How happy, joyful, hopeful do you feel? Amid the usual (possibly worse-than-usual) onslaught of headlines, it can be very challenging to maintain a positive mood, to feel optimistic or hopeful. Personally, I ration the amount of news I expose myself to – because it chips away at the everyday delights gifted to us, daily, by the world (friends, family, beauty, nature, animals, art, making things, eating things, drinking things, sunlight, dancing, singing etc etc). And new research suggests that joy – as I’ll get to – is vital for ageing well.
I’m currently writing my next book on the delights of everyday life, and I’d love to get your thoughts and comments on the little, quietly uplifting things that sustain you. Your responses will form part of my own primary research and – to incentivise you – I have three signed copies of The Walking Cure (which has just been selected as a Waterstones Book of the Year – to my delight!) to give away. These will be posted to three respondents at the end of November. Names to be picked randomly from a hat.
If you’d like to share your thoughts, please use the Comment Box to jot down ‘a few of your favourite things’ I’m steering clear of more complicated things (sex, drugs, rock n’ roll, food, alcohol) and I’m less interested in the very obvious things (hot baths and morning coffee), but by all means include whatever is significant for you. And please write as much or as little as you like.
And if you’d like your name included in the book’s acknowledgments, please let me have your name too. If you’d prefer not to have your ‘favourite things’ public in the comments box, please do email me directly and confidentially at theagewellproject@gmail.com
So… why do we need to work at our ‘delight’ or ‘happiness’ muscle as we get older? In April, a huge meta analysis involving 99 longitudinal studies found that (and I quote) ‘Well-being [feeling positive] predicted significantly lower mortality rates.’ Nor did it matter if respondents were already unwell or sick: feeling upbeat still lengthened their lives. In other words, whoever and however we are, feeling positive will add to the quantity and quality of our lives.
So what was the typical extension of life for beholders of joy (that’s my term) and more positive thinkers? According to the researchers, it was ‘just under two years of extra life for both men and women.’
Two years? Wow! I’ll take that.
For this study, psychological well-being referred to a wide range of positive traits – from life satisfaction to happiness to having a sense of meaning.
This study isn’t the first (although it is the largest) to link feeling good-in-spirit with living longer. Actually, positivity (however you find it and no one in their right mind would be permanently, unrelentingly positive) has been associated with better physical health and longer life for decades now.
Back in 2008, researchers found that positivity (defined here as emotional well-being, upbeat mood, joy, happiness, energy) and positive trait-like dispositions (for example, life satisfaction, hopefulness, optimism, sense of humour) meant less chance of death. But what really struck me in this study, was the link between feeling positive and reduced cardiovascular mortality. More upbeat people were less likely to die of a heart attack or heart disease than their less positive peers.
But the heart wasn’t the only body part to benefit. A positive outlook also reduced death rates in patients with renal failure and with human immunodeficiency virus-infection. The researchers boldly concluded that ‘positive psychological well-being has a favorable effect on survival in both healthy and diseased populations.’
In my research so far, there’s been one source of joy and delight that has cropped up again and again: light. Sunlight, moonlight, firelight… just light, but especially sunlight.
So I was struck by another recent study on daylight. And as the days shorten, this seems a good time to remind everyone of why we need to keep getting outside, whatever the weather.
This study involved 87,577 British adults with an average age of 62, who wore natural light-measuring devices on their wrists and were then followed up for eight years. Scientists wanted to know if their daylight exposure was linked to dementia risk.
Lo and behold – it was! Day light exposure above 1000 lux (that’s a very overcast day or a very, very bright near-window level of light) was associated with reduced dementia risk. Longer exposure to brighter natural light (less overcast, rarely achievable indoors), was associated with a further reduction in risk.
Interestingly, the protective effect wasn’t the same for everyone. Daily bright light was even more protective for individuals with high levels of nighttime light exposure (like shift workers), for ‘owls’ (those with an evening chronotype) and for those with the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carrier status. These individuals saw a whopping risk reduction of up to 41%. So if you’re a night owl by nature, regularly exposed to light at night or simply a carrier of the E (APOE) ε4 gene, you might want to reassess how much time you spend outdoors.
Furthermore, less than an hour per day of bright natural light was a stronger predictor for getting dementia than the things we are usually told to avoid, including obesity, alcohol consumption, and traumatic brain injury.
