Time flies

Well hello there.
It never ceases to amaze me how much I miss writing this blog when life gets too busy to update it. I can't believe the last post I wrote was about the chicken swap. That feels like a long time ago now.
So I guess this will be another update post, with the hope that I can get back in to updating more regularly again.

Obviously one of the things that's new here is that we now have Titch back with two new chickens. Although they no longer feel new. Meet Tufty Sue and Snowball. I don't think I need to point out which one is which.

Since getting these hens the change in Titch (the original chicken) has been amazing. She had been at the bottom of the pecking order and bullied by the other two. Now though, she is the leader of the gang and a proper cheeky little boot she is too. Snowball is a little fluffy dream. She's so friendly and will often creep in to the conservatory while I'm working and fall asleep on my lap (or feet if I push her off). She's even jumped up on my shoulder and settled down happily. Not so happily for me though as each time I'd start to relax she would peck my ear. Not that it hurt, but it would give me a start if I was concentrating on something! And then there's dear Tufty Sue. She's at the bottom of the pecking order, but not bullied. She's just cautious and follows the example of the other two. If they are relaxed so is she. If they aren't however, then even if she doesn't know why she's not ok, she'll carry on not being ok along with them. Divvy thing.

They've all settled in brilliantly and it's amazing to see the difference bantams make to a small garden as opposed to regular sized chickens. For a start, they're not big enough to scratch up the grass or dig holes. Sometimes I move their coop to give them fresh grass to peck at, but mostly just leave it where it is and let them roam the garden when we're home. They like to hang out by the house which means the patio gets covered in poop if I don't clean it every day. Sometimes it feels like a faff, but then if I had a dog or a cat I'd be cleaning up after them too, so really not so much. Especially as I can just hose it off or throw the droppings on to the vegetable patch. I say vegetable patch, the slugs ate everything a long time ago so really, it's just a patch.
And that's them.

In other news we finally got around to sanding the living room floor after pulling up the fugly old carpet. I had thought that the wood had previously been treated as it was so dark. Nope. Just years and years of grime. It also had that horrible tar-like paint that old floors have around the walls. Luckily though, it wasn't too much of a nightmare to sand down. Here's a before pic.

And this was it after Dan and my brother had spent the a whole day sanding.

I've wanted wooden floorboards in my house for as long as I can remember so I am head over heels in love with it as you can imagine. Of course it will get cold in the winter. This is the problem with old houses. The space underneath the floorboards and ventilation bricks in the walls means that we're going to have some wicked drafts in the winter if we don't draft proof it. That will happen though, but we have to wax them first. We're getting there. Slowly.

What else? I've put myself on the waiting list for an allotment. The garden is really Alessi's domain now and other than flowers, there's not really room to grown veggies without taking away some of her space so I thought, why not? Not to mention that any veggies wouldn't last long with the chickens around. The waiting lists are over a year long and I may not get one at all, but I figured it couldn't hurt to at least try. And in the meantime I can keep growing the odd thing in pots. I'll figure out the chicken proofing next year!

Work wise, things continue to grow which fills me with pride, but this summer I really struggled to stick to my 'keep things simple' resolution. Although unlike previous years I quickly recognised the signs that lead up to burn out and took my foot of the gas a bit. As a result, I got back on track. I finished the autumn stock last week and I'm now enjoying a well earned holiday. I say "holiday" although the shop is still open, but not having to worry about the sewing part feels like such a luxury right now. And I really wanted to clear the decks so that I could focus on Alessi before she starts school next month.

Oddly, I'm not feeling the way I thought I would be over Alessi starting school. I was expecting to feel sad, but I'm actually really looking forward to it.
I'm nervous for her. I want her to enjoy school so I do worry about that a fair bit, but otherwise, I'm not sad that my baby has grown up or that she will soon be at school instead of here with me. That's not to say I didn't have a wobble though.
It was in the lead up to finding out which school she would get in to. Most people I know were excited or nervous to find out, but I just ignored it and didn't even bother to look on the day. It was Dan who looked during his lunch break and let me know. And then came the tears! So I did have a wobble. Maybe I've just had it early? Since then I've come to feeling that it's the next natural step for her and if weren't time that led me to feeling that way, then it was Alessi herself.
She is so done with nursery now. My bouncy little girl who used look forward to going and would run off without giving us a second look, now no longer wants to go. It's boring and babyish she told me one morning. And it's not just nursery either. I'm finding it harder to keep her entertained at home at the moment too. She's outgrowing her old games, toys and the things she used to like to do. She's ready for new challenges and realising that has made me a lot more laid back about the whole thing. If anything, I'm looking forward to seeing what the latest version of my daughter will look like. What things will catch her imagination and interest. Where her spark will lie this time. Watching her grow up is by far one of the most fun things about being her mum and yes, sometimes it's also heartbreaking. Thankfully though, right now it's mostly just the former.

So that's pretty much where we're at at the moment.
A mixture of enjoying the last of the summer and preparing for the next season and all that it will bring.

My creative cup, it runneth over

I've been on something of a crafting frenzy lately. May has been pretty quiet as far as sewing new things for the shop goes. Which could backfire spectacular as my dress and skirt stock are starting to run a little low. But I promised myself that as soon as my fruity skirts were finished, I'd focus on making a few things for myself before starting on anything new for the shop. Me Made May which I referred to in my last post came at the perfect time and while I don't have many handmade items in my own wardrobe (I'm always on the bottom of the priority list), I took the pledge this year anyway. I figured it would hold me accountable and keep me motivated. Also posting photos on Instagram acts as a record and I'm hoping that next year I'll have even more handmade clothes and will feel a sense of achievement when I look back and see the progress I hope to will have made.

So far this month I've been wearing my leopard print kimono, green Edie dress and my black and gold heart skirt. Although I forgot to take a photo of that last one so I'll have to try again next week. I've also made myself a lovely summer dress which I haven't worn yet because as soon as it was ready, the weather remembered that this was Britain and brought back the rain. So now I'm back in jumpers and the occasional blanket because I'll be buggered if I'm putting the heating on in May.
Next on my list of makes is a pair of pyjama bottoms and I found some fabric which I have fallen hard for. It's wonderfully kitsch, bright, fun and softer than I could have imagined. PERFECT! I can't wait to see the end result.

And once you start getting creative in one area of your life, it appears to spread in to others without you even realising it. It's like a tap that you can't switch off.

While playing with Alessi and her Hama beads (will her love for these ever die?!) I made a very bright garland for the conservatory window. This in turn prompted her to want to take all her bead creations out of the box and hang them on her bedroom wall.

Then there's the garden and we've been planting all sorts of plants in to all sorts of things. Sunflowers in my old wellies, Geraniums in Alessi's old wellies, a purple plant in one of Dan's old trophies, you get the idea.

I bought a jasmine plant from the local garden centre, stuck it in a hanging basket and hung it above My Spot. 

Speaking of hanging baskets I replaced the rotted and broken willow ones and filled them with the old strawberry plants. Some had died off over winter (that will teach me to leave them out) so I topped them up with new plants.

Now we're nearly set for the summer. All I need now is to work out exactly which herbs and salad leaves I want to grow in the raised bed and we're done. Maybe.

Oh and something else too! Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE cooking. Really, I loathe it. I'm no good at it and Dan will attest to this (I once gave him food poisoning with salad leaves).
Anyhoo our food shopping bill has been creeping up lately and we've been struggling to keep it to the £70 a week budget.  I'd heard of Jack Monroe's first cookbook and recalled that they had only ever been raving reviews. I took another look and before I knew it, I'd purchased a copy.

I don't regret it. It's amazing. Jack's kind of cooking is right up my street. I don't go in for pretentious ingredients and lots of faffing. Cooking still isn't my thing, but I want to be able to make decent, healthy meals for Dan and Alessi, without too much faff and without spending a stupid amount of money. With the help of this book I'm starting to check all of those boxes and I personally think that's pretty bloody impressive. Our last shop came just under our £70 budget and the week before that we didn't even come close to it! And yet we all ate well and enjoyed our treats.
We're in that stage of trying some of the recipes out to see what works and what doesn't for us, tweaking them where necessary. But no other cookbook I've come across has managed to inspire me to even try. So as you can tell, I'm a huge fan.

And as if that weren't enough, we've also been getting creative with the house too. We're focusing our energy on our living room at the moment. It hasn't been painted since we moved in ten years ago. Damp walls and a growing toddler all took it's toll. Earlier this year me and Alessi pulled down the wallpaper. The damp had been so bad that it just peeled away. So there were marks where the paint underneath had come away with the wallpaper. On another wall there were crayon scribbles for a certain someone. And on another wall there are still the greasy hand prints also made by a certain someone with her cheese covered mitts. On the one hand, I feel like these are memories that we'll be painting over and it makes me sad. On the other, I hate the fag-stained colour we currently have and that makes me sadder so I also welcome fresh, crisp white!

So, where was I going with this? Oh yes. Dan booked a day off with the intention of painting the whole room. He did one wall and then decided to rip up the living room carpet instead. I was at work. It could have gone so, so wrong. But luckily we love the exposed floorboards underneath. And they're actually in pretty good nick. All we need to do now is decide if we want to go down the sanding or painting route. Either way, the end result will look SO much better than our old, stained, BEIGE carpet. Beige. What on earth were we thinking??

There is so much more I could write about, but Dan will be back with Alessi any minute and this post is plenty long enough already. Well done if you've made it this far!

An overdue catch up

Oh I've been a rubbish little blogger this year haven't I?

Things were a bit mental work-wise at the start of the year, but I'm more or less back in control and with that has come thoughts of writing again. I've missed this space and how it was slowly turning in to an online scrapbook of all things I adore. I've come back a few times over the last few months just to trawl through the archives and rediscover the things I did years ago. And it was while I was doing this that I realised how future me would regret not keeping this blog updated.
So I'm back and what have I been up to?

Well. Do you temember these girls?

No they're not coming back. Although we are getting chickens again and I could not be more happy about it. I never wanted to rehome our last brood if I'm being completely honest, but money was tight so we had to scale right back. While we still have to stick to a strict budget at home, finances aren't nearly as worrysome. So chickens here we come!
We'll be getting bantam hens this time around as we don't have the space to section off half the garden like we did before. Three bantams will fit perfectly in the little coop we have and they can live happily at the bottom of the garden under the apple tree. They'll get the sunshine, whilst also getting plenty of shade during hotter days, cover during wet ones and will have a section of the flower bed for dust baths. Hopefully this will result in some happy hens.

Some work needs to be done first though. The coop needs a little TLC and I want to make a 'bottom' for it so that they can scratch the dirt without actually burrowing deep enough to escape under the fence and in to next door's garden! I also want to extend the coop's run to give them a bit of extra space.

That little lot should keep me out of trouble and if it doesn't, there's always Me Made May.

Me Made May (#mmmay16 on Instagram) is a challenge which happens, unsurprisingly, every May. During which time you are encouraged to try and wear more of the clothes that you've made for yourself throughout the month. Some people post photos of their outfits, although you don't have to do this. This year I decided to take part and pledged not only to wear my handmade clothes more often, but also to go through my wardrobe, identify any items that I needed and try and fill those gaps with clothes that I'd made myself.

When I went through my wardrobe I found that I really needed some new pyjamas as I'm still using my woolly Christmas ones! They're starting to get a little thread bare, not to mention too warm to be comfortable. I need a lighter coat for the warmer months too as I spend a lot of the time roasting in my current one . I'd also like a dress that I can just throw on when it's really sunny outside. Something that's both comfortable, flattering and colourful. I don't ask for much! So I raided my stash and found a polka dot jersey that's just perfect.

I love the cut of my Edie dress pattern so I'm going to tweak that and make an off the shoulder, ruffle dress with it. That will check the comfortable and flattering boxes, while the fact that it's bright yellow will satisfy my craving for bright colours.

And that's me! These are just a couple of the things keeping me smiling this month and I'll be back with another update soon. Pinky swear.

Ask Molly

It's the end of a busy couple of weeks and last night I came across this article on the Guardian website. It was one of those 'Ask Molly Ringwald' features. Someone was asking how they could stop being lazy and get motivated and as I've been feeling my own motivation start to slip away these past few days, I decided to give it a read.

Two sentences struck a chord with me;

"Your brain desperately needs the hormones that fire during exercise.."
and "..our living spaces are reflections of who we are."

Ok, well I know exercise is good for you both physically and mentally. I know that when I ran regularly, I felt and functioned better. I know that the 'runners buzz' you sometimes hear about is actually a thing and I know that surprisingly it's also addictive.
I also know that the first run is an utter bastard and isn't so much a run as a walk with the occasional Bambi-like, legs flailing everywhere, shuffle thrown in. Because no one tells you that you won't look like a proper runner at the beginning. I learned this the hard way when I caught sight of my shadow during my first run.
The image I had in my head of what I might look like (Paula Radcliffe having a gentle jog), was shattered as I saw my shadow self lolloping along in a slow Quasimodo style. But if you can past the lame excuses, the fact that you will not look like Paula Radcliffe (at least, not yet) and push yourself through that crappy first run, you'll find genuine enjoyment.
So yes, that will be happening this weekend. I will kill my demotivation dead with running.

And of course, the other thing I took from that article was the bit about our living spaces reflecting who we are.
It made me look around my living room and I saw, splashes of pretty, unfinished projects and a LOT of mess and clutter. Which pretty much sums up who I am perfectly I think. If I had to change anything from that little lot though it wouldn't be the mess or the clutter. Which shows how much I've changed in the past few years as I was a self confessed neat freak. Nowadays I view the mess as a sign that we're a family and I've written before about how bloody grateful I am for that, so no regrets there whatsoever. That said, perhaps I wouldn't be adverse to painting over the crayon and sticky hand prints on the wall now.
No, if I had to change anything it would be the unfinished projects. But as Alessi is now at a more independent age, we're finding that time is ours to play with again. That feels like a gift in itself. So I'm sure there will be more DIY and projects coming up in the not to distant future.

This post doesn't really have a point necessarily. But I've noticed that I've been self censoring what I write here lately. This blogs readership has grown over the past year which is what I'd always hoped for, but oddly this has made it harder for me to write as freely as I have in the past. So this morning, while Dan took Alessi out I thought I'd just sit down and write. The Molly Ringwald feature and my thoughts on it seemed perfect. Does it affect anyone else? No. Will it enhance anyones life? No. Is it even relatable? Probably not. Do I care about it? Why yes, yes I do. And that's the point.
I want to get this blog back to being what it was, a personal space for me to write shit. It isn't a platform to sell my work. I share my work here and on social media because it's a huge part of what I do and I bloody love it. But I don't make money from this blog. It's merely my spot on the internet to record my inner monologue of thoughts and today that includes Molly Ringwald, running and my living room.

I fully expect my next post to be about what a stupid idea running is, how I hate my living room and how Molly Ringwald can suck it. ;)

2014, you've been alright

January

Despite the gloomy month, I was determined to hold on to December's bright and optimistic outlook. I focused my energies on sorting through clutter (something I'm doing again one year on), getting plenty of fresh air injecting some colour and beauty into the house to combat the winter gloom.

February

This month I wrote about maintaining a healthy working/parenting balance, not comparing yourself to others and grumbled about the stormy weather blowing down our garden fence. The money we had put aside for fixing an external wall of the house now had to go to replacing this. Me and mother nature were not on speaking terms that month.

March

I finally moved back into the sewing room and revelled in the signs of spring that were appearing in the garden. Alessi turned two and I felt so proud of the little girl she was becoming.

April

This month I got involved in some guerrilla gardening with some seed bombs, unfortunately they didn't take. I also got a whole weekend to myself when Dan took Alessi to Kent. For once I chose to use the time relaxing and pampering myself instead of working. I experimented with kimono jackets which kept me busy and it was this month that I started to feel my sewing mojo properly return. Oh and we got the garden fence fixed. No more chasing the little one out of our neighbour's garden. 

May

My old nemesis returned to the conservatory. Spider mite, the struggle is real people. I managed to keep it under control using some chemical free concoctions, but it as a chore and I don't feel that I've found a real solution. This will make growing veggies in the conservatory difficult in 2015. Not to mention my poor vines. It was also very busy month for making, not made easier by my sewing machine conking out every so often. I spent as much time fixing the old thing as I did using it.

June

Not surprisingly, my sewing machine died. The timing was terrible as things continued to be crazy and I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. We spent some time in Wales and I started craving nature and a slower pace like the one I had growing up. That trip was quite a wake up call as I started to feel calm again and dreaded returning home.

July

After the trip to Wales a little time away from the internet, I reached the conclusion that I'd lost myself in this big old online world and needed to take a step back, or at the very least, find a more healthy balance. Tricky when my business is an online one! I also bought my new sewing machine and called her Mabel. Fell instantly in love and threw myself back into sewing again.

August

I gave myself a bit of a break in August so didn't write much. I missed it though, but it was good to spend more time out in the garden or sewing with the window thrown open. I had wanted to go camping this month with Dan and Alessi, but it just didn't happen. 

September

I as still being good with the online/real life balance. We got outside more and it was lovely to see Alessi share my love of wandering around collecting nature's treasures to bring home. I also started some new projects which four months on, I'm still struggling with. I do know how to make life harder for myself! I also had a surprise visit from my friend and we all went camping together. It turns out this was the real reason we didn't get around to it in August. 

Sitting around a campfire toasting marshmallows and watching satellites glide through the night sky will be a memory I treasure forever.

October

I felt an overwhelming urge to throw myself in to the annual autumn garden tidy up, but as I hadn't done anything with it this year, there was little to do. I felt disappointed by this and so threw myself into everything else autumnal in an attempt to connect with the season. I really missed my garden this year so I might do something with it again in 2015. 

November

This month it became apparent that I've somehow lost the balance between online and real life. Again. I reviewed what I'd done over the past year and soon realised that I've been doing some things all wrong. So there will be some changes in 2015 which I hope won't have a detrimental effect on the business. For example, I won't be releasing capsule collections for spring/summer and autumn/winter. in 2015. Rather I'll be drip feeding items in to the shop as I make them. Little changes like that will hopefully mean that I can avoid periods where I am so busy that I have no time for anyone or anything else!

December

Which brings us to now and I've come full circle. Once more I'm at a point where I feel the need to pare down and simplify, but unlike a year ago, the paring down is more specific. I have a better idea of what needs to go and what I need to focus more of my energy on. That's a good start. 

Looking back, this year has been a good one. It's been a busy one, but one full of wonderful moments and I'm grateful for that. It means I didn't zone out completely to the point of missing what was going on around me.  I've made a lot of mistakes this year, but I've learnt a bucket load as a result so I have no regrets there. 

In fact, although it's been a tough year at times, it's been a good one. I love the new year and the feeling of being able to start a fresh, but if I'm honest, I won't be changing an awful lot in 2015. There will be some tune ups here and there, but otherwise I'll be carrying on much as I am now. 

I think this is the first time ever in my life that I have felt this way. 

Is this what contentment feels like?

Monday musings and conker collecting

 

We've had a lovely weekend. I caught up on all the sleep I've missed lately (please Alessi be kind to me this week!) we went on a woodland walk on the hunt for conkers and I even managed to make a start on the dining room table. And in between there was good food  (Dan's been cooking), plenty of sunshine and a fair bit of lounging around. All ingredients for a happy weekend.

Now I'm looking at the week ahead and wondering where to start. I want to experiment with some fabric flowers and I'd like to try my hand at some embroidery too. As well as that I'd like to keep things moving project-wise so I guess they'll be more sanding at some point. And probably some pinning for upcycling inspiration..ha! Like I need an excuse to spend more time on Pinterest!

And then there's the usual office days, cooking, cleaning and toddler entertaining to juggle.

Well no one likes to be bored do they?

Life Lately

At the start of the year, I had this grand notion of writing monthly 'round up' style posts to help me record our life as it happened. The little details we tend to forget or think too mundane to write about.
Yup, it was a grand notion indeed. I failed at the first hurdle. But inspired by that neglected and recently remembered idea, I thought I'd write up a quick update of what's going on in with us.

Work

Things continue to chug along nicely and I am currently working on a (very small) A/W collection. The collection will be a lot smaller than I had originally planned due to my ever present time restraints. Nonetheless, four new dresses and a couple of necklaces will be listed in the shop on Monday, 15 September.
Next week I will posting a daily photo on my Facebook Page showing the process of making one of these dresses and once the collection has been launched I will continue to drip feed A/W items to shop.

Music

I've been listening to a mix of Lucius, Sam Brookes, Rudimental and 'A Tribe Called Red' by Angel Haze. A bit of an eclectic mix it has to be said, but it's gotten me through the month. Angel Haze to get me kick started in the morning, Rudimental and Lucius to keep me going through the day and Sam to wind it up. And then collapse!

Feeling

Oh god sleep. I need sleep! Alessi is going through a phase of waking up between 3-4am and then once settled, waking up every half an hour after that. Why? Many reasons. Nightmares of monsters, being cold, wanting milk, just wanting a cuddle, because there's a "Y" in the day. I'm just mainlining coffee and looking forward to this phase passing.
Also my diet is shot to crap again. I haven't gone running since April (APRIL!!) and I'm getting through the day eating Alessi's leftovers and packaged snacks. Between this and the lack of sleep it's a miracle that I'm achieving anything lately.

Autumn

Autumn is upon us and I've written up my winter list. I'm collecting jumpers and planning lots of casseroles, hot puddings and wool related craft projects.
Gardening usually keeps me feeling connected with the seasons, but I really feel that spring and summer this year have past me by a little bit. I'm determined to eat, sleep and breathe this season so that by the time winter sets in, I'll feel ready and satisfied that I got my autumnal hit.

The Best Bits

• My Dad coming over from Wales just to help us put down a patio base. DIY is not one of our strong points so his expertise was desperately needed. A silly thing to count as a best bit to some, but to us, it was a relief and a huge, HUGE help. If you're reading this Dad, thanks again. You are awesome.
• Celebrating 14 years together with Dan. We were just kids when we met, but when I compare the us of now to the us of then, I don't think we've changed much. Although maybe we're a little greyer (him) and softer around our middle (me). Here's to the next 14 years my love. May I catch up with you in the greyness stakes and you with the soft belly. X
• Taking Alessi to Longleat Safari Park. The monkeys didn't disappoint. The smile on her face when a monkey jumped on the car and looked right at her was priceless. Dan got to stroke a stingray, I got to feed a lorikeet and Alessi got to highfive Postman Pat. It was a good day.
• Finally getting around to making myself some dresses. My only quibble would be that I've only put short sleeves on them so I can see some unpicking happening to make way for longer sleeves. That way I'll get more wear out of them as the days turn colder.
• And finally, singing songs with Alessi. Such a small thing, but watching how happy this makes her never fails to make me happy in turn. She's yet to twig that I can't sing for toffee.

And that's it. Due to the aforementioned tiredness I appreciate that this post may not make much sense or even read well. Bear with me though, I hope to be firing on all cylinders again soon. Toddler willing.