Restoring And Recharging

For the past few years my personal and business life has taken me to many corners of the globe. I have considered my Blackberry to be my lifeline to keep in communication 24/7.

However, when I was recently in London my blackberry struggled to get charged, and the light on the screen stayed on and on. Till in the end, it burnt out and broke. In the past I would have panicked at the prospect of missing the "little red light". But on deeper thinking, I realized my personal light had also been on and on.....and I too was burnt out.

So far I have not replaced my Blackberry but have been focusing on recharging my own personal battery, my soul....



I am always guaranteed to be creatively refreshed after a flea marketing trip. Having just returned from Brimfield in July. It was sooo hot, but so lovely. I filled a container with goodies for the Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture stores, had lots of cold lemonade drinks, and then stumbled across a lake that was as breathtaking as Monet's Givenchy Garden in France.



So very often it's the quiet simple things of life that bring us back to life. For me a cold rainy day walk rewires me.



We all talk about the value of nature, peace, and simple living. Funny how sometimes we put every obstacle in our way to prevent this living. But it's always there for us......and I find I need these elements to literally breathe......



Preparations for a dinner party should be effortless. Informal, but still eye candy. As usual I find this is accomplished with keeping things on the simple side. Just beautiful things from the cupboard.



My latest book is Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Interiors. I focus on the many evolutions and meanings of a home. The empty nest, the everything room. Home can be many things, but mostly it must be where we go to recharge.



Emails can never replace stacks of handwritten letters, delivered by the post man. Gathering scraps for future projects can only be absorbed with flipping through pages
seeing the "real thing" in museums is treasures first hand.

And then finally, if still our heart and soul is missing a connection, there is always that special place, somewhere in the world, that puts us back together again.



So for now, I am reconnecting with my life, without my lifeline Blackberry.