It won't have escaped your notice...

...but I'm not blogging much lately.

I don't know why, but ever since we've moved to this place I've found it harder and harder to keep going with the blogging. In the old house, we seemed to have untold obstacles which required frugality to resolve and I could blog about that. Since we've moved to this place, we haven't had nearly as many obstacles and I find myself running out of things to say.

We're going through a period of prosperity, both in terms of money and spirit. We have what we wanted and a lot of the problems and people we had to contend with that made us unhappy have gone away. This place is so calming it is almost soporific and things are not happening as fast as they used to, that sense of urgency is not there. 

I find I'm quite happy and content for the first time in my life and the old hunger and drive I once had have taken a back seat. I have my job to keep me busy during the day, and lots of books to read and a garden to tend to when I'm not working. Every now and then I go for a snuffle round the charity shops. The occasional meal with friends and neighbours. This weather is wonderful. It's a good life.

I have the big things I value so I don't seem to be sweating the small stuff. I was sent this by a friend yesterday and thought "too true".

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed……..

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognise that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions - and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’ The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Retirement, while 5 years away for Martin and 10 years away for me, will happen if we stay on course. I've crunched the numbers, I've done the spreadsheets, I know how much we have to save every month to achieve the goal and I plug away at that. I'm confident that if we need extra money we can either rebuild a car and sell it or take on some seasonal work. 

Of course there are some dark clouds on the horizon. Mother-in-Law is definitely losing her faculties so caring for her is taking larger amounts of time, effort and commitment than we thought it would. I've unexpectedly got a new boss at work after a management shake-up and I don't know if we will get on. The council has mooted plans to put in a bypass that would run near our smallholding, which could wreck our peace and quiet. Brexit rumbles on and who knows where that will go, we may end up having to scrimp, save and stockpile a bit if there is a recession afterwards. And as ever, developers are longing to build houses and put up wind turbines around the area. But for the moment the impact of these are just possibilities, nothing concrete, 'sand' on the horizon to be aware of and monitor. Nothing that needs action yet. 

I think I've lost my fear of the future because, deep down, whatever happens I wholeheartedly believe we'll be ok. 

And that doesn't really lend itself to interesting blogging!