Ah spring, it's almost here at last! The warm interlude in February awakened my love of bright sunny days that are warm enough to leave the house without a coat. I'm hoping that the sun will be back with us sooner rather than later.

The improving weather turned my thoughts to my spring capsule, I'm looking forward to wearing some recent purchases, mixing them with older items to create new outfit combinations. My cropped jeans are making a reappearance, and my cropped dungarees their first. And the green skirt is back now that it's been mended and is wearable once again.

I've decided to make my spring capsule monthly, just like I did in the summer. It allows me to wear more of my wardrobe, and it lets me tweak the capsule depending on the weather. Spring and autumn are always tricky to get right as the weather is difficult to predict.

This is what I'll be wearing in April.
I've got plenty of things for cooler days, but have enough for days when the sun comes out.

Happy spring!

You know it's been a while since you last posted when someone takes the time to comment and ask if you're OK because you've been quiet on the blogging front (thank you Kezzie, you're very kind to ask).

Grab yourself a cuppa, this is going to be a long one.

February was a busy month, there's a lot going on, all of which takes up head space and energy. I miss the blogging world when I'm away but it's the thing that sometimes has to be put on the back burner when real life becomes all consuming. Life seems to have returned to a more normal level of activity, and I'm very grateful for that. They say 'things come in threes', and if there had been just three things to deal with I probably wouldn't have disappeared for a month. The saying should be changed to 'things come in multiples of three', as that would be more accurate.

I had wondered at the beginning of the year if I would continue with my Weekend posts, and wondered if I would post my Photo An Hour photos here as well as on Instagram, and life seems to have made that decision for me. But there are things that I'd like to document because whilst things have been hectic and trying at times, they've also been rather lovely.

The first week of the month I was busy making items for a Valentine's Cake and Craft sale. My Mum, a friend, and I hold these sales three or four times a year at our local hospital. It's the first time we've done a Valentine's theme and we didn't leave ourselves nearly enough time to make everything we wanted to. When we planned it we thought 11 weeks would be plenty of time to prepare, but we (stupidly) didn't factor in Christmas and all the time that would take up, and then we took a while to get going once the new year arrived. The date got close very quickly and we were left in a mild state of panic.

So, for a week, when I wasn't working, I was knitting, or making pom poms. This, of course, coincided with work picking up a little after the Christmas lull, and for a while I didn't know if I was coming or going. The sale went well though, we raised £500, which surprised and delighted us as it didn't seem as busy as usual.

I allowed myself a little 'playtime' one day as I'd promised myself that I would see the Kiss & Tell exhibition at Christchurch Mansion. I had an appointment in town and took the opportunity to go and see it. The star of the show is Rodin's The Kiss. When I arrived there was a gaggle of small children on a school trip with all the noise that that entails, but it wasn't long before they left and I was alone and free to enjoy the sculpture. It's bigger than I thought and beautiful. I really wanted to lean over and touch it but I resisted. I wonder if it was because I wasn't allowed to touch it that made me want to?


For Photo An Hour, on February 16th, I only managed to post four photos on Instagram but I had a lovely day. I went to see Calendar Girls at The Theatre Royal with Andy's Mum, aunts and cousins. The play was fantastic, definitely worth going to see if you get the chance. We met beforehand with plenty of time for lunch and a look around the Norfolk Makers Festival. I now have a hankering to try whittling, and making a mandala, and have a funny story to tell about seeing a policeman, naked, holding his truncheon (not a euphemism). (It's fine, he was knitted and in a stop motion animation).

Then it was half term week which meant Andy's sister was home with her family. I like to spend as much time with them as I can when they're home as we don't get the opportunity to visit them very often, at the same time work shifted up a gear meaning my week was hectic.

My niece asked if she could come for a sleepover. She's six and it was her first solo sleepover, she'd only been on one before and that was at Granny's house with her older brother. She was very excited but also a little apprehensive so I wanted to make sure she had a lovely time. I have a small floral two-man tent that I put up in the bedroom and made cosy with pillows and blankets, framing the door with fairy lights and adding a little lightbox that said 'hello [name]'. I thought this might help her to feel safe in a strange environment.

She was very excited when she saw it and kept telling me she couldn't wait to go to bed. We played all sorts of games, had pizza for supper, and three bedtime stories. She did have a little bit of a wobble at bedtime but a FaceTime chat with Mummy made her feel better. The next day she woke up ridiculously early, but luckily Uncle Andrew was already up and willing to play until I got up at a more sociable time of 7am. Her stay also meant I had a legitimate reason to buy, and watch, Finding Dory on DVD. She needs to come again so that I can buy, and watch, Moana.

