Photo Reflections Day 15

Today I have finally finished icing the xmas cakes. It was my first attempt at making them and I made 5 which, on reflection, was slightly ambitious. However, they're Christmas gifts and i'm sure that they'll be appreciated by my family. I haven't tried any yet so i'm keeping my fingers crossed that they taste ok. They've been 'doctored' with brandy over the past couple of months so if nothing else hopefully they'll make people slightly merry! And yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you. the one above does have two 'Merry Christmas' greetings on it, it's actually a rather large cake and is going to be shared between my Mum and Nanna. Hope they enjoy it!

Photo Reflections Day 14

I was invited for tea at my Mum's last night, it was lovely to sit around the table as a family and just chat, sharing good food and sipping tea. Tonight I feel slightly under the weather, I think i'm coming down with the lurgey, so i'm tucked up under my blanket with a hot water bottle watching The Hours. It's an amazing film, filled with so much emotion, it always takes my breath away. I wont give the plot away, all i'll say is that it's 3 stories beautifully merged into one, if you get the chance to watch it then I recommend that you do.

Photo Reflections Day 13

Today i'm dreaming of sunnier days, days when I don't leave for work and come home in the dark, days when I can get out in the garden for an hour or so after work and when I can let the chooks have a roam around. I love the opportunity to snuggle up in winter and the gentle glow of christmas tree lights but i'd still like to odd day of summer light and heat every now and again. Today i'm missing summer and looking at my garden pics from this year makes me miss it even more. For the moment I need to be content with my hot water bottle and snuggle blanket.

Photo Reflections Day 12

I missed yesterday's post as I was invited out for tea and then came home and got snuggled up in bed, it was blissful not to have to think about doing any work on an evening for a change. This evening is another fairly chilled out night, i've done my work and i'm now relaxing with a Guinness. It brings back memories of being a student and sitting around huge 'beer keg' tables in my local Irish bar, with good friends and lots of merry banter. I miss those carefree days and would love to try and recapture that feeling on a daily basis, the first step right now is to relax with a Guinness, lush.

Photo Reflections Day 10 and 11

It's been a busy but fun weekend. My partner came over and we cooked ourselves a Christmas dinner as we wont be able to spend Christmas day together. We put the tree up and exchanged gifts (the tree is absolutely gorgeous, this photograph really doesn't do it justice). We did plan to cut the cake that we decorated together but we were so stuffed that we really couldn't manage any (can you tell that we made the icing too runny?). I'm sure i'll enjoy a slice or two before she comes to stay again on the 27th.

Photo Reflections Day 9

I don't have much time today so all i'll say is - the chooks are still laying. Amazing!

Photo Reflections Day 8

It's been a busy day today, I was up at 5.30am and at work for 7.30. To say its been chilly is a bit of an understatement, it's been freezing! I was so cold and tired when I arrived home that I snuggled under my blanket on the sofa and had a quiet 10 minutes with a cuppa - bliss.

Photo Reflections Day 7

It was my first day back at work today and nothing could be more lovely to come home to than a homemade crumble. I made this yeasterday to use up a load of fruit that had seen it's best days, i'm pleased I did, it was lush! Perfect for a chilly winters night.

Photo Reflections Day 6

Decluttering and clearing space has been the focus of the last couple of weeks and pictured above is todays efforts. For the past two weeks I have been doing 15 minutes of decluttering a day. I started in the dining room and i'm still working on it (nearly finished though, honest). I've had day long bouts of decluttering before but i've found that the enthusiasm has very quickly worn off so i've decided to try and turn it into a daily routine, hoping that in the process it will become second nature and the clutter wont re-accumulate. Since the start of the week i've been ruthlessly decluttering my file boxes, it's amazing how much junk accumulates in there so i've been busily emptying one section at a time and shredding whatever I remove - it'll make great bedding for the chooks and I feel very virtuous for my recycling efforts. I feel so much better about my practical approach to clearing my space and the fact that I can see daily improvements is fabulous. I'm back at work tomorrow so I just hope that I can keep up my daily routine.

