Today is Blue Monday, and news programmes, papers and places all over the internet are proclaiming it the lowest Monday of the year. Christmas is over, the bills ahve come in, the weather is blue and we are too. Well, not this year. I’ve done well at keeping active, meeting friends who keep me boosted and enjoying life, including finding the gem of a 1930s … Continue reading Blue Monday? Depends on the Shade
I have been married 29 years. We celebrated our 29th anniversary on 22nd October this year. I find it amazing that we’ve been married for anything like that long. More amazing, perhaps, is that we spend so long together. Bar a few hours when I teach or visit friends and relatives, we work, live and sleep within 10 m of each other. It’s okay: I’ve … Continue reading Book Friday: One by Jamie Oliver (Simple One Pan Wonders)
Today’s UK news was full of the idea that, come January and February, the UK could have planned blackouts, when electricity supplies are cut to certain areas to preserve the available gas. Understandably, this sounds like a scary prospect until you sit and think about it. I think people who are into hygge are ahead of the curve on being able to handle the blackouts. … Continue reading Electricity Free Evenings? No Problem.
I don’t know how time works: I just know that some weeks the time is everlasting and sometimes it flies. We’ve been watching The Lazarus Project on Sky recently, and the idea that there’s a reset point (on July 1st every year) that only some people remember if the machine resets is intriguing. Messing with time is dangerous, especially when we try to fit too … Continue reading Book Friday: The Green Sketching Handbook by Dr Ali Foxon
It’s June. Flaming June, as the painting by Lord Frederick Leighton has it. So far, not a very warm, hot or languid season. But give it time. I never mind a cool summer. I’m not a lover of heat, so even were it to be beaming sunshine, languid heat and air so humid you could suck it in great lungfuls and feel the steam as … Continue reading Whether it Rains or Shines, there’s always time for a Book.
How is it the end of January already? And how have I been so busy elsewhere that I’ve only written 2 or 3 posts? Actually, that’s easy. I’ve been working in the office, catching up on the post-Christmas rush, and also gained a couple of pupils to tutor. I may only teach them in 1 hour sessions, but the preparation, travelling and time allocated to … Continue reading A Month of Hygge Happiness
Sanctuary is my Word of the Year for 2022. I chose it because the idea of a space away from the world and safe from external attacks appealed to me, especially after a rough couple of Covid years. And I knew when I chose the word that the meaning, both physical and mental, would be important to me. I wanted to rebuild the inner sanctuary … Continue reading Book Friday: Spirit of the Home (How to Make your Home a Sanctuary) by Jane Alexander
Friday 26th November, and I’m in work. Storm Arwen is bashing the door, pelting the office with hail and making me wish perhaps I wasn’t due to go collect lunch today. Never mind: I have my candle, my aromatherapy diffuser and my little Bob Cratchit stove at the ready, so perhaps I’ll hunker down, keep doing the work and hope that Arwen passes by before … Continue reading What’s my Christmas this year going to be? Mindful.
How to Hygge the British Way 