The researchers were clear in their conclusion: High levels of daytime light exposure were significantly associated with lower dementia risk. If you can’t get out, for goodness sake find a big window and either open it or sit by it!
Here at the Agewell-Project we’ve written several posts on the importance of light. It does so much more than providing Vitamin D. It affects compounds involved in circulation, sleep, immune function, and your body’s natural daily rhythm. But it also lifts our mood. And now, it appears to help fend of dementia.
So please do send me your personal joy jolters, harbingers of happiness or daily delights (I will be very grateful indeed). And then head out … Incidentally, around 1.5 hours a day is thought to be sufficient (on an average British day), anything over that is a bonus. So that’s two 45 minute walks or gardening sessions or anything involving light and (ideally) movement. Remember light is brightest at midday, although we also need the more complex colours of morning and late afternoon light. You can read earlier posts here and here (yes, we’re a little obsessed with light!)
I’m very much looking forward to reading about the things that delight you – and I thank you all, in advance…
Annabel
Bringing joy to someone else – I spend time with a dementia sufferer and his wife and supporting them and making him laugh brings great happiness. Cycling along the Thames to get to their home, all the senses awakened by the damp riverside.
Something new like travel to a new country – South Korea and enjoying reading contemporary Korean authors such as Han Kang.
New recipes.
Exchanging messages with loved ones and hugs where possible!
Thanks, Louise – this is so uplifting to read! I love how so many of us are wired to find joy in helping others – it bodes well for the human race!
Watching bees/bumblebees collecting nectar, they go calmly from flower to flower is one of my soothing moments.
Yes -bees! Actually I have a chapter on bees and crickets – we don’t all like all insects but most of us really like bees (and crickets, ladybirds and butterflies)… which I find fascinating! Thank you, Janne
Things that bring me joy:
First thing in the morning when I go down to put the kettle on, I spend 5mins with my houseplants, checking them over and spraying the orchids and bromeliads. It brings me a sense of calm and joy to be handling plants at the start of the day.
Humming at the foot of a particularly large tree in our garden whilst gazing up into its lichen covered branches is another joyful and calming experience.
Knitting is always joyful. The repetitive action, texture, colours, patterns, of whatever I’m making thrill me.
A Capella singing in a circle with my community choir is a deeply joyful experience.
Thank you, Hilary – this is fascinating and I think you’re on to something with the knitting!
Daily moments that lift the heart are light related. If I am “off” walking on the beach and watching light in the water and that day’s noise of the waves are a tonic.
Holding hands with husband … even after 30 years lovely sense of being sure of each other and creates a sense of joy
Seasonal plants. In the dark days of January hardy snowdrops lift my spirits. Watching which ones have appeared, where and how tall they are getting are a source of joy. I plant more bulbs , miniature narciccus each year around the anniversary of our daughter’s death (she was only 8 when she died of cancer in Nov 2010) as I find knowing these tiny plants will bring joy to all the family during the dark months.
I was fascinated to read about being outside … does the paper mention sunglasses or not?
Thank you, Laura – this is delightful to read! I’m so sorry about your daughter, but think you are absolutely right about the remarkable power of flowers to bring joy – and sometimes it’s the smallest flowers that bring the most…i agree re snowdrops, and am also very partial to primroses, celandines and other tiny blooms… Keep planting!
Oh – sunglasses … good question. generally, the advice is no sunglasses earlier on in the day unless the light hurts your eyes. I think it also depends on how bright the light is, whether you’re on water or snow (lots of reflections that can damage eyes). But I always keep my sunnies off for the first hour that I’m out.
The fragrance that comes from a bush by the road on my walk to work. I can’t work out which bush and the possibilities look a bit spiky and not particularly pretty but it pleases me every time I pass it and it cheers me up at the end of the summer when other plants have given all they have to give.
Gosh, how intruiging. Yes, gorgeous smells are really joyful. Thank you Elizabeth…
Hi Annabel. Love your emails!
Things that bring me joy in my week are dancing – go to a Fitsteps class and I love the feeling of moving around the village hall floor, learning the steps and then all of us moving together doing the same patterns.
Joy comes from my Badminton class once a week. It’s a new class – doing something new brings joy, meeting new people and trying something out.
