Why are we so time poor?

Three incidents in the last few days got me thinking about this quandary that we all seem to be in “these” days.  First my niece and her new pony – she is so busy with school and sport and other pursuits that she only gets to ride a few hours a week at best. 
Second is watching a girl who agists a horse at our rental property.  She rushes there on a Saturday, catches her horse, quick brush, saddled-up, 15 min ride in the arena, wash down and back in the paddock.  30 mins tops, she has other things to cram into a weekend.
Third is reading a post on a horse training forum how a coach is seeing way too many horses who have problems caused by a lack of time spent with them.
So how come in 2010 we have so little time when we are meant to have MORE leisure time due to all these time saving devices?  I know a washing machine saves us time, but I still always feel rushed when I have to peg the clothes on the line, and a lot of the times they don't even make it to the line! 
If I sit and analyse where my time is spent in a day, I can see where it goes.  Each day must start with a coffee and computer – emails, news, facebook, forums – all a daily need for information.  If its a work day then the next 9 hours are spent tied to a desk, then home exhausted.  If its a weekend, then its a rush to get washing done, clean the house, shopping, gardening and maybe a little leisure time.
Too much vies for our time, we overload on too much input – TV, mobile phones, computers – there is nowhere where we are not connected.  The happiest place for me is 1000kms from the city – where there is no mobile phone reception, no TV, no computers – just open space … and time.
How sad that those working live for their retirement – not because they want to stop working hard, but because they just want some time to “be”.  To slow down and literally smell the roses.
Will try and take things a little slower today, not rush so much and enjoy each moment without the urgency that what I am doing must be done ASAP so I can get onto the next thing.  Today is Sunday.  We have to prune all the garden as the council are doing a green waste collection.  Its time critical – we have to work to the council schedule as no longer can we prune all year and pile it up for a bonfire.  So we are going to rush about and get a years pruning done in half a day. 
The other half of the day will be spent shopping – the city is the only place open for Sunday trading.  We need new pillows – the old ones don't last a lifetime like the good old days, they are disposable.  More time shopping. 
Then that's it – Sunday, and the weekend over. 
I think the problem is the term “leisure” – its mistaken for cramming more and more into a day than its real meaning – quiet, down time.

Rare Saturday at Home

I was perplexed this morning about the Dog Whisperers theory on dog and packs and pecking orders.  The little princess of the Sinclair house, aka Miss Minty, spent the entire night wanting to go out and come in, go out and come in.  By about the 10th time I got up to let the little darling in or out, I put my foot down and tried to ignore the scratching and whining and made her stay IN!

Of course, anyone who has ever tried to sleep with a fidgety animal knows that its impossible.  So Caesar, where did I go wrong?   The result, very little sleep for me and the little white darling still tucked up in MY bed asleep.

Hmmm

Still not a happy camper today, tummy pains and back ache, but a day off is a treat indeed.  Went and did some shopping, bought a few snuggly winter clothes and some groceries.

Kim went to the rental house to mow the lawns and have a tiddy up while I did some washing and a potter about the house.

What I really did, was start reading my birthday book, Natural Horsemanship.  So absorbing and cant WAIT to have a horse to put all this into practice.

Cleansing Day

On a roll with the house cleaning and declutter so took another day off work.  All is under control there anyway, and my time is better spent at home.  Packed a few more crates and hauled them into the shed (Kim, they are stacked neatly!)

Still so much to do, have WAY too many books so need to have a serious cull.  Moving every few years was the best way to keep a lid on the clutter.  We have been in this house now 10 years, the longest I have ever lived in a house in my life.  No wonder I am going stir crazy.

Was pegging clothes on the line today, and heard this chattering above me, three 28’s were in the neighbours tree eating the seeds and dropping them on the shed roof. All I could see was portraits of the world outside, over fences, and roofs. For the first time I felt hemmed in and cramped in suburbia.  One neighbour was blowervaccing .. again!  The side neighbours dog was yapping, I could hear the other neighbours talking clear as day, trains wizzing past, a siren.

