What I Found In July (and August)

August 27, 2016September 11, 2016 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 12 Comments

http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2014/10/loaded-potato-soup/

Loaded Potato Soup – find the recipe here

http://www.thehappyhomeblog.com/2016/07/beautifying-and-highlighting.html

Photo by Belinda Graham – The Happy Home

Hi Friends,

Well I am well and truly late off of the block this month putting together my “What I Found ” post for July so I thought I would do a two for one at this stage and include some lovely things I found in August and who knows I might just find myself slightly ahead.

Now if your wondering why I’m telling you what I found in July and August ? Well its a way of tricking myself into paying more attention to what I might be learning along the way. So I’m taking notice of what I’m doing and enjoying and finding because that has a way of telling us things too.

“When we begin to see the ordinary as worthy of a closer look, everything changes” Shannan Martin

And who doesn’t love a good find.

So let’s just get to the big one straight up – – –

Unknown-5

I found a job

I’ll fill you in real quick.

At the start of this year I knew in that way you just know things that there were going to be some changes. Exactly what that looked like I didn’t know but I had this idea that it might involve me getting a job. Early 2016 things “felt” different even before they were. It “felt” like Ken was now home even while he was still flying back and forward to Western Australia for work and me – – – I had this odd feeling of being at a bit of a loose end, like I was just marking time – weirdly unsettling for a homebody like me – normally so totally content pottering around fixing up my house, writing, DIYing etc. The job search had begun but despite many a job application there were no employers falling over each other trying to get to me. Deafening silence in fact. Very encouraging and confidence boosting.

Its a strange feeling when you sense a change but nothing has really changed. Like living in limbo – – – applying for all types of jobs, waiting, scared stiff I might actually get one and have to start living this different life. I’ve never done the real life working mum gig before and I wasn’t at all convinced I had what it takes.The thought of change – particularly if its out of my nice cozy area of “expertise” — well it has a way of truly rattling me. Anyone else?

Any hoo we hit crisis point in June and as it goes it often takes a good crisis to get me moving. So with a fire freshly lit under me, I went at it with a bit more gusto and in the space of a few weeks I had two jobs on offer. Still scared, still wondering if I could really do this but in with both feet.

Sometimes we are waiting for all our questions to be answered before we move forward but really we just need to move. What we need for the journey doesn’t turn up until we are on our way, until we get started.

I wrote this Women Connect post about the starting.

On Leaning into the Curve ~ 20th July, 2016

Today I start a new job. Its officially only a part time job but I have to turn up there on time, five days a week for six – eight hours in presentable clothes, with my hair done and probably some make up on. I haven’t had to do that for a very long time. I’ve had the luxury of staying home with my kids —- probably for longer than I should have.

Its exciting because new things bring new possibilities but to tell you the truth – I’m freaking out just a little bit.

I’m concerned about a few things.

that I might I hate it

that I might not be able to keep up

that my house will look like a tip after a week

that my life will be a blur of work at work and work at home and not much else

that I’ll miss out on time and activities with the kids

that I’ll shrivel up for lack of time to do the things that make me come alive on the inside

Now I know that there are those that thrive on routine and being super organised and running a tight ship and right about now I wish I was one of them. See I thrive on making things look nice and stringing words together and lots of quiet and wafting around planting things in my garden and taking photos and doing projects and I’ve got used to generally having a whole lot of unscheduled time. Can you see why I’m a bit worried?

Talk is cheap until your in at the deep end.

Change, weather its welcome or unwelcome or a weird combination of both brings challenges and uncertainty and moments of sheer panic and all sorts of adjustments and working things out all over again.

But heres what I know.

That this is the right thing for right now.

That this is what the grace of God is for – to help us do what we are scared we can’t do. To help us do what we haven’t a chance of doing on our own.

Grace to negotiate the curve, when your leaned way over and your ear feels awfully close to the ground. Thats where the grace is – between your soft side and the ground.

I’m counting on it.

Grace like an oil that makes a new wheel thats sticking a bit (or an old one! ) begin to turn and move with ease. Like an ointment that softens and heals – you can feel it doing you good. A buffer between us and the sharp edges of a new season. Its room to breath when air seems short.

While I’m yet to find out how this new season will play out what I can encourage you and myself with is, whatever the season you are currently in, whatever the curve your negotiating – lean into it, He’s got you, your not hurtling out of control, your in the process of getting somewhere new. God is there with you and there is plentiful grace.

