Restoration for the soul

I spent time at the beach this morning. I always love being near water and it’s been ages since I last went to the beach.

The sun was shining and, even though it was extremely windy, I could actually feel the warmth of the sun on my face. This was such a delight after weeks of seemingly unstopping rain.

I walked along the seafront…

…stopped for a cuppa and some colourful planning…

…then wandered through the gardens.

I loved just having some time to slow down. Time to actually think about things for a change.

I really wish I could do this more often, but until the next time at least I have the photos (and my journal) to remind me.

In April & May…

…I had more fun with Turtle Tales. (See the full story here, here, here, here and here.)

…I made pompom animals with lots of children at an Easter family event.

…I made a cute cardigan as a birthday present for a cute little girl.

…I had some lovely things in the post from Tamara and Jane.

…I finally showed you the Riverbed Blanket.

…I enjoyed bright splashes of colour as spring arrived – at long last!

…I spent a bank holiday with a lovely friend and a crazy cat.

…I had some lovely presents for my birthday.

…I revealed the winner of my birthday giveaway (and even managed to send it before the month was over!)

…I spent my half-term holiday making granny bunting.

That’s actually a whole lot more than I thought I’d done! I think it feels like I haven’t done much because I haven’t been blogging much, but perhaps that’s not the case…

In March…

…I (very briefly) enjoyed a splash of spring colour in the sunshine.

…I updated the wreath that hangs on the back door (after a Christmas theme for a year and a half I thought it was probably time for a change).

…I made (well, I watched my friend make – that counts right?!) some very yummy, very colourful gluten free chocolate chip muffins.

…I made two pairs of baby slippers.

…And I started telling Turtle Tales (part 1, part 2, part 3).

Part 4 is coming really soon! And pop along to Little Muggles if you’d like to make your very own turtle 🙂

Happy Easter

I know, I know. I’m late with my Easter greetings. And in fact I have been woefully absent for the past couple of weeks. Work was busy at the end of term and I had other things going on too, so blogging fell to the bottom of my priorities list.

But I’m back now! And hopefully I’ll be able to share the next part of the Turtle Tale in a day or two (I’m still waiting for good light to take some photos). If you’ve missed Turtle Tales you can read part 1, part 2 and part 3 to catch up.

I’ve spent Easter weekend with my brother in Watford. I’ve not seen him since Christmas so it was great to catch up with him. We didn’t do a whole lot (food and films filled a big part of our time) but I got to meet a lot of his friends. I’ve occasionally heard about his housemates, but never met them before. Something my brother never told me though is that one of his housemates is a poet! Pete shared some of his poetry with us over dinner on Friday, and read this one in church on Sunday. I’ve been having a little look through some of his work since I got home and wanted to share one with you. It is called Eucharist and although it wasn’t written as an Easter poem it brilliantly ties together the importance of Christmas and Easter – one without the other is really rather pointless!

February

I’ve had blog posts running through my head all week, but no time to write them down. Now it’s Saturday and I have all the time in the world and the words have run out! So instead of words, I thought I’d give you some pictures of what I got up to in February.

I enjoyed some early (and very short lived) signs of spring.

I made my first ever crochet necklace. It’s still on my desk and I just love looking at it!

I made a cover for my journal.

I whipped up a super quick baby boy blanket.

I’ve also been working on another project since the beginning of the new year, but I’m making it as a birthday present, so I won’t be able to show you for another couple of months.

What have you been up to this month?

A morning by the sea

I know I’ve posted about visits to the beach before, but every time I go I just can’t resist taking more photos! It was cold and very breezy this morning, with thick grey clouds at times followed by blue sky and bright sunshine! I do love our British weather, it’s just so changeable. Here are some of the things I saw and did this morning…

…a solitary daffodil waiting for the others to catch up.

  

…bright blue skies over the cliff.

…listened to the lovely soft scrunch and crunch of walking over pebbles.

…caught up on some reading and journalling.

…enjoyed watching the sea and sky changing.

These photos were taken over about half an hour. I sat in the same place and took them every couple of minutes. It amazes me just how steadfast and changeable the sea and sky are. Just beautiful.

 

A walk in the snow

 It snowed – hurrah! I love how pretty snow makes everything. Mum and I decided to go for a little walk and this is what we saw…

For some reason I especially love snowy gates. Here were some I saw this morning…

 

And here are some lovely snowy trees…

And there’s nothing better than coming back in out of the cold and snuggling up under a fluffy blanket with a cup of hot chai tea. Bliss!

Glory all around

Last weekend I went away with a group of friends from church. We had a great time together, I got quite a lot of crochet done whilst chatting and taught a 10 year old how to cast on and cast off. I taught her how to knit last year, and she’s spent the whole year not knowing how to start or finish!

On Sunday morning we had a couple of hours quiet time. I decided to go for a little walk and note down all the ways that God’s beauty and glory is displayed all around…

…bright flowers growing wild

…white sheep dotted on the hillside
…golden sunshine falling across lush green fields
…two trees clinging to autumnal shades

…the gentle babble and bubble of the stream

…winter-bare branches stretching to the sky
…the chirp and chatter of birds in the trees

…bright berries in seemingly dead twigs

…early signs of new life

…sunlight shining through leaves

…many shades of blue in the sky

…sunlight dancing in the water

…the soft cry of a lamb

…fluttering, frilly-edged leaves

 

 

New Year, New Giveaway

Happy New Year!

Before I get to the looking forward part, I wanted to do a quick look back. These are some of the things I made/came across/thought were pretty enough to photograph through 2012.

January

February

 

MMarch

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Looking through so many pictures made me realise just how much I’d made last year. Some months were a lot more productive than others, but I’ve enjoyed my creativity very much this year.

I wrote last January about my habit of starting things that I never get round to finishing. I still do that – I have a box of unfinished projects (that I’ve managed to lose somehow!) but I’ve learnt a lot even from the things that I’ve not completed. I’m hoping that 2013 will be the year when I learn to finish the things I start, but even if I can’t manage that I’m sure I’ll continue to learn a lot of other things along the way. I hope you’ll continue to join me on my creative journey!

One last thing before I go. On 12th January it will be my One Year Blogging Birthday! I decided it’s about time for another giveaway, and my Blogging Birthday seemed like a great time to do it. I’ll announce the details of the giveaway at some point over the next couple of days, so watch this space 🙂

The first snow of winter

It was an exciting moment when I looked out the window this morning and realised it’d been snowing!

There wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to get me thinking of Christmas 🙂 So Exciting!!