Reasons to be cheerful (1,2,3)

Marie was just commenting on how weird it is when you hear about the same thing from different sources at the same time, and asking where people find their inspiration. Which is weird, because today I have read this, this and this - that last link made me think of my own childhood, as did this.

So, I am combining two posts in one: reasons to be cheerful, and what inspires me.

I have my health
My Mum told me today that my Aunty (who lost her husband just before Christmas) has just been told that she is almsot blind in one eye, due to diabetes. There is nothing they can do, but she is at the hospital today where they are going to see if they can save the other eye.

It is such a glorious day today, and I am fit enough to go out and enjoy the view, and do some dead heading.




I often get my ideas whilst I'm going about my daily chores. Cleaning the stable is great thinking time for me, because I can just go on auto-pilot, and I don't have phones and computers and TV to distract me. I used to take my ipod out with me, but I think I prefer just to be quiet, the rythmic sound of the brush along concrete is strangely soothing (once you get over the smell, that is).
They say "necessity is the mother if invention", and often I end up making things that I need.



I live in a beautiful place

I love where I live. Nobody bothers me. I can be as weird as I want. I read a piece in the paper a couple of years ago that said Wales was full of English drop-out and misfits. At the time, I was quite offended. But, where else can I wear trousers like this?

I'm often inspired by things around me. Sometimes I see the colour of a flower against slate, or bark, or grass, and come up with a new combination of colour or texture that I would never have thought of.





There is still time

A lot of the posts today talked about time moving so quickly, that moments are gone before you have even registered that they're there. The pace of life here is so much slower than anywhere else I've lived. And yes, when you're late for an appointment it's very annoying to get stuck behind someone who stops their car at a junction for a chat with a passer by. But, for the most part, being forced to slow down means that you make time for life's minutae. I don't have a tumble dryer, and during the Winter it's a pain because the clothes hang on the airer above the Aga and I have to take them down before I cook. I could have a dryer, if I wanted, and that would make the task so much quicker and easier. But then that might make me forget that, when the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day, it's so much more delicious to dry them in the fresh air.



I'm so grateful that I still have the people who love me in my life, and it's not too late. They inspire me to make things because part of the joy of creating something is to give it, knowing that you are giving a little piece of yourself. Try getting that in John Lewis.



Mr Marmadaisy and I often talk about how great it is to be a dog. You don't worry about how you look, how fat/thin you are, whether you have the latest gadget, or the best clothes, or what will happen next year, next month, this afternoon. When you're a dog, you live every moment. You find pleasure in sitting next to the person you love. In putting your head out of the car window just for fun. In finding a pine cone on the ground that is almost like a ball, but not quite. In not being afraid to give the world a great big sniff, or too bashful to find out what exactly is in there.

Yesterday I realised that Charlie was missing from the garden. And when you live surrounded by fields of sheep and farmers who shoot wandering dogs, that is not a good thing. After frantically searching the surrounding land, I got in my car and drove the streets hoping to spot him. Heartbroken, I got home half an hour later, resigned to the fact that with literally miles of countryside and a 2 hour headstart he could be anywhere, and just hoping he found his way home. Luckily, a friendly neighbour had recognised him, brought him home, and was waiting for me when I got back.



I wasn't actually that cross. We all need to break free once in a while.

Finally, I will be grateful when blogger fixes the spellcheck.