IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE

If we were having coffee at my favourite coffee spot this is what I'd tell you

IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE

It's time to celebrate the end of October by sharing another virtual cup of coffee with me while I update you on what's going on in my life lately. I love a good 'Taking Stock' blog post, so I hope you'll humour me and sit a while with me in a lovely little cafe I love to visit while I share my news.

Stirling Cottage in Harvey - a lovely little spot for a coffee date or lunch
My favourite coffee place - Stirling Cottage and its Gardens in Harvey, Western Australia
Here we are again at Stirling Cottage in Harvey, Western Australia, surrounded by absolutely beautiful gardens and a river walk. You can tell Spring is in the air. If we were sitting at this table in the sunshine sharing a cuppa and a scone, or a homemade cake, these are a few of the things I would tell you I was doing at the moment.

READING

Lots of free Kindle books from Bookbub - none of them are earth shatteringly fantastic, but they make a good substitute for reading matter when I run out of library books. 

Also (from the library) the Blackthorn and Grim series by Juliet Marillier - not bad but not earth shatteringly great either.

Juliet MarillierJuliet MarillierJuliet Marillier 

WALKING

We've decided to do some of the "short walks" around our area - started off with one around the Bunbury inlet - about an hour of walking, then a stop off at a little market spot, and a coffee at a little cafe on the waterfront. We're planning on doing a couple of these a month while the weather is so nice.

Leschenault inlet, Bunbury Western Australia October 2017

NAN-ING

We had a visit from our son and daughter-in-law and our delightful grandbaby Sophia - and the added pleasure of being allowed to babysit her overnight while her parents went off for a couple of days of "alone time". What a joy being a Nan is and how gorgeous is this child???

grandbabygrandbaby  

EATING

Here we are having lunch at my favourite coffee place (Stirling Gardens) with Sophia and her parents before they headed back home to the city. A beautiful Spring day and a lovely time together enjoying the garden and the sunshine.

Stirling Gardens, Harvey Western Australia

LOVING

Some new fairy lights in time for Christmas. I love a bit of bling and sparkle and it must be rubbing off on my husband because he actually suggested we do some lights to brighten up our glass buoys in the evenings (PS: can you spot the photo bombing cat in the front corner of the balcony? She's the one in the pink collar!)

blue hanging fairly lights and glass buoys

PLANNING

1) My blog posts for November - I've got a few ideas and I'm sure more will present themselves when the time comes. Fortunately I haven't run dry yet!

2) What to do for my birthday next week - looks like a nice lunch with my husband at this point - and maybe a call from my kids? My Mum's coming down for a visit so I get to see her and enjoy a birthday catch up meal with her too - the diet starts after that!

3) A holiday away in early December - after much discussion and tossing around a few ideas, we've decided to go somewhere close-ish to home, but somewhere I've never actually visited before. I'll be writing about it afterwards, so that'll be a post or two in December.

TACKLING

30 days of not complainingOne of the Facebook groups I belong to had a member suggest that we challenge ourselves to do this. After a fairly onerous month of ups and downs at work, I decided that I should put my hand up and join in. The challenge started Monday 16th October and continues for another couple of weeks - definitely a reminder to lift my game in this area and to try a different approach to my work issues.


THAT'S IT FOR NOW

So that's about it for coffee for October. Hope you enjoyed our catch-up and maybe we can do it again at the end of November? Hopefully there'll be new stuff happening and lots to talk about. Is there anything interesting happening in your world?

If we were having coffee at my favourite coffee spot this is what I'd tell you

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30 comments

  1. Hopping over from the Over the Moon linky! It sounds like you've had a good month. Your granddaughter is just beautiful! I hope you have a nice birthday, whatever you decide to do! And fairy lights are so beautiful for Christmas.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by and you're right, Sophia is a gorgeous little girl - we are very blessed to be a part of her life.

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  2. What a beautiful part of the world you live in. And your granddaughter is a cutie! I have a whole bunch of library books to get through myself.

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    1. Thanks Ness - I was talking to a Canadian blogger friend today and she said the same thing - especially when I told her I'd never seen snow! It's funny what you take for granted and think is normal until someone else points it out :)

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  3. I love your coffee chats; they let me get to know you better. Yes, Sophia is a beautiful child with a lovely name. I'm with you on the nan-ing thing - it's the best time of life ever! We've started planning for "the holidays" here in the states. Halloween is big (tomorrow) and my daughter-in-laws and I are talking (negotiating) Thanksgiving and Christmas times. The weeks from now through the end of the year tend to be extremely stressful, and my own "no complaining" thing is going to be tested, so thanks for sharing your wonderful outlook.

