Blog Archives

Simply Home....some quotations about home

31/10/2010

It's when you're safe at home that you wish you were having an adventure. When you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.
                                      Thorton Wilder

We must make our homes centres of compassion and forgive endlessly.
                                                                                                                             Mother Teresa

                                                                                            Take time to come home to yourself every day.
                                                                                                                                                                           Robin Casar Jean

Where thou art - that - is home.
                                                            Emily Dickinson

                                                                                                                            Hope you had some Hallowe'en fun.....

Simply live...and have some fun

30/10/2010

We made these with a great little kit from the supermarket....

Simply routine....no one size fits all..

29/10/2010

Looking again at www.dailyroutines.typepad.com I see that those featured are all, but one - Simone de Beauvoir - men, and that not one of them mentions housework. No surprise there then...

Except for Gary Painter, punk rock cartoonist/artist. Here is part of his daily routine -

     'Do chores and tasks and try to get time to make art. Make art. Take naps...Go to sleep at 3.00 in the morning.

Author and journalist Michael Lewis's comment resonates with me (as I write this in the early hours) -

     'Late nights are wonderfully tranquil. I like the feeling of knowing that nobody is trying to reach me.'

     '

Simply routine....by another name

28/10/2010

When my older daughter went to school, she wrote in her school diary 'I helped Mum with the onceover' (see 26 Oct) and the teacher underlined the word onceover in red. The bold child went to the teacher (whose name was Mrs Dippy - truly!) and asked why the word was underlined. Because it's not a word, said Mrs Dippy. Yes it is, it's housework! replied my daughter bravely - I was so proud of her (she was very shy).

She also once wrote in her school diary - Yesterday I took Mum to the dentist.

What a sweetheart...

Simply routine...for a reason

27/10/2010

Re yesterday's blog, Jill says 'All this in half an hour?' Well yes, but notice the words once and minimum! And if you do it every day, there's definately less to do....I wouldn't pass any housework inspections, but it looks OK most of the time and that's good enough for me. I also do soft lighting and flowers - you get away with a lot with that. And I confess 'tidy sitting room' can just mean sweep everything into a basket. The house looks quite minimal, but the cupboards are pretty full!

Click on www.dailyroutines.typepad.org for a nice browse. Mostly about creative people, and how they structure their time. Listed under occupation - architect, writer etc, and under habits - drinkers, drug users, procrastinators....

William Styron, American writer advises

'Be regular and orderly in your life, like a good bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work.' !!

Simply Routine ... a new category

26/10/2010

I was at one time a bit scathing about people who had 'boring' routines (well, art students were, weren't they - it didn't suit the 'free spirit' image) but the busier life got, the more I realised I needed one! At one of the busiest periods of my life - children, full time work and studying - I came up with The Onceover and pinned it to a cupboard door. Based on the minimum I could get away with doing in order to feel happy in my home and not too embarassed by it, here it is -

THE ONCEOVER

Wash dishes, wipe surfaces

Beds, clothes, wipe round bathroom

Tidy sitting room, dust, vacuum (sometimes)

Kitchen floor

Coffee

I used to do it at night (when I always had most energy) and when really pushed, I had it down to 12 minutes! It's still do-able in under half an hour a day and is second nature to me now, though it's still pinned to a cupboard door.....gives me more time to be that free spirit....

Do you have a 'onceoever' routine that works for you?

Simply home..in artificial light

25/10/2010

I know I should use those low energy light bulbs (and will be forced to any day now) but they make me so SAD. I think I associate them with the poorest of the poor houses in Glasgow when I was growing up - they were the ones with a single 40 watt or 60 watt bulb hanging from the centre of the room with no lightshade.

It made me sad then, and it makes me sad now.

(Yes, they warm up and get brighter, and yes they are being improved all the time, but until I can get a clear bright 150 watts worth of light as soon as I switch on, and while I can still buy the old fashioned type I'm sticking with them.)

Sorry!

Simply home by moonlight..

24/10/2010

Let's not forget moonlight! There are no streetlights here and moonlight and starlight can be magical. This is one of my small watercolours of the moon and the loch, from the bedroom window...