And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. Romans 8:28 Amplified

So no more driving the kids to school in my nightie and now that I’m more than a month in here’s what I’ve found:

It didn’t take a week – the house looked like a tip about three days in – – – – but we’ve bounced back – — – sort of.

www.waterintowineblog.com

You know that old saying about the less time you have the more you get done. Well its kinda true. I still seem to be getting the basics done even with far less time to do it. I’ve just started doing a couple of things each night when I get home in addition to the normal round of feeding and lunch packing and uniform washing. I clean one thing, fold one basket of clothes, hang out one load of washing, write one paragraph. The iPhone time is just set permanently to twenty minutes. Ethan and Olivia are now doing a couple of chores of there own – which is nothing short of miraculous in itself.

It’s not pristine, its not all done, it never was.

We haven’t starved – turns out there is a Woolworths supermarket about three feet up the street from my work and in the direction that I walk. Small mercies that make a whole world of difference.

And it seems I’ve turned into one of those mums. You know the ones that use slow cookers and actually think about what there having for dinner before the clock hits five. I read on one of my favourite blogs a year or more ago “If I have an onion sautéing by 9 am, good things are bound to happen!” Life in Grace. Now that was a dialect I just didn’t comprehend at the time. A cup of coffee by 9am yes. An onion sautéing – ah no. Well things have a way of changing and in the last month I had said onion on the go at 7am. Here’s proof.

This all got put into the slow cooker with stock, Italian soup mix, pasta sauce and a few other random ingredients. Slow cookers are magical things. You can throw just about anything in them and it tastes good by the end of the day. I wont start with handing out recipes because I tend to just use whatever I have on hand but there are some amazing soup and slow cooker recipes right here on Edie’s blog. I’ve tried a few. You won’t be sorry. She is known as the soup whisperer for a reason. And these two posts of hers are a great read if you need a bit of inspiration in the kitchen.

Five Ways To Bring The Magic Back To Your Kitchen

http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/category/homemaking/from-my-kitchen/ — Life In Grace

My Best Trick For Getting Dinner On The Table

I don’t hate it – in fact this job feels like it was kinda made for me. I’m sitting down (ha), I work on my own but there are people around, I’m learning something new and interesting, its a supportive and friendly work place, I’m helping people – LOVE DOING THAT – I’m all good. The only down side is getting my head around a very complex computer system, remembering all the details and making sure I’m ticking all the boxes but I’m up for the challenge.

Yes it’s tiring – I’m sure you know all about it. The everyday push to be up and organised and have the kids to school on time and me to work on time is a challenge and exhausting but all in all we are not too much worse for wear. I know that my tiredness has me sitting down enjoying things with the kids a little more than I once did so there is an upside there.

I haven’t shrivelled up for lack of time to do things I love – theres less time for it and in shorter spurts but I’m appreciating the little pockets of time that I do have to write, take photos, do projects etc. And what I hadn’t thought about before I started was this lovely thing called a lunch break where I can sit on my own and read or write or go for a walk undisturbed without the pressure of thinking I should be doing something else. Heaven

www.waterintowineblog.com

So if I have learnt anything I think its that seasons change and if we give ourselves half a chance we go on and change with them and the changes often suit us better than we ever imagine they will. Amazing

So to a few other finds

In the Op Shop

Another travel book for the handsome sum of $1 which of course is not so much about the places this lady travelled but about the personal journey she was on.

Without Reservation, The Travels of An Independen t Woman by Alice Steinbach starts with this.

There are years that ask questions and years that answer” Zora Neale Hurston

And this

It was a lesson I hoped to learn in the months ahead: how to stop rushing from place to place always looking ahead to the next thing while the moment in front of me slipped away unnoticed.

Need I say more except that I was very happy to join in on the journey. In each destination Alice writes herself a postcard and posts it home to herself. The postcards become a kind of travel memoir, preserving and recapturing the feelings of certain moments during the trip, a missal of the moment rather than a remembered observation of a past event.

You can read a review and find a copy here.