I walk every morning at 8:30 with my best friend who has MS. We don’t walk more than about 2000 steps but then arrive at our favourite bench and down the next 30 mins putting the world to rights. Nothing better than moving in nature with someone you are authentic with. It sets up our day and we miss it when we can’t do it. (Which rarely happens as we make it our routine).
Spending time having a meal or a drink sat round a table with my husband and two sons. Can be a meal out in a restaurant but equally works if round our dining room table. It’s about coming together to share time when there are no distractions from screens etc and other stimuli. We do all get on very well which no doubt helps, but it gives us time to share what’s been going on in our lives and usually ends in a lot of laughs and a feeling of connection. (They are 25 and 22 years old now – I’m sure that helps too).
I get joy from music ….i like to have a sing and sway in the kitchen when I’m cooking dinner or cleaning the house and it lifts the spirit and help you get through the boring tasks of the day. It’s better if no one is in the house with me as I can belt out a number without having to think who is listening, but it’s joyful to express yourself in this way whatever.
As a contrast I also found joy sitting in my garden pod chair, by myself with a cup of coffee and swinging gently. I’m in nature which I love, I’m swaying ( this movement definitely calms my para sympathetic nervous system down very quickly ) and I find my resting heart rate lower as I listen to the birds and the rustle of leaves in the trees.
And lastly I find joy in looking at things I find aesthetically pleasing. Many things fall under this heading – nature – subsets, views of the Austrian Alps, the Yorkshire Moors, the sea but also a tidy and neat room after I’ve cleaned it, a lively garden after the grass it cut, a beautiful picture in an art gallery, the inside of a beautiful church you’ve just popped in to look at on a walk.
Hope some of this has been helpful. It has been very interesting to write it as you have shown me hue baby things DO bring joy. Maybe the very last one should be realising what brings that joy itself!! Gratitude!
This is a delightful list, Stephanie – thank you very much! Reading this made me feel… well, joyful!
The giggling of my grandchildren brings me great joy. When I see someone I do not know and they smile at me, the surprise of it makes me smile from ear to ear. Having all my family around me at the same time, as rare as it is, gives me incredible joy. Laughing with another person about something funny (not cruel) and my belly aches is memorable.
Waking up to a blue sky and all the different greens in the trees and nature around me gets my day on the right footing. Singing together with people with one intent makes me want to cry tears of joy. The innocent love of a child or an animal makes me smile from ear to ear. I could go on and on…
Thank you, Alys. Yes the smile of a stranger – quite astonishing how it perks one up. This is a lovely list…
Curled up on the sofa with my coffee laughing at reruns of Frasier☕️
Bookshops📚 ‘A hospital for the mind’ someone once quoted. The knowledge that there’s thousands of books on shelves waiting to be read that will enrich my life warms my soul.
Houseplants. Being surrounded by them when living on my own makes me feel less alone🪴
My morning ritual of feeding my garden birds and watching them swoop down gratefully makes me feel i matter to something🐦⬛
I could go on and on but just writing those few things has made me aware of how i might not have realised it but my life’s abundent with micro pleasures that i don’t really appreciate when i allow my mind to get absorbed with negative thoughts.
Lovely – thank you, Carol. Yes, it’s a wonderful practice to write them down sometimes. Aren’t we lucky to have all these books waiting for us too!
One of the things that cheers me the most is seed sprouting in the spring- I feel an almost instinctive drive to get gardening and sowing in January and February( often far too early) I am restless to get going. Just recently, after the long hot summer, the freshness of the autumn crocus has been very cheering
Ah yes, seedlings – so filled with hope and bravura! Thank you, Mary…
I love watching sewing videos – quilting or embroidery. It delights me to see people making things.
Thank you Sarah – making things with our hands is so satisfying. And so is buying handmade things… and watching things being made too!
I experienced joy this morning when I saw (and heard) a skein of geese in flight, presumably migrating to warmer climes
Lucky you! I’ve seen and heard night-flying migrating birds (a couple of times) and I will never forget it – joyful and moving. Thank you, Catherine.
Drinking a cup of tea or coffee while in the shower.
Bonus happy points if it’s after a swim .
Coffee in the shower? Wow! I must try this … Thank you, Tina!
Personal joy jolter! How I love that expression. Mine can be something as simple as this: this morning here in chilly Scotland I have been uplifted by being able to sit outside in the warm autumn sunshine protected from the wind by the walls of the house and eat my breakfast while reading a book. Simple, delicious and uplifting before the real day begins.
