Roads to Joy

It’s no longer spring, and the garden is really a series of plants in pots on the gravel and deck, here at Spring Cottage, but the blossoms greeting us on our arrival were fulsome and real.

We tied up the drooping Scottish thistle, falling from its own magnificence, and positioned the ruby snapdragons tighter against the wall. Spent a little time looking for more snails, snipped a few dead branches from our re-energised olive tree, but otherwise that was the extent of our garden labours.

It was time for a glass of rosé in the late afternoon sunshine. On yet another of our holiday sojourns, we began to plan the week together. If we can avoid the midgies, we shall try a little amble through the marshland this afternoon, after our shopping errands and my zoom session with my writing group.

Life is considerably slower in our tiny space here in New Galloway, than what we’ve been used to on the smallholding, but it fits, somehow, as we rest and recuperate. Getting healthy again is probably our primary ambition these days; the late attack of Covid seems to be a lingering presence, even though we’ve been negative for a fortnight now. So it seems like a good idea to stay slow, quiet, and rest. There’s joy in that too, of course.

And with flowers surrounding us, and more to come in the next few days, it’s hardly difficult to enjoy the moment. One particular moment to enjoy is today’s calendar: today, the last day of June, heralds the fulcrum, in monthly terms, between the first half of the year and the second. That means that I can begin to finesse my own personal, tangible book of joys, thanks to the experience that BlookUp offers.

I’m really looking forward to holding my own book of joys in my own trembling hands, probably as a fixture of my bedside table, by which I can read, smile, remember, and then gently drift off to sleep. Talk about carving out one’s own wellbeing — who’d have thought this little blog could be such fun?

Meanwhile, it’s a continuing delight to share these ongoing joys with dear friends and readers. I’m so grateful for the comments and contributions!