(... though it is, in fact, Tuesday now, but hey ...) You find me smiling as I edit the photos of a wonderful five-mile walk to and around the splendid Chatsworth estate, and so grateful that the Duke and Duchess allow ordinary people access to the land they look after and care for, for free. You'll notice I'm smiling as I stand on those stone steps in the wood which stretches steeply upwards behind the house: that was soon wiped off my face when I rounded the corner and found hundreds more steps to go. Feels like a metaphor for these strange times we live in!
Looking through the lens of the aesthetics of joy this week is keeping my brain sparking and supplied a rush of inner recognition when the author mentioned 'tolerations': things you tolerate but sap your energy in the process, so that "your home effectively becomes a giant To Do list that you're living inside, making it impossible to relax". And when reading here about guilt, regret, shame and overwhelm, and came across examples of tolerations as "a broken chair, a blown-out lightbulb, a picture that needs to get framed", I looked at the stack of the latter propped up behind my desk and thought: Right on, sister, times twelve!
But the thing which is warming my heart this Monday is this little trooper of a rose, The Lady of Shallot, just outside the back door. Despite seven inches of snow in November, more last week and recent sub-zero temperatures, she is still putting energy into blooming ...
And that does feel like a good lesson to carry with me this week! Warm good wishes to you all, Alexa.
Lovely photos of Chatsworth ... I haven't been there since I was a teenager.
"Tolerations" made me pause and think ... here's to tolerating them no longer!
Posted by: Ruth | Tuesday, 11 January 2022 at 02:50 PM
Beautiful photos! And your post reminds me to pull Joyful off the shelf (half read) and start over again!
Posted by: Karen B Walker | Tuesday, 11 January 2022 at 03:53 PM
How wonderful to have been at Chatsworth, definitely smile-inspiring, and yours is a welcome sight.
On the "tolerations" front, I have made progress in that some things that have been so long ignored even through nearly 2 years being mostly at home, are now clearly no longer necessary and I am finding it easier to clear them away in one way or another. I have this quirky habit of loading up a to-do list on my phone when hubby was going to be away and I knew I could get through lots of little projects. But I never got to even 1/3 of them when at my most productive. So I have taken a new tack, and those long lists are being dealt with in groups of 5 - I have a spot for 3 weekly projects in my planner. So each week 3 of the projects get put in the planner, and 2 projects are deemed to not be necessary and are forgotten and the objects discarded as appropriate. It worked wonderfully in Week 1 of 2022, wish me luck in continuing.
Posted by: Susanne | Wednesday, 12 January 2022 at 01:37 PM
Your lady rose is quite beautiful & what a treat Mother Nature has given in this bloom. I am interested to know more about tolerations in our home & life. Sandie Cottee recently put me on to the silent to do's which rob us of energy. I check with our library for this book. And thank you again for the referral of John O'Donhue's Blessings Between Us - I really am enjoying it & it pairs nicely with the novel The Midnight Library - both have me pinging! Chatsworth is such a gorgeous place to be.
Posted by: Mary-Lou | Wednesday, 12 January 2022 at 04:54 PM
Chatsworth House and the gardens there are beautiful aren't they? We visited once a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
I smiled when I read of 'tolerations' - yesterday it was a gloriously sunny but cold day. The conservatory, being in full sun, was lovely and warm but the doors have many, many sticky hand prints on them. The more I looked, the more I saw until I had no option but to reach for my window cleaning cloths and tackle them. Then of course I had sparkly clean doors which made the windows look dreadful in comparison. An hour later all sixteen windows were gleaming, the frames were washed down, I was exhausted, a few spiders were rehomed to the garden and the carpet was not only hoovered but shampooed. All jobs which had been put off for too long but oh how I am enjoying looking at the results of my work today! Your rose is beautiful and a hint of things to come.
Posted by: Deb | Friday, 14 January 2022 at 12:49 PM
I've tried to keep the lessons from Joyful top of mind these last weeks. You know I LOVE that Joy is an active choice :-) I snapped a photo on my walk yesterday of the first cherry tree blossoms (they're about 3-4 weeks early) ... expecting that they'll be covered in ice and snow sometime tomorrow.
Posted by: Mary | Saturday, 15 January 2022 at 04:22 PM
What a survivor that little rose is. Gorgeous color. Very hopeful in the midst of winter. Thank you for sharing its beauty with us. And the book that has you thinking and looking for beauty all about you.
I have cursed the 3 blown lightbulbs that are out in our house. But haven't had a moment this week to replace them. Maybe tomorrow.
Posted by: Leslie Susan Clingan | Saturday, 22 January 2022 at 02:53 AM