A Romanticised Week 💖
Romanticising is about noticing the beauty around you. It’s not about making huge changes to your life but observing the smaller moments.
Romanticising your life means seeing your life in a positive and idealised light. It involves appreciating the beauty and wonder of everyday life, focusing on the positive aspects and finding joy and meaning in life’s challenges.
Romanticising is the art of enjoying where you are at and appreciating beauty and significance in the everyday. Romanticising your life allows you to embrace changes, learn new things, and helps you grow into yourself - Midlife Rambler
Hello my friend.
A very warm welcome to A Simple Living Journal where we chat about all things slow, simple and seasonal living. I love that you are here.
This is a long one today so grab yourself a cuppa, come in and make yourself comfortable.
In April the lovely
and collaborated on a romanticised week and their story inspired me to do the same.You can read about Emily and Victoria’s romanticised weeks here -
I have a very positive outlook by nature but that happy persona slips by the wayside occasionally when I get drawn into the drama and negativity of everyday life. It’s inevitable sometimes, conflicts at work, worry about family concerns and news events.
Issues that are unavoidable at times but if one didn’t have these worries and life was always easy we would start to take the positive aspects of daily life for granted. They would no longer feel special, but rather the norm and would sadly go un-noticed.
Romanticising teaches us to continually look for the good and the beautiful every day moments.
So on that note here is my week romanticised 💖.
Sunday 18th May
Waking naturally as daylight peaks behind the curtains is definitely the best way to wake on a Sunday morning. I opened the curtains to let the light pour into our bedroom whilst Anthony went downstairs to feed our black panther Thomas and make us a hot drink. I love nothing more than a strong cup of Yorkshire tea first thing. That first cup is always the best one of the day, right? I love our drink in bed at the weekends, a slow start whilst talking about our plans for the day. It’s the perfect way to begin.
After breakfast we paid our weekly visit to the local farm shop where we chose our fruit and vegetables for the week and refilled the milk bottles. It’s always lovely to wander around the shop too as they sell some great local produce.
Back at home, accompanied by another cup of tea, I set up my laptop in our little garden shed, aka my new outdoor office for a few hours of Substack catch up and planning my next newsletters. I am intending to renovate the shed to make it a nice and cosy space where I can write during the warmer spring and summer months. My office upstairs is perfect on cooler days but gets very warm in the afternoon as it faces due west. Set up in the garden means a constant flow of fresh air and surrounded by the sounds of nature.
Sunday evenings are relaxed. Generally made up of an easy meal whilst catching up with our favourite YouTubers Cecilia Blomdahl, Camper Vibe and Early Retirement Wanderlust followed by a quick kitchen tidy up and prepare for Monday.
As I start work at 6am I have to be up at 4.30am, so I headed up to bed at 8pm. I usually read for a short while to quieten my mind before dropping off to sleep. I am currently reading the last in the Borrow a Bookshop series which I’ve absolutely loved.
Monday 19th May
I always start the day with a quick shower but today I took my time, letting the warm jet from the shower massage my head and body whilst I practiced some focussed deep breathing exercises.
Refreshed and ready to start the day I dried off and got dressed. Thomas was sitting patiently at the top of the stairs reminding me to feed him - as if I could forget!
With Thomas fed and watered and my food prepared for the day I drove to work via my usual route, a quiet main road. I chose to drive a little slower today enabling me to notice little snippets of nature en-route.
My working days generally follow the same routine, with a start time of 6am and a finish at 2pm. My work is such that the daily tasks are usually the same, with a fairly solid structure, broken up with regular cups of tea through-out. We have a kettle in our office now so it adds a touch of luxury to the day instead of using the vending machine in the canteen at the far end of the building.
Monday and Wednesdays I routinely visit my mum and dad after work. Finishing at 2pm affords me the blessing of time to spend with my parents. As my mum has late stage dementia, she is bed bound, non verbal and now sleeps a lot of the time. On the rare occasion mum is awake I will be found at her bedside where we watch whatever is on tv together, normally an antiques programme or a garden makeover. Most of my visits though are spent chatting with my dad sharing a cup of tea or two with a biscuit and doing any tasks that dad needs me to do.
Afterwards I headed home. Home is just a couple of miles from my parents house along a country road and over a canal bridge where a barge can often be spotted moored up. It’s a short but pleasant trip.
