Sure fire morale boosters

Ughh! January! Grey, cold, damp and dark. New year has never been a favourite of mine. I can feel the weight of all those 365 days pressing on me. Rescue remedies at the ready! Here is a short list of things that always make my day better.

Hearing a favourite song on the radio

There have been some beauts recently. I have started listening to a lot of 6Music when I am about the house. Some of the DJs really know their onions and play a delicious mix of old and new. My ears have been smiling to the sounds of XTC "Senses Working Overtime", Jeff Buckley "Last Goodbye", 808 State "Pacific 707" and the delights of new Nick Cave material.

 

Something unexpected in the post

Most of the stuff that comes through the post box nowadays is junk, bills or some random catalogue I never signed up for. (Dammit, it's the same with my inbox. Ugh!) But sometimes the delight of a handwritten note, card or postcard graces the doormat. It's such a joy to receive! It's knowing that someone out there is thinking of you. That's why I like sending postcards when I am on holiday. So you know that I love you. Look what arrived the other day. Je suis un lapin tres heureux! Thank you Hellcat for my fabu Betsey earrings and Boris brooch <3
 

 

Proper butter on hot toast

Actually, proper butter on anything! (This is why I especially love hotel breakfasts, yeah, the butter and the whole being in a hotel thing.)

 

Writing in pencil

This feels especially hopeful.  An exciting idea, a sketch, a recipe, a piece of poetry, a brilliant thought. Things waiting to be actioned!

 

Afternoon movie matinee

Finding a peachy film on television in the afternoon is heaven. The combination of mouthwatering costumes, fabulous hair dos, a cup of tea, nice biccie, and blanket if need be are guaranteed to make me smile.

 

First green shoots of Spring

How can this fail to make you feel better?! The daffodils are sprouting in my garden already :D

 

New Books

One of my favourite things about working in the library was the proximity to all those lovely new books. The smell, the smooth clean pages, being the first person to enjoy that particular copy of the story. I got some lovely new books for christmas including Pip Lincolne  "Meet me at Mike's", Vladimir Propp "Morphology of the Folktale", Mike Giant "Muerte", Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa "The Leopard", Judith Magee " Art of Nature" and a very wonderful Wellcome Collection exhibition catalogue about the art of Death.

 

 

 

Clean sheets

If I won the lottery I would have clean sheets every night. The sweet smell and crisp freshness of soft new sheets is just blissful. 

Something vintage in my size
Rare as hen's teeth. Thank heavens for handbags.....

Queens Of The Stone Age
LOUD. That is all.

The most wonderful time of the year

Well, at last, we are finally here-Christmas proper. There are only a few minutes of Christmas Eve left. It's a magical time of giddy anticipation, and a strange kind of peace. What is in the house is all we need, stockings are filled, there is a snack ready for Father Christmas and his reindeer, and so, I can do no more.

I haven't felt very festive this year at all. Not really sure why. Something has gone missing from my idea of what christmas is and feels like. In a bid to jumpstart my sugarplum visions tonight, here is a short list of my failsafe festive favourites guaranteed to make me smile. Merry Christmas!

The Nutcracker
Christmas telly isn't complete without a showing of this ballet. The music is wonderful. I love watching a really traditional sugary production of this. But my absolute vourite rendition is Matthew Bourne's.

Stollen
Thick slice, with butter. Cup of tea too if you're making one.

Wreaths on the front door
They look so beautiful and welcoming. They make a house look happy and loved.This year ours has pine cones, moss, greenery and some wonderful multicoloured berries in it.

Tree Ornaments
I love my collection of tree baubles. In fact, I am probably a bit precious about them. I have spent years collecting them, picking a couple of special new ones each christmas. Christmas almost begins for me the moment I find the first new ornament for that year. When the tree goes up, getting the baubles out of the decorations box is my favourite part. It is like seeing a long lost friend again. I smile myself silly at catching up with them again. I love them all, but my favourite favourite is a painted wooden ornament of a snow maiden that I got in Prague.

Troika
To me, this is what christmas sounds like. It is a part from a piece called Lieutenant Kije by Prokofiev. Joyous!

Stockings
A well filled, carefully thought out stocking is a true delight. Every little treat in there is a hug and kiss in present form. They say 'these goodies are especially for you because I want to see you smile'. I think a stocking is as important, if not more, than a big present.

White Christmas

I love this movie. I bought it on dvd to ensure I get to see it every year. It's a big ol' cheesy schmaltz-fest with some gorgeous costumes and lots of great tunes. My best bits are  the Danny Kaye number "The best things happen when you're dancing" ( swooningly romantic *sigh* ), the colour of Rosemary Clooney's hair, and that Vera-Ellen has the figure of a wasp!

Folky Christmas Traditions

I wish I was German, or Italian or Scandinavian. These countries/cultures have some wonderful folk traditions throughout the holiday season. My fasvourite, food aside, is the Krampus. Companion to Saint Nicholas, the Krampus is a christmas 'devil' who does St. Nick's dirty work and  punishes the naughty children. www.krampus.com 

Favourite Words

Minutia posts have been a little thin on the ground recently. Busy, busy, busy! Doing what I cannot even remember! This is one of my back up posts, an idea that I have had brewing for a while. It is a list of my favourite words.

