Image by Anja from PIxabay
Shopping Centres
It’s nearly Christmas! How’s your Christmas shopping going?
I don’t like shopping centres much anymore. Even before Covid I didn’t like them, but with Covid in our lives, more-so now. It’s the wrangling for a carpark, the crowds, the noise, and when you don’t go there much anymore – there’s the trying to find the store you’re looking for in a huge, multi-level shopping centre! I’m not a typical female because I really do not like shopping. I love to buy & get new stuff but I don’t enjoy browsing around shops or trying on a heap of clothes. If I do go to a shopping centre, I like to go knowing exactly what I want, which shops I need to go to, and then get what I want and get out of there ASAP. I used to spend a whole day at our closest big Westfield shopping centre every year leading up to every Christmas. I’d knock off most of my Christmas shopping and treat myself to some lunch out. I can’t bare the thought of that now. A whole day in a shopping centre carrying around a heap of bags (and the rest – see above). Nope. No thank you.
Image by justynafaliszek from Pixabay
Online Shopping & Parcel Deliveries
Nowadays I adore online shopping. It suits my needs perfectly. I can browse from the comfort of my own home, take time out from it whenever I want, and come back to it when it suits me. Once I’ve found what I’d like, it’s a simple matter of clicking a few keystrokes and voila … done! Then I can track the progress and await delivery. No crowds. No fighting for a car park or paying for a carpark! No carrying around heavy bags that cut off the circulation in your fingers. No getting lost and having to use those information machines to find the store I want. No loud annoying music. No anxiety. More ability to support local business!
So I’ve had quite a few parcels to arrive. So many in fact that I made a list to keep track! Most of my Christmas shopping is done now – browse, browse, click, click … done! I’ve only needed to physically visit a few local shops and the rest I’ve managed to purchase from the comfort of my own home.
Image by Myshun on Pixabay
Christmas Trees & Cats
On the subject of Christmas, I’m very late to the putting up the tree and decorating the house party. The reason for this is that we have a very HUGE Christmas tree and the one spot where it can fit and where it usually goes now contains cat trees and is in the room where the cats sleep overnight. There is no other space in the house big enough for the tree. So, the solution I finally came up with (for this year anyway) is to purchase a wee little tree and place it on the coffee table in the lounge room. This is a room where the cats are not allowed. The coffee table is big enough that presents will fit around the wee little Christmas tree too. I bought some battery powered lights and decorated it and voila! While I was at it, I popped the wreath on the front door and some decorations around the rest of the house where it was ‘cat safe’ to do so.
While I was putting up the wee little tree and decorating the house it got me thinking about Christmas spirit. Christmas Spirit is a ‘feeling’ we get but what brings this feeling to us? Is it things like Christmas decorations, the Christmas tree, Christmas lights and Christmas carols that bring it to us, or is it something else? I’m sure it is probably different for us all but anyway I’ve been wondering what conjures the Christmas Spirit for each of us so I’ll ask the question again at the end of this post and I’ll be interested to hear every thought on the subject!
Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart ~ “The Polar Express”
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Summer is Back!
So the aircon is back in daily use! Summer is here! I’ve even been in the pool twice (I’ll get in more when things settle down and I don’t have so much to do)! I don’t like being hot. I don’t like humidity. I do like floating around in the pool, and I am ever so grateful for it and our lovely ducted aircon when summer rolls around.
As I type this it’s dark and gloomy and I can hear distant rumbles of thunder. Storms are on the way. Yep – this is summer in Brisbane!
Image by DarkMoonArt_de from Pixabay
Bloggy Goals
I have a heap of travel posts that I’ve not completed. The main reason being I.TAKE.SO.MANY.PHOTOS!! Said photos are taken on my DSLR camera and thus need to be edited. Then there’s all the ones I take with my phone too! Sitting at the computer scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of images deciding which ones are worthy of editing and then editing them just somehow doesn’t seem to appeal to me (hence why I gave up on the being a photographer idea). BUT … I’m determined to get these posts done. So during 2021 expect to see:
- The final few posts from my 2015 trip to Tasmania (which I never got around to)
- A post on our few days up in the Bunya Mountains in 2017
- More posts on our very brief trip to Perth in 2017
- More posts from our Melbourne & Great Ocean Road trip in 2018
- A post on our 2020 post lockdown trip to Ballandean (near Stanthorpe) here in Queensland
- and there’s probably more!
There’s a lesson here. Stop taking so many photos Min! You take a heap of the one thing trying to get perfection. In the end you have too many photos and become so overwhelmed they never see the light of day. Just saying!
Bloggy Break
I’ll be posting my final 2020 Taking Stock post next week and in fact that will be my final post for 2020 and then I’ll be taking a bit of a break over the Christmas/New Year period. I’m not sure exactly when or what date my first 2021 post will be but we will all find out together in due course! Meanwhile, I’m not gone yet! I’ll be back next week!
What brings the Christmas Spirit to you? Do you like shopping? Do you have a cat and a Christmas tree? Please tell me all I need to know!
Ciao for now
16 Comments
Yes, it’s indeed time to wrap up for the year. My Share my Snaps will also be my last post for the year. Have a great break, get that writing done and be happy! (and Stay Negative!!)
I look forward to your final 2020 Share my Snaps post. You enjoy your break too. I think we all need one after the year that’s been 2020!