Photo Reflections Day 5

I love my driftwood clock. I bought it when I was on holiday in Cornwall and it really was love at first sight. It's made by a local artist called Dom Harvey, you can see some of his work here. This clock was one of the first really colourful things I bought for my home and since then i've started to introduce more colour into my life. My funky sweet table was inspired by it.

I've been conscious of time today, the day seems to have passed me by quickly as i've tried to get through my to-do list. I'm off work at the moment with labyrinthitis though i'm due to go back on Wednesday, so i've been trying to use my time wisely by getting a few jobs done. I've done quite a bit but it's surprised me how time, when you're ill and unable to do anything, ticks by ever so slowly, and yet when you're back on your feet time slips away oh so quickly. So this evening I'm going to try and savour what's left of the day and be conscious of every minute.

Photo Reflections Day 4

Whilst outside cleaning out the chooks I had a rather pleasant surprise. My outdoor tomato plants had provided me with this offering, I can't believe they're still growing, especially when the ones in the greenhouse have long since wilted and died. They've still got ripening fruits on them too so i'm going to leave them for a while longer and see if they manage to fully ripen before the cold weather really hits.

Photo Reflections Day 3

Today has been a day for wrapping xmas pressies. I've still a few more to wrap and a few more to buy but i'm nearly there and can't wait to put the tree up next weekend. I also had my first slice of xmas cake today so i'm feeling very festive!

Photo Reflections Day 2

I love candles, they make my home feel so much more, well, homely. It's been chilly today and i've spent most of the day snuggled under my blanket with a hot water bottle. I lit the candles and it made the room feel so much more cozy, perfect.

Photo Reflections Day 1

This is my little buddy Jasper aka the stray who came to stay. My first encounter with him was as a rather timid furball who was sat on the doorstep of our house before we bought it. The house was uninhabited at the time and as we approached he scurried away. I never saw him again until about 6 months later when we'd moved into the house and he started to show up begging for food. He gradually grew in confidence enough to let me stroke him while he ate and I was horrified to discover that beneath the fur he was flesh and bone. I've never really liked cats but I instantly made the decision, against my partners wishes, to take him in and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. I love him to bits and he's been a fantastic buddy to me over the years, I wouldn't swap him for the world.

December intentions

I feel so much more focussed when I have a mini plan to follow so i'm going to set some intentions for December. I feel my life lacks creativity at the moment so i'm going to focus my December intentions on being more creative and mindful. So this month I will:

1. Take a photo every day - this must reflect some aspect of myself or my life (a photo reflection) and i'll post it to my blog.
2. Meditate for at least 5 minutes every day - I need to do this to start to centre myself as i'm feeling a bit wobbly and ungrounded at the moment.
3. Crochet a dishcloth - I want to learn how to crochet and I can't think of a better way to learn than to start off by making something that I will actually use.

So those are my intentions for December and now i've unleashed them into the big wide world i'll be much more likely to stick to them.

I borrowed this from the lovely Megg at Creating Wings, it really resonates with me at the moment.

Sometimes you just need to begin

I'm slowly clearing the clutter from my life. I've donated some bits and pieces to charity and am in the process of ebaying the other 'stuff' and yet I still get the feeling that i'm not really getting anywhere. I'm still feeling stuck. I'm off work at the moment having being diagnosed with labyrinthitis and i'm aware of the general untidiness around me. It feels like a mammoth task to tackle, especially when you're feeling off balance, but I just need to remind myself that if I deal with a tiny bit at the time then I will get there - sometimes you just need to begin. So that's what I will do, today I will declutter the living room table, i'll take the books and magazines and return them to their shelves, recycling what I no longer need, and in the process of decluttering i'll feel a teeny bit happier within myself.

Hectic half term holidays

Well that's it, half term is virtually over and it feels like the week has flown by in a burst of activity. I had quite a bit of school work to do which took up the first 3 days of my hols, I also managed to get quite a lot of decluttering done which has made my head-space feel much lighter despite not making a huge visual impact on my home.

