change :: April update

A lot has changed in April. Other than the late arrival of Spring, these were mainly invisible changes, those which take place within us and show themselves in how we see things and deal with them. I did cook one recipe from a cookbook, but not three. I will prepare a post on it sometime in May. I did run the 6.5K I wanted to run, even if I didn’t run as often as I would have liked. I photographed more with my beloved Nikon, but it could have been better. Overall, it’s a positive balance.

Most of all, I have accepted change, my main aim for April. This makes me happy.

::inspiring Mondays::

There is a good chance this Monday is the last one of an era which is about to end. I am fearful of the change yet I know it’s needed. I am accepting that maybe I am also excited. Talking to my aunts about it this weekend was great; it’s so good to hear their perspective on things and know of their unconditional support and gentle nudge for me to take a leap of faith.

:: awesome aunts. Mine!

:: mojitos with the aunties. Oh yeah!

:: my aunt’s brigadeiros. Pure heaven ♥

:: a good family. Also mine!

:: excellent housemates.

:: a beautiful drive to work.

:: lazy Sundays.

:: knitting.

:: things to look forward to ♥

How was your Monday? I hope the end of April is nice to you :)
It is now 19:47 and it is still light... I ♥ UK.

it's auntie time

Brigadeiros by my aunt

My aunts were in town and it was brilliant. We chatted and we did all the usual touristy things one

does in Oxford. We had long dinners at cool places and we explored the pubs the best we could. We

had lots of fun and we giggled and reminisced over things past. Most of all, we became even closer

as family and as friends. It was truly amazing to be able to share so much with them and open up and  really enjoy their company. There is such a warm feeling about close extended feeling, and a certainty

that you can never be alone. Ever.

I showed them my Project Life album and as photo lovers they really liked it. I’m proud of it and

I’m so happy I’m doing it, but so far I hadn’t realised what a great sharing tool it can be. I told

them the stories around the photos and how they came to be the chosen ones and they’ve gained a

different insight into my life here, which we so rarely cover when I’m there.

I made bread for them. Aww… you shouldn’t have, they tell me as they take a full grocery shop for

me from their suitcases!

I prepared a little snack pack for them to take on their trip to London. Aww… you’re so sweet, you

shouldn’t have, they tell me as they slice the Folar de Valpaços for my lunch that day.

I guess I know just after who I take after ;)

I miss them already!

Basildon Park

One of the things I love the most in the UK are the grand mansions and their spectacular gardens, open to the public thanks to the National Trust. I have visited a few in my almost seven years in the UK, the most recent being Basildon Park.

Dog not included.

This reading corner really makes me want to move in... I wonder what they would think of that!

Easter lives on at Basildon Park!

I'm free tonight, yes!

Soo cute!

We had cream tea... oh those scones and cream... divine!

::inspiring Mondays::

I have a cold. I have had a cold all weekend, a mean one that beat me up with a bat when I wasn't looking and made me stay in bed all weekend. The nicest weekend yet. Oh what joy! Not. I ran with Nicky early on Saturday and... that was pretty much it. I spent the rest of the day feeling sorry for myself as I watched the sunshine through the window and read about how everyone on my facebook seemed to be having a blast of a time at BBQs. In. The. Sunshine! On Saturday night, I had had enough of myself. Nevermind the cold, I was annoying. 

Perspective, yet again. How I like you! I like how you make things so much better and much more enjoyable. For example, how you made watching films in bed, all day long, such a cool thing; forget the reason, just enjoy what it is you are doing. Or how you made me cherish the amazing light that comes through my window; what a great place to be ill in, my bedroom. 

:: Little Brother's enthusiasm and belief in our project 

:: early morning runs with Nicky 

:: internet. you are liked. 

:: freshly baked lemon cake delivered to my desk this morning. warm heart ♥

:: cycling to the station this morning. I actually miss it. 

:: watching films. all day long. and feeling justified in doing so. 

:: presents in the post. thank you cococita + wide-eyed-tree

I hope you all have a good beginning to the week, healthy and sunny. I'm looking forward to catching up on my blog reading now I'm back online.

