Probably not a coincidence at all that I was just chatting with a friend about balance and quiet times Prue. Like you, my challenge is often to just give myself permission to do nothing except sit and get lost in the pages of a book that has captured my heart. Perfectly on Time :-)
This post - so rightly entitled 'Gentle' - has soothed me to the core, Prue. Absolutely perfect.
I'm sorry that you missed your ballet - sometimes the life stuff gets in the way of our passions, doesn't it? I'm fascinated by your French research - wonderful!
I love that you and the Terrier are on exactly the same wavelength: '...a sure sign he wants his own private gentle time.' Birds of a feather! 😊
Thank you, Rebecca. I worry that folk might find the post bland but in all honesty - those three days of solitude were spectacular. 'Specially without the internet.
I can't recommend a retreat or solitary time more highly.
The writing I enjoy the most is people’s stories of their own lives. I look forward to every Saturday - your Knots are always exactly what I want to read. 😘
I’m hoping to do a solo walking holiday next year - I can’t wait!
What a calming, generous post - and, since I am obsessed with all-things-blue-china and that Spode mug takes my breath away. (Nothing cheers me more than finding a new bit of Willow pattern when I am scouring the charity shops!) Your descriptions of light bring me right into the room with you, Prue - always so impressed and then pleased that someone else thinks/feels as I do. I especially enjoyed seeing all the colours of your embroidery threads too. Our own Terrier enjoys a morning zoom as well, usually looking for some stray bit of clothing he can snatch and "worry" en route - yesterday it was a bra from the laundry basket which he only surrendered after rushing about the house with it clamped between his teeth ... I had to laugh ... Thank you Prue, I always enjoy reading what you have to say.
Sue, I LOVE the image of the Terriorist running off with the bra! Gotta love him!
Thank you for your kind words. At the time, it was perhaps a selfish post - trying to explain to myself why that retreat worked. That it was needed was self-evident but it surprised me that at no time in that period did I crave human company. I just needed a kind of mental vaccum - moving meditation a lot of the time, and it was quite astonishing at how renewed I felt.
Better than an expensive holiday away.
And how you would love a beach I used to scour years ago. It was at the mouth of the Derwent River and where they took the city refuse in the 19th -early20th centuries. Called China Beach, we would go fossicking for china pieces and seaglass and in my case, whilst I found other china fragments, it was always the blue pieces (many Willow) that I coveted.
Take care and I would love to hear from you via email or letter...
And you were not alone after all. You had your subscribers in your thoughts, on the last page of your mind, as you wrote these words. Now we are here reading about your lovely day.
Truly, it feels like this is a recipe for restoration, and I can't imagine a better way to bring yourself back into balance after a few weeks of unrest. Thank you for bringing it into reality for us, too. So quiet, and inviting. I don't have your fortitude; it would take an act of bravery for me to just get my feet in that water. But, to come inside to the music, the terrier, and that all that delicious yarn...Mmmmm! And what delight to find Chicken Scratch included here. Like somebody just arrived at my door with one of those hearts.
Years ago, my mom would "run off" to our family's humble, little lakeside cottage for a few days. This was before internet, and t.v. reception there was limited, at best. Knowing her, she did NOT spend that time not talking to anyone, but she used to return so refreshed to have had a few days to herself.
Probably it all comes down to 'a change is as good as a holiday'.
I do love the word restoration though - much better than retreat which implies a kind of deep spirituality. We all need to be restored periodically, don't we? For when Life takes a backswipe?
I suspect that between you and I we could take the word restoration and write a few words. What do you think?
Quiet times I love and I especially love listening to Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, they got me through my last lot of treatment with their soothing tunes. I have just recently found The Tesky Brothers and absolutely love them, so much so, that I have booked my first EVER live concert, coming to us in January. Im not one for crowds but hopefully this will be a chilled out vibe for an old lady :)
I've been mainly off the internet (except for google maps to navigate our travels) until this week, so this is very late in response to your very lovely post. Mostly I wanted to say that I am enjoying hearing about your research into L'Ile Barbe in Lyon. I poked around the island a couple of times the year we lived in Lyon. It is a peaceful place. Also across the bridge is a terrific patisserie, shown to me by a local friend who knew all the best food stops on our regular cycling adventures around town. Looking forward to hearing more about it's history!
Probably not a coincidence at all that I was just chatting with a friend about balance and quiet times Prue. Like you, my challenge is often to just give myself permission to do nothing except sit and get lost in the pages of a book that has captured my heart. Perfectly on Time :-)
This post - so rightly entitled 'Gentle' - has soothed me to the core, Prue. Absolutely perfect.