Later in the week I went on a night out with some friends I hadn't seen for ages. The last time I saw one of them was at my wedding reception! We went to a steakhouse, followed that with cocktails and then ended up in a club that we frequented a lot in our 20s. It's called something different now, and only takes up the ground floor of the building, instead of the three it used to inhabit. The DJ was playing some of the same tunes, and the place smelled exactly the same. And of course there was a drunk girl sitting on the floor in the ladies, just as there always was. She told me I was 'cool' which just goes to show how much she'd had to drink.

We ended the night in a bar, which was quieter and had somewhere we could sit down (showing our age here). I dropped into bed at 2.15am. The next day I felt fuzzy and not particularly inclined to do very much at all. But it was a really good night, and great to see everyone.

The following weekend, after another busy working week,  I decided that I would ignore my to-do list and do exactly as I pleased. I went to Bury St Edmunds, getting there early enough to have breakfast in a lovely little cafe called The Bay Tree, before going to see Museum of the Moon. 


Artist Luke Jerram created a 7m replica of the moon. It's internally lit and uses detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. You're encouraged to lay down beneath it for the best experince, and of course I did amid all the small children, watched by all the adults that obviously didn't fancy being horizontal. I had a wander around the charity shops (I won't mention the trip to a tea shop where I had a slice of cheesecake and a chocolate brownie), and on my way home I decided to pop to my local charity shop too, that's where I found the gorgeous leather bag.


The next day (Andy was working all day again) I continued to ignore the housework and decided to make a start on making some items for our Easter Cake and Craft sale. I found a pattern and instructions on Pinterest to make some cute carrot shaped bags, which I plan to fill with Easter treats.


Whilst I had the sewing machine out I decided to mend on old pair of jeans. They've been awaiting repair for years, I just couldn't decide the best way to go about it. I'd recently started following the #visiblemending hashtag on Instagram and when I saw this post, I knew I'd found my solution.

Several colours of cotton and about an hour later I was finished, and very pleased with the result. Knowing that it takes over 1,000 gallons of water to make just one pair of jeans means I want to get as much wear out of my jeans as possible. One pair I have needs to be repaired a little more after almost every wash but I'm not getting rid of them just yet...

So that's what I've been up to. If I haven't paid your blog a visit and left a number of comments in the past few days then expect a visit soon, I've got some catching up to do.

xx

THIS YEAR

My first new purchase of the year was a pair of black ankle boots from ASOS. They were in the sale, and I had a voucher to use so they ended up costing me just £9.50. They remind me of a old pair that I used to love (seen in this post back in 2012). I think I'll get a lot of wear out of them, especially as I've sold all my other black ankle boots on ebay.

Just look at the colour of this Tu yellow jumper, found in a local charity shop. How could I not part with £3.50 to make it mine?


My best buy of the month must be this M&S leather bag. I paid £8.75 for the gorgeous aged leather in my local charity shop. Why would anyone want to get rid of a bag that's just starting to get beautifully worn in?

Whatever the reason, I'm glad they did because I love it.

LAST YEAR

Last February I spent £9.75.

The gloves have been worn a lot (they were purchased in the H&M sale because it was a bitterly cold day and I was out and about without gloves, I was more than happy to pay £3.00 for warm hands).

The PJ bottoms were £2.00 from a charity shop but still had the Next tags on. They turned yellow when I stupidly washed them with my dyed yellow maxi, but have now washed out to a rather pleasant cream colour. Maybe one day they'll return to their original white. Not that it matters, they get worn on rotation with my other PJs, no matter what colour they are.

The cardigan hasn't been worn much, only five times in fact. I do like it but we seemed to go from winter straight into summer last year and the opportunity to wear it came and went in the blink of an eye. I'm beginning to think that this year will be much the same.

I am enjoying the warm weather, I've just been out without a coat on, but it does seem too warm for February, and that feels all kinds of wrong.

Total for January: £21.75

Total so far for 2019: £23.75

Total at this time last year: £65.24

Left of £500.00 budget: £476.25

Items purchased: 4 (pre-loved: 3) (new: 1)


For the fourth year running I'm taking part in A Buyer's Archive inspired by Elise (who sadly doesn't blog anymore but can be found on Instagram), to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories

For the best part of January I thought that I'd have nothing to share with you in this post. I hadn't intended on going shopping at all, but late in the month two appointments took me into town, with an hour to spare between them. Naturally I had a little rummage in a few of my favourite charity shops and came home with this, a green cable jumper originally from Tu for just £2.00.

It has buttons on the cuffs, which I really like, I just don't like the buttons. So, inspired by Ann, who regularly swaps buttons, I'm switching them for a random selection from my button box. Watch this space.

