Where are you most at home?

In London, most of my friends are chronically dissatisfied with their lot and dream of a peaceful, less harried existence.  They throw money at problems to make up for the hours that they spend working in jobs that they hate and are in a vicious circle of living to work and needing a high salary to maintain a lifestyle that they despise.
I am still bathing in the glow of having taken the plunge and escaped from the treadmill, my income has drastically reduced and I live in a completely different way now.  But of course I have replaced the old dissatisfaction with a new anxiety;  life is so comfortable and contented, I fear change.  When life is pretty miserable change is intriguing rather than to be feared, but for the first time I would love for every thing to remain just as it is.

Unfortunately Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. (Brecht)


I am in rented accommodation in a high demand area and having a furry friend puts me in a precarious position,  I'm only ever one unscooped poop away from oblivion.


It set me thinking about what I could do to lower my overheads and find somewhere that I would love equally if I were given my marching orders.

I've never lusted after grandeur in houses, I feel lost in big cold rooms, I like to be cuddled up, cosy and warm somewhere small and intimate.  Although I do love other people to have large houses so that I can visit and enjoy big parties!  
My idea of heaven are the Brambly Hedge houses. I was a teenager when the books were first published, so I can't claim that these books were part of my childhood, and yet I think that I have read all of them.  They are so beautifully illustrated and each time that you look back at a page you find a new detail.

It is in such a house that I would love to live if I ever had to leave my current abode.

The Brambly Hedge mice are all industrious and resourceful, and very ahead of their time in terms of their eco credentials and their recycling.  They work together as a community and produce things of such beauty,  that we have all but forgotten in our fast paced, flat-packed lives.

And then I started looking online, and found that there are communities that exist who work to the same ethos and here are some of the houses that they have created....

and furniture to complement them....

I am not sure how planning works with these, most of them seem to be classed as temporary and are built to be completely self-sufficient in woodland areas, and there is a wood for sale near where I am now, 8 acres planted with over 500 English oak trees, what surroundings could be more beautiful?

There is even a pond.

In my new fantasy there would be a luxury commune with all the community spirit and kindness, but with Frette sheets and good coffee.

There would be a spa where the therapists would receive all the treatment costs.

And a grotto with bubbling hot pools to host parties and serve chilled champagne

What is your most wild home fantasy?

Daily Diet Update and Reasons to be Cheerful

Today current weight: not sure (forgot to weigh in at gym, this is becoming a habit, must try to have some trace of a memory of diet in my consciousness at some point in the day, and if not at the gym when?!)
Yesterday Exercise; 1 hour hardcore aerobics, 3 x 20 min dog walk
Yesterday Food intake; 
Breakfast; coffee, orange, 2 egg omelette
Mid morning snack; coffee, banana, almonds
Lunch; steak casserole on bed of spinach and mint
Afternoon; tea and fruit cake
Dinner; steak casserole and peas, cashew nuts, walnuts and raisins
Evening snack; milky decaff coffee


The exercise class was a really hard one, I normally have to stop in parts, but I did the whole thing until all my muscles burnt.  I am wondering if it is a combination of eating a lot more food than usual over the previous days and the 'steak stew' which I rather over catered and as I can't bear waste, will eat until it is gone.  Either way, my intensity and endurance was markedly more than usual.  Added to this, I did not feel the post exercise total exhaustion, rather was full of energy to tackle the tasks of the day.


Today is so beautiful, that I thought I might add a daily record of 3 reasons to be cheerful as well as my diet, which seems to suggest deprivation, although there hasn't been much of that recently!

There are the 'big' things that I thank God for daily, which I will list today, but each day there are really small, almost imperceptible positive things that happen and when they accumulate, can surround us in a warm glow.  
The biggies;
1. That everyone I love is healthy, recently some of my friends have been through terrible time with ones that they love, it is worse than when it is personal, I give daily thanks that I am unbelievably lucky to not have a single major illness amongst those that I care about.
2. That I am healthy, we often glibly refer to this when everything else is terrible, but having spent a day at a breast clinic after a recent scare, it was a humbling experience and I will never take health forgranted again.
3. That I have people to love and I am loved.  This gives me security and I crave it more than anything else.
4. That I can eat good food daily, yes, I budget and I am too mean to buy my mountains of vegetables and fruit anywhere other than the market.  But I am still lucky enough to eat whatever I want each day.
5. That I have a home that is warm and cosy and is my sanctuary, it may be small, but it is all that I need and when I come home it is like being in an embrace.
6. That I have friends that I see every day, friends who do not judge, envy, compete or gossip (in a nasty way) only in a really funny interesting way!  We are all completely different in age and lifestyle, but each is happy with who they are and accepts the others for who they are without any need to impose their views or opinions on the others.


These are the things that I couldn't live without and am thankful for every day of my life.

The three small things that made me cheerful today....
1. I watched a virtuous circle occur; I was let out in traffic, I stopped to allow a car to turn into the road into which I was going, they in turn stopped for the next car coming out of a side road, who in turn slowed down to let bikes come through a narrow side road.  Imagine how safe the roads would be if everyone drove like this!
2. The sun shone all day, it was cold, only one or 2 degrees, but the sunshine masked the chill and made everything beautiful.
3.The normally shy horses came to see me while I walked the dog and stood for ages letting me pet them.


What are you thankful for today?