I'm sorry that you missed your ballet - sometimes the life stuff gets in the way of our passions, doesn't it? I'm fascinated by your French research - wonderful!
I love that you and the Terrier are on exactly the same wavelength: '...a sure sign he wants his own private gentle time.' Birds of a feather! 😊
Thank you, Rebecca. I worry that folk might find the post bland but in all honesty - those three days of solitude were spectacular. 'Specially without the internet.
I can't recommend a retreat or solitary time more highly.
Think the Terrier enjoyed it too. XXXX
The writing I enjoy the most is people’s stories of their own lives. I look forward to every Saturday - your Knots are always exactly what I want to read. 😘
I’m hoping to do a solo walking holiday next year - I can’t wait!
What a calming, generous post - and, since I am obsessed with all-things-blue-china and that Spode mug takes my breath away. (Nothing cheers me more than finding a new bit of Willow pattern when I am scouring the charity shops!) Your descriptions of light bring me right into the room with you, Prue - always so impressed and then pleased that someone else thinks/feels as I do. I especially enjoyed seeing all the colours of your embroidery threads too. Our own Terrier enjoys a morning zoom as well, usually looking for some stray bit of clothing he can snatch and "worry" en route - yesterday it was a bra from the laundry basket which he only surrendered after rushing about the house with it clamped between his teeth ... I had to laugh ... Thank you Prue, I always enjoy reading what you have to say.
Sue, I LOVE the image of the Terriorist running off with the bra! Gotta love him!
Thank you for your kind words. At the time, it was perhaps a selfish post - trying to explain to myself why that retreat worked. That it was needed was self-evident but it surprised me that at no time in that period did I crave human company. I just needed a kind of mental vaccum - moving meditation a lot of the time, and it was quite astonishing at how renewed I felt.
Better than an expensive holiday away.
And how you would love a beach I used to scour years ago. It was at the mouth of the Derwent River and where they took the city refuse in the 19th -early20th centuries. Called China Beach, we would go fossicking for china pieces and seaglass and in my case, whilst I found other china fragments, it was always the blue pieces (many Willow) that I coveted.
Take care and I would love to hear from you via email or letter...
And you were not alone after all. You had your subscribers in your thoughts, on the last page of your mind, as you wrote these words. Now we are here reading about your lovely day.
Oooh, that reads so well. Thank you for that!
Truly, it feels like this is a recipe for restoration, and I can't imagine a better way to bring yourself back into balance after a few weeks of unrest. Thank you for bringing it into reality for us, too. So quiet, and inviting. I don't have your fortitude; it would take an act of bravery for me to just get my feet in that water. But, to come inside to the music, the terrier, and that all that delicious yarn...Mmmmm! And what delight to find Chicken Scratch included here. Like somebody just arrived at my door with one of those hearts.
Years ago, my mom would "run off" to our family's humble, little lakeside cottage for a few days. This was before internet, and t.v. reception there was limited, at best. Knowing her, she did NOT spend that time not talking to anyone, but she used to return so refreshed to have had a few days to herself.
Probably it all comes down to 'a change is as good as a holiday'.
I do love the word restoration though - much better than retreat which implies a kind of deep spirituality. We all need to be restored periodically, don't we? For when Life takes a backswipe?
I suspect that between you and I we could take the word restoration and write a few words. What do you think?
Cheers Elizabeth! XXXX
Quiet times I love and I especially love listening to Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, they got me through my last lot of treatment with their soothing tunes. I have just recently found The Tesky Brothers and absolutely love them, so much so, that I have booked my first EVER live concert, coming to us in January. Im not one for crowds but hopefully this will be a chilled out vibe for an old lady :)
It's a beautiful sound isn't it, from singers of that era? I hope you've revived from your treatment and that all is well.
Thinking of you.
I've been mainly off the internet (except for google maps to navigate our travels) until this week, so this is very late in response to your very lovely post. Mostly I wanted to say that I am enjoying hearing about your research into L'Ile Barbe in Lyon. I poked around the island a couple of times the year we lived in Lyon. It is a peaceful place. Also across the bridge is a terrific patisserie, shown to me by a local friend who knew all the best food stops on our regular cycling adventures around town. Looking forward to hearing more about it's history!
Ooooh, I might just pick your brains for what you sensed and felt on the island!!!
Of course! I’ll see if I can find some of my photos from our visits