COWs, or…

 

Definitions for “little ‘ol ladies”

Now that is not a category into which I would put either myself or a very good friend, but a few years back when we were both a bit out-of-sorts, she came up with “we are COWS”. I’m like, well not really, but explain.

 

Cranky Old Women

 

Ah ha, indeed that we are sometimes, but then there are also cranky young women, cranky young men, very cranky two-year-olds (that’s something that I know a bit as my oldest grandson is in that stage, even so he is adorable… a grandma will never find a grandchild too much, a lesson that I have just learned. In fact I even laugh sometimes at his temper tantrums, then am glad that he has a mind of his own and doesn’t simply blindly obey. He has what we used to call “character”). Cranky middle-aged of any sex, in fact ALL of human kind seems to be cranky at some point or the other.

 

Not going to make up monikers for all of them but for us older females perhaps these would also work

BIRD = beautiful, intriguing, rare, dames

CAT = Cute, affectionate, trailblazers

DOG = Delightful, original, gentlewoman

SNAKE = Sassy, naughty, adorable, kindly, empress (In deference to a friend ther

 

 

Wasting time productively…

I had gone into town to try and locate a present for my older grandson this afternoon. That involved sending a couple of messages to his mother to determine which of the choices would be the best. Poor me, I had to wait about 10 minutes so being just down the street from my favorite chocolate place in the whole wide world, Auer, I thought that the best possible wait to do so would be to go buy some chocolates. We are only mid-December, but the line formed outside (tiny store) lasted 15 minutes.

 

I was grateful to my DIL for not answering right away and the wait was very sweet in the end.

 

Auer chocolate, Geneva, Switzerland

 

Incongruous, or…

Park the mechanical wheelbarrow and have coffee in the elegant tearoom.

 

I really had to laugh this morning when in our village in front of the small grocers and elegant tearoom, a mechanical wheelbarrow truck pulled up, parked (correctly and only taking one space albeit rather large) and the two workers in their orange uniforms hopped off and proceeded to enter the coffee shop. They sat down, but then had to go back outside when the owner asked for their sanitary passes, but had their breakfasts before getting back on the truck and going on to whatever construction site they had left earlier.

 

Getty Images

 

He’s back

I was so excited this morning when out the window I saw on a far branch my winter friend robin redbreast!  Too far for a picture, but just knowing that he – or his offspring – have returned was enough.

 

It also is the day my dad was born – a day for remembering what was: as a friend said, it’s in the past and we can’t go back, to which I replied, “yes, but it’s our past that made us what we are and that allows us to go on”.

 

Look for the bright spots in this winter dark and you’ll find them.

 

iStock image Andrea_Hill | Crédits : Getty Images

 

 

Space

“You only have 17.51 GB of storage”…. My computer regularly tells me that I am lacking in space and must do something about it. Got down once even to only 6,51GB. This mostly has to do with the fact that I have close to 50’000 photos on said computer. Yes, I do sometimes go back and eliminate imperfect photos, but how to decide? And if I get rid of 10 photos you can be sure that the day after I’ll add 20.

 

Seeing this though got me to thinking about the second part of the phrase “Save space by optimizing storage” and how that would relate to other areas of my life, in particular to friendships, people relationships.

 

If I had to “save space” by giving up some relationships, how would I chose, how could I? I think that at this point I’ll simply be grateful that there isn’t a computer clock in my head telling me that I have to, because, frankly, I would be incapable of it. If my “computer” has to blow up due to too many photos, that’s one thing, if my life or head on the other hand does so due to too many relationships, it will simply have to happen: I can’t offhand think of any one that I would cut out of my life. They are all precious in their own manner and necessary to my well-being.

 

Storage in my head and heart for friends, family and even new friends is unlimited!

 

empty space can be beautiful

 

Birthdays

 Earlier in life I had birthdays mainly in the summer, then I married and my husband and a lot of our inner circle fell between February 20 and March 5, two even sharing the 28^th of February. The other two of us in a group of 7 actually shared the same day and month if not the year so we always felt equal to the “fish”. And parties there were.

Then the children started coming and we enlarged our horizon’s, but again with my in-laws it was interesting to note that one of the nephews on my husband’s side shared my own mother’s day and month. My sister-in-law (as in my husband’s sister as opposed to his brother’s wives) almost shared my dad’s birthday and there was many a year when we got them switched around. Wishing my dad a Happy Birthday two days before wasn’t such a problem, forgetting my sister-in-law’s for two days, not so nice.  Then my dad died on my sister-in-law’s birthday complicating things even more.

 

And now, although I perhaps will never reach my goal of having someone on each day of the year, all of the months have filled in quite nicely.

 

As we are apparently 20 million (yes, you read right) on this earth who share each birthday, happy birthday to all of you, who along with my dear sister-in-law, share this particular day.

 

Clipart library

 

Inspiration, or lack thereof.

I have friends who can simply sit down and write, anything, nothing, and it always makes sense, is entertaining or educative. This is not a particular gift of my, but inspiration can be found in so many places: today it was the weather and the miracle of my second grandson.

 

I woke up to 10 cm. of snow on the car, my older son sent a message to say that in light of the road conditions perhaps I shouldn’t come to which I replied, the meal is ready, I’ll be careful and might be a bit late.

 

The main roads in the villages were not too pretty, funnily enough the outlying ones where one didn’t expect it, were great and I was actually on time. And my two-week-old grandson was passed over to me for a moment of pure joy. There is nothing as precious as holding a new-born baby! The older grandson benefitted as well as he could go for a walk with his mother.

 

Blessed am I even if uninspired.