Seasonal Adjustment...

"Street blogging may be considered to be a modern phenomenon, but a series of images unearthed by Kensington and Chelsea Libraries prove that the practice may date as far back as the early 1900’s." Mail Online

Aren't these images wonderful? When I saw them yesterday I was immediately struck by the way the women look so purposeful. The first one seems to me the epitome of the 'New Woman' - no frills, no fuss, shorter skirt and a fob watch that suggests she has no time to waste. Then we have the two women, possibly students, caught in conversation (possibly about those very books) and a woman described as a 'Shopgirl' trying to fit a little reading into her day.

Perhaps it was ever thus; women bustling along trying to fit everything into their busy day. Of course, that's just my interpretation from where I sit in my increasingly hectic life. This year wasn't meant to pan out this way. Both kids at school, only working part-time, this year was going to be a blast - reading, cooking, blogging , movies, finally learning to meditate - so why are so many of those things still on the 'to do' list? Two reasons really. The first is that I wildly under-estimated just how much I was doing when I was 'just minding children'. Turns out they were really just keeping me company as I cooked, cleaned, and ran countless errands which unfortunately still have to be done now that they are at school. I also underestimated how much time would be taken up in supporting children while they are at school - teaching children to read, to dress themselves, helping out in the classroom, introducing them to the joys of music, dance, competitive aerobics (I know, who knew?).

Then there's this damn fool idea I got into my head that now I had some 'free time' I could finally get around to doing some 'real' writing. You know how they say everyone has at least one book in them? Well, I'm one of those poor tormented souls that really believes the fairytale. So I've put all those other lovely things on my list to one side to give myself the time and space to flex my writing muscles and see whether or not I have the talent, and more importantly the stamina, to write something longer than a blog post. But time is a slippery devil. Every week as I try and carve out a time to sit down and write, something else comes crowding in (I have a sick child at home today, I've been working days I usually have off, there's been doctors and dentist appointments, school holidays...). So here I sit more than halfway through the year and what do I have to show for it? Well, I have children that are well on the whole (with nice teeth), an interesting job, very few blog posts, a growing pile of unread books and pages and pages of noted for a novel that's struggling to find it's way. Perhaps six months is not such a long time to find your feet when you are entering a new phase of your life? I'm not sure but I do know that I'm not going to give up now. I'm going to keep walking and reading at the same time just like 'Shopgirl' and hope and pray that I don't fall down a big hole.

How about you? Are you where you thought you'd be at this time of year? Have you revised your plans? Perhaps you don't do 'plans'?

PS: If you enjoyed the photos at the top of this post you can see more of them by photographer Edward Linley Sambourne here.