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A cold bu clear day, and a beautiful blie sky. I stood for a moment in the garden with my face turned to the sun, savoured it's warmth, and remembered the line from the poem the kiss o the sun for pardon, and I pardoned myself for not getting everything right, for not keeping up, for not being able to help more. It was a precious peaceful minute or so.. 
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Hopefully after steps three and four you are left with only clothes you can wear - clothes that fit, are right for the time of year, are clean and in good repair (not needing altered. A little more culling required?). There are so many ways of doing this sort but this time I am going to look at my activities for this week only and decide what I am going to wear for each one. The whole outfit. So STEP FIVE is to create two or three outfits out of the clothes that I do wear and that are ready to wear. The nicest, most attractive and most apporopriate that I can manage - which may take quite a bit of thought. I suggest that even if you are staying at home all this week, you still create two sets of at home clothes that you feel really nice in, and that you actually enjoy wearing.  My friend artist Ian Barr is building a new studio. He is storing some of his Constructed Paintings in progtrss in a plan chest. Each of the drawers is like a work of art. See more of Ian's work here.    ..but worth the wait. The new Scottish Gallery at the National Galleries in Edinburgh is a treat! See here (and scroll down for a short video). It is much larger than I expected and I will be going back, again and again.
..as a guilt-free wardrobe? I was so shocked at the nunber of things I don't wear! Were you? STEP FOUR. Renove to another place hot weather clothes (or whatever is appropriate for where you live). What the wardrobe said the morning after I had done steps three and four was 'Aaah, I can breathe!' So STEP FIVE is to take a breather and a sterp back, and to find sources of inspiration for the next few steps. Can you find half an hour or more to browse YouTube, books, magazine articles , whatever motivates you.? Make it fun it will get done to quote FlyLady. While I take a short blog break I will ponder this. Don't miss the fascinating comments on this last post. I don;t say often enough how much I appreciate your comments. They motivate me to keep going. There is friendship, kindness, humour and wisdom there and they enrich my life every day. Thank you to everyone who has ever commented.
...and a plaintive song.The city is full of contrasts. That's what makes it so stimulating. I had a psh coffee (in The Ivy no less). I was just being nosy really, but it was so glitzy and blingy that I could hardly find my way around with the lights, nirroors, glass, reflections and pattern everywhere. But the coffee was very nice and the ladies' room amazing. When I came back out onto the street a middle aged violinist was playing a slow and poignant rendition of 'I Did It My Way' which cut to my heart. I always take coins in my pocket when I go to the city. The street musician was better value than the coffee. One of the restaurants had pink plastic blossom all round the tables, and Christmas decorations all round the windows. I bought a candle in The White Company and a notebook in Poundland. Contrasts. And an afternoon without thinking about the news.    I may get into the deep existential questions later, but right now I am looking at the clothes I have with a dispassionate eye. STEP THREE I am making this step as easy as possible by suspending judgement and postponing decisions on what to do with these items. So, all I am doing in this step is removing from the wardrobe, for now, all the things I do not wear.   One muddle sorted! I had a lovely day in the garden yesterday. Do you think maybe life is just sorting out muddles, one after another?! The last time I asked the wardrobe question was in this post. Do read the comments. I am sure some if not all will resonate with you. Lucille's comment especially spoke to me this time I spoke to the wardrobe again this morning and it said it was having an identity crisis, and I replied 'So am I!' So over the next few weeks I will tackle this (the wardrobe sort and the identity crisis). In my usual grasshopper brained way I will probably jump about but I will also focus on small do-able steps that won't stress me out. Join me? STEP ONE The simplest of starts to sorting the muddle. I rearranged the hangers and put all the sweaters together, all the tee shirts together etc etc. STEP TWO Over the next day or so I will wash what clothes are in the laundty basket and retrieve those at the bottom of the ironing pile. I will do this after dark because the sun is shining and I am getting out into the garden! So far, so easy. No big decisions, no judgement, just doing it. Re-reading Simply Stylish I came across the question 'What is your wardrobe telling you?' So I went up and asked it. It was a little slow to reply. And then it said just one word: 'Muddled.' Hmm..  A colour I have mever worn before. I think I can get away with it if I have a scarf next to my face... I like the proportions of a short jumper over a long T shirt with narrow jeans and have not seen short jumpers in the shops for years, so I snapped up this even though I had doubts about the colour. Tackling my clothes feels like a hige task right now though it has felt like fun in the past, so I will look through my own Simply Stylish posts and see if I can get that fun feeling back! Will wear this tonight when out for a family dinner. That will be fun :-)   Old faithful shoes go quite well..though getting a bit scuffed. PS The evening did not go quite as planned. We had barely started our meal when my grandson was sick all over the seat, his Mum and the floor of the restaurant. We abandoned the night out! It is eleven days since I did that clutter clearing. It was so fruitful I am still energised by it and enjoying preparing the house for winter (and possible emergencies - candles, torch batteries, camping stove etc). Clothes next perhaps. What are you sorting/getting rid of/simplifying/organising? Are you finding that the more you do, the more energy you have?  With the change of season comes a restlessness and a need for change at home. Do you feel like this?  I have bought a big new rug for the sitting room in a style very new to me. I am experimenting with pattern on pattern, pulling out different cushion covers, paintings, ornaments....each small change leads to another idea. It will all settle down eventually! Perhaps I will too.
