Appreciation

 Today I'm appreciating the flowers that I have in the garden.  I've been buying a few from Lidl.  They seem to be in good health and they thrive with my tlc.

 

      Gerberas, happy flowers I think.  They certainly make me smile

 

Platycodon, or balloon flowers.  They swell and swell until a flower pops out.  These are such a pure white, beautiful.

A huge wink from the Universe

As I updated all of my blogs yesterday morning for the first time in a long time; I had a read through some of the last posts on my main blog.  I came across the post I had written after a trip to the UK back in September 2017. We spent a day with our daughter, Dom, who was pregnant at the time (it was too early then to know that she was expecting twins). That afternoon we visited the Beth Chatto’s Gardens , which we loved, despite the rain. It was Lovely to go back to that memory.

Yesterday afternoon I was listening to BBC radio 4 and Gardener’s Question Time came on the radio.  I love my garden and always enjoy their programme.  The programme was being broadcast from … Beth Chatto’s Gardens.  It was a pleasure to hear more about the gardens as well as the usual questions and tips.

I think that the Universe is telling me it’s time to get out into the garden again.

The promised post about the garden.

I love my garden.  Unfortunately a lot of slugs and snails love it too.  I planted many plants which often disappeared overnight.  I tried putting out beer traps.  They do work, although they draw the snails and slugs, which is really encouraging them.  I quickly learned that the traps must be emptied quickly or the smell is dreadful.  My solution was to start using containers and pots for my precious plants. Along with this, an early morning round where I remove any slugs and snails that find their way into the pots.  I leave them out on the path, away from the plants where the birds do the rest.  I now have a collection of interesting pots and containers and plenty of plants that have survived the winter. I also have the advantage of being able to move plants around as I choose.

Autumn appreciation

 The change of light

sunsets

that special chill in the air in the morning.

trees changing colour

Christmas will soon be here!

Spring appreciation

 

Early morning sunshine

The taste of a fresh orange at breakfast

Leaf buds opening on the trees

The colours of spring flowers

The smell of the garden after the rain

On the move again

A lot of last year was taken up by moving house. I was very sad to move, but the stairs were getting more and more difficult. We bought a house in a different department, in a different region although not too far from where we were living.

Our eldest son helped with decorating. He’s very good with colours and solving problems and decor generally. A lot of hard work (and hard shopping!) was involved, but now we love and are very proud of our home.

We moved on my birthday.  It was very stressful as the removal men were not happy as they had a very large truck and our new and old streets are very narrow. I managed to stay out of their way as much as possible as they loaded up. Unfortunately, I had to be around when they unloaded to tell them where everything was to go. We were pleased when they left us – I think they were pleased to leave too.

Besides settling in, we had to clean the old house up for the inventory. We had been careful, but as we had been there for 7 years, the walls and corners where furniture had been undisturbed all that time needed a good clean. It was really nice on the last day as the owner came at the same time as the agent so we had the opportunity to thank him and say goodbye. The house had belonged to his mother and she had lived there nearly all of her life (I think she was born there too). We always felt that she was watching over us – we certainly felt that the house welcomed us.

Remember the loft?

 All gone! 

One of the nicest parts about the new house is the garden. We have a very sheltered area where we can eat outside in good weather and then steps up to the lawn and trees. I have a cherry tree and a fig tree!! These are the very trees that I’ve always wanted in my garden. I’ll write more about the garden in another post.

I'll never forget

On Sunday we visited a local town and went to look at a church which was built in the 11th and 15th centuries. The church has a crypt which was open to the public. I don’t usually enjoy visiting crypts as they are almost always damp and dark and cold and smell musty. This one had double doors open to the street so I was persuaded by my husband to take a look.

 As we walked in someone started to sing Ave Maria. The singer was a young woman whose voice was absolutely beautiful. Her singing echoed around the arched ceilings which made the sound even more incredible. Unfortunately when she realised she wasn’t alone she stopped and hurried away. I was sorry that we’d disturbed her, but I’ll never forget that moment.

Inside the main church

This part was built in the 11th century

Good start to the day!

My office is upstairs. This morning when I opened the shutters before starting work; a tree passed by! An Olive tree was being transported on the back of a truck. The kind of start to the day I love. I wonder what will happen next.

