..blue skies, new lambs, Easter eggs, hot cross buns, blossom, bees and a birthday cake for my sister. I hope you have aslo had a lovely day.

..hello Spring!

And Happy Easter everyone.

(I have never been able to take a good photograph of this painting. It is called Freedom and is a very vibrant, clear yellow,)

The force that through the green fuse dribes the flower.

Dylan Thomas

(On a more practical note don't forget that a few cubes of cheap smelly soap will stop deer eating your tulips,)

..my charts and stickers. I have made a list of all the good healthy habits I want to keep but I can't do them all ebery day, so I have headed the page SELECT FROM - and put a little sticker beside the ones I do each day. Ir's a bit nursery school and I do feel a bit silly doing it but it does motivate me and make me laugh too.

Inside I am still that wee five yeaar old wanting a gold star with all my heart,  See here.

I am astonished to reaiise that the 14th anniversary of this blog was last week!

(Almost) no sugar and definitely no News and I feeI like a new person, or rather, as if I am coming back to myself.

Is there anything you could give up that would make you feel better, both physically and mentally?

..can give you a nice warm feeling, and make you smile.

Yay! New socks!

The unnspoilt parts of Scotland are so beautiful, and the roads so quiet at this time of year, I prefer holidaying out of season.

It's a good time of year to detox and start moving again (if like me you have barely moved all winter!) After an early hour of yoga each day I realised I had forgotten how very pleasant it is to stretch and twist and really concentrate on moving. Walks in stunning countryside...I'd even stopped going for walks at home. Really let things slip without noticing.

How easy it is to forget to do the simple things which cost nothing but make such a difference to our wellbeing. Moving, drinking water, eating just enough, meditating and resting properly, relaxing with good people, being outdoors.

No cost, no special equipment, no membership fees or contracts.

Simple.

Silver on the water on a late afternon paddle. Breathtakingly beautiful and bteathtakingly cold!

..is one of the ccategories I will be posting under for the next few weeks, as well as Simply Eat, Simply Fitter, Simply Move and Simply A Student Of Old Age.  I will aslo do an update on Simply Seeing..Or Not which I have not written about for  a long time.

That should keep me busy!

I am SO energised by the retreat.

(Depending what device you use the Catergories should be on the side bar, but if you are reading this on your phone the quickest way to gett to the categories list is probably to go to comments and scroll dowm.)

In spite of the fonecast we had some lovely weather. We sunbathed one afternoon. I did not expect that.

This beach is four minures walk from Samalaman House where we were staying.

Homes modest..

and grand.

Nice spot to barbecue your fish?

I was so lucky to be able to go to this retreat run by Katrina Mather. Katrina has a light touch approach. There is no coercion, but she describes everything so thoroughly, and with gentle humour that I found I wanted to try everything and really surprised myself at how much I could do after a rather lazy winter. The group were fabulous and the laughter round the table every time we got together was wonderful therapy in itself!

More soon..

on a Highland retreat.

Weather forecast awful.  Full waterproofs packed and lots of layers. 
Have a lovely week

..find me having that all-inportant first cup of coffee at the bedroom window.

Often with pen and paper. I love a slow, thoughtful start to the day. Do you, when and if you get the chance that is!

I love the line in the film Dr Zhivago when the embittered Pasha, now Strelnikov, asks Zhivago what he is going to do with his wife and child at his dacha and Zhivago  answers

JUST LLIVE

Narcissus February Gold tends to flower in March here!

Still feeling a bit wintry here..

 Look how I have grown!

It reminded me of this poem which I learned off by heart as a child.

..seems to help clear my mind somehow.

Ptofessor Gustavsson in Sweden used to say if yu had something special Honour it with its own space.

I hesitated to press Publish on that last post.  I am still not sure if it was the right thing to do, but war weighs so heavily that I feel compelled to mention it although I know it is not the kind of content you expect here.

Being an informed citizen is important but watching people kill each other, as it hapens, crosses a line...

Meantime, thankfully, the tulips suffuse with yellow and the chaffinch visits the bird feeder. Beautiful.

..as I am sure we all are with the state of the world. It's hard, isn't it. This morning I remembered this-

Grant me the serenity to accept the thngs I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Some serenity and courage and wisdom might be good.

If I could find a little of each in my days it might be helpful.


I do have a moment of serenity at breakfast and at dinner when I light a candle on the table. That little pause is peaceful.
Watching the colour suffuse the tulips is  calming and beautiful, and beauty susutains me as I have often said.

And then of course there is the off-switch on the news...

Why is that such a big issue?

How do you cope?

..what colour these will be.

Isn't it amazing that even severed from its bulb and the earth, the tulip has within it whatever it is that makes it colour?

in a subtle way..

..for a few days.

These tulips seem to have morphed into magnolias!

..but I seem to have run out of words! 

So I send you this, with love.

..is really quite exotic, almost glamorous when you look closely..

I accidentally knocked it's beautiful head off when trying to clear weeds from around it (I am a clunsy gardener now, unable to see clearly what I am doing). I felt bad about it but like to think I have redeemed myself by honouriing it with a close up and publishing it here, knowing that many people all around the world will marvel at its beauty!

..you don't succeed, have some cake, said Mole.

Does it work? asked the boy. 
Every time, said Mole


From the wonderful book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The  Horse by Charlie Mackesy