It has been a strange week for me so far. Something has shifted energetically, once again, and I feel different. One level up almost? I have been reading some fascinating books and they have given me a new perspective, which is great, and what we can only hope for in a good book.

Happily I can report I have been spending significantly less time on Facebook. YES! It has been draining me of time and energy for way too long; and it was time to cut myself off from this compulsive addiction. Seriously, what are we all doing scrolling through our feeds mindlessly all the time?? It is such a waste of time, and such a stupid distraction. Sure some stuff is useful and interesting, but mostly it is a big time waster. I am proud that I have spent less time on it. I even uninstalled the app off my phone, and only check it on my computer for less than a minute. Oh yeah, so proud about that.

My garden continues to bring me much joy. Since returning from my 4 week trip away, the greens have really bounced back. Do you know a garden responds mainly to its primary care giver? My house mate did a good job of keeping it alive, even through some really hot days, but it just looked a little sad when I got back. Within two days, after some good watering and lots of love and attention, my plants had bounced back, they were happy to see me again. I went to Swap meet last Sunday and bought a few new plants too, some basic little ones, about 5 plants for under $20, bargain!

I have been quite unwell over the last two weeks. I somehow developed a staph infection, and felt really run down and quite bad really. I tried to rest at home and take it easy, and ofcourse started on some antibiotics. We really take our good health for granted when we are well. I am on the mend now, and back to work, fortunately for my bank balance!

On my ‘rest days’ I managed to nearly repaint the whole house. I started with repainting all the pavers in my garden, then repainted the kitchen, laundry, toilet, my bedroom feature wall and another wall in my living room. I know, I no doubt over did it. But I find it so hard to rest and do nothing. The colour looks great, and has neutralised my house from the previous Mexican cantina to something more homey and warm. I like it. It is an unusual blush pink kind of colour, and really was inspired by my new tiles. Which have just been completed in the laundry and toilet area, now matching the kitchen.

I have really enjoyed my home renovations, and now I have only two more major projects to do, before I consider my home complete! But then I am sure I will come up with something else! I have a brick wall in my living area, which I have painted a fun blue/purple kind of colour. It sounds awful but it works. But I have been thinking it would look at lot more tasteful if I rendered the wall. Then I could also paint it much easier; I am positive it will be a huge improvement, and ideally increase the cost of my property too in the long run.

The other thing I want to do is replace the bathroom vanity with something more tasteful and put in a new mirror that will go across the whole wall, and put in some cool feature tiles. I will no doubt re paint the bathroom again too. I really like painting so it is no bother for me.

When I have not been painting walls I have been painting some watercolours. I am addicted to painting stripes right now! Mixing colours in similar tones in methodical identical stripes, it is like meditation for me, and I love it. I was inspired by this style during my time teaching in Warburton and I can not seem to get enough of it!

Holidays are coming and I have a few good friends to look forward to seeing. Hopefully some little road trips out of town, lots of beach, fun, and nature is the plan. I feel like I have already had a lot of time off, hopefully after two more weeks of rest and rejuvenation I will be really ready to work a lot for term 2.

At the end of the term I am flying out to Europe too! So I am super excited about that. So there will only be 7 weeks of working potential for me. So I really need to make the most of it!

The weather is changing here in Perth. Slowly our warm summer days are rescinding and turning into cooler, fresher ones. I even had to put a jumper on today! I like this time of year, the air is crisp, even though the sun still shines warmly. The skies remain mostly clear, and if we do have rain, it is brief.

I finished reading a really amazing book recently called “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris. As gruelling as the title sounds, the storyline was incredible, very engaging and  compelling. The battle the Jewish people faced was truly horrendous. I feel drawn to read books of this nature, to remind myself of these atrocities, and to hope they never repeat. It was very well written and communicated the central characters story very respectfully. I can highly recommend it, I read this book in two days!

I have started reading a fascinating book about a man who began his career as chiropractor and turned out he developed some incredible healing abilities. It is another very good read, and turns out to be far more educational and engaging than watching TV! I have always enjoyed reading, and I am glad I am giving myself more time to do it.

Overall I am feeling more grounded in my home and sense of place. When I returned from my 4 weeks away I felt quite displaced and a little bit all over the place. I felt quite connected out there in Warburton, although I have been sick since I returned; I am still inspired to return to work in the lands. Perhaps later in the year? Fingers crossed!

Hope all is well for you my lovely reader.

Anita xx