Cresting The Hill

four principles for midlife

Saturday 29 August 2015

The pastor of our church quoted from the concept of conservation agriculture called “Farming God’s Way”, which is a simple method of growing your own food and giving back to nature what was taken out. It is built on four key principles : On time, to high standard, without waste, with JOY.

MIDLIFE TATTOOS - IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

Friday 28 August 2015

image via: Pixabay free images - https://pixabay.com/en/fantasy-female-fantasy-girl-pin-up-1323611/

I've wanted to do a post on tattoos for ages - it's such a well covered subject but I still thought I'd throw my few thoughts into the ring......starting with the fact that I love this picture - it makes me smile when I see it because she's so out there and proud. A sassy woman with tattoos.

what do you do with all that spare time?

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Now that I am only working two days a week, I often get asked the question "what do you do with all that spare time?" - it's a question I would have asked myself a year or so ago when I was in the middle of the 9-5 grind where every day seemed to be a work day, or getting over work, or getting ready for work.

three things I've learned lately

Saturday 22 August 2015

I thought I'd share three things that I have learned (or remembered) recently. They're all pretty obvious but there are times when it's easy to put your foot in it and have regrets afterwards.

the people in your neighbourhood

Friday 21 August 2015

One of the pleasantries of life we seem to have lost over the years is getting to know our neighbours. I listened to one of the women at work bemoaning the time she lived in a cul-de-sac and "everybody knew everybody's business". She hated that she was part of a neighbourhood network.

not everyone deserves a seat at the table of your life

Thursday 20 August 2015

I like the idea of being open and honest and real but at the same time understanding that you need to protect yourself and your world.

shall we dance?

Wednesday 19 August 2015

A few years ago our son married a lovely girl and is now in the process of living happily ever after. Back in the months leading up to the wedding I realized that my husband and I would need to participate in the bridal waltz and neither of us were able to dance (unless you count looking like a drunken giraffe on steroids - me, not him!)

warming my heart with family time

Tuesday 18 August 2015

our daughter and her husband at the back and our son and his wife at the front

My good husband and I went up to the city a week or so ago to spend some time with our 'grown and flown' children. I don't appreciate how much I miss them until I get the chance to sit and talk and watch them all together - it just makes me day.

PLAYING THE GAME OF LIFE WELL

Saturday 15 August 2015

Life is what we make it - we get to choose to be joyful and not envious of others. It's all about how you choose to play the hand life deals you.

THE LIVES OF OTHERS

Part of life now days revolves around social media and reading about other people's perfect lives. It can be celebrities or it can be friends on facebook, but wherever it is, there are always people who seem to have been dealt a very nice hand of cards.

discovering I'm a HEN

Friday 14 August 2015

For years I've fought off the idea of becoming an "old chook." Now it turns out that rather than being a chook, I have instead become a HEN - and it's actually a title I'm quite happy with and proud to claim ownership of!

getting a little help from Eckhart Tolle

Wednesday 12 August 2015

I'm a bit of a closet fan of Eckhart Tolle - he's a little bit too new-agey for my sensibilities at times, but he has a lot to say about "living in the now" that I appreciate and have been trying to apply to my life. This latest quote that I saw has helped me remember not to sit stagnating in the one place.

IT'S EASY TO ENABLE RICH PINS

Tuesday 11 August 2015

Sometimes I can be a little bit slow on the uptake when it comes to all this technology that goes with blogging and social media. I don't tweet and I don't instagram and I'm not on LinkedIn. I also know that I should have been doing something a little more intentional with Pinterest but had resisted up until now.

creating a life with no escape clause

Saturday 8 August 2015

Seth Godin — 'Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from.'

I've read this Seth Godin quote many times over the last couple of years (one of the joys of being addicted to Pinterest is that you tend to see the same quotes appear fairly regularly). The interesting thing is that up until recently I thought "oh yeah.....easy for you to say Seth."

one of life's big questions ~ what is happiness to me?

Friday 7 August 2015

Sometimes life throws a question at me that makes me stop and think for a while. I take so many things for granted and it does me good to pause and take time to ponder. The question that took my fancy this week was ~ what is happiness?

first on the list of getting older and wiser - self respect

Wednesday 5 August 2015

One of the benefits of growing older is that I feel like I'm also getting a little wiser (or at least I hope I am). One of the first things I've learnt is self respect - to trust my own judgement more and to worry less about the opinions of others.

am I paling into insignificance?

Tuesday 4 August 2015

Kasha Grimes winning
Mrs UK Global 2015

Just when I thought it was safe to rest on my laurels and embrace the ageing process, along comes a story on Kasha Grimes - who has just won Mrs UK Global Classic 2015. I didn't even know there was a competition out there for Classic Global midlifers, but apparently there are several!

BEING THE SISTER OF COLLECTORS

Saturday 1 August 2015

what it's like being the sister in a family of collectors - I'm the only one who doesn't have a house full of "stuff".

MY BROTHERS

This is part two of my posts about the "joys" of being related to people who have an obsession with accumulating "stuff" in their lives. The first post was about my dad and this one is about my two younger brothers who have followed in his footsteps. Neither of them have my commitment to a life without clutter!