Blog

5/52

Last week, a falling gum tree branch took out the power to my house. I wasn’t there at the time, but others were, so it was all made safe, and fixed, by the time I arrived home.

Meaning that I never got to see the live power wire sparking its danger on my front lawn; I could only imagine the culprit branch lying beside it which had aimed for the power line in its efforts to cause maximum hassle and annoyance.

Imagine my surprise then, to find this:

That tree branch, at its base? Easily 30 centimetres diameter. That’s not a ‘branch’, it was a whole ‘tree’! No wonder it took out the line – it came precariously close to goring my writing studio (okay, gardening shed) there too!

And it was a whole lot of fun to clear up, too. Just sayin’…

Have a wonderful week, dear Reader!

4/52

I’m so glad it’s a public holiday here in Australia today. I’ve done seven days straight of work, and another four start tomorrow, so I’m very happy indeed that today is a work-free day.

On the up-side though, the last two-and-a-bit days were spent looking at this view here:

2019 Student Leaders Retreat, preparing them for the year to come. It was a good (albeit long and exhausting!) weekend.

Here’s to a great week ahead, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

3/52

So I finally decided: the iPhone X(R). The first night, I fully charged it before switching to flight mode (with one brother in New York and the other in London, if I don’t use flight mode each night, I sleep with the risk of Viber pings waking me). But I didn’t leave it charging. The following morning, it was on 99%! If I’d left my 6S off charge for that long (6 hours-ish) it’d be as dead as a doornail.

But the new phone is taking a while to get used to. Lucky I have Master9 on my lock screen to keep me cheerful as I navigate this similar-yet-different phone ownership experience…

Have a cheerful week yourself, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

2/52

Last week’s photo showed one of my favourite places: this week’s is another. Kings Beach has a outdoor community swimming pool, built next to natural rock pools my cherubs love to explore.

This was Miss10 and Master9 the other week:

And check out the crowd on the beach behind them! It was a sweltering day – that photo was taken around 10am.

Have a great week, dear Reader šŸ™‚

– KRidwyn

1/52

I’ve decided, instead of New Year’s resolutions for 2019, to try implementing two pieces of advice I’ve been given in the past several years.

The first was from a nurse helping me through depression following the birth of child number 2. Her piece of advice (among many others, most of which I use regularly) was to have realistic expectations – for myself, as well as for others. That’s a tricky one for me – but one I’m going to try to remember in 2019.

The second was a few years ago, from New York literary agent extraordinaire, Janet Reid. She wrote a blogpost responding to a question I’d sent her; the gist of her answer was for me ‘to focus’. Again, something which is going to require more than a little training, for those of you who know me IRL… but something that’s worthwhile, I think.

So in 2019 I plan to ‘focus’ on my writing. The novel-in-progress, that is, not my blog. Hence the plan to post photos each week. Starting with this:

 

The view from one of my early-morning writing spots. Peaceful. Quiet.

Amazing, hey!

Anyway, here’s wishing you a wonderful week, dear Reader šŸ™‚

– KRidwyn

And 2019 will be…

The year of the photo.  Because Iā€™m pretty  bad at them, and I figure if Iā€™m taking one each week for this blog, Iā€™ll have incentive to improve?

And to start, on this final afternoon of 2018 while Iā€™m waiting for Hubby to return from helping our neighbour so we can keep watching Season 5 of ā€˜The 100ā€™… Iā€™m posting a photo of my front garden as it currently looks. Itā€™s the part of the property Iā€™ve been working on these last few months. Itā€™s getting there, if I do say so myself. You should have seen it before I started! Although you couldnā€™t have, because I didnā€™t take a photo of it… and here we are, back at the main topic again. Cool, huh?

So hereā€™s the photo:

And have a great week, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

Decisions, decisions…

I need a new phone. This 6S Iā€™m currently typing on works well… as long as thereā€™s a charging cord and a power source handy. And I donā€™t let the gbattery drop less than 80%. And the charging cord is the specific one I bought just two weeks ago.

