A quiet moment on a sunny Friday afternoon.

A quiet moment on a sunny Friday afternoon.

Hi there.
Thanks for popping in.
Hang on, let me get the kettle on.
Friday’s blog a private peek, right?
Need a little chat today..

What a day!
Gearing up for TV on Sunday again.
Groovi Plates, 
Christmas Wee Folk Stamps,
Christmas Word Chains
and the wonderful Christmas Ribbon writing stampset
I showcased yesterday.
I’d say it’s all set to be a cracking show!
What say you?

All boxed and prepped and ready to go.
So Jim came over here at lunchtime 
and we did a couple of YouTubes.
Hot though!!! I was melting!
I know how the snowman felt when the sun came out!
And trying not to touch the parchment with your 
schvetty paws under the lights
is always a challenge!

Actually, what a week! 
How’s yours been?
Looks like we got back from France just in time 
before they shut the door!

This is mental.

As for the rest of the goings on in the rest of the world, 
Words fail me. 
Can’t process it.
Just can’t digest it. Won’t sink in.
Certainly can’t change it. 
So if I choose to stare at a rose in the garden,

or retreat to my den and make a Groovi picture,

it’s not for lack of thought, sympathy or caring.
I just can’t handle the pain that has been and is being inflicted
on so many poor souls. 
And I know I’m not alone. 
Most of us just can’t grasp it.
It makes me so, so sad, yet I am powerless to help.

So let me cast my mind back to wonderful France 
this time last week.

Let me go to my quiet spot on the bench in my mind.

Yes. That’s much better.
And the ducks always came to say hello!
Wendy and Steve will vouch for that!
Back in England, underneath the ginkgo tree,
watching the clouds rolling by.
It’s a funny old world.
The only thing I have ANY control over is me,
and how I respond to things.
So just for today, 
I will be grateful for the good weather, 
the warmth of the sun on my skin
and the safety of our home.
I’m not hungry.
I’m not homeless.
I’m not ill.
By today’s standards
That makes me a lucky person.
Very lucky.

hugs and love,

35 thoughts on “A quiet moment on a sunny Friday afternoon.

  1. yes you are a very lucky person Barbara. a long list of things and people that are part of your life. you have a lot. you give a lot too. so the equilibrium is kept…… hugs xx

  2. We are all blessed Barb if we have our health and our family. Like you I feel that I am a very lucky person. Smell the flowers and feel the warmth of the smmer sunshine x

  3. Hello Barbara

    I so agree with you. If we take it all on board we would lose our minds. However much sadness, empathy or anything else I feel there is nothing I can do except look after my family and friends.

    Looking forward to seeing Paul tomorrow at Colemans Craft Warehouse and picking up more hints and tips for the Groovi plate. Then you on Sunday. Bliss.

    Have a safe journey to Peterborough and back.

    Love
    Roz.x

  4. It is good to stop and count our blessings from time to time. My heart ached for the misery and suffering bestowed on folk who were supposed to be relaxing and having fun. I just don't understand it all. Why'd can't people just live and let live? Why? I am truly fortunate for all I have. Good luck Sunday. I will be watching and recording (in case I get disturbed by customers who don't understand I need to left alone for a couple of hours).

  5. Hello Barbara

    I so agree with you. If we take it all on board we would lose our minds. However much sadness, empathy or anything else I feel there is nothing I can do except look after my family and friends.

    Looking forward to seeing Paul tomorrow at Colemans Craft Warehouse and picking up more hints and tips for the Groovi plate. Then you on Sunday. Bliss.

    Have a safe journey to Peterborough and back.

    Love
    Roz.x

  6. Recent world events certainly make you take stock and say thank you for all you have. I like you can never hope to comprehend what makes one human want to harm another. Let's all be thankful for the love and kindness that we share and receive. Xx

  7. Hi Barbara. Perhaps it's a sign of getting older but sometimes I feel like I have landed on an alien planet because things seem so different and life seems much more complicated these days. I'm sure it's human nature to always want more and never to be satisfied with what we've got, but when I go somewhere in the countryside or by the sea and look at the beauty around me it reminds me of how lucky I am. There are people out there in the wider world whose lives are so much worse for one reason or another and that I should count my blessings,.especially after the horrific things that have happened this week! x

  8. You are so right. We cannot take on the whole mess that appears to be taking over our world at the moment, not without losing our sanity. We have to concentrate on what we can do, our family and friends, and do the very best we can for them. The great mindfulness movement you have set in motion is a wonderful contribution from you to help so many people, as is the idea of hugs in cards. Apart from all that, just think of all the people you make so happy. xxxx Maggie

  9. life is cruel and life is hard it's very difficult to understand why I don't think we will every comprehend the things that happen world wide we just have to be thankful for the things we have and for the lovely people who make our lives richer just by being there .xxx

