..that the closer I get to finishing the more obvious it becomes that the whole house really, really needs redecorated!

What I passed off in my mind as sort of shabby-chic can now be seen for what it is. Plain shabby.

Oh dear.

Thanks Marie.

You can tell I hate decorating, can't you....


In the light of my recent state-of-the-world angst I was glad to receive this poem which made me laugh  -

Things had been going so well
That he took an anxiety break
To keep centred.

Brian Andraes

Thanks Julia!

Idly running my fingers through the bronze grass carex buchanii yesterday morning, some strands came away in my hand...

It was the work of moments to weave them into a little circle.

And add a leaf or two from an acer.

See 'Autumnal 1' here.

You can make a little wreath from almost any flexible stems, and a more elegant result is achieved by weaving in new strands all in the same direction....

This one is now pinned to the wall on the stairs with a single dressmaking pin.

Dainty, pretty, and free.

Though you might not think so..

Heather showed me round the campus of Strathclyde University in the centre of Glasgow.

There are lots of 'pocket' parks and green spaces..

Well designed little landscapes, well maintained and well used on this lovely sunny day.

A little bit of humour is always a good thing!

I've started an Italian class at Glasgow Uni - friendly group, excellent teacher. Love learning something new!

Are you learning anything new this autumn?

Only grey squirrels in Glasgow - this friendly little red visits our garden most days..

..the strange mess I made of this post please.

I simply can't get rid of that odd date! Where on earth did that come from?

I'll show you a photograph of the gorgeous fuchsias instead...

Grown from three small 70p plugs bought in April.

Why not make a teeny tiny autumn still life for your dining table....

It doesn't take much, and if you have to take a walk in the park to find something...

..so much the better!

I tried (and failed) to take a complete break from the news lately. (See this post.)

It was very hard!

They've got me hooked. I'm interested in politics and how the world works, and I suppose I like to think I'm a well informed, dutiful citizen. I'm a quick reader and good at skimming and I skim The Times, The Guardian, Time magazine, The New Yorker and BBC news on iPlayer. I've not had a television for a very long time and I don't listen to the news on the hour every hour on radio. (I truly believe we humans were not designed for this and that it is probably very bad for our mental health!) So I maybe spend about 30 - 40 minutes a day on news and current affairs. And you?

That felt still too much lately.

The photographs of dead children washed up on beaches - what can I say? You too were  distressed and haunted by them.

I realized that I'd gradually got into the habit of checking the headlines every time I was on the computer.

I did cut back to once a day at a time of my own choosing, and I missed a few days altogether. I felt the better for it and behold! the world carried on in it's usual way without me. Huh! Imagine.

So my break wasn't really a break but I think I have a better perspective on how much I really need to know what the world's bad news is (and it's mostly bad). Reassuring in an odd way as it is only because it is out of the ordinary that it is news. If the deaths/traumas/disasters/cruelties/political scandals and other horrors were the norm they would not be news. ('I feel sure there is a flaw in this argument - feel free to explain it to me....)

I may try mini-breaks. Avoiding media at week-ends perhaps.

I want to thank you for the supportive comments on the 'Hard To Be Light' post. Lotta's words were particularly interesting and helpful to me. I love that this blog is a two-way thing.

On a lighter note - this is how the acer by the grey shed looked at sunset recently. Luminous. Even the swans were pink.