Sunday evenings do come around quickly don’t they. Just 5 minutes ago it was Friday night with the prospect of the whole weekend ahead. Because seems to pass so quickly, I find it increasingly helpful on a Sunday evening to reflect on the week just gone before planning for the week ahead! Even those weeks which have felt a bit less controlled or busier than I would have liked are always peppered with moments of joy and reasons to be grateful.
I think the nature of this week and especially today, armistice day and the 100th year anniversary of the 1st World War has made it an especially reflective time. Listening to reports of atrocities of that terrible time and realising again what we have today because of others sacrifices has made it especially important to appreciate the joys large and small this week.
These are some of my joyful highlights from this week
Continued Colours of Autumn
The colours of autumn / winter remain spectacular. The light is golden and pavements are carpeted in leaves or burnished bronze and rusty red. I love being outside in the fresh air and had a particularly lovely walk around Osterley Gardens today. Osterley is a National Trust property not too far from our home, so its always a favourite place for a Sunday afternoon stroll. Today it was looking glorious in the late afternoon sunshine.
Wendy Cope at Richmond Literature Festival
By chance, just the week before I happened to read that Wendy Cope, was going to be reading from her newest collection of poetry ‘Anecdotal Evidence’. I love Wendy’s poetry and have often written about her or featured her poems on Changing Pages. It was a lovely evening, she read not only from her new collection but from previous ones too. I really enjoyed the Q&A at the end, she was open and honest and answered all questions fully and with the dry humour you might expect. I was even brave enough to ask a question myself!
The Tower of London Remembrance flames.
We braved the queues earlier in the week to see this powerful installation. The flames representing not only the lost but also the bereaved, with the music the images projected onto the castle walls made this very moving indeed. 
Wishing you week of joys big and small X
