Tag: Work (page 5 of 8)

March 12, 2014 / 0 Comments

Stolen Time

I’m tired, but I’m not tired. Do you know what I mean? I feel like Frost, I have miles to go before I sleep. This week is getting the better of me. I have still found things to smile over and small blessings in my day, but, I am so ready for the weekend. I don’t feel that I have had one moment to truly catch my breath.

I think I have to give up on my dream of a snow day as the days are moving more and more into Spring. However, our nights have been very cold and there is usually frost on the ground in the morning. So, now I will dream of the weekend, because all I want to do is lay in bed with Mr. Michie, go for a long walk, get some coffee, make a loaf of bread, watch a good movie and just be.

I wanted a snow day, not only because I LOVE snow, but because it is stolen time, an unexpected gift to make all your own. So, this weekend amongst all the things that must be done, we are going to find some time to steal and make our own.

I love the picture above and it always makes me think of my favorite Feist song. In true Feist fashion the video is a bit wacky, but the lyrics speak volumes to me. Happy Wednesday!

{Image pinned HERE}

March 1, 2014 / 0 Comments

Hello March!

This gorgeous reddish coral colored camellia bush that I visit on my walk to school, is in full bloom. I couldn’t help but take a photo of it yesterday even though it was pouring with rain. Even in the rain it is worth stopping to see the beauty in this world.

February 25, 2014 / 0 Comments

A Man and His Dog

I know this photo is a little grainy, but today I don’t mind. I was working in the main studio yesterday, which is nestled on the third floor of the main school building and overlooks the park across the street.

I like to people watch from my little perch while I’m doing things. There are always the sounds of children playing and laughing, joggers, friends meeting for a chat on one of the benches and there are always dogs. Sometimes I feel like Pongo in 101 Dalmations, watching the dogs and their owners stroll by. Do you remember that scene? Where the dogs and the owners walking by the window of his flat, look like one another, I think that is true.

I watched this elderly man meander down the path yesterday, his little dog leading the way. They both walked with a certain gait, they both kept their heads bent down. If you put a tiny cap on that dog, he could have been the furry version of his owner. Ever so often if the man slowed the little dog would turn around and look at him waiting for him to catch up.

He would run back to check on his master every now and then, jumping up slightly to lick his hand. When the elderly man finally decided to rest and sit down on a park bench, his dog jumped up right beside him and sat on his haunches. The two of them sat there in agreeable silence and watched the world go by. I liked it.

February 19, 2014 / 2 Comments

Cleaning

I love this image. I wish I could throw open my windows, stick my head out, purse my lips into a whistle and have a herd of animals come and clean for me! We seem to spend half of every school break really attacking the cottage. Yesterday we cleaned all of upstairs. Dusting everything in sight, going through all of the closets and reorganizing clothes, gathering a collection to take the the charity shop and putting up a few of our heavier sweaters, because in this weather we don’t seem to really need them.

We scrubbed, mopped and polished our way out of the bathroom as well. We did all of this while also tackling “Mount Laundry”. We have almost defeated it! Now, don’t ask me why, but as we move closer to a school holiday, you would think that things would become a little less chaotic. In fact it is the exact opposite. The closer we get the busier, crazier, more late nights we have than ever before, so everything in the house just seems to pile up.

The upstairs of the cottage is entirely clean, now the downstairs needs a good once over. So, I suppose that is my day laid out for me already as I did attempt to whistle out the window this morning with no luck! I guess the woodland cleaning company is on holiday as well!

{image found}

February 6, 2014 / 1 Comment

Oh My Days!

Well my travel into work this morning didn’t go all that smoothly. My train was 15 minutes late. It was waiting to get the signal to come through, I could see it idling on the sidetrack next to the station. So, I took the first train that came by, stopped and opened its doors, it was already very busy.