As I reversed onto my drive I spotted Thomas, eagerly awaiting my arrival so I could supply his next meal. After I’d satisfied Thomas’ demands of food and cuddles I got on with the task of preparing tonight’s dinner. I usually play some music in the kitchen so I picked a mellow playlist from my phone and blue-toothed it to a speaker. I love listening to music as I work in the kitchen. It makes the tasks so much more enjoyable.
Anthony gets home around 6pm so our evenings together are relatively short due to my early nights and early starts, but we have a couple of hours together where we sit down to a nice meal by candlelight and then occasionally watch something on YouTube or Netflix if anything catches our eye. Sometimes though we read.
Then it’s the normal bedtime routine before sleep beckons.
Tuesday 20th May
This morning I chose to take a potter around our garden before leaving for work. It’s a small garden, but none the less there is plenty to see. A wildlife pond with frogs in and lots of plants to check on, with the added bonus of the dawn chorus that never fails to delight the senses.
I headed straight home after work today, enjoying a scenic drive with lush fields on my left and letting in the warmth of the gorgeous sunshine through the open window.
I treated myself to the most delicious and welcoming ice-cream when I arrived home, cookies and cream, whilst sat in the garden watching the frogs in the pond. We have two youngsters in there right now, so cute to see.
My lovely friend and neighbour popped round for a cuppa and catch-up this afternoon. We took our drinks outside and sat at the table in the middle of the lawn, surrounded by a plethora of stunning colour from the growing plants and shrubs. My black panther joined us, showing off with his favourite toy, a tennis ball.
I had a couple of hours free before beginning the dinner preparation so I opened up my garden office to do some “daily pages”. Just like morning pages from The Artists Way but as I rarely find time in the morning, I do them whenever I find small pockets of time in the afternoon or evening. It seems more appropriate to call them daily pages now.
After a candlelit dinner we sat down to watch the Chelsea Flower Show. There’s very little on regular TV that we enjoy but we make an exception for the annual flower show. It’s always a pleasure to see the gardens and the flowers through the screen and listening to the sound of Monty’s dulcet tones of course 😍.
Wednesday 21st May
Today began in much the same way as yesterday, with a wander around the garden to say hello to the new day. I’ve only started doing this tiny ritual this week but I am finding it to be a wonderful way to start the day. Normally my first sense of the outside world is the first few steps from the front door to the car. But on taking those few deep breaths in the garden I feel more grounded and in tune with the waking day. I feel more invigorated too.
On my journey home from work today I noticed some beautiful daisies in their hundreds by the roadside. I hadn’t spotted them before but it was a joy to see them today. I will look out for them every day now.
On today’s visit to my parents there was the most delicious piece of chocolate chip shortbread to accompany the cuppa. Truly scrumptious and probably the best shortbread I’ve tasted outside of Scotland!
Back at home with the little black panther fed, fussed and watered I spent a few minutes taking in the late afternoon air in the garden before working on my daily pages and latest blog. I really love working in the outdoor space. It’s a tiny room but it’s cosy. I’ll talk in more detail on this in a future publication when the room is fully renovated.
Thursday 22nd May
Thursdays are the new Fridays for me, as I am reminded every week by one of my colleagues as I walk through the warehouse to my office. “It’s your Friday today!” he says, to which I reply “yep!” with the biggest smile. Every week, without fail!
Driving home I say hello to the daises I spotted yesterday.
As we are reminded in the gorgeous film You’ve Got Mail.
Kathleen Kelly: I love daisies.
Joe Fox: You told me.
Kathleen Kelly: They're so friendly. Don't you think they are the friendliest flower?
They are indeed! I can’t believe I hadn’t seen the daisies before. Perhaps because I am intentionally more aware of my surroundings this week?
Thursday afternoons I usually try and do a few of my household tasks to free up time over the weekend. Tasks like clothes washing, kitchen reset etc. If it’s an especially nice day I hang the washing out on the line to dry. I love the smell of outdoor dried washing, don’t you.
While the washing machine was doing it’s thing, I poured myself a nice iced coffee. Aldi do a gorgeous iced cappuccino coffee and it’s so refreshing.
With my coffee in hand I headed out to the garden office again to work on my Substack publication for an hour or so. Even though it’s daylight I still light a candle. I also do a few minutes of focussed breathing as part of my pre-writing ritual.
Thursday evenings are relaxed. Anthony and I chat about our week whilst we eat dinner at the table with candle light and sometimes accompanied by a glass of wine.
There are normally a couple of YouTube vlogs that come out on Thursdays, so we like to catch up with those and just generally relax.
