Day 26.

Saturday. 26th July 2025.

This chess set. If you take the checker board off the box it also houses a domino set, a checkers set, a set of cards and backgammon. Most weekends the chess set sits on the kitchen table in between Michael and Lil playing a game or three. It always makes me smile when I see it, remembering a very little Liliana sitting up in her pram, chatting away and patiently waiting for me as we chose the chess set for a Father’s Day present for Michael. My theory behind the present was with so many games in one box, the games would be age and stage appropriate at different times. We started with the cards, there was Go Fish and Snap, then more complicated card games followed. Once checkers was mastered it became speed checkers (you are only allowed three seconds to make a move), I don’t think they’ve gotten around to playing Backgammon but Michael and Lil have been playing chess since Lil was six.

Day 27.

Sunday. 27th July 2025.

In the nearly sixteen years that we have lived at Fairy Wren Cottage, we can not recall so many warm, sunny Winter days. Sitting on the garden bench this afternoon, I watched the sunlight filter through the long green branches, catching on the little blue flowers, they almost glowed. It was lovely to see some bees out and buzzing about.

~

A Moment in the Day Series.

This will be my third year.
Midwinter and I’m craving the everyday beauty that isn’t in your face like Springtime blossom, the abundance in the garden during Summer, or the golden light in Autumn.
For me, this time of year is all about looking for the little treasures. The beauty is still there, it’s about taking the time to see it. Hone your senses to take notice, it is so easy to get swept up in the day to day and feeling flat with everything going on in the world.
The cool air on your cheek. Grey skies become all the colours of silver. The tiniest snowbells catch your eye as you walk through the garden gate. Watching Apricot the Buff Orpington hen drinking; in those moments it is like a lesson in mindfulness.
In 2023 it was for the month of May, in 2024 my first day of the series was on the 5th July, and for 2025 I started on the 1st July.

Will you join me? Whether it is recording a photo on Insta, writing about it when you journal, or maybe it is taking a mental note when you notice the everyday beautiful moments around you.

I’ll be sharing my Moment on Instagram and in a blog post.
A moment captured during the day, calming, peaceful, that captures my heart.
A moment in the day, uplifting, something positive, as we are deep into the colder months of Winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sending Love from the Garden,

Jude x