In My Garage

www.waterintowineblog.com

This stack of chippy old plates. But not just any old chippy plates – they are Wedgwood “Queens Plain” – part of the set we received as a wedding present. Yes the “good set” that we used everyday for everyday use because I’m not one to put things away to gather dust when they could be gracing my dinner table. And when you use things the way we do they chip, Wedgwood and all. We still use the huge soup bowls which somehow survived our rough treatment but most of the dinner plates and smaller bowls were relegated to the garage. I couldn’t throw them out though, I knew I’d want them at some stage for some reason. So after reading this post I’m thinking they need a little Kintsugi love.

Not sure it will be at all easy because of the decorative edges and the obvious curve but I’ll let you know how it goes.

In amongst my sons reptile paraphernalia

This light cage was doing nothing useful and looked to me like it needed a plant in it.

So take one light cage, add fibre from palm in the front yard, potting mix and a sweet little slightly worse for wear “FlapJack” succulent that needed a new home. Took about fifteen minutes.

www.waterintowineblog.com

Hasn’t died yet – most succulents don’t which is why I love them so much. Any little projects happening at your place??

In my Inbox

This post that caught me heart soul and spirit. about “receiving your life”. Not summer here in Aus but applies the same to any season of life. Too good.

How to Receive Your Own Summer Life, by Marian Vischer

and this one

Hospitality and the Secret Power of Weakness by Micha Boyett

On my phone

My new favourite IG feed. The Jungalow. It’s colourful, vintagy, mismatched, with oodles of green leafy things and just enough white space to make me want to move into some of these spaces. Heres a few of my favourite images.

Oh those green subway tiles !!! Find The Jungalow on Instagram here and the blog here

In my back yard

A few pot plants that the chooks haven’t eaten and that are loving the spot I have put them in. Sometimes its a bit of trial and error and moving things around to find just the right spot light and shade wise to suit a particular plant. These ones are all smiles.

www.waterintowineblog.com

And remember this fence paling planter I made. Well everything I put in for ever so long died a quick death. I tried numerous places and plants and everywhere was either too hot (or too shady) or who knows but I think it finally likes its current position because I found that the last lot of tiny cuttings I put in there are actually growing. Yay!!

www.waterintowineblog.com

So that’s my finds for July and August. Found anything interesting your way? Would love to here.

Tracey xx

Linking up with Inspire Me Monday Link Party, Celebrate Your Story and Works For Me Wednesday

Woven with Gold

August 5, 2016August 27, 2016 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 8 Comments

I read this earlier in the week:

Perfect spaces, perfect people, perfect things – they are not real to me. Add a little wonkiness to a house, some mess to the waves of someone’s hair or a few tell-tale signs of age on items and they become more interesting to me. And usually more beautiful. Recently I read about Kintsugi – a Japanese art form that sees damaged items repaired with gold (or silver). Rather than throw away broken crockery or smooth over cracks in rendered walls, the imperfections are highlighted with gold leaf and sealed with lacquer, creating an interesting feature of a home or allowing a favourite plate to continue dishing out your meals – with a little bling on the side. The method humanises things – giving them some attention, patching them up and letting them continue on their merry way rather than just giving up on them at the first sign of a breakdown. It’s giving even the most ho-hum items a history, a story and a chance to shine. The Happy Home

How beautiful is that. Now that’s a language I understand.

A language of reclamation and second chances and never too broken.

For the least of, the worn out, the flawed, the done in.

I think maybe God knows a thing about Kintsugi – all of us a bit dinged up, with our chippy edges and bits worn thin. Even cracked right through in places

And of course we think it puts us out of the game, one of the ones to be kept for sentiment but of no real use, too damaged, not worth it, the fault lines too deep.

Except that they make room for gold.

And leave room for redemption.

They make space for the beautiful and transformative to happen, right there where the damage is. In the ravine a reworking of our hearts, a different story – a richer one, increase in the place we feel empty, filled – not thrown out.

“Courage usually shows up in the cracks” Micha Boyett

The cracks are where the grace gets in.

Where mercy does its work.

I know – we want to show our smooth undamaged side to each other but I’m not sure I’ve got one anymore and maybe that’s OK. We think that’s the best bit of us or maybe the acceptable bit, but truly the best bit is our own unique shape of imperfection and redemption and coming back from the brink all bumpy with scar lines but woven in with gold. That’s a story I want to hear, that’s the bit that shines, that has the power to reach others. Lets not hide ourselves away for want of perfection.

