Hello, thank you for popping in here and thank you for the kind and understanding comments you left here yesterday. So far, I have not missed my college notes at all!
In October 2009 the Best Beloved and I went away by ourselves for a weekend, a memorable couple of days in a cottage on Anglesey. Beside the fireplace there was a wicker basket which held a large pile of Country Living magazines and over the course of the weekend I think I looked through all of them. I was hooked; I loved the photographs, the recipes, the articles, I loved everything about them, even though they portrayed a lifestyle so very different to my own. Those magazines filled my head with unattainable daydreams which made me very happy. So when we returned home I bought the current issue, and the next month I bought another, and so it went on for a year or so. The Best Beloved noticed how much I enjoyed reading this magazine and surprised me with a subscription for my birthday and, feeling quite smug with his excellently-received choice of gift, did the same the following year. Then came the time of austerity when birthday gifts and monthly magazines were luxuries which we couldn't afford so there were no new issues for me. However, because I am a bit of a hoarder, and I really couldn't bring myself to get rid of such beautiful magazines, I had kept every copy so as the months turned I was able to pull out the appropriate issue from a previous year and reread it. This made me feel quite smug.
Several years have passed like this and the magazines have been read several times. They have sat in a pile beside my fireplace, not in a lovely wicker basket but held tight and tidy in a corner in an almost architectural manner. When I say "a pile", it's actually more like "a column", perhaps almost "a pillar". I am very grateful to those magazines for the hours of pleasure they have given me but, feeling energised by the bit of space I acquired on Sunday, yesterday I felt ready to bid them goodbye. Twenty-seven of them are now in the recycling bin - not all, I have kept the December issues because I do like an inspirational festive magazine.
So now I have a little more space than I had this time yesterday. I had hoped that I would feel a little lighter than I felt yesterday but I don't. Instead, I think I am looking round to see where the next extra bit of space might come from. If I make enough space, there may be room for some Christmas spirit- it's not here yet but that's all right because it's not Christmas yet, it's Advent, a time for taking stock and preparing for the future.
See you soon.
Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x
Just catching up with your last post and this one. I think the clearing bug is with me too as over the weekend I emptied all the kitchen cupboards and filled the table with pots and pans and crockery that were never used. Some is mine some came from my mother and aunt, some of those I felt I couldn't yet part with but gosh the cupboards look les cluttered. We still both have our degree notes and reasearch notes for various projects in plastic boxes on shelves at the back of the garage. The next step is the shredder. I hope that by the time Christmas is here you have found the spirit you seek, I'm looking for it too:)
ReplyDeleteAs Lorrie commented on my post yesterday, "we don't need to beat ourselves up if we hang on until we're ready". I found that really helpful and even though I'd love to get rid of lots of my "stuff", I know that I'm not ready yet. However, I am mindful of something which happened to my friend: her parents died within a few months of each other and, as their only child, she took in loads of their "stuff" and rented out their house. She intended to sort it and deal with it when she was ready but nine months later, her partner was killed. She still has all the stuff, his and theirs. It's very sad. x
DeleteI find it quite hard to part with things until the clearing bug hits me and then I can be quite ruthless. We've done quite a bit of decluttering this year, even the loft has been sorted out and things from years ago have either been sold, taken to the charity shop or binned. I think it's a good feeling to make a bit of space in the house, tidy house tidy mind.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jo, I find that space brings energy. You've done well; my aunt died last year and I know that her loft is FULL of books which will have to be sorted by somebody else as my uncle is 95. They were both keen readers and have filled t up over the last thirty years. x
DeleteYou'll be able to buy a few more now. I should think times have changed quite a bit since the First issue. x
ReplyDeleteThe magazine has changed since October 2009 and I think I have too, so we've probably drifted apart. Sadly, the budget still doesn't allow for magazines but I have blogs instead to inspire me. x
DeleteI love Country Life magazine! You can occasionally find a short subscription (6 issues I think) for just £5, which is a bargain price and the only way I buy it...other than picking up the occasional 2nd hand copy for pennies in a charity shop.
ReplyDeleteI've read back your suggested posts for June 2016/17 about your Somerset holidays - oh I love your descriptions of Wells Cathedral and Watchet, 2 of my most favourite places here! Thank you for that. When we first moved down here we lived very close to the Levels and know the area well. I'm glad you like our beautiful county.
Ooh, thanks Sooze, I'll have to keep an eye out for special offers. Oh yes, we really did like Somerset very much and hope to visit again. We visited Glastonbury during our first visit because my ancestors came from there in the nineteenth century, and Wedmore and Mark, so we stayed between the two. x
DeleteI love how you have saved the December issues. I found several copies of magazines from last year packed in with the Christmas decorations. What a joy to re read them.
ReplyDeleteIT is a treat, isn't it? I had been thinking of buying myself a festive magazine as a treat until I sorted out this pile, but now I don't need to! x
DeleteI love what you said about Advent being a time of preparation. It seems that there is such a hurry to get the house decorated before December and do all the preparations ahead that the slow contemplation and preparation of heart and home is lost in busyness. Sometimes, I think that the blogging world feeds that - I read about one person's activities and think, "oh, I'm behind" but I'm not. Or so I keep telling myself!
ReplyDeleteI fall into the same trap, Lorrie. I keep looking at photographs of decorated homes and thinking that I'm behind but I'm really not ready to put any decorations up yet. I enjoy the contemplative nature of Advent - when there is time for it. x
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