I'm taking a blog break and leaving you with some recent magical Autumn moments. We have had some lovely days....I hope you have too!

I've been enjoying some of the podcasts on On Being. This led me to birdnote.org and Daily Things To fall In Love With (what a brilliant title!) and......

When did you last have a fun day out?

I mean a whole day with nothing else to do but enjoy yourself...

We started with coffee on the roof terrace of Harvey Nicols in Edinburgh for the view overlooking St Andrew's Square.

On the way back down through the store we fantasised about glamorous gowns

..and crazy shoes!

We visited three galleries - The Scottish Gallery, Open Eye and the National Portrait Gallery ( where we also had lunch) and took a refreshing late afternoon stroll through the Botanic Gardens.

and finished with an hour's people watching while sipping healthy cocktails!

Where will you go for your fun day out?

I will be back to Edinburgh before The Festival ends... (26 Aug).

I have found

that when I wear these shoes

or carry a bunch of sunflowers.
people tend to strike up conversations with me!
'Ah, Van Gogh' one man said with a smile.

Nice.

If I sit on the edge of the bath with the window ajar I am on a level with the swallows' nest and I've been spending more time than I perhaps should watching the SIX baby birds...I think they may leave the nest tomorrow, and I might get some work done!

I also bought a fun scarf.

It's summer after all.

..at least three books at once! Do you do this?

I'm getting behind with Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life which I said I'd read, and review, one chapter a month, Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before about making and breaking habits has just come through the door and is tempting me away from Michelle Obama's Becoming which I am rushing through for book group which is tomorrow!

I ordered Becoming a bit late (do you find that if you don't pay for Amazon Prime deiiveries take a lot longer than they used to?) so to get a start on the content I started listening to interviews with her about her autobiography.

In this interview (25 mins 36 seconds in) with Oprah they both get very giggly about some major experiences they have had which they found themselves reacting to with an inner Mm,mm,mm!  I found it pretty funny and quite endearing and began to think of some things which have happened to me to which I can only respond Mm,mm,mm!

Can you think of any such moments?

The weather held for our midummer party! Huge macaroni cheese and salad in the garden, barbecue on the beach and back to the garden for cake and strawberries....everyone pitching in, so relaxing and easy...

Love it.

Now promise you won't laugh when you look at this link (okI know you will! I laughed too.).

No, I will not be sitting in the snow half naked any time soon, or anytime ever.

How I came across this I have no idea - things often just find me. Intrigued and super-sceptical I watched a few videos and Ted Talks and eventually thought I'd give the breathing a try. Deep breathing is good for you, right? I felt pretty good after just one round and began to do just one round most mornings. It only took a minute or two and I felt energetic and ready to go after it. This was around the same time I began to finish washing my hair with a cold rinse (which I mentioned a few weeks ago). That perked me up a bit further and seemed innocent enough.

Then one morning after my lovely warm shower I turned it to cold and timidly put my hands and feet under it for a few seconds. It took me about three weeks to stand fully under the cold water and ACTUALLY LIKE IT.

Yes, me.

The wimp.

I love it.


I joined the free mini class then unsubscribed easily and wasn't bombarded with unwanted  emails. I do it on my own in my own time now. A new habit.

I just have to try this one out!

Dr Michael Moseley suggests putting a chocolate in your mouth and keeping it there for a full 10 minutes, concentrating on the taste and savouring it, putting all other thoughts out of your head.

My friend says that is impossible as chocolate melts at body temperature so it would not last that long. In the interest of science I feel obliged to test it :-)

For more sensible and serious advice from Michael Moseley there are lots of videos of his BBC TV programmes and talks on YouTube

 Re yesterday's post How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint When You Fly is a BBC video that encourages us all to make tiny changes...

which makes a day in the city and a lunchtime concert possible.

We have pretty good public transport.

We also have landslides, which disrupt it at times!

Be astonished at these photographs....

And I thought this was fun!

I hope you are having a great weekend.

I spent a lovely afternoon with Grace (regular commenter on the blog who lives in Paris).
We both grew up in Glasgow so especially enjoyed the exhibition Glasgow In Print at the Glasgow Print Studio.

A leisurely lunch at Rogano's (could be in New York said Grace) to catch up since we last met was delightful.  Grace is off to climb Ben Nevis! We will be rooting for you and you must let us know if you get to the top. No pressure then :-)

Meeting some of my blog friends has been one of the greatest pleasures of Live Simply Simply Live and I did need to get away from the big studio clean up for a bit...

Don't forget to arrange a change of scene, however brief, if things get a bit intense.

I was once tall in Venice too..

PS Don't miss Lucille's latest post.

I'm going over there now to view it again..

..for our midsummer barbecue on the beach.

Then back to the garden for some dangerous cake!

I found these birch branches already in this shape lying in a hedge! All they needed was lightly tied together, and a little addition for Easter..

Thank you all so much for your comments on yesterday's post. You made me laugh and lighten up, and you motivated me!

for a few hours this morning with blue skies and rolling mist on the loch..

However it soon clouded over and it was still pretty cold, so I went to  Edinburgh as I had planned to see the last day of the Elaine Pamphilon exhibition at the Open Eye Gallery.

I am still mulling over the interesting comments on yesterday's post - thank you so much.

What is your favourite destination?

I loved the fun headings in this book shop -

Made me smile..

