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Simply..I repeat myself....

13/10/2024

..but so too do the seasons. This is the fourteenth October I have blogged about!
So I repeat photographs of the garden in autumn, the table decorations, the last flowers etc, but isn't it rather wonderful that we can be thrilled by autumn, year after year?

I browsed through some previous Octobers in the (now very extensive) archive and 2015 seemed particularly nice... see here.

A special thank you to those of you who have stayed with me all these years, and more! I have so enjoyed your company.

Nature's gift. Prunings make a free, effortless and elegant table decoration.

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Simply..might as well be happy....

12/10/2024

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Simply..just one thing....

11/10/2024

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Every now and then I clear off a space - a shelf, an alcove, a table - and put just one thing there.

I love how dynamic this jar of branches looks. It has an evergy about it that enlivens the room - or to be more accurate, it enlivens me when I go into the room. Sparks joy in fact!

Where will you try just one thng?

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Simply..chill?

10/10/2024

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I heard Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten speak at Wigtown Book Festival. He spoke about meditation as a way of training your mind, so as to be better able to deal with difficult times, so although I am filing this post under Simply Chill it's not perhaps appropriate. Thubten is not describing meditation as clearing your mind or chilling out but as a fairly challenging and rigorous practice.

Of breathing meditation -

Every time you return to the breath
you are becoming your own boss.

The whole garden is spectaculaly colourful this autumn.

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Simply..fascinated....

9/10/2024

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..by Handbook For Hard Times. A Monk's Guided To Fearless Living by Gelong Thubten.

Expect lots of quotations!

The beauty and simplicity of the unelaborated present moment.

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Simply..all at once....

8/10/2024

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My daughter's garden . The most amazing colours on a black-stemmed cornus.

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Simply..Banksy....

7/10/2024

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Clever, and scary.

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Simply..grow tulips....

6/10/2024

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..From the supermarket these are such a bargain. I grew Flourish and Grow tulips last year and they were excellent.

Should you be troubled by deer, remember that cubes of cheap perfumed soap will keep them off your flowers.

I didn't buy these ones. I am just curious to know if 'Yellow' is the name of a variety?

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Simply..a young oak tree....

5/10/2024

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..half way down the path to the shore has more acorns than ever before. (Last year it had none.)

I have only recently discovered that jays as well as squirrels bury acorns. Has anyone tried growing one in an acorn vase? I mihgt give this a try.

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Simply..autumn food....

4/10/2024

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Pam Ayres was performing but was quickly sold out so we listened to this laugh out loud funny lady on YouTube while we enjoyed some wonderful meals cooked by my dear friend whose gorgeous cottage we were staying at. Mushroom and Chestnut Hotpot and Spicy Bean Chilli (both Michael Mosley recipes).

Happy days.

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Simply..just as well....

3/10/2024

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..I have a grasshopper brain as we had an incredibly varied programme! A brilliant talk by Amanda Herries about creating the exhibition Eye To Eye about Sir Henry Raeburn was followed by an interview with Gelong Thubten, a Buddhist monk whose Handbook For Hard Times I am listening to on Audible.

We went to a Jazz Afternoon Tea, and a talk on the history of the gut! Rumbles by Elsa Richardson. We caught the last day of the Raeburn exhibition in Kikedbright which was excellent - one of the best exhibitions have seen in a long time. Kirkudbright is another pretty town.

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Simply..a pretty town....

2/10/2024

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See more about the Book Festival here. It continues till 6th October.

Wigtown has interesting architecture, some lovely new shops and pretty gardens (a delightful garden behind ReadingLasses bookshop is worth a look) and there were still lots of flowers everywhere. We were lucky enough to have several sunny days.

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Simply..the Wigtown Book Festival....

1/10/2024

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..got off to a spectacular start with a great firework display. I took this rather odd photograph!

But later that night we stood under the starriest sky I think I have ever seen. The Milky Way seemed to take up most of the sky and was so thick with stars that it was hard to make out the constellations. Awestruck.

