Blog Archives

Looking back over 2013.

What should I post? My favourite posts/images/links/ or something from each category or each month?

Looking through my photgraphs of the year I remembered my question - What would be simplest? The simplest images of course! Some I have posted before, some not....so, going backwards from December to July....

solar tree - can you just see it?

simple candles

November frost

sunlight on cold water October

on the beach, Harris, Outer Hebrides

wonderful Harris, September

from Coronation Wood

through the stable door, Lake district, August

from the garden July

a lovely summer

Tomorrow - June to January.

Back briefly to the present....I finally got off the sofa and took an invigorating walk up Pucks Glen!

More anon.

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Simply..a clear space....

28/12/2013

A a a a h . . . .

I got into the studio today and cleared the top of my desk ready to get back to work.

It inspired me to clear the dining table too. And the fire surround.

It's a funny time, this period between Christmas and New Year. A kind of no-man's land. Both looking back and looking forward. Storm bound and strangely content. Part of me is still in the comfort zone of Christmas (as in the banner photograph!) and part of me is looking forward to new beginnings and fresh starts.

What will I make next? The Roger Billcliffe Gallery want some 'postcard' works. Collages in a different format? I'm looking forward to starting tomorrow...

How do you find this time between?

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Simply tbr....

27/12/2013

I want to read that one fourth from the bottom on the left....

I do hope you got what you wanted from Santa!

Some of you will remember I wanted a to be read (tbr) shelf of books - see post here.

Well, the old chap (Santa that is) was listening and I am now snuggled down with fire, candles, rugs, amaretto and my lovely stack of new books while the storms rage....Best gift ever, and I am so grateful to be warm and safe and have the luxury of some time off to read to my heart's content.

How was your Christmas?

PS. I did venture out this morning to a Pilates class. I couldn't find my leggings and was secretly thinking 'Oh good, I won't have to go' as I half heartedly searched for them. I had mixed feelings when I found them, but am now feeling quite virtuous! Actually, I really enjoyed the class, felt great after it, and have signed up for more.

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No ferries! No snow! Noel!

24/12/2013

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....so a photograph from last year to wish you everything you want for your Christmas this year.

Thank you for reading Live Simply Simply Live.

Back soon.

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Simply sparkle, twinkle, glitter and shine....

23/12/2013

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To the winter decorations I've been gradually putting up throughout December, I like to add some tinselly bits!

Wouldn't winter here in the northern hemisphere be long and dull without some tinsel times....

In the end I always like the simplest best.

I'm pleased to be staying home this Christmas, but wish you safe journeys if you are not.

(PS I did read one of my Christmas books, much to my husband's indignation! It was Urban Worrier by Nick Thorpe - honest, thoughtful and funny - I thoroughly enjoyed it.)

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Simply....tonight?

22/12/2013

Honestly, I'm worse than a child waiting for Santa when they forecast snow!

I carry on with everything as usual. I'm enjoying the preparations. Last presents and cards to go first class. Keep the fire going, do some ironing, plan the food, light a candle, pin up some cards, but all the time I'm glancing out of the window. There is some snow on the mountains all around. Not a lot. We have sleet, we have wind, we had one flash of lightning and one clap of thunder.

But no snow.

Yet.

It's enough to drive a woman to open a parcel and read one of her Christmas books....

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Simply waiting....

21/12/2013

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...impatiently.

Yesterday they showed two snowflakes

Today they've reduced it to one

I should face it - they simply don't know !

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Simply..a moment of wonder....

21/12/2013

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(We lost our broadband connection last night....no post, sorry!)

We got lashing rain instead of the hoped for snow but these photographs by Kenneth Libbrecht from the book Snowflakes will do for now.

Quite astonishing micro shots of individual snowflakes.

I can remember as a young child my father showing me photographs of snowflakes in a volume of our Children's Encyclopaedia and telling me that every single one was different. I went to the window and watched the snow falling and was totally awestruck. I still am..

I'm sure you are very busy but if you have time do click on each one to enlarge.

Take a moment to wonder!

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Simply..snowflakes....

19/12/2013

Did you know that a snowflake falls at a rate of about three miles an hour, about six times slower than a raindrop? From a delightful book Let It Snow! by Rosemarie Jarski.

The photograph of a snowflake is from Snowflakes by Voyageur Press. I've given both books as presents in the past, then bought copies for myself.

There is snow on the hills tonight and it's very cold.

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Simply....three Christmas Trees..

18/12/2013

You've got how many Christmas trees? I hear you say.

For someone trying to simplify her life, three Christmas trees might seem somewhat excessive.

I can explain!

One is made of things we happened to have already (see post on 16 Dec).

This one, growing in a pot, was a garden centre bargain three years ago. While we wait for it to be big enough to be our indoor tree (next year I think) we have it on the porch with deep cherry red lights which I can't seem to photograph properly - they're not orange as they look here.

The tree proper is a beauty. Dark and glossy, smelling wonderful, Scottish grown and freshly cut, it was a wonderful deal from Ikea.

