A quiet day catching up with jobs…

Who’d have thought that was so precious that it'd feel like a treat? Yet today I have slowed down and enjoyed doing lots of small things as well as I could. Things like ironing and cooking my husband and son’s favourite meal, which is mini toad in the holes made in muffin tins, with mashed potatoes sprinkled with crispy onions and lots of onion gravy and vegetables. Whoever said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach was absolutely right.

I’ve spent time transitioning my wardrobe by packing away my heavy jumpers and unashamedly copying my style stars as I like to think of them. There’s a silver hair model called Regina Burton who looks amazing and happy to be the age she is and whose face shape is vaguely like mine so I’ve sneakily looked at what she wears then shopped in my wardrobe and I’m looking forward to the new combinations and trying a different colour lipstick.

I’ve also got on with the current Amy series because I’m having the luxury of going through 5 books and 2 sets of short stories so I can immerse myself in their world, which is amazing fun.

I’ve cleaned floors, washed tablecloths, changed loose covers, recharged the batteries in all my LED candles and then wondered how I’ve got so many of them. It's probably because I love them because they and the diffuser add to the feeling that our home is a sanctuary in a sometimes cruel seeming world. I’m not running away from it and I help when and where I can but I remember being told when my pair were diagnosed with autism that I had to learn to put my own parachute first because I’d be living in what felt like a perpetual plane crash.

Those were wise words and very true but I also need to remember that very few nose dives ends in a crash and enjoy living my small scale life. I love books by Fiona Ferris and Jennifer Melville because they’ve taught me how to celebrate the small stuff and can’t remember which self-help book advised me to start the day by stretching tall and saying clearly “Hello happiness, what fun are we going to have today?” It didn’t mention what you should do if you share a bed with a night owl but are a lark, but I suspect that I’d need to duck a flying pillow and face a grumpy husband if I tried it.

Instead, come rain or shine, I creep downstairs, unlock the back door and step out into the night and whisper to myself. “Okay, world, we’re going to have fun today.” Then I pick one thing I want to do for me and do it. They’re very rarely big or important or expnsive things, but knowing I’m doing them for me makes a massive difference.

The clocks go back this weekend so I’ll see the stars when I do it for a little longer but soon after that I’ll greet the dawn and then put the washing out afterwards. Sometimes, I wonder how I can write romantic novels!

Today’s picture is of a rainbow over the houses at the end of the garden that I took from where I stand when I make a promise every day that I count, so what I want is important too, and anyone who tries to tread on me will have their toes bitten!

See you on Tuesday and why not try it and let me know how you get on?