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remywrites5 · 5 years ago

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Sirius walked into his first class on his first day on University and was immediately distracted by a very cute boy sitting a few rows down in the lecture hall. He had tawny curls and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. In short, he was fucking adorable and Sirius wanted a reason to speak with him.

“Jamie, do you know that guy?” Sirius asked, pointing him out.

James shook his head. “No idea, mate.”

Sirius sighed wistfully and rested his cheek in his hand, staring at the adorable stranger. As if the guy could sense someone watching him, he turned around and his eyes landed on Sirius. Sirius quickly sat up straight and gave him a friendly wave. A small smile broke out onto the stranger’s face and Sirius couldn’t help but find it lovely. The guy ducked his head down and turned back towards the front.

Sirius spent half the lecture watching his new crush and the other half pretending he wasn’t watching him. He was going to speak to that guy if it was the last thing he did.

***

It had been weeks and Sirius had still not succeeded in speaking to his mystery crush. It seemed like the guy was perpetually late to the lecture, showing up just moments before the class was about to start, or sometimes after it had already started. He also seemed to fly out of there the moment the lecture was done. It made it impossible for Sirius to find time to speak to him or ask him for his number.

It wasn’t until James’ party that Sirius finally got to meet Remus – he had at least managed to learn his name in the proceeding weeks – even though he hadn’t expected Remus to be there. He couldn’t be wholly surprised though seeing as James had invited half the campus to the party. Still it had completely blindsided Sirius to find Remus standing in his living room with a beer in his hand.

Sirius quickly combed his fingers through his hair and walked over. Sirius didn’t normally get nervous around people but he felt something akin to it as he approached Remus. Perhaps it was the length and intensity of his crush that was making his insides do little flips. “Hi, I’m Sirius. I think we have a lecture together.”

Remus bit his bottom lip and shook his head slightly. He brought his hands up and began to say something in sign language that Sirius couldn’t understand.

“Oh shit,” Sirius said, feeling his heart sink a little. He didn’t know any sign language at all. He had finally gotten a chance to speak to Remus and they couldn’t actually communicate with each other. Then Sirius got an idea. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the notes app, starting to type away furiously.

Hi, I’m Sirius. I think we have a lecture together. Sorry I don’t know sign language. He passed the phone over to Remus to read and was pleased when Remus started writing back.

It’s ok. Nice to meet you, Sirius. I’m Remus. I can read lips but I’m not very good at speaking.

Their fingers brushed as Remus based the phone back and Sirius felt a little shiver pass through him just from the thrill of it.

I bet that’s not true but if you’re more comfortable I’m fine speaking like this.

Remus read what Sirius had written and gave a slight nod.

I appreciate it. Thanks.

It’s the getting to speak to you at all that I’m interested in.

Why?

You’re cute.

Remus made a face when he read that and rolled his eyes at Sirius.

You’re ridiculous.

Don’t judge me. I have a thing for freckles. And curls. And guys that are taller than me.

So you’re saying I’m your type?

I’m definitely saying you’re my type. Can I have your number?

I suppose that would be ok.

Maybe a date too while you’re at it?

Are you always this forward?

I figured I might as well go for broke.

Remus chuckled when he read that and the sound of it surprised Sirius just a bit. His laugh was low and raspy and Sirius desperately wanted to hear it again. He smiled up at Remus and raised an eyebrow at him. “Well?” he asked, holding the phone out for an answer.

Remus took the phone back and quickly typed something. He handed the phone to Sirius and then leaned against the wall, taking a sip of his beer. Sirius quickly glanced down to read Remus’ reply.

I programmed my number into your phone and I’m free next Saturday. Text me.

Sirius smiled triumphantly and held the phone against his chest. “I will.”

***

Sirius had spent the entire week leading up to his date with Remus watching every Youtube video he could find on learning BSL. He still was clunky and awkward with his movements but he could sign his own name and a few other things. Although it wasn’t much it felt like a start.

Sirius did his hair and slipped into the well-worn leather jacket he’d had since he was sixteen. He couldn’t help stopping to look at himself in the mirror and make sure he looked good for his first date with Remus. He’d never forgive himself if he looked a mess.

He felt like he had when he’d gotten crushes on guys back in sixth form. Dizzy and light as if he could float away at any moment. He’d never been terribly good at relationships because James was always his priority. But there was something about Remus that made him want to put in a little extra effort, even if that meant learning an entire new language. He had learned French easily enough as a kid. It couldn’t be that difficult to go from being bilingual to trilingual could it?

Sirius quickly texted Remus to let him know he was on his way and grabbed the keys to his bike. It was just a short walk across campus to the housing Remus lived in but Sirius wanted to take his bike. There were only a few more months he could ride it before having to put it in storage for the winter. Besides, he knew he looked cool on the bike and he was aiming to impress.

When he pulled up in front of Remus’ building, he pulled his helmet off and shook his hair out. Remus was already sitting on the steps waiting for him and noticed his little display. He smiled warmly as he descended the steps towards Sirius.

‘Hello’ he signed and Sirius copied him.

Sirius’ hand movements were unsure as he tried to sign to Remus. ‘Hello Remus. You look beautiful.’

Remus blushed and played with one of his curls. ‘You also beautiful.’

Sirius grinned and made a fist, putting his thumb in the bottom and then pulling it out, doing the sign he learned for shit. Remus laughed and Sirius felt his chest puff up with pride at having caused it. He pulled out his phone and quickly shot Remus a text.

So I think I’ve pretty much exhausted all the knowledge I learned off Youtube. Don’t be too disappointed in me.

Remus shook his head and started typing back.

You did well. I can teach you some more if you’d like.

Yes please. Where would you like to go?

On that thing?

What’s wrong with my bike?

Never been on one. Will it be safe?

I’m not in the habit of injuring cute boys on the first date. I’ll be careful.

I’m not sure that was a reassuring as you meant it.

