Children are wonderful aren't they?
We spend all their developing years teaching them to share, with varied results.
Blossom is sharing these days.
I'm the lucky recipient of her flu today.
Obviously my almost 20yo breath-of-sunshine-in-my-life daughter felt she could not keep this all to herself. Oh joy.
So I'm trying to get done all that needs to be done in the next few hours so that I can head back to my comfy bed and wallow in things that make me remember how great life will be once this virus has done it's best and departed from me searching for healthier folk to waylay.
Fortunately, my throat is being soothed by banana, blueberry, honey and almond milk smoothies...
...and my heart is comforted by the musings of my favourite domestic author, Jane Brocket.
As you can see, it's a well loved and "well-read/re-read/re-read/re-read again" book, having kept me company now for almost eight years since I spied my friend Ruth's copy at my friend Pam's house, and drowned in it's delighted-ness...
I'm reading the chapter on luxuries at the moment.
Let me share a little of what Jane has written on page 178...
"It helps to have a state of mind that can turn even the smallest indulgence into a luxury. This means looking positively at your life - considering not what you want to have, but what you can, or already, have. It means deciding for yourself what you class as luxury and not following the media's overblown ideas. Couture dresses, private jets, huge yachts and large gems are very wonderful, I'm sure, but doesn't the fact that only a handful of women in the world can afford them strike you as ridiculous? Far better to treat yourself to a couple of skeins of lovely yarn, afternoon tea and a film, a bright bunch of roses, or a small, but perfectly formed box of chocolates."
I pondered her thoughts, then asked myself what constitutes 'luxury' to me.
You know, it's very simple things, really.
Like painting my toenails: I don't often take the time to soak my feet, or preen and primp them. But I did yesterday. And I felt all warm and fuzzy inside, and couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I padded barefoot backward and forward across our wooden floors...
What's your simple luxury? I'd love to know. We can chat in the comments while I'm laid low with my not-so-popular-friend Mr Lurgy.
hugs,
(but not too close a hug 'cause I'm really not in a sharing of the flu mood - despite what I taught my children)
jenny
So sorry that you got hit with the flu. That daughter of yours should know better:) Enjoy your rest and get better soon. At least your toes are pretty! (My little luxuries right now will be buying some plants at my favorite greenhouse this spring.)
ReplyDeleteYou'll have the prettiest garden on the street, Cindy. :-)
DeleteOh poof, I am sorry. Sometimes a luxury can be as simple as a really hot cup of tea and lots of blog friends to catch up with, buying plants for the garden definitely after this past winter, do you know it SNOWED again yesterday.....didn't last.....finding a chart I gad forgotten about, fabric and thread and beginning to stitch in an immaculately tidy house.....well, a woman can dream....! Sending a hug x
ReplyDeletePlease let me share in the immaculately clean house dream, Gillie! ;-)
DeleteMy simple and perfectly beautiful luxury is allowing myself time to stitch. I don't do it enough. Some times weeks will pass without me taking a stitch but when I finally sit down and allow myself the time, all is good with my world. Get well soon.
ReplyDeleteOh Dot, that's such a precious luxury...what a gift it must be for you to have those sweet stitching hours to indulge yourself in. {{hugs}}
DeleteSorry it is your turn to have the flu. Hope you feel better soon. My favorite little luxury is buying fresh flowers. I just love to have fresh flowers in the house.
ReplyDeleteYes! I adore fresh flowers...but as it's so hot and humid here until May I can only do this (with success) in winter and early Spring. Another 6 weeks and I'll have my vase full once more. :-)
DeleteSo sorry you are not feeling well. Sew kind of Blossom to share. Not !!
ReplyDeleteHmm! My luxury is having cuddles from my babies, the GGC...
Well that's a pretty sweet luxury, Maria. :-)
DeleteI love 'The Gentle Art...' too. I thank God for my home, my husband, my kitty and my love of needlework. For me, my favorite little luxury is a cup of hot chai, a comfortable chair and a project in my hands. I pray God will touch you over the weekend and heal that bug. He is Risen, indeed! Happy Easter from Minnesota, U.S.A.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Julie...and that chai sounds delightful. x
DeleteHi Jenny. So sorry you are feeling poorly. My bit of luxury these days can be spending just some time with my husband. Also when I am too busy and need some time I have a lovely cup of rooibos tea. This is my hug in a mug. Hope you are feeling soon and are able to enjoy the Easter service. Blessings to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteBlossom likes Rooibos tea, but I just can't take to it...I'm more of a Tulsi tea drinker these days, Petra. But that fact is that a cup of tea, any tea, is incredibly nourishing to the soul I think. :-)
DeleteHope your flu doesn't last 7 days. My luxury is allowing myself to seat in the backyard and bird watch. Here in SE Texas we have plenty of birds moving thru plus the hummingbirds.As always, love your work. You are such an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteHummingbirds?! How beautiful!
DeleteHope you feel better soon Jenny. Hugs.......
ReplyDeleteThanks, honey. x
DeletePlease feel better soon. I enjoy a nice cup of hot coffee with a little chocolate and cream as a luxury especially when it is very early in the morning and the entire house hasn't woken up yet. Also a nice peaceful late night when the house is asleep and I can read in silence and of course when I take the time to read a few blogs is allways heaven.
