Monday 14 February 2011

Delight~Full Living

Hello there!

I'm investigating Delight~Full Living today - those simple things or moments that can make our soul feel joy~filled.  It's easy to lose sight of Delight~Full Things in February, when the weather has been cold and dreary for weeks on end, and we feel as if the warmer weather might never arrive.  A succulent way of living is very necessary at this time of year and to me, this is all about happy feelings and finding pleasure in the ordinary. 

I'm going to share some of my ways of Delight~Full Living with you - read on!


 I like to fill my home with colour and my wool stash is a very pleasant corner of our home - the sight of all those colours make me smile and feel oddly satisfied deep down.  Wool to me is about comfort, about creating something snug and wearable or pretty and colourful for my little house and the people in it.


I have a very pretty rose polka dot oil cloth on my table now which is just the lovliest thing and sets off that Cornish Ware jug and happy yellow daffodils a treat!  This oil cloth is from Dunelm Mill.  It's very good and practically identical to the Cath one but at a fraction of the price.  Would you be able to tell the difference? 

Good stuff - delicious discovery, happy colourful mealtimes and pennies saved too!!



When the weather is fine, we take advantage of the sunny cold days and go outdoors.


Get yourself out in nature, listen to bird song...  


...look for new buds and shoots appearing in secret places...


...and discover new paths and magical rocks...



Have you any idea just how good for the soul fresh air and sunshine is?  Of course you have!!  Turn your mobile phone off, stuff it in your pocket and forget about it, take some good deep breaths and I'm sure you will catch the scent of spring in the breeze.

And of course, when you come home you could always bake something warm and tasty to eat!  Baking is one of my weaknesses that I indulge these days as a special treat - but eating something special once in a while enhances the pleasure of the moment for me!




There is nothing I like more than settling in a comfy armchair (or in bed) with a good book.  Book cases are magical places for me.  I'm an avid bookworm and absolutely adore the worlds that can open up within the pages of a book.  Here is my favourite bookcase - not just books on there if you look, but inspiring art cards, candle holders, vases and crystals which delight me each time I see them all together there!  Book heaven!



And you know that painting is also a very delight~filling obsession of mine...



Which reminds me - I have just released a new range of individual greetings cards which you can now find on my website.  I've been planning to do this for a while and I am so happy that it's all come together at last!  Creating is a very succulent pass time indeed and makes me feel marvellous.  If I don't do it, I feel strangely empty and detached.  


Good sea air, the sound of gulls, colourful fishing boats, crystal water on ochre sand...it's a tonic and an inspiration for me.  There is something about the coast the makes me feel intensley happy and content.




Whilst it's a little cold and too far to visit at the moment, I do like to order the odd brochure to look through of an evening and plan for a little holiday in the summer.  It is a grand feeling indeed to put the date on the calendar and count down the weeks and days until your departure!

And that brings me to camping *happy sigh* - camping is a random, fabulous and exciting thing that me and my family discovered last year for the very first time (well, since girl guide camp anyhow).  And already we are planning several jaunts, with summer weekends in Norfolk and Northumberland on the cards (fingers crossed).


 Well - if you've got this far, I'm impressed - it turned out to be a bit of a longer post than I first envisaged and I can think of many, many more things I could write about but for now I'm calling it a day.

I'd love to hear how you live in a Delight~Filling way, will you share with me?


Thanks for dropping in today, sending you bright pink hyacinths for your bedside table, hot chocolate and birdsong...


Love Julia x x x

31 comments:

  1. Lovely post Julia! My fave picture is the first. The wool looks fab altogether like that x

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  2. Dear Julia, I feel that we were seperated at birth (and by a couple of decades too!). I love the way you keep including a photo of a tent to get me all giddy! We have a couple of hols booked already and we will slot weekends in as often as possible. xxxxx

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  3. What a delightful post Julia, really like the stripy bag in your first picture :)

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  4. Lovely post Julia. I actually had one of those moments today despite the horrid weather outdoors...I made your delightful heart bunting from some really brightly coloured cotton I had. That really cheered me up. It is for my new great niece, who was born on Saturday! Thanks so much for the pattern x

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  5. Hi Julia

    I adore your 'Delight - full living' and having a peek around your home too.

