Keep Calm and Carry On

Busy, busy, busy is what I have been the last few weeks.  Renovations to my garage - shop to be - is almost finished.  All the stock has been ordered.  Painting to be done next week.  And then the real fun part starts, decorating the shop and unpacking my stock.  I am proud to say that 90% of all my stock is handmade in South Africa - proudly South African!!  Obviously I have a vision that I am working towards and have planned upfront, but I am mostly making it up as I go along, using what I have and can find on a limited budget, so we will have to see what the end product looks like. What matters the most is that I am having fun along the way, loads of fun - muchness is easy when you are doing something that you are passionate about. 

And so winter krept up on us.  The air is cold and crisp.  The mornings are dark at six when I drink my coffee.  When the sun rises everything is white and misty.  The sky is winter blue.  Sitting in the sun on a cold morning is pure bliss.  Along the road leading to the village the locals from the township aren't picking fruit from the trees like in summer, they are breaking off dead branches and bundling them up to make fire.  Yes, I am worried about the trees everytime I see this.  But I am even more worried that children should be cold at night, so I look the other way.  Things I love about winter, the crispness of the air, the winter blue sky, sitting in the sun, having a hot bubble bath by candlelight, snuggling in my bed with my cats, eating soup and warm bread, the colours in nature - the orange and yellow and red leaves, sitting in front of a fire reading, wearing my stripy dr Seuss character looking socks... 

Life is still life here... the last month in my life was filled with holidays, back to school, being alone, having a house full of people, friends visiting, missing other family and friends, being ill, being happy, the diagnosis of a chronic illness of a child in the family, the death of two friends of family members, someone in hospital, someone starting a new job, me rushing a dog and a cat to the vet, someone in the family finding out she is pregnant, someone being left at the altar, a friend fighting in a divorce battle, someone graduating (again) at the age of 40, all in one family and in one month.  That's life.... We journey forth, keep calm, carry on and count our blessings everyday.