Remus. Look at how beautiful my face is. Do you think I would risk messing it up?

Are you always this humble?

We can walk if you’re that nervous. But I promise you’ll be safe no matter what.

Remus chewed his bottom lip for a moment, shuffling his feet awkwardly. After debating with himself, he brought his phone back up and began typing something. Sirius waited with bated breath to receive the message.

Do you have another helmet?

Sirius grinned and pulled his spare out of his bag, handing it over to Remus. Remus put it on and then swung his leg over the bike, coming to rest behind Sirius. He put his arms around Sirius’ waist to hold onto him and Sirius couldn’t remember a time when he’d been happier.

With no idea where he was going, Sirius kicked off and sped off down the street, making sure not to go too fast for fear of scaring Remus. He had a feeling this was Remus’ first time on a motorcycle and was just being a good sport. Sirius wanted to make sure he had a good time on their date so maybe he would get another one.

He finally pulled up in front of a diner that he and James usually went to on morning they were hungover as fuck. He knew the food was good there and it was more casual. Parking the bike, he let Remus get off first, stumbling slightly on unsure feet. Sirius reached out and steadied him and Remus shot him a grateful smile before doing the sign for ‘thank you’.

When they sat down at the table, they both pulled out their phones so they could talk to each other. Sirius couldn’t wait until he could speak BSL better so they could speak properly to each other. It felt important.

The waitress came over and Remus pointed to what he wanted on the menu so Sirius could order it for him. Sirius got pancakes and sausage since they served breakfast all day while Remus got soup and a sandwich.

Once their menus had been cleared away, Sirius put his hand in the middle of the table palm up. He wiggled his fingers a little in an invitation and Remus blushed slightly before taking his hand.

Difficult to type like this.

Don’t care. Tell me about yourself.

What do you want to know?

What kind of movies do you like?

The kind with subtitles.

Very funny.

Remus chuckled and gave Sirius’ hand a squeeze.

I prefer books. Conan Doyle, Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde. I’m kind of a nerd.

But a very cute nerd.

Please stop making me blush.

I like it when you blush. I’d like to kiss you.

Not here. People will see.

So?

After food. Maybe.

Sirius sat back in the booth and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Remus challengingly. Remus met his gaze with an amused grin on his lips. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him and enjoyed that they were able to communicate non-verbally even after knowing each other for such short a time.

Remus grabbed his phone and texted something quickly, not breaking eye contact with Sirius. Sirius felt his phone buzz on the table and he grabbed it.

I’m not snogging you in public so you can just stop giving me bedroom eyes.

I didn’t actually know I was doing that.

Sure you didn’t.

Maybe those are just my normal eyes.

You’re so full of it.

Remus waited until he had Sirius’ attention and did the sign for shit. Sirius barked out a laugh and found Remus smiling in return. He really was having an amazing time with Remus despite the fact that he couldn’t sign very well. He had thought maybe things would get awkward but they’d found ways to talk to each other and keep up the conversation.

Their food finally came and they ate in a companionable silence. Sirius texted Remus to ask how his food was and Remus assured him it was good. Sirius might have eaten his food a bit quickly because he wanted to get outside and finally get a kiss from Remus. However he couldn’t make Remus eat faster and it was wholly frustrating.

When the check came, Sirius quickly threw down enough notes for the bill and the tip before grabbing Remus’ hand and tugging him outside. He did the sign for kiss, bringing his fingers together and mouthing the word for Remus. It was one of the few he’d made sure to learn before the date. Remus chuckled and shook his head before tugging Sirius forward by his jacket and capturing his lips.

Remus’ lips were soft and Sirius moaned appreciatively at finally getting the kiss he’d been craving since first seeing Remus in the lecture hall weeks ago. He put his arms around Remus’ neck and held onto him, drinking him in greedily. When Remus broke the kiss to finally breathe, Sirius took the opportunity to press kisses to the freckles on the bridge of his nose and the tops of his cheeks. Remus huffed out a breath in amusement as if he knew exactly what Sirius was doing.

Sirius pulled back and swiped his finger across his chin, doing the sign for boyfriend, the other one he’d made sure to learn before the date. He pointed to Remus and then did the sign again. Remus bit his bottom lip and nodded emphatically. Sirius beamed at him and stepped forward back into Remus’ warmth. He closed the distance between them and hugged Remus tightly. He would continue to close the distance until they could talk without phones and without barriers, just the two of them.

#wolfstar #I write things #unprompted #long post #fluff #deaf Remus #BSL #pining #university au #modern setting #getting together #I may have just finished watching the society and Grizz and Sam ruined me

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notebookqueenofnarnia · 6 years ago

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Please enjoy these modern au headcanons I wrote ages ago.

Roughly college-age modern AU for the Pevensies.

Peter

Born: August 5, 1994 (ESFJ)

King at: bowling, rugby, football, lawn darts,

Nurse practitioner; Nurse Anesthetist

Did karate for years and even teaches it at his old dojo when he can

(also teaches his siblings for safety purposes but regrets it after Lucy learns

how to flip him)

Such an old man, doesn't understand a lot of technology or pop culture

Loves converses, has them in half a dozen colors, and they drive everyone crazy

("Middle schoolers wear those, Peter!" "The tenth doctor did too, Susan!"

"That's not a plus, Edmund")

Can juggle (learned for Lucy but does him well as a nurse)

Isn't big on social media, but really likes Instagram

(but tries really hard not to post too much for fear of being a hipster)

Wears lots of hoodies

Susan

Born: September 16, 1995 (ISTJ)

Journalism major- works in Broadcasting

Never swears

Hates PDA

Low-key awesome blogger (fashion and feminism)

Very healthy, loves green smoothies and such, runs and swims almost everyday

Literally coolest person ever

🎵Adele, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran,

Beautiful singer, played violin in high school

Swimming queen

So stylish, always flawlessly and impeccably dressed

Very feminine dresser, with one badass denim jacket covered in feminist pins/

patches

Very good with hair (and her hair is the most extravagant, super long long hair you've ever seen), nails, and make up

Also good at photography; selfie game is on point 👌🏼👌🏼

Very savvy shopper: it's a sport to her

Loves Bath and Body Works

Sews; started so she could alter her clothes to make them more flattering, but ended up learning embroidery

Loves: Gilmore Girls, classic lit, especially Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, and other lady writers

But also loves YA fiction

Hates the man bun

Loves Frozen waaayyy too much (totally feels the ice queen, but also loves the music)

Queen of DIY projects

Hates surprises

Writes and loves poetry

Edmund

Born: October 9, 1997 (INFJ/P)

Lives on tea, literally goes no where without tea, brings tea bags everywhere, drinks like four cups a day, likes all kinds

Sweet toooth 🍫

Liked playing baseball when he was younger, especially since Peter taught him (just don't tell Peter)

Good at and loves photography 📷

🎵Fall Out Boy, Beatles, secretly loves Disney and musicals and sings them when

he's alone

Musical: amazing at piano, but also secretly good at guitar and singing, did drums in high school band

Needs reading glasses but hates them

Has a secret Tumblr, but also is king of Twitter because of his quips

Obsessively determined to beat everyone at Scrabble

Loves history, especially likes funny stories and documentaries (often rants about it)

Like meditation and yoga, but won't tell siblings

Fandoms: Doctor Who, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Sherlock

(Thinks normal super heroes like Captain America and Superman are too self

righteous and perfect)

Likes to think he's amazing at chess, but a Susan can kick his butt (she taught him)

Lucy

Born: May 27, 1999 (ENFP)

Communications Major

Loves horror movies and such

Loves to wear flowers in her hair

Very big on green living

Has really popular Vlog on YouTube

Loves Harry Potter obviously (she also passionately sorts everyone she meets into their houses)

Totally a bisexual babe (and doesn't even "come out" just comes home with her new girlfriend without anyone batting an eyelid)

Buys an unhealthy amount of stuff for from Etsy (for herself and for presents)

Dresses with a lot of Peter Pan collars and flowery jumpers

Artistic: painting, crafts, photos, videos

🎵Shawn amendes, Ariana Grande, Musicals (huge broadway girl, quotes Hamilton for months)

But also had phases with High School Musical, Justin Bieber, and One Direction

Plays guitar, even occasionally on her YouTube

Gets like five piercings on one ear (and secretly has a belly button piercing for a while) much to Peter's dismay

Terrible at domestic stuff, like laundry and cooking

#narnia #narnia au #narnia headcanon #edmund pevensie #peter pevensie #lucy pevensie #susan pevensie #narnia modern au

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itsenougghtokeepmegoing · 6 years ago

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25 Rules For Moms With Daughters

1. Paint her nails. Then let her scratch it off and dirty them up. Teach her to care about her appearance, and then quickly remind her that living and having fun is most important.

2. Let her put on your makeup, even if it means bright-red-smudged lips and streaked-blue eyes. Let her experiment in her attempts to be like you…then let her be herself.

3. Let her be wild. She may want to stay home and read books on the couch, or she may want to hop on the back of a motorcycle-gasp. She may be a homebody or a traveler. She may fall in love with the wrong boy, or meet mr. right at age 5. Try to remember that you were her age once. Everyone makes mistakes, let her make her own.

4. Be present. Be there for her at her Kindergarten performances, her dance recitals, her soccer games…her everyday-little-moments. When she looks through the crowds of people, she will be looking for your smile and pride. Show it to her as often as possible.

5. Encourage her to try on your shoes and play dress-up. If she would rather wear her brother’s superman cape with high heals, allow it. If she wants to wear a tutu or dinosaur costume to the grocery store, why stop her? She needs to decide who she is and be confident in her decision.

6. Teach her to be independent. Show her by example that woman can be strong. Find and follow your own passions. Search for outlets of expression and enjoyment for yourself- not just your husband or children. Define yourself by your own attributes, not by what others expect you to be. Know who you are as a person, and help your daughter find out who she is.

7. Pick flowers with her. Put them in her hair. There is nothing more beautiful than a girl and a flower.

8. Let her get messy. Get messy with her, no matter how much it makes you cringe inside. Splash in the puddles, throw snowballs, make mud pies, finger paint the walls: just let it happen. The most wonderful of memories are often the messy ones.

9. Give her good role models- you being one of them. Introduce her to successful woman- friends, co-workers, doctors, astronauts, or authors. Read to her about influential woman- Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie. Read her the words of inspirational woman- Jane Austen, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson. She should know that anything is possible.

10. Show her affection. Daughters will mimic the compassion of their mother. “I love yous” and Eskimo kisses go a long way.

11. Hold her hand. Whether she is 3 years-old in the parking lot or sixteen years old in the mall, hold on to her always- this will teach her to be confident in herself and proud of her family.

12. Believe in her. It is the moments that she does not believe in herself that she will need you to believe enough for both of you. Whether it is a spelling test in the first grade, a big game or recital, a first date, or the first day of college…remind her of the independent and capable woman you have taught her to be.

13. Tell her how beautiful she is. Whether it is her first day of Kindergarten, immediately after a soccer game where she is grass-stained and sweaty, or her wedding day. She needs your reminders. She needs your pride. She needs your reassurance. She is only human.

14. Love her father. Teach her to love a good man, like him. One who lets her be herself…she is after all wonderful.

15. Make forts with boxes and blankets. Help her to find magic in the ordinary, to imagine, to create and to believe in fairy tales. Someday she will make her 5 by 5 dorm-room her home with magic touches and inspiration. And she will fall in love with a boy and believe him to be Prince Charming.

16. Read to her. Read her Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle. But also remember the power of Sylvia Plath and Robert Frost. Show her the beauty of words on a page and let her see you enjoy them. Words can be simply written and simply spoken, yet can harvest so much meaning. Help her to find their meaning.

17. Teach her how to love- with passion and kisses. Love her passionately. Love her father passionately and her siblings passionately. Express your love. Show her how to love with no restraint. Let her get her heart broken and try again. Let her cry, and gush, giggle and scream. She will love like you love or hate like you hate. So, choose love for both you and her.

18. Encourage her to dance and sing. Dance and sing with her- even if it sounds or looks horrible. Let her wiggle to nursery rhymes. Let her dance on her daddy's feet and spin in your arms. Then later, let her blast noise and headbang in her bedroom with her door shut if she wants. Or karaoke to Tom Petty in the living room if she would rather. Introduce her to the classics- like The Beatles- and listen to her latest favorite- like Taylor Swift. Share the magic of music together, it will bring you closer- or at least create a soundtrack to your life together.

19. Share secrets together. Communicate. Talk. Talk about anything. Let her tell you about boys, friends, school. Listen. Ask questions. Share dreams, hopes, concerns. She is not only your daughter, you are not only her mother. Be her friend too.

20. Teach her manners. Because sometimes you have to be her mother, not just her friend. The world is a happier place when made up of polite words and smiles.

21. Teach her when to stand-up and when to walk away. Whether she has classmates who tease her because of her glasses, or a boyfriend who tells her she is too fat - let her know she does not have to listen. Make sure she knows how to demand respect - she is worthy of it. It does not mean she has to fight back with fists or words, because sometimes you say more with silence. Also make sure she knows which battles are worth fighting. Remind her that some people can be mean and nasty because of jealousy, or other personal reasons. Help her to understand when to shut her mouth and walk-away. Teach her to be the better person.

22. Let her choose who she loves. Even when you see through the charming boy she thinks he is, let her love him without your disapproving words; she will anyway. When he breaks her heart, be there for her with words of support rather than I told-you-so. Let her mess up again and again until she finds the one. And when she finds the one, tell her.

23. Mother her. Being a mother - to her - is undoubtedly one of your greatest accomplishments. Share with her the joys of motherhood, so one day she will want to be a mother too. Remind her over and over again with words and kisses that no one will ever love her like you love her. No one can replace or replicate a mother's love for their children.

24. Comfort her. Because sometimes you just need your mommy. When she is sick, rub her back, make her soup and cover her in blankets - no matter how old she is. Someday, if she is giving birth to her own child, push her hair out of her face, encourage her, and tell her how beautiful she is. These are the moments she will remember you for. And someday when her husband rubs her back in attempt to comfort her...she may just whisper, "I need my mommy."

25. Be home. When she is sick with a cold or broken heart, she will come to you; welcome her. When she is engaged or pregnant, she will run to you to share her news; embrace her. When she is lost or confused, she will search for you; find her. When she needs advice on boys, schools, friends or an outfit; tell her. She is your daughter and will always need a safe harbor - where she can turn a key to see comforting eyes and a familiar smile; be home.

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networkingdefinition · 5 years ago

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Money Quotes

Official Website: Money Quotes

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• A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.- Bob Hope • A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain. – Robert Frost • A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. – Everett Dirksen • A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. – Henry Ford • A drunkard would not give money to sober people. He said they would only eat it, and buy clothes and send their children to school with it. – Samuel Butler • A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place. – Michael Douglas • A fool and his money are soon elected. – Will Rogers • A fool and his money are soon married. – Carolyn Wells • A man with money is no match against a man on a mission. – Doyle Brunson • A person can no more make money suddenly and largely, and be unharmed by it, than one could suddenly grow from a child’s stature to an adult’s without harm. – Henry Ward Beecher • A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money. – W. C. Fields • A rich man told me recently that a liberal is a man who tells other people what to do with their money. – Amiri Baraka • A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart. – Jonathan Swift • A woman’s best protection is a little money of her own. – Clare Boothe Luce • Advertising: the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it. – Stephen Leacock • Always try to rub up against money, for if you rub up against money long enough, some of it may rub off on you. – Damon Runyon • An important lever for sustained action in tackling poverty and reducing hunger is money. – Gro Harlem Brundtland • Anybody who thinks money will make you happy, hasn’t got money. – David Geffen • As I sat at the Cafe I said to myself, They may talk as they please about what they call pelf, They may sneer as they like about eating and drinking, But help it I cannot, I cannot help thinking How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho! How pleasant it is to have money! – Arthur Hugh Clough

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Money', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_money').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_money img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Business, you know, may bring you money, but friendship hardly ever does. – Jane Austen • But for money and the need of it, there would not be half the friendship in the world. It is powerful for good if divinely used. Give it plenty of air and it is sweet as the hawthorn; shut it up and it cankers and breeds worms. – George MacDonald • Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed. – Mahatma Gandhi • Civilized countries generally adopt gold or silver or both as money. – Alfred Marshall • Don’t give your money to the church. They should be giving their money to you. – George Carlin • Don’t spend money on things… spend money on experiences. You’ll enjoy life a lot more! – Ziad K. Abdelnour • Don’t stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed. – George Burns • Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely. – Thomas Huxley • Economy is half the battle in life, but it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well. Hundreds would never have known want if they had not first known waste. – Charles Spurgeon • Find something in life that you love doing. If you make a lot of money, that’s a bonus, and if you don’t, you still won’t hate going to work. – Jeff Foxworthy • Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P. J. O’Rourke • God gave me my money. I believe the power to make money is a gift from God . to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind. Having been endowed with the gift I possess, I believe it is my duty to make money and still more money and to use the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience. – John D. Rockefeller • Having money is rather like being a blond. It is more fun but not vital. – Mary Quant • He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. – Benjamin Franklin • He that wants money, means, and content is without three good friends. – William Shakespeare • Her voice is full of money. – F. Scott Fitzgerald • Honesty is the best policy – when there is money in it. – Mark Twain • How pleasant it is to have money. – Arthur Hugh Clough • I am fiercely loyal to those willing to put their money where my mouth is. – Paul Harvey • I am happy to make money. I want to make more money, make more music, eat Big Macs and drink Budweisers. – Kid Rock • I don’t want to make money; I want to make a difference. – Lady Gaga • I haven’t got as much money as some folks, but I’ve got as much impudence as any of them, and that’s the next thing to money. – Josh Billings • I love money. I love everything about it. I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric dog polisher. A gasoline powered turtleneck sweater. And, of course, I bought some dumb stuff, too. – Steve Martin • I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country… corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. – Abraham Lincoln • I’d like to live like a poor man with a lot of money. – Pablo Picasso • If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life. – Billy Graham • If I have enough money to eat I’m good. – Shia LaBeouf • If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability. – Henry Ford • If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right! – William Shatner • If the money we donate helps one child or can ease the pain of one parent, those funds are well spent. – Carl Karcher • If women didn’t exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning. – Aristotle Onassis • If you can actually count your money, then you’re not a rich man. – J. Paul Getty • If you can count your money, you don’t have a billion dollars. – J. Paul Getty • If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die. – Warren Buffett • If you have “needing money” in your vibration, then you will keep attracting needing money. You have to find a way of being happy NOW, feeling good NOW, and being in joy NOW, without the money, because those great feelings are how you will feel with the money. Money doesn’t bring happiness – but HAPPINESS BRINGS MONEY. – Rhonda Byrne • If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. – James Goldsmith • If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some. – Benjamin Franklin • If you’d lose a troublesome visitor, lend him money. – Benjamin Franklin • I’m a revolutionary, money means nothing to me. – Frederic Chopin • I’m going to teach you to HATE spending money. – Hume Cronyn • In the world of money and investing, you must learn to control your emotions. – Robert Kiyosaki • Inflation is taxation without legislation. – Milton Friedman • It is good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy. – George Horace Lorimer • It is money makes the mare to trot. – John Wolcot • It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages. – Henry Ford • It’s a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money. – Albert Camus • I’ve got all the money I’ll ever need, if I die by four o’clock. – Henny Youngman • Liking money like I like it, is nothing less than mysticism. Money is a glory. – Salvador Dali • Magna carta. Master charga. – Michael Keaton • Making money isn’t hard in itself… What’s hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting one’s life to. – Carlos Ruiz Zafon • Many folks think they aren’t good at earning money, when what they don’t know is how to use it. – Frank A. Clark • Marrying into money was not a good thing for me. – Anna Nicole Smith • Men make counterfeit money; in many more cases, money makes counterfeit men. – Sydney J. Harris • Money and women are the most sought after and the least known about of any two things we have. – Will Rogers • Money brings honor, friends, conquest, and realms. – John Milton • Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have it and those who do not. – John Kenneth Galbraith • Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million. – Arnold Schwarzenegger • Money doesn’t talk, it swears. – Bob Dylan • Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. – Groucho Marx • Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants. – Benjamin Franklin • Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment it insures the possibility of satisfying a new desire when it arises. – Aristotle • Money is a needful and precious thing – Louisa May Alcott • Money is always there but the pockets change; it is not in the same pockets after a change, and that is all there is to say about money. – Gertrude Stein • Money is just an idea. – Robert Kiyosaki • Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. – W. Somerset Maugham • Money is like an arm or leg – use it or lose it. – Henry Ford • Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man. – Khalil Gibran • Money is like manure, of very little use except it be spread. – Francis Bacon • Money is neither my god nor my devil. It is a form of energy that tends to make us more of who we already are, whether it’s greedy or loving. – Dan Millman • Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money. – Jackie Mason • Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference. – Barack Obama • Money is of a prolific generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more. – Benjamin Franklin • Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. – Ayn Rand • Money is our madness, our vast collective madness. – D. H. Lawrence • Money is power, freedom, a cushion, the root of all evil, the sum of blessings. – Carl Sandburg • Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. – Ayn Rand • Money is the seed of money, and the first guinea is sometimes more difficult to acquire than the second million. – Jean-Jacques Rousseau • Money is the wise man’s religion. – Euripides • Money is to be sought for first of all; virtue after wealth. [Lat., Quaerenda pecunia primum est; virtus post nummos.] – Horace • Money is usually attracted, not pursued.- Jim Rohn • Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the ‘gotta have it’ scale. – Zig Ziglar • Money makes up in a measure all other wants in men. – William Wycherley • Money may be the husk of many things but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintance, but not friends; servants, but not loyalty; days of joy, but not peace or happiness. – Henrik Ibsen • Money often costs too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson • Money plays the largest part in determining the course of history. – Karl Marx • Money problems can always be solved by a man not frightened by them. – Robert A. Heinlein • Money should be used to help others. – Neem Karoli Baba • Money speaks sense in a language all nations understand. – Aphra Behn • Money speaks, but it speaks with a male voice. – Andrea Dworkin • Money talks, bullshit walks. – Stephen King • Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game. – Donald Trump • Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won’t buy the wag of his tail. – Josh Billings • Money without brains is always dangerous. – Napoleon Hill • Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex, you thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it and thought of other things if you did. – James A. Baldwin • Money, make money; by honest means if you can; if not, by any means make money. [Lat., Rem facias rem, Recte si possis, si non, quocumque modo rem.] – Horace • Money. . . those who don’t have enough of it are only aware of what it can buy them. When you finally have enough of it you become aware- acutely aware-of all the things it can’t buy … the really important things, like youth, health, love, peace of mind. – F. Paul Wilson • Money. It’s a good servant but a bad master. – Gretchen Rubin • Money’s a horrid thing to follow, but a charming thing to meet. – Henry James • My goal wasn’t to make a ton of money. It was to build good computers. – Steve Wozniak • Never begrudge the money you spend on your own education. – Jim Rohn • No matter how hard you hug your money, it never hugs back.- H. Jackson Brown, Jr. • No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions; he had money as well. – Margaret Thatcher • Nobody’s going to do your life for you. You have to do it yourself, whether you’re rich or poor, out of money or raking it in, the beneficiary of ridiculous fortune or terrible injustice. And you have to do it no matter what is true. No matter what is hard. No matter what unjust, sad, sucky things befall you. Self-pity is a dead-end road. You make the choice to drive down it. It’s up to you to decide to stay parked there or to turn around and drive out. – Cheryl Strayed • Nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal. – William Shakespeare • Nothing is so secure as that money will not defeat it. – Marcus Tullius Cicero • Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars. – Warren Buffett • People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams. – Ralph Lauren • People who say that money isn’t the most important thing in the world are usually broke. – Malcolm Forbes • Quality is free. It’s not a gift, but it’s free. The ‘unquality’ things are what cost money. – Phil Crosby • Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. – Napoleon Bonaparte • Remember that credit is money. – Benjamin Franklin • Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1. – Warren Buffett • Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us. – Louisa May Alcott • So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of all money? – Ayn Rand • Some people may complicate it for you, but the formula is simple: Love God more than anything else. More than your ego. More than your money. More than your desires…More than your sleep at dawn. Love God more than anything else, and submission comes natural. Love God more than anything else, and all goodness will follow. – Yasmin Mogahed • Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money. – Johnny Cash • Successful people make money. It’s not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do. – Wayne Dyer • That money talks, I’ll not deny, I heard it once: It said, ‘Goodbye’. – Richard Armour • The art of living easily as to money is to pitch your scale of living one degree below your means. – Henry Taylor • The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated. – H. L. Mencken • The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money. – James Madison • The easiest way for your children to learn about money is for you not to have any. – Katharine Whitehorn • The importance of money flows from it being a link between the present and the future. – John Maynard Keynes • The key to making money is to stay invested. – Suze Orman • The lack of money is the root of all evil. – Mark Twain • The only point in making money is, you can tell some big shot where to go. – Humphrey Bogart • The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it. – Edith Wharton • The price we have to pay for money is sometimes liberty. – Robert Louis Stevenson • The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money. – Bernard Meltzer • The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket. – Kin Hubbard • The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to evade truth, not to reveal it. The process by which banks create money is so simple the mind is repelled. – John Kenneth Galbraith • The universal regard for money is the one hopeful fact in our civilization. – George Bernard Shaw • There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money. – Samuel Johnson • There are people who have money and people who are rich. – Coco Chanel • There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich, and that is the poor. The poor can think of nothing else. – Oscar Wilde • There’s only one thing money won’t buy, and that is poverty. – Joe E. Lewis • Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. – Jim Rohn • To be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it. – Gilbert K. Chesterton • To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. – Douglas Adams • To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle. – Henry David Thoreau • Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves. – Albert Einstein • Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like. – Will Rogers • War has been good to me from a financial standpoint but I don’t want to make money that way. I don’t want blood money. – Ted Turner

• We all need money, but there are degrees of desperation. – Anthony Burgess • We ought to change the legend on our money from “In God We Trust” to “In Money We Trust.” Because, as a nation, we’ve got far more faith in money these days than we do in God. – Art Hoppe • We teach children to save their money. As an attempt to counteract thoughtless and selfish expenditure, that has value. But it is not positive; it does not lead the child into the safe and useful avenues of self-expression or self-expenditure. To teach a child to invest and use is better than to teach him to save. – Henry Ford • We’ve got to put a lot of money into changing behavior. – Bill Gates • What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us. – Julia Cameron • What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. – Bob Dylan • What’s worth doing is worth doing for money. – Michael Douglas • When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous. – Wayne Dyer • When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is. – Oscar Wilde • When it comes to money, you can’t win. If you focus on making it, you’re materialistic. If you try to but don’t make any, you’re a loser. If you make a lot and keep it, you’re a miser. If you make it and spend it, you’re a spendthrift. If you don’t care about making it, you’re unambitious. If you make a lot and still have it when you die, you’re a fool-for trying to take it with you. The only way to really win with money is to hold it loosely-and be generous with it to accomplish things of value. – John C. Maxwell • When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion. – Voltaire • When men are so busy making money that they have no time for anything else, then the day is not far off when they will have no money for anything else. – William J. H. Boetcker • Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce. – James A. Garfield • Whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop – Gertrude Stein • Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping. – Bo Derek • Why is there so much month left at the end of the money? – John Barrymore • You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy. – Garth Brooks • You can be young without money but you can’t be old without it. – Tennessee Williams • You can make money two ways – make more, or spend less. – John Hope Bryant • You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity. – Thomas Wolfe • You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you. – Dave Ramsey

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equitiesstocks · 5 years ago

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Money Quotes

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annavaught-posts · 7 years ago

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This summer (and this autumn) I have thought of small things. I’ve been looking at microcosms, at the little piece of ivory (I’m quoting Jane Austen) that is my life. I’ve been focused on my community and on my garden – most specifically on its plants and animals of all sizes. On birds and butterflies; insects; bees. Barry the hedgehog (more on him later), Gavin the bat and Wayne the pigeon or, rather Wayne’s descendants (Ditto.) And I’ve been minded to observe other places I know well – and really to look at them properly. That’s why I have a collection of Pembrokeshire sea glass on my window sill and a display of tiny crab, auger and razon shells on the bathroom shelf.

Three chickens.

Three cats.

Three boys.

A little background.

I don’t know about you, but I have experienced the past year as relentless and deeply stressful. Actually, I do know lots of people have felt this way. That’s partly why I’ve just written a piece for the next Patrician Press anthology (My Europe) on how I felt, the day after the Brexit vote, at my youngest lad’s school sports’ day. Traumatised, that’s what. You don’t need me to tell you about Trump, but I’m married to an American and my mother in law cries on the phone about it. So. Were you to look at social media over the past year, you’d have seen many people lamenting the state of the world, writing about armageddon. We’d had three big bereavements and that’s just the tip of what’s been happening for us… So much – and by this summer, I felt I was also struggling with my writing – time, space, skill; meeting then no; full manuscript, long pause, then no. Now, I am not complaining as this is hardly unusual, but it became neccessary to address how I felt: that it had stopped being a joy and had become, instead, about defeat and stress and competition. It had become about working quickly in order to prove that I could catch up for starting late. Well that’s no good, because if it’s like this, it’s nothing. It’s based on false premises; on assumptions; on thinking that anyone’s actually looking. My teaching was going well, but I was unable to see it and I think you can see where this is heading.

By the end of July, I felt consumed by worry and permanently under the weather; I could not enjoy things other than distractedly. I realised I was becoming ill. I had a couple of dissociative episodes. (Read about those elsewhere. Like on the NHS page: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dissociative-disorders/Pages/Introduction.aspx#Types-of-dissociative-disorder.) One was at the end of the morning school run. Top work. A distracted and unsafe-feeling walk in drizzle was its beginning. They are frightening, but I’ve met them before. Time to find a sympathetic ear and also, while being mindful of what’s going on in the world, and proactive, to understand that I don’t help anyone or any situation by reacting with anxiety. That prolonged stress, however much I call myself an ‘I can do this’ tiger, is a risk for this mind and in a predictable way. And I’ll not be so productive if I go mad again. So you see, I am writing about necessity as well as the choice or responsibility to regard and serve beauty and other living things.

So. Too much in my head, then.

Time, as I recover, to think small. Domestics. Things closer to home. Some of it was really there but not being given enough time and joy; some was new this summer. And I wonder if some of what I describe may sound twee. Can’t help that. But as I describe homespun happiness, let me tell you that, with my background, we are talking about necessity too. And also, with three boys, about calm and about their feeling love and health in their family home. I grew up in a beautiful place, but not once can I look back at my childhood without a feeling of deep discomfort. I’ve written about that widely, for trauma is closely connected with dissociation and, of course, other mental health problems. So I have a notion of how it can be. In the home. It truly helps to think about your immediate environment. Not with competition, but in order to nurture what is already there. And I need to.

So who’s about?

Chickens. Three, as you saw. They are rescue girls. They started coming to live with us when my youngest, now six, was one. He thought they were the funniest things. Now, there is nothing like helping tend something (or someone!) back to life and health. When I collected our first batch of rescue hens, it was a shock. They were half bald; their combs very pale and flopping to one side. That first night they stood still, unsure what to do as darkness fell because they’d been housed under striplights. I lost a few of these first girls quite quickly because they cannot always cope with the bacteria in the ground, owing to poor natural immunity. They have not had a natural life and their peck of dirt. I had a couple I reckon died simply of shock, but we’ve done our best with our girls – the current community (and I’ve plans for more, but no more boys and…probably…no more cats) – are called Cookie, Cocoa and Frostie. Along the way, we’ve also had Cupcake and Florence (where Grandma is from) and, once, a particularly pathetic arrival which my teenage son called, unaccountably, Stacey.

These girls are such a pleasure. They chuckle and crow and coo. It does not take long to nurse them to health and they eat well – scraps, pellets, bugs; mealworms as a treat. They do hilarious things like jump on two rigid little legs for a bunch of grapes bounced up and down on elastic. I’ve made them things – like the ‘pecky log’, the hollows of which I fill with peanut butter. Their bald bits grow back, their eyes brighten and their combs take colour and stand erect. And their eggs are beautiful, too. When I talk to them, they answer back and I pick them up and walk with them. Hens respond well to conversation and to human contact. Well, we all do. Occasionally they escape and I once came home and found all three, in a row, chuckling at the garden gate they could actually have flown over. Then, one of them told me that they were only going so far because they liked living with us. Their personalities are clearly different and my six year old would tell you that Frostie is grumpy, Cocoa is shy and Cookie is confident but has very good manners.

They make me happy. If you are interested in rehoming, here:

http://www.bhwt.org.uk/about-us/

It is a scandal that these poor creatures live in such awful conditions – and don’t be fooled by the ‘enriched cages’ system that came into place as an improvement. It is still –must be – a miserable, compacted, humiliating life. But you can consider doing something about that, though give them space and time.

Insects. I ordered in our firewood early this year, and we set about making log piles here and there over the summer holiday. These make a haven for woodlice and all sorts of creepy crawlies, thereby helping to strengthen and diversify what you have going on in your garden. There’s a place and a need for all these beasties. We also made the decison, earlier in this year, to leave only part of the garden tidy. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before. In the scruffy area around the kids’ trampoline and next to the chicken run, I’ve seeded wildflowers and planted bee mats (which are a biodegradable garden weft that’s full of seeds for plants bees like). You can get these and the seed at any garen centre. Also, seed your own. Shake heads from poppies or whatever crops up there or elsewhere in your garden. So this Summer of Small Things, we’ve been able to peek at bugs and, also, to watch what popped up in scruffy garden. What we planted; what arrived. There’s campion, poppies, foxgloves, scabious; different types of grass; some wheat and even a head or two of barley have popped up too. It’s serendipitous, healthy and it makes me feel calm and productive. And there are are more bees and butterflies about, whereas before it just seemed to be the occasional cabbage white. Now, I see meadow blue. And took joy in a comma.

In addition to the scruffy patch, the youngest and I set about putting in extra lavender and thyme plants for the bees and two buddleia for the butterflies. I’ve fitted in a few small trees here and there (we don’t have a massive garden, but it is stuffed to the gills!) and attached extra bird feeders (NOT above your chicken run, though), ladybird and bee houses (pretty little turquoise ones – did I say how much colour is a boost to my mood?) and I’m making a hedgehog house because we are being visited regularly by a hedgehog we’ve named Barry. Just the other night, Barry turned up with a small hedgehog which the kids think is his very small hedgehog partner but looks more like a babe to me; hedgehogs have their litters (usually) in June and July in case you were wondering. And I was sure to watch the swifts, swallows and house martins. There were nests near by. And to sit outside or lie on the grass at twilight and watch the bats, especially the one (and I do know it’s not necessarily the same one!) the littlee has named Gavin.

I met a student of mine the other day. That is, someone I taught ten years ago. His warmest memory was not nailing A Streetcar Named Desire or UCAS applications or anything, but the fact that he’d remembered what I’d told him about birdsong in one of the digressions that are, I think, a key part of teaching; of life. It was the sound of a wood pigeon on a roof. ‘What is that?’ ‘Don’t you know?’ said I. ‘That’s a wood pigeon and he sang, “My toe bleeds Betty” three times and then an urgent, “Look!”‘

And it’s true. Listen out. We have an old house, tall with three floors and a broad attic. A deep pleasure of mine is to hear a pigeon do his call from the chimney stack and listen to how his call reverberates through the wide chimney and out into the broad fireplace in our sitting room – and I love it. And lest you think I’ve turned into, I don’t know, Kirstie Allsop with my wide chimney and, get me, broad inglenook, let me tell you that, once upon a time, I bought this place, semi-derelict, and it has been done up very slowly. It is quirky and unfinished and full of old rugs and thousands of books and therein is love. My in laws and much extended family think we are living in a house that’s too eccentric and too small and express dislike of it. But wherein did those criteria evolve? There’s warmth; soft beds; loads of stuff to do and cunning places to hang out and hide. Why don’t you come round? I’d love that, really.

If I have any dream about raising my family here, it’s that people come in and get comfortable and chuck their shoes off. If they feel sad, I’ve got lots of blankets and, like I said, places to hide in. And I want the boys to witness that: what you might construct a home of. There’s a cellar under the kitchen (this place used to be a pub), accessed by a dangerous ladder and on the rainy days, we play football in that cellar and I’ve let them, ferrals, graffiti the walls. Because you don’t need all the gubbins you think you do or someone told you you had to factor in because you were…I don’t know…successful…a parent…middle class…Oh – (apologies but I also love cursing) – slightly fuck off. We feel that this house, as it has evolved, looks after us. I used to be swayed by criticism of it. But not any more. Comfort and a feeling that a house welcomes you in are not small things. I was reflecting on that, this summer, too. About the feelings that are engendered in and by a place.

Oh yes – I mentioned Wayne the pigeon. He was a fellow with a bad wing and I nursed him back to health and off he flew. A bit wobbly but he nixed it. Please don’t tell he was thereafter beaten up by the other pigeons. But anyway, when I hear ‘My toe bleeds Betty’ on our chimney stack, I tell the kids that these are likely the descendants of Wayne. The older ones think I’m a mad old git person, but they love it anyway.

Cats. Three rescue. One was a dubious ‘return’ to the animal shelter; the other two car park kittens. Max; Ginger; Daisy. The first is a bit moody and known locally as the Chubmeister because he’s convinced some older residents here and there that he’d benefit from a snack and has become truly portly; the second can do tricks – like jump through a hoop to retrieve a pom pom – and she especially loves glitter pom poms. When you come down in the morning, she’s sitting waiting, with the glitter pom pom. Throw my pompom, person. I derive intense happiness from this silly, tiny thing. Oh and third cat: local teenagers refer to her as ‘Kitler’ because of her unfortunate marking. (No need to elaborate.) And did I say that we once hatched a load of ladybird larvae and, extraordinarily, there’s a crack in the plaster near where we set them free from their little hatchery and they come back and overwinter in that crack, just above my thirteen year old’s bed?

And the summer. Just down to my family in Pembrokeshire. Clifftops and shell collecting; going out on the boats and watching the shadows in the water (jellyfish); my telling them where the basking shark lie and about secret footpaths. Watching the comical puffins off skomer and the porpoises and dolphins in the bay. Waiting expectantly for the seals to come into pup. Bewhiskered old man seals. Rock pools. Telling them to shuffle their feet so as to avoid weever fish.

All these things. Pretty things and being lost in and awed by the natural world. Simultaneously, of course, imperfection and mess and stress. Confusion and moil and toil. Donald Trump on twitter and the profligate disregard he and his family appear to have for others; it makes me cry to see someone so arrogant with such an egregiously limited world view. You can do some things and I could never not petition or challenge, and I cannot ever be the sort of person who can decide not to look. I tried once. I – I’m sorry if this sounds judgemental – felt that I was cruel and vacuous to try to switch off and focus only on self care (as I had been several times advised to do), because why do we exist if not to make lives better for one another? And in looking out, there is purpose for you.

But there are the other things to think about too so that a line can, at some point, be drawn. Your health; the little piece of ivory; the wildlife and animals you can look at, nurse and encourage right beside you. You can be a steward of what’s around you and revel in its beauty too: that’s why there’s a pile of foraged quinces sitting in our fireplace. They are russet and lime green and they smell oriental, as old and time and deeply familar all in one rush.

So yes, The Summer of Small Things. Time to reflect and to move more slowly in a world that had been whirling. It’s a start. And, like I said, come round. Bring seeds. Or buns. Agapanthus seed heads I can hang up for decorations. ‘Please take’ pears from the box down the lane. And Frostie, Cookie and Cocoa are rolling in dust baths but would love it if you have some leftover spaghetti. They think it’s worms and run from each other to secrete their haul before devouring it. Come see.

Anna x

The Summer of Small Things This summer (and this autumn) I have thought of small things. I've been looking at microcosms, at the little piece of ivory (I'm quoting Jane Austen) that is my life.

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