Appreciation in July

As the year changes there is a shift in what I appreciate. We’ve recently had very hot weather so obviously I appreciated the cool of early morning. Now the temperature is more comfortable and we’ve had rain.

The coolness of early morning
Birdsong
The abundance of fruit ripening on the trees
Long light evenings
Strawberries
The smell of rain on the dried out earth
Hearing children playing outside

The song of the Sea

 This is what music from the depths of the soul sounds like. You can read and hear more about this music here

Appreciation

Although I haven’t posted a list here for a while (two years!), I do try to appreciate the day as I fall asleep every night. I usually don’t get much further that my breakfast orange before dozing off. As I have written in the past; I sleep much better too!

 An orange with my breakfast
Coffee
The green of new grass
Seeing the buds start to open on the trees
Early morning bird song
The clock tower on the church striking the hour
Lighter mornings
Coming into the warm house after a walk

Candle Flame

I've decided to go back to meditating and I found this candle flame online. There is no sound and it lasts for a whole hour. I meditated for 15 minutes and didn't feel the time pass at all. It really helped to quieten my mind. Thank you to whoever put this online.

The breeze of 2017

I don’t know about you, but at this time of year I find that being cooped up inside a warm house becomes stifling. Today the sun is shining and it is so pleasant to step outside into the cold fresh air – even for just a few minutes. There is a brisk North-Easterly breeze and the washing is drying well outside for the first time in ages.

2016 has been a strange year all round: A year of sadness and unsettling change throughout the world. I’m going to focus on 2017 as the brisk breeze of changes for the better. Have a Happy New Year.

When my mind fidgets

Today I had a conversation with my son about meditation. I admitted to him that sometimes my mind it so full of clutter that I can’t settle to even 15 minutes. I used to feel a bit guilty about this, but I’ve decided not to. I’m only pretending to myself if I pretend to settle down. My body might not fidget, but my mind does. Some days I can meditate and it feels great when I do. I’ve decided to just do it as I feel like it. I know that it will come back.

When I was a teenager my mother went to yoga classes run by one of her friends. She gave up in the end because she got so stressed about finding the time to practice properly.

In French we talk about ‘feeling good in our skin’. It can relate to a lot of things in our lives; what we do, how we look, how we dress, who we mix with. Learning how to feel good about ourselves should have nothing to do with the judgment of others or feeling that we must do ‘the right thing’.

Look beyond what you see

When we moved to this house, I just had a feeling about it. There isn’t much of a view; the wall that surrounds the farm across the road is very, very old and has been repaired many times, not always with a view to aesthetics. But, when I look out of my office window I can watch the hens in the farmyard over the wall and every morning the sun rises. One morning last week there was an especially spectacular sunrise:

It’s important to make the effort to see past first impressions – you never know what might be over the wall.

There is always a sunrise...

... or a sunset.  What a wonderful way to start and end every day? These are some sunrises from December:

Did someone mention that time flies?

It’s almost 6 months since I last posted here. I’ve been busy living my life, running my own business, learning, appreciating… Now it’s time to look forward to Christmas. Is there any moment of the year more magical than the run up to Christmas?

I’ve wanted to put a link to Abraham Hicks Publications here for quite a time. I think it’s only fair as I keep writing about them. You can also find lots of videos on YouTube. It might all seem strange at first, but I hope you find something that inspires you. Abraham Hicks Publications.

It’s ok not to know what you want

Abraham Hicks tells us that we only have to ask for something and source energy lines it up for us. What happens if you don’t know what you want? Simple, just ask the question “what do I want?” and it will be answered.

Just right

I found this booklet to write my lists of appreciation in. I think that the title “Things are really looking good so far” is perfect!

I really appreciate this notebook!

How to fall asleep

This is what I learnt from Abraham Hicks.  Settle down into bed, enjoy the confort and the feel of your bed and think of and appreciate all the good things from the day.  I start with breakfast.  I always eat an orange first and I love the taste and the juicyness of it.  Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day (always has been).  Then I think of the morning, conversations - words exchanged by email.  My work; I work for myself from home and am fortunate to be doing something that I love.  I carry on through the day, like that, but I'm usually asleep before I get to appreciating lunchtime!

Since I started this practice I've slept better than I have in several years.  What do you think? let me know if you try it.