Live Simply Simply Live
  • Blog
  • Studio
  • Home
  • Cards
  • Coronation Wood

Simply..happy Easter....

16/4/2022

4 Comments

 
Picture

Thank you Grace for drawing my attention to this exhition. I will definitely be going to see it. Meanwhile I am enjoying this litle film. I hope you do too.

(Click on View Films, then click on Lizzie Farey The Song Of The Willow.)
4 Comments

Simply..helping....

14/4/2022

10 Comments

 


I remember someone pointng out that wherever you see an accident or disaster, you also see helpers. We may not be able most of the time to help the helpless, but we can usually help and support the helpers. The fundraisers, the charities, volunteers...

There have always been wars but we have not always watched then live in our homes.  I dom't think humans were designed for this! Watching war as it happens, beaming it into our lives. Is this intelligent behsviour? Moreover is it helpful?

 As well as helpers you will also see people at the scene of an accident who are there to simply gawp. Television footage from Ukraine makes me feel like one of those people. It's alsmst voyeuristic.
So I am switching off and switching my  focus to helping the helpers. The florist who is selling sunflowers wrapped in black paper and tied with blue and yellow ribbons who has raised £400 so far (my sister). The busy woman who finds time to raise £20,000 to help settle refugee families in her community - a house ready and translators and English lessons lined up (my daughter). The child who donated his month's pocket money (my grandson).

The world is full of helpers.  Maybe you are one. Courage, compassion, kindness and plain and simple goodness save us from despair, don't you think?

What helps you keep despair at bay?


Picture
10 Comments

Simply..horticultural quietism....

6/4/2022

6 Comments

 

I have just come across this wonderful phrase (which doesn't just mean living a quiet life in your garden as I first thought!...).

Focussing as I am on gardening, I found myself thinking 'Je dois cultiver mon jardin' as a kind of justification for ignoring the rest of the world for a bit. I knew it came from Voltaire's Candide  but little else, so I spent an absorbing evening looking it up  ('Google it Grandma' says my grandson if I ask him somehting he can't answer!)


I skimmed words by Julian Barnes, Thoreau, Wittgenstein and more, and landed on the site of  Austin Klein who linked to The School Of Life. Scroll down to see the short video here. All well and good I thought, but  didn't Plato say that if good people ignored public afffairs the price we  would have to pay would be to be ruled by evil people?
Picture

Everything is about balance and the point of balance is different for every person. Maybe we all struggle to find our own place, our own opinion and our own way to do something good to counter the bad.

AND culitiver notre jardins.


I don't intend to write  much about this topic here, but it seemed wrong not to acknwledge it, and writing helps me think thngs through. As do your always interesting comments which I really appreciate. Thank you so much for making the blog a conversation.


6 Comments

Smply..browsing....

5/4/2022

8 Comments

 
..through photographs I came across these - a random selection! Perhaps you will enjoy browsing them too..

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

That's me at the foot of the tree.
8 Comments

Simply..good to have plans....

14/3/2022

4 Comments

 

You may remember I decorated the litte 8 x 6 greenhouse for Midsummer laast year. See  here. 
I plan to do the same again and some of the gypsophila will be brought on in pots to add to the frothy pretty effect I am after.  I will have schizanthus too , and perhaps gaura lindheimeri, and there is a tender euphorbia called frosted something that would look very dainty along the front edge of the staging. I will have candles and tiny lights and we will drink Bellinis......plans and dreams, I love both!

Do you?
4 Comments

Simply..nature's peaceful gift....

12/3/2022

10 Comments

 
Picture
These were courtesy of M&S but it is even better for our spiritts to go out into nature, wrapped up and waterproofed if necessary, to observe nature's gifts with out own eyes and ears, to feel the wind and sun and rain on our skin, a balm for the soul, and a respite from the all too pervasive media.

Be sure to try it this weekend.

10 Comments

Simply..hanging on....

23/2/2022

6 Comments

 

In her book Winterings Kathleen May says 'I had to find the most cmfortable way to get through till spring'.

