Slow Sunday, ordinary things to slow the mind, & sunshine.

A bundle of recipes

Warm words

I’m watching Saturday morning ordinary beginnings as people wander along the street, slowly. Pushchairs moving, hands and feet waving from within, toddlers jumping and parents with shopping lists running through their minds.

The baker has a long queue outside and a table in the street where children sit painting biscuits with icing. Further along fruit-stacked trestles, vegetables tumbling out of brown sacks onto wooden shelves. A butchers, a hardware store, locally made pasta, craft shop, and chocolatier; all lining up along uneven pavements. And, the smell of pizzas and coffee.

Charlie, in the coffee shop, chats away with the same warmth as the sun and decides to only charge me half the price, because we share sunshine. Outside a dog slurps water from a metal bowl.

It’s our May open street day and I’m sitting by the therapy rooms, talking to people about the things I do. The sun is full out shining down on my face, a rich beautiful warm treat. Blue skies; I love you.

Two people walk past with a slow gait, styled as if for a magazine, both freshly tanned from, probably Thailand. In their own bubble they weave their way up this street, straight and slowly drinking in the sun as if still on the beach. Through the pushchairs and toddlers, mums and dads, seemingly unseen. Two different worlds side by side, weaving, but not touching.

This ordinary Saturday morning of end of week routines, glides, peacefully; unwinding under sunshine blue skies with warmth on faces, and to the sound of a guitar, playing the morning into afternoon, as surges of humanity gently meander along our street.

I get asked to hold the guitar. I know a Spanish scale and two chords that sound like Spain so I mess around with these. Passersby look fondly at me, smile, thinking I am just getting underway. The other people sitting with me laugh, knowing that my getting underway is the show, and I, bask in my few minutes of pretending to be another person, who amazes people with their incredibly passionate guitar playing and brings joy to peoples faces, on this blue-skied sun filled, perfect day.

I haven’t had time to be creative with food this week and make photographs, so I thought I would post a link to a post I put out this time last year, with the above recipes.

News

My new website is live, in case you are interested here is a link. I have changed the heading image to this substack to one that matches my website.

I will be putting out another Ayurveda ‘short’ on Wednesday. These are 2 minute reads introducing Ayurveda and you can find them all on the Ayurveda page – found in the menu.

Small beginnings

Here is the beginning of a new fall-asleep story for kids.

Toby rolled out from under the duvet onto soft rugged floor. Everyone still asleep except Toby who made his pyjammered way out into the garden, to see if the seeds he had planted yesterday had come up. It was a half light, the sun not risen yet, but Toby knew that soon it would because the birds had started to sing in, beginnings of a new day. Fresh and full of happy promises. Toby stepped through the garden, his three foot body a happy bundle of expectation.

When he reached the seed bed, what he found was the rich dark velvet brown earth he had planted into yesterday. He sat down on the ground, looking at it. No signs of plants yet. Toby frowned, and peered, then smiled. A worm wriggled close by, two snails were dancing in spirals. And, just behind where he had planted the seeds was a ladybird climbing up a stalk of grass.

To his right Toby could hear water trickling from a small fountain, where two little birds sat washing their feathers in the pond. He sat too, still and silent in this earthy watery world until the sun started to rise. Then he went back inside for breakfast, collected balls and rackets with his mum and went to the park.

Tobys day, was filled with warm and happy things. Ordinary things, like meeting up with friends in the park, chasing a dog, eating sandwiches under trees full of squirrels and running in all directions, before flopping into a giggling bundle to enjoy ice creams and ice lollies for cooling summer days.

Every time he arrived home, Toby checked to see if his seeds were growing. One day some tiny little leaves on stalks started to poke through the ground. Toby watched these brand new beginnings with all his might, every day up before the sun to see how much they had grown. And, at night just before bed, he took his torch and looked again. These, were the first things Toby had ever grown…

Joy dots

Blue skies

Warm days

Birds in trees

Smell of coffee

Generosity

Humanity

Sunshine on skin

Sharing laughter

Being yourself

Friendship

Ordinary things

Bees on blossom

Wishing you the warmest,

Lucy x