dark & dreich with a smattering of snow drops.
This photo is a good illustration of my current state of mind. I am struggling a bit with various aspects of life, including my overall low mood & crazy mood swings and a teenager with challenging needs and unpredictable behaviours. I have started HRT to see if that will make a difference to my emotional wellbeing. For the teenager, we continue to be on the waiting list of an overstretched child and adolescent mental health service.
To add insult to injury, I hurt my knee while jogging up the incline you see on the photo. It looks almost flat here but trust me, it is not.
With the doom and gloom out of the way, I am trying with varying degrees of success to focus on what gives joy. Distraction is always a good strategy for an unsettled mind.
Do you follow Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon on social media? He is described as an ambassador of joy, and frequently post videos of joyful Bhangra dancing. Google him to find him on your favourite social media applications. I went to a wedding once where there was Bhangra dancing, it was so much fun.
I love to watch the birds in the garden just now. I counted 12 species in one day - goldfinches, chaffinches, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, dunnocks, sparrows, wrens, black birds, robins, magpies and pigeons. The magpies come for water rather than food and also to have a wee peek through the window. Also an honorary bird, our resident squirrel, Ricky. I would like to buy a window bird feeder, replacing one that is broken. If you have one that stays stuck on the window, please let me know.
Also, the snow drops are appearing in my garden! Always a welcome early sign of longer days to come.
I am knitting a pair of socks while listening to audiobooks in the evening. I am looking for a good TV programme, preferably of a factual variety rather than drama, unless it is science fiction. Let me know what keeps you entertained.
I am also looking for book recommendations. I am listening to Frontier by Grace Curtis just now, a post climate change dystopian novel. I am also listening to An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong, a favourite science communicator of mine. Enjoyable but needs more concentration than I have at the moment. I have given up with I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I have yet to come across a celebrity autobiographies that I enjoy.
So, January so far? Dark and dreich overall but with occasional sparks of joy. I am working hard on finding more sparks!
Thanks for visiting 😊
I don't have time to comment much but I am reading your blog as much as possible. I completely understand the teenager with issues that run deep from attachment issues, birth and pre-birth history and hormones, it is hard, really hard so you are getting a big hug from me. I can't live without HRT, literally can't get out of bed without it. I am sending you a big hug, Spring is around the corner in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteI don't follow Gurdeep per se, but I see him a lot bc of who I do follow, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI do follow Gurdeep - during the summer he travelled across Canada visiting many small communities giving talks and dancing. When he arrived in Winnipeg I was happy to be able to go and learn some Bhangra moves and join others and dance. I do believe that moving in dance is very joyful and can be very uplifting. Jean in Winnipeg
ReplyDeleteSending you some happy vibes, hoping that things improve a little in your corner. January can be a really hard month. Hope the HRT helps and i like the sound of that Indian dancing. I may have to give it a go. Reading is a little lack lustre in this corner at the moment. B x
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you are going through some tough times, Christina, with teenager issues, an injured knee and dreary looking weather. You really have a wide variety of birds to watch in the garden and reminds me of when I would watched them at the feeders when we lived in VA as there were similar varieties. Living on the 5th floor of an apt overlooking a river, the bird life consists of Mallards, Canada Geese and gulls with an occasional blue heron in warmer months.
ReplyDeleteNo recommendations for TV shows as programming would differ and we stream or watch films vs. TV shows. As far as book recommends, I am on the last one of the cozy British mystery audio books (Cherringham) that have kept me entertained since late fall. Recently finished Mrs Plansky's Revenge (Spencer Quinn) and disliked an audiobook, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, so no plans to listen to or read this author in future. However, the narrator, Julia Whelan, is among my favorites.
Many women have a hard time with hormonal changes at our age. I find extra exercise helps, and also I am able to sit outside in the sunshine. I know this isn't possible where you live. I'm sorry about your knee. I hope it's healing. I just watch May to December on Netflix. I thought it was excellent. Journaling really seems to help, too.
ReplyDeleteI found HRT really helpful for me , I hope it works for you too Christina. Watching the birds at the feeders is always fun and we have a squirrel who thinks he's a bird too. Not sure what he likes best but he tries everything on the menu.
ReplyDeleteI’m enjoying The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn, Christina though I’m not sure family saga/historical is your favoured genre. Go for the HRT - worked for me. Xx Doris
ReplyDeleteA belated happy New Year! Sorry to hear about your current struggles and hope life gets on a more even keel for you and your boy. I'm pretty sure we have very different tastes when it comes to books and TV shows but I have loved watching Slow Horses (based on a book series by Mick Herron) on Apple tv. Gary Oldman is superb.
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