surprise in the post

Tags

friends, German goodies, goodies, parcel, photo, photography, post, surprise, tea

My Mondays are often filled with organizing and preparing but yesterday my usual trudge was interrupted by a knock on the door. Outside stood the postman with  parcel in his arms – a shoe box filled with goodies just for me.

Unable to hold my curiosity I abandoned all of my tasks and unpacked the parcel at once. Inside were boxes of my favourite fruity teas – a must at this time of year. Bags of licorice, some chocolates, those fizzy mineral thingies I love and a fold-up shopping bag quoting Cinderella.

My good Friend C has just come back from a trip to Germany and she was my postal fairy godmother. Not only did I feel much loved and very special that she took the time to pack me a parcel but I am thrilled how well she knows what I like.

And while I know delayed gratification is meant to be good for you I decided to not wait and indulged in a cup of tea and a treat before I went back to my desk. The perfect way to interrupt the day and an even better way to start the week!

German goodies just for me

the win is in the bag

Tags

camera bag, competitions, feeling lucky, leather camera bag, online competitions, photography, winning, winning competitions

Over the past year or so I have been taking part in online competitions, maybe one a week if I come across it and always in the hope I’ll win a few Euros. Sadly I haven’t been overly successful as of yet – no spa breaks or big ticket prizes have come my way so far. But I have won a pair of cinema tickets (I was hoping for a trip that time) and enjoyed a night out with a friend and last week I won even bigger: a leather camera bag.

I was hoping to win the €5,000 prize but I am absolutely delighted I won the bag. Now my camera and lenses (it fits just about two) will be nestled in soft luxury while I carry them around with me. I can just about slide my iPad into the back and  the little front pocket is just big enough my purse, my glasses a pen and notebook. Now I can’t wait to go on a little trip and try my new camera bag out so maybe I’ll board a train sometime this month and go on an adventure.

But now I’ve bagged a win I definitely won’t be giving up those competitions anytime soon – and hopefully I’ll win a  trip or a few Euros if I keep trying.

 

a beautiful leather camera bag

forgetting and remembering

Tags

doorway effect, doorways, forgetting, memory, photo, photography, psychology, remembering, tea

This morning I found myself standing in my tiny kitchen and not quite knowing why. Somehow since walking through the door from my little home office into the kitchen I had completely forgotten what had made me leave my desk in the first place.

As I retraced my steps I notice my empty cup and remembered I wanted to put the kettle on and I couldn’t help but think about how odd it was I had forgotten about it in the first place. But then I remembered an article I had read about how walking through doors makes you forget and had to smile, after all I had walked through four doors on my way to the shop, seven if you count the return.

Most of us have experienced standing in a room and trying to figure out why we went in there in the first place, we struggle to remember and mostly we can’t, , but nearly always we ask ourselves: “how could I have forgotten?”

The simple answer would be, we just weren’t really paying attention to what we were doing but the more ‘scientisty’ one is a phenomenon know as the “doorway effect“. Studies have shown that we remember things better if the setting we are in stays the same, this means that as soon as we stand up from our desk and leave the room we just can’t remember that we wanted to make a cup of tea because we changed our environment. The reason behind this is that our brain seems to optimizes certain kinds of memories to keep they “ready”, but then purges these memories when it believes they have expired, to make room for new ones. These kinds of memories are called “event models” and when you walk through a door you are changing venues, making your brain think that what ever happened in the old room is now no longer immediately important and it gets rid of the information. It’s a bit like that stack of papers you keep on your desk, you can’t have everything there as you’d never find the computer otherwise so every now and then you have to file away some stuff to make room for the more urgent paperwork at hand.

Of course it doesn’t have to be  a door that signals your brain it can purge the event models, walking up stairs, answering the phone, even finishing the task at hand can make you forget what you were doing or wanted to do next.

So the next time your standing in the kitchen staring into the fridge, don’t worry you don’t have early onset Alzheimer, you just purged your memory on the way there and maybe if you look  beside the kettle you’ll see a cup of tea waiting for that drop of milk.

the door to my ‘little home office’

early rising and sunshine

Tags

alarm, early rising, getting up, mornings, sleep, sleep cycle, stages of sleep, sunshine

It is so much easier to get up when you are woken by sunny skies. This morning the sun tickled my nose before the alarm went off and I enjoyed a few minutes stretching in bed.

Being woken in this gentle way is not only much better for us but seems to be the way nature intended it to be. Loud ringing, buzzing or screeching alarms are not only really annoying they are also not good for us as they often interrupt us during our deep sleep and REM phases. Since our bodies are designed to wake up in our light phases of sleep, either before or after an REM, if we are pulled out of our deep sleep we feel groggy and tired. It also means that we start the day with or bodies already feeling stressed.

There are actually five stages of sleep in a cycle, and each sleep cycle is about 90 minutes long. The first two stages are considered light , the next two (three and four) are deep and the final stage is REM ((rapid eye movement), in which you dream. It is fine when you are woken up out of the first two stages of sleep, you feel rested and  good – that is why short naps work – but once you are pulled out of one of the last three stages it’s a different story. You will feel more tempted to press the snooze button and long for more time in bed.