LAST YEAR

All of these items have been worn, and remain in my wardrobe. The red skirt is definitely the favourite and has been worn 25 times so far. I've had to mend it, more than once, but it's still going strong. The green dress, as much as I love it, has only been worn once. This needs to be put into a capsule to ensure it gets the use it deserves.

Total for January: £2.00

Total so far for 2019: £2.00

Total at this time last year: £55.49

Left of £500.00 budget: £498.00

Items purchased: 1 (pre-loved: 1) (new: 0)

It's a great start to the year. My goals are to buy less overall, and for more of my purchases to be pre-loved, so I'm definitely on the right track.


For the fourth year running I'm taking part in A Buyer's Archive inspired by Elise (who sadly doesn't blog anymore but can be found on Instagram), to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories. Over the years my spending has reduced and changed, I think, in small part, because I keep this record.

8am. Waking up with this little chap is always a delight, unless he's trying to dig his claws into my scalp so I'll get up and feed him. He's so cute, I just want to pick him up and bury my face in his fur.


9am. New book underway. Page 18, Sunday 20 March 2005 had me giggling so much I woke the cat. He wasn’t amused.


10am. Still reading. It was a very easy read. I really needed to get up soon, I was going out and I still needed to eat, shower, and decide what to wear... but I figured a few more pages wouldn't hurt.


11am. I was wondering if it would be possible to eat toast in the shower? Because I didn’t just read a few more pages did I? No, I read several chapters and was running late. And why won’t toast toast quicker!?

Noon. Driving to Felixstowe to meet my Mum.


1pm. Vitamin Sea, deep breaths. I had a few spare minutes to see the sea before I met Mum.

2pm / 3pm. Charity shop rummaging with Mum, I forgot about #PhotoAnHour altogether. I was very restrained and didn't buy anything for myself but I did find a few brand new soft toys that will be perfect for tombola prizes. We're having another craft sale in February and always have a tombola too, people seem to love them.


4pm. Adulting. Asda. Yawn.


5pm. I’d got my hands on my Mum’s embroidery silks for a project. I couldn't decide whether to get started, read more, finish a knitting project that was very close to being finished, or have another cuppa. I had a cuppa and pondered it a while.


6pm. The embroidery silks won the battle of What To Do? This is on it's way to becoming a keyring.

The evening consisted of supper and watching several episodes of The Americans boxset with Andy.


I ended the day how it began, in bed with my book, I couldn't put it down. I stayed up late to finish it, 1am is way past my usual bedtime... last time I was up this late was on the the last Photo An Hour.

Thanks to Jane and Louisa for hosting #PhotoAnHour. 

It seems a little late in the season to be sharing this list now, but it's been written for a while, I've just been posting other things.

I find the new year to be the perfect time to hunker down at home, get stuff sorted, clean the slate for the year ahead, as well as cosying up with a good book, some knitting or such. And after the Christmas period I always feel the need to be kind to myself and my over indulged body.

Everything on this list taps into my word of the year - Better.

Sort the bedroom after redecorating
Aim: Declutter
I moved everything out of the room before I started sanding, painting and glossing, and I promised myself that nothing would go back into the room without being considered. No clutter or pointless item would be put back, nothing that I don't love or don't use.

When, and only when, the bedroom is finished, complete little DIY tasks in the downstairs toilet
Aim: Focus on one thing at a time
I have a list of small DIY tasks for each room, in previous years I've bumbled around from room to room doing a little bit here and there, but this has left me feeling that no room is finished, that we've haven't made progress, even though we have. So my new plan is to go room to room, do what needs to be done, and then move onto the next one.

Get listing on ebay, at least 3 items a week
Aim: Declutter
The pile I have of things to go on ebay is verging on the ridiculous, if I can do at least 3 listings per week it'll be a start, and maybe seeing the pile diminish, and my earnings grow, will inspire me to list more.

Start and finish the embroidery kit I purchased months ago
Aim: Focus on one thing at a time
I think I've had this kit for six months already...

Do a 30 day yoga challenge
Aim: Take better care of myself
The last half of 2018 I got into the habit of doing at least ten minutes of yoga everyday, and I felt better for it. I stopped over the festive period and haven't found the motivation to start again.

Mend my green skirt so I can add it to my spring capsule
Aim: Reduce the mend pile
The zip broke, and now the skirt won't stay up without six safety pins. It's such a faff to get it on and off I just haven't bothered wearing it.

Design a new logo and website for work in time for the new financial year
Aim: Stop faffing
This is something I've been meaning to do since I got married almost four years ago. It's time.

What's on your winter to-do list?