I am very picky about the words I use. I like to mean exactly what I say. I can get into a bit of a tizz if I can't think of the correct word to use. This has become particularly important since I've has children. My brain has turned to mush, and there are days that I struggle horribly for coherence. On occasion I have even made up words! These strange hybrids are little mixtures of two words that describe what I want to say. They are my word mutants- they LIVE!!!! My favourite is made up word is one I used to describe how splendid my fabulous (honorary) big sister looked one day. My brain couldn't decide between glamorous and lovely, so I said she looked 'glamly', I still use it :) Enjoy this selection of my favourite words.

 

 

cannula

 

dreadnought

 

steadfast

 

polyp

 

impediment

 

adamant

 

flimflam

 

ungulate

 

wretched

 

dewlap

 

nincompoop

 

libation

 

berserk

 

hearth

 

wrasse

 

ruminant

 

smut

 

falafel

 

ocelot

 

concur

 

efficacy

 

dulcet

 



 

 

Forest Holiday

The summer holidays are nearly over. Thank heavens!!! Goodness, I never knew six weeks could feel like so long! It hasn't been all squabbling and whinging though. A few weeks ago we went to Center Parcs in Longleat Forest for a few days. It was lovely. Being surrounded by all those trees is wonderfully calming. We got to swim every day too! Smiley days in the forest.

 

Greenness

 

Swimming every day

 

Watching Esther's delight as she splashed around

 

Seeing a deer in the 'back garden'



 

Muntjak Deer in the forest, spotted by Ruby!

Eating at the table together

Treehouses

Late night sewing



Embroidered hand of Fatima.
 
The Jurassic Park feeling you get when you first drive into Longleat Safari Park

Feeding the deer at Longleat

Giant Anteaters

Meerkats at my feet

 

Car parts on the road in the monkey enclosure

The incredibly satisfying feeling of schadenfreude on seeing an idiot driving a Jag and watching the monkeys rip it to pieces.

 

 

Playing in the treetop playground with my girls

Ruby and Esther pretending to play Guitar Hero

 

 

 



aquarium

We had a family day out to Plymouth Aquarium the other day. It is such a great place to visit. I find aquariums so relaxing. The peace is delicious. Well, apart from the squealing children..... 

We found Nemo!

The thing that really grabbed me on this visit were the names of the fish. In the vein of the previous 'minutia' wild flower post, I submit this for your smiling pleasure! 

Schoolmaster Snapper

Bermuda Chub

French Grunt

Great Pompano

Sergeant Major

Scrawled Filefish

Moon Jelly

Horse Eye Jack

Smallmouth Grunt

Rooster Hogfish

Dusky Damselfish

Lunar Wrasse

Lipstick Tang

Bignose Unicornfish

Longhorned Cowfish

Epaulette Shark

Polka Dot Grouper

Oriental Sweet Tip

 Sailor's Grunt

(my absolute favourite!)

rainy days

The english summer time is so romantic and heady, filled with long light evenings, elderflower cordial, the bewitching scents and sounds at dusk, plump sun warmed strawberries. I have a theory that we are solar powered beings. Tell me you don't feel better when on first waking you see the glow from outside sneaking around the edge of the curtain. The feeling of the warmth of sun on your face is almost like a kiss. . ..... insert here the sound of a needle being hastily taken off a record.

There lies the problem - no sun. Holy moly this rain seems endless! I can't ever remember feeling so soggy for so long. Even in Winter. Ughh, grey drizzly mornings, the relentless damp cling of my rain coat, as it is summer my stubborn determination to remain in flip-flops, and the imminent arrival of trenchfoot because of my stubborn determination.

Anyway, Jetstream schmetstream! Though the days have been slightly less cheerful and sunblessed than usual, there have been some bright spots :D 

Drawing dinosaurs on steamed up bus windows.

Watching the conker pods get fatter.

Tea and chocolate fingers with Willow.

Veronica Spicata - these flowers are related to the humble Speedwell, but look like they have come from the moon! I got an enormous bunch of them from the flower man. They look like they have mermaids tails.

veronica spicata

New episodes of "Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom".

Finding a lovely pair of vintage dark turquoise day gloves in my size.

Making a new friend who already feels like I have known her for ages.

Tiny spots of blue sky, the colour of which Monet would have approved of.

The transcendental power of music to turn ordinary, every day chores into shimmering adventures. Thank you Goldfrapp for turning preparing veg into a daydream wonderland where I was transformed into a glamorous spring-heeled, sleek haired, glittering goddess.

birthday days

I have just celebrated my hmmphy humppphth birthday. Happy birthday Me! I love the fact that for one day a year, you are *special*. It's better than christmas. Because for one day, it is all about YOU. In our house the person whose birthday it is choses the breakfast - whatever they want! I forgot to chose something this year, so we had some of my birthday cake. Win win!

I am of the opinion though that a birthday should last a couple of days. The feeling I get when I first wake up the day after my birthday is horribly sad. The feeling that I'm not special any more is awful. Luckily I am blessed with exceptional family and friends and my birthdays last for more than 24 hours :D These are the things that made me smile this birthday weekend.

being woken at 6am by two small girls whose excitement about my birthday was tangible!

Esther yelling "happy birthday mama" at the top of her voice all day

sitting at Jo's table colouring in and eating cherry bakewells

rooftop cafe lunch

family pizza

a trip to the cinema with my boy

a spectacular assortment of presents

hand feeding a lamb, a llama and a deer

painted gipsy caravans and traction engines