Tiny Sparks of Autumn Joy

Two important birthdays, lots of family fun and some lovely moments.

New ballet shoes for my new 10 week term of ballet. I. Love. Being. Back. At. Ballet. It’s become an important part of my mental healthcare.

Sending stuff we don’t want or need anymore out into the world, mostly to people we know who’ll use it. Goodbye Bugaboo Donkey. For ten years you were an important part of our family transport system. I think the umbrella stroller will be moving on soon too.

A little day out to Ikea with the Mini Orchids. Meatballs and chips, storage solutions and skipping the cursed gingerbread houses. Lesson learned.

A new to her backpack for a cousin. And feeling happy we’ve kept the right things so they can be pulled out when necessary.

Never did I ever think I’d be spending a third holiday in Longford, but we’re officially completely converted to the Centerparcs experience. Cycling around the lake with the kids early on the most beautiful Saturday morning in September with the mist lifting was bliss.

Two Months of Joy and Sorrow

I’m feeling very lucky and guilty writing this post. We’ve had a lovely couple of months of food out together and alone. There’s been boxes of doughnuts and brunches and lunches en famille. There’s been flowers give and received. There’s been decluttering and holiday prep. There’s been trips to IKEA and Decathalon. There’s been a family swim for the first time since last September. There’s been time off and outdoor coffees and treats courtesy of the Too Good To Go app.

There’s also a Ukrainian flag hanging in our porch. There’s been a lot of explaining of news to children who can’t be sheltered from everything in the world, much as its tempting. There’s emails from ballet schools about free classes for refugees. There’s a local page dedicated to offers of help for those who’ve made it to here from eastern Europe. There’s a lot of yellow and blue flags that make my heart jump a little every time. There’s history unfolding, at work and at home, and there’s the realisation that this shift in world affairs isn’t so very far away at all.

In Praise of (A Small Amount of) Clutter

These are our bookshelves, well about half of them. The other half are in the playroom, which underwent a major reorganisation last weekend. Some books moved from here to there, such as my Malory Towers and St. Clare’s collections. Eldest Orchid is dipping into more and more of my beloved childhood reads and this sparks great joy.

Every so often we get an urge to purge and take out all of the books on these shelves and go through them and 99% of the time every single book goes right back onto the shelves. This process means for about 3 days there’s a system to how the books are arranged. These are deep shelves, so there’s two layers of books on each shelf and sometimes the urge to purge means we rediscover the second layer’s delights.

I have a complete paperback collection of the Drina books I so enjoyed as a child, one or two of which are at the read-so-much-they’re-falling-apart stage of life. To my delight, I was able to get my hands on hardback replacements for 4 of them and they arrived this week. I enjoy the slight editing, with references to Hungary rather than a fictional Iron Curtain country and some of the uniform is nylon rather than silk. I pondered a while on who’s job it was to edit the originals and what decisions were made to bring them up to date. I especially enjoyed the covers.

I have no space for these books, nor do I have space for the 3 library books I collected yesterday. Books on loan to others come back post urge to purge and I forget they need space. There are books shoved hastily on top of neat rows of Chalet School treasures. There’s a cookbook that should be in the cookbook cupboard in the kitchen. There’s probably a stray Miffy somewhere. There’s definitely a less than perfect order to the whole.

While I do prefer less clutter on the whole, I took a moment to appreciate these shelves while shoving my new Drinas in this morning. These are the shelves of people who read books, who dip in and out of interests, who get a thrill from a musty second hand copy and who want to spend more time reading and enjoying the books than keeping them shelved backwards or looking like a rainbow. Sometimes clutter does spark joy, and that’s something to celebrate.

Back To The Barre

One of the most positive things about social media for me has been finding communities that make me feel normal. I’ve found Facebook groups which are as enthusiastic about the Chalet School series as I am, and this has been such a joy over the past few years.

Another hobby I’ve revisited has been ballet. I absolutely adored ballet, as a relatively late starter to classes at age 12. I never missed a class and practiced at home daily, using a chair and mirror in my bedroom. Once I finished college I also finished going to ballet classes and for the life of me now I can’t figure out why. I think it was an assumption that it was time to move on from that phase of my life and that I was too grown up now for what, very, very deep down, I thought other people would think a childish hobby.

When March 2020 meant the temporary closure of my gym, I looked to YouTube for ideas to keep body and mind together. I realised a whole world of options for exercise was available at the click of a mouse, and zeroed in on ballet classes. I dipped in and out, depending on whether I had the headspace for it at the time. I didn’t have any ballet shoes or leotard, and like the practice sessions of my youth a chair served as my barre.

A few weeks ago, when my daughter needed character shoes for her Grade 2 ballet classes I decided to add ballet shoes in my size to the order, along with a leotard and tights. I set myself a goal of a 30 minute class once a day and with a few exceptions I’ve stuck to this. And so, as a reward, I treated myself to a barre. It arrived yesterday, I did my first class with it this morning and I’m in love. It has been €90 well spent and it has sparked so much joy.

