Wheeeeeee! There it goes! The mouse soars into the air, catapulted by the delicate white cat’s paw. As it hovers in mid-air before its descent to earth, the cat’s ears prick to one side and she jumps, flipping the poor dead creature onto the mat before pouncing, grabbing it in her mouth and tossing it into the air once more. The mouse — or perhaps, looking more closely, a vole, judging by the size of it — was thankfully long dead before she began cavorting with her breakfast. Clearly no one...

(Inspired by a conversation between Julia Ferenbacher and James Crews) This is enough: birds singing, frogs croaking, little grebes skittering across the pond, wind chimes tinkling in the breeze. Yes, the breeze soft against my skin, is enough. As is the smell of freshly cut hay, the nodding heads of flowers shyly opening to this new day. They sway in the gentle wind which wraps around us, as we reach out our needy arms for comfort and recognition, as it whispers, this is enough and so too...

I have permission to be lazy, to be late, to be untidy; not thoughtless, but not bound to please everyone all the time either. I have permission to cross things off my to-do list without doing them, perhaps tear up the list entirely, so I can luxuriate in some creativity: painting, pottering, writing this blog whilst the lunch time washing up languishes in the sink! I have permission not to wash my hair; to wear a hat instead. To forgo making the bed, to allow things to slide, as I toss my...