Thoughtful Thursday

'Just living is not enough..... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.' 

Hans Christian Andersen 

I love the weekend!

Blue skies - hooray.

It’s Sunday afternoon already – how did that come around so quickly?

I’ve had a weekend of mostly pottering about which has been blissful. Saturday started with me wandering up to the village hall to partake in an hour of yoga. I have discovered the most fabulous class right on my doorstep and first thing on a Saturday morning is just perfect for me! It’s also been really nice to reconnect with some other ladies from the village. Since I stopped working at the village pre-school to take up full time work in Oxford I have missed the contact with other villagers – I rarely visit the pub (honest, guv) and have not yet taken the radical step to becoming a fully paid up member of the local WI and so opportunities to be social are fairly limited (also, I am not all that sociable – another flaw in my plan!) But the yoga is great, physically and socially. I am feeling the benefits in supplementing my own morning practice with something more structured and it’s great to have some feedback on ways I can improve my positions. I am not yet able to put my legs behind my ears but I am a lot bendier than I was a few months ago :)

I have been working hard to tame my magazine addiction – I am still checking out the mag stands but am not buying! What a step forward. I have also made headway with the vast collection I have at home, sorting some out to recycle, passing some onto people I think might enjoy them (and not be tempted to hoard them) and I have even uttered the words “just recycle them or pass them on if you don’t want them” instead of “have a flick through then GIVE THEM BACK (please).” It’s been hard but I feel better for it. Honest.

Some of my treasures - probably rare and very valuable!

I have caught up with household chores and checked out some blogs. I have started a new mindfulness book which is proving better than Dummies (thanks Claire!) and today saw some more work in the garden. Well, I started focussed enough, pruning the raspberry canes and weeding in the fruit cage. But then I got waylaid playing Time Team. This basically involves finding ‘treasures’ and then making up preposterous stories about what the small fragments of pottery/china/whoknowswhat could have been. As our house is on the site of a 14^th century chapel there is the very real possibility that some of the fragments are actually something interesting. As I have no real knowledge of archaeology other than Time Team my wild guesses are probably far off the mark. I would imagine many of my treasures are, in fact, 20^th century Woolworths. But it’s a fun game nonetheless. In my head.

To top it off, there have been some glimpses of real sunshine this weekend too – and I am loving how this seems to lift everyone’s spirits. My friend Kathy bought me some daffodils and I have been admiring their cheery yellow loveliness and can’t wait to see more as they flower in my garden. I’d love to hear about what’s been making you happy this weekend! 

Thoughtful Thursday

“Clouds pass and disperse.Are those the faces of love, those pale irretrievables?Is it for such I agitate my heart?” 

Sylvia Plath - Ariel

My name is Karen and I am an addict........

It seems a long time since my last proper post – sadly I hit that whole writers block thing and worried that anything I had to say was quite simply not very interesting :( I have tried to keep posting with my Thoughtful Thursday picture and quote combo but needed inspiration.....

Luckily my group of blog friends that I found through ‘Blogging From the Heart’  have stepped in with a group challenge involving choosing prompts for each other....  The lovely Cordula  chose this one for me “What you’re addicted to, and why”

Hmmm, I’m probably addicted to lots of things in small ways. I can’t sleep at night without having read at least a page from my book (or the same page several times if I’ve had a drink!) I can’t imagine life without Earl Grey or new shoes and I am probably more than a little enthusiastic about checking FaceBook sometimes.

However, there is one thing that I am shamefully addicted to which I will now lay bare for you. I have hinted at this addiction in previous posts but now is the time for the full truth. Magazines. I love them, have to have them, need my fix and I don’t know why... In my more sensible moments I can list all the reasons why I shouldn’t buy them. Too expensive, full of adverts, more clutter for my already crammed house, articles with info that I could easily find in more depth online, etc etc etc. But I still find myself scanning the displays, being lured in by glossy covers, free gifts, the promise of delights within. I said out loud to DD recently that I would buy less magazines this year whilst clutching the latest ‘Homes and Antiques’ to my fevered bosom. She laughed and said I would never stick to it. She was right.

In more insane moments I have been known to buy the same magazine twice, forgetting that I already have that issue in a pile at home. I promise myself that I will read, cut out interesting bits then recycle... Ha! Cut up my beautiful pages, even of the doubles??  Some publications I have every issue of, neatly filed. Oh the panic that set in when I realised that foolishly I had missed a copy of The Simple Things – a gap in my set, the anguish! (hooray for back issues) Some publications just reflect my changing interests. Spring time is nearly all gardening mags, I go through phases, yoga mags, craft, interiors, history, Christmas (never trashy celebrity mags  I'm proud to admit).

So what is it about magazines? I actually don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that each new purchase means I get to treat myself to a cup of tea and a few precious moments to myself. Maybe I'm scared I’ll miss some piece of life-changing advice (I would never have discovered Susannah Conway if not for a magazine). Maybe it’s a way to inspire myself in an easy to access way. No matter how much I love browsing the internet, there is nothing quite the same as flicking through a magazine. It’s like Pinterest on Paper.

No, I am standing up here and now to declare my addiction and to make a pledge to address it once and for all. From this day forward I promise to only buy two magazines a month. Just two. One, two, that is all.

Unless that free gift is something really special! ;) 

Thoughtful Thursday

"I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved."

George Eliot 

Thoughtful Thursday

"Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you're just a reflection of him?" 

Bill Watterson