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Simply..this clematis....

26/9/2024

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..is in need of a haircut. It is casting gloom and making this room look a bit too Miss Haversham! Dried flowers can do that and I think they must go too.

I'm taking a short blog break. Do have a lovely weekend.

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Simply..forgot....

25/9/2024

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..the N on my north point.

It's a work in progress..

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Simply..cosy evenings....

24/9/2024

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..and autumn pickings from the garden.

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Simply..Ithaca....

23/9/2024

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Enjoy.. (Thank you Gwendoline.)

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Simply..finding....

22/9/2024

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..my true north.

A walk on the shore and a playful tweaking of the north point I made on the drive some time ago.

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Simply..who do you listen to....

21/9/2024

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..and do they really know better than you what is best for you?

I find it takes time to work out my own ideas, and to be an independent thinker I do need to be informed. I am very very choosy about who gets into my precious headspace! It's all too easy to be overwhelmed.

I want to stay sane and calm and will not let my nerves be wracked by the latest news/trend/scare/speculation/prediction..

Posting this under Simply Chill, Simply Headspace and Simply Live and am simply sharing what works for me :-)

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Simply..do you think....

20/9/2024

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..it is harder to be an independent thinker today than it was in the past?

There are so many people telling us what to think and what to do.

Parents and siblings, teachers, religious leaders, pundits and politicianss, bosses, government authorities and lawmakers, newspaper articles, books and magazines, therapists and counsellors, radio and TV programmes, advertisers, vloggers and bloggers (me?), motivational speakers, campaigners and activists, gurus, influencers and celebrities, YouTubers and podcasters, disruptors and the woke fraternity, then of course there is Mr Google, algorithms and AI...

So many people want to tell us how to live, what to think, say and do!

I worry that we will forget how to think for ourselves and how to have confidence in our own judgement.

What do you think?

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Simply..the sun in the morning....

19/9/2024

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..and the moon at night.

At long last we are having a spell of good weather! Clear blue skies and warm sunshine by day, and the most magnificent and huge full moon by night. Magical, beautiful, nourishing both body and soul.

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Simply..a happy chore....

18/9/2024

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It's that time of year again and this is a job I fnd very satisfying.

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Simply..why is it....

17/9/2024

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..that I wouldn't dream of scoffing a whole packet of amaretti biscuits in one go? It's not just that they are far more expensive. No, something else is at play here.

Maybe you never would binge, but are there some things you could binge on and some you just couldn't ever scoff all at once?

I found myself pondering this ridiculous question several times today! :-)

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Simply..comfort food....

16/9/2024

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What could be nicer than a digestive biscuit?

Two digestive biscuits?

Or hlf a packet of digestive biscuits! Shame on me I had the whole packet one evening.

I suppose there are worse sins..

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Simply..in the garden....

15/9/2024

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On a recent podcast by Sarah Raven and Arthur Parkinson, Arthur talked about 'climate chaos' and winners and losers in the garden this year. His very sensible attitude is that we must get used to it and be grateful for whatever thrives.

He has a nice turn of phrase - Medusa vases of sweet peas. (I wish! Mine were almost a total failure this year.)

I have sown a tray of cornflowers for next year...

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<<Previous

Simply..I repeat myself....

Simply..might as well be happy....

Simply..just one thing....

Simply..chill?

Simply..fascinated....

Simply..all at once....

Simply..Banksy....

Simply..grow tulips....

Simply..a young oak tree....

Simply..autumn food....

Simply..just as well....

Simply..a pretty town....

Simply..the Wigtown Book Festival....

Simply..this clematis....

Simply..forgot....

Simply..cosy evenings....

Simply..Ithaca....

Simply..finding....

Simply..who do you listen to....

Simply..do you think....

Simply..the sun in the morning....

Simply..a happy chore....

Simply..why is it....

Simply..comfort food....

Simply..in the garden....

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