Medieval image of people dying fabric red.
Good Friday -
Good things today included the cat, sarcasm, and dying some slightly stained towels a rather gorgeous yellow by adding a teaspoon of orange dye to the yellow. I really like dying fabric.
#mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude
#dailyblessings #countingblessings
A Medieval man hoeing carrots
On Saturday, Lighthouse Hubby and I spent the day together - a luxury in itself - driving 250 miles to get cabbage seedlings.
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #gratitude
#garden #gardens #gardening
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A late Victorian painting of a girl knitting in a room with a cat under her chair. Title A Girl Knitting Date 1874 Medium oil on panel Measurements H 64 x W 36 cm Accession number BORGM 00880 Acquisition method bequeathed by Miss Emmeline Young, 1940 Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum Bournemouth
Sunday's pleasure was making good progress stitching together the panels of the jumper I have spent (ahem) a year knitting.
Hopefully done today!
Yesterday also include good craik, and some excellent biscuits.
#mentalhealth #mindfulness
#dailyblessings #countingblessings #ablessingaday
A medieval image of one peasant digging the ground, and another with a load on their back https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages
Saturday's good thing -
Getting a vast amount of Stuff to the tip and the charity shop.
My mojo is coming back. It's pleasing but a little disconcerting too!
#mentalhealth #mindfulness
#ablessingaday #dailyblessings #countingblessings
A vintage postcard showing an illustration of Scottish mountains and a loch. A man in shorts and a woman in a tartan skirt, both with rucksacks, are standing next to a road. A red sports car is speeding past. The text on the card says "I know where I'm going!" and "Central Scotland".
Thursday's good things -
Having a lovely catch-up and blether with a neighbour.
Friday's -
Driving for hours in the sunshine listening to The Rest is History about Boswell and Johnson. Of course our scenery isn't bad either.
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #countingblessings #mindfulness
A medieval illustration of a man doing carpentry, a woman with a distaff, and a child with a basket of eggs or bread rolls.
Wednesday's good thing was the laughter when two friends came round to help me de-flat-pack a new bed.
Who am I kidding? They did 90% of it. My days of scrabbling around on the floor are almost over.
I did provide soup, though. I can cook!
#mentalhealth #mindfulness #dailyblessings
Jack Sprat is an English rhyme first published in 1639. “Jack Sprat could eat no fat, His wife could eat no lean. And so between them both, you see, They licked the platter clean.” In the 16th century, the name "Jack Sprat" was used of to describe people of a small stature. Illustrated by Frederick Richardson (1862-1937), Mother Goose, 1920.
Monday's good thing.....
Bright sunshine again - never underestimate the effect of the weather on mood.
Eating a bit less, and not thinking much about it.
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
#mindfulness
A late medieval image of five men and a pack of hounds; three of the men appear to be grooming the dogs, two appear to be guiding them with sticks.
Thursday's enjoyable moments involved friends and dogs.
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #ablessingaday
White and purple scented stocks in a vase of water
Tuesday's good things.
I did enjoy my bath, watching Pottery Throwdown, and drinking hot chocolate
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #ablessingaday #countingblessings
A random photo of scented stocks, taken during lockdown.
A panel of six medieval (or medieval-style) images of doctors and their patients.
Some good health news for Lighthouse Hubby.
A huge relief.
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings #countingblessings
Venus, Mars and Cupid by Piero di Cosimo, a Cupid lying on Venus clings to a white rabbit. A man and a woman, both naked apart from strategically draped cloths, loll in a landscape with a river and mountains in the backgrounds. The woman holds a naked toddler, and a white rabbit appears to be nibbling the toddlers fingers. Everyone looks very cold and very uncomfortable.
Thursday's good thing ----
Looking back, it was a productive day, and I saw rabbits grazing through the window of the room I was in. Not, it has to be said, on naked people. It was sunny, but FAR to cold for that sort of thing this far north!
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
George Stubbs Print: Bay Horse and White Dog Fine Art To be fair, the white dog is clearly NOT a golden retriever, Stubbs was painting some decades before the breed was established.
Friday's good thing was our darling pup behaving BEAUTIFULLY on her walk when horses went by.
Having good treats helped!
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
Diagram of the Vitamin D molecule, from Wickipedia
Saturday's good thing - is harder to remember, because my time is pretty flexible and days tend to be similar, but...
I am calling it out for the much better weather. It's cold, but it's bright, and ye gods the sunshine makes such a difference.
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
A painting of a drawing class by Nicole Eisenman https://www.artic.edu/artworks/209580/the-drawing-class The artist breaks the fourth wall by showing her own sketch book in the foreground, and the model and other artists in the mid ground.
