Friday, December 13, 2019

How do you fill your cup?





I am so privileged to have a winter all to myself.
A winter in a place of my choice, in a cottage I rented all by myself where I get up when I want, eat what I want, watch what I want and go to bed when I want.
I haven't lived like this in many years and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

And yet I can feel a little weird about it at times.
Am I selfish?
Should I do more?
Should I do more for others?

But then I remind myself that you can't pour from an empty cup, and that even though my cup doesn't feel empty, it definitely doesn't feel as full as I'd like it to be.
So this time is my time to make sure I can do more and give more of myself in the future.
I have lots of plans and ideas but just not enough energy right now, so it seems.
And that's ok.

I'm taking this time to nourish my body (drinking big glasses of water all day long, remembering to take my supplements, sleeping in as long as my body needs, cooking plant-based meals with lots of colours and flavours ... )
as well as my mind which really really thrives when learning new things. (more about that later I'm sure)

It's not always easy to motivate myself to get out and move every day but a membership at the pool (and sauna!) helps, as well as my camera - my loyal companion on all my walks.

I also find leaving my yogamat out so I step over it on my way to the fridge is super helpful to actually get on it on a regular basis! 😂

I've made a list of things that make my soul happy, and I'm making sure to include at least a couple of those in every day. 💜

One thing I love for example is going through old photos.
I take so many pictures!
They don't necessarily tell a story and often don't make it onto instagram and just occupy space on my external hard drive ... which definitely doesn't make my soul happy, so from now on they will get more space right here!

What makes your soul happy?

xxx

Aina






Monday, November 25, 2019

And so it is





And so it is that I find myself back on the island of my heart.
The place that's been calling me ever since I left.
Where the air smells like home.

A perfect place to reflect.
To rest.
To reconnect.

There's no place like home, they say.
And I can only agree.


Friday, November 15, 2019

The Orion-Hub - a low emission house.




It's a cool but also a slightly strange feeling.
Mum's house is famous!

I'm pretty sure that the text in the images is impossible to read even if you happen to speak French so let me give you the summary:

Mum built a new house. 
It's pretty darn amazing and fits perfectly in between our 4 treehouses and our natural swimming pool.
"Bioclimatique" means that because of the building techniques used the house is extremely energy efficient.

As I lived in this house during the entire summer of 2019 (including 2 heatwaves) I can witness that it stays nice and cool even during the hottest days without any airconditioning, which, according to our architect Bruno Bazire from Trihab, the most important feature any new house should have.




Thank you so much to Nice Matin for this article.
As you can imagine it makes my heart very proud that even Hector got to be in it. 
More images of the house can be found on Trihab's website.

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Another summer at Orion B&B!


I've been at Orion for 7 months now & finally summer has officially started.

This winter I repainted the floors of all treehouses,
I got creative with old sheets and repurposed them into little cute weaves that now decorate the walls, I'm crocheting cushions with strips of old hammam towels, and we've taken a hard look at what we serve for breakfast and came up with new low-waste alternatives!

I'm loving it. 
The journey to sustainability is a long one, but we're on it, and it's oh so fulfilling. 

One of the things we get asked for the most is our granola recipe.
I won't copy it here because I've already posted it on the Orion blog which finally has come to be too! 

I'm full of energy for this summer. 
I'll be cleaning the pool, serving breakfast & teaching yoga like there's no tomorrow.
I'll also be cleaning more treehouses and do more laundry and ironing than I care to think about at the moment ... but it will be done with LOVE!

Come and stay!
#whynottoday?