Nice pool you have, Min, and good solutions for your Christmas tree. We’re in lockdown so non-essential shopping like gift buying is online or curbside pickup only. I have my own tradition to walk around downtown at least once in December to see the decorations and feel the Christmas spirit. It’s always cool to cold and beautiful here at Christmas, even in covid-19 times. I choose a real tree with fresh snow and take picture of it as my digital tree for my e-cards this year. Look forward to your next post. #lovinlifelinky
I’m so sorry you’re in lockdown again over there Natalie, but I know you handle it well and still get out for your walks. Thank goodness for online shopping!! I love your way of feeling the Christmas Spirit. I think snow at Christmas is beautiful and so different to our Christmas here. I’m glad you like my pool and look forward to your next post too! xo
We don’t have cats anymore but we still don’t have a Christmas tree yet. Tomorrow! My husband promises. I must admit to being a teensy bit jealous of you people in the Southern Hemisphere who are heading into summer right now. Your pool looks amazing!
I hope you DO get your Christmas tree tomorrow Laurie! lol It feels weird not having our usual Christmas tree up this year but at least we have a little one and a bit of Christmas sprinkled around the house here and there. The pool is lovely but gee it sure does get very hot and humid here. I’m not a fan of hot and humid. Our January and February are very, very hot and humid. During this time I must admit to being a tiny bit jealous of you guys in the Northern Hemisphere with your snow and sleds and so on! Funny isn’t it?! lol xo
Hi Min – I used to really enjoy Christmas shopping – a group of us would have a “Ladies’ Shopping Day” sometime leading up to Christmas – where we left the kids at home and headed together to the city for a day of browsing and lunching. Now the very idea of that does my head in – and almost all my present buying has been online. I also totally get the idea of the little Christmas tree and avoiding giving the cats the ultimate cat toy to play with! I’ve been very tempted to do one of those white twigs with half a dozen balls – it may still happen down the track when the family goes elsewhere for Christmas. Enjoy your wind down to the end of the year – I still have a couple more posts before I shut up shop for the Chrissie break – then back again in January for my #WOTY.
Hi Leanne – my younger self would’ve loved the idea of your ‘Ladies’ Shopping Day’ … but not so much my current day self! lol Glad to hear I’m not the only one doing the online shopping thing. It’s so much less stressful and time consuming! So do you have a Christmas tree at all with your cats? I look forward to seeing your final couple of posts for 2020 and am intrigued as to what your #WOTY will be for 2021! xo
I don’t really do Christmas – for me it’s just a time to wind down and have a break. I’ve never liked shopping centres and I avoid them like the plague around this time of the year! Online shopping is great! I do enjoy watching videos online of cats and Christmas trees! 😀 My cats have no idea what they’re missing out on. Love your bloggy goals for 2021 – I’ve not blogged much this year at all and need to reflect on how I want to use my site next year. I hope you have a fab lead up to Christmas!
So good to find someone else who doesn’t like shopping centres! Most people look at me like I’m a bit weird when I say I don’t like them! I wish online shopping had been around when my kids were small. It would’ve been so handy back then! I hope you’ll continue blogging in 2021 and beyond even if not as often. I’m only managing one blog post a week at the moment and I’ve had phases where I haven’t even managed that. It ebbs and flows. xo
Every time I see your pool I am reminded of ours..we had such fun with our grandkids in our pools but…now, and living closer to the sea I think I wouldn’t need a pool as much as we did back in years of living in Western Sydney.
Christmas time and traditions often need to change as families do. I like your idea of the smaller tree! Good compromise.
I am a shopper but have little to buy and no-one to buy for as we stopped several years ago when we became practical. I don’t mind a semi busy shopping centre…as long as I get a park and my coffee!
My link up is back Mon 4 January. Link up when you can as it’s always good to see your words and pics.
Merry Christmas Min.
Denyse.
I love our pool Denyse but I’m not sure that it will be high on the priority list for the next house. They’re lovely to look at and lovely to cool down in during the hot months but a lot of work! As for presents, thankfully the amount of people I have to buy for has reduced and I’m so pleased about that. It used to be ridiculous! Merry Christmas to you too Denyse! xo
We have a row of bells on the bottom of our tree that we originally bought for when Kali was a puppy so we’d hear if she’d gone under there to steal something. These days she doesn’t bother, but we still call them Kali’s bells. I hate malls as well but never have any idea about what I want to buy for presents plus Grant loves them as much as I hate them. sigh.
The row of bells on the bottom of the tree is a good idea. I think they would be constantly ringing with my two pussy cats though! lol Actually the bell idea reminds me of when I toilet trained my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (Colby). I strung a bell on a string hanging from the door to out the back and trained him to ring it with his paw or nose when he wanted to go out. I then trained all subsequent cavs that came after him to do the same. This was in addition to a doggy door which we locked at night. It’s so interesting you call shopping centres ‘malls’. How very American sounding of you! LOL I’m glad I’m not the only one who does not like them much. Most people look at me like I’m very strange when I say this.
Hahahahaha, Found a new hobby – tracking packages. Yes!! LOL. Me too.
I’m with you on the shopping centre front, although I’m still finding myself in them because apparently I need to help other people get their shopping done. Which actually annoys me. It’s enough I have to buy all my own gifts and coordinate my family gifts etc etc, but to then be dragged out to help others with theirs because they haven’t got their shit together earlier! Yes, as you can see, I find the whole thing quite “fascinating”.
To quote you: “Nope. No thank you.”
Happy festive season xoxo
Glad I’m not alone on the shopping centre front but sad to hear you’ve been forced to go to them anyway! I could not cope with helping someone else with their xmas shopping. It’s enough to do my own! It’s a lot easier these days and of course tracking packages is more my cup of tea nowadays, though I’ve had to visit a few shops as well and that is fine – still no big shopping centres! Have a fabulous festive season Leanne! xo