I enjoy my books in a different way now, than when I could read them without aids.. I choose a book to leave open on the sideboard, turning a new page each day. As summer ends and I find myself thinking more about the indoors, I am enjoying browsing The Sensual Home (it has a lovely soft to the touch cover) and interesting text .I've been thinking avut how I can reduce the artificial synthetic smells in the house. This evening the two dominant smells - sweet peas and woodsmoke indicate that we are between seasons.

What does your home smell of right now?

Smells are so closely associated with memories, of places and people and events.

The smell of smoke from a peat fire takes me right back to a remote cottage on a moor where I lived when my children wee very little. Orange blossom to our garden in Cyprus, dahlias to my Dad's allotment in Glasgow's Gorbals. Sweet peas remind me of Aunt Peggy, hyacinths of my Mum.

I love the smell of baby shampoo, frying bacon, the garden after rain, seaweed, clementines, quinces (none on my shrub this year) and The White Company do a scented candle called Fireside which I do love..

It is impossible to choose a favourite!

When he knew he was dying Barry said he had read that smell was the last sense to go and we had a conversation about favourite smells.He listed these - frangipani, jasmine (he grew up in Africa) sweet peas, night scented stock and burning motorcycle oil Castrol GTX 2 stroke!  It reminded him of his youth in Africa when,  without any kind of protective gear whatever, he and his friends would ride motorcycles out in the bush.

We are enjoying some gentle summer days

and my path back up from the shore is very colourful. We still call it Barry's path. He created it for an anniversary present

Going out in the dark to smell the night scented stock has become something of a ritual,
rather a poignant one as it was Barry's favourite smell.

I was struck by this (although I can't remember where I saw it). Mlodern luxury is the ability to think clearly, sleep soundly, move slowly and live quietly.

These simple things are beyond the reach of many many people, aren't they.  It's not about spa weekends and designer handbags. It's simpler and more profound.

think clearly

sleep soundly

move slowly

live quietly

Every evening I go out to smell the night scented stock. I absolutely adore that spicy scent and will grow masses of it next year.

I was so inspired by Helmsley Walled Garden  that I set myself a project and started it before breakfast on my first  morning home.

I really love this big pot which was planted with geranium Roxanne which looked ok but nothing special..

A messy job and it will be a couple of weeks before it looks better, but hopefully it will see me through September, and I have plans for it next spring - tulip Sarah Raven with either pink forget-me-nots or  richly coloured wallflowers. Which do you think would be best?

My friend and I got drenched in a thunderstorm in the walled garden, but half an hour later we were drying out in hot sunshine.

I was struck by this  (though I can't remember where I saw it). Modern luxury is being able to think clearly, sleep soundly, move slowly and live quietly.

These simple things are beyond the reach of many many peple, aren't they.  It is not really about spa weekends and designer handbags.  It's simpler and more profound.



think clearly

sleep soundly

move slowly 

live quietly

No travel at ungodly hours, no face recognition, fingerprinting, passwords or online booking, no deadlines or timetable, no to-do lists or queues or crowds. Just a few quiet days and a slow pace in a pretty English village.

And a book title that made me laugh out loud.

..in a good way.

I am in love with this colour!I found this lovely vase in a charity shop.

Have any of you been to the blue city in Morocco?

Back soon (not from the blue city..) Have a good week.

 
..and are you getting enough of it?

Perhaps it is something quite difficult to do, something expensive, or it needs a lot of effort or planning. I do believe that if it is something you really want to do, you will find a way.

It could be that what also feeds your soul is simple, cheap and easy but you just never quite get around to it.

Growing things from seed nourishes something deep within me. I nearly didn't bother. If our soul is what makes us human,then it is more important than ever to nurture it and cherish it, and make it sing.

Original art and live music feed my soul! 

A quick visit to the Edinburgh Festival to see an excellent exhibition of the work of Kate Downie at The Scottish Gallery and a sell-out jazz concert in the Usher Hall. Winton Marsalas and the astonishing pianist Yuja Wang were  absolutely joyous and the packed audience rapturous.

The welsh poppy usually flowers in spring...

Are you noticing anything flowering or fruiting out of season?

..a marble cake?

Prepare your favourite Victoria sponge cake mixture and spoon half of it into the tin. Don't spread it out.

Add some cocoa or drinking chocolate to the other half then add spoonfuls to the tin like so..

Looks as if it was complicated but couldn't be simpler.

..to start cutting back the meadow areas, although I do it bit by bit as the birds are still feeding on the seedheads. I love the texture of this area just now . I photographed it on a still evening and it reminds me of an Andrew Wyeth painting somehow.