That is why it is always better to allow your body to wake up naturally – even if it is early – you will feel more rested for the rest of the day and you won’t feel drained or stressed before you’ve had your breakfast. And of course everything is better when the sun is shining!

time disappearing

Tags

disappering time, Dr Seuss, losing time, photography, photos, thoughts, time

Somehow today has been off – not sure why or what to do about it. Somehow time is just running out and I still haven’t gotten anything done. And it all started so well: I got up early, made myself some breakfast, had a cup of tea and then it happened – time disappeared.

I swear I have no idea where it went, nor how I lost it, but one minute I had hours stretching ahead of me ready to be filled and then suddenly, with no warning or indication whatsoever, time was gone and I had nothing to show for it. And the worst thing about it is that you can’t get lost time back – it just is gone for good.

Maybe I should just except that for some reason I have stepped into a timeless vortex and concentrate of getting out of it again. After all with so many things crowding my desk and deadlines looming I can’t afford a lost minute let alone hours. So while I keep pondering the question Dr Seuss asked before me – ‘How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon’ – I better get my butt into gear and be on time to lecture.

fragile time

cups and breaks

Tags

breaks, cappucino, cups, herbal, photography, photos, tea

Sometimes I think my life is measured by cups – a large cup of tea in the morning, another (smaller) cup once I arrive in the office, maybe a third if the morning is tough, then I switch over to herbal, or if the kitchen only has lemon flavored green tea I’ll have that, as the afternoon creeps on I may allow myself a cup of cappuccino, a small pick-me-up to keep me going, and then of course those cups of tea at home in the evening – since I am trying to be good only herbal or fruit (or is I can source it liquorice, mmh), then of course there is the thermos of hot fruit tea I carry around with me in my portable office – my trusty satchel bag – the lid is the cup and I sip from while in college (both as a MfA student and as a lecturer).

So many cups punctuate my day, so many tiny breaks to just take a breath before I move on. Those moments of –pause – that it takes to lift, sip and swallow (sometimes with a brief closing of eyes) are vital to me, not only for reasons of hydration.

Maybe measuring my day, life, in cups isn’t so strange after all – the beverage of choice often reflexes my mood or my need and the breaks they give me help me navigate though my day.

afternoon break – a well deserved cup of cappuccino to keep me going

getting ready for 2016

Tags

2015, 2016, calendars, Moleskin, Moleskin weekly notebook, pefect gift, planning, planning ahead, stationary

With only one month left in 2015 I decide to take some time out of my morning and prepare my calendars for 2016. I don’t like mobile calendars, I find a paper and pen version much more reliable and quicker to use – crossing out and filling in only takes seconds and no electricity or internet is needed.

I always have two calendars, one  I carry around with me and one on my desk and I rely heavily on them to plan my time. A few years a ago I discovered the Moleskin weekly notebook and I have to say it is the perfect calendar for me, the left hand side is a weekly overview and the right page is left blank for notes, the perfect combination.

Since Moleskin isn’t cheap I was delighted that my wonderful siblings & Co. bought me the weekly notebook for my birthday – a beautiful and practical gift (and yes I know it is a little bit sad how excited I can get over stationary).

As I filled in important birthdays and appointments I was amazed to find how much I already have planed for the coming year. But somehow having my calendars ready and prepared makes me feel 2016 can come and I am looking forward what kind of adventures and surprises if may bring.

syncing up my dates – who knew I already had so much planned next year

the perfect day to stay inside

Tags

christmas, photography, photos, rain, rainy days, shopping

I was woken up by the pitter-patter of big fat raindrops hitting against my bedroom window and it hasn’t stopped raining all day. That gives me the perfect excuse to just stay put and enjoy my own company for a while. After all I do have a whole stack of reading to do, a few corrections to tackle and lots of words still to write.

But somehow the lure of an antiques market a short drive away is pulling me out into the autumn windy wet that has taken over the world outside of my front door. So with my Christmas list in my pocket (it is only a few weeks away now) I think I will brave the rain and make  a dash for my car.

And who knows maybe this perfect day to stay inside will turn out to be the prefect day to find some treasures, and if not, at the very least I know I’ll have earned a perfect cup of tea when I get back.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Treat

Tags

halloween, halloween treats, treat, treats, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Treat

After a week filled with family and friends my days have now turned back too normality. And since I have so much work to do for my masters it’s about time, after all all those words aren’t going to write themselves.

But just because I have to knuckle down and get work done doesn’t mean that I won’t be prepared for the witches and ghouls who’ll come a knocking tonight. In preparation for the nightly visitors I have filled a bowl with TREATS, in the hope to avoid all the tricks.

trip to the fruit-market

Tags

cooking, crafts, Dublin, fruit, fruit and veg, jam, knitting

Today, my Swiss neigbour/friend and I decided that we would go down to Dublin’s fruit & veg market and get some yummy produce to make jam from.

We left this morning, perhaps a little late (my neighbour that they open at 5am and I though she knew something I don’t) but we were still in time to get a tray of plums, some blueberries, lemons and beans.

So, while my friend gets first pick of the crop I have been trying to find some good recipes online. And since my funds will be very low this year (my masters will be taking all of my euros) I have been thinking of turning the wholesale fruit into edible Christmas gifts.

Now my evening is planned and I am excited to get cooking. But for now I will tackle my to-do list and hurry the day along. And who knows, maybe it’s even time to pull out my knitting needles too – after all the temperatures are low and it feels like the perfect time to start creating socks.