Interiors

The mornings are getting lighter earlier and there is a breath of Spring in the air. More people are sitting outside the cafes and a feeling of optimism is appearing. Spring doesn't officially start until March but shades of lemon and blue are appearing in shop winters and after the Vermeer winter tones, they are very welcome. The natural sunlight is so important for wellbeing and a dose of Vitamin D is known to lower anxiety and depression. When we lived in Berlin and experienced our first winter, we were amazed to see the pharmacies full of vitamin D

"The sound of colours is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with base notes, or a dark lake with the treble," said Wassily Kandinsky. Absolutely! Yellow sings of the sun and happiness which can be seen in the hints of spring appearing and the neon mimosa is the first sign. Yellow is the Feng Shui colour of stability and is comforting and grounding representing the Earth. How do we manage again this year, asked a friend when many of us feel as if the foundations and control of life are

There have been so many strange and interesting subjects that have come up and we are only sixteen days in to the year! Conversations seem to come back to what is going to sustain and support us in the coming months? Some friends are denying our new year and say they will "start in February with the Chinese and to hell with the Christian calendar, the year of the Tiger looks good with all of its forward energy and courage". Others are looking to have a different year, desperate for family, travel and other pastimes. We find music and

Leonardo da Vinci stated that, "Small rooms or dwellings discipline the mind, large ones weaken it". And who am I to argue with such a revered person and artist? We have lived in large three bedroom, double living room houses and a small Manhattan shoe box. As we enter 2022, we are finishing decorating our small French apartment where we would love every room to be bigger. This wish has generated several discussions on when do we have enough, why do we want larger spaces, what about the tiny house movement and is it all about 'keeping up with

This week the Christmas markets opened and suddenly, our spirits are lifted. During the same week, I presented with others on a Woman's Alliance meeting about finding joy at this time of the year. So many are on their own due to jobs, tricky family dynamics and for other readers and we were looking to find ways of feeling part of life. This weekend were lucky to sing with a group of friends whilst other friends looked on as part of the audience, and we had dinner with another group of friends. We realized it is beginning to feel

We arrived in our French town this day last year and closed doors to one life, a career for my husband, a different country, and opened doors to new friends, another language, culture and way of living. I thought of this as we were having interior glass doors installed this week to provide an improved sense of light and space.  My next post will be an update on doors! As Alexander Graham Bell said,"when one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one

A storm rolled towards the beach today as a Spanish green glass sea with shimmers of petrol blue dashed across the rocks. It is majestic to watch as we move away from summer's aqua and turquoise and head towards forests and snow. We should be like squirrels, stuff our cheeks with nuts, find a warm, safe space and stay underground until the earth warms again and our breath no longer freezes. But we are humans and we set off in November with kilos of clothes determined to manage the darker hours. On that sombre note, let's talk about the

Wishing people Happy Halloween seems strange, when it is derived from All Saints and All Souls Day for blessing those who have died. Paula Curan, an author of gothic novels, said,"the farther we've gotten from the magic and mystery of our past, the more we've come to need Halloween". In a scientific and technological age there is something to be said for imagining in the dark. Whilst Hallmark has morphed it in to a night of darkness, orange, pumpkins and candy, I prefer the magic of candles and light honouring the dead and those who believe they saw a