| Fascinating Musings |
| Season 1 – Sunday – 12/02/23 |
| Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. Jules Renard |
| A what’s happening recap on life. The week starts quietly, from Sunday to Tuesday, when we are busy with non-physical activities – l use these days to try and get things done that l am behind on – like writing the questions for the interview series or trying to write social emails or creating blocks of content for the blog but even that doesn’t always get done as there is always something else going on. But by Wednesday, when l am down at the reserve, my week starts to get more demanding and challenging on my energy reserves. Each week is different – due to changing work schedules or that thing called life gets in the way – but also Suze has a small part-time job on a flexi-rota with a company called SHS, aka Seniors Helping Seniors. SHS is a company that specialises in in-home companion and care services for elderly by seniors. It’s not a tremendous position, and the hours are slim due to the company policy of part-time employees not being able to exceed 25 hours per week. So Suze is looking for either another small job or a fuller-timer position that pays more with more hours. I will also be looking for a role for twenty hours or so. So the workload is about to become even more full than it currently is. In addition to these propositions, we are researching taking Earthly Comforts to the sole trader position at the start of the business journey. Looking at grants available, and so on. We are checking out the marketplace for what is available and missing. We currently have one ‘cutting our teeth ‘ client, and l know Suze has someone looking for gardening services but needs to be invoiced, so we need to both become self-employed and take the business to that next level. The allotment is a prime feature for both this blog and the business, as indeed are the composting systems, backyard farming and the wormeries. So these have to stay and work continually, whatever the odds. As l wrote before regarding Gazen Salts, there is a big chance that come the end of either February or March this year, l will not have the time to dedicate four mornings a month to the reserve and will have to reduce that down heavily. Sure, it would have been lovely to work as the warden – but who knows what is happening concerning that position concerning availability. So whilst l could work under the self-employed or employed 20 hours slot l have allocated me, l can no longer rely upon it as being a thing. We are both now rethinking how we can get the most or MORE out of the week. The winter months have seemed greyer and colder and darker this winter. Stress and frustration have been higher. Suze is not getting the desired sleep she needs and is struggling. I am lucky to a degree, and it’s not that l don’t experience stress. Of course, l do, but l choose to push it to one side. I am looking at the positive angles rather than the negative ones. Suze is not getting longer than four-hour blocks of sleep; l am averaging five hours a day, and l am okay with that, but l need to fine-tune, hone and discipline the routine more to be beneficial. For many months last year, I was going to bed at nine pm and getting up at four am, and that worked then, but l wasn’t physically exerting myself as much as l am now. Since September, the arrival of the allotment, and the different schedules on top of the pre-existing composting programs and maintaining the wormeries it has added extra weight to the pooped-out feeling! This year, l want to introduce a new sleeping programme of going to bed at eleven pm and getting up at five am. I want to begin this routine on March 1st. Suze is not overly eager about it, but l have suggested that it might aid her sleep pattern more than her current one, retiring around ten pm, with lights out at eleven and then trying to sleep through to six am. However, her reality of hers is different. She retires between ten and a half ten, sometimes reads until midnight and then finds herself awake from four am onwards, to which point she is catnapping until her alarm goes off. It’s not working and making her more tired, frustrated and stressed. Mine is retiring between ten pm and half eleven, lights out eleven to one am and getting up between six am to seven am, pending whether l am sleeping. So introducing a newer regime might be the answer, and more so as the days get lighter. We could recommence our walking routines again. Everyone who walks regularly knows that a walk at the start of the day does wonders for your health and well-being. Most assuredly, it might aid Suzanne in reducing her stress levels as well as helping her sleep pattern improve. This, in turn, will reduce my stress because it’s not easy living with someone who experiences a lot of stress regularly and whose release of that is to cry. Many people are worried about finances around the world, and it is stressful, but the answers are to try and work through it as best as you can and keep an eye on your health, your exercise and so on – fresh air does wonders. But also, even when you are tired, weary and exhausted as we both are – fresh air, good sleep, and focus make things easier. But so too is the ability to laugh, and above everything, at least we can still laugh … |
Earthly Comforts 
A good night’s sleep sets the right tone for the day. I’m always amazed at how much you both get done during a day and week.
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And that’s precisely it Sadje, good sleep, good rest aids recovery and rebuild. Poor sleep quality reduces energy.
We especially need to get the right sleep this year if we want to continue to do all the things we want to do.
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I hope you hit on the best timings.
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So do l for Suze’s sake mainly. I am pretty robust.
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👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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Sleep is a struggle for me, going in phases from good to not so good. I’m never unable to sleep at all now, so I’m thankful for that. I haven’t hit on the exact factors that help or hinder consistently though, which is frustrating. I enjoyed reading this update and wish you both the best ❤️
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It’s strange isn’t it, as we get older sleep seems to like causing us problems, when we were younger we could stay up all night and not think twice about missing it.
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Holy carp but you and Suze seem more than a little ‘over-booked’ – and all on too little sleep. Sleep is not part of my skill set – never has been according to stories I’ve been told. If you ever figure out the magic formula let me know!
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Well if we can find the right recipe, l think we’ll bottle it and sell it – l think it might be a huge seller 🙂
We have a lot on the gothis year, Suze needs more sleep now and more so since the recovery from the cancer which means whilst her stamina is greatly improved she now needs more than ever so losing it is a struggle.
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My sleep is close to what you want to start March 1. It’s rough on these cold winter mornings, but necessary because Ben’s GLYSB comes at 6:40. Poor kid has 90 minutes on the bus, to and from.
Laughter and a positive mental attitude are the best defense against most problems. Even with my body health in the gutter, my mental health is great. Everything changes… we just need to ride out the “bad” times, changing what we can, and wait for “good” to come back around.
💌💌
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Very true, we all jjust need to ride out the storms as best as we are able to 🙂
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Sleep is so important, especially when there is a lot of physical work done in a day’s time. I normally sleep 7 hours a night but every once in a while, I get maybe 3 hours of sleep. 🥱
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Gosh 3 hours would be a real crippler for us at present – long gone are the days when l could swing that time. Bet you are grateful that’s not a regular thing.
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It really messes up my day because I don’t take naps but at least it is only once in a while.
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Yes it can screw with the day and our body clock, l also can’t take naps, neither can Suze. The biggest switch for me was from being a night owl to becoming an early bird.
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