Friday 23rd May
Today I woke naturally to the sound of the dawn chorus. Looking at the clock it was only around 4.45am, but when I discovered on my phone weather app that the sun was due to rise at 4.55 I decided to get up and go outside to witness nature’s awakening.
Stepping outside in my dressing gown and slippers a cooling breeze blew across my face. I settled on the arbour seat to watch as the glow of the sun rose higher and higher, casting a beautiful amber light across the garden. I stared, mesmerised for a few minutes until the sun appeared in its full glory to welcome another new day.
I watched the sunrise for a few minutes more before going back inside to make a drink to take back to bed to read for a while.
Making the most of the gorgeous sunny morning I took myself out to the garden office to work on my newsletter and prepare it for publication. There is something special about writing outside. Something to do with the sounds of nature in the background. The breeze whipping through the trees, the babbling trickle of water from the pond fountain, birds singing, bees buzzing. So wonderfully inspiring.
How about you?
Treating ourselves to a delicious ice-cream in the afternoon is always the best. With the sound of trickling water from the fountain running in the pond and the sun beating down on our faces it was a perfect “late spring” afternoon.
Every few weeks I get together with my best friend. We alternate between whose house we visit and tonight it was my turn to go to her house. We have a nourishing dinner and pudding whilst catching up with all of our stories and events from the past few weeks.
As we both enjoy being outside in our gardens we spend a bit of time wandering around admiring the variety of plants and flowers.
My friends garden is a tale of two halves. By day it is a plethora of delicious colour and by night the garden comes to life with an enchanting collection of solar lights. Stepping into the darkened garden feels like stepping into a fairy garden. From toadstools and frogs to fireworks and lanterns. A magical transformation as daylight wanes and darkness descends.
Saturday 24th May
We had an early start today as I wanted to work on my outdoor garden office renovation. I had emptied the shed yesterday so a blank canvas awaited. I spent most of the morning painting the inside and once it finished drying, with Ant’s help cutting the boards, I fitted the laminate flooring. The existing shelves were also removed, sanded down and painted by Ant.
A welcome break of an iced coffee sat on the arbour watching over the pond. We spotted some tadpoles for the first time this year, just a few, but so exciting to see some at last.
On the return home from my visit to mum and dads I was overcome with tiredness so for once I listened to my body and treated myself to the luxury of an afternoon snooze on the recliner chair, basking in the warmth of the sun streaming through the front window.
Revitalised after my snooze we prepared and ate dinner, and later on I switched the laptop on to give my newsletter a final proof read and edit before setting it to publish.
I adored romanticising my week. Nothing major changed except my perception. Just the simple act of noticing the tiny details and appreciating life shed a whole new light on living. I loved every minute and now I intend to take romance with me wherever I go.
Create a life where even the smallest and most mundane things are beautiful, exciting and new. By doing this, you are creating days to look forward to.
How about you, how can you add a little romance into your life? Here are some simple ideas to try. I urge you to give it a go some time, you’ll love it!
Start treating every morning tea or coffee as the best you’ve ever had.
Every ice-cream you eat this summer, treat it as the most delicious ice-cream you have ever tasted.
Each flower you see, think of it as the prettiest one you have seen.
Wear your best clothes.
Buy yourself flowers.
Treat yourself to healthy beautiful foods.
Light a candle whilst having your dinner, even if you are eating alone.
Make yourself a playlist of your favourite tunes and listen to them often.
Have a self care day just for you.
Fill your space with some house plants.
Some you may have missed -
You may not know this but I started my declutter series in March. A month by month gentle process of clearing our homes and minds. Decluttering became an integral part of how my life has slowed down and simplified. I would love you to join us on this journey of discovery.
Slow and Gentle Decluttering
Until next time.
Debbie xx
p.s. Happy Birthday Dad, I know you’ll be reading this today.
Check out my bookmarks on Etsy here
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Just lovely Debbie, and I'm so so happy to have been able to inspire this challenge alongside Victoria... Your week was really beautiful with so many wonderful moments and thoughts. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I feel like having this intentional romanticising week may have to become a more regular practice! 🙏✨💕
What a lovely post! 🥰 I often think of that You've Got Mail quote when I see daisies now too.
Thank you for mentioning the YouTube channels - I'm going to have a look at the Wanderlust one. It looks really interesting and a new one on me.
I loved Emily and Victoria's post too, and I think I really need to give it a go myself. 🥰