Finding joy in the everyday

According to an article in the Guardian ( LINK ) British women totter about in some of the highest heels in Europe, research reveals. With home-grown celebrities like Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole leading the trend, the penchant for sometimes painful stilettos sees an average heel height of 3.3 inches (8.4cm). This compares to an average of 2.4 inches (6 cm) among French women and 2.7 inches (6.9cm) among German women. The Spanish were closer to the British in their love of height, wearing an average heel of 3.2 inches (8.1cm), the survey by foot care brand Compeed found. The Duchess of Cambridge is known for her “nude” 4.3 inch (11 cm) heels which has increased the wearing of stilettos by younger women. I have no idea how the Duchess does it considering the amount of walking she does. They must be super comfortable and soft.  Almost two thirds (65 per cent) of British women cited blisters as a significant source of pain resulting from wearing high heels. Psycho...

Linda Jacobus Art Friday: A walk in the garden This week I have written about busyness and how we need to think about why we are so busy and make changes to our lives if we are busy just for the sake of being busy.  One the of the things we forget to do in our busy lives is take a walk in the garden. Stop and smell the flowers, marvel at nature, let the sun shine on your face, listen to the wind, stand silence and enjoy the peace and tranquility that one finds when surrounded by flowers.  Todays art is all about taking that walk in the garden.  Enjoy the wander.  H er pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn--that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness--that season which has drawn from every poet w...

Slow down — life is not a rush or a competition. Enjoy the simpler things in life. The Huffington Post (3rd April, 2016) published a letter by Di Westaway (CEO, business woman) that she wrote to her daughter called " An open letter to my daughter: Busy is not a badge of honour ". I wanted to share it with you this week as I have been looking a busyness and questioning why we are so busy and if we are manufacturing our own busyness because we think we should — as a badge of honour.  I think she has summed up "busyness" so well  and why being busy is not a good thing for ourselves or our families or in fact for society as a whole. SLOW DOWN and op out of the rat race, you don't need to fill your day with activities to try and prove something. Whilst we must not be idle, we need to find a balance between productive work and time to smell the roses or watch the sunset. To my darling daughter, I wish I wasn't always rushing aro...

We all lead a very busy lives . . . I am no different  —  I seem to be always on the run, things need to be done,  grocery to buy, parcels to collect, food to cook, washing to do, things not getting done when they ought to . . you know the story . . . and for women with small children, it is even more hectic.  To add to our daily lives, we often have extra curriculum activities such as sport, crafts, reading, photography, coffee with friends etc... that chew up our time. Sadly for many women, our worldly activities can take control and we forget to prioritizing as we should. We don't do it intentionally but with all that dashing about in every directions plus our families requiring our attention we loose track of what is most important — and life quickly gets out of balance.  We need to stop and think about what is important, sadly many find this is difficult as they find themselves on auto pilot and not quite sure where the off switch is!  Fo...

Everyone seem to be so busy these days. Busy, busy, busy . . . it is the modern catch phrase. We are constantly reminded that we are busy and that it isn't going to slow down.   . . . no one has time to cook . . . clean their homes . . . have a quiet night in. Are we really that busy . . . or are we manufacturing busyness for the sake of it?  BUSY . . . " having a great deal to do " According to The Economist (20th December 2014) “ Why do people feel so rushed? Part of this is a perception problem. On average, people in rich countries have more leisure time than they used to. . . . Women’s paid work has risen a lot over this period, but their time in unpaid work, like cooking and cleaning, has fallen even more dramatically, thanks in part to dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves and other modern conveniences, and also to the fact that men shift themselves a little more around the house than they used to.”    But our desire to ...

I was given the honour of being called a "crazy cat lady" which I think is just wonderful. But to be crazy, I think I need to post many more photos and stories about cats!!! If you don't like cats, then I would suggest you give this segment a miss!!! I am going to start my Crazy Cat stories with photos of my own gorgeous cat RUBY.