  10. Yep, sometimes we need to sit and just be grateful for what we have, there are so many people in the world that are worse off than us. But we shouldn't feel bad for trying to make ourselves feel better. Taking your mind of the bad stuff is good. Xx

  11. I think so many of us feel the same. So much going on that we can't do anything about. For the sake of our sanity we all need that special place in our mind and somewhere to gather our thoughts. Let's try to think of a happy memory or take pleasure in a lovely flower or the sound of the birds. The world is not all bad.
    Hugs from Chris xxx

  12. Ok tears are here and i on a train home! I am grateful for a smashing evening with my big brother but, today is a tough day for me and always will be, but I am lucky to be here. And today will remind me of that. Flowers are blooming, the sun is warm i have friends and family who love and look after me. But right this minute is all about someone speciall. this too shall pass. Thanks for sharing Barb you remind me that there are so many people in the world worse off than i am xx. Many hugs to you and yours and to those missing someone special xx

  13. Hi Barbara
    Thank you for another lovely post today. Yes it's awful some of the things that go on in life and we can empathise but remember your happy place. We are just ending our holiday, today we have been on a boat trip with a marine biologist who took us wading in water to look for shells and fish, we didn't see a seahorse, they weren't playing ball but we saw puffer fish scallops sea dollars and many other things too many to mention. We then swam in the sea and just relaxed. Life will become hectic again soon but we really all were in the here and now. Enjoy your weekend and safe journey to Peterborough.
    Much love and hugs
    Diane xxx

  14. Just home from our holiday in Denmark and catching up with everything that has happened in the last two weeks. There are no words to describe what has happened. We just need to be content with life every day and cherish those who are special to us. We can't change what has happened but we can be greatful for what we have.

  15. Such awful things happening around the world and one wonders how those in power will choose to respond and the implications that might follow. Why then do people still chose to be so petty and mean over other things knowing that they cause upset and hardship for others. I would love to sit on your bench and watch the ducks too, maybe in my mind, I will transport myself there to a life of simple pleasures. I really need that peace of mind right now. Hugs and love back. Jeanette xx

  16. I agree with every word you have written Barbara, what's going on with the world, feels like its too much sometimes. All I can do is be kind, be positive, help those that I can with kind and uplifting words and actions to make the world a little bit nicer and as you said just be very thankful. Very much looking forward to your show tomorrow xx

  17. I agree with your sentiments Barbara, it s difficult to comprehend everything that is going on at the moment, It makes me so grateful for my own little world and thse in and around it

  18. I think everyone is with you with those thoughts, it's sometimes hard to believe the cruelty in this world. It makes you stand back and thank your lucky stars. . . On a lighter note who is Wendy? or am I just too nosey! looking forward to seeing you on the telly Sunday, hope your journeys not too bad, we spent hours on the M25 last week admiring the scenery. Safe journey
    Linda
    p.s.
    just off to watch Paul Church at my favourite craft store, credit card at the ready

  19. Hi Barb,
    I agree with everything you have said and I sometimes think that the whole world has gone mad!
    Looking forward to tomorrow – the new products look fabulous, especially the new Groovi plates. Love Alison xx

  20. I agree with all you have said Barbara the news this week has been so very sad a gig cunk of my family were away on holiday and knew nothing of what had happened I thank god for that. See you tomorrow safe journeys to and from c&c love June horrocks xx

  21. Everything you say is spot on. especially concerning last week. My daughter and I were sitting on the beach in southern Spain last week. The sun was shining, the sea glistening and the atmosphere happy. It's incongruous and frightening to think about the events happening just across the Med! Also how lucky we were to be on a different beach, I really feel for those families.

  22. Started to reply yesterday – I'm giving up on the ipad!

    Hear! hear! The terrible murders in Tunisia really got to me and I was glad to have my minutes silence yesterday sharing it with the tv news. Not that I'm not thinking of them at other times too. We see the planes go in over us to Brize Norton. I am so lucky and blessed that it makes and need to appreciate everyday which I am doing now I'm at home. Still need to get off my backside and craft though…… everything seems to be tomorrow at the moment! The sun and Wimbledon are getting in the way.

    Look forward to tomorrow's show x x x

  23. Your words really touched me today (and often do). Yes we should be grateful and thankful for what we have but sometimes it is very hard and it is good to be reminded to just stop and think and see the whole picture !

    Just love your blog x

  24. I too am grateful for my health, a wonderful family, someone to love and enough money to meet my needs. I like to share a smile and a kind word with everyone I meet and like to look for the good in the world and in people, but sometimes it is hard to find when you hear stories like those in the news last week. Just off to town to join the celebrations for armed forces day – thankful that there are brave people who help to defend our right to freedom of choice and freedom of speech! Susan x

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