£25 with a £20 voucher to be spent late January/early February - probably their quietest weeks of the year. How's that for clever marketing?

Did you know that in Finland postage rates are reduced in the first half of December? More smart thinking from the Scandinavians.

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There's a fine line....

17/12/2013

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Between subtle, and drab.

I sprayed the semi dried eryngiums white but I fear they look a bit too Miss Havisham....

and a bit gloomy for the Christmas table.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

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Simply....more please!

16/12/2013

To yesterday's list I've added Urban Worrier by Nick Thorpe, The Virago Book of Women Travellers and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder.

Meanwhile in the garden, the red cane wigwam on which we grew sweet peas..

has, with the aid of some solar lights

become a Christmas Tree.

Repurposing.

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Simply put..all I want for Christmas is....

15/12/2013

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..a tbr shelf.

I didn't know what tbr stood for until quite recently. The term kept coming up over at Cornflower Books and when I twigged what it meant (to be read, as I expect you all know!) I really felt I was missing out on something good. I have always read every book as it comes in the door and rarely have one unread.

Here are some of the titles in my letter to Santa.

Findings by Kathleen Jamie, Christmas At Cold Comfort Farm, Rory Stewart's The Places In Between, Ishiguro's Nocturnes, The Snow Leopard, Venice For Lovers, Paris by Julian Green in both French and English to revive my rusty schoolgirl French, and How To Be Danish, The Collected Works of Bernard McLaverty....I'm just warming up to this and plan to add a few more. (The difficult bit will be making room on the shelf.)

There is an interesting post at Cornflower Books on the ntbr list (that's not-to-be-read list) which engendered lots of comments. See it here.

Do you have a tbr pile/shelf/collection?

And what do you want for Christmas?

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Simply..little by little....

14/12/2013

birch branches, a star punch, copydex..

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Simply Keep Calm and....

13/12/2013

..ignore everyone who tells you to hurry. Do not read anything that begins Last chance to....Believe me, it's not your last chance.

Here are some examples from my inbox and computer today -

15% off everything today only!
72 hour Christmas Flash Sale!
The countdown has begun, save up to 50%
18 hours left..
Up to 62% off!
Get ready for a show stopping spring! ( not now Sarah..)
Last Chance Christmas Sale
15% off last minute shopping
70% off Mega Monday extended!

Have you noticed they are always extended?

I found myself thinking Who are these people? Then I remembered they are not even people. They are simply automated advertisements (and your attention to them may have been monitored!)

The thought just went through my head Don't give them the satisfaction - then I remembered 'they' are machines - they don't get satisfaction. How quickly my thinking becomes a little bit crazy!

SO.

I refuse to be hassled and harassed. I will not be buying from any of them. I can do without the pressure! I may well miss a bargain (and I do like a bargain) but I will buy at my own pace and in my own good time, and if need be, at full price.

Though to beat the system I may just stock up on the bargains in January when the pressure is off and stash them away....and by this time next year would be feeling very smug!

Would I miss the excitement?

No, I don't think I would.

Would you?

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Simply Christmas..the book....

12/12/2013

The Christmas book for children took a bit of finding this year.

But here it is.

I think you'd have to edit it a little for very young children as it could be a bit scary.... It is about a little boy who loves winter so much that he wishes it would last forever, a wish which nearly comes true.

I think the illustrations are magical....

The author is Angela McAllister and the artist Grahame Baker-Smith.

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Simply..can't stop sneezing!

11/12/2013

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Here's my recipe for a hot toddy cold 'cure' !

A shot of Amaretto, the juice of two clementines and some boiling water....

(I'm a Scot who doesn't like whisky.)

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Simply can't resist....

10/12/2013

Neat packaging and tiny baubles in shades of grey (no, not Fifty Shades!)

I have put them in this bowl until I've sprayed some branches white, but actually....

They look rather pretty right there.

Gently does it.

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Simply Home..and a slow change....

9/12/2013

..from winter to Christmassy.

I'm enjoying adding slowly to the seasonal changes I like to have in my home.

Come December simple candles

pop into decorative holders.

Later I might add a bit of winter greenery,

and closer to Christmas I might add a bit of sparkle....

Gently does it.

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Simply....if you have children with you..

8/12/2013

..who are young enough to believe, and old enough to read, and you are shopping at Lidl, be prepared to cover their eyes at this point -

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Simply....the real Christmas..

7/12/2013

I've done a bit of organising and forward planning for it, and have already had my fill of the outrageously commercial side of Christmas, but the real spirit of Christmas starts for me with the Glasgow Hospitals Choir Carol Concert at the Royal Concert Hall, which raises funds to help children with cancer and their families to stay together close to the hospital during treatment.

Our friends have sung in this choir for many years. A boy soprano singing my favourite carol In The Bleak Midwinter, and a South African song in tibute to Mandela, brought a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye.

If this isn't goodwill I don't know what is. You could feel the love!

Heartwarming and very Christmassy.

I'm properly in the mood now for what Christmas is really all about.

Are you there yet?

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Simply..a slow Christmas....

6/12/2013