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Simply..normality....

6/10/2020

6 Comments

 

Blissfully unaffected by Covid, the greenhouse is a place to feel normal, and as part of my staying sane plan in this Covid-Crazy world,  I am spending as much time doing things which feel normal as I can!

A good place to be if you are lucky enough to have one, and perhaps house plants or a window box, or helping someone on their allotment could provide this welcome normality for you if you don't have a garden?


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A bit of a tidy up. A lot of glass to clean.
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Still dome prettiness
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The white gypsophila 'Covent Garden' were sown very late June to go with the sweet peas (which never materialised!) but  five small pots of them prettied up the greenhouse, and made a nice addition to posies. I will do this again next year. The yellow rattle is parasitic on grasses, moderating their growth and allowing the wild flowers a better chance - worth a try.
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Sitting contemplating the meadow in July it occurred to me that the blue of a few cornflowers in among this cat's-ear would be stunning. I've sown them in a tray and will prick them out into plug trays and let them overwinter in the greenhouse. Hope springs eternal! Gardeners are optimists.
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A late little sprinkling of summer..
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Simply..bags of love....

5/10/2020

6 Comments

 
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Loving my new shopping bag - a gift from Jennie.

Have you received, or given, any gifts lately?

Why not give someone a surprise gift this week?

Just for fun.
6 Comments

Simply..what my house needs now....

4/10/2020

8 Comments

 
..is people in it!
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I am deliberately not just putting things back where they were before the rooms were painted. I can't quite explain the need for this - it has something to do with a shift in energy and the feeling I have had that I was getting way too comfortable in my comfort zone. I am missing the vitality that frequent visitors to the house seemed to bring, I have to create it some other way for now.

Here is what Andrew Marr said on a recent broadcast -

Humans need crowds, the wisdom of crowds, and the foolishness of crowds, and gatherings and hubub and parties and jostling and hugs.

I would have said I was someone who did not like crowds, but then I thought of the crush in the foyer of a concert hall before a performance - I love that, and the sense of communal anticipation. Or the buzz on the opening night of a new exhibition, the hum of conversation in my favourite restaurant, or our Christmas Tree parties with more than twenty of us crowded into our small house...

In preparation for the people I love being in my home again - let it not be too long a wait - I will fill the freezer with home cooked food.  New recipes perhaps. A project. I do like a project!

Do you? Do you have one to help you through the autumn? And would you agree with Andrew Marr?








8 Comments

Simply..morning....

3/10/2020

10 Comments

 
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While waiting for the bus

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From the bus window


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So tranquil


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Simply..feels so good....

2/10/2020

15 Comments

 
..so clean, so fresh. It has given me such a lift to have the house decorated.  If you are thinking about it, I would urge you to just do it!

It is bringing out the minimalist in me and I like it empty and am reluctant to put things back....

I will do it slowly, enjoy the process, and be very particular..

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Like a few things in my house, the CD player worked sometimes, then stopped working all together.  I spent some time today trying out all possible permutations of the controls, to no avail. I walked away then on an impulse turned back and lifted it up, turned it upside down and shook it a bit - telling myself 'This is silly Freda, it won't work'. Well, you've guessed it, it did work and the sparse notes of Alvo Part's Fur Anna Maria at full volume floated through the house, reflecting it's new spaciousness and simplicity.  Magic!

The sound quality is wonderful. I can create my own concerts this season.

15 Comments

Simply..what now?

1/10/2020

11 Comments

 

This autumn is an autumn like no other.

Normally this time of year is when I start looking at concert programmes with friends, exhivitions, ballet and theatre, classes (pilates in the yurt seems so long ago), planning Christmas, thinking of travel plans for winter and for next year...all in abeyance alas. I have to acknowledge the loss of my beautiful life, so painstakingly rebuilt after Barry died. In this sense I suspect we are all grieving losses of one kind or another.

So, What can we do?

The decision to 'put my house in order' is one of the bst decisions I have made of late, and I find there is plenty to do!  One important difference is that these kinds of things and the support systems I have used (Marie Kondo, Fly Lady, Wim Hof) were never ends in themselves - they were the back up to the beautiful life I have just described. Now they are the main event!

Throuout October (is it really October?) I  will think about, and more importantly act upon, different aspects of putting my house (ie life) in order and hope that it will interest you and that you might share, as Madeleine so eloquently did in her comment on this post, your thoughts and experiences.

After all, we are all in this coronavirus time together. It would have been much much worse without you... thank you for being here.


The decorating is finished!!




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    Categories

    All
    Live Simply
    Live Simply
    Simple
    Simply Beautiful
    Simply Bin It
    Simply Chill
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Do A Good Deed
    Simply Draw
    Simply Draw
    Simply Eat
    Simply Fitter
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    Simply Get Rid
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    Simply Headspace
    Simply Holiday
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    Simply Inspirational
    Simply Laugh
    Simply Learn
    Simply Listen
    Simply Live
    Simply Low Maintenance
    Simply Money
    Simply Move
    Simply Move
    Simply Organise
    Simply Paint
    Simply Routine
    Simply Seeing.. Or Not
    Simply Stylish
    Simply Venice
    Simply Write


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    An artist seeking a simpler life - (but not too simple!)

    All words and images copyright Freda Waldapfel 2010 - 2020

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