Wednesday was Not A Good Day in my house. My car broke down, just as I was setting off to visit my parents, and instead of taking Mum out for a pot of tea and (perhaps) a slice of lemon drizzle cake, I spent a wet afternoon waiting for the AA to recue me and then, in fear it might conk out again, driving my … Continue reading Book Friday: The Tucci Table by Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt
Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent and, for the first time in a few years, I decided to take action for Lent. My relationship to organised religion is a bit mixed: I am a baptised and confirmed Christian, but I struggle with the history and, sometimes, the attitudes of formal religious bodies. I also can’t and don’t condemn many people who choose … Continue reading Creating Sanctuary: Lenten Hygge
Happy International Day of Hygge! 28th February (29th on a leap year) is a day of hygge around the world. And, yes, we can still celebrate and mark hygge even if the whole world outside has gone to pot and lost its mind. Indeed, it is incumbent on us to make sure that hygge goes on and remember that, although there are so many places … Continue reading Happy International Day of Hygge: I hygge because I can.
I’m writing this in advance, on the Tuesday before it goes live on the Friday and the sun is streaming in at my office window. It may be freezing outside but my little glasshouse is trapping the light energy as heat faster than I can imagine. It makes such a big difference to how I feel, seeing the sun like that. And, as always when … Continue reading Book Friday: Cozy White Cottage by Liz Marie Galvan
How are your anxiety levels? Mine are quite high, with issue layered upon issue and no control over any of them. What power do I really have over Covid, Ukraine, familial choices, local or national politics and more besides? And I’m a news hound. I read a daily newspaper online (or sometimes two), we have a news channel on as the default background noise at … Continue reading Creating Sanctuary: Take a News Fast now and then.
I’m so pleased that February has been a lot brighter and less wintry than it could have been here in the UK. SAD, winter sadness, has been a real part of my life for the last 10 years and every winter I have to build in the actions that I know will help me to keep just off the bottom of the bottomless pit. Hygge … Continue reading An A to Z of Happiness Health Hacks.
December’s posts this year all share the theme of Mindful Christmas. There’ll be short posts each day encouraging us to pause and look at our celebrations in a more measured, mindful way. Every day has a concept heavily tied in to Christmas, and the plan is to look at them individually, examine what role they play in our own Christmas and, if we decide we … Continue reading Detox: Mindful Christmas Day 23
December’s posts this year all share the theme of Mindful Christmas. There’ll be short posts each day encouraging us to pause and look at our celebrations in a more measured, mindful way. Every day has a concept heavily tied in to Christmas, and the plan is to look at them individually, examine what role they play in our own Christmas and, if we decide we … Continue reading Touch, and Other Senses: Mindful Christmas Day 22
How to Hygge the British Way 