Crafting

It seems I am not the only one who feels a bit guilty for doing fun things during the day. I am trying to break that. I have added going up in the craft room on my to-do list. Yes, I'm hoping to do fun things, but I'm also hoping that being up there will give me the incentive to get things sorted up there! I haven't been the most productive the last couple of days. I've been feeling a bit queasy - nothing worse than that - and just quite tired. I've been through the not-being-able-to-sleep cycle and now it's the I-need-to-sleep-all-the-time cycle. Sigh. Ah the joys of menopause!

I've been watching some YouTube crafting videos to get some ideas and to give me a bit of a jumpstart. I seem to have taken a step backwards though and seem to find it difficult to do some of the bits I found easy to do before! Of course, that's part of the more you do something the easier you find it! I've been watching how to make some mini-albums again and how to do a pamphlet stitch (?). I thought I'd give it a go with a card (that I'd had printed of my photograph) as the cover. 

I don't think it turned out too badly. The pamphlet stitch was really easy. I've got to get a bit more creative about the pages I put inside. It's a pretty small card; I do have bigger ones so will try again with those. I'd like to make a mini sketching nature journal. 

I also picked up the cross stitch again. I haven't done a lot of it (still fighting that guilt thing) but it's coming along! 

I get a little frustrated with the cross stitching as - although I love to do it - I'm finding it more difficult to see the holes on a dull day. I've just got to give in and use the lamp and magnifier I have by my chair. It's just a sign of getting older, I think. 

Fairly Uneventful Day

It was a pretty uneventful day today. I suppose that's good in a way. Went for my walk first thing. It felt colder out than the temperature said (just below freezing). After that, I dropped packages off at the post office and then stopped at a few shops. I am going to try to get back into the habit of trying to do all stops on the same day due to rising petrol costs. I know I should have been doing that, and I have been sort of, but now I am consciously completing all the stops, whether I'm behind on time or not! I got home, did my dailies and what I had planned for the day. For some reason I was really tired and cold this afternoon. I struggled to stay awake and to stay warm! Not sure what was going on. I ended up putting my Snuggie thing on and a blanket and that helped. I did mess up on dinner. I didn't get things in on time. Husband offered to go pick something up, but I said no, rummaged around in the freezer and managed to get a few bits together. Not the dinner I had planned or the perfect dinner, but it was food and things from the freezer and cupboards were used. Tomorrow I'll do better!

Tomorrow is more of the same, but straight home after my walk. I plan on getting up in the craft room for a bit - some crafting and some sorting/tidying up. For some reason I do feel guilty if I do 'fun' things during what should be work hours. Is that just me? 

After dinner (already planned and I WILL cook it) I have a meeting in the evening for Asylum Lake. There's a lot going on with the lake so I'm sure it will be quite a long one!

No exciting photo, just one from behind the beavers' lodge. Still quite icy, but there is some melting and more to come in the next few days!

Sunday Adventure

It was a pretty chilly start to the day on Sunday, and it did snow overnight, but not too much. We had a lovely walk along the beach. It was pretty quiet out, something I will miss once the warmer weather comes. We actually don't tend to go to the lighthouses as much in the summertime as the beaches are groomed and everywhere is packed. There is nothing left wild. If we do end up at the beach, it's one of the lesser-known ones where not so many people go. 

Husband and I had fun watching the Long-tailed ducks in the water. They are so funny and quite loud. They have such a distinctive call!

It was also quite fun to watch the ice bergs float down the channel 

It was definitely lovely to have the sun shining. It makes a change from the last couple of Sundays. It looks as though things are set to warm up a bit. Husband and I are starting to make a list of places we'd like to visit to walk. We want to try some new parks. When we first started going out on Sundays, we tried lots of different ones, but unfortunately, we didn't write them down. This time we're going to keep track of where we go and perhaps write a note or two about things we like and maybe give them a score. There's a lady I follow on Instagram (she's in Wisconsin) but she writes about different parks in her area - The Park Next Door  She's inspired me to want to get out and see more of what's around us again. Perhaps I'll be surprised and get some lovely photos, otherwise I'll just have a lovely walk. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Decluttering Totals

I almost didn't post this. So tired I can barely keep my eyes open! I am giving up and going to bed lol. 

I didn't get as much decluttered as I had hoped, but joining in with the 28 in 28 days did make me keep looking for things to get rid of. 

Books 19

Magazines 1

Misc. 20

Crafting 40

for a total of 80 items

The craft total sounds good, but it was mainly little bits. I am really struggling. Hopefully, by at least getting in the craft room will help motivate me to clean it up. 

Phone Photo from Sunday Adventure (details tomorrow lol)

It snowed overnight, just a little, but the roads were a little icy. Really cold, but sky was blue!

Night!

Last Day of February

We had a lovely morning out yesterday. The sun was shining and it was quite mild. We had a good walk along the beach. There was still lots of ice. We were lucky enough to see 13 eagles out on the ice! They were quite far away but we were able to see them. Husband saw one first and we walked a bit further out on the pier and then saw the rest of them. They must have been a family unit. It made us both smile. It was quite far away to get a decent photo but I managed a snap of a few of them. They just look like little blobs lol, but there are two adults in these one and five juveniles. The adults have full white heads. 