This is what I am doing. Making plans and trying not to be too upset if they don't come to fruition!

There is a lot going on and I am taking a blog break for a bit and enjoying the small signs of spring approaching through the teeeth of gales and a lot of rain!

Stay well and I hope all your plans work out.
6 Comments

Simply..oversized....

17/2/2022

4 Comments

 

More here from Tattie Rose


Here we are in uk being told yet again to stay home! I have got off ligjtly this time with sleety snow in the morning and winds, but not too strong, so I have been enjoying looking up videos on gardens and gardening. I was pleased to see a stack of potting compost at the supermarket - it can't be too long mow before we can start sowing seeds in anticipation of the soil drying out.

In a way I am 'wintering' in the sense that Kathleen May uses the word in her book of the same name. Resting, recuperating, waiting till the time is right to get out into the world again and have a few adventures!

Are you wintering?
4 Comments

Simply..make love not war....

14/2/2022

10 Comments

 

Valentines Day is tense on a personal and a global level...

Valentine Day and the anniversary of Barry's death come close together in February. It's an emotional time and tears were shed of course when I looked at the collection of lovely cards he sent me over the years. I found one, unsigned, after his death. Beautiful, sometimes funny, always with a thoughtful and loving  handwritten message inside.

It felt like a small romantic gesture to tie them toghether today in a red ribbon. Precious memories. I am lucky to have them.

It is always a good thing to celebrate love.

Picture
10 Comments

Simply..remember?

11/2/2022

4 Comments

 
Picture
4 Comments

Simply..buskers and beggars....

10/1/2022

2 Comments

 


How do they fare when so few peope carry cash now?

Picture
2 Comments

Simply..wih love....

8/1/2022

8 Comments

 

Have you chosen a word, or a phrase for 2022? (Mine is Lovingly - see yesterdy's post.) A friend who longs to be lighter of heart after a difficult year has chosen Fun. Do share your word here!

Picture
Picture

York Minster was closed last week. I was disappointed  as I like to light a candle for my husband Barry, who as a historian of the late medieval period, and volunteer in the Minster Library loved York and it's cathedral  Next time...

Meanwhile I took a closer look at the doorway. So beautiful!
8 Comments

Simply..The Word....

7/1/2022

6 Comments

 

It's taken me some time to find my word for 2022. Decisiveness might have been a good one, but I have settled on Lovingly.

I have tried it on for size as it were for a few days and it gives me a good feeling. Doing some boring chore I asked myself  How would it fel if I did this lovingly? Hmm. I notice it brings my stress level down a little every time I apply it, and of course it can be applied to pretty much any situation....
Picture
I chanced to look up in the waiting room in Waverley Station in Edinburgh and thought  They don't make them like that anymore

Thank you all for the good wishes for the new year.
6 Comments

Simply..exciting....

29/12/2021

15 Comments

 

..to see different scenery, different faces, have different conversations, eat different food, wear different cloothes!

I realise how much I thrive on chnage and variety. It makes me feel alive, and feel ike myself.


Picture
Had a lobely walk at Inveraray Castle


My word for 2021 was Stretch (boy were we all stretched!) and I am considerng lighthearted, freedom, fun, chill, growth, forward....restore might be  good word. What do you think?

I am taking a bit of a blog break now, but want to thank you for reading and for commenting. Above all I want you all to have a HEALTHY 2022

Be well.


15 Comments

Simply..the turn of the year....

20/12/2021

6 Comments

 


I am writing this on the 20th, but tomorrow is the shortest day and I like to light a candle for the solstice and this little one which turns the owls seems particularly appropriate.

I will be thinking of Lynn who is planning to be at Avebury.

Will you make a little celebration of it?


Picture
6 Comments

Simply..to be honest....

4/12/2021

8 Comments

 
As the fox says in Charlie Mackesey's wonderful book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse

To be honest, I often feel  I haave nothing interesting to say. (To which the horse replies To be honest is always interesting.)

LIfe is very quiet of late. I am catching up with a backlog of papaerwork, have sold another painting, am thinking a lot about suspending judgement and wondering what on earth I will buy for Christmas presents this year...