There is enough to keep me busy as Storm Babet passes through - I hope it misses you.  If you have access to BBC Sounds there was a lovely interview with pianist Krystian Zimmerman on Music Matters of 14 October.
The sunset coming home from the city was glorious.  I am sure you all know how impressed I am wih the Danish concept of hygge. I have not written much about the equally impressive Swedish word lagom - meaning something like enough for everyone/fairness. Then there is the Japanese notion of wabi sabi but when I saw the title of this book I realised I was perhaps neglecting something of similar value in my own culture.
So I bought the book. I bought it at Carry Farm (with typical restraint, they only had this one title for sale). The author is a lifestyle journalist and suggests that 'coorie' is now a trend, a movement. Well, why not? It's a lovely word I have known since childhood. Perhaps 'snuggle' is the closest translation. You might say 'Coorie in' to a child needing a little comfort and invite them to sit beside you and put your arm around them. Or you might 'Coorie doon' (down) as I have been doing for a few days nursing a cold. It has in it affection and safety and a sense that right here right now, all is well. Such a winderful and important feeling to have. So I am all for promoting The Art of Coorie. Cultural appropriation? No! Sharing of cultural ideas to my way of thinking. I have red gingham curtains in the bathroom in winter and changing them the other day I noticed how very faded they are. It crossed my mind I should make new ones but then I realised I actually like that they are faded, and I remembered wabi sabi. Beautiful images in this video of peaceful sanctuaries that you would wish for everyone. Japanese quince. I can smell them from the back door some days, but I always bring in a bowlful to scent a room. Cool and sweet. Comforting fire tonight and squally noisy wind outside. A night to coorie doon.  ..clutter clear was quite cathartic. I felt a little bereft as the jeep load drove away but as the day went on and I moved about the house I found myself shifting and changing some small things and having some fresh ideas .  Do you find the headspace it gives is even more important than the physical space? I browsed a few videos..and allowed myself to dream a little. I simplified the surfaces in the living room even more and found it soothed my soul. Home is my sancruary. There must be hundreds of pots of gold between the red gatte and the loch..  ..of free fun, isn't it fun to take a stick and draw on a sandy beach! Giant plants, directions to the North Pole, anything you like, the more nonsensical thhe better.     It will all disappear with the next tide. Pure lighthearted fun. Be sure to try it next tine you get the chance. It does you good to be silly now and then and we all feel less self conscious on a beach, don't you think? Do you feel you are allowed to be childlike on the beach?
When did you last have some simple fun? This was the wonderful beach at Ostell Bay which we visited from Carry Farm and which looks out to the north coast of Arran. I use prunings to decorate the table. They may last only a day, but they do spark joy!  ..of taking a short break, is coming home with a slightly altered perspective on things......the lovely holiday lodge had absolutely no clutter, but everything that was needed. That may be why it was so relaxing.
So I have ready for the charity shops and the recycling centre - two duvets one large cushion one pillow one mug one lamp one large saucepan four child buoyancy jackets three adult buoyancy jacketst wo pairs of flippers six jumpers five tops two coats one chair one bookstand twelve DVDs various flowerpots, baskets and tins..... and more. But rain stopped play. The buses were cancelled, there were landlsides and flooding. I am grateful that my house is four feet off the ground but a neighbour in the glen closer to the river is not so lucky and his house is flooded to waist height. I do hope you are waarm and dry. I wrote the above yesterday, but the rain has eased a bit and all my things were collected today!  Cutting back and filling the compost bin.    At this time of year bare soil is very satisfying.  Especially with pretty things planted under it. Ticking things off on the list is also very sarisfying.  What's on your list?
I call myself a fairwether gardener, but what to do when rain is forecast every single day for the next two weeks? Giving up in despair was not an option, though I did consider it for about a minute and a half. But there is no fun in that so How to make it work. Made a list with my old tried and tested formula .  Then I set things up indoors to be nice to come back in to..lit a small fire, brought in enough logs for the day, set up coffee, and soup for lunch and decided to spend 15 minutes on each task. Get the wellies, the right socks, the waterproofs including trousers and just get on iwith it!  The lovely rudbeckia fell from the porch, so that was my rescue job, and I could do it in the greenhouse.   Digging over part of the cutting patch was a muddy job..  ..but I actually enjoyed it though I did discoverr my waterproofs are not completely waterproof!
Are you stopped by wet weather? Or do you go along with the idea that there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. |
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