Are you superstitious?

I don’t believe I am in the traditional sense. But just to be on the safe side I Googled ‘Superstitious’. Which of course suggests that I might be.

I like to stick to plans and behaviours that I know work in certain scenarios.

But contrarily I absolutely encourage and rely on happenstance and serendipity to often take me in the right direction.

I would say my next two weeks will be fairly Admin and paperwork* heavy as an organisation that I do some work for heads towards an  AGM.

*

• Why do we even call it paperwork when for the most part no paper is involved in 2026.
• Today I will be delving into actual paper files, how very retro is that.

Meetings,Exams,Presentations all require more or less the same procedure. Ongoing work, preparation, planning and voila! The Culmination. Whatever it is.

I always throw in something extra, without it the whole process becomes way too droll. Yesterday I threw in a visit to an art exhibition and today a little bit of gardening. Without my ‘something extras’ I always believe the more serious stuff of life is more likely to fail.  So in that one paragraph I have demonstrated that I am indeed superstitious.

Not based on fear, ignorance or a reliance on luck, black magic or faith. Based on experience.

For this blog the ‘ something extras’ are often the joyful nugget or maybe the happy ending.

This blog gets both.

The joyful nugget of the paperwork was writing a report to our local council, sharing all the good works and events that our little club has done for the benefit and wellness of our local community.

The happy ending was a visit to an exhibition of Tapestry. Honestly I know nothing about weaving and tapestry. I set myself a target of three images to enjoy and natter about.

I love this, I cannot imagine the hours  of work that have gone into this. Hanging on this gorgeous brick wall just adds to the impact. Which leads me on to the next two images.

The heat was palpable and vivid from this beautiful tapestry.  Like finding a warm fire in a cold castle.

Then image three caught my eye, an actual fireplace almost camouflaged in a wall that was almost like a tapestry itself.

And so with my admin head reset I will traverse a paper mountain of cardboard files, actual paper and ‘Old School’ archiving. Will I be charmed or frustrated. To be continued.

Today I visited ,

Source: British Tapestry Group https://share.google/X8AvMkgY0rxw60PDC

Here are their set up pictures from their Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/britishtapestrygroup?igsh=c3ZuZHlxd2pzZGxt

Below a link to a video of the show.

What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

I would swap out the word helped with forced.

Early on in my journey as the parent of two young children both of my parents died.

There is a saying that no-one cares for a new mother who does not have her own mother. So true. X 2 without a father too.

There was minimal support from other relatives. I survived and ultimately thrived with the support of friends and strangers, some of whom became friends.

So many tough life experiences to encounter in a six year period.

Survival and the drive to be a good enough parent pushed, pulled and cajoled me though. Eventually when the mists of grief and responsibility cleared enough to take stock I realised that I had learned to live life as it was, and not how I wished or imagined it should be.

A valuable lesson I would rather not have been forced to learn. But one that is useful even when life feels awkward or uncomfortable.

Thank goodness I am not a virtuous type. I do grumpy, sad and disappointed with what life delivers at times. But adversity early on has given me all the tools to give myself a good talking to and a good kick up the bum when needed.

And here is the ponder, how on earth does anyone give themselves a kick up the backside. Physically impossible I would say.