September/October Aims and Goals Update

I've come to the conclusion that I'm most productive at the beginning of each month, perhaps I see each month as a new start and I can forget about the things I haven't accomplished in the previous month and think about all the new things I'd like to achieve in the days ahead.

Last month I listed my goals and aims for the year and although it's taking me a little longer to establish a routine here is what I have achieved so far.

Home wise, I've been making a list of all the jobs that need doing around the house in an old notebook and we've been managing to cross a few off. 

Last month we finally put up the coat rack that had been sitting in the shed for the past 5-7 years. It still needs painting along with the panelling but it has made such a difference.

With five people in our home there are numerous coats and what appears to be hundreds of shoes! Since this photo we  have also bought a new shoe bench with cubby holes and a place to sit. I have officially become the shoe police as there is only room for 8 pairs of shoes, the rest have to go back in their rooms. We also repurposed a plastic outdoor storage trunk which had housed Tomas's Bob the Builder toys but it makes the perfect outdoor home for walking boots, I just need to decide where to put it now!

We bought new storage boxes for the patio, I've wanted a bench or seat on the patio for some time and needed a more practical place to put the garden toys that would be easy to get to rather that having to climb over bikes and the lawn mower in the outhouse.

We decided to go for the Keter bench, 

storage box and small shed, 

which were on offer at Homebase, I ordered them online and dispatched Paul to collect them then it was my job to put them all together. 

They were fairly easy and didn't take me long, I didn't want to just throw all the toys in so I re used the Ikea tubs we had they fitted perfectly inside both benches.

I've hidden the small shed around the back of the conservatory we don't use this patio at all but having now realised that most of my gardens tools are too tall for the shed I'm thinking I might put Tomas' bike and cars in there instead and either buy a nice wooden sentry box shed or put up brackets in the outhouse and keep the garden tools with the lawnmower. If you are thinking of buying from Keter I have to say that their customer service was brilliant the lid of the small shed was cracked when I opened the packaging at home, I phoned them up and they sent a replacement out within about 5 days! 

So far this month I have painted the back door and frame, I did say that I'm better at the start of the month didn't I, it stills needs a second coat but I just need to wait until we have a few dry days before finishing it off. 

I also bought some pots to put by the door and I just need to put something in them now.

I'm thinking it might have to be artificial as although the porch faces west and get lots of sun in the afternoon I don't think it will be enough for any plants to thrive. If any of you green fingered ladies know what I could plant then please let me know.

Tomas and I also painted the driveway gates and fence, he did a really good job especially as I'm not very good at sharing my paintbrush!

This was day one and gives you an idea of what they looked liked before and after.

Photography wise, I still haven't sat down and had a look at my course but I did venture out with my camera both in September when I spied these "fun guys"

and then most recently at the weekend when Tomas and I went conker picking.

The conkers were  ready to burst from their spiky outer cases and a few nearly landed on our heads!

Tomas found a stick and we managed to knock a few from their branches

he then decided to use the spiky cases as missiles to hit some of the conkers that were out of reach.

Taking aim!

Health and food wise, I can't say I've been good or bad I've just enjoyed eating good food and I've tried another risotto recipe which was a chicken and lemon pepper one and it was delicious. I'm making another one tomorrow I just haven't decided which one yet.

I think I may have found a yoga class to go to as one of the mums at Tomas' school is going to be running a class straight after school drop off once a week so I just need to find out all the details and I'll be ready to give it a try. I've also added a Fitbit to my christmas list in a bid to increase my daily activity and after reading how Amy from Love Made My Home has been getting on with hers.

Craft wise I've been a bit slow getting going with this one but I have managed to sort more of my stash in my new studio and tidy some more things away. I was quite ruthless with my cross stitch charts and unfinished kits, only keeping what I really like and want to finish and putting the unused ones on eBay for someone else to enjoy. Today I finally started sewing again and I spent the whole day behind my sewing machine making an apron and I think this was the kick start I needed and I'm looking forward to more sewing days ahead.

Early nights wise I've made more of an effort to go to bed between 10 and 11pm but it's been a bit hit and miss so I do need to keep trying with this.

Routine and To Do List wise, all I'll say is if this was a school report it would say "could try harder"!!!

I do think I've got out of the habit of using the computer in the evenings as it's far too easy to sit in the living room with my phone and the TV which is why I haven't been blogging very much but I was thinking perhaps I should think of my blog more like Facebook and Instagram and just post snippets of my day as and when they happen rather than planning some big post that I never get round to posting because either there is now too much to say or it happened so long ago even I've forgotten about it.

Hello 2015

Happy New Year to you all, I've just been reading other some of my posts from this time last year and it has reminded my how much I miss blogging (I've written 5 scheduled blog posts in as many days!), photography and swaps. 

My aim for 2014 was to simplify, and whilst I managed to do that in those early months I think I got carried away towards the end of 2014 and they were anything but simple!

So my plan for 2015.....

As my hubby keeps telling me

It seems that I am easily side tracked these days and my multi-tasking skills aren't what they used to be!

Ironically I had to stop writing this post as I was needed elsewhere and Tomas wanted to go on the computer!

Okay, so I'm now back, where was I, oh yes I was going to tell you about our plans for 2015.

We have lots of plans for this year, there are rooms to be decorated, gardens to be tidied and a new sewing room/gym to be designed. EEK!

My biggest challenge for 2015 is not to buy any more fabric or yarn. 

Now for those of you that know me will know that this is going to be a real challenge as I can't resist fabric or yarn at the best of times, but with my stash at an all time high and my workroom in an all time mess something has to give.

I'm hoping to make some things for me/us and our home as well using the fabrics that I already have

for swaps and maybe even a few makes to sell.

There will be a couple of exceptions and these will be for any bespoke orders and any basics that I need like interfacings and threads etc but I will be doing my utmost to use up what I have and making do where I can.

At the same time I am going to set myself the 365 penny saving challenge where you save a penny for each corresponding day, day 1 - 1 penny, day 2 - 2 pennies etc, so that come the end of 2015 I will have £667.95 to spend on -  erm? Fabric!!! Only joking!

There are a couple of ways of achieving this challenge you can either increase your amount each day or you can cross off an amount each day depending on what you have in your purse etc. I'm not a big cash person as I tend to use my card for convenience I'm just deciding whether to use a good old fashioned jar or an online bank account??? 

I will be sharing my achievements (and any downfalls) along the way and showing you some of my makes and my tidier workroom.

What are your aims or challenges for 2015, I'd love to know what they are and your are more than welcome to join in mine, we can keep each going throughout the year.

My aims for 2013...

I hope you all had a good Christmas, ours was a nice quiet family affair, everyone was pleased with their gifts 

and we had a very scrumptious breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on philly toast topped with bacon and fried mushrooms

followed later in the day with a delicious Christmas dinner, but I somehow forgot to eat my Christmas pudding (I'm the only one that likes it!) so it is languishing in the back of the cupboard at the moment!

The weather after Christmas was appalling here in Chelmsford, it did nothing but rain for days on end, so there were lots of pyjama days staying cosy and warm indoors. 

New years day was a completely different kettle of fish we woke to wonderful blue skies and sunshine, although it was a trifle cold!!

The boys have been hard at work in the garden, tidying one of the dogs kennel. We sadly lost our last Dogue de Bordeaux, Ozzie, a couple of weeks before Christmas, and although Paul said he wouldn't get another big dog, a friend of ours has recently had a litter from a stud dog that we bred, so I think there may be a new addition to the family if the work on the kennel is anything to go by!

Did you all enjoy new years eve? Ours again was another quiet affair, the boys went to bed and Rachel and I stayed up to watch Big Ben and the fireworks. We've never been that big on new years eve, I think its from too many years in the police working nights on new years eve!!! Paul read somewhere that only 1 in 5 people actually go out to celebrate, did you?

With the new year arriving there is a lot of talk about resolutions, I'm not big on new year resolutions, but I do have some long term aims for 2013.......

the first is to get healthier, I found this book in a local charity book shop for £1

 and thought I'd give it a read, which I did on new years eve. It had lots of useful information and I have already started on my new exercise regime. We have several pieces of gym equipment in the garage, including my butt buster, as we like to call it, it's a vibration plate we bought earlier this year and it hasn't had much use lately so I'm back on it again. We also have a rowing machine, a bike,  a cross trainer and a sauna which I am going to make use of every other day. We already eat quite healthily but I do have a sweet tooth and tend to get a bit peckish in the evenings so I will be cutting down on the late night snacks and sweets. One thing I really need to do is to drink more water I know I don't drink nearly enough and would rather have a cup of tea but it seems I should be drinking at least 8 glasses a day, just need to get some limes now to make it a bit more interesting!!!

my other aim for 2013 is to learn to knit properly, I was lucky enough to win this book over on Joy's blog, 

and although I know the basics I've never knitted much more than a scarf before. Hopefully I will be sharing my newly mastered knitting skills with you as I work through the book.

I finally took the rest of the Christmas decorations down today, I normally wait the full 12 days but just felt like I needed to get them cleared away and although the conservatory feels a little bare it is lovely to have it all clutter free again!!! Here a snapshot of my decorations on the stairs before I took them down......

I've really enjoyed reading all about your celebrations, your Christmas makes and your aims for the coming year, I have lots of makes to show over the next few days and one final cracker swap to share too.