Everyday in May - day 6

This a kind of 'part 2' or the continued part of 'to be continued -

this photo was taken last year at the Riverbank winery, the one we could see when having coffee yesterday - if you look you can see a teeny red house in the distance - that's the place we were at!   And we never knew ...

I had to be persuaded to post this photo, as I thought I ruined the view!  Isn't it funny how we can view ourselves so negatively?  But I'm hoping you're looking at the red house really!  Or the grass; it's so beautifully green the photo must have been taken in the autumn/winter - we don't get to see green grass that often!

Everyday in May - day 5

Thankfully my anticipated 'tough' day at work didn't transpire, instead it was rather peaceful.  Even managed to have coffee and cake at lunch time with my hubby by the river.  Very civilized, and a much better version of the day :)

The weather looks overcast, but for someone who prefers the cool of winter it was a real delight.  A day full of 'wins'!

Everyday in May - day 4

Firstly ... May the 4th be with you!

When I'm on my working days I find it difficult to get my act together and forget to take photos!  Therefore, I've looked through my archives for a pic that makes me smile - I need a bit of cheering up as I have a tough day at work tomorrow which I am not looking forward to at all!  Some loving kindness is in order, and who could look more kind or loving than our family dog?

Thanks for cheering me up C-dawg xxxx

He's not supposed to be on the sofa by the way, so shhh ... don't tell anybody ...

Every Day in May - day 3

Today's offering is a food offering.  Truthfully it's the only thing I could think of to photograph and blog about - I was so tired after work I couldn't think straight!  Must be the winter coming, I think I want to hibernate!

So this is a yummy veggie cottage pie, made for my no.3 whilst he was trying to be a vegetarian - he still loves the food, but has decided he likes meat again too - just not all the time.  It is also evidence of one of my better ideas of cooking in batches and freezing some - perfect for those wintry nights when you return home tired and don't want to think about being creative with cooking.  It's good to take a break ...

Every Day in May - day 2

I went off into the woods today with my ideas book, for a walking meditation, a conversation with myself :)  That's all I need really for a good dose of inspiration  - my trusty purple pen, my book wherein I write any little thing I want to create or think about (very handy as I often forget my ideas soon after having them as they are replaced with other ideas - I tell you, my brain never rests, which is why I'm always tired!) and the stomping ground of Torwood Forest.

I love the peace of the forest, and the fact it's virtually deserted means people don't see me talking to my dog or blowing out 'dragon breath' as I delight in the fact it's winter now and can see my own breathing!

Where's your favourite inspirational place?

Every Day in May

This post was intended to be written and published yesterday (clue is in the title), but I was distracted by a monumental phone call back home to the UK.  It was so lovely just rabbiting away to my sis about stuff only we can rabbit on about that time changed form and I had no realization of the lateness of the hour!  So I went to bed instead of writing :)

What is this 'Every Day of May' all about then?  It was a brainwave of my husband's - a mindful and gentle way to get me through the month as I approach the anniversary of my Dad's death.  The aim is to notice something that brings me joy each day, and record it somehow.  I've decided to record that moment with the camera, which was Dad's favourite method of recording life's moments.

It seemed fitting to start with one of his very old cameras - a Kodak Brownie, which I found as I was clearing out my wardrobe for decluttering purposes.  I'd squirreled away a box of Dad's stuff that I brought back with me last year, and yesterday was the first time I looked through the contents properly, remembering when I'd first seen them, and what they meant to Dad.  It was very bittersweet for me, but very therapeutic I should imagine!

So, I took a pic of the vintage camera with my smartphone, and posted it straight to Instagram last evening.  I think I can say the first day of Every Day in May happened in the correct moment somewhere on the interwebs!

Tiddly pom-pom

It must be the decluttering time of year - either that or I'm finally fed up with the amount of useless tat I hoard in far flung places around the home.  Last weekend it was the turn of our sideboard in the hall to be sorted, and amongst the debris I found a half-wound pom-pom hiding in one of the drawers.  It was started by our youngest when he was in pre-primary (a fair few years ago; to think we were at a high school open day for him yesterday ...)  I'm not completely sure if I was looking for a distraction from tidying (surely not) but I had the sudden urge to finish it off.  Making pom-poms was a craze for a while when I was a little girl, whether just in our house or at school is irrelevant, I had memories of it being very therapeutic and lots of fun.  So, off I hurried to find some fat, fluffy, soft yarn, that was lovely to the touch but more  importantly would make a speedy finish for the job.  It turned out really well, and it's obvious where the old and the new, as it were, meet on the finished article.

By the time I'd finished it and proudly shown it to the original creator I was in the mood for making more, but seeing as together we had ruined the pom-pom circles I rummaged in my knitting stash for an as yet unused pom-pom maker I'd been wanting to trial.  I shouldn't have bothered!  Just look at the sorry excuse for a pom-pom - it's weedy and not at all 'succulent' and plumpfy as a real pom-pom ought to be!  

The main problem was that it was very difficult to actually keep the yarn on the darn thing without it all falling off.   And the diagram for starting and finishing was so unclear, that although I followed them 'correctly' the whole thing unravelled before I could tie the knot!  My advice is to bin them as I did - the one here was only kept for the purpose of the photo then joined his companions medium and large in the wheelie bin.

Old-fashioned cardboard circles are far superior and work every time :)