Friends, hugs and birdsong
Absolutely – thank you!
Find something beautiful to look at, touch, listen to, smell. Concentrate on a beautiful painting or a leaf on a pot plant; notice the song of a blackbird or enjoy listening to your friend’s voice on the phone; luxuriate in stroking the fur of a cat or surprise yourself by feeling the bark of a tree; revel in sniffing a rose or inhale the scent of freshly brewed coffee. Our senses can give us moments of joy that can soothe our minds and bring us contentment.
Beautifully put – thank you, Elizabeth! Yes, smell is very underrated as a source of joy and I think you’re spot on regarding our senses.
Greeting my pets in the morning. Eating a fig from my tree. Check out the garden plants. Making a herbal tea with foraged ingredients.
Thank you Ann – I am very envious of those figs and know they would give me a huge amount of delight and joy too!
I appreciate your posts on healthy aging very much. Yes to more light posts.
I get joy from watching the birds come in to eat at my bird feeders. In the summer the hummingbirds, and fall and winter, the finches, chickadees, nuthatch, and a cardinal. Also, being surrounded by my houseplants, and last, reading, which is a joy I shared with my mom.
Thank you Mary – birds, plants and reading, how perfect! I share your joys…
The things that bring me joy. A blue sky; the effervescence of light on green foliage; the dance and rustling of leaves high up into the sky. Seeing my children, now grown up, makes my heart swell. Sometimes a song sings within me and this joy I know as prayer and believe to be a taste of God.
Beautifully expressed… thank you!
I have two fail safe things that bring me joy and never fail to lift my spirits…..
1. Picking flowers from the garden and putting them in a vase on the kitchen table. Whether that’s a bunch of assorted greenery in winter or a clutch of jewel coloured tulips in late Spring – it gives me a burst of joy every time I glance at them through the day. AND
2. Making soup – Just the sheer joy of chopping onions, garlic, herbs, and spices, vegetables, pulses and stock and a bunch of bay and simmering it all down to something healthy and nutritious not just for your body and mind, but your spirit too.
Soup and flowers – two of life’s absolute delights! Thank you, Mandy!
Opening the curtains in the morning to let the light in
A cup of coffee in a favourite cup … smelling the coffee while grinding the beans too
Changing bed linen to match the season eg warm yellow in the winter, something much paper in.the summer
And
Flowers on the table
Thank you, Fiona… The research on coffee is getting more and more compelling – it actually lifts our mood biologically. And flowers, well, they never fail…
Every day I am so grateful to have been born on this planet and as a human and in this country. I am amazed I have reached an age of 72 and still healthy and pain free. How could you not be happy to get to old age. Blue skies in the morning, hanging washing out and walking through woods are my some of my top pleasures. Having hobbies is important and social interaction with friends and family brings lots of joy.
A lovely list Kate – thank you!
I find great joy in walking in nature. Looking at my garden with cup of tea or coffee in hand. Lovely smells ..baking, roasting garlic, some candles. Soaking in my bath , cuddling my dog, cuddling my grandson, hugging my children and friends. Watching birds , listening to birds. Listening to music , having a good laugh, knitting with gorgeous wool, rescuing insects stuck inside or in water. Reading a good book, watching an enthralling series ( slow horses, Ludwig etc.). Misty mornings, sunny mornings, frosty mornings, gentle afternoons. Lighting candles, warm lamplight. Home made bread. Climbing steep hills and getting a stunning view. Feeding birds . I could go on …..
What a glorious list – thank you! Rescuing insects – that’s a first, but I’m thrilled to see it here… Funnily, I have an early chapter on mist (vastly underrated in my view) so also very glad to see it on your list!
Dear Annabel,
I started a journal of what makes me happy when I turned sixty – just over a decade ago – so I’d already put some thought into what delights me. I try to find something to smile about, to look forward to and to take pleasure in each and every day.
Friends and family have also been invited to add their own ideas to the pages and it has been lovely to listen to – and re-read – what makes them happy, too.
As a Church Pastoral Minister, I spend time visiting and listening to the housebound and those who are poorly or nearing the end of their lives. It is really important for me to bring them as much joy as I can.
