This and that!

It's been a few days since I last posted but that seems to be the kind of schedule that is working for me at the moment. I was a bit blah for a few days, you know, when everything gets to be too much and nothing gets done. I suppose some of it has to do with waiting around for the plumbers while everything is moved out of the way and assuming they come shortly, they'll probably be here at the same time as the fireplace people! So yeah, this place has been getting to me for a while. In reality it's too big for me, but while the house is fine, the view is fantastic (and my neighbours are great), so I really don't want to sell up, especially given how much I've spent on it lately. Also, if I sell, Jordan and Jen would like to buy it, but can't afford it so I'm hanging on until my mood picks up a bit. What I am trying to do, therefore, is keep on decluttering, and I have to say I truly admire people who seem to plow through a day and take 15 loads to the charity shop! That's not me and it's frustrating as hell, but there is only so much energy to go around! That being said, I did pack up two bags of clothes to put in the charity bin in the village but almost ended up throwing them in the trash bin rather than the charity bin. Luckily I caught myselt in time because that would have been a shame!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to attend a course on ayurveda. Well I did, and it was interesting, but not at all what I was expecting (although truth be told I really don't know what I was expecting). At the end our teacher offered those of us who wanted to to do a "nasal cleanse" using a neti lota, to see what we thought. I'd heard of this before so while I wasn't hugely enthusiastic I just thought "hell go for it"! So we went outside and she handed us all a new lota filled with warm water and salt. You tip it up one nostril, swirl your head around and in theory it should come down the other nostril (makes a great visual doesn't it) rather than have you gagging because it went down your throat. Well I tried it and to be honest it did nothing for me and as she'd apparently put a bit too much salt in it felt like having your nose half burned off, you know, like when you get ducked under in the sea! Still, at least I gave it a go!

Actually I think I got my interest in all things yoga and so on at a very young age from my dad - which is pretty strange considering he was a sheet metal worker and not your usual suspect! I think his interest might have come from being so ill so young (heart problems) and he would try anything to help himself feel better. Hence the time when I was a little girl and caught him in bed with a teapot up his nose and he almost choked when he saw me watching him!

Talking of yoga, we had Monday's course outside in the sunshine - not something I'm particularly fond of actually because I hate being in the heat. Still, it was actually quite pleasant listening to the hens clucking around in the garden next door. Even the rooster didn't bother me too much - but when the guy got out his hedge cutters I actually burst out laughing. I mean, it's not exactly easy to "meditate" to the tune of a hedge cutter, is it!

Sunday was Mother's Day here in France and I was invited over to Jordan and Jen's with Jen's mom. I worked all morning in the garden and then ran inside to have a quick shower and bugger it - I had no hot water!!! So I'm filthy, my hair needs washing and all I had was ice cold water. In the end there was nothing for it but to grin and bear it (bare it?) but what really pissed me off was the thought of yet another thing to fix! Nevertheless we had a nice time at lunch, but Charlie has now taken to curling up in a ball sobbing if he's ever told no. I mean, the poor little kid is heartbroken, heartbroken, I tell you - well for all of about 30 seconds until he realizes nobody is watching him. I have to be careful to look away though as I can't help laughing!

And finally, I don't know what the heck is going on in my orbit, but there are so many friends, acquaintances and family going down with illnesses (some relatively minor, others very serious indeed), it's staggering. For instance, my sister went for a routine eye check and they found that she has "an indentation in the back of one eye with a fluid build up". She said she'd take care of it later that week but the doctor said "nope, we'll do it right now". So she had a needle inserted into her eye and the fluid drawn off and then she had to have it done two more times the same week and is now waiting on the results sometime in July. I mentioned to her that my friend was experiencing something similar, except in her case it was so painful she said she would have taken her own eye out with a spoon if she could, and did indeed end up driving herself to the ER. They're doing all kinds of tests on her, the next being some kind of scan on her head, but are still none the wiser. A friend of my kids has come down with breast cancer just ahead of her wedding in 10 days time, a 42 year old dad at day care collapsed with a heart attack and my 40 year old niece's husband collapsed in the street last week. Turns out he had also had a heart attack (probably several in fact) and I believe was operated on today (I have to call my sister later). What's going on with all these young people getting so sick?

But the worst I heard last night from my dear friend in the States. She is one of two people I would consider to have been instant friends. You know the kind of person you are introduced to and then five hours later you're still yacking (and 35 years later we're still friends, despite being an ocean apart). I won't go into any details but the amount of pain and tragic events she has experienced in her life would have put me under by now, and then just this week she got another triple-whammy. And by triple-whammy, I mean three things, any of which would have had me on my knees. I only found out about the latest crap she's dealing with last night and I cried when we hung up. She doesn't deserve this. Well I know no-one does, but how much pain can one person be expected to endure in a lifetime? And then after we hung up, she sent me this, which is why I loved her from the minute we met! Kinda puts my cold shower starkly into perspective, doesn't it!