Simply home, with light in the studio

23/10/2010

This extension was a washouse and coalhouse (with coal!) and the most dramatic 'light change' we made was to replace the damaged gable end of what is now the studio, with a large window. We removed the ceiling and took the glass up to the eaves. The studio has two other small windows and a glass door, and a white painted concrete floor - it lifts my spirits whenever I walk in there, and puts me in the mood to paint....

Simply home...let there be light

22/10/2010

One of the first things we did in this house was to replace three interior doors on the ground floor with doors with windows in them - four panes of glass, in the style of the front door, allowing daylight to flood through the rooms, and the spaces to flow into one another. Apart from the clackety door handles (must do something about them) it's been a great success.

Another way to increase the light is to have mirrors strategically placed, and to have glass - jugs and vases, candleholders, and something else I learned in Sweden, gilding. I'd never liked it or used it before this house - I thought it a bit grand, and not appropriate for my simple lifestyle. But there is something about the Swedish way with it....For one thing it's not ultra shiny, but 'distressed' a bit, and semi matt. I'm thinking of on picture frames particularly, but I also have glasses with silvery rims, a glass candleholder with a siver engraved top, and a tiny picture frame with quietly glinting stones around it - these last two are Indian and came from Monsoon. These things all catch and reflect whatever light is going.

Simply the ideal home...

21/10/2010

I've mentioned that one thing I look for in a house/home is light. I thought I'd look at ways to achieve this, and then look at other qualities I want in my home, such as warmth, simplicity, privacy....in fact at what constitutes an ideal home for me.

I've mentioned candlelight - I love candles at any time of year, but especially now. They reconcile me to the darker nights and the coming of winter.

An hour or so of an evening in just the light from candles and the fire, with music and a glass of something is easy to do and so relaxing. Late at night, a hot deep bath by candlelight, cold air and the cries of owls coming in the window..

Have you thought what your ideal home would be like?

Simply Home...from candlight to sunlight

20/10/2010

The thing I want most in a house is that it should be light.

Today the sunlight coming in the window through the birch trees created this shimmering, flickering image on a canvas that was lying against the studio wall.

Simply mesmerising....

Simply home..and friendship

19/10/2010

A candle on the table at dinnertime as nights get darker and colder. As I write this I have just heard the first fieldmouse of autumn run across the ceiling!. As soon as the nights get chilly they find their way in...

The card is from a student who did my 'drawing for non-artists' course years ago. She sends me art cards from wherever in the world she happens to be - fascinating - and a lovely way to keep in touch - thank you Jill!

Simply Laugh

18/10/2010

Here are two titles I won't be reading to help simplify my life:

'100 Things To Buy Before You Die ' (a new version comes out each year!!) and

'The Joy Of Simple Living: Over 1500 simple Ways To Make Your Life Easy And Content - At Home And At Work'

Aaargh! Simple title, huh?

You have to laugh....

Review... Is my life simpler then?

17/10/2010

I've been reviewing my progress since March 2010 in making my life simpler, but not too simple.

I re-read my whole blog (what a lot I have to say!) noting the things I said I'd do and haven't done, and the things I said I'd do which I have done - the second list is considerably longer I'm glad to say, and yes, my life is, in many ways, simpler.

These are some of the ideas I think I have really taken on board so far:

Don't complicate things.

Take the time to get it simple and right, then stick to it.

Smile, breathe and go slowly.

I don't need to save the world, I do need to make a difference.

YAY!

Simply Home

16/10/2010

Re-reading yesterdays post I realise I have the sanded floors and whitewashed walls and the green trees. I even have the flowery mead, and the loch is the living water. Gosh.

William Morris of course also said:

Do not have anything in your house which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

So there is some decluttering to be done then....

Live Simply.. at home

15/10/2010

Kevin McCloud's new book (he of Grand Designs fame) 43 Principles of Home looks like being a much talked about and influential book.

He quotes William Morris:

     'Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement; a sanded floor and
     whitewashed walls and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside.'

Then comments:

     Let's face it though, it takes more than a flowery mead to occupy us for a Saturday afternoon these days.

Simply Home is my next topic....

for apartments in Stockholm and all round the world look on www.homeaway.com - nice site.