I know that this is how most of us live, but I think some people, need more contact with the earth – I know I do.

Its day 317 today … not that I am counting or anything!

It’s the little things

Keeping hold of the dream means keeping close the feelings associated with that dream.  And as poets and hallmark have always known, its the little things that count.  Getting up early and seeing mist outside.  Putting the kettle on and being able to see the neddies in their stable, their big eyes watching the house for signs of life … movement from the humans house means breakfast! 
Its watching another rose unfold and surprising me with its colour and fragrance.  The smell of herbs crushed underfoot as I go to the kitchen garden to gather parsley and chives for scrambled eggs for breakfast.  A pause to smile, again, at how beautiful it all looks.

My Dream Kitchen Garden

Its coming in from a hard days physical work, tired and dirty and aching, but with joy in my heart.  Its the absence of a feeling of doom and an aching stomach and back from stress.  Its freedom from tall buildings all around replaced with tall and majestic trees. 
Its sitting on the verandah with a gin and tonic and watching the pink and greys come in for their evening drink and frolic.

Sunset at Wattle Grove

Its being able to replace eating between meals with a dalliance in the paddock with the horses, or the chooks.  Its getting distracted whilst taking the clothes off the line by a flock of red tails flying over.  Its chopping a barrow load of firewood and knowing we will be warm tonight. 
Its quietly watching the bandicoots scratching about in the bushes.  Its being able to wander into the orchard to graze on a plum, or some mulberries, or picking 4 or 5 lemons and thinking how nice some lemon butter will be.  Its cooking in the kitchen and knowing that all that I will serve on the table tonight came from our own land.
All these little things make me joyful inside, they make me smile on the outside.  They make my body relax and my heart sing. 
My challenge today is to learn how to translate these things to the place that I am living now.  I have come to realise that wishing away a year is a sinful waste, some people don’t even have a year to live, yet alone a year to wallow in dreams.
I told Kim the other day, while we sat on the patio, that even though we could hear the birds here in Bassendean, we could not see and watch them.  We get little glimpses and vistas of what we get totally at Wattle Grove.  We live inside not outside.  So to address this, the things I will do this week are:

1. Clean the inside of the house so it feels fresh and light
2. Write down a de-clutter plan for the whole house plus outside and shed.



Our postage stamp patch of lawn

3. Start planning the rejuvenation of the garden.

So for the rest of today, I will start on my weekly plan.
Smile today :-)

Off Center Day

Had a rare day off work today, after how I felt yesterday, I thought it best to stay home and take it easy.  Still very dizzy, and out of whack, but sure the rest day has done me some good.  Spent the day reading posts on the local horse forum, absorbing everything horsey.  Actually posted there, telling my abridged story of my dream.

Here is Tullie, the man who stole my heart

Farm Shopping Day

Start of the long weekend (Anzac Day) and a little under the weather after the dinner out last night.  Sad day too, Charlie the Wonder Dog lost her battle yesterday, had a good chat with Crez, and remembered what a sweet dog she was. 

Off to the Farm Shop to get what we needed to put in electric fencing at the property.  Bart has been a bit rough with our lovely new white fences, and needs to be taught some manners.  Bit of a wild stab in the dark, neither Kim or I have had much experience with electric fences, apart from getting a boot when we put a foot, or hand, wrong!

The sales guy was very jovial, but not that helpful.  It was hard thinking ahead to all that we would need, but we walked out having spent $450.  The only thing I recognised was a roll of wire.  The rest we would have to make up as we went along, rather Kim would .. this is his department.  We chose this Electric Fence System as it seemed to be a well set out system, with all the parts we needed at hand.

A bit more shopping,Tradelink for the pipe for the paddock waterers, Bunnings for paint samples and ideas to redecorate the basso home, then a nice brunch at a cafe.  Lazier afternoon, a nap, so decadent!