Sunny though very cold. The restaurants had flowers on the tables outside (though everyone was inside) but it looked so jolly and so spring-like and reminded you what it is like to sit outside, and that it might not be too long before we do. Click to enlarge for a pop of colour.

In the station's Piano Garden someone had popped down the suitcase to stop and play something fabulous. I think it would be so thrilling to be able to do that! Do they have street pianos in your town? Whoever thought that up should get a medal.

And Carluccio's exhorted us to make the day Magnifico!

Another reason to be cheerful was that my eyes are 'stable'. Will keep juicing!

And sum up my health week at home when I have got my head round it.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Nearly forgot! 9403 steps!

I learned something important (for me) yesterday. I don't mean deep learning in the Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning sense - I mean it as something imprinted not just in my mind but in my body, in every cell.

I'm not sure I can explain it well...in yesterday's photo taken by Scott I held that pose for maybe 7 or 8 seconds, laughing because it was early on a rainy Sunday morning, we'd only just got out of bed, I was feeling far from exuberant and energetic, and what on earth were we doing trying to copy a pose on a postcard? (When I showed the postcard to Scott and said 'Do you think we could take a photograph like that?' he replied in his polite way 'No thanks' but almost immediately changed his mind...and went to find his wellies.)

But that extravagant gesture brought with it a delightful surge of energy which stayed with me all day, and made me grin every time I thought of it. Just 7 or 8 seconds of physical movement had such a big, positive and lasting effect!

If you, like me, live too much in your head, won't you try it and see what happens to your energy levels and your mood? It helps of course to have a seven year old around, or a dog, or a friend who likes a laugh.

 I shouldn't really be surprised because I know (in my head of course) that this is why people run and jump and get into sport but I've never really liked sport, or exercise. And I am surprised and rather delighted to have discovered how this worked for me.  It's that 'act as if' thing. I look at the photograph and know that I haven't felt like that in so long...but acting as if I did had this magical effect.

Well this is a long-winded way of saying it made me feel SO HAPPY!

I am reminded of this all-time favourite cartoon - www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/173107179400186336/



Our version of yesterday's post..

Oddly, I think they are better in black and white. Not sure why.

Great photograph for a seven year old, don't you think?

Well done Scott!

And thank you for the inspiration C - it will be yet more fun to try for a sunny day version, a snowy day version....you may have started something here.

Architect Frank Gehry's advice to 'treat the commercial world as a museum' is something I play with at times.

It's fun to look at the world this way. I can imagine Harvey Nichols as a 21C extension to the Pitt Rivers and myself as a social  anthropologist....

It's stopped raining and my favourite flowers have come out.

..brimeth over!

I set out last week to move out of my comfort zone and 'refill the well' by doing and looking at some things which were a bit different from my usual.

What a week.

I attended the opening of the Andy Warhol Exhibition in the newly restored Burgh Hall in Dunoon, spent a day in Edinburgh looking at three exhibitions and eating out, I met up with friends, went with my sister to a party at Glasgow School of Art and was shown round some of the Degree Show by students, and celebrated a friend's work being selected for the annual Paisley Art Institute exhibition with a visit there.

Wine and canapes, breakfast out, oh the high life!

l loved it all and am now glad to be home.

It has rained for about ten days and I do want to ground myself by gardening (which was my original plan for June).

What do you do to fill the well? And is it fun?

Not just glamour and bling! I found several good reads in Vogue including one about a British family who have taken in a refugee written by the woman of the family, and the refugee, a feature by an Italian citizen living in Britain about her view of Brexit, and one by Arundhati Roy on political activism.....

Last weekend In my search for something different I had a lunch of haggis in filo pastry with a whisky sauce, vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and strawberries, a small glass of wine and a coffee, served on fine china by charming staff, surrounded by amazing flowers (not all real but the lilies were) and lit by chandeliers! All for £19.50. I just love the over-the-top grandeur of The Dome.

Well, once a year :-)

Then a quick tour of Harvey Nichols shoe department..

These shoes made me think of Cruella de Ville. £650.

See more amazing shoes at unbelievable prices here.

Have you done anything just for fun lately?

Can you think of something fun for this weekend?

In my few hours in Edinburgh I also went to The Scottish Gallery where two very different shows interested me.

The watercolours of Hugh Buchanan are accomplished and very beautiful if slightly austere and academic - an approach which however suits the subject of Georgian Edinburgh. I loved these and if I had a fine Georgian room to hang one in would have gladly spent the £6250 on the one of the chair in the light from the elaborately curtained window!

You can view them here

Entirely different but also wonderfully skilled was the collection of miniature pots by Yuta Segawa. Some are less than an inch tall and they were all hand thrown on a wheel. I enjoyed talking to the friendly young woman who was working there She has bought some - they cost, amazingly, £20 and £25 pounds each. They are all different and very very well made. You can see the artist making them in this video and you can buy them online from his website.

Tempting...

I am fascinated lately by artists who do photo-realistic work.

I got to Edinburgh in time to hear Rachel Ross's talk about her acrylic paintings. (See also yesterday's post).

Charming and friendly, she talked mainly about how she does them, but the why was about her fondness for old objects from the past and wanting to give them some kind of status and presence. I felt it would be rude to ask if excellent photographs might do the same thing. Her skill is superb, and the paintings are truly lovely objects, but not really my thing (which on this occasion is why I went to see the exhibition - to look beyond my usual choices).

The exhibition is at the Open Eye Gallery and you can see more images of Rachel's exquisite work here.