Simply Move..or watch someone else move

13/10/2010

I'm not doing too well in this department, see 17/18 August, but now that I have committed to a swimming course early next year I have a deadline for getting fitter (I seem to need deadlines - unfortunate word though).

For a mesmerising 7 minutes and 11 seconds Google After Light pt1you tube Click on full screen and turn the volume up.

Dancer, music and lighting come together in an exquisitely poetic dance..... enjoy!

Simply Eat - ethical dilemmas

12/10/2010

My ethical dilemmas around the subject of food are neither resolved nor simplified. Buying Fair Trade when I can seems good. Buying local when things are in season seems obvious. Considering farm animal welfare seems compassionate. But should I buy for example pineapples from Costa Rica? It's not simple. I could think it wrong in terms of air miles (or in terms of sheer extravagance), but if I don't buy them could I be depriving someone, in a country perhaps without the safety net of a welfare system like ours, of a livelihood, or of the chance to send their children to school? And how can I know?

Some interesting reading around this subject:

     Common Wealth and The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
     Why Globalization Works by Martin Wolf
     Do Good Lives Have to Cost the Earth ed Andrew Simms and Joe Smith

Lots of questions. Not many answers though....

Simply Eat manifesto..

11/10/2010

The 'manifesto' from the lovely Peckhams (see 9th April) is still on the fridge door and still inspires me. 'Don't eat fast food, slow food and long conversations are the secret to a peaceful and balanced life.' I like that. 'Picnic When Possible' is recommended, and although we ate out in the garden a lot this spring and summer, we didn't actually picnic as often as I'd have liked. So autumn/winter picnics? Fires on the beach? Why not....

Simply Eat review - cooking..

10/10/2010

'Needs to try harder' with cooking though. All talk. I haven't made any of the special meals I said I'd try. I'm spoiled with a husband who likes to cook. We've stayed with the Zoe Harcombe book - great recipes, and I've kept off the 4lbs I lost in March.

In spite of not cooking, I've ordered another cook book! Long Nights and Log Fires. Warming Comfort Food for Family and Friends. Well, it's that time of year, and we've started lighting the stove at nights. I think I'm easily seduced by the images....aren't you? This was a lovely apartment in Stockholm that I stayed in last December..

Simply Eat - review 'food shopping'

9/10/2010

Having given myself 'Could do better' for my week of Quality Street, I see that for the rest of the time since March I have made eating simpler, and clarified some of my issues around food. I make better choices.

I have an easier time in supermarkets! (See 1st April.) I go with a list, ignore most of the aisles and head for fresh fruit and veg, fresh meat and fish and eggs, and rice and pasta. I stick to Michael Pollan's 'great grandma' rule - Don't eat anything your great grandma wouldn't recognise as food.

Simply Draw

8/10/2010

How does teaching drawing simplify my life? Good question Liz!

Well, I had two requirements. I wanted to meet new people (being a painter is fairly solitary, and winters in Scotland long) and nothing beats ten intelligent and friendly adults eager to learn a new skill. Secondly, I have wanted for ages to take nine year old Ross and myself on a rather expensive residential course called Swimming Without Stress, but didn't think I could afford it.

So, two birds with one stone, and twelve people learning new skills.

simple, and fun

Reviewing Simply Eat

7/10/2010

I've been blogging for just over six months now on living more simply. Time for a review I think. How have I been doing?

I'll start with 'Simply Eat'.

I do eat better,and feel fitter for it, BUT....last week someone gave us a big tin of Quality Street. I had a few with my coffee, then a few after dinner, then a few.......and before I knew it I was back on the old sugar highs and lows. How could I possibly forget that sugar makes me feel depressed?

All is not lost however. I realised what was happening (only when I'd almost finished the tin!) and that nothing major is wrong with my life - it's only the sugar effect!

Does sugar do this to anyone else out there?

Simply grow - the autumn garden

6/10/2010

The turquoise berries on the handsome viburnum 'Davidii' never fail to amaze. Eupatorium and the seedheads of veronicastrum and the colours of the acers make autumn quite a colourful time. I'm loathe to disturb the lovely matrix of the perennials which have woven into on another to make a whole, so I won't be cutting back till the last little bit of colour has gone, and the first frosts turn things black and soggy........