    It's so good to have such a positive outlook.

    take care,

    Nina xxx

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  6. A very refreshing blog - enjoying the pictures greatly.

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  7. What a delight-full post, Julia! The things you delight in are very much the same ones I do too! I get so much pleasure from art and design, making things, and the fabrics, wool etc that go with that, and I love books and gardens and the seaside.I feel lucky that I get so much enjoyment from these things! I love all the pictures you put in this post, especially the wool basket and the NEW seaside painting!! Have a great week. Helen x

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  8. I am increasingly delighted by making really simple activities special, lifting them out of the ordinary. A beautifully brewed cup of tea or coffee, in lovely cups, carefully made, mindfully enjoyed - so much better than scarfing endless cups of instant coffee as I did in my twenties. Mindful is the word I think, being in the moment, savouring experiences however simple. It is really enriching my life.

    Embracing creativity as a silversmith and flower-grower has been key to this I think, when you are open to being artistic you look at things more carefully, mindfully, looking at their potential for beauty. At least that is what I am finding...

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  9. This is a delight-filling post!!! I don't think there will be any holidays for me this year but I can dream! Your blanket is the loveliest of colours and I think I need to get a wool basket together like you have too! I adore bookcases crammed with books (especially the crafty kinds. Baking keeps me sane and gradually reclaiming the garden back with newly potted primulas. All these things are delight-filling for me. x

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  10. Oh oh! You are making me drool again. Longing for the sea and haven't been camping for about 4 years and desperate to go. Little boy is a tearaway though so not sure he will be ready this year. Lovely, fluffy, colour filled post and I am off to Dunelm soon as. xx

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  11. I love all those things too Julia1
    Especially the being by the sea, I'm lucky cos I live literally 5 minutes from it! If I want to recharge, unwind or just think a bit I head towards the water. nothing is more delight~full!

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  12. Your basket of colourful wool looks scrumptious, so pretty all together! I had a lovely walk out today too, fresh and cold but bright and sunny, felt so nice to get out for a bit, blow away those cobwebs! hehe, I also like to take nice long hot baths and read my favourite books (over and over again) to relax, such simple things but I look forward to having the time to enjoy them! xxx p.s thanks for the stamp info:)

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  13. i have been so bad at visiting people lately. i've been child minding which leaves me happy but exhausted.
    but just had to drop by to wish you sweet friend a happy Valentine's xxx

    warmest hugs

    millie

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  14. This post is why I find blogs and other bloggers delight-full! Some posts are mini autobiographies and they are my favourite types of books too. A little insight into your soul.

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  15. Ah, you've just covered the things that most delight me! It really is about enjoying the little things.

    I like to ride with my hubby along the river path near us. I love the peace of the water, the dappled shadows and the reflections in the water.

    Your post made me long for the sea again! I, too, long for stiff breezes, the crashing symphony of waves and the feeling of SPACE that only comes from the sea. I wish I lived nearer!!

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  16. Julia
    I did read right through to the end and that filled me with a delight full start to my morning - now off house hunting so I need to start with a smile!!
    Jillx

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  17. I was filled with delight reading your lovely post Julia. I do love your corner of the house with your wool stash too and can relate to that satisfied feeling when you look upon it (I am like that with my fabrics and paints).

    Jacky xox

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  18. Oh I love your delightful things, spirit renewing indeed. I delight in colour, baking, outdoors and books too but I do need to be reminded in these grey days to step back and enjoy these things. Of course one of my other great delights is sitting down with a cup of coffee and feasting on blogs like yours. A lovely colour filled post like this lifts the mood wonderfully.

