Sunday 30 April 2017

A Month Well Lived....


I'm a little sad to say goodbye to this April,
 it has been a lovely month.
I have enjoyed just going with the flow taking each
moment as it comes.


Among all the grey, wet & cold we have
had a few sunny moments, mostly very early mornings & late afternoons.
I have been eating my breakfast standing in my kitchen a few mornings
this month trying to catch a glimpse of that sun and playing around with ideas
for a new kitchen that hopefully will include a little dining area, fingers crossed.
I also rediscovered my liking of bagels this month.


Every member of the family enjoyed the warming sun when it was about.
Guinness has always been a bit of a sun worshiper!  
Hard to believe this little fella will celebrate his
twelfth Birthday at the end of May!


Talking of Birthdays.... I celebrated mine earlier on this
month with this super yummy homemade burger by Mr Mc.
No cake for me this year  ....entirely my choice.
For Lent this year I had chosen to give up sweet sugary treats
and my Birthday happened to land before Easter ....c'est la vie.
But even without a cake I still had a beautiful day with
my family, pretty decorations and lovely presents.


I created a small herb garden in the back yard.
There still is so much to do in my wannabe garden but little things like
this make my heart jump with happy excitement for the things to come.


 I have noticed I seem to have a thing for wearing
sparkly shoes to the beach.

 
Well....truth be told I LoVe wearing sparkly shoes full stop!!!
And this month I have went a little shoe crazy
buying an unbelievable six pairs in one go.
In my defense though that is the first time ever I have bought so many all
at once, they were cheap, much to pretty only to choose just one from
and I was in really REALLY desperate need for Spring / Summer shoes. 


Been there, done that & got the t-shirt to prove it.
My first concert in many many years.
Amy MacDonald at the Ironworks in Inverness, it's a nice
small venue giving the concert a very intimate feel.  
The tickets were my Christmas pressie from teen Paperdoll.
Mr Mc & I had a great time and Amy sounds fab live.


With my Auntie visiting for a week we did what we always do
when we have visitors, exploring Scotland.
Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness was one of the destinations,
Mr Mc & I were last here over twenty years ago and couldn't quite believe
how much this place had changed.  It has become a real tourist trap
unbelievably commercialised, nine pound to get into the grounds
of Urquhart Castle for an adult only to be first channeled through
the gift shop ....extremely unpleasant.
The film that was show lacked in substance, jumping wildly within centuries.
Only our funny guide Donald saved the day.
I know I won't be rushing back any time soon with visiting family or friends. 


Thankfully for now
 the view over the stunning Highlands is still free.

 

My new "BFF" going by the name of chalk & I have been fairly busy,
so much so I decided it is cheaper to invest in a box
of a 144 chalk sticks.


Looking through my photos.... I realised I lived a fair bit in
creativity this month really enjoying that special time.


and a wonderful side affect of reconnecting with my blog has been
that I have made a much more conscious effort to capture
these moments the way I like to remember them.

 

There have also been plenty of mundane moments around this month,
seldom do they look as pretty as today´s sorting of the washing.
But mundane can have a simple beauty. 
I LoVe my washing drying outside on the line, it gets that
lovely natural fresh smell that you can't buy in a bottle! 


Moments.... big & small, good & bad, happy & sad
really are all part of the journey and this month
it has been a beautiful journey


xxxx

Saturday 15 April 2017

....




Wishing you all a very
HaPpY EaStEr
xxxx

Monday 10 April 2017

Spring Feeling....


The first few days of my Easter holidays have been so lovely,
just pottering about the house & garden at my own pace.


This time of year is wonderful, Spring has a magical beauty
just like Autumn.  I LoVe this Spring feeling!
There is something about these two seasons even on a mostly
grey day like today, I can't help but feel a cheery happiness.
Especially when drinking a fluffy latte from this little cutie.
 I'm such a sucker for cute whimsy and when I spotted this cup on an
Instagram post by Vanessa from Coco Rose Diaries I fell in LoVe!
Vanessa kindly let us cup-lovers know where she bought it,
only problem, Mr Mc thinks I already have way too many cups,
so I thought better of it then to buy one
 ....but seriously, I ask you is there such a thing as too many?
Luckily for me I have a sweet teen Paperdoll who is earning her own
money and when she came home with a little gift for her mummy
I was DELIGHTED.   
 

 I absolutely love decorating my house for Easter....


cute little bunnies, plenty yummy chocolate eggs


and fresh flowers.

 

My living room is filled with the most wonderful fresh scent of Spring.
No Reed Diffuser could ever come close to it.


I'm so in awe of this little posy, all it's flowers grew in my garden.
Hard to think this garden didn't even exist, nothing but
boggy grass not a single blossom in sight at this time
last year and now I have pretty spring borders. I can't help
but feel more than a little giddy with happiness every time I look
at this daffodil. The garden blessed me with seven of these beauties.


A few bulbs popped into the ground by me in late Autumn last year,
have turned to heart jumping happiness every time I walk through our gate.
I'm so no gardener, yet the garden has rewarded me generously so far!


  I also finally got round to giving the chalkboard it's Easter makeover.
 I feel a bit hippity hop myself creatively speaking at the moment,
I'm full of ideas for the house, garden and with fabric & wool,
my creative me is pushing & pulling me to get going.

Until next time....

XXXX 

Friday 7 April 2017

Reconnecting....


Finally ....today is the first day of my Easter holidays!
Oh I am soOoOo needing them.
  My brain has been all over the place and I'm still struggling to comprehend
that April is already one week old. These past few months have
absolutely flew by, leaving me little time for anything.
In an attempt to collect more of my "blink & you miss it" moments
I started on Instagram late last summer, ....a photo with a couple of words....
perfect I thought, after all I'm no natural writer and writing blog posts
can at times be a real challenge for me.
(Going through a very stifling school system that was all about knocking down,
 rather then building up has definitely left it's mark on me when it comes to writing) 
It was lovely how on Instagram I found old friends and rediscovering bloggers
whose blogs I very much enjoyed previously but who had since given up on blogger-land.
There is a nice feeling of instant connection about it all, a sharing
in the publishers moment, instantaneously, something I like.
 But somehow lately I have felt a little disconnected at the same time.
When I read blogs it is all about taking time usually with a cup of latte or tea by
my side to enjoy the photos & words of the author and
I try to comment to let the person know I enjoy visiting them.
Reading a good blog is like reading a book with lots of great short stories. 
Scrolling down the long photo-roll on Instagram I find myself doing
more & more in the passing whilst my head is really focused on other stuff.
So I have been wondering if this really is the best way for me to collect
my memories? I have actually photographed a lot less over the past
few months especially my every day moments, my camera has become
somewhat of a stranger to me and the memories attached to the few photos
I have taken mostly with my phone often becomes a faded blur almost
as soon as I press share.....funny really, not at all what I was aiming for.
Instagram just doesn't work for me the way I want it to!
I have realized that I need to give myself more time for the things I love.
Photography & Blogging
Maybe blogging isn't so history after all, at least not for me.
There are moments
some big.... some small.... many mundane....
which are magical to me I don't want to break them into what feels
like rushed snippets I need to document them for me
with the love they deserve.


This stop off at the beach on our way home from a day trip visiting
family & friends, really helped put all this back
into perspective for me.

The weather was so glorious.
No March feeling, more a beautiful June afternoon,
the late sun warming a gentle coastal breeze....


waves softly rolling onto the beach
a wonderful taste of salty air and
Paperdolls all excited at the sight of the sea & beach!


Sand melting under my feet....
I have to confess the sand was still a little cold
but I couldn't have cared less!


....OH I
 LoVe 
 being by the sea!  


I always have!
 It's magical, almost to big for words
I feel nothing but giggly excited happiness when I am there.


I felt so blessed to have had my camera with me
 



....to capture the beauty of it all!


A place like this is amazingly good for the soul!


I closed my eyes for a few seconds enjoying a warming swish across
my face from the golden glow of a slowly setting sun, inhaling
a hug gulp of yummy salty air sinking my feet deep into the sand


.....this is exactly what I wanted
to preserve for eternity!
So I can still feel that feeling I had when I was in this moment
....days ....weeks ....months even years later!
Something I can't do in rushed snippets.
 So I'm not saying goodbye to Instagram but rather a Hello again to my blog &
reconnecting with this lovely space for I have realized it's importance to me!


The beach was the perfect place to hear myself and reconnect with what
is important to me, nowhere & nothing could have been better for that!
....I really needed this....


 Life is all about moments ....the good ....the bad ....the ugly

I need to make time to cherish my GOOD moments,
enjoying & documenting them is time well spent for me.

XXXX