I feel like i'm going through a period of change at the moment and really need to clear my space, my shelves are filled with books that i'll never read again and my ebay pile is constantly expanding rather than contracting, it's time to do something about it. In my heart I feel like i'm not living the life that I could be, I need to be creative and yet i'm stuck in a job which gives me very little time for myself, things need to change. I'm not prepared to leave my job yet but I do need to start to focus on what I truly want to do with my life. I don't feel that teaching is my dream job but, as yet, i'm not quite sure what is, so it's time to start looking at alternatives and making small changes along the way so that I don't start to stagnate. For the moment decluttering seems to be the main focus and hopefully as I clear out the 'old' i'll make way for the 'new'. Lets hope so.

Lotion bars

Thank goodness that half term is here, I feel like I need a week to catch up on all the outstanding work I have to do let alone have a break! However, in the midst of taking a break from my work yesterday I cooked up some lotion bars courtesy of Crunchy Betty. I think they turned out pretty well. This one's a lush lavender and vanilla scented bar - yum!

Decluttering

Despite been massively busy this week i've dedicated some time each evening to decluttering my home. So far i've got rid of two bags full of rubbish and have listed at least 10 items on ebay, so i'm feeling quite proud of myself. I was hoping to do some more this evening but i've got such a bad headache that I think i'm going to take myself off to bed and try and sleep it off, hopefully normality will be resumed soon. In the meantime, this video has kept me amused this week:

Intentions

I often find that work can swallow up my time leaving very little for me, so after reading this post on the fabulous Crunchy Betty site I decided to indulge in setting some intentions. This month I will:

1. Meditate 5 times per week
2. Blog at least once a week
3. Make these yummy lotion bars

Hopefully i'll be able to add a photo of the finished result at the bottom of this blog post.

Books

Books are my one weakness, notice I've said books and not reading. While I do enjoy reading, I have more of an obsession with buying books. My wishlist on Amazon is huge and I do tend to get a little carried away, forgetting all the books I have sat on my shelf, and before I know it a new book is winging it's way to me.

I've been thinking that this year, the year of the big 30, i'd really like to get serious with decluttering my home and creating space. To me, decluttering is a two part process, releasing things that I no longer need whilst also limiting what comes into my home...hmmm, I suspect there's a spiritual aspect going on here too...so to start with I am going to read all of the books that I have and not allow myself to buy any more. I am imposing a book buying ban on myself. It's going to be hard but until I have read all of the books that I own - or got rid of them because I no longer want to read them - I am not going to allow any more into my life.

Here's my list of what I need to read so far...though I suspect the list may grow as I discover more lurking on my shelves:

1. Cloud Atlas
2. The Secret Scripture
3. A Cat Called Norton
4. Behind the Scenes at the Museum
5. Lucky Jim
6. Wicked
7. A General Theory of Love
8. Lust for Life
9. Return to Wuthering Heights
10. The Man Who Disappeared
11. Blood and Ice
12. From Dead to Worse
13. Man and Boy
14. The Future Just Happened
15. The Only Way is Up
16. Altogether Dead

It seems like I have plenty to keep me going!

Reflections on turning 30

I turned 30 a couple of days ago and i've spent the last few days pondering which things i've achieved that I put on my list just over a year ago. It's interesting to see how much my priorites have changed within the year, for example, over the past 365 days there hasn't even been a moment where I felt any desire to experiment with affirmations or learn to play the didgeridoo. Yet I have spent vast amounts of time growing my own veggies and focussing on turning my house into a home.

As a comparison I've come up with a list of 30 things I did before turning 30:
1. Became a solo home-owner
2. Grew my own veggies
3. Decorated the hallway
4. Decluttered lots of junk from my home (though this is still ongoing)
5. Planted a plum tree
6. Planted an apple tree
7. Created a driveway
8. Built a fence around the back garden (well, I paid someone to do it)
9. Bought some chickens
10. Adopted some fish
11. Bought new blinds for the bathroom
12. Learnt how to make rhubarb crumble
13. Became financially independent
14. Overpaid on the mortgage
15. Bought 2 new cars!
16. Ate healthly, home-cooked meals
17. Read more books
18. Got to know my neighbours
19. Started a new relationship
20. Spent more time with my family and friends
21. Made a 5 year plan (though i'm aware that this may change)
22. Painted my front door in fabulous blue
23. Took on the overgrown ten-foot and won!
24. Saw Tim Minchin live
25. Learnt that I actually enjoy DIY
26. Brought out my table's inner funkiness
27. Realised that i'm stronger than I ever thought I was
28. Started to learn how to pickle and preserve my garden produce
29. Blogged infrequently
30. Discovered and keep discovering different facets of myself

With all things taken into consideration, I think it's been a rather immense year...I wonder what this year will bring?

