Every Friday, I drive through sunrise. I get in my car in softening darkness, the sharpness of night-time lingering in the air outside. The hedges and lanes are blanketed in a lightening grey. As I drive, glimmers of pink begin to streak the sky and there are glimpses of the sun’s gold behind hills and…
Category: Small Things
Where I reflect on the good things in the past week
Fathers’ Day
Small things make a big difference, right? It’s a recurring theme on this blog and, this Fathers’ Day, it’s the small things I’ve been thinking about. It started when I was trying to find the words to put in my dad’s card (always a tricky one for us Brits – we want not too gushy,…
On making pasta, and other Small Things
Today, the children and I made pasta, and it was a small thing, really, but also a big deal, as the small things so often are. It was a big deal because I had been ill and it was the first time I had been able to summon the energy for such a task. And…
“The marvel of an ordinary life”
I’m lying on the floor of my son’s room late at night again, with an aching back, trying to help him to settle to sleep. The rain and wind – which have been unseasonably wild all day – are lashing against the window. I’ve been grumpy, I feel tired and hungry, but as he quiets…
Small Things
Oh, the small things. The small things are life itself, in all its fullness. The tiny dog violets on my parents’ lawn, little specks of blue, which on close inspection are so very detailed; The orange tipped butterfly, fluttering nearly as fast as my laughing daughter running along; The moment or two lying next to…
Small Things
Every now and then, either in my journal or here on my blog, I write a list of Small Things. These are the little moments filling me with joy at the time. It’s become a habit now, but it all started several years ago, when I was going through the heartache of infertility. Around the same…
Seasons
I came home from work the other evening to a glowing fire, snuggly children, twinkling lights and a bowl of warm, spicy pasta. Earlier in the evening, still at work, I’d soaked in the cool air, the dark silhouettes of trees, the sound of fast-running water from the nearby stream. It’s the season for all…
On Contentment
This picture is my way of trying to capture something profound that I’ve been re-learning lately. As I write, I’m sat quiet in our kitchen with our two children on either side of me, both pairs of eyes glued to screens. It’s not a perfect moment, yet somehow I find myself perfectly content. I’ve been…
Nostalgia
Lately, with our children, I’ve found myself often back in my own childhood. Our son has taken to climbing the tree and I have gladly followed him into its cool tranquillity, hidden among the leaves, peeking out at patches of blue sky, calm, safe and free. I remember running and climbing on long, country walks…
Small Things
Now seems like the perfect time to compose a Small Things post. There has been a lot of worry and fear and strain lately, which is all the more reason to count the sweet, simple things that bring us joy and remind us that this world is abundant with goodness, hope and love. Here are…
Three Good Things
Remember that book, Three Good Things, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall? It’s a recipe book, released several years ago, based on the concept that less is more, that a good dish can often be made with three simple but wholesome and tasty ingredients (plus a few store-cupboard items). Lately, I’ve been applying that concept to my latest…
Life Lived 