Where has January gone??

 

It seems that it is over a week since I last posted, and have been meaning to do this all week, but……

Bit of a wakeup call to realise that January has been and gone, and just seems like yesterday that we were heading into Christmas! I had great plans for January, which usually is a month where life seems more casual, the usual meetings etc. in recess for the holidays. I had a lot of projects in mind, getting ready for new year and finishing class samples for the next round of Embellished  Quilts classes I am doing.

But not much of that happened, and not too many quilts were quilted either. Trying to work out where the month went, and looking back at photos to post today, I found a lot of family ones. So now I realise where the month went. A weekend visitor, a trip to Melbourne for an engagement party, a trip to Adelaide for “grandma” duty, more visitors, a birthday,  and time soon went. Add to that mix quite a lot of HOT weather, when I usually melt, and finished off with an Aussie retreat at The Sanctuary, and that was January.

Above are family photos, of my 6 gorgeous grandies!

Below is a photo for you Faye, of Pat’s Reflections which is making progress.

Below is a gift I received from a friend, because I had admired one she had in her kitchen window sill. So lifelike and cute. He/She is sitting on my desk keeping me company. Big debate on whether a he or she, and a name. At the moment Miss Piggy, but I am open to any other suggestion, so look forward to hearing from you!

And Jocelyn spent all last weekend doing bindings, and did manage to finish this one.        And Marie was up to sewing rows together of her Ring Cycles, a Lessa Siegele workshop from earlier in 2013.

A lot of blogs that I read have been talking about One Word for One Year, which has made me think about this too. Deciding on one word to strive for during the year seems a bit hard. There are a lot of words that I could apply to my life, and I have written a few down as I read about them from others.

Finish….. so many projects I have that are PHD’s, and are heavy on my mind.

Balance……. finding a balance between my work and other life is tricky. Some of my other interests include making quilts, decorative sewing, teaching patchwork, gardening, hosting retreats, all are related to my work. (And I am so blessed for this). So this tends to take up a lot of time, and as I live on my own, somedays I tend to “live” in my studio. So this year I aim to try for another balance, fitting in family and friends, and also I feel I need to find some more time for me. And I hope that doesn’t sound selfish? Even finding a balance for family time is tricky, with 4 children who all live some distance from me, and I know this is not balanced evenly.

Choose……. sometimes I feel that instead of running my life, that it’s running me! This probably relates to what I have written above about balance.

Simplify….. Declutter…..Organise…. are probably words which all go together, which I need to do, especially in the filing cabinet, and other areas of my house. Did do a small bit of this in January.

Believe and Trust…..in God, in myself, and in the future. We are not guaranteed a tomorrow, we have said goodbye to yesterday, and only have today, so must live this wisely.

Freedom…….from debt, and from negative things in our life.

Gratitude… I list this last, but it is certainly not the least of my list. I am so grateful for the abundance that I have, even if the weather is hot today! I am grateful that I can work inside in air conditioned comfort, that I have a job that I love, and family and friends that care. Lord help me to use all that I have to benefit those that have less.

Now that I have written all that down, and looked at it, I think my word for the year ahead needs to be BALANCE.

I think after all that, I better get off the computer and actually do something. The weather is supposed to be 44deg today, with the promise of much cooler tomorrow. Can’t wait!

If you have read this far, I thank you, and have a good day, stay cool or warm, where ever you live in the world.

Blessings,

From Jude