2022

Hello again…

I last wrote to you in early summer when all was fresh and lovely and pared down. And in the usual way of life, autumn’s beginning finds most everything feeling the opposite. It has taken me days to get this missive started, as I am in the midst of few weeks of feeling very fuzzy and headachy and wobbly. My doctors and I are going with the idea that it is a long flare of the worst of my menopause symptoms, but it makes my days very slow, with an unpleasant layer of worry. I was going to put on a brave face of it to you, but it is better to just be real. So let’s just say I am struggling, but persevering…quietly.

This month would usually find me deep in designing next year’s Daybook, and I am making a small start, but it is slow-going. I am pouring most of my creative energies into Wisteria & Sunshine (my membership haven) and we have much goodness to look forward to this month…

~A reading circle for Circle of Stones (some deep work that I felt in need of after a challenging summer.)

~Monthly make-alongs . October’s will begin next week!

~Some of us are reading A Year to Clear (daily readings) and there will be occasional conversations about it as we delve more deeply into simplicity.

~And this week we will choose a cosy novel to read together for our first real book club.

Company has felt important and needed as we step into the darker months of the year, but it also makes these sorts of pursuits more cheerful and good. So I am weaving togetherness into more of Wisteria & Sunshine than I have before, tho’ it is always optional and our rooms will always be places of peace. If you’ve been tempted to join, now is an especially felicitous time to do so! The picture below my signature will take you to the new sign-up page, which includes a peek inside our doors.

Solitude is essential to me, but I had it in plenty most of the summer, so a low-key sociable season for the beautiful autumn months is my plan. As soon as I feel clear enough, that is. I hope your early autumn days are abundant in the hushed and lovely spirit of the season, and that this finds you well, or soon so.

xo

Lesley

Hello again…

I’ve been quiet through buttercup season…

…and the pink roses, tho’ they will come again…

…but the crown vetch is still here…

…the yarrow and the Queen Anne’s Lace are in full bloom…

…and the milkweed is humming with bees and dappled with butterflies…

It is the most beautiful chapter of summer for us, and a gorgeous setting for slowly easing back into more usual days after my deario’s heart surgery. It all went so well, with a few wobbles here and there in the weeks of recovery so far. Those quiet weeks in late May and early June were spent…

…navigating the world of meds, now happily down to the morning and evening pills in homemade pill boxes…

…watching hours and hours of the French Open…

…hanging out the wash, always…

…and the rest of the pleasant everyday round of weeding and outdoor baths, preparing meals and reading, planting seeds and noticing. Even as I type this, Doug is driving for the first time-on the tractor-mowing some paths so we can walk to the woods again. I kept up with the around the house mowing until he could, but am glad to hand it over. Mowing is tricky when you feel for every flower and so-called-weed in your path. I must say, tho’, the wire grass and dock seed stalks did not call up my sympathy…

You may recall from my last missive that I am taking the summer off from making, and it has been just what my soul was needing and calling for. It has left more spaciousness in my days and tending Wisteria & Sunshine has felt like the perfect amount of work in the summertime. We’ve been focusing on retreating there, each to her own vision of what that means…

I’ve been devoting my retreat hour or two most days to journaling, reading about menopause and well-being, and creating lovely little systems to support me as I lose weight and remember how to flourish, after a long season of not. Pen and paper, pencil and scissors are more in use than usual, so I am a contented woman in those hours…

There has also been lots of talk about books in our haven. One of summer’s most important ingredients, wouldn’t you agree? As for the rest of my days, I am keeping tabs on the world at large, for sure, and there are outings and small gatherings to look forward to as the summer months unfold, but my plan is to keep retreating (in one way or another) all summer long. It has been so nourishing, and seems to be the cure for my muddleness of late.

Upstairs, downstairs (and “in my lady’s chamber” as most of all of our rooms would count as that in our empty nest : ) on the porch and outside, these are all my retreating spots. Fortuitously, as I was finishing up with several of my retreating books and listenings, a new offering landed in my inbox from the lovely women who have taught me how to create my digital planners and been a wise support for creating online. Daily inner and outer decluttering and journaling in a very pretty container. I’m grateful to add this to my own tools and glad to let Michelle and Aimee guide my path to flourishing for awhile. It will make the coming summery weeks all the more restful.

I’ll leave a link below if you might be interested in joining me. And I’ll leave you-for now-with my heartfelt wishes that this summer bring you refreshment and renewal, if you are in need of it…and delight in abundance.

xo

Lesley

Click to learn more!

This is an affiliate link, which is something new. I know it might seem a little strange from me, but I am learning to not be hesitant about sharing goodness and allowing some to come back to me. If this isn’t your cup of tea, but you are interested in creating your own retreat this summer, I will gladly welcome you in the doors of Wisteria & Sunshine where we will keep a summery, creative approach to retreating in the months to come.