Norq From Ork

The honeymoon is over.  I am now in a complicated relationship with the new chiminea.  Last week I described it as my new best friend as I spent many evenings in front of it reading a book and enjoying being in the great outdoors enough to be outside but near to my own toilet, bed, and fridge.  Monday evening I looked forward to more of the same but the blasted thing took forever to light, blew smoke in my face and had to keep being turned around as the breeze changed direction to blow the reek (smoke) away.  After mumping and moaning for half an hour about the wood being allowed to get damp causing the reeky way, Orkney Beef took a blow torch to it to get it going.  It did the trick but after 5 minutes admiring the clouds he got bored and went indoors.  I stayed out having gone to the effort of watching Orkney Beef lighting the buffer and it was enjoyable, but since then it’s hardly been weather to sit out in the evenings and due to monsoon rain the left out wood is now soaking. Just keeping it real guys.

The rest of the UK has been melting in a heatwave.  I’m old enough to remember the summer of 1976 and the threat of collecting water from a pump in the road.  From what I read there appears to be very little left in England that’s green.  While we’ve had a lovely summer it IS currently raining as I type and we had monumental thunderstorms on Friday, right when we were about to do a charity walk.  (Darkness Into Light Walk #removethestigma)

Even so, the glorious sunsets keep coming and judging by my Facebook timeline people never tire of admiring them and photographing them. My friend, artist Ingrid Grieve took this one and kindly gave permission for me to use it.  Isn’t everything about it so peaceful and calm? Life doesn’t always feel that way, but occasionally, just for a moment frozen in time things look almost perfect.

However, my arty boat pictureon Thursday  ended up looking like this. I blame the weather. I’m sorry.

Our lovely young youth worker at church always reminds me I owe him a favour.  When Orkney Beef and I married he spent the whole day with his sister hanging fabric to transform a hall and decorate it.  I am forever grateful to the people that helped make it come together and PeedieKen I send you a great big enormous THANK YOU.  He reads the blog and missed a mention recently when we celebrated his birthday.  He just didn’t make the cut, and he noticed.  Today he made the cut.  I hope he is very happy now.

I’m an avid reader and always have a novel on the go.  I also enjoy non-ficiton and am currently reading ‘On Writing’ by A L Kennedy. I found this paragraph really struck a chord with me.

Since starting this blog I find I view life differently.  I find much more beauty in the every day and mundane.  I often think about how I can take an everyday event, inanimate object or small sentence and write about it in an interesting way?  I’m much more observant about life and am often whipping out my phone so I can capture the moment and think about how I feel about it.  Like for example the photo I took this week.

I was inspired to see a fuschia plant growing through a wall and absolutely flourishing in the sunshine.  I often see flowers growing in obscure places this time of year and it always makes me think about survival in the face of adversity.  Even when the odds are stacked against it this courageous plant has pushed through and shown itself to be a thing of beauty.  Life can be an uphill struggle, we hit brick walls, but if we push through, who knows what’s on the other side? Food for thought on the eve of another week. Have a great one.