21 January 2014

Blue Monday

Last weekend was kind of stressful. For reasons I won't bore you with, it was a nightmare weekend. Now, Sunday is usually the one day of the week that I get to sit and veg out, to watch TV and generally to just relax. I don't make things for the market, in fact I actively discourage myself from even thinking about the market but this weekend, due to circumstances apparently way beyond my control, I didn't have a chance to do any of that and I woke up on Monday morning feeling very out of sorts. Despite the weather being lovely and bright my mood did not match the sunny day and I felt an Eeyore day coming on .... you know the one ....... a gloomy day where all you want to do is curl up on the sofa and watch inspiring house makeover programs or dreamy cookery programs using fresh ingredients from delightfully sun-kissed kitcheny-cottagey gardens that, try as you might, just never seem to quite manifest themselves into your "actual" garden. 


In an attempt to shake myself out of my gloom, I grabbed my wellies, put on a nice thick coat and gloves and took three very reluctant dogs out into the field for a run. Metro, my rescue collie, who prefers sleeping on the sofa to romping ankle deep in mud looked at me as if I was taking him to his doom and kept trying to sneak back into the house. Levi, who normally loves muddy fields, but who was extremely miffed at having to leave the delicious, half-masticated, slimy piece of chewy bone that he had unearthed from deep in his bed, was also on a mission to get back inside and even Indie, who has never met a muddy puddle that he didn't want to roll in, looked less than enthusiastic at my attempts to play fetch with him so, eventually, after persevering for about 15 minutes, I finally caved in and we all trudged back inside. Levi to his bone, Metro to the sofa and Indie to his bed where they all flumped down, heaving huge doggy sighs of relief.


Naughty Indie pretending not to hear me when I mentioned going for a walk :-)

It turns out, yesterday was "Blue Monday". Blue Monday is the third Monday in January and apparently is generally gloomy and dark, and allegedly, the most depressing day of the year because it comes after all the Christmas festivities have ended, it is a long time until Spring, and typically people feel rather low on what is often a cold, grey day. Who knew! This year, Mental Health Research UK were trying to encourage people to wear bright and cheerful clothes in an attempt to raise awareness of depression and seasonal affective disorder which, is particularly prevalent in the winter months because it is caused by a lack of sunlight. Although wearing bright clothes won't prevent depression or SAD, there is plenty of research into the effect colour can have on our mood. 


So I put on my brightest Christmas pressie socks, my most colourful fleece, made a gigantic mug of caramel hot chocolate, lit a fire and settled down to watch back-to-back episodes of my favourite program. 
Not such a Blue Monday after all :-)


6 comments:

  1. I hope things are less for stressful for you now, I love you hot chocolate tin, I shall have to hunt for one it looks very cheerful.

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  2. Sometimes you just gotta get underneath a pile of leaves and hibernate! I like the holiday programs at this time of year, nice and sunny. Crazy socks btw :)

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  3. I'm so tickled reading about your furry friends behavior too on Monday.....Sometimes the BEST of days is just chillin' out, relaxing and/or doing nothing. What a GREAT day! Your socks are adorable are so are the pic of your wellies! Blessings for a wonderful week~~~Roxie

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  4. My Monday was a pretty good day although today is freezing fog, the sun tried to gleam through but to no avail. The book that I was expecting in the post did not come, boo hoo. But, there has to be a but, I can spend some time playing in the kitchen and get some practice in with the treadle machine. Oh and I do have some scrummy hot chocolate, so not a blue day today either. Ben has had his first run out and was only reluctant to come home.

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  5. Just love the socks .. I always feel a silly hat helps .. it makes people smile and that can only be good.
    Hope life is treating you a little better today.
    x

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  6. Every day feels like a blue monday to me when I wake up and have to go to work!!

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