My sixth form tutor, now in her early nineties and whom I still visit when I’m back in my home town, is a deeply religious lady. She has a large poster as you walk through her door asking, ‘Can you spell JOY?’ When asked about it, she says simply: J-ESUS first, O-THERS second and Y-OURSELF last!!
This truth is evident: JOY CAN indeed come from thinking about others before yourself – and that is a big part of my life. It seems to work pretty well for me so far…
A selection of things that bring me joy …
• Being with family and friends
• Watching our little grandchildren become people with their own thoughts and opinions
• A good walk with great company and pleasant conversation
• A lie-in when I don’t have an early meeting or service
• Cheering other people up!
• Giving and receiving hugs 😊
• Cooking, enjoying and sharing tasty food that’s healthy
• Finding time to complete my ‘to do’ list
• Stomping on crunchy autumn leaves
• Watching a beautiful sunset
• Bird song on a sunny day
• Sharing a laugh … when I’ve finally understood what was funny…!
• Being able to add something to a conversation without feeling out of my depth
• Making a difference for the better … to help or benefit someone or a cause
• The aroma – and taste – of my first strong black coffee of the day
• Getting something right when I thought it was beyond me
• A warm towel when you step out of the shower
• A good night’s sleep
Thank you, Dawn. This is so lovely to read. I’m delighted you’ve been keeping your own Diary of Delights. Really interesting research suggests that when we write down our daily joys, the joy is magnified and remembered. We experience it again but we also lay it down in glorious technicolour for the future, which makes us more joyful – a lovely self-perpetuating cycle of delight (and good health, it appears!). Keep up your wonderful work…
Thank you. Annabel, for your lovely reply.
You keep up your great work, too … I love your posts ❤️
I have taught my three-year-old granddaughter to hug trees and now every time we go to the park she rushes to do this and calls for me to join her, with both of us running from tree to tree. I’m not sure which of us enjoys it most but just thinking about it now lifts my mood and gives me joy.
Oh I ADORE this! Thank you…
Things that bring me joy. Hearing out of the blue from friends or family just wondering how I am. That first cup of tea of the morning, Opening the back door, seeing, hearing, feeling and smelling the new day even if it isn’t yet light just brings me the awareness of being part of the world and that it is out there waiting for me. Bumping into someone I know just to exchange a few words but the fact that they stop to speak to me and smile. Birds, cats (not in the same place!), trees, plants, a sudden view on a walk looking across a landscape. Those moments when I can just relax and think things will be alright. Praise for something I have done or said especially from someone whom I respect and like. I didn’t realise there were so many till you asked the question! Thank you. I feel better already starting today.
I love this – and I admire you throwing in ‘praise’ which is so under-acknowledged (but came out top in a recent study on why employees are so unhappy at work so I’ve been thinking about it a lot – so simple but many of us are so begrudging of giving praise – I guess we just don’t think about it. Thank you …
What a lovely response – it lage me smile just reading it ❤️!!
Oh it actually brought a tear to my eye (a happy tear!) and a few chuckles. I love that there are common themes!!
Seeing the sun rise when I open my curtains in the morning. Saying hello to dogs when I’m walking. Having lunch with a friend I haven’t seen for a while. Singing in my choir and speaking to friends I’ve made there. My dance exercise class, the movement and music are very uplifting. Volunteering at my church lunch club and the banter with the people there. A big hug from my son. Getting a washing out on a dry day,especially bedding, as it smells so lovely. The smell of a cake baking with cinnamon or mixed spice, or both involved. Seeing spring bulbs come up.
Thank you, Margaret – I think you have the entire purpose of life in this paragraph! Sunrise, animals, singing and dancing, friends, hugs helping others – I really love your cake smells and laundry too. Appreciated…
I am an 84 year old woman living in the South of the United States,. I volunteers to work with disabled American Veterans and also with blind, deaf, or deaf/blind individuals, and with Hospice patients. I see how these people struggle in so many ways, and I am grateful that I can see and hear and am not disabled and that I am not a hospice patient whose death is imminent. My gratefulness leads me to want to spend time and work with those who are handicapped or ill. This fills me deep gratefulness and compassion.
Thank you Joan, gratitude is so powerful. And helping others, interesting how it feels so good… your message is very uplifting.
What a wonderful subject Annabel!
