Tea-friendly activities

a kitchen moment

 anticipating Julian Barnes's new book

An eventful week usually requires a subsequent uneventful week for me, with mellow activities that can be accompanied by tea-drinking*. I have been catching up on reading books, papers, magazines and online articles. In terms of physical activity, I am doing my best to keep up the (lifelong?!) exercises for my knees, which has also led me back to doing more yoga and meditation again. This is good news for me and those around me. I am trying to practise mindful speech and limit complaining and other negative utterances, and it is not always easy, but when I manage it, I feel so much more at peace.

Today I finished the work I am submitting for the Rock Trust Postcard Art Exhibition in Edinburgh. I made mini versions of two recent paintings. I tend to work in fairly standard sizes most of the time, so when I go much bigger or much smaller, it is always exciting. When printing out scanned images of illustrations last week I got the idea to make a tiny book one day. In my aspirational life I have a big studio with the possibility to work on large canvases and be a sculptor, too. Alas, that might never materialise, so for economical reasons alone I should consider miniature art.

It struck me the other day that I haven't bought or wanted to buy anything other than essentials in months (books count as essentials...). There may have been one or two exceptions, but I cannot think of anything. As a wannabe minimalist I am very pleased by this. I wonder if it were different if I had more money**, but I think it is just a contributing factor. One thing I would like to buy is some new music, so I might treat myself to something this weekend.

*I am in a coffee subsitute (the barley/chicory/rye kind) and Moroccan tea phase at the moment, along with the usual green and jasmine green tea.

** I do love clothes.