I went 2 minutes down the track and the train stopped at the next station and even more people poured on. We had reached full capacity and then some at this point. I was squashed by an armpit and a bike and a very rude girl who kept hitting me in the face with her book every time she turned a page and then she would just stare at me, scrunch her little eyes and nose at me and huff. I wanted to tell her that her face just might get stuck like that, but my Southern manners prevented me from doing so. Well, the doors never shut! We were stuck! We proceeded to stay at a stand still for almost an hour while engineers attempted to fix a signal failure. A normal hour all round trip to work took me 2 1/2.

Oh my days! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

{Oh My Days! print found at the Print Club London}

February 5, 2014 / 1 Comment

Three Strikes You’re Out!

If this was a baseball game, there would be a number of players on the bench! Today was my first morning of the tube strikes. I was already home before they started last night. I take a very early train in the morning and it is never packed before I get on, today it was! The train station was heaving as we pulled in. The streets were crowded. Baker Street Station was completely locked up except for one entrance in the front. I slipped through the metal gates and down the steps. I was lucky in that I could get on a tube as my stop is at the end of the line (if I take this particular line). The bus was my back-up plan. But I didn’t have to resort to that.

I waited about 15 minutes and a tube arrived. It was very busy, but low and behold for the first time ever, people were actually being nice, they were letting others off, they weren’t pushing to get on, everyone was calm, quiet.

It wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, but I think I was lucky, some of my colleagues had horror stories about their trips into work. Tomorrow, along with all the other commuters I will face this battle again, but hopefully it will be as pleasant an experience as I had this morning.

And next week we get to do it all over again for another 2 1/2 days.

February 4, 2014 / 0 Comments

Walking Behind Liberty

I walked to school yesterday morning with a little bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds. I had a moment of quiet as I wandered down a side street. I was quiet. It was Monday after all. As I rounded the corner there were children heading to school. There are a number of schools in the area.

There was an attractive looking woman in her early 20s in front of me, marching a little girl in her school coat and hat off at a clipped pace. She had on a cropped black leather jacket, leggings and black Dr. Martens boots.

Her leggings had a pattern on them that I didn’t quite take in at first, but upon further glances I realized that the pattern was actually a painting by E. Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People. The head of Liberty and her arm raised high with the French flag waving, wrapped its way around this girl’s upper thigh and went right across her a**. The flag actually rippled as she walked!

Now, I am sure when Delacroix worked countless hours in the creation of this painting, he never in his wildest dreams imagined it becoming a piece of clothing and especially clothing that would wrap around one’s derriere! Now, I am not prudish, but seeing Liberty tightly stretched against her buttocks that early in the morning was more than I needed to see.

I think Delacroix might be rolling in his grave!

January 30, 2014 / 2 Comments

Reading

I LOVE to read! Although my journey in the morning and home at night is a bit lengthy, reading keeps me busy. I go through at least one book a week! I finished a book yesterday morning (a truly delicious read that I will share with you in due course) and started a James Patterson book that I had stuck in my bag on my travels home last night. I finished it 5 minutes into my last train home tonight and just sat in my seat, silently watching the world go by in a blur of lights. This book touched my heart. It is called Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas.

It is bittersweet, but filled with love and hope and kindness and wisdom and joy. For however brief the moments that we share with someone we are lucky to have shared them!

Suzanne writes in her diary the “lesson of the five balls”. While recuperating from a heart attack one of her doctor friends tells her this story and it goes like this:

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls…are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.

Balance is something that I strive for. I am enjoying my new position, but work is not the be all and end all. Don’t work so hard to create a life that you can’t even stop to enjoy. Make sure you tell the one you love that you love them for time is precious and slips through our fingers like water.

December 20, 2013 / 0 Comments

Off For The Holidays

The last day of school has arrived! Christmas Break is finally here!

December 17, 2013 / 0 Comments

Tuesday’s Gone

Well, we’re in the home stretch, the last week of school before Christmas break! I can’t wait. However, so much seems to have happened yesterday that I can’t believe it is only Tuesday! Deep breaths, we’ll get there in the end!