Happy Advent!

                                                        This is my favourite advent calendar. 
                                                    I always like revisiting it every year.



   
                                                     Happy December!

June 4th

                          

                                                          Is it really the 4th of June?

Where has the last month gone? One day I'm thinking -moaning and groaning -  it's still two months before the end of the school year and all this commuting, and today I realise it's less than two weeks!!!  Yay! Sometimes I hate it that time flies, say, when I'm thinking my son is 10 (10!!!) already, and sometimes I love it, like now.

 We're home today - my son woke up with a temperature and I  took today and tomorrow off to look after him. It's a slow day; he's doing ok. I'm doing ok. An unexpected gift of extra time - though I wanted to save the days off for the winter. Never mind. Today is here now.

Chicken soup is on the menu. Light and nutritious, for sick boys and trying-to-look-after-themselves mums.  I got distracted for a while. Remember my clean(s)ing plan? Slowly getting back on track.

Hubby is abroad for work this week. It's not the time to decline job offers. One of them is a six-month project abroad, starting in July. It's going to be hard on my little guy - and his dad, too. Me too, of course.

Summer holidays start soon. There's lots of driving planned - to my village, to the sea- and some flying probably.  I love travelling by plane and I love staying at hotels. But most of all, I love visiting new places.  There'll also be lots of rest and relaxation at my dad's yard, among the flowers I've planted in spring. They're doing great he's telling me.

Have a great summer!

May

At last...
spring is here, weatherwise, too !
May is my favourite month
- with flowers blooming and birds singing...
I love it!

These flowers are at my dad's,
where I spent the long weekend,
planting tomatoes, peppers and other nutritious veggies
and enjoying the colours around the garden. 
Lots of green, pinks and reds and white as well. 

A little fragrant bunch came home with me
and greeted me happily a few minutes ago when I came home from work.

Enjoy May!

Yiota

Sunday at home (on a Wednesday)

 

{reading about natural cleaning remedies in this book}

The first week after the holidays is always the longest one 

-at least, that's how it feels-

so I made sure I had plenty of rest and relaxation on Sunday and

some visuals for future reference (namely, a feeling-exhausted-mid-week afternoon, like today)

(Saturday was a housework day, so I won't bore you with the mundane,

though I also started organising and prettifying the balcony, which was fun).

Hubby was away, so it was just my son and me.

The weather was cloudy and chilly, a perfect day

for staying at home. 

Here are some moments of our Sunday at home for two.

 {breakfast}

                                                              {crafts - creative time}

                                   {lunch}                                                          

 {giving my seeds an identity}

  {getting ready for bed}

Have a great rest of the week!

spring clean(s)ing

 

 

I've never been much of a 'spring cleaning' person;

I've never had the patience or energy required for this.

So I just did a bit of cleaning here and a bit of decluttering there;

the result was a decent home but never a perfectly organised one.

Procrastinating is my middle name and as long as the flat is

clean enough to be healthy and messy enough to be happy

it was fine by me!

This year something changed, though.

I'm not sure I can put it to words.

It's this need I have for simplifying;

for having less stuff,

having fewer obligations,

having more time for my family and for me.

So before going away for the Easter holidays, 

I looked around for inspiration

- blogs, pins, spring cleaning lists-

and kept some notes on my,

truly inspiring, Susan Branch wall calendar.

My biggest challenges were the bedroom walk-in closet,

the kitchen glass cabinet (it's huge) and the balconies.

I'm proud to say I managed to do them all.

There are still cupboards and drawers to be sorted out

but I have a plan

and a whole month ahead.

Of course, with schools starting again on Monday......

we'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Wow! Look at how much I've already written.

And to think that it's the cleansing part I'm mostly 

interested in.

I'm trying to look after myself a bit (or rather a lot) more.

I eat healthily and try to walk as much as I can. 

(going to the gym is not an option for now)

I love seeing my fuel -salad-  all washed and ready to get in the fridge.

I make beautiful combinations; yes, beautiful.

I take my bowl to the study and search the net for spring images.

Finally, the most important part.

I seek inner peace.

I want to get rid of any past bitterness and find the strength in me to forgive.

I need to stop reproducing mean dialogues in my head.

It's the only way I can think of 

to move my life forward.

Cherishing the simple things and enjoying the gifts I was given.

Making others happy.

It's not easy. I've been through a tough period

and quite often I didn't even like myself.

So spring clean(s)ing it is, then.

Wish me luck

and do stop by.

I'll do my best to do so, too.

Take Care!

Yiota

spring.... sort of

Spring is supposed to be sunny and warm, non?

So why does it feel like autumn?

Where has my spring gone?

A friend of mine who lives in Germany tells me they've stolen our spring!

It was a bit sunny today, but really nothing much -

nothing like the famous greek sunshine, anyway.

Well, trying to keep my spirits up, I decided to bring some spring inside -

and by that I mean inside our home

and inside my soul.

Our two-week Easter break starts on Friday.

All's good then.

Take Care!

Enjoy spring!

Recording the moment

 Cherishing the simple things in life is something that has been  proven more than once to be a great source of happiness and inner peace.

So... right now

~ guitar tunes are coming from my son's room - it's his weekly guitar lesson

~ calm breathing can barely be heard as hubby is taking a nap

~ coffee and a book for me before getting back to doing laundry

Life's good.

{from the archives. I  think the title of the book fits the mood}

Saturday

I'm thinking...

 two hours of housework should be enough for one day.

Then... some of this

My little guy will attend a robo-workshop something later in the day.

 They'll make a robot and program it so there can be life on Mars! 

 It's the coffee I'll have with a friend at that time that matters.     ;)

I was hoping for some nature tomorrow.

But no. 

That's o.k. There'll be more happy-family-couch-time in the morning. 

Take Care!

PS. Yes, this is the same blanket I've been crocheting for three years.

I'm very close to finishing it, though.

I need to move on!

Mount Olympus

                                          ~ have been in serious need of slowing down lately

                                                                          ~ take care!