..to all who so generously donated to Ardgowan Hospice in memory of Barry. We are almost at the £1000 mark (and still swimming..).

Scott was cheering Jennie and Laura on on Monday as they swam in Loch Long. The sun was shining but wetsuits were definitely required!

Details on this post livesimplysimplylive.weebly.com/blog/simplya-sparkly-skirt

So proud of them, and so grateful to you. x

So many of York's important buildings were under scaffolding on my last visit (Phoebe the cat lives in York).

St William's College.

The Mansion House.

Micklegate Bar.

With photograph. (To show you what you are missing.)

And many many more..

Inluding the Minster which always was and always will be partially covered in scaffolding. It's essential work and it is good that the money can be found for conservation though it must be a bit frustrating for visitors who have come especially to see the architecture.

The east end of the Minster has been covered in scaffolding for many years while the restoration and conservation of the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world was carried out. It is wonderful to see it uncovered again.

 This buoy way out on the loch has a chair attached to it (?)

Laura said it was 'the  naughty chair' !

The stonemason's yard by York Minster has wonderfully carved pieces of stone stacked around. Fascinating.

It's wonderful that these skills still exist.

As does a sense of humour!

And here is a wall worth building.... fantastic.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-41391844/why-is-africa-building-a-great-green-wall
 

The very essence of an ideal holiday for me..being out of doors in gentle sunshine, eating out, a total media break, a good book/gallery/concert...simple requirements.

This can be city or country, abroad or at home, any season, and for a day or a week. I could add no timetable, the freedom to change my mind on a whim, and I would always want my camera.

I prefer short breaks and like to think that is because I love home and don't need to 'escape' it to have a holiday.

Are you also torn between returning to places you love and going somewhere new?

I enjoy quite frequent changes of scene and prefer the company of family and close friends to that of strangers, though I'm happy with my own company too.

Childhood holidays at the seaside, away from the city grime were very special and keenly anticipated once a year events, though when an aunt moved to rural Wigtownshire we spent Easters and some of summer there in the bracing air with wide sandy beaches to ourselves and the freedom to go and explore on our own.

I love holidays.

What four things make your ideal holiday?

Meet Phoebe.

A dear little contented cat.

An undemanding companion, who knows, as only cats know, how to relax totally.

Between the sparkly skirt and those photographs and a motivational book I feel myself moving slowly forward....into the New Life.

Thank you to Dragonlily who in the comments many months ago said 'some things you just have to learn to live alongside with' She was right.

I'm taking a blog break to take advantage of a forecast spell of dry weather - I hope they've got it right!

Here are the first pages of the new life notebook

I accept is by far the hardest.

Wishing you smiles and sunshine.

I could not resist this. People have an occasion coming up and go shopping for something to wear. I bought this on impulse and now must find or create an occasion...

I wore it to the preview of the latest exhibition, though I thought I might feel overdressed (more on that later). I also wore a coat I have had for seven years or so and have worn once!

It felt such fun after what seems like weeks in waterproofs and gardening clothes that I have decided to wear out all my 'good' clothes!

On an entirely less trivial note my daughters and some of Barry's swimming friends are swimming A Mile For Barry (in a quarry, in the sea, and in Dunoon swimming pool!) in September to raise funds for Ardgowan Hospice where my husband was wonderfully well cared for before he died of cancer last year. I know we all have our charities we like to support, but should you feel moved to give a small donation to help others be equally well looked after, I have added the giving page details below. We would be most grateful.

 Page uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/displaySomeoneSpecialPage.action?pageUrl=TeamBarry

I learned something important (for me) yesterday. I don't mean deep learning in the Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning sense - I mean it as something imprinted not just in my mind but in my body, in every cell.

I'm not sure I can explain it well...in yesterday's photo taken by Scott I held that pose for maybe 7 or 8 seconds, laughing because it was early on a rainy Sunday morning, we'd only just got out of bed, I was feeling far from exuberant and energetic, and what on earth were we doing trying to copy a pose on a postcard? (When I showed the postcard to Scott and said 'Do you think we could take a photograph like that?' he replied in his polite way 'No thanks' but almost immediately changed his mind...and went to find his wellies.)

But that extravagant gesture brought with it a delightful surge of energy which stayed with me all day, and made me grin every time I thought of it. Just 7 or 8 seconds of physical movement had such a big, positive and lasting effect!

If you, like me, live too much in your head, won't you try it and see what happens to your energy levels and your mood? It helps of course to have a seven year old around, or a dog, or a friend who likes a laugh.

 I shouldn't really be surprised because I know (in my head of course) that this is why people run and jump and get into sport but I've never really liked sport, or exercise. And I am surprised and rather delighted to have discovered how this worked for me.  It's that 'act as if' thing. I look at the photograph and know that I haven't felt like that in so long...but acting as if I did had this magical effect.

Well this is a long-winded way of saying it made me feel SO HAPPY!

I am reminded of this all-time favourite cartoon - www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/173107179400186336/



Our version of yesterday's post..

Oddly, I think they are better in black and white. Not sure why.

Great photograph for a seven year old, don't you think?

Well done Scott!

And thank you for the inspiration C - it will be yet more fun to try for a sunny day version, a snowy day version....you may have started something here.

Now if that doesn't make your heart sing.....

Thank you C.

On impulse at a train station I once bought Your Best Year Yet by Jennie Ditlzer, and a friend and I had fun and got very motivated by working through it together. I passed it on many years ago but have just re-ordered it.

Although I don't expect to have the same experience from it I still like the ten questions Jennie Ditlzer  asks. (You can see them in the preview on Amazon to see if it might be useful to you too.)

As many of you will know, after a bereavement or other loss it is a common thing to lose confidence in yourself. The first question in the book is What did I accomplish?

I found a new notebook and began to list the things I have achieved since Barry died - beyond getting up in the morning, eating and sleeping, and dealing with absolute essentials - which some days felt like big accomplishments in themselves.

Light bulbs flashed!

Loved this!
 
 

..yesterday's (unpublished/unpublishable) photos, but in trying to sort it out came upon this useful tutorial on using the iPhone camera

The mess up of this post title was not deliberate but as Weebly wouldn't let me correct it without deleting the post and starting again (it does that sometimes) I just let it stand...

Have you experienced any mess ups of late?!

..if you want to visit Cowal Open Studios from 22nd - 25th September. The members exhibition at the Creggans Inn will help you decide which artist's studios you want to visit. From 4th - 25th 9am - 10pm (good food too).

Hard to photograph well today with many of the artists there - and too busy catching up with friends to concentrate on the photography!

www.cowalopenstudios.co.uk
www.creggans-inn.co.uk

..to the day.

Sunshine gets me up early and breakfast outside is one of life's best simple pleasures.

I like to keep a packet of these cinnamon buns from Ikea in the freezer. 15 minutes in the oven and they are ready for weekend breakfast or for guests.

Some nice decisions to make,

and a quick wreathe for the door from clematis trimmings.

It will look pretty for a few days. The leaves will soon droop and I shall then lay it flat to re-use  later without the leaves but with some autumn berries.

I hope you had a nice start to your day, (or can plan a nice start to tomorrow!)

I like this one too, from Sarah Ban Breathnach.. (I've just signed up to join her Swell Dames Club, because it makes me laugh.)

The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all the world needs dreamers who do.

Have you time for a seven minute meditation with the marvellous title Dream Coloured Mobile II ?