Shifting Corners

I don't have the luxury of being able to shift furniture around my large sitting room, because, well, I don't HAVE a large sitting room, and pretty much the way the furniture works now is due to necessity rather than aesthetics. And don't you get just a little fed up of seeing people furnish their house with just one. more. chair. for the heck of it? I know I do - because, goodness, how I love to re-arrange a room with the best of them!

Not to be outdone I do the next best thing - I rearrange corners. Yes, I can just about manage a corner or two in this tiny two bedroom mid-terrace. A new picture in a frame, an ornament moved from there to there, perhaps a new cushion or a rearranging of the blankets if I want to go all-out crazy.

I dream of bigger - of having ALL the couches of my dreams in one room, just so (I do love me a good couch and daydream a lot about them). But until then, corners will suffice.

Yes, as we move into the season of being indoors, a few new corners feels just right.

Leaves as decor

It's almost irresistible - the urge to decorate the inside with the beauty found outside. Those reds! Those amazing watercolours on leaves - if these were captured on canvas they would be declared masterpieces, yet here they are - dazzling for a few short days before crumbling to dust.

We deck the sitting room with their beauty and wait for replacements until they all have to give way to a more trying season.









Reminders of where we are on our journey round the sun.

Random Corners

Spending time indoors, finding old rhythms we left behind just a short while ago - some old quilting needing to be taken up again, some spinning with my name on it. Maybe a spot of decorating before the days get too short.

The looming winter spoils my enjoyment of autumn. But it's coming. I can feel it in the air.

morning : evening

Morning to evening, two ends of the day. A little tired at both. Some sitting with a little tea and company; a little knitting; a little time between chores to sit and reflect. Small moments can contain such promise. It's fleeting on some days, but there alright.

Out of Room

Don't worry. This isn't going to be another long diatribe about insanely small my house is, but just one small gasp of pure helplessness at how I literally have run out of space for books.

I am packed to the rafters. I am out of ideas. If you ever visit and it takes ten minutes to open the door, forgive me, but I am moving furniture to get to you, and you may have to sit on a pile of books instead of a chair if you even make it indoors.



Carry on.

Little Rituals

On some afternoons, usually Fridays, or whenever I can squirrel away a few minutes, I sit down at my desk to work (more on that as and when, if it comes to anything insha'allah). I admit that I am a bit of a restless worker. Sitting at desks does not come easily to me; my best ideas usually come when I'm in the middle of something else (which is why I have perpetual lists and notepads everywhere). But there comes a time when bums must be sat in a seat and concerted effort made to put one's energies into the task at hand. And I've learned a little trick to get me in that zone - I have a ritual of sorts. I make the work pleasant by surrounding myself with pretty little things, sweet tea and a few nibbles, and I have everything at hand so I have no excuses to goto the kitchen for a cuppa.

I have noticed that whenever I place everything on the tray my mind suddenly starts to settle - it seems to let my chattering subconscious know it is now time to quieten down. It is a mindful ritual that prepares me for work. In fact, it is the only thing that has so far worked in getting me sat in a seat - to bring a survival kit of tea and nibbles, to shut the door, and to get on with it.

Who knew?

This Time :: Last Year

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A new series: "This Time". Looking back once in a while to what we were doing on the same date in a different year. If you want to play along leave a comment here so others can find your posts.
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On My Coffee Table

On my coffee table this week. The recent litmus of where we're at.
Last time.

Morning : Noon : Night

It's all about the light these days. We chase it and soak it up for as long as we can before it dips and wanes. We try to get as much done in the daylight hours, we try to appreciate real light, we relish the blue sky days, even if it means a little colder weather follows.

And when we have greedily gorged on the little bit of real sun, we switch it back on at dusk with full spectrum bulbs. Not the same, but aids the sanity a little.