 
I love the meadow areas which I just let grow to encourage the wild orchids, but which also cut down on mowing. I love the way they are different from year to year - this year there is some purple vetch for the first time.

Give yourself the gift of your own company.

An interesting way to put the idea of being in the present I thought. It is from Cheryl Richardson's book Waking Up To Winter which I am listening to.

View from the first bus

view from the ferry

view from the second bus

It got better..

and better!

How I wish we could send some of our rain to those of you who need it.

I have just made a new version of my chart and am spending two weeks on a kind of health reset. .

Susan in Dorset's comment about tending to neglect to nurture herself when needed struck a chord. I am inclined to think of self care as an  indulgence, just as I think of an afternoon doing nothing as 'lazy'. Why do we do this I wonder? And more to the point, how do I stop?

Shall we make a pact to stop being so self critical, to cut ourselves some slack, to treat ourselves as we would treat our dearest friend? And not only when we are ill or going through a difficult time...

Whyever not?

..will be different from your list. But here are some o the things I put on my self care chart when I was preparing for cancer surgery. (See yesterday's post.)

Wim Hof breathing exercises. I find them both meditative and energising and have done them for many years. Lots more water and a lot less sugar. Moving more! especially when feeling down or anxious. Getting outside - daylight and sunlight are good for my body. Have three meals a day with  some protein at every meal. I tried not to be rigid about all these - they were not rules, but I tried to do most of them most days (and of course rewarded myself with a sticker.  :-) I gardened for at least 15 minutes every day. It always takes my mind off other things. Fly Lady is my basic absolute minimum housework routine. Helped me feel calm and in control.  'Pages' were very helpful. An idea from Julia Cameron's influential book The Artist's Way. I switched off the news and listened to my favouite music.When I got too nervous I had naps.

I didn't tell anyone I was devising and following this programme. It was a private thing, and I checked in with myself at the end of every day feeling that I had at least some agency..

I also made a point of doing at least one thing, no mater how small, for someone else.

what would be on your list? Only you know what works for you. And which photograph of yourself would you put by your bedside?


I was fortunate to have the time for this, and to have the loving support of family and dear friends, not to mention the excellent care of the staff of our NHS. I sincerely hope you are not facing surgery, bit perhaps you might know someone  who might find this idea helpful?

As ever, beauty sustained me.

..that one in every two people will experience cancer (shocking statistic), then perhaps it is ok to talk about it here, since we simply have to deal with it. Talking to a friend who has recently been diagnosed I remembered something I did in that difficult period between diagnosis and treatment. To give myself the best possible chance of success I decided to spend those few weeks in the summer of 2024 getting myself as mentally and physically fit as possible, in as simple and gentle a manner as possible. This was to be no boot camp, this was to be a programme of loving self care. I would treat myself as I would my dearest friend.

I made a list of all the things which worked for me over the years, the things I knew were good for me, though I did not always do them. I made a chart and found some stickers (felt a bit nursery school but  also made me smile so that was ok. I found a photograph of myself that I liked in which I am fit and healthy (I knew immediately which one it would be) and I put it by my bedside where it would be the first thing I would see when I opened my eyes in the morning.

My chart looked something like this.

A little more tomorrow..

Thinly sliced carrots cooked for 15 minutes in a little olive oil, pomegranite seeds, chopped mint, feta cheese and mixed cooked grains

and an uninvited guest.

I wonder how far I can work my way through this book (Jamie Oliver 5 Ingredients.)

This was also delicious and I would make it again., and for (invited) guests.Would you care to come for dinner?

..music for growing flowers, and how to ripen a mango.

Many years ago I visited the church in Tudesley, Kent with the Chaghall windows. We were lucky to have the blue still silence to ourselves for about half an hour before a noisy coach party arrived !Truly worth visiting.

I was charmed by the idea of Music For Growing Flowers. It is by a Scottish composer Erland Cooper.


I bought a supposedly ready to eat mango for my recent new recipe  and discovered that if you cover it with uncooked rice it will ripen in two days. Who knew? (Mr Google of course.)

The beauty of simple things replenlishes my spirit.

..with my food recently, I decided to take action. and take an interest. I took Jamie Oliver's book 5 ingredients from the shelf and just made the first recipe in it.

Here it is - griddled chicken, mango, lettuce and cress with hoisin sauce.

I think you can see I enjoyed it very much. Action is the cure-all for boredom, isn't it!

I have bought the ingredients for recipe number two..

The long spell of good weather may be coming to an end so I am cherishing (cherish is my word for the year) the evening light in the garden, the scents of sweet peas, honeysuckle and roses and the languid  billowing high summer feeling of holidaying at home..

The garden needs some rain, and maybe I do too.