Same sheet

Sometimes it is difficult to know if you and whoever are, in fact, "singing off the same sheet". Maybe the need for discussion is overlooked thus ending up with slightly misaligned understandings. Nobody to blame....just one of those things...............

Clouds gather so quickly.....lets hope that they disperse at the same rate.

Some days just need to start over..................

Preparation

France was relaxing with sightseeing, north to St. Malo and then south to Concarneau. Two very similar and yet very different walled towns. Homecoming was ........ well I'm always pleased to come home though not always pleased at what I find here. No matter now, things are put to rights again and unpleasantness was kept to a minimum. Well it's there bubbling under the surface as ever and I fear the eventual and inevitable eruption will be painful in the extreme. But onward...
There is another trip to No.2 booked for next month and I am already looking forward to that. In the meantime I have Monday night to deal with. I give my first real Photo Presentation to the Camera Club - at least I'm among friends!! The preparation has been a steep learning curve and has, most importantly, shown me how crucial it is to organise myself. A little less of the "Oh! it'll be alright, I'll wing it" attitude and a bit more, dare I say it "Professionalism"
Hmmm, that's a big word. Not sure that I fit it...............

France

I am always so much more relaxed when I get to what we call No.2. That's the house number and also it is our number two dwelling. Perhaps because it is smaller and more self-contained than the house in Devon, there is no garden to worry about either. I therefore have fewer "must do" things on my list - in fact I don't even have a list, unless you count hemming two pairs of curtains!! We have spent two days travelling, exploring Brittany and enjoying the sights and sounds of a different country. It may only be a few miles over La Manche but different it is. Two more days of relaxing to be had. I'd better get on with it................

Pictures no words

Thursday

This evening we catch the ferry from Plymouth across the Channel to Roscoff. In the morning there is a journey of about an hour and a half to the house. Non of this is arduous and I look forward to the visit. The house itself is very different to my home here in Devon and the change is, as they say "as good as a rest"!  Why then do I find it so difficult to prepare and pack for the journey?  Talk about procrastination........I'm the queen!   I'm still not 100% sure that I'm ready but at least my camera and laptop bag are done!

Thinking

I've been thinking a lot about my friends, one of whom is going through a very hard time emotionally at the moment. We all get to a stage in life when something's "gotta give". Changes in direction have to be made. Sometimes the path we have chosen turns out to be the wrong one. How we do this depends on so many different factors and also how much support we get from those around us. I have been very lucky in this respect, having had the support of close friends, both near and far, through the difficult times in my life. Some of them may not even be aware of just how much help they have been.
Chicken wire is what I liken friendship to......... I can hear you thinking..... Ann's away with the fairies here!........  but this wire is careful interwoven, joined and rejoined, making a strong but flexible structure. If one or two wires should break or be damaged the rest still hold firm - like a bunch of friends. We all have to be there for each other because that's what friends do.

There was an advert many moons ago -  the catch phrase was "pick up the phone"  If you know someone about to change direction or just in one of life's sticky moments, pick up the phone, rejoin a thread in the chicken wire.

Change

I have come to the conclusion that there are some things in my life which I need to take a different view on. If only because my present view is causing me pain and that is no way to live life. It is going to be difficult to change....... probably painful.....how ironic is that?  Success is not guaranteed but worth striving for..........I'm sure........I think.........

Evening

 Towards the end of another day......... Thursday is my housework day, I say "my" it's my house but most of the work gets done by Rita. She has guided me back to caring for my home after I neglected it for so long for one reason or another.  So now I have a clean and shining house and can relax for a while. This photograph was taken as the sun came through the window on the landing this evening, turning the pale lemon coloured walls to this orange /gold. The orchid is past its best....except for photography! :)  Tomorrow - well we'll see what tomorrow brings tomorrow...........

Is it all in vain

The tears are back.............damn

And just to annoy me I fail at the simplest of "technical" things - there is a link here that I cannot get to work properly.........I shall throw something in a minute....grrrrrrrrr





Even if you are not an Annie Lennox fan the lyrics are worth a listen........

Everyone wants to be a Centerfold

Ok now I have the title but what do I mean by it?  I'm not suggesting that the middle pages of a certain genre of magazine is what we aspire to, though I guess some of us do. I'm thinking in a little more general terms......be it the fleeting center of attention or the secure place we hold in someones'  heart. It could even be the picture kept in pride of place on the desktop/mantlepiece/desk.

 Somehow or other we all strive for it and bask in a warm glow when it is achieved. The down side is.....WHY does there always have to be a "down" side? Well there is and it's when you find you've slipped from that central spot.......become sidelined.......relegated to the back page by the "flavour of the month" the next "right one" This is when our sense of security crumbles around us. Having felt secure, in our warm glow and perhaps taken it for granted, it is indeed hard to bear. The saying "Off with the old On with the New" comes to mind - at what stage do you become the "Old"?

There is a very cynical little voice inside me now saying;  Hey! there are so many people out there on the lookout for a bit of "fun" what does it matter if things go wrong - there are plenty more fish in the Sea/Facebook/Myspace/Dating Sites………… I said it was cynical..........here's hoping I've got it wrong................

Bothered

Sometimes I sink into that state of "Oh I can't be bothered"  Rarely over the same thing twice, though I suspect that there is a link in there somewhere!  It's a feeling which then triggers guilt - as I know that I probably should be bothered, and get myself into gear and do whatever it is that needs to be done. The guilt is usually the spur, but then guilt is good at either spurring you on or closing you down - it's one of those double edged swords that lurk in our lives. So to avoid the guilt I must avoid the bother.........or something like that..........I'm rambling - I'll stop! lol