thankful thursday

thankful for time with family, a change of scenery and a change of wheels. for time to get organised, time to plan and time to do. for holding plans loosely enough to be firm but not set in stone and for the knowledge that all things are held together not by threads but by design.

Emma

seven things i learnt in october

october - the month where british summertime ends, where trees dazzle us with their colour changes before their golden leaves become autumns red carpet and where long shadowed sunshine filled days are a gift not a right. 

i was certain this month i hadn't learnt a lot but when i looked at what i'd jotted down i was surprised by how much attention i had been taking when i thought i was too busy to notice. so here goes seven things i learnt in october:

1. this month i loved the film sunshine on leith but what i didn't know was it was a play before it was made into a film. i have no idea how this passed me by. if you haven't seen the film yet - go - you won't regret it. and speaking of films:

2. the great gatsby actress carey mulligan is married to marcus mumford; lead singer of mumford and sons. 

again, i don't know how this passed me by either. what i love about their story? they were pen pals in their childhood and apparently passed letters through their churches. and speaking of childhood:

3. children's writer roald dahl has his own museum and story centre in his home town of great missenden, buckinghamshire. think you know all there is to know about charlie and the chocolate factory? try this "splendiferous quiz." fancy taking a peak at where he wrote? click here. and speaking of writing:

4. one of my favourite food bloggers; molly wizenberg at orangette wrote this month about hedgebrook. hedgebrook is a literary non-profit who support female writers. located on whidbey island in the usa, it sits on 48 acres and offers writers the opportunity to stay in one of its few cottages affording them the space daily to write and meet with each other every evening for dinner. dinner is cooked for them mainly from produce grown in the gardens and in an effort to be able to maintain this arrangement they have released a cookbook. and speaking of food:

5. rhubarb was first considered a laxative not an edible fruit.

6. while watching a documentary this month i learnt that one in four people in the uk have a tattoo. i googled and found that as of mid 2012 the uk population was 63.7 million - that means that almost 16 million people in the uk have a tattoo. 

7. ever come across the word pogonophile? according to the urban dictionary it means "the love of, or attraction to, beards." i stumbled over this on my (bearded) brothers facebook page. this is a picture, taken by my sister, of her son trying to look like him. it made us all laugh. a lot.

however this is my brothers picture, showing what they really look like.

and no, they are not two of the one in four people in the uk with tattoos - they are proudly showing off temporary tattoos of my brothers' company logo. got to love the creativity.

Emma

weekend snapshot

 

Emma

thankful thursday

thankful for impromptu dinner invites, lie-ins, rainy days that demand movie watching and comforting food, catching up with friends in person and on-line, impromptu family sleep overs, october sunshine illuminating autumns grandeur, fruitful conversations and plans made to look forward to.

Emma

weekend rainbow

 

 

this weekend i popped in at my sisters house. i drove there as the light changed and raindrops splashed across my windscreen - i made it indoors just before the heavens opened. a little while later my eldest nephew arrived back from his shopping trip with his dad and announced "there's a rainbow outside" to cries of "is there?" or "we've seen it" he proudly announces "it's a double rainbow." cue all of us getting up from various rooms to congregate under the cover of the open garage door and survey the view. some of us got wetter than others - not pictured - my youngest nephew splashing in puddles wearing only his socks. but there was no doubt we all marveled at the sight and the bearer of the good news was the happiest of all.

Emma    

Colours

This weekend the colours in the kitchen and the colours outside have caught my eye.

Each has been a small gift, and something that has brought pleasure after a busy week. I'm struck again how you don't need big things to make the difference in how you feel, it's just having the time and being able to go slow so you can appreciate the things around you. My head at times has hurt in reaction to the lists from the week, spiralling and fighting against all it has been challenged by, my body telling me to slow down, enough is enough. And in the letting go of lists, worry and the next thing; I notice the beauty right in front of me.

Weekend, rest, peace.


Jane

thankful thursday

thankful for deadlines met, for time to relax with friends and time to relax alone, for just enough energy to get jobs done, for the handprint of the maker on the tapestry of life and for the hazy pink hue oozing through my white cotton curtains prompting me to get up early and rewarding me with the image of beautiful skies.

Emma