Moments of Calm: Covid, Comfort Reads and Cross Stitch

The last couple of weeks have been calmer or certainly quieter than I expected, mainly because I caught Covid.  Not something I was expecting, but when the 2 lines appeared on the little test window I wasn’t overly surprised either.  I am grateful that I have gone so long without having caught it. I am grateful it came at a time when the weather was especially  rainy, so that staying in wasn’t difficult, and I am grateful that for the most part I didn’t feel too unwell.  I am also grateful that I was mostly able to continue working from home. I know from working as a hospital nurse during 2020 and 2021 how devastating  covid can be. I remember so clearly the faces of so many who I cared for who sadly lost their lives to it.  Having covid myself was a useful reminder of this and of how much I have to give thanks for.

I quickly found that there was comfort and relief in being in a position where  I couldn’t go out or see people.  Although sad to miss a couple of meet ups with friends, this unexpected time at home felt like a gift.   It was a valuable time to write and read, and reflect and plan without any other interruptions.  I took pleasure in sitting at my desk, lighting a candle, writing in my journal, and losing myself in books. Apart from missing my regular coffee fix from my favourite local coffee shop, I did not yearn to go out.  I felt poorly enough to not mind staying home, but not so poorly I could not enjoy those thing available to me at home which bring  joy.

I had a few gentle days of calm and peacefulness. Life had been quite busy lately and I think I was ready to pause and take a little time to rest and refuel and think about the weeks ahead. I do believe that sometimes our body tells us what we need to do to take care of it.

Comfort Reading

With the arrival of Covid came a need to lose myself in books that would soothe and cosset.  Books I could wrap myself in like a metaphorical blanket.  Having just finished a fascinating memoir by the author Alys Fowler I knew exactly what I needed. I needed to spend some time in the fictional town of Mitford with Father Tim and the cast of characters which make up his cosy parish in North Carolina. If you have not discovered The Mitford Series by Jan Karon and you are a fan of Miss Read, then I highly recommend it.  Bake sales, kindly neighbours, book stores, church suppers and lives lived in faith make up these gentle stories.

Cross Stitch

I’m not a great cross stitcher and certainly not a very proficient one but around about this time of year when the nights are dark and I don’t want to spend every evening in front of the television, my thoughts turn to ‘craft’.  Looking through my craft basket – I use that term in the loosest sense as it sounds much grander than it actually is, I came across a small cross stitch kit I had bought last year and not got around to using.  This week I decided to make a start on it. I have since spent a few simple hours with needle and thread.  There has been much pulling out of lumpy stitches and re stitching a I struggled to make sense of the pattern and then ensure I put my needle through the correct hole to complete another line. Perhaps a timely reminder that life is filled with little lumps and bumps it can be hard to makes sense of, we just need to keep moving forward, one stitch at a time!