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.

Goodbye Summer Hello Autumn

I hope you have all had a super summer break, ours has been filled with lazy days and family fun and has passed rather quicker than anticipated. I love this time of year and see it as a beginning rather than an end. With the school year just around the corner and new beginnings in mind I'm joining in with some fellow bloggers and making a list of some aims and goals that I would like to achieve during 2015/2016.

1. To improve and increase my photography. Several months ago I signed up for an online photography course, I downloaded the course work and never got around to starting it. So once the children are back in school I'm going to make a start on the first assessment. I also want to start taking my camera out more. I used to take it everywhere but that stopped so I would like to start again.

2. To eat more healthily by eating more fruit and less sugar and no more late night snacking! I am going to try some new recipes too as we seem to have got stuck in a menu routine that really needs changing.

3. To be more active, I'd love to try a yoga class, so whilst I'm looking for a class to try I will be trying out a few moves at home. Swimming is also on my list and I will need to tweak my morning routine if I'm going to fit this in.

4. To finish off my many unfinished projects - there are lots let me tell you! I've been really good and continued with my fabric buying ban so this will continue and I try to use my stash in any new projects.

5. Early nights - I'm a bit of a night owl and this tends to catch up with me eventually so I'm going to try to go to bed at a more reasonable time of 10-10.30 (oops it's gone passed 10.30 already but this is my second attempt at writing this post as the first one disappeared)
I need to make more use of Netflix and on demand TV rather than staying up late to watch TV.

6. Home improvements, we have been in our home for 12 years now. Initially we were never supposed to stay but we love our little home and although we have made some big improvements, most of which I've blogged about, there are some rooms that now need redecorating and some that need finishing off. I also need to add those finishing touches that never happened as were always thinking about moving.

7. To do lists and routine, I do love a list and tomorrow I shall be printing off a daily to do and routine list. When the older two children were small we had more routine but with Mr Mad About Bags now retired and at home full time and with the older two not needing so much of a routine I've let things slip and there always seems to be tomorrow. I'm definitely a procrastinator and am easily side tracked by Pinterest and Facebook so I need to be stricter about the time I spend on the computer and use my time wisely, especially in the evening.

I think that should do for now I'm sure there are more things I could add and maybe I will in the coming months but it's now way past my new bedtime so I shall bid you all a goodnight x

Pop over to Gem's blog to see her aims and goals too x

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Tale of the Lost Duckling

A little while ago my daughter Rachel asked me to make something duck themed for a friends little boy's first birthday. After lots of searching on Pinterest and Ravelry I found this sweet Just Duckie Lovey by Lisa van Klaveren and set about making the duck.

 I haven't made any 3D figures before so this little fella was a baptism of fire and once I got my head around the pattern terminology he didn't take long to finish. I popped him on top of the TV cabinet and made a start on the blanket part.

I just couldn't get to grips with the ripple stitch in this pattern so I replaced it with Attic 24's ripple pattern which crochets up beautifully and quickly. 

In order to get the present finished (I was behind schedule as we were renovating the garage at the same time) I took it with me to Tomas' swimming lesson one Sunday morning and as happens when you crochet/sew or knit in public I was soon deep in conversation with one of the other mum's about crochet and crafting in general. Cue the end of the lesson, I grabbed my crochet hook, wool and half finished blanket and popped them in my oh so lovely plastic carrier bag, (note to self - make a pretty project bag as plastic bags just don't cut it!) and made my way to the changing rooms to meet Tomas. Later that evening when I was finishing off the last rows of the blanket I took a look in the bag for the duckling to find that he WASN"T THERE! A frantic search of the living room began, was he hiding behind the sofa cushions, had I put him in my stash box, where on earth could he have disappeared to??? 

I honestly can't remember taking him to the swimming pool with me but that was my last resort so I messaged the swimming teacher and began my message with "I know this is going to seem strange BUT, you didn't happen to find a small crochet duckling beside the pool did you?" The swimming teacher replied without the hint of a snigger or laugh (although it is hard to tell in a text message) "No, sorry I didn't", and because it was a Sunday there wouldn't be anyone at the school where the swimming lessons take place so I had to wait until the Monday to find out if I had left him there. I rang the school office first thing on the Monday morning and asked for the caretaker who kindly said he would take a look for me and didn't seem at all phased by my question "Please can you have a look and see if there is a small yellow crocheted duckling in the pool?"
An hour later the phone rang and the caretaker was back on the line, YES he was there and none the worse for his little overnight adventure. Would I like to collect him from the school office he asked, "Yes please", I said, "I'll come straight away, thank you so much". Apparently finding my little yellow crocheted duckling made him smile that day and perhaps he will tell his family of the mad woman who crochets whilst her son swims and forgets to take her projects home. Next time though I WILL double check that I haven't left anything behind.
And as for the duckling, he was finally sewn onto his blue ripple lovey and belatedly given to the birthday boy!

Share Your Country Swap Update

Back in February Kimberley over at Creative Chaos organised a Share Your Country Swap with the aim of sending 5 things that symbolise the country you live or were born in.

I was partnered with Sue from The Life and Times of Super Sue, this was a new blog to me and once Sue and I started chatting via email it soon became apparent that we have lots and lots in common, including a love of all things foxy and I think that Sue was right when she said that she is "my sister from another mister". I really enjoyed getting to know Sue and putting together my parcel for her which took a little longer than expected and an even shockingly longer time to blog about!

Anyway enough of my rambling, I know you all just want to see what we sent each other so let's get on to the photos.

Sue wrapped all my gifts in dress making pattern paper.

   

Each one with a little tag hinting as to what I might find inside.

Touristy bits with class - definitely!

A pretty notebook which I have hidden from my daughter Rachel!

Three fabulous fabrics which I have lovingly added to my stash and now I just need to find the perfect project for, time to starting pinning again I think!

These were too lovely to be hidden away until Christmas 

so have been added to the walls of my new studio.

My favourite New Zealand tea, which is sadly not being made anymore, so I'm savouring this last box.

A gorgeous brooch/pendant in one of my favourite colours, what's not too love!

A couple of New Zealand magazines, to be enjoyed in my new studio with a cup of New Zealand tea (see above)

Both Sue and I love foxes and Sue made me this amazing pouch,

which when I unzipped it contained......

...these sweet poppets, tiny balls of yarn,

I haven't decided yet whether to make something from them 

or use them to decorate a wreath for my studio.

The foxy themed continued with this New Zealand made wooden fox brooch.

There was also this very arty New Zealand sheep tea towel

And finally this very pretty necklace made from an old stamp.

As you can see Sue thoroughly spoiled me and I loved everything in my parcel.

Thank you Sue for being such a wonderful swap partner and for letting me know I have a sister all the way over in New Zealand!

Here's what I finally sent to Sue.

It became apparent right from the start that Sue has "a thing" for London buses, 

Cath Kidston and polka dots, 

so I made this Cath inspired spotty London bus cushion for her.

I found these London bus themed goodies on Ebay and had to hide the mug from my hubby as he thought it was a gift for him!!! I think it would look fab holding pencils/paintbrushes or I did think it could be turned into a pin cushion.

Although I am still on my fabric buying ban (and still going strong) I can

buy for swaps if I need to and as I didn't have anything suitable in my stash and Mrs Kidston had kindly designed this London bus fabric I found on Ebay I thought it rude not to send it to Sue.

Both Sue and I love a cup of tea, but Essex is known for it's salt and not it's tea leaves, so I opted for a good old Yorkshire tea to be enjoyed with as many Toffifees as Sue can fit in her mouth in one go!

Essex is a funny county and quite misunderstood by those that have never visited and this tea towel sums up my rural seaside home rather well.

My parcel to Sue wouldn't have been complete without something foxy. 

The lovely Angela from Card Bubble designed these fabulous foxy cards 

And I added a foxy cross stitch kit and a couple of foxy stationary bits to finish off.

This swap was so much fun to take part in and I really enjoyed getting to know Sue. 

Thank you Kimberley for organising another super Share your Country Swap and thank you to sue for being such a generous swap partner. 

Best Laid Plans.....

Well, my best laid plans for blogging more and getting into a routine went out the window shortly after I wrote my last blog post at the beginning of the month. A nasty chesty cough and the looming school holidays meant that by the time I was feeling better it was time for Tomas to break up from school which in turn meant no time to catch up on things so I thought I would start again!

Thank you for all your brilliant comments on your routines and what works best for you I will be trying to put so of these ideas into play over the coming months. 

We have been without any power for most of today and it is amazing how reliant we have all become on being plugged into some device or other, whether that is the TV or some other gadget. We have kept ourselves entertained with games of pool on the children's play table and playing card games. I managed to get a little painting finished too on the summerhouse but more about that in another post.

The power is now back on and the house is eerily quiet with Rachel and Jack in their rooms, Paul watching TV upstairs and Tomas who was watching TV in the living room now playing pool again, so I thought I would use this time wisely, i.e not waste it on Facebook or Pinterest!

I have lots of catch up posts to share with you so I'm going to try and schedule these over the next couple of weeks as well as posting about what we are up to during the holidays and what I am making or working on.

I have some blog reading to catch up on too so I think that is my evening sorted out.

Sorry for the lack of pretty pictures in my last few blog posts I'm hoping that the next few posts will be a bit more visually pleasing :-)

Routine - a way back into blogging

Do you have a routine or are you more of a laid back 'do it tomorrow' kind of person?

I'm thinking that a more structured routine might help with regular blog posts and crafting.

I do have a routine with the children, school, bedtime and meals etc but I'm finding that the bit in the middle and my evenings are running away with themselves without much being achieved. Don't get me wrong we have had a busy few weeks converting the garage and swapping sheds so it may just be that now things have slowed down and the progress on getting my new studio straight is taking longer than I would like but I do feel I need a bit more structure to my day to achieve the little things before they become big things!

With both me and Mr MadAboutBags at home during the day it's really easy to think "oh we'll do that tomorrow, let's have a cup of tea" and before we know it's nearly time for the school run and as we all know the time between 3pm and bedtime is super, super busy and with these light evenings by the time I sit down I'm absolutely pooped and the last thing I feel like doing is sitting at the computer or behind my sewing machine.

I also have a new (I did join months ago) online photography course that I would like to start and finish.

So my questions are :

Do you have a routine, especially if both of you are at home?

Do set aside time to blog etc or is it more adhoc?

And how do you limit your social media time? facebook and pinterest have a lot to answer to!

Deciding to introduce a new routine just as we are hitting the long summer holidays probably is going to be the easiest of tasks but I thought I would begin the month of July with a blog post and see where it takes me.

I'm looking forward to hearing how your routines work for you.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Swaps

Just popping in quickly to tell you about some swaps I've signed up for.........

First up is the 

Santa Sack Swap

you can still sign up as the closing date has been extended until the 11th June. 

This is a big swap but I loved it last year!

I have also signed up to Kimberley's 

2015 Dish Cloth/Mug Rug Swap

Kimberley has introduced mug rugs this year for those that don't knit or crochet.

This is a fab little swap and sign up doesn't close until the 21st of June.

I have a date with my paintbrush again today,

my new workroom is very nearly finished and I can't wait to show you all some photos and get back to crafting, it been a long four weeks!