Today's micro-joy Speaking to a supplier in Cornwall. I do love a West Country accent. 🫖🥧🍓🍨 #mentalhealth #blessings #dailyblessings

Sunday and Monday.... Micro-joys have been the pup splashing in the paddling pool, and meeting a delightful couple who are renovating her grand-parents' home to make it theirs. #blessings #gratitude #mentalhealth

Yesterday's micro joys included strawberries. So 🍓 Many 🍓 Strawberries 🍓 #gratitude #blessings #dailyblessings #mentalhealth

Friday's good thing? Turning a bad situation round by claiming one of my super-powers! Go, it has to be said, me. #blessings #dailyblessings #mentalhealth #gratitude

I have thought for a while that part of the problem the English have is no single, clear, national identity. Scots' cultural iconography (kilts, bagpipes, thistles, etc) is really familiar, even if most of it is 19thC, and they embrace their immigrants, making Sikh tartans, etc. 1)

So Thursday's micro-joy Picking up a fabulously framed picture. Getting the mount and frame Just Right is one of my delights. Proof positive that if I can over-think a thing, I will. But at least it pleases me. #blessings #dailyblessings #gratitude #mentalhealth

Wednesday's micro joy? Clean sheets after a bath. I love the dogs very much, but oh boy, between them and Lighthouse Hubby, the bed gets GRITTY. #dogcytocin #dogsofbluesky #mentalhealth #dailyblessings #gratitude

The lack of daily postings was a good sign. The fact I need to start them again... not so much. (Looking at you, #EHRC & #UKGOV) So back to micro joys. Yesterday's good thing ---- how clean and shiny my kitchen is after much cleaning and many shinings. #dailyblessings #gratitude #mentalhealth

Monday to Friday, then..... I spent pretty much all day everyday comparing Marxist and Postmodernist approaches to history. My brain is fried, but the assignment is done. 🤯 1/3 #schoolsout #history #historians #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oo8...

So... Thursday to Monday. (You can tell that the days are lighter and longer because I am skipping this as a daily practice). Nuggets of pleasure have included: 🌑the shiny round bounciness of a gym ball, like a planet in the living room #mentalhealth #blessings #gratitude #mindfulness 1/2

Good things about Wednesday. The house is full of daffodils and narcissi. #spring #flowers #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude

Five days since my last daily update. Ho. And as you might say, Hum. Lovely days, which included cousins, family, friends, wine, chili, dogs & board games. I am however very tired, so I'll have a bath and listen to a podcast. Photo of free range eggs for no good reason. #countingblessings

Monday and Tuesday The weather was lovely. Sunshine makes SUCH a difference. They also featured some rather good soup, vino verdhe (which is insanely good value), much laughter, and daft dogs. A random photo of Orkney for no particular reason #mentalhealth #minfulness #gratitude

1. Sunny days with little wind 2. Baths 3. Living somewhere so flat, I can look straight ahead and see the sky 4. Dogxytocin

Sunday was a bit shit, hence no update on Saturday. But it did involve bumping into some friends and having a quick blether. Saturday's good thing.... well I can't really remember that far ago. Which is why this needs to be a daily practice! #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude #dailyblessings

Friday's good things. Eating in company. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude PS - Google REALLY needs an "exclude AI" option in its search tools

Thursday's good things. Hot-water bottles. Because I got rather cold during the day. [I asked google for a painting of a child holding a hot-water bottle, and it gave me this rather disturbing image. Different times. Different times.] #mentalhealth #mindfulness #earlymodernart

Tuesday's good things A productive meeting with a lovely co-volunteer. And truly excellent home made shortbread. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude #scotland #shortbread

I am gently pleased that the combination of Getting Rid of Stuff and Getting Storage for Stuff is finally making a perceptible difference. We temporarily have three Rooms of Doom, not the previous two (or targetted one). But that is partly because some of the Stuff is waiting to be taken away.

Monday's good things. Lovely weather. And these gorgeous daffodils which Lighthouse Hubby grew in the Lighthouse Garden. Half a century ago, my grandfather planted an entire trench of daffodil and narcissi, so I love them and think of him every #spring. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude

Saturday ---- Catching up with our next door neighbours over a bottle or three of wine. #mentalhealth #countingblessings

Oh, and another absolute treat yesterday was listening to a guy cleaning the next room, singing Neil Young to himself. An absolute treat. ☮️🕊️✌️ So glad I remembered it today. This is the value of the daily practice ---- it pulls happy memories forward, and helps me remember them. #gratitude

Good Friday - Good things today included the cat, sarcasm, and dying some slightly stained towels a rather gorgeous yellow by adding a teaspoon of orange dye to the yellow. I really like dying fabric. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude #dailyblessings #countingblessings

Oh, and I posted my patch for the @transunityquilt.bsky.social organised by @transactualuk.bsky.social yesterday. I am annoyed that I overshot the margin in one corner, but life is imperfect, right? #translivesmatter #transequality #transrightsarehumanrights

Thursday had many good moments. I am enjoying reviewing the day to remember them. I found Oyster Mushrooms with a yellow-label reduction in Tesco. I can never quite bring myself to buy them full price, but they'll be a treat in a creamy pasta sauce. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude

Wednesday's good thing. Reducing the Piles of Stuff in the Room of Doom. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #declutter #decluttering #tidying

I thought I’d already signed a section 28 petition but I clicked the link to check and it turned out I hadn’t. This is so important, both to own and atone for the historical harms inflicted on LGBTQ+ people by successive governments, but also to draw parallels with current anti-trans legislation.

