TIME FLIES.....AGAIN!

Seems like time is just whizzing past - the weeks fly faster and faster. It used to be said when you thought that way it was a sure sign you were getting older - well, even the young ones seem to think so now too.

A great part of the past weekend was spent in bed - a sure 'fibro flare' with all the old symptoms rearing their heads again. Amazing how quickly I can adapt to feeling good and then when the pain and fatigue hits I am caught totally unawares. In the good days / weeks it is easy to say that there's more to life than fibromyalgia (or any other debilitating ailment / condition), truth is that when it does hit, it takes my focus off the 'more to life' things and fair square on my limitations. And this is NOT what God intends or wants for me....He has bigger plans! To focus on my limitations is to focus on ME .....my focus must be on God Himself. O Lord, through all of this help me to keep YOU at the very centre of my focus, not to be distracted by that which I cannot control but rather to be drawn to You. Why O Lord am I so slow to learn?

SHARING MY SPACE

Last summer we let go of so much that was 'ours'.....primarily our own space - our own area of living - the home that we had made 'ours'. And we have adjusted, massively helped along in the knowledge and confidence that this is where God has us. So little of what we have use of these days is actually ours and yet we are surviving wonderfully well - we've just let go of the trappings of life (well some of them!).

The view from our bedroom is something that is 'ours', for now anyhow. And yet this morning as I looked out over the grass and trees, once again made fresher and greener by even more rain during the night, I realised I was sharing my view with an intruder......

......now that is one canny spider!!

NEIGHBOURHOOD DAY

Our church has in the past really not reached out to people - we've sort of sat back and expected them to come into our meetings ... and that has not happened.....as the saying goes we have been 'preaching to the converted'. Yesterday however was different and will hopefully be the start of a new move in reaching the local people - meeting them where they are. Instead of our annual Sunday School trip for the children it was decided to hold a 'neighbourhood day' in the field beside the church/hall and invite the nrighbourhood - adults and children. It was a huge success - local people came and willingly took part in all that was happening - games for the children and adults, t-shirt painting, crafts for the ladies, barbecue and tea/coffee and ice creams for all - and a puppet / theatre show with clear gospel messages. A great day, enjoyed by all - and I'm sure the outsiders could see that the folks who meet in that little hall week after week are quite normal after all. It was a day when, instead of expecting the community to come to us, we reached out to them, we became a part of the community and I trust the Lord will bless us and continue to speak to hearts long after this day.

STORM DAMAGE!

Everything was coming along really nicely in our vegetable garden until we were hit by the storms last Monday and the wind just ripped through the whole garden. I appear to have lost a couple of sprout plants, a couple of cauliflower and the leeks have taken a real battering. I'm taking no chances though and today I've planted a couple of extra sprouts and a fresh lot of leeks.

When I arrived home from work on Monday I could not believe the devastation - the avenue was actually blocked by THREE fallen trees - leaves, twigs and branches were everywhere. I had to get out of the car and clear the way to allow me to drive in - though I could only drive in a few yards - and I had to park the car and wait for Jonathan to arrive home with the chainsaw. Poor men!...they do get the heavy end of the work....he's been working every evening this week to clear the fallen trees and broken branches - and some of these branches are actually trees split in two! He does have everything sitting so tidy and neat now - it just looks like a different place from Monday!

I did take some storm pictures on my phone - hopefully I'll get them uploaded here soon.

VEGETABLE PROGRESS

GREAT progress being made! Oh the goodness of God!.....really when I think about it... the KINDNESS of God! We are not in a position of need and yet it has pleased God to allow this little garden of ours to proper...thank you Lord!

I have loved this cherry blossom which overhangs the vegetable garden BUT I must remember not to plant next year until the blossom is past - what a mess when the flowers fell among the plants!

VEGETABLE GARDENING

In past years - but not recent years - Val has kept a vegetable garden and, in her vast garden area it has become my favourite spot. Last winter I thought it would be lovely to try to work this area and grow some vegetables so, in February Jonathan rotavated it for me and, after some work we now have a selection of our own vegetables growing. Oh the satisfaction of seeing them thrive week by week!

I think we could have been rather too enthusiastic or ambitious in our selection which just kept growing and growing (pardon the pun), anyhow we have potatoes, peas, brussel sprouts, leeks, beetroot, parsley, cauliflower, red onions, carrots, lettuce, courgettes, raspberries and strawberries.....and I think that's the lot!

It's a real thrill to just pop into the vegetable garden every day, check things over and just watch it mature. I'm hopeful we will get a dinner or two out of it yet - we even have a red side on ONE strawberry right now...though we'll not get the ice cream out just yet!!

WEIGHT ISSUES

This weekend I woke up afresh to the fact that I have W E I G H T issues! Oh, just think - all those years I really honestly did think I was FAT ...... well, I now weigh 30 pounds heavier than I did then! How did it happen??!!

Just one pound at a time creeping on. In the past couple of years I've tried Weight Watchers where I lost nothing, then a half-hearted attempt at Slimming World where I lost nothing and still the weight creeps steadily on!

I've blamed several things for this steady and sustained weight gain - the first being fibromyalgia.....well I do blame it for everything else! I look back though to all the walking I did several years ago and I don't have the energy for it now so I'm really getting very little exercise.

Yesterday was a turning point...... we were going to Barbara's for Sunday dinner and mum's birthday so I decided we would walk there and back. I think it was a good brisk 20 minute walk and you know what - didn't do me any harm at all. I just hope my energy levels keep up as I'd really like to get into being a little fitter.

In the evening, after a sumptious dinner and the 20 minute walk back I did some exercises on my newly acquired gym ball.

All was fine until this morning - back, neck, knees, thighs......is there any part of me that's NOT stiff and sore. Anyhow, I am determined....no point moaning about the size and shape of me, doing nothing about it and then spending the summer miserable because nothing fits me or looks right on me.

I've also joined the work weigh-in today - maybe this will give me a little added incentive.