The real us, the real story ——- that’s where there’s gold.

I’ll leave you with this:

“I am struck by how sharing our weakness and difficulties is more nourishing to others than sharing our qualities and successes.” ― Jean Vanier, Community And Growth

And this

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

Love to you all today

Tracey xx

Got a minute? You can read Belinda’s full post on her Kintsugi experience here. Inspiring!!

Linking up today with Celebrate Your Story, Three Word Wednesday, Grace at Home and Bloggers Pitstop

athome

Three Word Wednesday www.kristinhilltaylor.com BannerW200a celebrate-your-story-link-party-5

Five Minute Friday – Create

July 18, 2016July 18, 2016 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 14 Comments

Five Minute Friday early on a Monday morning while the house is still asleep.

Prompt word, five minutes, just write.

This weeks word.

Create

create-600x600

‘I was once asked: “How do you know you are living?” and I said, “I create, so I know I am living.”‘ – Florence Broadhurst

We create to make a mark, to express ourselves, to show up, because we can’t not.

We create by an act of our will, with just the tiniest slither of an idea, with only a pinpoint of a thought, by sheer determination, straight out of thin air sometimes.

Creating doesn’t rely on ideal conditions or a perfect plan, it doesn’t require flashes of brilliance or strokes of genius or even mind boggling talent – – – – thank God because where would that leave most of us. That would be my creating done and dusted right there. That’s me packed up and gone home before I’ve written a word, or taken a photo or arranged one room.

Creating doesn’t start with any of those things.

It starts with starting.

The first stroke of the brush, the first sweep of the broom, the first line of the story, the first stem in the vase, the first sketch in the note pad, the first phone call or conversation.

And when you start more comes – – – –

More ideas, more insight, more understanding, more clarity, more know how – – – –

More than what we thought.

I see it time and time again, you start with what you have, doubts, misgiving, second guessing and all, throw yourself at it and somewhere along the line it takes on a shape and form and a life that you couldn’t imagine when you began. Hoped for maybe. I call it the God breathed part, more than what I could do, so much more than the sum of its simple and fumbling parts.

It starts with starting.

Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with shaking hands. Start voice trembling but start. Start and don’t stop. Start where you are, with what you have . Just – – – start. @myinspiredmind

Creating is risk though. Multiple risk. We risk it not turning out the way we think it will. We risk failure, we risk criticism, we risk it not being as fabulous or as amazing as we want it to be, we risk an indifferent audience, we risk losing control, we risk it not contributing anything, we risk being misunderstood – – – – – its all a risk but the other option is to not create a thing and in that we create a poorer life.

Creating is part of our living, part of our being human. To make something out of nothing, out of the dust of this life, we feel more connected , more alive, we feel His breath, its worth the risk.

Love to you all today

Tracey xx

What I Found In June

July 8, 2016September 9, 2016 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 20 Comments

Hi friends – something a little new here on the blog at this half way point of the year.

https://www.instagram.com/brushed_interiors/?hl=en

I have long wanted to join in with Emily P Freeman’s monthly post and link up called “What I Have Learnt” which covers anything from the profound to the trivial to the simply fun that she has learnt in the month just gone. (You can read one here)

The thing I’ve found though as months have come and gone, is that I’m not all that great at articulating what I have been learning, big, small or anything else. Any one else like that? But I would like to be. So as a way of easing /tricking myself into paying more attention to what I’m learning, I thought I’d start by paying attention to what I’m doing and enjoying and finding because that tells us things too. Worth a try. So this is my first “What I have Found” end of month post. It‘ll be things I have found at the op shop or online or possibly in my garage because I’m always finding random things in there to paint or fix up or reminisce over. Remember this find? It will be things I’ve found interesting, fun or inspiring as well and maybe some others I haven’t thought of yet. There will be an element of “just because I like it and you might too” with hopefully a good balance of house shaped and heart shaped finds.

So yes I am going to just go ahead and assume that you are as interested in a good find as I am. So here goes and if you have a favourite find yourself feel free to share in the comments.

Lets start with something practical.

