Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Oh dear, another Obsession - Outlander

Yes, it's true. After what feels like years of indifferent fads passing through my life - 'Lord of the Rings' movies from 2001 - 2004, 'Twilight' books then movies 2006 - 2010, I have now found another which threatens to go deeper and hang on for longer. Be afraid, be very afraid. I am.
I started listening to Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' series in November 2011, and have listened to all of them now, and that's saying something. They are about 900 pages long! I'm now relistening to all seven books, as well as the accompanying series about Lord John Grey. I'm almost at the stage of believing that Jamie Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser actually lived back in 1745. As for what it has done to my own Scottish roots - they are rekindled. . . oh yes, never were the Urquharts more loved. Ye ken? I think I'll head out and buy me a tartan pillow to sob into.

Monday, March 19, 2012


Well, the little nook above is now my reduced personal space. I've already changed the curtains and added a wee carpet, but I can almost touch the walls on either side when sitting on the stool. It amazes me that space is so er, relative. You THINK you need so much of it, but really, when a huge amount of time is actually spent in the imagination anyway, with books and ipad clustered nearby, it doesn't really matter whether there's room to swing a cat. Admittedly, I have got to be much tidier than my nature allows, just to avoid tripping over myself, and there are things I used to DO in my room which now I cannot. . . like watch a small tv in the corner, or hang out for an evening.
. . . and this angle of the house is very similar to the old house. The difference being, in the old house when you turned the corner, a HUGE living room extended out into the yard, and behind me the rest of the house was double in size. Still, it's a roof over our heads, and Steve's enjoying his first home. And I'm not sure how long I'll be there anyway.
Here's a photo I took in February, with rain on the horizon. I feel it is a good description of my present state. I'm counting on the truth of the Lord's words: "I give you a future and a hope", because those are the two words I struggle to find real in my life right now. My future is like the picture - plans to go to the States to work, for very little, among few that I now know, and I do not feel at all enthusiastic about it. I'm in a perfect place to be pleasantly surprised, because my expectation is so low. Ah well.