Making Space

I had some advice today - to pamper myself....to carve out time for what I most love to do...to chill.

I think coffee with a friend sitting in the warm air outside at a cafe table with the world rolling by......followed by shopping for a handbag for niece's wedding....finding the perfect beaded clutch bag to match outfit....counts as pampering.

Taking photos of this rose and cranesbill geranium in the garden....discovering a way to take better close ups - stand further away to zoom in ( probably should have read camera instruction booklet before now  - but not my forte - so rely on happy accidents)...counts as carving out time for something I  love to do.

It's hard to capture the exact coral red of this rose but it doesn't matter as this single one is going to be added to the basket of white rose petals I've been collecting from the garden and drying out on trays in the shelves of the utility room where the sun pours in most days.....turning the petals a bit brown at the edges but sealing in the sweetness of their perfume. They'll be added to another bigger basket of petals that my sister has also been harvesting and drying - flower confetti to shower on our sweet niece on her wedding day.

So I've felt some space opening up around the edges of my day -  maybe helped by taking four heavy black bags of old sheets and towels and duvet covers and an old iron and a kettle down to the dump for re-cycling. Making space in my cupboards.......and as I let go of more of the past - making space in my head for who I am now.

 As for the advice to chill -  standing further back before zooming in - that's something I've yet to learn - but something I could explore - practice even....and not just leave to a happy accident.