Sounds of Love

Tim left me to put my feet up yesterday evening, and I picked up my knitting. I watched him through the window, and he had such a peaceful, happy look on his face as he watered the new planting in our woodland raised flower bed. The rooks have been leaving their food in our bird bath to soften it, and Tim cleaned it out and refilled it for them and all their feathered friends. The sound of the water was comforting.

The sunshine has been out in force over the last few days, and our days are peppered with the distant sounds of lawn mowers, children playing, pressure washers and the ice cream van.

Tim had a steam-up with his roller last Sunday, and the sound drew one of our neighbours over. He stood over the funnel, breathing in the unique smell of coal, oil and steam, and my goodness, his smile was wide. We all had a lovely natter and catch-up. Tim put an old bench out under our Acer tree, and I sat in the dappled shade watching him run his steam roller, whilst keeping him supplied with mugs of tea.

I love the sound of Tim blowing his roller’s whistle, and I took a video of him steaming her in and out of the running shed. A happy man. The sound of her ticking over as she cools down was comforting, as I sat in the workshop later painting some cards.

I hung some washing out this week, and a blackbird was singing her heart out.

Discovering a wonderful collection of tracks on YouTube as I created a ceremony this week was another comfort, and I was grateful for the music and the kind soul who compiled the video.

I found this poem by Donna Ashworth and felt drawn to share it here.

Letting Fear Flow Through

By Donna Ashworth

When it seems we are being dragged

from one traumatic period

straight into another

remember

we know what to do.

We keep the fear at arm’s length

because we know that letting it in

past its rightful place is debilitating.

We keep the hope high

and the kindness higher

and we go about our daily lives

in the simplest most basic of ways

being grateful for what matters

and letting happiness in when it shows up.

There is little we can do to control the world

but we can control our reaction to it

and we can remember

that everything is temporary

and anything can change in a heartbeat.

So if peace is your aim

then be the peace you seek.

When there is no peace to be found

you can bring it

you can be it.

Postscript – I have decided to remove my paywall on Substack, so every post, audio and written, and the eBooks on my ‘stack’, are free and available to everyone. Doing this has also solved a techie hitch on the subscriber front, as several of you have been unable to leave comments or join in the conversations here. Thank you, Pete Springer, for helping me.

Hopefully, you can all read and listen to each post, leave comments and join in conversations on here. Please let me know if you experience any difficulties.

I will continue to post on Tuesdays and Fridays, and I am so grateful to you all for being here and for all your loving support.

This is the link to this week’s Thoughtful Tuesday audio, ‘Trust Your Instincts.’

My love to you all till next week. 🩷