1. I found this cane basket at my favourite op shop – yes I know its just a basket like a million others and I know they’re not at the top of everyones must have list, but me – I have a soft spot for a sturdy cane basket. They’re just the handiest things to have around and this one just so happens to have helped turn my school morning rush around. I started putting it on the corner of kitchen bench in the morning and throwing everything I need for the day when I walk out the door in it. Wallet, phone, book, glasses, snack, paperwork/letters etc. Now you might think ” well I have a handbag for that purpose”. Good point and I do too but it wont sit neatly on my bench – it falls over and I can’t see into it at a glance – so this just works better for me. Now I don’t take it into the shops or to the bank or out for coffee because I am not 3 (or 90 for that matter). It just it sits on the passenger seat in the car and I have things at hand when I need them.

2. This well loved copy of Under The Tuscan Sun. Found in a rambling country shop in Berrima on a cold, blustery and wet Saturday afternoon when most normal people were at home. So warm and cosy in the shop we hid out in there for a good while and my apologies to the owner, despite the loveliest range of clothing, artworks, stationary and homewares all I bought was this book off the 2nd hand book rack.

www.waterintowineblog.com

So of course I’m reading Under the Tuscan Sun a good 10 years after most every body else has. The movie is one of my favourites and as many a movie goes they didn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story which is fine by me but its been a feast to read the original memoir where the countryside and the food and the buildings and Bramisole itself are the leading characters. And as with all books your drawn head and shoulders into it’s not long before you find some of yourself hidden in there. Its always these stories of fixing up and pulling straight and uncovering beauty that’s been there all along that speak to me loudest and hold me longer.

We arrive at the house dazed by the events and the grappa. Anna and Lucia have washed the windows and exorcised layers of dust as well as many spiders webs. The second floor bedroom that opens onto a brick terrace gleams. They’ve made the bed with new blue sheets and left the terrace doors open to the sound of cuckoos and wild canaries in the linden trees. We pick the last of the pink roses on the front terrace and fill two old Chianti bottles with them. The shuttered room with its white washed walls, just waxed floors, pristine bed with new sheets, and sweet roses on the windowsill, all lit with a dangling forty-watt bulb seem as pure as a Franciscan cell. As soon as I walk in, I think it is the most perfect room in the world. page 23

What this snippet leaves out is the total shambles the rest of the place is in. Too good. So during this cold and rainy June I’ve had a little trip to the warm Italian country side each time I pick it up. What drew me in – apart from all of it – wasn’t the idea of escaping to an idyllic life in Italy (although who would argue) but the theme of appreciating and celebrating the good and simple things in life and the reminder for me that that has much less to do with location than we might think. This Instagram feed has been a perfectly timed slideshow to my reading.#tuscanywritersretreat

3. Speaking of books I found out how to reduce my long list of “must read” books without spendings big $. (My kindle for mac app has had one lonely book downloaded on it for ever and my Pinterest board of Books To Read was getting longer and longer). So I now follow the authors of the various books I want to read on Instagram and they very nicely let you know when the kindle version of their books are on sale. $1.99 for some, $2.99 for others. Now thats a find.

(Another option is to subscribe to the Amazon daily deal and it is tailored according to your search history. How handy is that). So I think I might have gone and learnt something after all and it’s just how much I love to have a good read on hand. A good book – like a friend you can always turn to for a little quiet, solace or even a laugh. Not all of them deep and soul searching, some just a soft place to fall.

4. Next find was a couple of Fan Iris’s.

www.waterintowineblog.com

Now I would really love to say I found them at a beautiful nursery that sold amazing plants and pots and coffee and homewares and that they called my name from across the top of my cappuccino – – – but I can’t. I found them on sale in BIG W. Yes thats just how glamorous things get around here.

So I mention Fan Irises like I chose them especially but I’ve had two empty cement planters for so long that I truly didnt care what went in them. The tags on the Iris’s said “loves pots”, there were two, they matched, they were on sale – so Fan Irises it is. I’m hoping with a bit of TLC they might show me some blooms at the appropriate time.

5. I found this short, to the point but truly inspiring post “A Filmmakers Journey” by Mitch Teemley.

It’s my goal as a filmmaker to impact people’s lives. But will I? How many people will remember Over-the-Rhine (or my name, “baby”) a thousand years from now? Heck, how many people will remember it five years from now?

Five Minute Friday – Want

June 12, 2016September 9, 2016 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 12 Comments

www.katemotaung.com

Sunday here now but it works just the same.

Prompt word, five minutes, just write – no over editing, no overthinking.

