We made origami stars and are now wondering where to hang them.
You can find links to origami star making and other window art on our previous blog page. Just scroll down to December into January.
In with the new and out with the old? We are thinking about January.
January brings the snow,
makes our feet and fingers glow.
Sara Coleridge, The Garden Year.
If, like us, you are short on snow and you want to get that snowy day vibe, you can watch some, here: https://youtu.be/9V9wr1AaIxY
Image 1 – Winter Morning – January from Lucy Grossmith’s Four Seasons Calendar 2019. Image 2 – my copy, posted to show we are fully committed to our policy of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good- or even the not so good!
Did you know that Finnish Composer, Iiro Rantala composed music for every month of the year? You might like to find your birthday month. This is January.
You can find the other eleven months, here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZGc_ONM98vB26nIsm71B-85T1TIZ4Sal
One of us…
is still thinking about their one word theme and their resolutions for the year.
It’s not too late to embark on this. In fact, in a nifty bit of reframing, I’d say it’s better to start when you are ready and have had time to think about what goals really matter to you, no matter when in the year you do this.
If you struggle to keep a resolution or to adopt a good habit, here’s a great tip: try making it as concrete and measurable as possible.
So, ‘relax more‘ is likely to fail, but ‘Rest for 22 minutes every day‘ (with a calendar you colour in when you have done this) is more likely to succeed.
No magic needed, just a calendar template and the wisdom of the wonderful author, the queen of habit change, Gretchen Rubin. I’ve used her idea – it has transformed my ability to set and achieve goals.
You can find Gretchen’s own template, here: https://gretchenrubin.com/resources Her Rest 22 in 2022 calendar can be used for anything you want to track.
You can find more free, downloadable resources to use or adapt, at this lovely website, here: https://busyb.co.uk/downloads. Older readers might like to find out more from the horse’s mouth, here: https://gretchenrubin.com/2021/12/new-years-resolutions
We have been housesitting…
for my parents, by the seaside, in Sussex. Although thankfully, not in this beach hut – lovely though it is! Busby wore himself out getting everyone to take long walks and training our visitor, Levi, to play on command. Spot this and the socially distancing seagulls in the slideshow below.
Did you spot the early morning Wolf Moon? It was incredible! You can see more images of January’s amazing full moon, here: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/18/world/wolf-first-full-moon-2022-images-scn/index.html
Next up will be the Snow Moon on February 16th.
Foxes 1 Busby 0
Busby says, “That was a great trip, but I must say, it was not much of a rest. I am worn to a frazzle by those urban foxes making free with Grandma and Grandad’s garden – and on my watch too. I am quite embarrassed to say that even my biggest bark had no effect. It was quite distressing really.”
Never mind, Busby, we have something special lined up to boost your self-esteem next month.
You can find out more about the secret life of urban foxes, here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-secret-life-of-urban-foxes.html
An urban fox in a garden in Birmingham, England.© Oosoom via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Busby is trying online colouring.
We love colouring, but Busby’s creativity is held back by the paw issue. So we headed over to these websites for him to try his paw at some online colouring. See what you think, here: https://www.jacquielawson.com/colouring
https://kidssearch.com/KidsPaint.html
He will be reviewing them next month when he will be in charge of producing the blog page.
He says, “Standby everyone for something extrapawdinary.”
You can print the above colouring page for some old fashioned pencil and paper colouring, here: https://coloringhome.com/coloring-page/1874212
You can find more motivational colouring pages, here: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/window-art-t-ad-316
We are thinking about picture frames and reframing.
Recently, this painting was (finally!) correctly mounted and professionally reframed. It was incredible how this transformed it, and I still marvel at it. As a side result of this, everything suddenly seemed to be about frames or reframing, including this quote and the song below.
We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.
Dag Hammarskjöld (more about him, later).
What is going into your frame?
Whilst you are sorting that out, have a listen to this song in its original language, Latvian. Then in English. Same song, different languages – does it make a difference when you can hear some of the words?
IN MY LITTLE PICTURE FRAME. Music by Renārs Kaupers. (*1974). Arranged by Ēriks Ešenvalds. (*1977). Lyrics by Imants Ziedonis. (*1933)
In your little picture frame.
Whilst pondering what’s going into the frame of your destiny, how about a self portrait?!
You can find a picture frame template, here:
It comes from this website where you can find more frames, here: https://www.sheknows.com/parenting/slideshow/494/craft-templates-for-kids/4/
You can find child-friendly instructions for drawing your self-portrait, here: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t2-a-004-how-to-draw-a-face
You can watch a child-friendly film clip, here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/art-and-design-draw-self-portrait/z6ytscw
We are thinking about reframing.
Reframing ( for younger readers) is where you find a positive way of looking at a difficult or unhappy situation. It’s a bit like seeing a glass half full rather than half empty, or saying that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
An incredible example of reframing was actually told to me, very fittingly, in a road named after Dag Hammarskjöld (see quote about frames, higher up the page).
When she was a child, an elderly German friend was bombed out of her home during WW2. She said that she knew even then, staring at the rubble, that the loss of the house did not matter because she and her whole family were unharmed.
That was quite some reframing!
The Tree of Life, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Busby would like to point out…
to our younger readers especially, that not everything has to be reframed. He says, “Trying to ignore sadness is not always helpful, we need a mix of feelings. I found that trying to pretend I was happy about the foxes, when I wasn’t, led to a lot of extra strain and upset. When I finally told my family about it, they were able to comfort me and find another way to make me feel happy.”
We recently watched the Pixar film Inside Out (right) with him which helped him see feelings at work in a very clever way. Adults might also enjoy this insightful animation and can read more about the science behind it, here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/25/pete-docter-inside-out-pixar-oscars-2016-animation
Illustration of ‘mixed feelings’ from Inside Out taken from the above article.
And finally, a fun last look at frames.
This picture comes from a series of photos that capture visitors to art galleries that somehow match the art they are looking at. You can see the full series on the link below.
Photo by Stefan Draschan on the website below:
https://mymodernmet.com/people-watching-museum-visitors/
My attention was drawn to this by Gretchen Rubin’s newsletter, 5 things making me happy (January 21st 2022) – credit where credit is due!
Thank you…
everyone who has signed up to follow this blog – every time I see a new name, I feel great and Busby feels (p)awesome.
You can subscribe right at the foot of the blogs below or on the home page. Make sure you click on confirm subscription in the email that’s sent to you!
We will be back next month when Busby will be choosing the content. We will be definitely be featuring more on the Northern Lights though, plus anything that grabs Busby’s attention.
I’m sure it will be fine. Really.
IF you can’t wait until then, why not join our Quiet Paws Book Corner? If you like our blog page, you will almost certainly enjoy the information and activities on our book corner pages.
It’s free and everyone, young or old, is welcome. You just have to enjoy children’s literature. Head to the Join the Book Corner page in the menu at the top to sign up for a password.
Buzzy Paws 
