whole weekend at fundraising events.  A lunch for a biking group who were passing through a local town raised nearly £200, the following day we did bag packing at a supermarket and, along with a stall of craft goods and selling raffle tickets, we raised over £1000.  It was a long and tiring day but so worth it with the amount we raised.  I am organising an event outside a local shop that sells outdoor clothing and equipment, it is over the Easter bank holiday weekend which is their busiest of the year.  We are selling homemade craft items, hence the needle felted garland, baked goods, raffle tickets and offering car washing.  It is all coming together, I have never organised anything like this before so it good that we are doing this a group of parents all supporting each other, it feels a lot less daunting that way.

I have found the time to add more stitches to my embroidery, I have finished my primroses and am now working on some squares of foliage.  I am thinking that I will make this into a patchwork bag of embroidery squares and fabric.  I have knitted very little as my hands have been busy needle felting.  I am thinking that by the time I have finished my current jumper it will be too warm to wear it, although given the summers we have had here recently I am sure there will still be days when I will need it.

I finally finished reading a book, my first that I started reading this year.  This brings my total books read this year to a grand total of two, the other I started reading at some point last year.  I read at bedtime and often don't manage more than a few pages before my eyelids get too heavy, it doesn't matter what time I head to bed it is always the same. Entangled Life by Martin Sheldrake was a rather marvellous view on the world of fungi.  I had heard some of the content before but there was so much in this book that was new to me.  Fungi are truly amazing and so little is known of them, they have the potential to solve so many of the worlds environmental problems.  A fascinating read on so many levels.  I have neatly followed the thread of that book into my next one Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard.  I am only a few chapters in but it is already another completely fascinating read.  The frequent references to fungi and mycelium are comforting in their familiarity, helping with my understanding of a potentially complex subject.  I knew I would enjoy this book, it was recommended to me by a friend who has yet to fail in her recommendations of good books to read.  I have been waiting for it to come out in paperback as I find hardback books a little too heavy to read in bed.  Book recommendations by friends have long fascinated me, I have another friend who often recommends books to me but I have yet to finish one of her recommendations, yet she has read all that I have suggested to her and loved them.  I haven't worked that one out yet!

The past few weeks have also been filled with work, scout volunteering, meetings a plenty, home ed groups, and plenty of rest.  I have turned down many an offer of things to do because I am busy resting.  My quiet time is sacred to me now in ways that I have not allowed it to be in the past.  It is an important and integral part of my week, a balance to my busyness and doing.   The stillness is recharging.  I can manage the busy times when I know that there will be time for rest too.