Friday Musings - Vacuums; how exciting!

My vacuum cleaner died yesterday. Sad really, it had served me well for nearly 20 years. 

No it wasn't sad, I hated the d......mn thing. It was heavy to lug around. It refused to follow me and kept jamming itself up against the furniture. And when it did a dummy spit it turned Turtle and refused to move. I am sure it had a mind of its own!
That Vacuum I am sure hated me as much as I hated it.

Anyhow, I went off to the vacuum cleaner shop thinking that buying a new vacuum would be easy.

I was feeling rather pleased with myself as  I had looked on the internet and thought I had found one that would do the job at a price I was happy with. According to the web site the shop was open until 9 pm, so as it was only 6.45 I had plenty of time to get there and make my purchase. Wrong! On arrival I discovered that the shop was closed at 5.30 - just goes to show  you can't believe everything you read on the Internet!

So back again I went this morning. On entering the shop I found that I was surrounded by Vacuum cleaners of all shapes, sizes and colours. And of course, various prices.

A very nice man came to assist me with my purchase and this is where things started to get complicated. 

It seems that due to the regulations changing ( don't you love Government regulations? Ha!) you now have to choose a Vacuum cleaner to suit your type of floor covering. No longer does " one size fit all". So I went through a series of questions like: "Do you have mostly carpet?" "Do you have pets?" "Which colour vacuum would you like?" (Some Vacuums seem to come in a range of colour these days - I hope the colours make them work better)

The upshot of all this is that I ended up buying a Vacuum cleaner that cost me more than I had planned, came with two cleaning heads instead of one like my old monster but is a pretty purple colour! 

I think I shall call it "Violet". Then perhaps I shall feel more kindly towards it when I have to clean my floors. 

Housework has never been one of my favorite occupations but thinking about  "Violet"  helping me with the job seems nicer than just "vacuuming the floor". I am hoping that my relationship with "Violet" will be one of efficiency and co-operation and dare I say it - affection. 

Hilary Thompson
The Out and About Therapist

Sunday Musings - Dogs and People

I was back at Brighton Beach again this morning. It was a lovely warm and clear morning, a lovely day to get out and about. There were people swimming, walking, cycling, boating, fishing. Everyone enjoying a warm late spring morning at the beach.

People and Pets at Brighton Beach South Australia

Mates at the Beach

As it was still early there were many people exercising their dogs on the beach. The dogs are always so happy, chasing balls, running into the sea, meeting other dogs and generally having a great time. 
They seem to have smiles on their faces. There was no aggressive behaviour  between the dogs, they greeted each other as old friends.

It was the same with the people. People smiled at each other, said "Good Morning". One lady stopped me to make sure I had noticed the Dolphins swimming out from the beach. People stopped and chatted to each other. It was lovely.

So here's the thing. If we can be friendly with each other when we are walking on the beach on a Sunday morning, why can't we be friendly to each other all the time?

Are we all so afraid of other people being better than we are, having more than we have; or that someone might take something from us?

If that is the case then it is time we let go the fear and treat everyone as we would like to be treated ourselves.

Just imagine what a difference that would make to our relationships and our life.

Hilary Thompson
The Out and About Therapist
Facilitator at Flourishing Relationships Retreats