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    1. I saw your FB post of you all painting pumpkins - it looked like all the grandies were having a blast. Good luck with the holiday negotiations (they can get quite fraught at times - hope you navigate them successfully!)

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  4. I know what you mean about books. I've stopped reading books I don't like rather than just read to read.
    Carol C

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    1. That's why I like the freebies and library books Carol - I don't feel any obligation to finish them if they turn out to be rubbish. If I'd paid good money for them I'd feel really annoyed!

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  5. I love this concept Leanne because that is what I do with my IRL girlfriends. We get caught up over a cup of coffee, it is better than texts and phone calls. Yes she is a gorgeous little girl! Lovely pictures.

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    1. Thanks Haralee - I get so much pleasure out of doing these posts - I should have started them years ago!

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  6. You are one of the most likable bloggers I read. And your granddaughter has a wonderful face and expression.

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    1. Oh Susan that was the loveliest compliment I've had in a long time! And yes, Sophia actually means "wisdom" and I can hear her little mind ticking all the time - she is such a thoughtful little soul.

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  7. I love the idea of not complaining for 30 days. I'm too hard on myself though, and I know I would misbehave in that long of a stretch. But my husband and I do take an active role in practicing positive speech from time to time when it seems the complaining is overrunning our conversations. It really helps us, our attitudes, and our marriage. And one week about once a month is an easier commitment than an entire 30 days. ;) My ADD won't hold attention to remember that long anyway haha!

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    1. My husband keeps saying to me "is that a complaint?" and I keep trying to justify it with "no, just an observation" It has been a really good exercise for pulling myself up and trying to look at the world with a smile more than a frown.

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  8. Thanks for that cuppa. My birthday is next week too! Years ago, I just celebrated my birthday, then I started a birthday week where I would take time for a massage one day, a mani/pedi the next and a day of quiet reading time. Now I'm thinking I need to enjoy a birthday month! (And that little Sophia is adorable!)

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    1. My husband started birthday week for me when I turned 50 Jennifer - I hadn't thought of the massage/mani a day thing - might work that into it from now on! I can't believe we are bloggy birthday twins - I hope you're enjoying the lead up to yours - and yes I hear you about having a whole month - even if it was a month of people having to be nice to us all the time!

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  9. Hi, Leanne - I greatly enjoyed this catch-up over virtual coffee. Sophia is gorgeous! I also admire your continuation in the 'no complaining challenge'. I would love for that challenge to be enforced worldwide -- for even one day. I believe that it would make a huge difference. Wishing you a great upcoming birthday!

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    1. Hi Donna - thanks for the birthday wishes and yes a smiling, uncomplaining world would be a lovely place to live in wouldn't it?

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  10. Thank you so much for sharing what you have been up to! I can sense your heart was very full having your family visit AND having the gorgeous little one sleep over. Moments to treasure. Thank you for linking up for #lifethisweek 42/52. Next week: Meditation. Yay or Nay.

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    1. I can never get enough time with my kids Denyse and every minute with the delightful Sophia fills my heart with smiles. Now I just have to wait for Christmas for their next visit and stay!

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  11. Such a lovely post.. Glad you enjoyed quality time with your family.
    Maria

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    1. Thanks so much Maria - it's a fun post to write and a great reminder of how blessed I am with life in general.

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  12. Thanks for sharing a coffee with me Leanne :-) I need to get to the library and stock up on books, I was hoping for nice warm spring weather but we are about ready to light the fire it is so wet and cool here. No complaining from me though ;-)

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    1. Our Spring pops up and then disappears again too - not sure what's happening with our weather these days but Summer will be a killer and here before we know it!

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  13. The coffee chats are such a great idea! It's always nice to learn a little bit more about the author of a great blog! :D

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    1. What a lovely thing to say - thank you so much! And thanks for taking the time to read and comment x

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  14. Leanne, I so enjoyed your coffee chat - very inspiring. Though I think I'll do my taking stock and planning ahead just quarterly - the months seem to zip by too quickly! :D

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    1. I know what you mean - I can't believe Christmas is nearly upon us - I'll have to start thinking about decorating trees and buying presents when I feel like I'm still in February!

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  15. I enjoyed this post. What a precious grandbaby you have! Yes, I see the cat. Love the fairy lights too. Who knows, maybe I can visit Australia sometime and we can go for coffee and a walk. We'd have to get Sue Loncaric to come join us :) Thank you Leanne for linking up at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I shared your post on Fb, G+, Pin, and Tw.

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    1. Hi Dee - and yes you are definitely on for a cuppa if you ever get over here. Australia is as wide as the US and Sue and I live on opposite coasts and keep talking about how we'll have a coffee together one day!

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