What is happening with you?
8 Comments

Simply..a little extra effort....

29/11/2021

4 Comments

 

It took only a few minutes to make morning voffee feel like something special, and it lifted my mood..

As ever, little tings make a diffenence.

What little thing could you do today to lift your mood a notch?


Picture
4 Comments

Simpy..nice things....

22/11/2021

8 Comments

 
..about November.

Are you managing to find things to be cheerful about this November?

Only a couple of hurs sunshine today, so I made the most of it by eating my healthy breakfast outside. It was very cold.

Full marks for trying Freda!



Picture
8 Comments

Simpy..nice things....

21/11/2021

4 Comments

 
..about November.

After some work in the sunny garden, an extra log on the fire and my favourite winter drink.
Picture
Picture
Equal parts clementine juice, cointreau and water. Served hot.

4 Comments

Simply..avoiding the housework....

8/11/2021

6 Comments

 
Playing around with table decorations, listening to Tamsin Edwards climate scientist Ted Talk and reading her blog All Models Are Wrong, anything but housework!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

One o the most interesting things abut COP26 I think, is that we have heard from some new voices - inventors, scientists, negotiators, investors and activists  as well as the politicians and journalists. A more complex and nuanced picture emerges...
6 Comments

Simply..sociable....

1/11/2021

4 Comments

 
I am enjoying a very sociable time as friends and family come to visit and to see the exhibtion. My friend Ian and I took a walk along the main street reminiscing about childhood holidays 'Doon The Watter' as Glaswegians called the holiday resorts on the Clyde estuary.

The statue of Heilan' Mary, lover of Rabbie Burns, is a good viewpoint.

Please check my studio page for details of the exhibition.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
4 Comments

Simply..baby steps ....

2/10/2021

8 Comments

 
 back to health and back to basics. First cuppa, with a tiny homemade biscuit. I've not been eating much.

I was careful not to switch on to the outrage/scandal/hysteria and other media madness, but opened the bedroom window, listened to the wind and the birds and slowly sipped the tea and nibbled gently on the biscuit, savouring every crumb. So lovely! Some lightly cooked chicken and a little salad and lots of water. Some extreme self care is called for...

Any tips most welcome.


Picture
8 Comments

Simply..the small things....

1/10/2021

8 Comments

 


..the very very small things.
Picture
Like tiny seedlings of wnter saladseSomething I have not tried before, but feeling a bit down  (still a bit unwell) it lifted my spirits to transplant  some seedlings. We all need something to care for, whether it be people or pets or plants.

What lifts your spirits if you are low?

8 Comments

Simply..visiting old friends....

9/9/2021

8 Comments

 


A walk through the Botanic Gardens, a meal sitting outside on a warm evening in Byer's Road, a visit to Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery to view some of my favourite paintings, breakfast in their cafe which had just opened again that morning, and the purchase of a pair of cosy gloves from the museum shop.

It was only 24 hours but it felt like a long weekend and I enjoyed every minute!

Almost 'normal'.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
8 Comments

Simply..a gentle day....

8/9/2021

13 Comments

 

Overstimulated by a trip to the city,  I was grateful for a gentle start to today.

The mist was slow to rise and the morning air cool and moist. It's turning inot  a beautiful sunny day, and I will be taking it easy.  A little painting, a little housework and a little planning...No news today.  I am looking after my mental health.

What are your plans for today?

Picture
13 Comments
<<Previous

    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
    Simply Fun
    Simply Get Rid
    Simply Grow
    Simply Headspace
    Simply Holiday
    Simply Home
    Simply Home
    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

    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
    Simply Fun
    Simply Get Rid
    Simply Grow
    Simply Headspace
    Simply Holiday
    Simply Home
    Simply Home
    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

    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
    Simply Fun
    Simply Get Rid
    Simply Grow
    Simply Headspace
    Simply Holiday
    Simply Home
    Simply Home
    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


    Author

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

    All words and images copyright Freda Waldapfel 2010 - 2020

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.