Cate's Diary

[Cate]

Nice you are feeling more connections with other women at the golf club. Would be great if it could turn into a place of good support for one another.

It would be good. I'm sure most of them think it is already.

Lovely story about giving a heart to the mother at the beach. I bet that will really stick with her throughout her parenting years

I loved that she is the sort of person who tells other mothers who seem to be struggling that they are doing a great job. She seemed to have an open heart.

I can picture you turning the little heart rug into a little purse to store all your hearts in and then going around town giving out hearts when the mood strikes you. You are making such a lovely tradition!!!

I don't think I have the heart to turn this rug into something else. It was obviously made with love & is all hand embroidered. For it to end up in a charity shop & be sold for $2 is a little bit sad. I think it will go on the back seat of my car. I'll take a photo of it when it's dry & post it here.

And I agree about the encounter with the young mother. That's so heartwarming. I still really love how you silently wish for the person to get the heart you picture for them!

It felt really good. I love it when they pick the one that I thought they would like too. It's exciting.

Glad the interviewer was more relaxed and that you got out and had fun shopping. Hope you had a relaxing evening. It sounds like it!

Yesterday was a good day, M. I had been dreading it & I was tired during the evening & I slept like a log.

Today is a home day & I really must do some housework!

 

[liza3]

I don't think I have the heart to turn this rug into something else. It was obviously made with love & is all hand embroidered. For it to end up in a charity shop & be sold for $2 is a little bit sad. I think it will go on the back seat of my car. I'll take a photo of it when it's dry & post it here.

Yeah it's often shocking what you see ending up in charity shops for so cheap. Something so lovingly made...I am so glad someone like you has picked it up and appreciates it though. Looking forward to seeing a photo of it.
Hope you had a nice home day!

 

[Marsia]

The little rug sounds perfect, and it's wonderful you rescued it and will treasure it! Hope you had a wonderful sleep and a productive day today!!

 

[Emilyrose]

Ah Cate, lovely stories about the heart for the interviewer and her daughter and also the lady on the beach. Brilliant!

 

[Cate]

Thanks, Liza, M & Em. I love that rug & I will find somewhere for it. I don't think Arch would hurt it if I put it on the back seat of my car. Last night I got a call from T(the one whose husband died recently) to say she is going to come along & come for a ride with me in my cart. I made a heart just for her. I'm playing with 3 other women & she must feel comfortable about it.

 

[Marsia]

That's great you and your friend T will go play together. It seems like your weekend golf idea is already bringing people together! It's so happy that you embroider hearts and found a hand embroidered heart rug. It seems like you are attracting hearts into your life!!

 

[liza3]

I'm sure the maker of the rug would love that you are putting it to good use and appreciating it so much. That's one thing I like to envision when I give things to charity shops--someone getting something that they love
I know I have gotten a lot of treasures from second hand shops.
Excellent about T coming along to ride with you in the cart.

 

[Cate]

That's great you and your friend T will go play together. It seems like your weekend golf idea is already bringing people together! It's so happy that you embroider hearts and found a hand embroidered heart rug. It seems like you are attracting hearts into your life!!

Thanks, M. It's funny but I hadn't considered T a "friend" until then. She met up with us about halfway around & came for a ride in my cart. After a while, I told her that I had made her something the night before after she had rung & when I gave it to her she was a little bit teary & seemed overwhelmed. I said it was a new thing that I had just started doing & how much I loved making them & that I made them with love. She held on tight to her heart. We had some good talks as we went around & she shed a few tears. I think I have helped her get back into playing again & I feel that I opened that door. The day was a memorial for her best friend who I know she must miss. I also think she'll buy herself a golf cart.

I'm sure the maker of the rug would love that you are putting it to good use and appreciating it so much. That's one thing I like to envision when I give things to charity shops--someone getting something that they love
I know I have gotten a lot of treasures from second hand shops.

I imagine this rug being made by a grandmother who is no longer living. I love it & see the love that went into making it. I must get around op shops more. Unfortunately most clothing smells of fragrance & I don't notice until I get it home & I often can't get rid of it, even soaking it in milk & then bicarb & vinegar. I currently have a puffer jacket airing outside after a good soak. It cost $8 & fits me & I'm hoping will become my golf buggy coat.

Excellent about T coming along to ride with you in the cart.

It was good.

---

I didn't feel well yesterday & really struggled to finish my game. I was aching all over & so, so tired. I fell asleep during the evening & slept like a log. This morning I woke very congested & struggling for breath & I think I have a chest infection. G heard me coughing up & said I sounded awful & maybe shouldn't play golf today. The minute he said that I knew he was right. It was a relief. He always wants me to go with him. Instead, I'm staying at home & if I feel the same tomorrow I'll ring & make an appointment to see a doctor. I have felt that my lungs have been struggling for a week or so.