Potatoes in the compost heap!

Look what I found growing in my compost heap:


I suspected there might be something going on when I saw the stems emerging from the top of the bin but I didn't expect to unearth such fine, perfectly edible specimens when I turned the heap.

It's been almost a year since I took over the role of head (well only) gardener and I have learnt so much along the way, for example, don't be too eager to start off your seedlings or they will, as I have found, die and you'll be back where you started. Also, that fleece isn't the best way of protecting cabbages when you live on the windy coast. There's still so much to learn too, especially as i'm a bit of a magpie when it comes to gardening and I like to try out everything at once instead of learning a little bit at a time. It's exciting though and I felt so proud when my Nanna, a seasoned gardener, commented that my veg patch was doing well.

This year, I've fallen in love with the Real Seeds website and have purchased most of my seeds from them, in fact i've bought so many that I think I may even be able to set up my own shop! But I like the fact that they encourage you to save your own seed from what you grow and use it in future years, so in theory you only need to purchase the seeds once. They also have lots of unusual varieties such as the exploding cucumber, which i've chosen to stay well away from!

The magpie in me is also being enticed by the moreveg website, although, so far i've managed to refrain from ordering anything from them as I keep telling myself I have enough seeds and I don't need any more. I do think their monthly sowing offers are great though and if I found I had enough space i'd probably opt for one. I'm also tempted by the funky veg gift set with it's blue cabbages and purple carrots!

So yes, a year on and I think i'm even more enthused about growing my own veggies than I was when I started. Long may it continue!

I never thought I could get so excited about pulling up radish - but they are just so much bigger than what you find in the shops!

I have chickens...well hens!

As part of my focus on turning my house into a home i've taken the next step towards self-sufficiency and have bought some chickens. They arrived just over 3 weeks ago and are some of the most fabulous and quirky little creatures i've ever come across - i've lost count of how many times i've had my toes pecked, they just don't seem to realise that they're not edible! I bought the complete starter package from Chicubes and opted for the extra large run as I knew I wouldn't be able to let the chooks free range while I was at work. It came with everything I needed to get up and running, right down to the hens, which were three rescued ex-barn hens. So far my chooks seem very happy and I seem to average about 2 eggs per day from them, though I suspect that one isn't laying yet. It doesn't matter though, so far they've provided me with hours of amusement simply by their quirkiness, and it warms my heart to think that i've given them a better future than they would have had, the eggs are just a tasty bonus.

Anais and Violet on their first day of freedom - Lilly is still hiding inside!

Having a nosey around the garden (once again Lilly is being camera shy).

Lilly comes to say hello.

Busy, busy, busy

I've been meaning to post for a long time but there always seems to be something else demanding my attention. My life has been very much centred around my home for the past year, I suppose that since i've had to take on sole responsibility for the house i've been much more proactive in getting things done as I know that unless I do it no-one else will.

Reflecting on the things i've done I guess i've come quite a long way. Since taking over the house i've had the kerb dropped so that now I have a driveway, decorated the hallway, arranged for some new blinds to be fitted, had the leaky kitchen roof repaired, stripped down and painted the front door, renovated the living room table, had a fence built around the back garden, planted a plum tree as well as ventured into the realm of growing my own veg. Every weekend has brought new household bits and bobs that needed to be done.