This weeks prompt word:

WANT

I read this on Instagram yesterday

“Grateful that some things didn’t work out the way I once wanted them to” (myinspired mind)

Oh me too. Arent we all.

Yet we were so sure at the time that we knew exactly what we wanted – that person, that job, that home, that opportunity, that group of friends, that phone call – and not at all impressed that it didn’t go to plan. Yet looking back later, much later sometimes – so grateful that there was a different plan.

But there’s lots I want right now.

I want to do things that matter.

I want to contribute.

I want to be a good mother and wife.

I want to be thinner.

I want a lovely cushy “statement” rug for the lounge room floor.

I want fire warming the house each night during these wintery months.

I want to see England and America, and Italy and – – – –

I want to have more adventures with my kids.

I want an uncluttered, comfy house.

I want to write good words.

– – – – and that’s the short list.

Some wants hold more weight then others, some run deeper. Some get me up in the morning and have me doing things I don’t necessarily feel like doing. Some take work. Some have me putting other things I want aside for a while. Others are sweet day dreams, “one day”, “all in good time”, “won’t it be nice when” kind of wants. Then there are those that are deep down where only God can see – the ones that make you cry – the contour of them only God knows.

I’m not sure “want” is the dirty word we often think it is. Wanting keeps us looking and foraging and mining the depths of what’s possible. Wanting keeps us growing and changing. I think God created us rich and diverse and hungering.

But we don’t want it to ruin us. To make us miserable and ungrateful. We don’t want it to blind us to how good and rich where we are right now is, even when its not all good.

Maybe the wanting isn’t really the issue.

Maybe its what we do when we don’t get what we want. What we do when we think its all gone pear shaped. It’s what we learn and how we navigate this life when we don’t neccessarily get what we want in the colour or shape or size we ordered it in or it just doesn’t arrive at all. And right there is where most of our living is done – in the place we never planned for, the unwanted zone.

But its where the magic can happen all the same. Where the near to God -ness can truly happen. Where we can find more and better and true- er than what we thought we wanted. Where our hands get dirty and our hearts get broken yet we come through wholer than what we were anyway.

David found out about wanting at the sharp and pointy end of life. Found out that he could be good and OK and not needing a thing right now because he had God with him. We can assume these words were said by one at their ease, fully satisfied by life rather than one running for his life, alone, accused, defenceless , all at a loss – – – – but God. A man who out the depths of a place he had never planned or wanted to be, was able to say “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”. Now theres a thing or two I’ll spend my lifetime learning.

Not what we would choose, not what we want – – – – – but just as well we don’t always get what we want.

I wrote this recently (not in five minutes):

We would choose an easier way with saner people if it was up to us. We would choose less heart wrenching, less exhausting and less scary. We’d choose people we could get a handle on, not so messy and mixed up. We’d choose bigger and better and looking good while we do it. We’d choose things we feel more qualified for.

So just as well we don’t always choose, because we’d choose the easy way and we would never find out what we are made of, we’d never reach deep, we’d never lay hold of the miracle of God in us and God flowing out of us. We’d never discover that it’s not just about us, that it’s so much more. We’d never discover what He has put us here for, we’d miss the eternal – – – – we’d miss the whole point of it. On Making a Difference

Love to you all today

Tracey xx

How I Do Five Minute Friday

So if you haven’t read a FMF post of mine before I’ll let you know how it works for me. I go to the host site Heading Home and see the prompt word usually on a Friday. Many a time I see it and just call it a day right then and there but this week I was determined. I never read any other FMF posts already linked up there before I have done mine – it would just totally skew my thinking about the word and defeat the purpose of it – which is free writing. I give myself some thinking time and may not come back to it till the next day but mostly the ideas or real thoughts only come when I start to write anyway. I set my iphone timer and write fast for five minutes – whatever ideas come. After that I will spend up to half an hour fixing typos and grammar, adding any links needed and making sure I actually make sense (even partially will do) because no one wants to read my unedited, un previewed ramblings. I don’t add any new ideas to the ones already there even though its very tempting to add in a fancier word or another thought – but I do round ideas and sentences out, rejig them a bit so it flows. It may not be a true five minutes (more a 45 minutes) on my part but I find it a great free writing exercise that gets the words flowing without me over thinking and something good(hopefully) being said.

Got a minute? You can read other FMF posts here.