 

[alligatorob]

I don't think I have the heart to turn this rug into something else. It was obviously made with love & is all hand embroidered. For it to end up in a charity shop & be sold for $2 is a little bit sad. I think it will go on the back seat of my car. I'll take a photo of it when it's dry & post it here.

My wife volunteers in a thrift shop, run by the Presbyterian Church. It has given me some insight to what I think you call a "charity shop", and I don't think that is such a bad fate. Thrift shops are the ultimate recycling, taking something you don't want or need and giving to someone who does is not a bad thing. Even if they only pay $2 for it doesn't mean it won't be appreciated. And if it isn't its likely to find its way back to the charity shop for someone else to have. If things can't be sold much of it still ends up being either shipped somewhere that can find an interested owner, or being recycled. Lots of the unwanted things from her thrift shop end up being exported to Central America where people are poorer and more appreciate of things.

It's funny but I hadn't considered T a "friend" until then. She met up with us about halfway around & came for a ride in my cart. After a while, I told her that I had made her something the night before after she had rung & when I gave it to her she was a little bit teary & seemed overwhelmed. I said it was a new thing that I had just started doing & how much I loved making them & that I made them with love. She held on tight to her heart. We had some good talks as we went around & she shed a few tears.

Always a good day when we can make a new friend, or turn just an acquaintance into a friend!

Hope you wake coughless and feeling better!

 

[Marsia]

Oh, sorry you aren't feeling well. I hope you can eat a lot of things with vitamin C and get your immunity back up and rest. That's so nice that you could share a heart with T and that you had a good talk and bonded. It sounds like the perfect memorial to her friend where she got to make a new friend. That's so lovely.

I hope the soaking works with your new jacket! I tried to rescue a bunch of wonderful clothes from my mom's hoard, that had been sitting in dust for decades, and I was highly allergic to them. Most of them still smelled of dust no matter how many times I soaked them in vinegar. I have had more luck with thrift shop clothes.

I was thinking about the lovingkindness books. Kristin Neff is a self compassion researcher, and she says that compassion for others is wired into us, probably as a way to preserve our species, but that self-compassion isn't, and that you have to trick yourself at first in order to apply the same type of compassion that you naturally have for others to yourself. We have to treat ourselves as we'd naturally treat others, and that can be hard to do, for me, at least!

Anyway, hope you can rest up and feel all better today!!

 

[liza3]

I'm glad you chose to stay home and didn't push yourself out the door Cate. i hope you're feeling better.

I imagine this rug being made by a grandmother who is no longer living. I love it & see the love that went into making it. I must get around op shops more. Unfortunately most clothing smells of fragrance & I don't notice until I get it home & I often can't get rid of it, even soaking it in milk & then bicarb & vinegar. I currently have a puffer jacket airing outside after a good soak. It cost $8 & fits me & I'm hoping will become my golf buggy coat.

Yes I know what you mean about clothes being covered in fragrance that's impossible to wash out. I'm not sensitive to fragrances so I don't really mind, but I always notice my second hand clothes smelling for a few washes before the smell is finally gone. I hope your jacket airs out ok--sounds like a really good find!

Thanks, M. It's funny but I hadn't considered T a "friend" until then. She met up with us about halfway around & came for a ride in my cart. After a while, I told her that I had made her something the night before after she had rung & when I gave it to her she was a little bit teary & seemed overwhelmed. I said it was a new thing that I had just started doing & how much I loved making them & that I made them with love. She held on tight to her heart. We had some good talks as we went around & she shed a few tears. I think I have helped her get back into playing again & I feel that I opened that door. The day was a memorial for her best friend who I know she must miss. I also think she'll buy herself a golf cart.

I love how this whole heart project is such an act of opening to others. It's such a nice tangible gesture of offering one's heart to another!

 

[Emilyrose]

I hope that the day at home did you good and you are feeling a lot better, Cate. I wouldn't delay going to the doctor if you don't.

 

[Llama]

I hope you feel better soon, Cate. I love your heart stories!

 

[Cate]

@alligatorob Thrift shops here are actually called Op shops (short for opportunity) which is a good way of looking at them. I love them, especially the ones in other towns where I don't know as many people. I must put my rug on the back seat of my car today.
"Always a good day when we can make a new friend, or turn just an acquaintance into a friend!" It is.
I woke up this morning feeling much better thanks, Rob. A day's rest did me a lot of good.

@Marsia Thanks, M. I only felt like having oranges yesterday & veggies & really did have a quiet, self-care day. I tried doing some housework at one stage but abandoned it as a joke & curled back up in my chair in front of the fire with a pot of peppermint tea.
I think the soaking & airing has worked with the jacket. Soaking really strong-smelling clothes in a solution of full-cream milk powder & fairly hot water for a day or so & then again in a solution of bicarb soda & vinegar with water for another day & then a normal wash & an air dry will work for almost anything. After doing all that if there's still a fragrance smell clothes go back to the op shop. It works best for natural materials.
I really need to do some work on myself regarding self-compassion. I have been very self-critical lately. I might make myself some hearts this week.