Sunday's good thing
Was my happiness and involvement at my drawing class. The last time I went I was stressed and prodromal before a migraine. This time brought me joy. Though the few skills I have drawing have left me.
#notmydrawingclass
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
A close up of a jumper knitted with bright rainbow-multi-coloured chunky yarn
Tuesday's good thing - was wearing this jumper
Wednesday's - was knitting while catching up on The Great Pottery Throwdown
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
The wall of a ruined castle, with a doorway blocked with fencing, and a modern sign saying "Danger! Keep out, Dangerous Building"
Saturday's good thing ---
was this sign at a Scottish castle.
Back in the day they kept people out with boiling oil and arrows.
'ealth an' safety gorn mad, I call it!
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #ablessingaday
#history #scottishhistory #castles
The painting "The Card Players" by Lucas van Leyden, created around 1520. Two men and one woman playing cards at a table.
Friday's good things included Jenga, Cluedo and Boggle.
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
#boardgames
Japanese print "The Calligraphy Lesson" by Kitagawa Utamaro Showing a woman standing up teaching two women who are sitting down
Wednesday's good moments
- a really enjoyable Uni class. I am getting a lot out of my degree, even though my concentration is shot and I find it hard to read books any more.
Thursday's good moments
- quietly knitting and chatting with friends.
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #ablessingaday
Painting of three women and two dogs by Marie Laurencin. Marie Laurencin (31 October 1883 – 8 June 1956) was a French painter and printmaker. She became an important figure in the Parisian avant-garde as a member of the Cubists associated with the Section d'Or. According to Wikipaedia.
Tuesday's blessing was obviously that my head had stopped banging itself against an imaginary - but very real - brick wall.
But also soup, lunch, friends, dogs. Quiet quotidian pleasures.
#dailyblessings #ablessingady #countingblessings #mentalhealth
A 19thC image of a woman with a large dog, either a Landseer Newfoundland, or a St Bernard. Artist: Attribué à Leon Sazerat ( 1831-1891) Period: 19th century Style: Renaissance, Louis 13th
Friday. Better than Thursday. Though Thursday set a low bar.
I loved the pup getting her toys out of her toy box, one at a time. The concentration. The problem-solving. The determination to get The One.
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
Ok, so Monday....
Oh dear. It's going to have to be the way that the cream in Baileys wraps itself around the alcohol. A shame-faced pleasure. Oh well.
#drinkresponsibly - I mean this one!
#mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings
Here's its origin story.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
A painting of an artist sitting in a wooden chair in front of a canvas with a landscape. Next to the canvas is an unmade bed. "An Artist in His Studio" by the American artist John Singer Sargent, created in 1904.
Thursday's good things?
Let's call it out for clean sheets.
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #countingblessings
Bond of Union lithograph April 1956. MC Escher A ribbon in a spiral forms two heads, and man and a woman, bent towards each other.
Meanwhile, I was grounded yesterday by the time that Lighthouse Hubby and I spent together, asking each other how we are, and listening to the answers.
#mentalhealth #countingblessings #dailyblessings #ablessingaday
A black Newfoundland dog asleep on someone's leg
Friday and Saturday's sparks of light...
Impossible not to feel happier when the big dog wakes up, looks for me, finds me at my desk, and jumps up to say hello. It's a face-wash, delivered with joy.
#mentalhealth #countingblessings #dailyblessings #dogsofbluesky
Daffodils
I was talking about this practice with a friend yesterday morning, & said it's about looking for micro-moments of joy "like the heated car seat you just switched on for me".
So Thursday's moment of joy was a cosy bum.
Daffodils are also joyous.
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings #countingblessings
Wednesday was good, and included a long bus trip.
I do like a long trip on a bus, a train or a plane.
And if I'd been driving, I wouldn't have seen these waves, in this light, on this shore.
#mentalhealth #countingblessings #dailyblessings #smalljoys #mindfulness
A young golden retriever in a harness, with a red lead.
Friday - a one to one training session with the pup!
She WAS a Good Girl!
And so, it has to be said, was I!
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings
Orbs and rainbows circling the sun in Nuremberg, 1580 (detail)
Monday's unalloyed delight was running errands in the sunshine.
A joy to get out of the house, and joyous weather too.
#mentalhealth #dailyblessings
Every day is a blessing, unwrap it with gratitude and joy 🙏✨ #GratefulHeart #DailyBlessings #FaithJourney #GodsGifts #LiveWithPurpose #ThankfulAlways
