A round up

It's been a busy few weeks since the start of February. And here we are already halfway through March. I wish I could tell you I had been immersed in some fabulous creative activities but alas for the most part it was a slog of redecorating, putting Ikea wardrobes together and other such exciting pursuits. 

There were some highlights.

Some welcome and wonderful early Spring Sunshine. As the sun gets higher it means my washing has a chance of actually drying instead of hanging lifeless in the shade. This makes me feel enormously happy. Probably more than I should admit in public.

I rediscovered my bread making mojo last week. Some simple white bread rolls along with bacon and cheese rolls courtesy of BBC Good Food and Paul Hollywood

There was a new line in silly hats.

A beautiful cake just for me made by my mum <3

To make myself feel less old I chose to go visit things that are significantly older than I am.

Old Wardour Castle where hubby pretended to be Robin of Loxley and I pretended to be Maid Marian and re-enact scenes from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.

You don't get much older than this in the UK. We didn't sadly visit the new exhibition (the pups had their fill of giant stones by this point) but I must say the timed ticketing worked well. Obviously we weren't the only ones there but it wasn't heaving. Even managed to bump into a foreign gentleman who seeing me in my rather charming hat (Pup2 and the man in the ticket office insisted I wear it everywhere) delighted in telling me it was also his 40th that day too. Clearly he did OK as he got a foreign holiday for his birthday whereas I got a ride in the car for an hour to Salisbury Plain.....

And finally KC aka Mia the Killer Cat sums up how I feel right now, tired enough to sleep on the bed using a laptop bag as a pillow. And I am sure turning 40 has nothing to do with it at all ;)

Looking forward to Easter and slowing down the pace of life a little. 

Imbolc

II am trialling getting up earlier than my usual 7am. No radical 5am starts (I am not that keen) but just an extra hour to try and embrace the fact that I am more a lark than a night owl. I took advantage of the peace and quiet to light some candles in honour of Imbolc. Or Candlemas. Or Groundhog Day depending on your persuasion.

It was nice to sit in peace and solitude watching the flames flicker, thinking about the promise of Spring and just breathe.

I was afforded the most beautiful sunrise. Forgive the last picture I was hanging out of my bedroom window to get it!

It is a time of purification and cleansing after Winter and I had the urge to open all the windows wide and let in the fresh air. However there are downsides to a husband who works from home, they don't take too kindly to freezing cold air blowing through the house while they work. 

I wasn't afforded the time today to break out the home made citrus cleaner but the Spring clean will start with gusto tomorrow.

In honour of the rebirth of the sun I decided I fancied some little mouthfuls of sunshine to eat. 

Lemon and orange curd tarts. I had a go at hot water pastry recipe, something I had not done before.

Wow. Melt in the mouth pastry. I was a wee bit stingy with the curd (so Hubby informs me) but quite frankly I having had to scrape off welded on jam the last time I made tarts I was trying to save myself extra work.

As befitting some Imbolc rituals as usual every room in our house appears to have had the light left on.....it's like Blackpool Illuminations! Good job we have energy saving light bulbs fitted.

Punxsutawney Phil reckons we have another six weeks of Winter left. Whether we have or not, despite being a Winter girl at heart, I am looking forward to seeing the signs of Spring as the wheel of seasons turns.

Busy

For some reason lately I've had the urge to start and finish a few projects that I had planned to do last year.

 

I have been channelling my inner Karate Kid.....wax on.....wax off........with the revamping of our well worn bedroom furniture. I used this recipe to make my own home made chalk paint. 

I was lucky enough to be donated a pin board which I've wanted for ages to cover with batting and fabric to pin my jewellery to. It currently resides in a jewellery box but there is quite frankly far too much and as you can see from the next picture it hardly gets worn for a very good reason.

The result of a little magpie aka Pup2 who as a fully fledged six and a half year old is very into her "bling". I foresee a rainy afternoon with much cussing and cups of tea to pick apart this mess!

Still it feels good to have cleared some much overdue projects. 2015 is turning out the right way so far :)

Winter Sunshine

Not the jetting off to a hot climate while the Northern hemisphere shivers under a cold snap sort of winter sunshine......I mean lovely, gorgeous sunshine in Winter.
It was that lull between Christmas and New Year and the post festive lethargy was getting on my nerves along with a smidge of cabin fever. There were some protests about going for a WALK but I promptly countered with the promise of a flask of hot chocolate to take with us. It would appear that hot chocolate can be a bit of a deal breaker in these situations.
I already had a destination in mind and it was the perfect day for it.

The Ridgeway. Supposedly Britain's oldest road.

We weren't the only people out taking advantage of the fine weather.

The recent cold spell meant lots of frozen puddles waiting to be smashed.

It stretches for miles over the downs.

The perfect spot to linger and drink in the views

Although the sun was out visibility was quite hazy. In the very far, far distance is the Lansdowne Monument at Cherhill.

The sky was an amazing shade of blue.

I felt positively rejuvinated. Perfect winter sunshine.