ReplyDeleteTammy, we are alike - those quiet early morning hours alone are my treasure. Time with Jesus, and good coffee with cream...sweetness.
DeleteHope you feel better very soon Jenny, in the meanwhile you're doing the right thing in pampering yourself and not sharing ;)
ReplyDeleteukcitycrafter@live.oc.uk
It seems I've shared with Mr E now...love is a funny thing. ;-)
DeleteJenny - I finally climbed out of my bed this morning after 2 days of that crud. I believe going to bed at the first sign of trouble is the best treatment. Feeling much better, Even went out to shovel a little. I am in northern Wisconsin where 12 + inches of snow have descended from the skies in the past 24 hours. On April 16! Can you believe it? Hopefully that is the last of it. Bring on summer PLEASE!
ReplyDeleteMy little luxury is to always have flowers on my kitchen table no matter what the weather is like outside
Hope you are feeling better soon..
I'm so pleased to hear you're on the road to recovery, Annmarie. {{hugs}}
DeleteYes, I'd believe snow in April...I'm sitting here in air conditioning after a mid April cyclone. Bizarre.
May summer for you, and winter for me, arrive fast. xx
Aww Jenny.....I know what you mean.....as much as we love our kids...there's some things that I'd rather they did not share! Hope you feel oodles better soon! Oh....and the pic with your kitty lazing on the bed....cute! I guess my bit of luxury is a piece of yummy dark chocolate...Lindt orange.....a mug of coffee and a peanut butter sandwich :D I'm not allowed any of it right now.....silly diet! Feel better soon xxx
ReplyDeleteThoeria, I LOVE peanut butter sandwiches!! Oh how I miss fresh, crusty white bread...let us lament together. ;-)
DeleteI'm sorry to hear you've caught the flu, Jenny. Taking time to rest and heal is the best medicine, I think. Hope you feel much, much better very soon. My little luxuries are (1) dark chocolate and (2) purchasing the British Country Living magazine. It comes to one of our local bookstores, but not on a regular schedule so I haunt the store. Not many copies arrive. I may ask for it as a subscription for a birthday or Christmas gift. There's nothing like sitting down with a cup of tea and a new magazine. I get inspired to bake or clean or garden or stitch or just arrange some flowers.
ReplyDeleteTake care. Have a happy and blessed Easter!
I have every copy of British Country Living magazine for the last 4 years, Lorrie...we are addicts, you and I! Isn't it just lovely...it soothes, calms, inspires, and transports me to a life I long for. Aah...one day. xx
DeletePoor Jenny...hang in there!
ReplyDeleteDrinking plenty of fluids, Kathleen, as well as eating soothing bowls of nourishing pumpkin and spinach risotto, and feasting on fresh cut cold watermelon as it truly soothes the throat. x
DeleteJenny - hope you are feeling better soon. I guess you took such good care of Blossom that you ventured too close. I'm glad you are all O.K. from the cyclone.
ReplyDeleteI keep sharing your pictures with my husband - On the road again, Can't wait to get on the road again... is a song we love to sing when taking a road trip; and we love to see your pics of Australia.
I love to relax in my sewing room with a story tape and some coffee or tea (sometimes I wonder why the beverage though -as oft times it turns cold before I remember its there.Love the idea and smell of coffee though).
Thank You for all your lovely projects and free downloads - they have a special spot in one of my binders.
Wishing you a Happy Easter with lots of rest to get better quickly!
Ha ha ha!! I have to laugh, Sigi, because I too make a hot coffee or tea to have while I stitch and get so caught up with my sewing that I only remember them when they're lukewarm. ;-)
DeleteI'm so sorry you've been brought low by an eensy bug, but your attitude is wonderful. I agree with Jane completely! The thing I do when I can't do anything else is head for the flower department in my local grocery store. The one I like best puts flowers in a sale bin when they haven't sold in a couple of days. Sometimes I can get a bouquet of carnations for $1.99 and they last for a week or more! If I'm feeling rich, I buy two! I can usually find *something* in that bin that will brighten my home for a few days. I love real flowers, and that is my secret vice, my treat for myself. =)
ReplyDeleteSometimes, a cup of spearmint herb tea - a mixture I make myself that has lemongrass and other things in it, too - is just what I need to comfort me. I've never been wealthy, so I learned long ago to take joy in the simple things of life. Right now, practically every tree on every block has lovely blooms - pink or white dogwood, sort of a purplish redbud, flowering cherries, plums and weeping cherries. Tulips are blooming in every yard. Evey the lovely yellow dandelions are adding to the mix. Who can feel down on even a partly sunny day full of flowers?
Can't wait till the weather cools as I do the same, but our long humid summer in the tropics doesn't keep flowers fresh for more than a couple of days after they are cut.
DeleteGet well soon Jenny. Hugs, Christine xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine. x
DeleteTake care of yourself and get plenty of rest! Don't put too much pressure on yourself for a "quick recovery"...we will be here waiting when you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteNot straying far from the couch or the sewing room. :-)
DeleteClean sheets are my favourite simple luxury! So sorry to hear you have caught the bug - hope you feel better soo. Sending lots of love and prayers. xx
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Lin! Freshly laundered, just off the clothesline smelling of sunshine and flowers...divine night's sleep to follow. xx
DeleteThe picture above is for me. warm to where you don't have to wear shoes, thread and something to work on , and a friend. I like your cat.
ReplyDelete