.png)
Slowing down in August, savouring the little moments of pause whilst enjoying the final weeks of summer and a short fairy update with pics! :-)
Hello again, I hope you're enjoying the expanse of summer, and hopefully finding time to rest and recharge during these warmer days that will soon begin to turn again... I usually like to post my blog updates towards the end of each month and as ever, I had so many ideas, pictures, musings and pieces of news that I planned to share this August. But a week or so ago a newsletter from the creative organisation 64 Million Artists popped into my inbox and gave me pause for thought with this blog post about their practice of taking the whole of the month of August off. The blog explains how they see rest as a radical act, and shares resources that support this idea.
I know that it is not possible for all of us to achieve this, and I won't be taking the whole of August off myself, but I know that with some intentional thought, I can create a little more space, or organise my routines and responsibilities differently, so as to feel restful and re-energising... in choosing to adopting the spirit of pausing for breath throughout August, maybe I can save some ideas for later, not panic if not everything gets done, enjoy the holidays... and emerge feeling refreshed and ready to go again.
With this in mind I'll keep this blog short - leaving you with a few pictures of some vibrant summery fairies loosely inspired by one of the roses in our back garden. They made their way to the Museum in the Park last month, but as a synaesthete, to me, these lovely fairies are the colour of August - or how I see the month of August, in my minds' eye, expressed in colour - I wonder what colour August is to you? :-)
The few fairies below also fluttered off to the Museum... the blue fairy is holding a little fairy book of her own, and adorned with some vintage twine-like ribbon with little blue flowers and tiny green leaves... I love the fairy tale feel that this ribbon adds to the fairies.
This little pair or 'wishing fairies' are each holding a tiny glass bottle with a little scroll inside... the scroll is left blank for a personal wish, message or thought to be written inside and popped back in the bottle, to be looked after by the fairy and kept safe for another time. I just had to pop some big bows on these little fairies - handsewn out of small pieces of sari ribbon. The miniature 'wishing jars' fit them just perfectly :-)
If you have little ones home for the summer, and feel like staying occupied at home, here are a couple of sweet and simple craft ideas (with more tips for crafting with little ones in this post) over on the PowerWood website, that don't have to cost a lot, and can be enjoyed together at a leisurely pace, maybe even outside - especially the paper-mache/raisin box robots project!? These robots were a favourite of my babies when they were little and I had saved up soooooo many used raisin boxes, wondering what to do with them!?
There are a number of changes and exciting fresh starts on the horizon around these parts in September and after such a full and non-stop first half of 2024, taking the time to properly recharge feels more welcome than ever.
In the spirt of pausing for breath, I thought I would share a few photo's of a super lovely, peaceful and expansive sunset that we were lucky enough to experience locally on a camp out with good friends, just at the start of the summer holidays - feel free to scroll through... Looking at nature scenes, whether real or online, always put me in the space of slowing down enough to feel the world around me.
Finally, this last picture is of a moth that I spotted resting on a wall in one of our upstairs rooms during the heatwave last week - although I've since learned that this is an emerald moth and is fairly common, I've never seen a green moth before and spotting it felt like a lucky, magical moment and that I had been rewarded for slowing down long enough to notice...
However you are spending this August, with official time off or not, I'm wishing you plenty of rest, expanse, and as many restorative moments as possible. ♥
Comments