Mainly pictures for a few days....

Should we go? Yes!   The quiet south west conrer of Scotlaand was calling. The Galloway forest and hills, the neat little towns of Wigtown and Kirkudbright with their largely intact architecture, the bracing beach at Monreith and the comfortable charms of my friend's cosy cottage.....

I simply have no words to express  the horror and dismay about what is happening  in  Ukraine. I won't be mentioning it here in the blog, although like everyone, including my nephew's Ukrainian wife, I will be thinking about it.

Words may fail me, but music doesn't.

The first in person concert in over two years was a resunding success. Webern, Schoenberg and the Bruckner Fourth, it was being recorded for BBC Radio 3 and is being broadcast tonight (Mar 1).

It was thrilling to be in the elegant City Halls in Glasgow. My favourite was The Song Of The Wood Dove by Schoenberg, sung by a wonderful mezzo soprano Karen Cargill whose voice just took your breath away, and conducted by balletic Alpesh Chauhan who almost danced off the podium in the Bruckner! The Scottish Symphony Orchestra were at their dazzling best.

In her book Winterings Kathleen May says 'I had to find the most cmfortable way to get through till spring'.

This is what I am doing. Making plans and trying not to be too upset if they don't come to fruition!

There is a lot going on and I am taking a blog break for a bit and enjoying the small signs of spring approaching through the teeeth of gales and a lot of rain!

Stay well and I hope all your plans work out.

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I am thinking about daughter with Covid, friend in a remote cottage with a power cut, latest storm (three in a week!) keeping up with Covid rules and threats of war, but I am also choosing, for  20 minutes or so to think about  Galanthus S Arnott.

I have only one clump of this delectable snowdrop. It never seems to spread and I hesitate to divide it as snowdrops are very temperamental in my garden.  It is taller than the common snowdrop, very elegant and has a slight honey scent, and in sunshine or in a warm room it flings its outer petals very wide in a most charming flamboyant way. Wider than in my photograph.

Enchanting.

A little enchantment and beauty is a necessity to stay sane, don't you think? And we must take the time to find it.

...the scene in moonlight. I woke in the night and found the snow was thick above the tree line  (much of it has melted in lovely sunshine today). The sky was a rich blue and dark enough to be starry, the forest was black and the moon  shone on the brilliant band of snow. Dazzlingly beautiful.

I hope you have all been spared storm damage..

More here from Tattie Rose

Here we are in uk being told yet again to stay home! I have got off ligjtly this time with sleety snow in the morning and winds, but not too strong, so I have been enjoying looking up videos on gardens and gardening. I was pleased to see a stack of potting compost at the supermarket - it can't be too long mow before we can start sowing seeds in anticipation of the soil drying out.

In a way I am 'wintering' in the sense that Kathleen May uses the word in her book of the same name. Resting, recuperating, waiting till the time is right to get out into the world again and have a few adventures!

Are you wintering?

..on a dark morning in February..

I have recently come across Tattie Rose Flowers and inspired by a few videos, before my second cup of coffee I slipped out and picked a few tiny bits of hobeysuckle leaves just breaking through, ivy, snowdrops and a hellebore to nake a very very tiny collection. I would love to work on the scale shown here!!

sometimes February doesn't seem too bad at all.

Keep calm and carry on!

Storm Dudley does its worst, the long anticipated concert at the University has been cancelled, as are the plans for a long weekend at a friend's cottage.  Do you find that if things around the house are calm and orderly it helps you feel calm?
I have fuel and light and heat (and emergency supplies in case), all of which allay the disappointment to some degree...
Or so I am telling myself!

Light a candle and pour a glass of wine and prepare for storm Eunice! Wishing you cosiness and calm.

Valentines Day is tense on a personal and a global level...

Valentine Day and the anniversary of Barry's death come close together in February. It's an emotional time and tears were shed of course when I looked at the collection of lovely cards he sent me over the years. I found one, unsigned, after his death. Beautiful, sometimes funny, always with a thoughtful and loving  handwritten message inside.

It felt like a small romantic gesture to tie them toghether today in a red ribbon. Precious memories. I am lucky to have them.

It is always a good thing to celebrate love.

..that by just changing your coffee for green tea

you can remove an amazing 87% of the remaining

joy in your life?



:-)

Thinking about why I enjoyed my shopping spree so very much on Tuesday, I realise that it was fun because it wasn't online. And MaryB hit the nail on the head describing it as spontaneous. (It was. We only stopped for a coffee.) We had a good coffee in attractive surroundings - duck pond, beautiful furniture in a big light space with high celings and interesting rafters. It was quiet and of course would not always be so peaceful. Then the full sensory experience of the shop - touching, lifting, smelling, judging the quality, feeling the weight.  I was seduced by the delicacy and subtle colours of the ostrich feathers, impressed by the craftmanship of the brushes, enticed by the thickness of the socks, the memory of the pudding...



