Wonderful Wednesday #197

{Stillness & quiet at it's very best}

If there was ever anyone that just needed to sit and to be for a moment today then that person would be me.  If i could put both my hands and feet in the air all at once I would.  I feel so in need to just sit and be quiet this week.  The noise of Christmas is getting a bit.....loud and i can feel panic creeping in and what i really need to do is just take a step back and realise that Christmas is not about presents.  It's about being around the people you love and care about and showing them how special they are to you. And that doesn't need to be with things it just needs to be with you!!  I mean i know this, but oftentimes someone just needs to sit me down and remind me.  So as you can imagine this weeks #wonderfulwednesday couldn't have come at a better time....

Let's list some littler even more lovely things....

  

1.  Thoughtfulness.  Do you know what this is so very much something I {we!} should be grateful for and notice so much more often than I/you do, don't you think?!  Last weekend was my birthday and i was overwhelmed with how many people remembered, took time out of their day to get in touch and even pick me out such perfect and thoughtful gifts.  I try my hardest to thank anyone that shows thoughtfulness in whatever capacity it comes - and definitely not just on days like birthdays, Christmas etc, etc - BUT we're all guilty of sometimes just missing the tinier moments of it.  So here are my three {I'm pretty certain i could think of more but i'm trying my hardest to not digress as this as only point one of this weeks post...}mini thoughtfulness moments from this week so far:  Somebody at work remembering exactly how i like my tea {and i'm a fussy tea drinker, i can't help it!}; having the door held open for me by a kind elderly gentlemen on a quicker-than-quick lunchtime scurry over to M&S foodhall on Tuesday afternoon.  He also wished me good day.  They don't make 'em like that anymore, do they?  Oh and last but not least;  Somebody finishing off a job at work that i'd started, and got completely swept up in another {as my days at this time of year usually go!}.  I didn't ask her to.  She didn't have to.  But it helped me no end and i was ever so grateful.  At this time of year my job can get so hectic!

2.  Friends.  The good kind.  The simplest way to describe a really good friend..?!  The kind that you haven't seen for far too long {where does the time go?!} and you meet and all of a sudden it's like you only saw each other yesterday and pick up exactly where you left off.  ALSO the kind of friend that you leave and afterwards feel invigorated, inspired and the very best version of yourself.  These kinds of friends are solid gold, totally and completely. 

3.  Escape.  Whatever your form of escape is, this weeks mantra is:  'Do THAT or IT more.'  Maybe that will be the whole of next year's mantra...?  A quick escape for me is usually riding my bike - i'm forever slotting that in here and there and whenever i can simply because i just know it makes me feel physically and mentally better for it.  A treat escape is long and lazy walks somewhere quiet, green and beautiful with one of my favourite people.  That was my last weekend:  All i wanted to do on my birthday was just that:  No fuss, no great extravagance or expense, save for the petrol to get somewhere and the few pounds to fill our tummies with tea and scones.  The Mr and I spent a few delicious hours in Keswick doing just that and the icing on the cake was a little wander around the beautiful lake that is Derwent Water. It was peacefully quiet and the escape was just what we both needed.

4.  Sainsbury's 'Winter' incense oil.  It's not very often i'm swayed away from the comforting smell of their 'Line Dried Linen' oil because that stuff is just divine in itself and who doesn't want every corner of their home to smell like the outside on the warmest hint of a blue skied Spring day?!?  But i picked this up on a whim and it's beautiful:  All frosty winter woodland dancing along a little bit of an icy breeze.  It's not a million miles away from the linen scent....it's just more....icy?!?  Either way i can smell it wafting along our hallway as i type and it's making me happy!

5.   Hints of Christmas.  I know that everyone hurries to pop up their Christmas decorations as soon as December hits and due to the gloom and doom and little light of lately i've been almost tempted myself.  But traditionally we've always waited until after the 10th December as my birthday falls at the very beginning and my brothers the weekend after so Christmas has never really felt like Christmas until those two things have been done and dusted.  But i've already snuck in a couple of strings of clear fairylights - one that i particularly love scattered across our kitchen windowsill.     It's the room that at this time of year only really gets any kind of sunshine very early on and that all dissolves across the roof and around to the back of the house come midday.  The twinkly glow of the fairylights fix any kind of doom and gloom!  I also picked up some old fashioned paper ornaments in a soft dusky pink a few months back {purely because i adored the colour so much!} and i've hung a couple of them around the bedroom. Now i just need to pick up some more fresh Eucalyptus to make my little wreath....

6.  Citrus.  I mean call it the doom and gloom of shorter days and darkness all of the darn time BUT lately it's just all i want.  We scampered over to our favourite little fruit and veg market at one of local garden centres last Sunday and stocked up and we now have the biggest bowl of citrus known to man!  They're so so much cheaper than supermarket bought oranges and SO much nicer!  I even picked up some rainbow carrots to roast with maple syrup and mustard and some of the shiniest, reddest apples that i have ever seen!  All for about £3!  The heart wants, what the heart wants!

7.  Hair grips with days of the week on.  I picked these up on a website recently whilst trying  to do some Christmas shopping and i adore them.  Yes they're twee, and silly and i'll most likely only really use to pin up my pesky fringe on an eveningor  when having a wintery bubble bath BUT that's okay because they just make me ridiculously happy!!!

8.  Winter sunsets.  Because now we're officially in December, we're officially in Winter.  And, maybe i say this about sunsets or sunrises at every part of the year BUT there's something extra magical about a glorious amber and orange sunset in Winter. I think it's because of the definite lack of light and daylight in general come this time of year:  It's exactly why we festoon our little 'somewheres' with all of the jewel-like colours; all of the strings of fairylights and rosey-red and pine-green ornaments and decorations galore: It's to bring us light.  So YES, a Winter sunset, it's forever unexpected but boy oh boy is it something i'm grateful for lately.  If only i had the time to stand, head tipped back as far as i could, to just stand; gazing at it:  Watching the birds swoop and swish against it's unicorn-swirl of a backdrop.  They really are something to be treasured this time of year.  

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And i'm DONE:  With a flourish of gratitude and heart full of feeling just better for sitting and taking a moment in the hectic-ness of 'Now.'  Go and fill your own heart with even more happy and skip right on over to Jo, Helen, Michelle, Sarah, Kate, Cat, Sam, El , Kerri's, and Peta's  blogs and catch their very own list of good and great!

Better still share your own - let us all know and we can share it too!  Or just tell us what's been lovely about your very own 'Lately' down below in the comments or on any social media channel:  I'm @sallytangle as per usual. 

See you in seven?!?