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  19. Lovely post Julia. So many things we have to be grateful for, often over-looked or forgotten, so it's good to remind ourselves.
    Bookcases fill me with pleasure too.... there are four filled with my own books of all genres in my workroom, plus seven in the quiet room of my husbands collection as well as 'our' non-fiction books. I also have several bookcases in my workroom filled with craft books, crafts, fabrics, wools, teddy bears, magazines... all things that make me smile, so I am always happy when I come in here.
    Scrummy cake too,by the way!

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  20. Gosh Julia, lovely post! Your positivity has shone through blog land over to me! Just what I needed! The grey days and housefull of lurgy have dampened my spirits a little so this post was a GREAT pick me up! Thank you!!!!!!!!

    Much Love

    Vanessa xxxxxxxxxx

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  21. Hello Julia!
    I also love yarns, crochet, snuggle in the sofa with my family to watch a good movie, have loads of books at home and read them, go for walks, have a tea and a cookie, buy flowers, be with lovely friends and family and share moments, travel to different countries and explore their culture and people, art (not practising but looking at it).... the simple things in life, really. I still haven't tried camping.... may have to give that a go sometime! Lovely post, Pati x

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  22. Thank you Julia - wonderful story with beautiful photos!
    My hands are freezing, coffee is ready in the coffee machine...more blogging...mostly I like to sew during this cold time - it's also more warm in my sewing room! Armchair with the knitting under a blanket is also great place!
    xxx Teje

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  23. Your blanket in the first photo is beautiful! I just love all of the colours. Did you make it yourself?

    Visit my blog - www.sewrayme.co.uk

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  24. Hi Julia , this is such a lovely post. All these simple things make me happy too ( except the painting...I've never mastered this)
    I love my fairly modest life , cos the best things in life are free, or relativly cheap !!
    We are planning camping in Norfolk again this year ...had a great time at Kelling Heath .
    Jacquie x

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  25. Loving all those delightful things you are doing! I to love reading (craft books and mags), anything crafty makes my heart fill with glee and as for cakes, well I love anything sweet. I love sparkly crystals too, really must buy a big one to hang in the window.

    I hope you have many more gleeful winter moments to keep that winter feeling at bay :-) x

    Oohh i have the green version of that table cloth from Dunelm! i think I now need the pink or cream one as the kiddies have nearly wrecked mine :-) Good job it was a cheaper than Cath Kidston one.

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  26. What a wonderful post! Everything good in life there - the beautiful crochet and full basket of wool, such yummy colour - I can relate to everything delight-full there, love the pretty tablecloth and crocher mat, the books etc..... well, maybe not the camping although a part of me would adore that if the reality weren't a reluctant husband and an even more reluctant teenager!! But in my dreams it would be perfect!
    Thankyou for such a lovely spirit lifting post on this wet evening!
    Gill

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  27. Crochet with Raymond15 February 2011 at 19:55

    What a lovely post to read Julia! I have to say, it will get warmer, as down here at the bottom of the planet, it is getting cooler, so I can vouch that warmth is on it's way to you! My rainbow harvesting system is starting up again and it only creates rainbows in winter, so the sun is moving!!!
    Yesterday I was thinking about gratitude when I was laying on the mat after a yoga session and I felt gratitude flow through me for the first time in far too long, I had forgotten what it felt like which made me feel sad, as gratitude was always the feeling I lived with.... so I decided that I needed to begin a diary of grateful things each day because we do need to cultivate these feelings, so I loved reading your very timely post! Have a lovely week XXXXX

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  28. Yummy! Love it all - the wool stash, the daffodils, buttercream icing, bookcases filled with interesting books, and being out and about in the wonderful outdoor world we are lucky to have here in the UK.

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  29. What an absolutely gorgeous post Julia! It's so uplifting to read about what gives you delight. It's a seriously welcome boost on a Februray day.

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  30. Hey Julia, thank you so much for your lovely comment on creJJtion! You make me blush... and I think this post of yours is amazing, I love the crochet, the outdoor and the cupcake! Seems like a perfect combination to me, haha.
    Have a great day,
    love Maaike

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