Ten things that delight 2 year old Eva

1. Sweeping. Collecting the broom from behind the fridge, she pushes it around the kitchen, paying particular attention under the furniture, in the hidden corners of floor that her slatternly mother neglects. Conscientious concentration all over her face. One shouldn't imagine the floor is cleaner after her passage, but it's a start.
2. The dog. Stealing her sticks, finding her new ones, sitting on her, patting her furry shoulders, upturning her water bowl. The dog enjoys her attentions with benign resignation.
3. Cars. Circumnavigating them, her hand caressing the bumper, body, radiator, at shoulder level, radiant and filthy. Albeit a potentially hazardous hobby.
4. Tops. On pens, jars, bottles, boxes... the joy of prizing them off only to replace them with unsteady determination.
5. Puddles. The irresistible call of standing water, detected by some inexplicable and innate sense. Rational judgement (“am I wearing boots?”) will be a long time coming.
6. The wheelbarrow. Her first rides around the garden with Papa were observed with anxious consternation by Mother, but her evident delight and insistence in climbing back on at all available opportunities has quelled my prudence.
7. Flies. Her face lights up at their sudden appearance and she attempts to follow their erratic path. Yesterday she had her first up close encounter with a spider, her observation quickly led to reaching hands and wanting to touch, at which my initial encouragement waned abruptly.
8. Crocheted objects, the size of a child's cardigan or bigger. Preferably handmade, but not by me (my pitiful attempts have been rejected). When an appropriately woolly comforter is not to hand, a jumper, tea towel, sheet or passing scarf can temporarily substitute.
9. Cuddles. Big hugs accompanied by her pats on the back, usually in thanks for a clean nappy. Possibly because this is the best angle for seeing herself in the bathroom mirror, as self-admiration is another favourite activity.
10. Bare feet in sand. Although perhaps this pleasure is universal.

Wild flowers I saw today

Meadow Vetchling / Gesse des prés

With half an hour before bath time and my camera at the ready, I hoped to find 10 wild flowers...

Vetch / Coronille varié

Cow Parsley with bug / Cerfeuil sauvage

Bladder campion / Silene enflé

Common Dogwood / Cornouiller sanguin

Cow Parsley with stripey bugs

Greater stitchwort / Stellaire holostée

Buttercup / Bouton d'Or

Herb Robert / Herbe à Robert

Bluebell and speedwell /
Jacinthe des bois et véronique des champs

Clover / Trèfle

Daisies / Pâquerettes 

Dog Rose / Églantier

Crosswort / Gaillet croisette

Forget-me-nots / myosotis

Elderflower / Sureau

Bramble / Ronce

Colewort or St Benedict's Herb / Herbe de St Benoit

Post bloom Colewort

Red bryony / Bryone

Ox Eye Daisy / Marguerite

Tomorrow's Ox Eye Daisy / Marguerite

 ... after 20 minutes the battery ran out on my camera and my "ten thing" theme had been thrown to the wind. Who would have thought we had 'meadow vetchling' growing in our lane?

Ten Signs of Spring

1. The geese are migrating back North again. The thrill of their graceful formations and throaty communications has not yet worn off. I suspect it never will. 
2. Buds. Everywhere.  The peach trees are laden with promise. 
3. Flowers and new vivid colour. Daffodils, snowdrops, violets, daisies, dandelions, speedwell... all reaching their grateful heads up to the sun in the garden today.
4. Lunch outside for the first time this year. 
5. An unexpected motivation to scrub things, sweep the front step, bring lightness and freshness to long fusty rooms. 
6. Dazzle. The all pervading sun glare that makes you wonder how you hadn't seen the cobwebs above the front door before. 
7. Forgetting layers of garments and not regretting them. 
8. Hope. It comes with the thaw. Problems seem more surmountable as the season turns, or at least it seems worth the effort of trying. 
9. The dawn chorus. I swear I did not hear those birds all winter, but for the squawking crow. They are full voiced with joy now. 
10. Daylight. The days are lengthening, the Earth is rolling on and we are being carried into an easier, balmier time. 

