29 July 2020

I’ve discovered the sweet sweet satisfaction that comes from having a job and doing it successfully.

Ok that’s a bit of a stretch, but I sit here slurping passion fruit down my throat, from one of my 7 currently ripe passion fruit.

The job satisfaction comes from a) not pulling the vines out when they hadn’t flowered for a significant time period; b) fertilising the damn things with every sort of fertiliser or soil additive that anyone suggested; c) applying significant amounts of water; and d) being oh so very patient waiting for the damn things to ripen.

Yes I’ve lost a lot of the fruit on the street side of the fence. Whether it’s neighbours jumping the gun by a week or so in the ripening process, or kids ripping them off to kick down the street because they are young and have no knowledge of the time the middle aged lady who lives in that house has invested in that passion fruit vine. They will learn this lesson in decades to come.

Anyway – I’ve pointedly changed the angle of the security cameras so they can keep close watch on potential passion fruit thieves who venture into my side of the fence, and by and large they haven’t been stolen. Maybe the vicious looking watch dog looking through the front window puts them off.

So – back to slurping the passion fruit. I never seem to get enough ripe at one stage to do anything with other than slurping for morning or afternoon tea. But by golly they’re lovely. Made all the more sweeter by the knowledge of how long the process has been.

I feel the same smugly sweet sense of satisfaction each time I walk through the entry way to my house at the moment. Since the bathroom renovations have finished, the house has been put back together… and the front room is…..wait for it…. neat and tidy!!!!

Books are neatly stacked on shelves in bookcases, the sideboard is still dust free and unencumbered by the stuff that will eventually get dumped in it, the dining table is still neatly covered with the table mat that likewise doesn’t have anything dumped on it. Yet.

I can walk into my house with my head held high. Other rooms are not so pristine, but if I feel the need to lift my self esteem at any stage, I head into the front room for a bit of basking in my superior housekeeping powers. And leave the rest where it is.

Whether it’s the joy of a well weeded garden bed, the smell of a perfectly cooked loaf of bread, the clear accuracy of a well tended spreadsheet or the wonderfully clean smell of a well washed dog, there are always things we mentally pat ourselves on the back for having achieved.

And so we should.

What have you achieved today?