All the Time in the World

I’m not a big admirer of self-help books.  They often seem to be repetitive and leave me thinking, “Well, Duh?”  So many of the solutions seem to be an obvious repeat of things I have heard many times before.  But the advice in one little book I read many, many years ago made an impression and has stayed with me for years. 

The name of the book was How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1910. This small book is a little archaic by today’s standard, but if you can get past that, it is full of gems of instruction on how to live a better life.

We are not all equal in the gifts we are born with, money or brains or looks or parentage, but time is the equalizer—we are all born with exactly the same amount of time, twenty-four hours each day.  Bennett advises us not to squander it.

Bennett also advises us not to be too hard on ourselves.  “In setting out on the immense enterprise of living fully and comfortably within the narrow limits of twenty-four hours a day, let us avoid at any cost the risk of an early failure.  I will not agree that, in this business at any rate, a glorious failure is better than a petty success….I am all for the petty success.”  In other words, set modest goals so you can pat yourself on the back when you succeed.

This little book can easily be read in an hour’s setting and can be downloaded free from Gutenberg Press: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2274/2274-h/2274-h.htm

It’s a book I would recommend to those I love.

This is My Life

I'm 73 years old and just bought an air compressor and pneumatic staple gun because I decided I'd like to learn upholstering.  I saw some videos online about how to do it.

"I can do this," I thought. "It doesn't look that hard."

Before the days of the Internet I read a book about contracting your own home.  It didn't sound that hard either, so I decided to do that.  I had no construction experience of any type, but I had a friend whose family had contracted their home. They agreed to help me get started.

After I started construction I met my husband, and he joined me in that enterprise.  It wasn't that hard.  And we live in our nice little home on a hillside in the woods of Tennessee.

So now I've read about blogging and think I'd like to do that.  It can't be that hard, right?

Update 2/19/2016:  I have learned that both upholstery and blogging are a little harder than they look on first glance.  Still struggling a bit with both.

Combating Cabin Fever

I live out in the boonies for a reason.  I like to be surrounded by nature.  When I drive through a city or suburb I’m always wondering what all of those people are doing clustered there together.  Don’t they know there’s land out there where they could live not crowded together like animals in a zoo?

But lately I feel I might as well be living in a suburb.  It seems I haven’t been outside for any extended period for weeks because of all the activities during the holidays.  The last of our guests just left last week.  And just as they left the snow came. 

Now I’m getting cabin fever.  So today I’m taking my chain saw out to cut some wood for our fireplace.  

Nothing is better for combating cabin fever than my trusty little chain saw with a 40V Lithium battery.   This saw is light-weight enough for me to use it easily and it doesn’t require any gasoline.  I always had trouble starting a gas-powered chain saw.   In spite of its light weight, it is remarkably powerful and efficient.  I love this saw.

Breakfast with the Woodpecker

Source, Dave Shafer/Flickr

I like to watch the morning come, so when the weather permits, I open the windows and the door to the screened-in back porch when I get up so that I can hear the first bird songs and watch the world come alive. 

John does not like to watch the morning come, so he usually sleeps in a bit.   We have our breakfast together when he is up, and sitting at our dining room table we can see the back yard and watch the birds feeding at the feeder.  The birds are often a topic of conversation as we eat.

We have had a feeder in this location since we first moved here and have a number of different species that visit the feeder regularly.  During the migration season we always see some new birds coming by—tourists, we call them.

A couple of years ago we added a suet feeder that was supposed to attract woodpeckers.  When we put it up, right on cue, a woodpecker began to feed at the feeder.  

John still asks, “Now how did that woodpecker know that feeder was there?” 

 

We still haven’t answered that question, but we’re always pleased to have his company.  And unless the raccoon has made off with the suet during the night, he’s there to have breakfast with us most mornings.