There are many things that delight me and give me joy. One is ocean water swimming across all seasons. I often go with friends, we have a regular club called the Dawn Patrol (though seeing the dawn is not always how early we go!) on a Friday morning. But I go by myself as well – it is my go to for strength, sorting things out in my head, and yes, joy and awe. turning over on my back in Williamstown Bay in Melbourne, (Australia) gazing up at the blue or grey or cloudy or sunrise streaked sky – that is pure joy and if only we could bottle it. Our motto is – you never regret a swim. It’s not for long, but it always changes my innards and my brain it seems. Worth the effort:)
Really interesting article about light – thank you always.
I love this – sky, cold water, movement! And dawn… a recipe for joy! Thank you…
Stepping out of pilates class, feeling the wonderful stretch and strengthening in my limbs and the cool air of a Galway morning
I so agree with you on this one – amazing what an effect on the mind a good stretch can have (and Galway – my first time there this Summer… beautiful!). Thank you!
Things that bring me joy…
* being outside (especially if it’s sunny, but even overcast days are uplifting)
* experiencing nature around me – I feel joy and majesty when I hear the whirr of geese’ wings above my head as they head for the lake near my house
* in a similar vein, I have a very overgrown allotment and I feel joy and wonder when I see the snakeskin that has been shed by the log pile, the honey bees buzzing over the mustard flowers, even the fox’s stools, studded with fruit stones, that tell me I’ve had visitors overnight
* whizzing along an empty path on my bike. As a child, I had recurring dreams where I could escape from an enemy by running or cycling so fast that I flew up into the air and bobbed along about ten feet above the ground for as long as I could keep the speed up. It still feels like that now!
Hi wonderful – thank you, and keep whizzing!
Things that spark joy: trees, gardens, bird song, wildlife watching, water (sea, rivers, lakes, streams), music, beautiful art, gardening (when I do it), comfort TV shows and ones that make me laugh, chatting with family and friends, walks with views, browsing interesting shops with my daughter, feeling a sense of achievement, looking at photos of past times spent with my children, Christmas lights and decorations (but not the task of putting them up!), making someone else laugh, smile or feel better, my home when it’s actually clean and tidy
A gorgeous list – even reading everyone’s lists is delighting me! Thank you, Ruth…
Delightful moments for me are ‘hearing a buzzard call. I love the sound and to search and find the source is always a joy.’.
The next delight is to catch sight of the moon whether by day or night and the sighting is always followed by ‘look at the moon’.
Oh I love the keen/call of the buzzard too! And the moon – so beautiful, always. Thank you, Jane.
I feel joy when I am outside looking, listening, walking.- shadows & birdsong. By water, especially the sea.
Sharing time with family & friends. Doing arty things, cutting & sticking, painting & drawing. Planning & doing. Feeling alive!
Hello Diana – and thank you! These are all so utterly, simply joyful! Free (apart from the paper and scissors obvs) and available to all…
I like to go out very first thing with my elderly dog, for a loop around our large Chichester garden. I talk to her about all we notice – two female pheasants here, the remnants of a sliver of moon, a new agapanthus flower there. It is the only time of the day she now breaks into a little trot of joy, so that naturally makes me smile. It gives me some morning light and reminds me that whatever happens, a new day is always around the corner.
Thank you, Marianne – I love this, and it reminds me of when my dog was very old – they are precious days! x
I have a staffie so getting outside, whatever the weather, is essential!
I especially love watching the changing of the seasons, how the crocuses and snowdrops are the first flowers to return while the ground is still crisp with frost! The sunlight yellow of daffodils as the world warms up in spring! The early morning sunlight that wakes me before my alarm during the summer! And the misty fields of autumn that wets both mine and my dogs feet! Just being outside fills me with joy! I’m lucky that I live within 5min walk of a big area of playing fields, surrounded by trees that I try and get out into as often as possible! 😌
Ah yes, the seasons… aren’t we lucky to have them? I can never quite get my head round what it must be like to live without seasons, although millions of people do. Thanks for the gorgeous description Sarah!
My fav thing of delight is whilst I eat my breakfast, I look out of an east facing window and see the sunshine thro’ the trees in the garden opposite my house. I especially like the early spring & autumn golden light. I feel sooo blessed to have that.
Thanks, Helen – my goodness, light is important! I think it deserves multiple chapters… how lovely to have an east-facing window too!