Life is always going to change.

Greetings friends on this Friday afternoon, I hope today's Blog finds everyone well. I don't know about each of you but in our house this has been a very quiet week, partly due to our Princess not being here and partly because for me it's been a week of recovery. Apart from a few challenges we have pretty much stayed under the radar. What challenges you may ask? How does a mobile phone charge to 65% and then suddenly stop charging due to the charging dock breaking, during the night when no one touched it ? Yep my Samsung is not well and I am waiting for the repair company to get the necessary part. Then out of nowhere Gemma has developed four balding patches on the back of her neck, being made bigger by her licking them, we went to the Vet this morning thinking it was a food allergy because being unable to get her normal food we bought a different one but the same brand. According to the Vet it can't possibly be food so we have to take her in a little later this afternoon for him to see, joy of joys, she is not a small cat who likes to travel - exactly the opposite.

Weather wise it has been cold with us making a fire almost every evening, today being the first day where the wind is not howling and there is some sun peeping through the clouds. On the brighter side of the scale Poppet and Princess have booked their flights for December, as has Big Guy, so now the planning can begin. Christmas is always an extremely special time of the year for me in every sense and this year promises to be a memorable one. I don't know about most of you but we as a family have decided to go 'less expensive' and more personal this year so woohoo it is time to get cracking. One of the first things on my agenda is to make everyone their own Christmas stocking to hang on our beautiful fireplace. I did manage to make the Lace Cover Up that I spoke about before and all in all am very happy with the way it turned out (at a quarter of the price in the shops) and also baked a huge batch of rusks, which were much easier than last time and means the cookie jar is full and Hubby dearest is quite happy. We did have a really good laugh at Max yesterday, he and Sasha were frantically barking at something on the other side of the fence in the fynbos and he got so worked up that he actually climbed up the mesh fence. Literally he climbed close to about four feet in height of the fence before falling back to the ground and eventually giving up. He definitely forgets that he is just a mere, little Yorkie.

I read something this week which really stuck with me. I was reading a Blog that I follow written by a lady who Blogs about Fibromyalgia. In this week's page she writes about what one experiences when dealing with a Fibro Flare but I truly believe it applies to each one of us in varying circumstances so please see it from where you are or may be coming from. She said "when you are struggling to get through a flare (or any challenging czzircumstance) don't allow yourself to get stuck thinking that this is all that your life is going to be. It really struck a chord for me because when you are so sore that you don't know where to sit then it is easy to think along those lines and get discouraged, but, as I reread her words it occurred to me that whenever we find ourselves in difficult circumstances of any nature it is very easy to think that's all it's ever going to be like. If we would just stop for a moment and look back in our lives there have been innumerable occasions when the circumstances inevitably change and life became normal again. It may not go back to what was normal exactly as it was before, but it does go back to a 'new' normal. I know I have said this before and it is easier for some than others, that we always try and look at the glass half full instead of half empty. Nothing in life stays the same, there are ups and downs and whilst the ups are glorious we learn the most during the downs. Just like the waves of the ocean go out - so they always come back, the wind blows and then it does not blow. Today I really just want to encourage any of you who are in a dip due to whatever circumstance, don't allow yourself to believe you will stay there forever, there is a flip side to that circumstance and you will get there too.

Friends I wish you a beautiful weekend, for those who are traveling please be safe and aware, for those young people who are studying for exams good luck, and to all keep well and in whatever you do be safe.

Lace Cover Up