@liza3 Thanks, Liza. I'm glad I didn't push myself out the door too. My body needed that day at home doing nothing. I think I may have something that has been going around. I think having covid last year probably weakened my lungs a bit more. I feel so much better this morning.
"It's such a nice tangible gesture of offering one's heart to another!"
That is just how it feels, Liza. I am offering an open heart xo

@Emilyrose. Thanks, Em. I am feeling so much better today. I do need to make a longer appointment soon to see a doctor for my annual care plan & I might ask for a chest x-ray.

@Llama I do feel much better, thanks Llama. Still feel a bit short of breath but not mucky. Making & giving hearts makes me feel so good. I have to keep an eye out for some more felt in different colours, especially some greens. There are two(actually 3) people who I envisage making green hearts for, one of them my sister (one M's daughter, K) & the other....

Our GS is visiting today. He rang yesterday when I was feeling rotten. I tried putting him off until next week by saying I had a chest infection but he really wanted to visit today with his new GF who also has a chest infection so what is a grandma to say? Luckily I am feeling a lot better. I really love him & I love that he misses us & wants us to meet his new GF. They're coming for lunch. G is going to whip up a frittata. I had better get on the move.

 

[Llama]

Your GS wanting you to meet his new girlfriend is so sweet! Glad you're already feeling a bit better but please take it easy: having two different chest infections simultaneously or one after the other would be miserable.

 

[Cate]

He is an absolute sweetheart, Llama & his new GF is lovely. She is also a smart cookie & is an OT. We got along well & had a lovely lunch. I'm back in my chair with a pot of herbal tea next to me & I don't think I'll be going anywhere much for a couple of days. I cut G's hair this morning & did a bit of a vacuum while he was showering & before my shower & that was enough to know that I need to take it easy. G took Arch for a walk before they got here.
They made a 120 km return trip just to catch up with us which was lovely.

 

[liza3]

I'm glad the visit with your grandson and girlfriend went well despite you not feeling that great. I hope you can have a nice restful couple of days and that you are back to feeling good again soon.

 

[Marsia]

I'll have to try the milk powder. That makes a lot of sense it would help with smells as the people I grew up around gave their dogs baths in milk if they ran into a skunk. K will love a green heart! Glad you are taking it easy and that you had such a nice visit with your grandson and his girlfriend. I feel similarly about K's boyfriend. I remember how long it took to get to the point where my chest was ok after I caught what I think was Covid before the pandemic began. I kept getting wheezy breathing and shortness of breath every time I caught a cold for about a half a year afterwards. Glad you are loading up on citrus and tea and hope you have a snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug time relaxing by the fire!!

 

[Cate]

I'm glad the visit with your grandson and girlfriend went well despite you not feeling that great. I hope you can have a nice restful couple of days and that you are back to feeling good again soon.

Thanks, Liza. I don't think I'll be going anywhere & I'm not going to try to play golf tomorrow as it would be so heavy going. I'll listen to my body. It says rest.

I'll have to try the milk powder. That makes a lot of sense it would help with smells as the people I grew up around gave their dogs baths in milk if they ran into a skunk.

The milk powder usually works. My younger sister gives me all of these tips. She somehow gives herself a milk bath after being exposed to fragrance when she's out. She's always masked & wears a silk overshirt that I gave her which I think she leaves outside when she gets back home but often has to treat herself with the milk solution. I must ask her how she does it.

K will love a green heart!

I need to buy some more felt as I haven't got any green, but I will have a look online.

Glad you are taking it easy and that you had such a nice visit with your grandson and his girlfriend. I feel similarly about K's boyfriend. I remember how long it took to get to the point where my chest was ok after I caught what I think was Covid before the pandemic began. I kept getting wheezy breathing and shortness of breath every time I caught a cold for about a half a year afterwards. Glad you are loading up on citrus and tea and hope you have a snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug time relaxing by the fire!!

I don't think my lungs will ever recover as it's an accumulation of years of allergies, long-term exposure to cigarette smoke in the Pub, developing Asthma in my 30s & having Pneumonia two years in a row after having flu & then getting covid last year. Poor lungs!
I'll do the best I can to get better & I'm in front of the fire with Arch at the moment. It might just be time for a pot of tea & an orange. I have a little housework I should do but it won't be much.
Edit: I just ordered some more pure wool felt. I got a few different greens & a batch of Autumn colours.

 

[Marsia]

Wow, a milk bath sounds really soothing. Let me know if you try it, I'm curious. Wow, that's a lot of stress for your poor lungs, I agree. Good to hear you are taking it easy and I hope you like the pure wool felt. That sounds luxurious. I always really loved my grandmother's wool yard. It was extra rich colors with how well it held the dye and looked extra saturated and special. That's nice you have your doggo to curl up by the fire with!