Blog Archives

Simply..make the world a happier place....

31/7/2014

I know of only one way to guarantee adding to the happiness in the world.

That's for me to be happy today.

Sometimes it's a choice.

Chances are the people around me will also feel happier, so, a little more happiness!

I'm not being flippant here. If you are having a hard time just now perhaps you might be able to find something that makes you happy for just a little while. For that little while you are adding to the sum total of happiness in the world, in your world. No mean achievement....

This film about a child's eye view of the Matisse exhibition will make you happy for at least one minute and fifty four seconds.

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Simply Fun..

30/7/2014

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on the beach..

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Simply..strawberry tea....

29/7/2014

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and something else to worry about!

'The world is under assault' it says.

Giant slugs,

voracious carp, predator llion fish, huge cuban tree frogs, feral hogs......Aaaaargh!

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Simply..less mess, less stress....

28/7/2014

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I'm on an organising roll!

A comment from Elaine led to a refinement in my CD organisation (see yesterday's post). For the occasions when I don't have time - or can't be bothered - to put a CD back in it's right place, I have a space on the bottom shelf to stack them horizontally until such time as I get around to it.

I found inspiration on this site Declutter Your Home in 15 Minutes a Day, it says, and do you know, you could. Gone are my days of the all or nothing approach, of exhausting myself by blitzing huge tasks. Since I began doing things slowly, taking baby steps, and 5 or 15 minutes at a time, life is definitely easier.

Less mess, less stress.

Do browse Simply Routine and Simply Organise if you have time....

After this early morning mist lifted - another hot and sunny day!

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Simply..a night at the opera....

27/7/2014

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All week the beautiful voice of The Queen Of The Night has been floating over the village as the opera company Aria Alba - Opera For All have rehearsed The Magic Flute in the nearby adventure centre, in preparation for their Fringe perfomance at the Edinburgh Festival. In this production the setting is a hospital ward in the 1950's and Sarastro is the consultant psychiatrist! They put on a dress rehearsal in a local village hall - it was wonderful. It is rather like attending a masterclass - you get insights you don't get from a regular performance.

I came home with my head full of Mozart and was frustrated that I couldn't easily find the Mozart CD's I know I have, so what better way to spend a wet Sunday (yes, it's raining) than organise our collection.

Found some Mozart, put it on very loud, and set to....

Where to start? Gathered together all CD's.

Then I found a few tips -

Tip one. Make tabs with the letters of the alphabet. I used post it notes for now.

I decided to organise by composer mainly..

But also for example C is for Chopin, but I made another tab for Compilations, and another for Christmas. I will also have E for Elgar and for Early Music, J for Janacek and a tab for Jazz and so on. You need to work out what will work for you...

We have a tall CD shelving unit (Ikea - brilliant) in the study and Tip two is to leave a couple of spaces on each shelf for new additions otherwise you have to move everything when you buy a new CD or find some in the car, and, although I'm enjoying doing this task, I don't want to do it again anytime soon.

Current favourites are on this little holder, which my husband made for me, which sits in the sitting room.

Tip three is if you want to think something through properly - decide to write a blog post about it! I have done a much better job of this than I would have had I not been writing about it - an incentive to get it right. But not perfect. Tip four is don't aim for perfect - this is about making finding the music I want simpler and quicker! When it's good enough I'm stopping.

Meanwhile I've found CD's I'd forgotten I had and listened to some great music.

Playing now? The Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Listen here. Hope you like..

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Simply..some links....

26/7/2014

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Yesterday's post reads like a travelogue - so I thought I should give you some links in case you are visiting this part of the world!

We had our anniversary lunch with some dear friends at the beautiful Marina at Portavadie, then made our way slowly up Loch Fyne stopping at The Oyster Catcher at Otter Ferry for a drink on the beach. (The new banner photograph.) The unspoilt village is Newton. Inver Cottage does great scones and tea. All of these and more can be seen on www.argyllsecretcoast.co.uk .

PS Tonight we went to the opera in Uig Hall - it's all happening in Argyll!

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Simply..a great day out....

25/7/2014

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When the weather

is so beautiful

there's nowhere else I'd rather be

than Argyll's Secret Coast.

Pubs and restaurants on the shore,

unspoilt wee villages,

hardly any traffic,

though if the weather

was always like this,

it would be too crowded! Love the picnic table on the jetty...

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Simply..happy....

24/7/2014

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happy anniversary flowers!

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Simply..a seat in the sun....

23/7/2014

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Some of you will remember that I spend a lot of time in my garden sitting, and looking!