However, recently i've felt a bit out of touch with myself and had a few low days and i've come to the conclusion that i've gone into 'house overload' and have been neglcting the things that I love. I need to find time for 'me' and give myself some space to regroup. I'd love to go on holiday for a few days but I can't afford it at the moment so i'm going to have to create some 'me' time whilst remaining at home. Thankfully, I have the six weeks holiday ahead of me (yep i'm a teacher) so that should give me a kickstart, but I know it will be all too easy to fill my days with housey things so i'm going to set myself a target of giving myself an hours 'me' time a day, minimum, and see where that takes me.

Wish me luck - I think I might need it!

30 things - Buy a plum tree for my garden

In this post here I listed 30 things I wanted to do before I was 30. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't been keeping an eye on the list but when I looked over it the other day I found that i've been doing lots of things on there already. One of the things on the list was to buy a plum tree for my garden, it's something that i've always wanted but when I was with my partner our plans were for this house to be more of a stop gap while we got some money together, paid off our mortgage asap and moved on to our dream home, so a plum tree was going to have to wait until we moved.

Looking back now, I realise that we really put our lives on hold and were forever living for the future. Strangely enough, since our separation, my views have completely changed and while a mortgage free future would be amazing i've realised that you still have to live for the present moment because, as cliched as it sounds, you never know what the future is going to bring. The fear of losing the house when we separated jolted me into realising how it had become a home for me, not just a stop gap. Needless to say, the first thing I did when I found out that I was able to keep the house was order a plum tree and bizarrely enough it arrived on the day I finally completed on the house.

Planting it was backbreaking work. The soil around here is a heavy, clay type the forms a rock hard crust if there hasn't been enough rain. I hadn't thought ahead to clearing the area of weeds and brambles so that had to be done before I could even think about digging a hole large enough to accommodate it's roots.

I suppose really this year has been a bit of a learning curve for me, previously the garden was largely my partners domain and i'd do the odd spot of weeding and pick a few strawberries or tomatoes but that was it, but to dig out a load of brambles, prepare the soil and plant a tree - that was completely unheard of! Anyway, I was quite impressed with the results, even if the plum tree (aka Twiggy) did look a bit wonky, i've even started to consider myself a bit of a gardener!

The plum tree look much happier now, it's started to sprout some leaves and hasn't blown away yet in the strong gales we've been having so I think I must have done an okay job.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Table antics

I've been busy renovating my living room table and trying to give it a new lease of life. I started with this:

Which turned into this:

Which after painting with duck egg blue paint looked like this:

Then I added some funky sweet design paper to the legs and table top to create this:


Yummy!
Have a good Sunday!

Whoops!

Well I haven't been on here for ages, life and all it's busyness took over for a while...a very long while in fact. There were times when I thought about this blog and the posts i'd like to make but there has just been so much to do that by the end of the day i've been too exhausted and any attempts at 'posts' would have been nothing more than incoherent drivel! Over the past 8 months i've learnt that sometimes you've just got to stop, in fact I think that one little piece of advice has kept me sane. There really has been so much to do, i'm not quite sure how I managed fit it all in! I'm now officially a single homeowner after buying my ex out of his share of the house. Despite not being married there was still so much to do and the process of transferring the mortgage took a whopping 6 months to complete - the paperwork seemed to be lost at least 4 times which didn't make things any easier. Then the changing of names on bills seemed to go on forever and there were joint accounts to close too, combine this with various car problems and a nasty house leak, not to mention the actual process of coming to terms with the breakup and things seem to have been pretty much relentless.

However, it hasn't all been doom and gloom. In fact i've been quite productive over the last few months and i'm quite impressed with my efforts. I've redecorated the hallway, complete with a new carpet, and i've even made my own lampshades too! I've also had the kerb at the front of the house dropped so that I now have a driveway, plus i've bought a new car to go on it (yay!). I've managed to tame the garden, which sadly had been left to it's own devices since August, but which is now fully under control complete with a freshly dug over veg patch, a wildflower bed and plenty of seedlings sprouting in the greenhouse - i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they'll keep growing. I've also kept myself well fed with plenty of home cooked meals, though I must admit that batch cooking has been a real saviour.

I'll update more soon, hopefully with some garden pics...but in the meantime here's what the wildflower patch looked like before...



and after my conifer clearing session...



I was quite proud of my efforts and I can't wait until the wildflowers start to grow!