The jug below was a £5 purchase from the supermarket and came with miniature iris bulbs. Pretty.

When did you last have a spontaneous shopping spree?

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Yesterday I had reason to go to Liverpool (of more anon) and on the way back we stopped at Tebay service station in Cunbria - surely the nicest service station in the country! I bought an ostrich feather duster, two gorgeous pairs of cosy socks, a beard brush shaped like a moustache for my son-in-law, Cartmel sticky toffee puddings and a bag of fudge.  I haven't had a splurge like that for ages. The big farm shop is full of lovely things. Great fun!

The first week has gone really well!


I have followed phase one of the Harcombe diet which I have used before and find enjoyable  - good, real food. As I said before I quickly lose my cravings for sugar and carbs on this healthy sensible eating plan, and have plenty of energy.

I am finding I need fewer painkillers whcih is fantastic as my main goal is to be painfree. I have been doing streatches every day in preparation for next week when I plan to incorporate some of Louise Parker's exercises. This is the difficult bit for me. (Basically I don't like exercise). This is where my friend comes in. We both love the reading/researching/planning stage -actually doing it is harder! A few emails and calls a week encourage us to act, which is the bit that counts....

I rather wish the photographs in Louise Parker's book were not solely of her very beautiful, very tall, slender, sculpted body. I could follw her method to the letter and never ever look like her. Hey ho...

We passed this beautiful little building in Venice each day on our way to shop for food during lockdown.  (See March and April 2020.) I remember waiting carefully until the interesting man was in front of the doorway before takiing this shot.

It was not until revently, when I decided to use it as 'wallpaper' on my phone that I saw that he looks as if he is walking a tightrope!

Coudn't have done it if I had tried. (Taken the shot that is, not walked the rope!)

How is the waether where you are?

I hope you are cosy..

What's it like if you are in the southern hemisphere?

A new favourite pianist -

Paul McCartney;s Blackbird by Hiromi.
Fabulous.

I learned most about respect for food from two young Italians  I shared  a  house with when I was studying in Sweden. They cooked every meal from scratch, and discussed it all in great detail - 'In my region we....' Tiziano would say and Elvira would respond ' In my region we do it this way...' No Pot Noodles and Take-Aways for these two!

In the Swedish staff room there was a decent coffee machine, simple white mugs and a candle on the  large white oval table around which sat the director, the janitor, some professors, a secretary and a few students. At a conference in Venice there was real coffee, classic china cups and suacers, some crisp apples and a piece of good cheese.

So civilzed. So beautiful, and life enhancing. So simple.

Simplicity can be sophisticated, don;t you think?

Twinkly stars for my Fit in February journal arrived in the post today. Thank you Maggie!

I have got my head around Think Successfully (Louise Parker's Lean For LIfe). Mottoes on fridge and in notebook, listened to some motivational talks and browsed websites etc. Mel Robbins made me laugh when she mimicked a whiny child saying 'I don't feel like it' or 'It's too hard'. Pulls me up when I hear myself talking like this!

But Eat Beautifully is pure pleasure. I love good food and there are a lot of posts under Simply Eat. In fact my first post and first category were about eating.  Here is one of the first ones I wrote. I still go along with this philosophy.

I always set a pretty table - it adds to the pleasure, makes me sloow down and enjoy my measl I think of it as nourishing my soul as well as my body. It takes only moments. A candle, a flower, a napkin

You may think you are too busy? Children cam enjoy setting a nice table...or you can make a point of doing it at weekends or for one meal a day.... It's civilized.



Lots of posts in the archive, especially March 2010

I don't know which smell won out..

A funny blend. The blends made by this perfumery sound wonderful. Thanks to Liz for the link (the podcast was delightful - see yesterday's comments).

Inspred by Lynn and LizN I have been learning about Imbolc. 

Candlemas too is celebrated today, and I burned a few extra candles at my table to
acknowledge it - part way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and said to be the first dy of spring, though it certainly doesn't feel like it here. I had another power cut yesterday, this time for 7 hours and today was still very windy.

I mention lovingly because I am determined to do my Fit in February project in a gentle loving  manner. How are you getting on with adventure, slowly, acceptance, finish, fulfilment, fun and any other word you have chosen for 2022? There is still time to choose a word, or to change your mind of course.

I have enjoyed the first day of my project. For the next seven days I am planning to eat the Zoe Harcomb way - real food, and plenty of it. I find that after a few days I lose my craving for sugar and carbohydrates. Will drink lots of water and move more, walking and/or yoga.

I had a good long chat with Maggie today about how we would go about reaching our different goals and tailoring our plans to our own needs and preferences. She is full of ideas and enthusiasm!  Inspirational.

Do you have any February plans?