Monday 5 June 2017

June - Lately I've been...

The children are now back at school after a busy half term break, so I thought I'd write another catch up post! Here's what I've been up to lately...

Thinking about

I've been reflecting on the fact that the children have been in their new school for almost a year now, and remembering this time last year when it was a flurry of taster days and uniform sales before the end of term. I'm so proud of them both, they have settled in brilliantly. Mia barely remembers her old school, and while Harry found the transition a little bit harder for the first couple of months he is perfectly settled now. This summer term seems to be going by so quickly.

Crafting

I've started working on a new granny square crochet blanket which is coming along nicely and is using up some of the yarn from my stash. I've also been having fun playing with some mini Hama beads, and made some little kittens from a kit which the children have adopted. Also staying with the Hama beads I was really proud of my Hama bead flower wreath which is currently brightening up a corner of the kitchen.

Mini Hama bead kittens

Watching

We are enjoying the latest series of Better Call Saul on television and have also started The Handmaid's Tale, an excellent adaptation but tough viewing.

I've been to the theatre twice this month, first with Harry to watch Horrible Histories, a fun show which taught us both a lot. Then three of us enjoyed the excellent Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London which was amazing.

I've also discovered a new genre of videos on YouTube - speed cleaning and decluttering videos! It might seem a bit pointless to be watching videos of other people decluttering when I could be doing it myself, but I find it really inspiring, especially watching videos of people that have more stuff than I do. A new favourite is the Messy Minimalist, I just love watching her have a sort out and she is really motivational.

Eating

It was Mia's sixth birthday last week, a celebration which ended up being spread across several days and involved four different birthday cakes, so there has been a lot of cake eating!



At the weekend we attended a Sangeet pre-wedding celebration with family and there was lots of delicious food to enjoy. I came back with a box of Indian sweets which I love, although they are very sweet - I can't eat too many at once!

Indian sweets

Travelling to

At the beginning of May we celebrated my Dad's 70th birthday with a family weekend at a cottage in Bedfordshire. It was a really lovely weekend, we went to Whipsnade Zoo, my sister took us swimming at Center Parcs Woburn where she works, and we had lots of family time.

More recently we spent a few days over half term at my in-laws in Warwick catching up with some extended family. We had a lovely day out at Warwick Castle and some nice walks along the canal, then finished with the Sangeet in Luton.

Reading

I've not done much reading of books this month which is a little disappointing. I've added a few books to my wishlist, mainly ones that have been recommended by fellow bloggers, I just need to set aside some time to get on with it. I did re-read one of my childhood favourites while hunting out old books to pass on to Harry - Back Home by Michelle Magorian. I've just started Harry off reading the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman which he is loving and I think they are definitely due for a re-read.

I have been keeping up with reading blogs though which has been really good, something that I had neglected for a few months. I'm now making the effort to have a daily read through the blogs that I'm following on Feedly, and looking for linkies to help me find some new blogs. There are so many talented writers and crafters out there!

Planning

Yesterday we held Mia's 6th birthday party at the local soft play. Because we were away in the days leading up to it I was very organised and got everything ready well in advance, with party bags ready to go and just a few bits of food to prepare in the morning. I'm always worried that there won't be enough food boxes or party bags and make extras, but this time there were no surprise guests and there was plenty for everyone.

Children at soft play

At the beginning of July our village is holding a village wide garage sale trail. I've not committed to taking part yet but I've started gathering things together that I could sell if we were to join in, and I've amassed quite a pile so I think we will. I've been trying to group things into similar priced groups and saving boxes to display everything in.

I'm also busy trying to plan my blog and social media work in preparation for the summer when I will have children constantly under my feet!

Looking forward to

I can't believe that the children only have five weeks left until the long summer holiday. I'm very much looking forward to it as I love having them around, although it's hard work. At least it's much easier now that they are older and I have Minecraft as an option for easy entertainment.

At the start of July once the children have broken up for the summer we've booked a mid-week break to Center Parcs Elveden Forest. It will be the first time that we've visited during the summer as we usually aim for cheaper out of season breaks when it's cold and rainy, so I'm really hoping that we get some nice weather, maybe we will even manage a barbecue or two!

What have you been up to lately?

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