Shhh...

It's all so quiet, the frost is deep and the shortest day of the year is close at hand...

Pausing...

November seems like a good month to pause. December awaits with its cacophony of noise and light, demands on time and energy (and money...), and the increasing onslaught of Christmas-themed everything.

But this November I've been trying to push back against that a little, to notice my surroundings more, and appreciate them, whether they be a mug of hot chocolate in a warm cafe or a pot of tea by the stove, and whether my feet are hidden under damp, fallen leaves or are crunching over shingle as the sea lashes the shoreline.



I'm also finding this philosophy in my jewellery making too, where simple shapes and simple ways of constructing them in simple materials, like round sterling silver wire, are more pleasing just now than elaborate details and complex finishes.

You could say, and you'd be right to, that I'm trying to be more mindful, in every part of my life, including when I'm sitting at my jewellery bench. I know mindfulness has become one of those words which often makes people either roll their eyes in disdain or nod their head in agreement - well, I'm one of the latter and am attempting to use it more and more every single day and let it help me in any way I can. So far, I think I'm better off with it than without. If you're interested in finding out more then I've found

this book (and free CD) - Mindfulness for Health,

this website - Rachael Kable,

and this (free) course - Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance

to be of great use.

But whether you're mindful of mindfulness or not, I hope you get a chance to breathe in some late-autumn tinged air very soon - the scent of fallen leaves with a hint of bonfires is how I'd put it; if only I could bottle it!

Happy the rest of November.

Inspiration - Winter

November and December have brought a lot of rain and a few frosty days. Christmas shopping has been hard, but it's done and (most) gifts are wrapped. I'm trying, now, to enjoy a little of that Christmas feeling, trying not to miss it in the rush and bustle and things-to-do chaos that can easily descend at this time.
  
Here's some photos I've taken in the last couple of months.

Hope you've enjoyed the chaos and cold a little this winter!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers and fellow bloggers!

Butterflies and fallen trees

I saw a butterfly today . . .

And, not exactly winter cheer but certainly some brightness and colour, I took some photos of a fallen tree, dead for a couple of years and felled by a gust of wind too strong for its withered rootball.



Wonderful textures (and I do love texture!) and amazing to see, up close, the life within and upon the tree.





I'd have taken a photo of the butterfly but, in December, I really wasn't expecting to see one!