Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
The International Day of Happiness is on Friday 20th March in 2020 – happiness has never seemed so important or elusive.
I’m sharing sixteen more of my favourite happiness quotes as a gesture of solidarity. Every little helps as we try to reach out as cheerfully as we can to others, in a world where society is hunkering down.
Please join in and commemorate the day if you can. Continue reading “Sixteen Snippets Of Happiness In Trying Times”
This patchwork of art squares by children (to inspire us to eat more healthily) was part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s campaign for school gardening at the Tatton Park Flower Show.
It has the side effect of making me smile whenever I look at it.
I am sometimes asked why I need more pictures. I’m not the world’s best photographer, my camera is an iPhone in my bag or pocket (so readily available) and I like to practice. Well, that’s my excuse. A true one, but it misses the point.
It’s hard to explain the feelings I have when I look at this, good picture or bad picture. It might seem weird to write them down, but we’re blogging here, aren’t we? A personal blog’s all about riffing on whatever catches our attention, wondering if there’s anyone in the world who will follow our train of thought and pinching our arms in astonishment at those who tolerantly do. So…what do I feel when I look at this picture? Continue reading “What’s In A Picture: Trillium Leaves”
Some silences are companionable; others, less so.
Do you ever signal the fact of your being offended by lifting your nose towards the heavens, pursing your lips, and adopting the mock saintly expression of one cruelly mistreated, misunderstood (or both)? My sweetheart and I do. At first we used to ignore this haughty little signal, with predictable consequences, but a few years ago, we worked out a plan. Continue reading “Piglet Demonstrates Air Sneck”
The weekly challenge asks us to share something tiny. If you’re viewing this on a phone, you won’t make out the messages on this keepsake box – blessings, exhortations and affirmations – so I’m writing them out for you:
Peace · Joy · Lucky · Contentment · Devotion · Prosperity · Happy · Laugh · Tranquility · Fun
Picked out in beads on a keepsake box at the Attic Gallery, Vicksburg, MS
Every city should have an Attic Gallery – it’s our communal loss that so many of them don’t. You can travel for miles before you’ll find anything that truly compares. This long established, family owned gallery specialises in southern contemporary art and fine crafts. Their reputation and instinct for seeking out regional talent has helped them gather a definitive collection of work. Continue reading “Keepsake Box with Bead Blessings”
So fair, so sweet, so sensitive,
Would that the little Flowers were born to live,
Conscious of half the pleasure that they give…William Wordsworth
I’m sharing this for the weekly photo challenge from my favourite poetry anthology, Minorities: poems T.E. Lawrence hand-copied to a small, leather-bound notebook he kept with him.
Continue reading “Are You Conscious Of The Pleasure You Give?”
My sweetheart and I love going to the annual Saddleworth Rushcart to watch the morris dancers. It’s very British: a happy day, where old traditions are celebrated – colourful, good-humoured fun, with just enough of an element of ‘why would they do this?’ to keep the crowd wondering.
Did I mention they drag a massive cart of rushes up a lengthy hill before the dancing starts?
I always enjoy watching the faces of the dancers – some seem to be feeling pure happiness; others are concentrating hard, or lost in the flow. It surely can’t be easy wearing those heavy floral hats! Continue reading “Morris Dancers at the Saddleworth Rushcart”