Yes. This. I felt very nostalgic for Old NASA. And very worried for New NASA.

Tuesday had some frustrating moments - but what day doesn't? I am however pleased that we now have three usable bedrooms in the house. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #countingblessings #achingmuscles #hotbath #bathsalts

So, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday - which is a sign that my mental health is better than it was. But still, a daily practice is a daily practice. So 🧵 Friday - I painted my @transunityquilt.bsky.social organised by @transactualuk.bsky.social #translivesmatter #translives #mentalhealth 1

Thursday's good thing.... The highlight was a cosy evening with Lighthouse Hubby, watching CrapTV™, him doing his emails, me knitting. We followed this with good conversation, and boardgames. Domestic evenings like this are rare for us, and I value them. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #gratitude

Our lodger works for the NHS. They do shifts. They have a cold. So Wednesday's spark of joy was buying Night Nurse for the night nurse. 🤧🥄👨‍⚕️⚕️ #mentalhealth #physicalhealth #mindfulness #nhs #supportthenhs

Tuesday's good thing? I cleaned & I cleaned & I cleaned. Ye gods, the muck in the house that I cleaned! I comfort myself that some houses are harder to clean than others. And old ones, with dogs, are harder than new ones with no animals. If cleanliness is next to godliness, I am now a saint!

Tuesday's good thing --- The new lighthouse keeper came round & coped with the dogs. Looking for today's picture brought me a list of Medieval dogs' names. I particularly like Rowte-Owte, Brayneles & Beste-of-all, so today's pic is Jake, the best dog ever. www.medievalists.net/2024/11/dog-...

I am getting tired of how ChatGPT writes things --- in half ideas that don't really connect. Three word paragraphs. Fragments. No linking words --- just em-dashes. Is this how we think now? No coherence? Just units of meaningless? An interference pattern --- The endless scroll? #FuckAI

Sunday's pleasure was making good progress stitching together the panels of the jumper I have spent (ahem) a year knitting. Hopefully done today! Yesterday also include good craik, and some excellent biscuits. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #dailyblessings #countingblessings #ablessingaday

Saturday's good thing - Getting a vast amount of Stuff to the tip and the charity shop. My mojo is coming back. It's pleasing but a little disconcerting too! #mentalhealth #mindfulness #ablessingaday #dailyblessings #countingblessings

Thursday's good things - Having a lovely catch-up and blether with a neighbour. Friday's - Driving for hours in the sunshine listening to The Rest is History about Boswell and Johnson. Of course our scenery isn't bad either. #mentalhealth #dailyblessings #countingblessings #mindfulness

Wednesday's good thing was the laughter when two friends came round to help me de-flat-pack a new bed. Who am I kidding? They did 90% of it. My days of scrabbling around on the floor are almost over. I did provide soup, though. I can cook! #mentalhealth #mindfulness #dailyblessings

Tuesday --- I thoroughly enjoyed Seven Dials on Netflix. (And I am now an instant fan of Mia McKenna-Bruce) But my favourite TV genre is posh people killing each other. History too, as traditionally taught, is much the same thing. #mentalhealth #mindlfulness www.netflix.com/gb/title/813...

So Saturday, Sunday & Monday... I put petrol in our diesel car on Sunday, so that's fun. But blessings in the last 3 days have been 🌞sunshine (I do not take it for granted after the brutal weather in Jan & Feb) 🫂supportive friends ⌛having time to sort out the mess #mentalhealth #mindfulness

So having read the thing, Fukuyama's argument is that history is the playing out of a Darwinian struggle of ideologies, and that liberal democracy has won that struggle. It's a very specific definition of history. If it's not about forms of government and governance, it isn't history. Hmmmm. 🧵1

Did you know there is a word for visible sheets of rain falling from clouds? Wikipedia call them "precipitation shafts", but the other word is "virga". I first saw them here, where clean air & a low horizon make them a regular sight These were Friday's #blessing. #mentalhealth #mindfulness

Undated, unsigned painting depicting... well, something. 1700s.

Finally reading Fukuyama's article "The End of History". I thought the phrase naïve bollocks at the time, & that was before 9/11, the resurgence of China, & the kleptocracies in Russia & now the West. How anyone could reach such a senior position without reading Ozymandias is beyond me. 1

Feeling very 'meh' today. Probably because I would be having a migraine if it weren't for triptans. No pain, but a very low mood. Wednesday's good thing was Lighthouse Hubby's response when I told him I was prodromal. He very gently said "I know". 🫶 And today's is probably sumatriptan.

3 good things, none of which are the cessation of a negative. My kick-ass, vegan, pea and "sham" soup. (The secret ingredient is Lighthouse Hubby's home-made seitan). The comforting feel & smell of my dog's fur. Being able to bung dirty clothes into a machine & have them come out clean & fresh.

Monday's good thing..... Bright sunshine again - never underestimate the effect of the weather on mood. Eating a bit less, and not thinking much about it. #mentalhealth #ablessingaday #dailyblessings #mindfulness

Because who doesn't love a dog that looks like a bear, and a ruined castle overlooking the sea? #dogsofbluesky

Sunday's pleasures included the crisp, fresh taste of Vinho Verde. #mentalhealth #mindfulness #ablessingaday #countingblessings #cheers #drinkresponsibly