Ten things that lift the spirits

1. Looking up and smiling. I think there is a physiological reaction to these two simple gestures that makes the heart light and the temple smooth.
2. The right music. Elizabeth Mitchell “I’m so glad I’m here…” when I question the wisdom of motherhood. Joni Mitchell “I wish I had a river…” when life is just too much. Beautifully sad melodies for when you’ve forgotten there can be beauty in sadness.
3. Trees and thinking about the oxygen they bring us. The bigger and more majestic the tree, the better. This is useful for passing exams too (as my A-level results testify).
4. Books. Some good old-fashioned escapism.
5. Honesty and frankness in thorny situations. The short term effect is often explosive, but the long-term benefits merit the upheaval.
6. Attention to small details. 5 minutes watching ants in their travails gives you illuminating perspective on your own petty burdens.
7. Chocolate. Not fancy pistachio creams or mango delights, just hearty slabs of the dark stuff.
8. A cup of tea in bed in the morning. It’s the upside of being woken at 5am by the baby when she drifts back into sleep leaving me wide-eyed and seeking recompense. About as decadent as life gets for me these days.
9. Dancing. I’m a great believer in dance therapy, silliness and breathlessness a must. Elvis, salsa, Incubus, Kate Bush… I’m a musical turncoat.
10. Finding silver linings and putting trust in them. 

Ten New Year’s Resolutions

1. Get more organised. It is unacceptable to put all mail in a big box of chaos, which is then moved to a bigger cupboard of greater chaos, and left to fester.
2. Send more things through the post. I put off the sending of the letter because it is not long, interesting or thoughtful enough, whilst knowing that it is better to receive a short missive than no missive at all.
3. Cultivate my inner calm.
4. Avoid saying things in arguments that I will later regret. 
5. I am sometimes accused of being self-righteous, which is hurtful. I dislike self-righteousness and seek to avoid it.
6. Walk the dog every single day and forgive her for smelling so appalling.
7. Stand up straighter and try not to frown so much.
8. Pay more attention to the sky and what is happening in it (helps with number 3).
9. Take more interest in and responsibility for the garden and what grows there.
10. See the good in people. 

Ten Joys of Christmas

1. Opening the box of Christmas decorations. Familiar, tacky, cherished objects. Love our idiosyncratic fairy lights that flash in a complex and unfathomable rhythm.
2. The satisfaction of surveying a pile of freshly wrapped gifts (yet to be savoured this year).
3. Carol singing. An endless supply of songs in the shower and beyond. I catch myself humming We Three Kings in July and have to stop up the festive flow.  Late November, it all comes flooding out.
4. Finding the right gift (also a source of significant anxiety).
5. Observing children’s reactions.
6. ‘Twas the Night before Christmas’ – read by my Dad.
7. Believing in the magic.
8. Feeling around with your toe for the weight of a stocking on the end of the bed. Just the memory of that feeling sustains me now.
9. Chocolate and clementines for breakfast.
10. Feeling like you could be in another century as you stamp along in the frost and hail  passersby with a jolly ‘Merry Christmas’. 

Ten new steps up the learning curve

At 14 months:

1. Undoing the catches to open the sawdust bin by the compost toilet. Fortunately, the excitement of plunging tiny hands into fresh sawdust is enough to elicit telltale shrieks.
2. Super speed rush for the open kitchen door, head down, all limbs go. Mission: get up to your elbows in the dog’s water bowl.  
3. Closing doors. Awkward moments when she’s in, pushing the door closed, and I’m out, trying to enter.
4. Taking the pieces out of a puzzle. No interest whatsoever in putting it together yet, but one step at a time.
5. Dancing. The beginnings of a bob and sway when the music is on and increased vocalisation, singing along? 
6. Intonation. So much feeling and expression into so few syllables, incomprehensible but fascinating.
7. The sounds ka, ga (with a throaty roll) and a snake-style sssssssss across the tongue to express distain and vexation.
8. Getting small foodstuffs from table to hand to mouth, such as chick peas. It is however much more entertaining to mangle food and throw it on the floor, so progress is tardy.
9. A few extra inches have brought the kitchen table within reach. All items found less than 6 inches from the edge will be cast to the floor, the greater the ensuing reaction, the better.
10. Standing unaided. Holding a chair, with an item requiring two hands for thorough inspection. Let go, teeter for a few brief but triumphant moments, and sit. We’ll get there.