Once again those things on life that need doing are replacing those things in life that I want to do. Work and other things are still preventing me from finding the time to do those quality things that I want to spend time doing. Mr C and I spent the weekend up north visiting my mum and dad and whilst there I was able to take advantage of their garden and start my latest Rowan knitting project whilst sat in the sunshine. I've started work on the bag project that came as this year's free gift with Rowan International membership. I particularly am enjoying the regularity of row after row of ... read more
Life…
At times "things" just really seem to take over in life. This last week has been somewhat manic: work, trying to sell our flat, trying to buy the house of our dreams, and all this in unbelievably hot weather! This weekend Mr C and I are off to visit my parents "oop North". I'm looking forwards to getting away for a couple of days. Unfortunately the weather forecast isn't looking good, but if we pack our waterproofs we might still be able outdoors and into the fresh air. I'm just hoping that things will be a bit calmer next week! ... read more
Swimming for free
It's been such a hot day in London today that by the time I got the train home after work I desperately wanted to go somewhere cool and refreshing. Luckily Mr C and I have been collecting the vouchers from Kelloggs' Start as part of their Swim Challenge. There is one voucher free on every box of cereal and one voucher entitles one person to a free swim at a variety of places around the UK. The nearest place to where we live is the Cannons Gym in St Albans. Mr C and I used to be members of this gym and only left as the membership fees were becoming so large. It's therefore nice to be able to ... read more
Land Girls and Lumber Jills
I'm always fascinated about the what life was like living in Britain during the 2nd World War, especially for those women left at home whilst their husbands and brothers fought in the military overseas. I was therefore pleased to see a couple of articles on the BBC News website today about the Land Girls and Lumber Jills receiving official recognition for the role that they played during the War. It is sad that they have had to wait for so long, but better late than never. The stories of some of these women are fascinating. I found this photojournal online, but I'll certainly be looking out ... read more
First steps towards self-sufficiency
It's now over a year since I started to put much more thought into my life and how it wasn't at all green at the time. I also started to be somewhat concerned about the lack of skills that I had when it came to doing the things that so many of my grandparents generation, living through the war years, would have taken for granted to aid their survival and help the war effort. At the time I was quite a useless cook, only really did cross-stitch as any form of sewing and was generally quite useless at many practical things. I therefore started to teach myself (with the aid of many, many books ... read more
Friendship and childhood memories
After work tonight I met up with three friends at a bar next to the Thames. This was three women that I used to work with at former employer. I see two of them quite regularly, the third only every so often. This was the first time in three years that all four of us had managed to get together. It was fantastic! Catching up with and making time for people is so important. No one is going to write on our gravestone about how many hours we spent at work, or our dedication to our job, yet sometimes taking time out from work to do things like this can be more difficult than it should. One thing ... read more
Words
I think this is fantastic! Created with the words in the last few blog posts I think it's really interesting to see what words are included - my passion for reading certainly stands out! Created at wordle. ... read more
A summer afternoon…
After a haircut and some book scavenging in the local charity shops (more news of the outcomes later) I decided to make the most of the good weather before the surrounding dark clouds took effect. Mr C and I arranged to meet in the local pub beer garden for a nice drink in the sunshine. A perfect way to spend a summer afternoon. ... read more
The joy of pottering
This BBC News magazine article caught my attention this afternoon. There is nothing I like more than pottering. At present I don't have a garden or outdoor space to potter about in, but even just spending a day pottering inside our flat can be a delight. I work in central London and find all the rushing about there quite stressful at times and dream of being able to potter through the days. I think this article is right in that "pottering" has been given bad press. A day of pottering at home can completely de-stress me and prepare me mentally for the work week ahead. Yet, when work ... read more