Life without internet

For the past seven days, yours truly had no internet connection at home. This wasn't a personal choice to go back to basics and enjoy an internet-free life, instead it was a punishment inflicted on our household by our broadband provider, Talktalk (which I would definitely NOT recommend to anyone).  

Self-inflicted or not, the end result was the same so I thought I'd write a little bit on this alien thing to us blog readers and writers which is life without internet.

As a scientific experiment, mine fails from the onset as I have internet access on my phone. It's not the same as on a laptop, especially when you don't have unlimited data, but it's quite something. With this in mind, let us move on.

For the first few days, there is something almost liberating about not having internet access. Of course you are not going to blog frequently, nor reply to all those facebook messages and emails you've been getting, nor manage to comment on everyone's posts or kindly acknowledge their comments to you. For those few days, it feels like you're on holiday and it's ok. The backlog is manageable and you spend your free evenings doing other things. You edit photos and catch up on Project Life. You knit. You bake. You finish that book that you'd been reading since February. How cool is all that? Very. 

The bit that is not so fun is that you miss out on skype talks with your boyfriend and your girlfriends. You miss out on your blog readings, which you enjoy so much. You miss out on reading the news first thing in the morning while still in bed. By the seventh day, when you're fed up and have turned into a monster, more because you don't see the end to this than anything else, it comes back. It's all ok again. So what do you do to celebrate? You go out to the pub because it's sunny and one must absorb as much sunshine as possible :)

::inspiring Mondays::

Some days don't like you very much. In return, you dislike them too, just to keep things even. Today is one of those days for me. It just so happens today is Monday, but that's nor here nor there. Today could be any day, and although I have a bone to pick with today, I also must find things that make me happy within it. And that, my friends, is what inspiring Mondays are for - a cheer up the Joey moment.

Spring is here. I'm pretty sure it has arrived as I was not wearing a hat this morning and the temperature had two digits. Two! How cool is that? Very!

:: leaving the house this morning with wet hair. Freedom!

:: spring is here. Yep!

:: sunshine on my face! Not even the fear of (more) freckles puts me off

:: an awesome activity packed weekend

:: girly time

:: the prospect of not using socks for the next 5 months. More freedom!

:: kitchen adventures, even when they go wrong... but not so wrong you ruin the best ingredients! Ha!

How was your Monday? I hope sunny and happy, that would be the best!

a coloured hat

I knitted this colourwork hat* ages ago but only now did it make it into a post. Oddly, I don't want to write about knitting, I want to write about just doing things. 

When I started knitting this hat, I didn't know how to do colourwork. I had no clue. My aunts, who are my knitting gurus, had never done colourwork and... they live in Portugal. What was I to do? As one of my aunts put it, you read the pattern really slowly and you do exactly what it says. Really? Is it really that simple? Hum... kinda, yeah! 

From my experience, it worked. Everything else fit into that slow reading. How to hold the yarn, how to swap colours, how to do a cast-on I'd never done before... it all just worked from reading. Yes, everything else works itself when you just go for it! Sometimes, we need a little reminder of what we can do when we do it, and this hat is just that.

*pattern here

one little word :: three months balance

When I chose change as my one little word for 2013 little did I know of what was to happen.

The past three months have been riddled with change, most of which I did not choose nor want, and a learning path of acceptance and dealing with it.

There's a lot to be said for dealing with it. And just having to deal with it. I think that's the style I do best - just doing it. I can do it and I can deal with it by just doing it. And then I throw smiles into the mix for good measure!

Having the one little word, and it being change of all words, has helped me stay focused and has reminded me that I can still choose change within the change that just happens. I can change how I deal with it, for starters. And that is a big thing!

One little word, you rock!

::inspiring Mondays::

Morning light in Lisbon is magical. And it makes any Monday special. As does a holiday and family time. Ah inspiring Mondays, sometimes you're so easy!