There are lots of different seating areas and I began to describe them here, in May last year....this one too has a sculptural quality I like, and this piece of wood also conveniently drifted up onto the shore. It was very very heavy to carry up to the garden. We sat it on white metal trestles in front of a nicely weathered modern seat from our previous house and we often have lunch there, or as today enjoy the shade from the hedge behind in the late afternoon.

It's completely private and faces the shed and the colourful cutting patch.

I hope you too found a place to sit in the sun today....

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Simply..rehearsing....

22/7/2014

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for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow....

I wasn't there, but my husband was! 'Very impressive' he said.

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Simply money..again....

21/7/2014

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After lots of patient filing and shredding, lots of research, lots of frustration, hours online and on the phone....we have saved all of £31.98 (by paying our broadband package online).

Wow.

We plod on.

Big rewards will come!

A slightly different take on the subject of personal finance comes from Carl Richards author of The Behaviour Gap. He writes for the New York Times. Browse his blog for thoughtful advice about teaching your children about money matters, and I particularly liked this article.

But I liked the sunshine on the early morning poppies even more -

And is there any more peaceful occupation than collecting seed? Pink campion today, destined for Coronation Wood.

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Simply grow...

20/7/2014

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Daisies on the doorstep tonight.

Terrible things are happening in the world, but there are beautiful things too. Since the reality for me today is the beauty, not the terror, it behoves me (old fashioned word) to appreciate it, and in that way be grateful.

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Simply..stylish....

19/7/2014

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If you liked this, you'll probably like this.

There is also an Edinburghcyclechic (but, sad to say, they are just not as chic as the Copenhageners!)

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Simply..make your dreams....

18/7/2014

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..come true!

From here,

to here,

Don't give up!

If you have a dream just check that every decision you make, no matter how small, is moving you in the right direction.

I dreamt of being an artist, of living somewhere beautiful, and of being surrounded by flowers.

Dreams can and do come true!

(top photograph by Oscar Marzaroli)

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Simply..collecting....

17/7/2014

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I didn't think of myself as a collector of anything, until Elaine mentioned how many vases I have and I took a closer look at the electricity meter cupboard where I keep them....

Jumble sale in the first school I taught at, miniature gin, charity shop, antique shop (also bottom right)

Blue one to replace a favourite which got broken (though not as nice), candlestick, Ikea, Neals Yard something or other, triangular grey raku effect from charity shop, recycled glass in smoky blue, and on far right a collection of tiny tiny jam jars...

white glass Ikea, lovely old Habitat, local potter Tom butcher, The White Company sale, Ikea (39p), another local potter Bill Williamson.

So many memories!

So many flowers! But as Madeleine says flowers are so important....

There are, as I think my way around the house, at least another 13 in use right now.

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Simply money....automatically?

16/7/2014

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To automate or not, that is the question. Whether 'tis wiser to use cash (pain) and consider every purchase or to use a card (pleasure) for the convenience and mindlessness of it....See the programme The Men Who Made Us Spend on BBC2 iPlayer here in UK. Amazing. Makes me think I'm living in a parallel universe!

One area to automate I think is savings. I make the decision once and the money is set aside every month (and ideally reviewed, and increased if possible even by a tiny bit, every year).

But direct debits are a bit 'out of sight, out of mind' aren't they? There are incentives for using them and they can help save us money by ensuring that we are never late for any payments which incur penalties, and they are indeed convenient and efficient, but they don't make for mindfulness about money.

What do you think?

For more arguments in favour of un-automating see this guest post on Zen Habits.

This is the elctricity meter and vase cupboard! I am certainly not minimalist when it comes to jugs, vases, jam jars and bottles and anything else which will hold flowers.
And these are only the ones which are not in use right now....

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Simply..plummy....

15/7/2014

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Papaver somniferum Dark Plum. The seed originated from Sarah Raven and I subsequently collected my own - it does come true....

Tomorrow under Simply Money - to automate or not.

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Simply..abundance....

14/7/2014

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I get a thrill from picking masses of flowers from the garden and filling big jugs without it leaving the garden bare! Best perennial flowers to grow for easy abundance? Alchemilla mollis, nepeta 'Six Hills Giant, campanula lactiflora Pritchard's variety, hydrangeas if you have enough room (I haven't but my friend Claire has - thank you Claire) ox eye daisies..

Do you have favourites for picking? Or perhaps you have a market where you can buy generous bunches cheaply - I was thrilled at Colombia Road flower market in London - or if you have a friend with an allotment....I can remember walking home from the allotment with my father carrying bunches of dahlias as big as myself.

Loved it then, and love it now. Makes me feel rich!

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Simply growing on me....

13/7/2014

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Sweet pea Almost Black is growing on me...

(The little coffee cup and saucer came from the Matisse exhibition at Tate Modern - love it.)

