Project 52: Week 1

After toying with idea of doing project 365 again (or 366 as it will be this year!), I only got a few days in to 2016 and realised that during the week I often end up resorting to the same few images around the house, and it makes it feel pretty uninspired quite quickly. Instead, I have decided to post a weekly photo, so that I can enjoy joining in with a photo project over the year, particularly as I'm also going to try Emma Davies' A Year with My Camera workshop.

So instead, I'll be posting a weekly photo on a Sunday, and linking up with the 365/366 page, and also with the My Sunday Photo page too. I'll also be making more of an effort to use instagram a little more too, to try and encourage myself to take more pictures when I am out and about.

This week has included lots of snuggles with Millie, and whilst this isn't her most flattering angle, I love the way her mouth scrunches up when she's dozing. She often sits up from a nap with one ear turned inside out, and her mouth ruched halfway up her face, looking adorably comical.

I got a new phone in the last week, a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, which is a much improved camera from my previous iphone 5S. Whilst I do hope to use our "proper" camera more over the coming year, I know that realistically, I'm much more likely to take pictures on my cameraphone, and I'm looking forward to getting to play with this one. Here's to twelve months of improved confidence with cameras, and getting to find lots of lovely blogs to visit too.

word of the week

It is lovely to be joining back in with Jocelyn's Word of the Week project, and having done a calligraphy course late last year, I thought my weekly word would be the perfect chance to practice my lettering and make use of the lovely inks and pens I got as Christmas gifts.

So we are officially through our first full week of 2016, and I think for me, rather than resolutions, I made plans. Lots of plans. The calendar is nicely filled with catch ups with various friends over the coming weeks, starting with a lovely weekend this weekend. We did a room escape at Breakout in Manchester (one of The Husband's Christmas gifts) and followed it up with lunch with one of my university friends and her fiance, hearing all about their exciting wedding plans. Today we finally went to visit another of my university friends to see her gorgeous new home, and have a lovely catch up, then we called at our wedding venue for a beautiful Sunday dinner. It has been gently busy, a weekend well spent, and so wonderful to see some fabulous friends so happy.

I have also been trying to make a plan for our weeks, trying to develop a bit more of a routine. I know that I want to blog, I know that it matters to me to keep on top of the chores and feel like they are not piling up, and that I value feeling like we have time free for weekends like the one we have just had. So I started trying to think about my weeks in chunks of time, and allocating clear blocks to blogging, walking the dog and so on, in a bid to stop time disappearing unnoticed. It was a good way to work out priorities, and see how much free time there actually is each week, even when the boring stuff is accounted for, and a good incentive to try to get into a routine over the year ahead. I planned to join back in with a variety of blogging projects over the year, as long as I enjoyed them and could take part without it becoming too all-encompassing. As a result it took only a few days before I decided not to do the 365 project this year, as I went to bed one night looking round wondering what to photograph and feeling it was more of a chore than fun, I decided to do a photo a week instead, and make more of an effort to post more regularly on instagram, so do feel free to follow me over there too (button on the right)!

Having said all of that, I have quickly realised that the plans are not set in stone. For instance, this should have been written on Friday night, and the ironing I had planned for Thursday didn't happen either. Sometimes life doesn't fit neatly into those time slots, and if I make any resolution for the year ahead, it is to learn that spontaneity and flexibility can be just as enjoyable and important as a routine.

Wishing you a very happy 2016, and hoping you have some great plans for the year ahead.

the year in books: january

As happened in 2014 too, my year in books contributions seemed to tail off towards the end of the year. I did read quite a few more books though, and will definitely be joining back in again with the project this year. It really has made me rediscover my love of reading, and our family has started a mini book club, sharing books between my parents and I, with recommendations and discussions, including text updates from Mum as she reaches particularly moving or shocking parts!

I am very happy to say that Laura is running the project again this year, and you can take part on instagram, via a blog, through the monthly twitter chats, or a combination of them all. For now, I plan to do a blog post still, but I may move over to instagram alone as the year progresses! Laura is also suggesting a single book in February that people could choose to read, which seems like a lovely way of uniting us all virtually, in an informal way.

So, books that I didn't get round to writing up last year were:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - I didn't know much about the plot, but had a notion of Heathcliffe as a doomed romantic hero wandering the moors. It was a lot darker, and more in the realms of a ghost story at times, than I expected, and I didn't find many of the characters particularly likeable. I did enjoy reading it, and thought the writing was excellent, and I would be interested to read some of the analyses of the text, and possibly see how it has been adapted for screen too.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - After seeing lots of mixed opinions on this, I was a little wary, but I couldn't put it down. Again, there isn't much redeeming about any of the characters, and I had sussed some of the plot turns quite early on, but I did find it compelling and it definitely made the commute a little more thought-provoking!

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson - I bought this on a hunch after seeing a poster, and what a good hunch it was. Much like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train it was filled with suspense, and the characters failed to evoke much sympathy, but there was a macabre fascination with the plot and how it would progress. I loved the ending of this book, and thought it was the most gripping one I've read in a while.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - Another one I had seen mixed reviews of, but I adored everything about this novel, even if it did have me laughing and weeping at far too regular intervals. It was a lovely, beautiful plot with very believable characters and one I will definitely revisit.

Kate's Wedding by Chrissy Manby - I found this in the holiday cottage we stayed at in December, and spent a lazy few hours devouring it. It was light-hearted, based on two women getting married the same weekend as the royal wedding, with a few plot twists along the way. Much of it was predictable, but it was fun, and there was enough going on to keep it interesting, exactly my kind of holiday read.

I can't think that there are any others, but I'm sure my parents will be in touch if I've missed any out!

Having got lots of wonderful books for Christmas, my first choice has been Sue Perkin's memoir, which is so far proving to be a brilliant read. Do pop over to Laura's blog if you fancy joining in, and hopefully catch some of you at the first twitter chat at the end of January.

first things first

The first of January.

The first day of 2016. A beautiful brand new year to look forward to with all the promise it brings.

The first day of a long weekend, with plans for dismantling the decorations, pottering around the house, enjoying some leisurely afternoons before the return to routine on Monday. Although both The Husband and I were in work this week it was that odd kind of atmosphere where some people came in dressed casually, and everywhere was quiet, with trays of mince pies hanging around and that general air of conviviality and comraderie amongst the few of us that had ventured in. Next week will no doubts be back to normal, with that gentle disbelief as the day begins that Christmas is over for another year, and that slight disorientation of having to write 2016 for the first few times.

The first family gathering of the year, with a visit to my Aunties, and time spent chatting, making plans for the year ahead, reflecting on the incredibly year that has passed and generally realising just how much we achieved, helped almost singlehandedly by my fabulous Grandad and my amazing parents.

The first day of setting up my new phone, or should that be The Husband setting up my new phone. My contract was coming to an end, so I decided on a whim to order a new one, with a swanky new camera, ready for a new year of photography, hopefully with lots of lovely memories ready to be captured. I always have a few days of regret when a new phone arrives, feeling like I'll never get as accustomed to it as I was to my previous model, but I seem to have taken to this one quite quickly. I've moved to a new provider, and made the switch from Apple back to Android for the first time in years, so am very excited to start playing with it and finding out what it can do.

The first, as you may have noticed, blog post in a while. If you visit here frequently you won't be surprised that I have reappeared today, with my love of fresh starts, new beginnings, and the optimism that comes with a new week, month, or year. It wasn't a deliberate break, but once I missed a week of the different projects I was taking part in and realised it didn't suddenly undermine all the weeks I had done, I relaxed a little. It was a shame not to finish the projects, like 365 photos, and the year in books, and I'm still contemplating writing my last two bake off posts, especially as I was so proud of the Millefeuille! I've been trying to get a bit of a better balance between being a perfectionist and giving up entirely when something slips, and taking a bit of a break from blogging was a good way of realising that I can take a bit more of a relaxed approach to it for the year ahead without packing it up entirely. In the last few months I moved placements yet again, we had a lovely family holiday to the Lake District with my parents and grandad (who was making a fabulous recovery from his second knee operation in less than six months), Millie ended up very poorly in the vets for a second time (we have now discovered that it was caused by her finding her way into her food supply and literally gorging herself sick so at least it has been easily remedied!), I have rediscovered calligraphy, and of course there has been the fabulous festivities of the season. It's not really surprising that blogging took a back seat for a little while, but I am very glad to be back and will hopefully be posting a little more regularly and visiting all of those blogs I have missed very much over the last few weeks.

And now I think the first dog walk of the year, followed by the first early night, and perhaps the first few pages of one of the new books I got for Christmas. I wish you all the very best of years ahead, and thank you for finding your way to this little corner of the internet today, and for any previous visits you may have made. Happy New Year.

project 365: week 44

I'm afraid it all went a bit awry this week with missing photos all over the place! I'm not entirely sure where last week went, but thank goodness for Millie, and apologies for the beagle themed set of photos!

298. Coffee and pain au chocolate for breakfast. The Husband lined them all up on the board "because I know you're going to take a picture" so I had to oblige!

299. Is absent I'm afraid. The only picture on my phone was a cartoon my friend sent me to cheer me up after a rubbish day at work last week. 

300. Lots of early nights this week and Millie made the most of bedroom privileges, getting quite comfy on the blanket.

301. After work I went to visit Grandad and then it was straight home and to bed, with a quick snap of the bedside table on the way.

302. Getting licked by Millie, despite my protestations.  

303. Well there's a phone full of pictures for Friday but they are all screenshots of possible hairstyles for my appointment on Saturday morning! It seems in the midst of that I completely forgot an actual picture, as we spent the evening making fajitas and watching a movie. 

304. And just to complete the theme, Millie looking entirely disinterested in my new hair and far more fascinated by something on the wall, either that or she was trying a new pose after a week of being my subject! Hopefully more variety next week, and a full complement of photos too! 

first things first

The first of November. Can you believe it? I'm finding it difficult to comprehend, especially when my parents' garden is full of beautiful blooms like those above, and we still have a final rose flowering in our own. On one hand the year seems to have flown, and then I think back to Australia, and this time last year, and it suddenly feels much longer than twelve months ago.

The first full day of being a brunette. After getting my hair cut very short, and dyed brown (having always been a natural blonde), I'm still shocked each time I see my reflection. I'm a bit unsure if I'll mange to style it decently for work tomorrow, I'm quickly realising short hair can look very fluffy very easily, or at least mine can!

The first run in two months, to visit my Grandad. It was stop and start, but I turned off all my audio prompts, just listened to music with no clue how fast I was going or how long I was taking, walking when I needed to, and it didn't go half badly. Slower than before, which I was expecting, but not by much, and it was lovely to be out.

The first six in the morning start in a while. I've been aiming for a month of early starts as one of my things to do before thirty, and I am rapidly running out of months! This morning I did some cooking, including a chicken stew for supper (which we dropped at Grandad's earlier in the day - I didn't run with a casserole dish!), and some yoga, another first for a while, and then The Husband and I enjoyed breakfast together.

Tomorrow is the first day back in work after the weekend, which as usual has felt far too brief. However, we have tickets to see a show, so that is something nice to look forward to, and November is full of small treats and little trips, so here's to a month enjoying good times in good company, and the start of the countdown towards the festive season. I love this time of year, and I hope you have a good month too.

word of the week #44

Suddenly it's Sunday night again, and I've no idea at all where the week went. In the fact the same could be said for the fact that it's somehow November too, and I find myself not quite believing this year is almost over. The week seemed to be over as soon as it had begun, with busy, quite tricky, days at work, and early nights at home.  

It's also hard to think that it's less than a week since my Grandad got discharged from hospital. After his surgery last Friday, all of a sudden on Monday night, there he was sat at home on the sofa, and so far he is doing well. We have had a few nice nights together, watching tv and drinking tea, and I'm on my way round there again shortly. I'm going to attempt to run there, and it will be my first run in a while, so I don't think there will be anything particularly sudden about my pace!

Perhaps most surprisingly, I suddenly find myself with very short, very brown hair, after a lifetime of being a blonde. After months of indecision, taking the same pictures to the hairdressers but never quite going for it,  I now have a brown cropped haircut. I still keep doing a double take when I walk past a mirror, and think I need a bit more practice at styling it myself so I don't end up with tufts everywhere, but it makes a nice change, and I'm very glad I went for it.