Unbought Delicacies: Letting go

Friday, 20 November 2009

Letting go

The older I get, the easier I find it is to say no, and to let things go that I can't or won't find time for. I've done that with a few projects lately, the latest casualty being the Nanowrimo. I really enjoyed it last year, but am definitely not enjoying it this time round, so it's gone. The world will carry on (and possibly be a better place.....lol) without my literary offerings.
I'd rather spend my time on things I'm really enjoying and that mean something to me. I've also learned not to take on too much - better to do a few things well and on time, than struggle with a lot of things and spread myself more thinly. Admittedly it's not always easy to say no, but there are ways of letting down people gently and politely; I'm sure they'd much rather I said no at the outset than have to endure disappointment later on.
Once the final decision to let something or somebody go, it's amazing the weight that seems to be lifted from your shoulders. Maybe I should do it more often!

3 comments:

The Webbers living a life at the beach said...: What is the saying? You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of time. There is truth in that. And yes we do seem more able to let things go as we get older, is that because we are becoming wiser? :D; 20 November 2009 at 23:31
Quilting Cat said...: Also a lesson I have learn't Mrs.L. I know my limitations, people seem to think that if you live alone and do not work you have unlimited time on your hands, it ain,t so. More time for knitting then?; 21 November 2009 at 09:35
MrsL said...: OOOhh - I think I could squeeze some more in along the way, QC lol.

Not sure about the getting wiser, bit, Sue...............the jury's out on that one!

MrsL

xx; 21 November 2009 at 12:52

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Friday, 20 November 2009

Letting go

3 comments: