:: JANUARY ::
:: FEBRUARY ::
:: MARCH ::
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At the end of March when I'd finished my fortnight of continuous daily blogging, I decided to make a little montage of photos to capture the essence of the month. I used to make these nine-square monthly photo montages all the time and I've many years worth of them here on my blog and in my photo archives. I started them right at the beginning of my blogging journey in 2008 and continued them for five years (you can find these "monthly mosaics" in my right hand side bar →, or click here). I always featured a photo of my hill view as seen from the Attic in the centre of each collage, a beautiful record of the changing seasons and weather each month.
Eventually life got too chaotic to keep up with a review at the end of each month, but for a few years I did continue creating monthly collages at the end of each year for my annual "yearly review" : {2014} ♥ {2015} ♥ {2016}
Anyhow, after creating the March square, I remembered how much I love doing them and how there is something very comforting and consolidating about reviewing a month in this way. I went on to create squares for January and February and then had the idea that this year I'll create four Quarterly Review posts as a way to remember 2021. I feel ridiculously excited about doing bloggy things like this again, especially seeing as I'm now into my fourteenth year of old school blogging. I still get such a buzz from creating my blog posts, the pleasure of it hasn't diminished at all across the years it seems.
So...January, February, March :: Winter giving way to Spring.
Looking back, I honestly did enjoy this winter because to me it felt properly seasonal for once. It was cold (bitterly so for much of the time) and we were gifted some beautiful icy, snowy wintry weather. I LOVE when the weather plays out according to the seasons, it makes me feel as if all is right in the world somehow. I found this year I didn't suffer with low mood as much as I have in the past, and the times when I did feel low I think it was due to pandemic life and the severe lockdown we were (are) living through rather than the fact that it was winter time.
I had my Meadow Blanket CAL to keep me creatively busy through January and February, and as always that really went a long way towards keeping my sprits up. Having that sense of purpose and the weekly postings to concentrate on was such a blessing and without it I think I might have fallen into a bit of a dark hole for a few months. In March I felt my creativity begin to really return, and I enjoyed my flowery crochet project and some cross stitch too.
There were zero outings in this quarter due to the fact that the whole of the three months have seen us in lockdown. We took one or two walks at Bolton Abbey, and one walk around the reservoir and that was literally it. Extremely uneventful, but it's not like we had any choice.
I tried hard to shift my mindset this winter and think about the time as being restorative and replenishing as I hibernated a little and kept myself introverted for a while. I made sure to prioritise self care, keeping up my daily exercise and gentle routines and resting/retreating when I needed to. Even though we celebrated the Spring Equinox in March, it's a month that still feels very much more like winter than spring here in the north of England. But I've loved watching the wild garlic emerge in the woodland, and the first early blossom appear in the hedgerows. I've also really enjoyed having daffodils and tulips on my table throughout these past months. I've appreciated the cosy warmth of the fireside and many (many many) cups of hot milky coffee - little daily pleasures that have felt so good in these strange times. It's been a gentle period of rest for me and quiet homely days, and now I'm more than ready to dance through this next quarter which is my absolute favourite by a country mile. Spring giving way to Summer.....oh, yes, yes, I am so so ready for you!
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