I've been busy doing happiness photosynthesis these days. Sunflowers, I get you! Rosy cheeks and sunglasses, you rock! Now, how to bag some of this for my friends back in Oxford? Hum...!

:: family time!

:: cat squeezing! The good kind.

:: sunlight.

:: good chats with Little Brother.

:: bright blue skies!

:: simple breakfasts.

:: good people. The world is filled with them.

:: an unexpected compliment about the blog = smiley Joey

Hope you had a light-filled Monday :)

Back to sewing

Last weekend marked my sewing come back. Not that I was away for long, just a few months, but the reason it's so important is that I had wanted to finish this design for a while now and it's finally done.

I'm happy with it. I'm ecstatic I've designed and created it! I had a very big push from Little Brother who believed in me for both of us. To now see it done and looking good is very rewarding.

Now onto the next phase...

my new RSS reader is...

Feedly!

I miss my Google Reader. I do. But the world did not end and I can still read the blogs I love, reliably and simply. In the grand scheme of things (how I love perspective these days!), all is well.

I have tried other services, one as a direct recommendation from MissLilly and two others from a google search, but Feedly won it for me. I could write a fair bit on the pros and cons of each service, but 1. I want to focus on why I like Feedly the best, 2. in these things, a lot of it is "because I liked it best" and not necessarily a result of in-depth analysis and scoring.

So... What do I like about Feedly?

:: it's simple.

:: simple, fast and seamless import of all the blogs I read from google reader.

:: visually appealing (even if I would prefer it one step simpler)

:: excellent iPhone app!

:: sharing buttons.

Little green cowl

This yarn had been waiting to jump on the knitting needles for ages, pretty much since the day this ever so soft green yarn threw itself at me in the wool shop!

This cosy small cowl took me less than four hours to knit. It has garter stitch edges and stockinette stitch for the main bit. It was knit in the round and I used no pattern, it's that simple.

Cowl :: I love it! It's cosy and warm and happy.

Yarn :: Manos del Uruguay. Gorgeous colour and softness. I recommend it.

April goals

I'm looking forward to April. The fourth month of the year brings me a trip to Portugal, the tracing of a path I'll have to walk, a few online courses from Jackie Rueda and more daylight (sunny or otherwise). 

I'm enjoying the focus I have in 2013 and I'm enjoying the journey that comes with having one little word. Most of all, I am enjoying the reflective moments that come when writing these posts and the pleasure of photo editing for it. Oddly, this reminds me of a university professor which used to say that more than loving our topic, we had to love the method of researching our topic (I studied Marine Biology) because ultimately that was the thing we would be doing day in and day out. How true!

In January I embraced change. In February I created change. In March I somewhat learned to deal with change. In April, I want to accept change.

:: to believe

:: use my Nikon camera at least twice a week

:: run 6.5k
:: cook three new recipes from a cookbook

....................................................................................................... 

You can read all my monthly goals posts here and my change :: one little word posts here.

::inspiring Mondays::

... on a non-Monday! Gotta love bank holiday Mondays, really!

As I sit in my living room genuinely grateful and heart-warmed by the wrapped sweet treats I've just been given, I wonder about how I came to be this lucky with the people I know. As I read emails and texts of dear friends who live far away but aren't far, I wonder about how I came to be this lucky with the people I know. As I look at the one photo from a requested pancake brunch because I fancied one, I wonder how I came to be this lucky with the people I know. As I'm driven to a nice location for what could be just another run but will be cooler now, I wonder how I came to be this lucky with the people I know. And the list goes on...

I never reach any conclusions and more often than not I'm just baffled at people's generosity towards me so I just savour the thought and said luck and I smile. Smiling feels good. And I hope they know how sweetly they make me smile, on inspiring Mondays and on all other days when I need a little hug.

:: finishing a sewing design. I did it!

:: celebrating food.

:: good friends.

:: knitting. I'm more and more into knitting.

:: Bath Spa. recommend!

:: two days of sunshine!

:: good coffee!

:: funky fabric.

I hope you've had a nice and relaxing start to the week... and the month. Hello April!