Do you know the expression "fair to middling"? I don't know if it's a world wide saying, or if it's something specifically linked to Yorkshire, but it really tickles me. Often here in Yorkshire it's used to describe the weather, and it means not especially good, but not that bad either, so kind of average or mediocre. It perfectly describes how I generally feel about trudging through the depths of a long Winter season - it's not dreadful by any means, but it really is my least favourite time of year by a long chalk.
The past nine weeks of January and February combined have been difficult for me on a very personal level, and it's always hard for me to know whether I should be coming here and telling you this or not. You probably just don't want to hear it?!! However my blog is (and always has been) an open, honest account of my life as it rolls out day by day, week by week and as my posts are generally unplanned and spontaneous you pretty much get the unfiltered version of what's running through my mind at the time. When I'm not feeling myself it becomes hard almost impossible for me to write, and you have probably noticed a shortage of life-posts here on my blog of late. Thank goodness for the absolute joy of the Dahlia blanket CAL which has been like a beacon of light and happiness for me during this tricky time.
But the truth is, I've missed writing and sharing in this space - I've missed the easy dialogue spilling freely from my brain and out through my fingers and I've missed your words gently winging their way back to me. Writing my blog is a kind of feel-good therapy for me I guess, much in the same way as writing a journal or talking to a very good friend. And yes I've missed it, I've missed it a lot actually. So even though I am still wading through a few dilemmas and dealing with some "difficult stuff" in my real life world, I have decided to open up my window and invite you all in regardless. Come in!! I have missed you!! It's messy and chaotic here in the Attic, but I am choosing to ignore all that and focus on the good.
The above photos were taken on a random Monday about a month ago - our car had to be dropped of at the garage for it's annual MOT and the garage we use is about five miles away. So with the weather being unusually great for January (nothing fair to middling about clear blues skies and sunshine!) we decided to walk home all along the canal tow path instead of getting the bus. It was atrociously muddy in places, but even with all the precarious slip-sliding it was still a beautiful walk.
Life on the home front has in general been okay these past few months, if a little mundane. I've been seeking out my stitching projects when I've needed to lay down my hook and rest my hands and I'm so happy that I found my way into the world of cross stitch (two years ago now). It's given me an absorbing creative hobby which delivers a lot of pleasure - obviously it's not as good as crochet for tipping my pleasure-o-meter over the edge but it's a pretty great second best really.
As well as this ongoing stitchy WiP ↑↑ I've been making some seasonal cross stitch pieces just lately, and have been absolutely loving them. I'll be sharing these with you very soon as they really need their own blog post I think.
Just lately I've been giving a lot of thought to my everyday routines and have been attempting to make small but significant changes to the way I balance out my time. One of the things I'm trying hard to do is to reclaim my evenings and weekends. When you are self employed and you LOVE what you do to earn a living as much as I do, it's so easy to allow it to consume every single day. Or if it's not consuming the day exactly, it has a sly habit of sneaking in around the edges and stealing away great chunks of precious time. I'm mainly talking about laptop/screen time and social media here, rather than crochet or creative making.
I have to confess it's been quite hard! I love the online creative world that I'm part of and really enjoy browsing and engaging with blogs, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. But I do recognise that screen time needs to have limits, and I've been making a huge effort to disengage as much as possible during the evenings and weekends. I have rediscovered my love for magazines, remembering how relaxing it is to curl up on the sofa under a blanket and gently turn the pages, drinking in the photography and reading the narrative. I'm still a work in progress though and haven't quite found the balance that I'm craving just yet, but I'm getting there.
I've been enjoying the outdoors as and when the weather has allowed me to venture out, gosh it really has been pretty vile around here. So. Much. RAIN!!!!!!!!!! We've had aalllllll the rain, the light misty drizzle, the heavy downpours, the icy-sleety hail and snow, the horizontal blustery stormy rain, the short sharp showers and the endless days and nights of persistent wet stuff falling. The ground is sodden and flooded and there is mud and standing water absolutely everywhere at the moment.
But we've been out in it all the same, tramping around in the woodland where the pathways remain pretty solid and walkable even when the rain falls and falls and falls.
I spotted the first bluebell shoots pushing up through the leafy woodland banks and felt a rush of joy for those beautiful fresh green leaves. Thank heavens for the small signs in nature that tell me winter is losing it's grip, I live for those signs in February!
Often on the way back from the school run I find myself meandering along the canal not feeling ready to be back indoors. Fresh air and walking (even when it's wet) is pretty vital to my well being and so I make sure to allow time in the day to give myself this pleasure.
Even a dull, misty grey stroll through the park can lift my spirits, I breathe it all in and practice a little bit of mindful gratitude as I walk.
↑↑ this is one of my favourite park pathways to walk along as those trees either side are cherry trees. They don't look much in winter but in the spring they will be smothered in pink and white blossom and I absolutely can't wait for that. Can you see the old weathered picnic bench there to the right? I often stop here in warmer, drier weather to sit and drink a coffee on my way home from the farm shop, gosh I am really longing for those days to return. Roll on Springtime, I'm a-waiting for you.
A little bit of Spring gladness on my mantel as a succession of bulbs come and go. These particular hyacinths grew tall and strong and smelly and were the most delicious shade of sky blue (I wish I had photographed them before they went past their best). I replenished my old Cornishware bowl with fresh shoots this morning, white hyacinths this time round.
And in other news, after some slow, stop-start progress around the edge of my Colourwash dahlia blanket this past week I finally finished the border, yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! I'm so so so happy with both of these blankets, they are utterly joyous and stuffed to the brim with happy sunshiny vibes. I'm hoping to take some photographs in the next few days in preparation for a bit of a Dahlia Ta-dah post - this CAL has given me so much to be grateful for, and I want to celebrate that fact.
I must say, it's so so good to be back here again, like cleaning my windows and loving the view after a time of misty, foggy greyness. More soon!
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