I love having a working phone. Itā€™s the conditions on its ability to remain working that are getting to be more of a nuisance than Iā€™m prepared to deal with. Two battery changes and two new charging cords in the past three months? And that constant feeling of anxiety because heaven forbid I not be contactable…

Nope. Iā€™m done.Ā Meaning a new phone for me… hence the dilemma.Ā Which one?

I was really happy with my 6S, bought two years ago. Up until one drop too many and the battery problems started. And I was also happy with the 4S I owned before that. So should I ā€˜Appleā€™ again? Or try Android? Iā€™m going to have to think about this for a bit.

What would you suggest?

And have a fantastic day, dear Reader! (ā€˜dayā€™ because Iā€™m blogging again tomorrow. Seeing as itā€™s December 25, tomorrow marks the commencement of #blog12daysXmas. So Iā€™ll see you then!)

– KRidwyn

Update: Ummm… yes, well. That ‘joining in with #blog12daysxmas’ didn’t seem to work too well. Oh well. Oops!

On chocolate and other seasonal treats

Hubby and I were talking about weight the other day. Heā€™d been bemoaning his weight increase since having to cut back his gym sessions a few months back, on account of his arthritic hip diagnosis. But when I mentioned that I, too, had a little extra on my waistline I wouldnā€™t mind losing, he said, ā€œWell, donā€™t eat so much chocolate then.ā€

Oh, to be felled by a simple phrase! Less chocolate? The world would cease to spin!

Once the initial shock passed though, and the world recommenced turning, the truth became clear. How can I honestly expect my gym sessions to assist my waistline reduction plan, when I supplement my diet with sugary treats every time Iā€™m offered them?

And, at this time of year, itā€™s easier than ever to consume that sugary goodness. Every second Christmas gift from students or colleagues is chocolate. Or cupcakes. Or rocky road. Not to mention the Christmassy food that other staff open, and share with everyone. Great for exercising willpower… not!

But that, I guess, is what it all comes down to. Willpower means effort. Means intentional decision-making, not just reacting to the situation without a pre-planned ā€œif this, then thatā€ course of action.

If offered chocolate, say, ā€œThanks, but no.ā€

If given chocolate as a gift, thank the gift-giver, then open AND SHARE.

Limit sugary intake.

Maintain exercise routines as much as possible.

And most importantly: rethink waistline expectations. Perhaps that waistline measurement goal is more realistic for end-of-January, not end-of-December.

And seeing as todayā€™s the 17th of December, perhaps releasing myself from my too-hard-not-going-to-make-it goal would be best for my own mental health…

Would you agree, dear Reader?

KRidwyn

Out the window…

Holidays! A time of refreshing and renewal. A break from routine (and yeh, I needed *that* one like a kick in the head) and a needed period of not-regular-activity so that time with family and friends can happen.

Some routines should never be broken though. Eating and sleeping, hygiene, etc, these must all be maintained at some kind of a minimal standard. I think pretty much everyone would agree with me there. Sure, the work – school routines can go ‘out the window’ for holidays, but I wonder what other ‘important stuff’ we let slip without meaning to, or even realising.

I remember when I was a girl, reading ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott. The four daughters decided to take a break from their routines for a week, and see what would happen. Laziness, slothfulness, uncleanliness, and arguments resulted. By the end of the week, all four were keen to get back into their normal routine.

But the lesson wasn’t over. Day 1 of routine again, and the discovery was made that their pet bird had died. No food or water for a week had killed it. Tragedy had resulted because some things had been let go, which should never have been.

Relationships fall into this category. Does that mean that relationships are just routines? Like the apostle Paul I rush to say, “Perish the thought!” But that doesn’t mean that we can’t, out of necessity and convenience, consider them routines for the sake of this example. Because when these get neglected, tragedy strikes. They die.

So. These holidays, I have resolved to relax the ‘work’ standards and improve the ‘relationship’ ones. Let’s see how well I do…

And have a great week, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn