The Little Things Around Us

Beauty is all around us to awaken all our senses

but how often do we think about the beauty of all the little everyday things?

We sometimes just take them for granted, or don't even notice them.

A simple needle and thread which is taken out and used

Do we really see it?

We may appreciate how useful it is and even look at it

differently one day and see how aesthetically lovely it can be in its simple way.

Matches are in most households

I keep this little decorative box in my living-room,

always on hand to light a candle.

There are so many useful little tools in my kitchen area.

One of my favourites is this small ginger-root grater.

I use ginger a lot, both in my cooking and in warming winter drinks.

Another little item in constant daily use is my individual herb tea filter.

It's great for making just one big mug of delicious peppermint or lemon verbena.

The humble pencil sharpener

I just love using pencils, especially freshly sharpened ones.

How pretty the little curls of pencil shavings appear.

I can hardly bear to throw them away and have been known to keep some

in a small glass bowl on my desk just to look at their shapes and texture

and see how they catch the light!

"Great oaks from little acorns grow"

I love to collect these in the autumn

and keep them in a small pottery bowl to enjoy them each time I pass by.

There are other little things which are so important, like exchanging a smile with someone

sitting next to us on the bus, maybe even saying a few words.

A small gesture of help, like holding a shop door for a mother 

with a pushchair

or being thankful when a younger person stands up to let me sit down

in the metro lurching dangerously forward as it sets off!

It's the little things in life which have enormous importance

They influence the way we feel.

By noticing all these things as we go about our daily life,

it adds new meaning into all we do.