Tails’ Blography

I think I’ve found a huge flaw within myself. I’m too impatient! Even as I’m typing this, my brain is working too fast for my fingers to keep up and I find myself just wishing I’d be done already.

As I sit and ponder over this flaw, I realise just how many areas of my life it affects. I choose quick, easy dinners to make, balk at cleaning the entire house in one go, planting a garden the correct way (waiting 4 weeks for soil to settle etc), even in something as simple as typing a blog post.

Part of me wonders if this could be considered lazy vs impatient. What tips the scales in the direction of impatient? It is a better flaw to be impatient rather than lazy? If someone calls you impatient, is it as much an insult as being called lazy for that matter. I think, for me, what tips the scales of lazy vs impatient is, I’m willing to do the work, I just wish it wouldnt take so damn long!

For example, I look at my garden. As per my other blog post, I want to plant a tree. Now, when I called for pricing, the guy on the line said “Do you want instant gratification or do you want to wait ten years?”. I replied, without hesitation, “Instant gratification please.” The price he gave me was R750 for a 2.5m tall tree, which is an awesome price. But an 80cm sapling is R89. So the fiance is arguing to get a sapling, cos its cheaper, and I’m fairly sobbing -on my knees- into the very soil he wants to plant it in, that I dont want to wait 10 years for it to grow! He doesnt seem to understand this idea. Sigh.

But, regardless, there are so many things I want to do, but they all take so long to do them. There’s this waiting business which drives me nuts. I cant stand it. I want to lose weight and I want to do it now! (Ok, who doesnt.) I want to bake and decorate cookies and I want to do them all in one night! Perhaps I have a short attention span? Maybe thats the real problem.

So, I think as a challenge, I will try find time each weekend, to work in my garden. Just take my time, digging soil, planting plants, etc. Stuff that I have to take my time with. When I go to sleep at night, it takes me a good hour and a half to fall asleep. And thats after reading something to make me sleepy. I have to read. If I dont, I lie awake with thoughts of stuff to do, stuff thats done, stuff that I’d like to do, all racing through my head at a mile a minute. Its actually scary how busy my mind is. I struggle to relax, if I’m honest enough to myself. So, in the words of Barney Stinson, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! I will try use gardening to help me bring this under control.

In a nutshell, I need to learn to slow down.

All my posts lately seem such a tedium to write. I sit and think about stuff I should write about, but when the time comes to put finger to keyboard, I just dont feel like it anymore.

So a quick post, just to keep y’all updated.

Did some gardening this weekend. It was early evening on Sunday and the weather was gorgeous. Pulled out some grass runners in the bed and tossed up all the soil. Looks a little neater now.
Played some Sims 3 for the first time in ages! My sim is a bit of a tart and flirted with a guy she was supposed to be investigating as well as another guy she met through work. They both had girlfriends which they cheated on. My sim admitted to cheating and the guy broke it off, so she continued on with the other guy and he’s since moved in and they’ve purchased a small house (ala ‘motherlode’ of course lol)
Iso’s still pushing on, but the headtilt has worsened but she’s eating and being strong. I love this rat so!
Since researching healthy foods for my girls, I came across a book called The Scuttling Gourmet which I have ordered! It should arrive on the 9th (latest) so yay! So excited!
We’re redecorating our kitchen, going to paint one wall a nice red colour, the rest yellow (if I feel up to it). We bought a shelf to put up where I can put my cookbooks so they’re off the countertops, giving more space and a cleaner looking kitchen area.
We’re currently looking for a cabinet and a tv table for our lounge, and I’m looking for a table for the kitchen (M hates this latter idea for some reason).
And for those who are on WeightWatchers, I found an AWESOME food blog with WW points (both PLUS and REGULAR). I do hope you check it out, WW member or not: SkinnyTaste.com

Thats about it, I recon the only thing left to leave you are some pics from our Engagement Shoot that I won! What do you think? We got so many on the DVD, we’re going to print some and hang them on our walls in our flat

My Fav:

Why are the titles of my posts always the most complicated to think of? I always struggle for a title, although that shouldnt be unusual. I remember reading somewhere once that the title of a book was always the last thing to be decided on.

Hmm. Anyway.

I’m thinking of baking more cookies this weekend. Chocolate cookies, mmm. But I cant decide how I’m going to decorate them. Any thoughts and ideas would be appreciated, nudge nudge. I was thinking Angry Birds, but I need to find a wider array of tips to use to do any details.

Had to delete a bit of this post as I typed this up yesterday (or was it the day before that?) but never got around to finishing it. So where to continue? Fiance bought MW3 and played it all of the night before last, and he seems to like it which is great. I was doing a website for my dad’s friend and its finally finished, along with photos I was editing for the wedding I shot in Oct, so I finally have free time in the evenings again to relax. Its wearing me out working all day and then still having to focus and work in the evenings as well as make dinner etc.

Got home this evening and what did I see? A gardened garden!! Turns out, my mother came in during the day with her gardener and cleaned out our garden so its looking lovely now!!! A little sparce, but nothing really grows in my garden anyway, but its all weed free and trimmed!! And my tomato plant that sprouted itself has been propped up with a twig (taken from the cuttings of the overgrown hedge haha) and there are SO many tomatoes growing!!

(pics taken with my cellphone)

So many full bags!

My tomato plant in the front

So awesome! Of course we’ll reimburse her for the gardener, and I’ll buy her something really nice or give her a voucher to buy herself something of her choice. It was such a lovely surprise to come home to after a long day at work. <3

I really have learnt so much from my mother during my years, and really, without the amazing and strong woman she is, I wouldnt be half the woman I am today. I’m so blessed to have her in my life to guide and love me, no matter what.

Bird seed? Check. Garden? Check. Bird bath? Check. Birds? Check!

I can officially announce the first of my 101 in 1001 to be crossed off! I have (on average) 10 birds in my teeny garden within 15 min of throwing out seeds. They’re mainly turtle doves, but there have been a few pidgeons and smaller birds too. I even managed to grab a shot or many of them without them taking off! (at great discomfort to myself….it was cold, raining, and I had to slither half out of my door to capture them without them seeing me – very uncomfortable!)

Currently, as I type this, I have 9 birds outside my window! How awesome! Its such a great feeling to be giving these birdies some food regularly, especially now that winter’s coming. And as soon as I can, I’m getting a sunbird feeder, of which I’m sure I’ll blog about.

So yay! 101 in 1001 – only 100 to go!

I’ve been throwing seed and cooked rice out onto my lawn in hopes of attracting birds, and its finally paid off. Unfortunately, a cat was stalking the birds and they flew away when I went to chase off the cat, so I never got to get any photos of them, but I did end up capturing some other garden photos.

It really brought my love of photography back, and the reasons why I started. It was so peaceful out there, lying on my patio waiting for the birds. Eventually when they never came, I started moving around the garden looking at everything with a new outlook. One I havent used in a long time.

I climbed out of my “comfort zone” and used my 75-300mm lens, which made me think a little before each shot since its more limiting than my 18-70mm. I’m very pleased with the results, esp after seeing them on my monitor (the LCD on cam never does images justice).

Please feel free to leave comments on these photos, after all, my blog isnt called Tails’ Blography for nothing

Click the images for larger versions if you’d like.