Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 31 December 2017

You are very perceptive, Pat O! Thanks for your kind words.

Youngest family are coming today to store their Christmas decorations in my loft. Then we shall do some essential shopping. I found that my freezers were chock a block with things that I hadn't labelled, had no idea how long they had been there, loads of single portions of meat, fish etc. So I've chucked them all and will start again from today! I'm not a hoarder by nature but definitely could be labelled as such in the food department, even if the food wasn't labelled, I am:-)

I hope that all here are OK after the storm.

Heather - I could have written those resolutions myself - although I would list White Wine! Its all too easy - especially when you are on your own to have to odd glass of something in the evening but having some time away from alcohol does make you sleep much better. I always stop for Lent but may start from Beginning of Feb this year so will have 2 months off.

Very strong winds her in Suffolk and some have lost power but I seem to be ok right over on the East coast. Stay safe and warm all.

Heather B said:

The past year has been full of nothingness. A whole year gone, spent in gloomy reminiscence. Wishing that the clock could be turned back.

I think you are being hard on yourself.  You have not spent a year doing nothing but remembering - you haven't shut people out, in fact you seem to have had people queueing up to keep an eye on you and to make sure you aren't alone.  You've also regularly posted on here and accepted help and advice.  Yes, I'm sure you've had more than your share of mourning but you haven't spent all of your time doing that.  I'm sure this will be a better year for you, and your healthy attitude is a big part of the reason for that.

Heather B said:

The sun is shining this morning and that always makes a difference! I am not particularly religious but I am praying for my old enthusiasm for life to return. It can't be gone for ever - it is lurking somewhere :-)))) and I am the only one who can excavate it...

See what I mean????

Heather B said:

Well said, CLARE - and thank you! Sometimes when down in the dumps one needs a jolly good shake :-)

You're always welcome.

Limpy always finds that getting out birding really cheers him up.  I can recommend visiting Loch Garten and North Berwick in breeding season!  There's probably some lovely birds and wildlife in your part of Scotland (I can't remember exactly where you live!!) - strangely enough, before I moved to Felixstowe I would never have thought it was such a great place for birding but the longer I live here the more I know otherwise.

Wise words from both Pat O and Clare..   ...

I'm sure that most of us have been admiring your determination to get yourself through these last difficult months, Heather. Mourning is a natural process, and it seems that everyone does it differently. I should point out that you had also had quite a shock, as your OH had been healthy up to that day and that events were swift.

I'm going away to think of my own resolutions, now....

I don't normally make Resolutions these days, as I rarely seem to be able to keep them. But here are a few:  Some are serious, some not.

• 1)     I will not put out food for the garden birds, then bang on the window, annoyed, when the pigeons come down and scoff the lot in two minutes flat....
• 2)     I will not shout at the TV when idiots say stupid things (at least, not EVERY time they do...as they do it so very often)
• 3)     I will not spend so much time on the internet every day......   well, except when I have 300 emails because we've been away, or when it's LG Nesting time......
• 4)     I will walk more -- I resolve this every year, and even manage to justify buying more shoes so that I can walk comfortably, with no excuse!
• 5)     I will listen to people more.  I can be Jekyll and Hyde about this, as I either seem to sit in the corner, quietly saying nothing, or once I get started, I can waffle on for hours.
• 6)     I will not shriek when my brother's Christmas card arrives on the 7th January, as it does every year!  (I put it away, and display it on the following Christmas, that way there is always one up on the shelf from him!)
• 7)     I will not eat a 3rd biscuit, just because "Well, I've had two now, so one more doesn't make any difference!"
• 8)     I will not criticise my OH for forgetting things, when I forget at least twenty things a day, now, myself. Including the names of my children, the names of Actors, and the things I ought to take with me when going out.
• 9)     I will not come onto the Internet intending only to write for five minutes, then spend an hour or two surfing......
• 10)   I will not hoard so much paperwork:  I find it impossible to throw things away, "just in case."
• 11)   I will not ring up my children and lecture them on how they should bring up theirs  --- hang on, yes I will!!
• 12)   I will not write too many Resolutions which I know I won't keep.

Oh LINDY - you can always make me chuckle! Number 8 I can especially relate to. I often call my children by the wrong name but apparently I've been doing that since they were little....

Lindy: Some of those sound remarkably familiar!

Many sensible things have been written on here, today. I have  no knowledge to add anything further, but I am glad that Heather tells us how she feels, and how she is coping. I think most of us value her experience.