The seeds of Almost Black were from Sarah Raven, and I've been browsing Matthewman's Sweet Peas online catalogue for next year's seeds I love the look of Welcome to Yorkshire. Gardeners are always planning ahead!

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Simply..more money reads....

12/7/2014

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Up in the city for the first time in weeks I browsed the Personal Finance section in Waterstones....

I decided to pass on Beat the Banks and Money Fight Club - The Smart Way to Save Money One Punch at a Time. Too adversarial. (I'm looking for a peaceful relationship with my money you may remember. See here.)

The Get Rich Quick titles didn't appeal either. How To Be Rich, How To Get Rich, The Millionaire Next Door, and The One Minute Millionaire, on the basis of if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

There was Get Rich Blogging. Really? The author 'spends her life partying and writing about it'. Not really me..

Thankfully I could pass on all the Get Out of Debt titles (I'm not in debt).

The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad seems to have written seven books all saying pretty much the same thing.

I like the appeal to different people - there's The Money Diet for those with dieting on their minds, Money - A Love Story for those romantically inclined and How To Grow Your Own Money for the gardeners among us. Whatever 'speaks to your condition' to use the Quaker phrase.

I was tempted by Ouch which looks like an interesting and entertaining read (and can be bought on Amazon for £0.1 or used, in good condition, for £398.78! (Can anyone explain this to me?)

There is also the very quaint Orchids on Your Budget (1937). I loved the blurb:-
'Be very sure that your budget covers the orchids. The whole point of budgeting is that it simplifies life - and life, if it's worth living, is more than drudgery and bookeeping and practicalities.'

Hear Hear! This is probably why I passed too on all the How To Be Thrifty titles. I could write them myself.

Two new authors to me are Jasmine Butler and Dave Ramsey (thank you Gail) but I think I will maybe go for David Meakin's How to Grow Your Own Money - he says one of the problems is 'savings inertia'.

So true.

So true.

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Simply Money..reads online....

11/7/2014

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Here are some popular writers on personal finance you can read on Amazon (before buying second hand at £0.1 plus postage). if, like me, you are taking a fresh look at your finances. You can actually read quite a bit of some of them without any purchase at all...I've picked up some useful tips just by browsing, and most of these authors also have blogs and/or websites.

Martin Lewis, Suze Orman, Alvin Hall, Jean Chatzky, Vicki Robin, Robert Kiyosaki.

From Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad I learned how to make a balance sheet and that my house is not an asset, strictly speaking, but a liability....who knew? All very interesting stuff.

The dark side....

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Simply..too hot....

10/7/2014

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..to think clearly, about finances or anything else, but still looking of course -

Does anyone know what these are?

Harbour rocks Pittenweem

Sun warmed....

Crail Church, outside

and in,

in a typically plain interior.

Rhododendron keysii at Benmore Botanic Garden

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Simply..pretty....

9/7/2014

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for Cath..

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Simply..summer....

8/7/2014

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All the good weather is making me slow down and this week I'm having a holiday at home. Eating all our meals outside, siesta in the hammock (!), walks in the forest and the meadows and this charming book to read in the shade. Sophia and her grandmother lie down in a pasture 'Are there ants in heaven?' Sophia asked.

'If you...listened only to the insects, you could hear thousands of millions of them, and they filled the whole world with rising and falling waves of ecstasy and summer.'

Someone else who is enjoying her summer is Elaine - see her post about it's pleasures with many lovely quotations here.

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Simply..sweet peas and a clear head....

7/7/2014

24 Comments

The sweet peas are doing well -

Almost Black and Matucana on blue canes.

Barry Dare is clashing beautifully with its red canes.

Mrs Collier and Gwendoline keep each other fragrant company on their lime green wigwam.

The weather has been wonderful for a while, though in the last few days there have been some useful showers. I say useful because they have been watering the sweet peas, and each time it rained I have come inside and done more financial paper sorting and have got through a mountain of it.

Feels good.

Space in the filing drawer and space in my head! Now I feel up to doing some of the things I've been meaning to do for ages - changing bank, switching energy supplier, getting a better deal on broadband, and more.....but, baby steps and one thing at a time for me!

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Simply..make the world a happier place....

Simply Fun..

Simply..strawberry tea....

Simply..less mess, less stress....

Simply..a night at the opera....

Simply..some links....

Simply..a great day out....

Simply..happy....

Simply..a seat in the sun....

Simply..rehearsing....

Simply money..again....

Simply grow...

Simply..stylish....

Simply..make your dreams....

Simply..collecting....

Simply money....automatically?

Simply..plummy....

Simply..abundance....

Simply growing on me....

Simply..more money reads....

Simply Money..reads online....

Simply..too hot....

Simply..pretty....

Simply..summer....

Simply..sweet peas and a clear head....

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