Hello friends.

Well the weeks are just flying on by aren’t they.

What’s keeping you steady at the moment? What’s making a difference?

For me I talk to my sister every night on the phone, I play with the dogs at least once a day, I keep a daily gratitude list and I drink hot chocolate from the 7/11 whenever I’m forced to get petrol.

Your turn now. There’s a comment box below. Would love to hear

As always friends I hope we find simple ways to relax and celebrate life this weekend and I hope we all find a thing or two that makes a difference

I hope this helps also – – –

A Good Word

Ann Voskamp

A Good Look

May the weekend lead you somewhere beautiful x

A Good Idea

Let Life Get in the Way

from me this week

I have this elaborate kind of vision for my kitchen. Lots of open shelving, lots of pretty colours. I’m part way there and while its perfectly functional as is it would be nice to be finished.  Lock down hasn’t helped, working full time hasn’t either.

These things takes as long as they take

because living life is a full time occupation.

Have you noticed though we often say the phrase  “oh life got in the way”   like it’s a point of failure. Like we’ve been irresponsible or off playing hooky from our real responsibilities of proving ourselves or keeping up with our own unrealistic standards.

So just a reminder if the list of things not done (and the vague sense of guilt and failure that goes along with it)  is growing despite the best of your efforts and early morning pep talks

Your not failing my friend,  not even nearly

Nope,  your front and centre, smack dab in the centre, right where you need to be winning! 

Because the soft liquid centre of a good life isn’t in the things we tick off our to-do list (although it is a good feeling) or in having our life all tucked in around the edges. Like it ever could be ! It’s in love shared and hope held and our hearts bared to God and each other. It’s doing our next right thing in love (thank you Emily P Freeman) and sometimes that’s rejigging my kitchen cupboards and making things pretty but mostly it’s cooking pasta with garlic and chilli because we never get tired of eating it, or its driving the teenagers to work and wherever else they need to be. Sometimes (a lot of the time) it’s cleaning poo out of bunny cages and logging into work and tackling another load of washing. Sometimes it’s sitting on my front verandah reading or letting the dogs in the back room to play of an evening.  Last Sunday it was going for my first vaccination (finally!) and taking a walk by the lake (not so relaxed with the Loki pup going crazy) but thinking wow how beautiful is this place and wow ! I actually get to live here  .

Yep life gets in the way of our best laid plans and to do lists and my general house titivating. 

You bet it does.

Absolutely!

A Few Good Reads

7 Notes of Encouragement as You Simplify Your Life

If you are trying to simplify your life, you’ve probably discovered that it’s not an overnight adventure.

I’ve accepted that I will be simplifying for a lifetime. That realization has removed a lot of pressure to “get there” or to “do it the best way” and allowed me to turn my focus to enjoying it instead of finishing it.

If you are realizing this journey is more than decluttering and that simplicity takes time, these notes of encouragement will help you continue to simplify your life.

With all of the focus around minimalism, simplicity, decluttering, and capsule wardrobes, it’s easy to believe that a simple life is the dream, but a simple life is not the end goal.

I’ve been simplifying my life since 2006. I didn’t know that’s what was happening in the beginning. At first, I was only focused on eliminating as much stress as I could so I could feel better and live well with multiple sclerosis.

Even when I finally saw the simplicity path I was on, I knew the finish line wasn’t a simple life. We don’t remove clutter, reduce stress, and boycott busyness to have a simple life. We do it to have a life. Not a beautifully organized life, or a completely calm life. Not a perfect life or one where we know all the answers but a life that we have room for, a life we can notice, a life we can enjoy and a life we can show up for.

Today, I do feel better. I am living well with MS. I don’t have a simple life but I laugh a lot more. I enjoy the work I do and I have the presence to be in my life instead of racing around trying to keep up with it.

Don’t simplify for a simple life but instead so you can be in your life – – – keep reading

Since my daughter was born, I have tried to visit my parents every two months, so I can show them how she is growing up and so she can learn the importance of family. I live in Chiba prefecture, just outside Tokyo, while they live in Shiga prefecture, 300 miles or so to the west, near Kyoto. It’s a journey that became routine for my daughter and me: driving for about an hour to the train station, then taking the bullet train for two hours and then changing to a local train for about 20 minutes to get to a station near my parents’ house in Higashiomi City. But last year that routine was disrupted by the pandemic – – –  keep reading

The Best Food Lessons I Learned from My French Mother-in-Law

As an American who grew up with a very nonchalant attitude towards mealtimes, I didn’t know what to expect when I first accompanied my now-husband on a trip to his family home in southwest France. Even though it was a decade ago, I remember the trip vividly: It was a cultural immersion that included going on trips to the open markets, nervously helping with meal preparation, and getting sideways glances for my New World table manners (a story for another time).

I came away from that trip with a greater understanding of the importance of food in my husband’s home country. From rules around certain foods to a surprisingly relaxed approach to recipes, these are four lessons from my French mother-in-law that I’ve adopted in my Californian kitchen – – –  keep reading

And while were on the subject of  food I’m looking forward to trying this recipe:

Japanese Chicken and Vegetable Curry 

Ask a Japanese person what their favorite dish to eat at home, school, or work is, and the answer you will most likely hear is karei raisu (curry rice). Year after year, Japanese surveys show karei raisu beating sushi, ramen, pizza, hamburgers, fried chicken, and ramen in popularity among all ages. In fact, the beloved dish is so popular that it was designated the national dish of Japan in 1982, even though it’s not authentically Japanese. I make karei raisu at least once a week, and my family never gets tired of it. It’s delicious, easy to make, nourishing, and quite filling because it’s paired mostly with rice (but you can also serve it with noodles or bread).

That’s all for now friends. Enjoy the reads and have a beautiful weekend, rest up, do something you love xx