So this is about me and my barre, but its also about embracing what truly makes you happy, and realising that sometimes what made your heart sing at 12 is exactly what’ll make it sing nearly 30 years later. And not giving a damn about whether anyone thinks you’re too old, or not good enough. If you love it, and doing it never feels like a chore, embrace it, or re-embrace it. Its a very good feeling.

Tiny Sparks of Joy

All the Lego. We managed to consolidate it recently so at least its all in the same place.

Bailey’s coffee on a Saturday afternoon after all the jobs and running around is done.

The new world of antigen tests we live in now. And not seeing two lines on any of them.

Christmas adverts on television.

A white A4 page that’s so full of stickers and happiness it makes me smile every time.

The best weekend in a long time…

We didn’t make huge plans for this weekend, and I had completely forgotten it was a bank holiday, but it turned out to be one of those random weekends that was perfect. We had booked in for the flu vaccine with a local pharmacy, and when there found out the kids could be vaccinated too, which was a huge bonus. Cycling there and back was the icing on the cake-we don’t take the bikes out nearly as much as we should.

We had the loveliest date night at home on Saturday, complete with a local beer and (not pictured) our very favourite wine. We’d had a couple of weeks where we weren’t able to do our usual date night, so this was very, very welcome. Sunday was spent with family-everyone being vaccinated means more family time, something we have not had enough of over the past 18 months. Doing all the meal prep the day before meant it was a lovely, easy afternoon.

On Monday we made plans to go to the Botanic Gardens. Me and the Mini Orchids hadn’t been there since the summer and himself for about a year so a visit was long overdue. Despite the big greenhouses still being closed, we had a great morning. My insistence on getting up and out the door early was richly validated when we got there 15 minutes after opening and most of the carpark was full. The pumpkin display was a big hit.

There was a lot of Lego play, the trains came out, the tent ended up back in the playroom and SO MUCH ART. Eldest Orchid took out her granddad’s art supplies to tackle a canvas she’s been working on since the summer. She was inspired by her trip to the Botanic Gardens and I am always in awe of her confidence when wielding a brush and a palette, something I hope she never loses.

Tiny Sparks of Joy

For the first time in several weeks we got the bikes out and cycled to the library. I collected the very latest Sally Rooney book, thanks to the amazing online library system, and I’m really enjoying it.

The kids did a lot of Lego this weekend, including a Covid self portrait complete with mask. I love how much they love Lego, and that they’re using some Lego that’s nearly as old as I am.

Eldest Orchid had a birthday party to attend. Instead of sitting in a cafe scrolling I went for a walk along the seafront and enjoyed the views.

I reread an old favourite while Himself watched the rubgy. My idea of a good Friday evening.

I had two hours to myself on Friday morning and did a long overdue overhaul of the dining and sitting rooms. The sheer bliss of clearing out the crap, rearranging the things I want to keep and sitting down to a clean and tidy dinner and after dinner glass of wine. It felt like redecorating without the hassle.

Tiny Sparks of Weekend Joy

We had a busy weekend of birthdays, food, cycling (having no car thanks to a breakdown has its upsides). Middle Orchid is eight, and we were able to have an outdoor party with friends under glorious sunny skies in the local park. Then we were able to enjoy an impromptu picnic afterwards thanks to the food trucks that have reappeared.

There was also the usual tidying and catching up on jobs. The playroom, despite my regular State of the Union addresses to the Mini Orchids, cajoling, rants and decluttering all too regularly descends into chaos so that, once again, had to be put to rights.

Tiny Sparks of Holiday Joy

We had a glorious two weeks off work. A night away just for us in Brooklodge, complete with a delicious meal in the Strawberry Tree restaurant. The hot tub outside was also a big highlight.

We then had five days en famille in Galway. There was a lot of ice cream, swimming, paddling in the sea under very sunny skies, mini projects from the Mini Orchids and dinners outside. We had been wavering over whether we should go on a holiday and booked a last minute break. It was 100% worth it and we don’t regret spending the money for a second. I don’t think we realised how much we needed to get away until our first dip in the pool the morning after we arrived. It. Was. Bliss.

Now back to the grindstone. The pit of doom that the playroom has descended into is today’s Big Job.

Tiny Sparks of Joy

Finding the loveliest set for the Mini Orchids to help with cooking prep.

A bunch of paper flowers, thanks to Eldest Orchid.

The results of a major playroom declutter and reorganisation, and the happiness of sending things to new homes.

The results of a major wardrobe clearout for Tiny Orchid, and the happiness of sending things to cousins.

An easy, cheerful read. I have a stack of library books to get through and this one really hit the spot.