I did manage a few photos when they flew overhead. 

They are so majestic! 

Before we saw the other ones out on the ice I was walking along and stopped as a few flew overhead. A lady walking in front of me also stopped. It was quite the sight to see as they aren't that plentiful in this area. 

Today, the weather was all change. Lovely sunny, but chilly morning and snow this afternoon. Not a lot and I'm hoping it won't stick to the roads so when we go out in the morning there isn't an issue. It seems the weather always seems to be bad on Sunday! Mind you, it's supposed to be chilly but at least sunny. It looks as though Monday will be the last sunny day for a while as the forecast calls for rain from Tuesday to Saturday. March is forecast to be a rollercoaster of weather from cold and snow showers to rain and high temps. Ah Spring must be coming!

I went for a walk this morning. It was beautiful and peaceful. I was planning on coming home and doing some crafty things, but it wasn't to be! I was reading my email and came across an email from the tax place I use (online) saying prices would go up to file taxes through them by 40% after tomorrow! It made me think I wanted to get them done, so I dragged things out, added up all my shipping receipts and inventory receipts (took a while) sigh and the time was gone. Daughter and Baby A chatted and when I told daughter what I was doing she said I should check another sight and it looks as though things might be a lot cheaper through them, so I decided not to file with the original company. At least I have all the numbers ready to go! 

Everybody here in the US has to file a tax return. Taxes are taken out of husband's pay, but you have to redo them and make sure you've paid the right amount. Sigh. Not sure why things are done this way, but hey, suppose it's a US thing. 

Tomorrow, we're off out somewhere. Depends on the weather. 

I've added up the decluttering totals for February and will share tomorrow. Have I managed the 28 in 28 days challenge I committed to at the beginning of the month? If I could insert an emoji here it would be gritted teeth. I'm struggling. 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Everyday Life

I've been keeping up with the lists, and I certainly feel more productive using them. It's just a matter of remembering to write them each night! Same with the food menu. Writing one cuts down on the popping to the shops for random items which saves money. I feel as though I'm doing more to watch the spending, but it still seems as though we are hemorrhaging money as things are more expensive. I am glad I'm doing the reselling thing (for now) as it does bring in some money for extra things. 

I can't believe it's coming up to the end of February. Once again, I'm not sure where the month has gone! It's been another cold and snowy month so I'm hoping March will be better. 

I have been up in the craft room this week, though I haven't been decluttering it. The desk has a bit of space cleared off that I can actually craft on it. I feel as though I'm starting all over again with some crafting things. It's lovely to be up there though. Perhaps the more time I spend up there, the more I will want to clear out more space. I did notice that quite a bit of the reselling inventory ended up there so I need to work out a space somewhere else that it can go.  

Husband has worked his 40 hours this week and has tomorrow off. The weather is supposed to be lovely - sunny and a temperature of 54f/12C - a definite improvement on the temps we have had. It's back down on Saturday with snow in the afternoon. Not sure why there is such a jump in temperatures for one day, but I'm going to enjoy it! 

Oh, the other day, after the snow had cleared (and before snow returned again) I happened to look over in my neighbour's garden (there is no fence on that side) and saw SNOWDROPS!!!! 

What a lovely surprise!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Still Cold and Random Thoughts - Beavers!

It was cold again this morning, but not quite as bad as yesterday as the wind wasn't blowing when I went for my walk. I was so excited to see a beaver today!!! Asylum Lake is still mostly frozen, but the beavers have managed to open a small area. Really made my day today! When I got to the beavers' lodge, there was only a pair of Canadian Geese in the small area of open water, but as I arrived a pair of Sandhill Cranes flew in and landed. This caused the geese to swim down closer to the beavers' lodge. A beaver promptly popped up as though to warn them they were too close! The same one (or another one) popped up a little later close to where the Sandhill Cranes were standing. For a while it was pretty eventful. I love watching nature, animals, birds and their interactions with one another! A little later three more Sandhill Cranes flew in and for a while, as the two that were already there walked across the lake to the newcomers, I was sure they were not going to be happy with one another. It was lovely to watch them all end up walking together! What a way to spend the early morning. 

After my walk, I dropped off some items for shipping, picked up a couple of things I needed and then headed home. It was a semi-productive day at the house. I got all the things checked off my list. I was trying to find five items to declutter, and I found it a real struggle. I did manage it, but barely. It really shouldn't be that hard. 

I have pulled out a few books to look through and let go. 

I found one quite fascinating and might struggle to let it go lol. It is going though; I've already made my mind up. 

I really like the pressed flowers cards. They are really beautiful. I think I'd like to give it a go. I don't think I've pressed a flower since I was a child, but I really like the way these were done and presented. It looks like it might be fun. Has anyone pressed flowers properly? How do you do them? I looked on Amazon and there were a couple of cheap-ish presses I'm thinking about buying. Thanks for the input!

False Spring OVER

It was a very dreary, dull and snowy day yesterday. Our Sunday adventure didn't amount to much. We couldn't see a lot of anything at the lakeshore as it was snowing and very windy! We got out a couple of times, but the wind and cold forced us back into the car. Oh well, I did enjoy the false spring while it lasted. 

The plan had been to drive along the lakeshore for a while and check out some smaller roadside parks and see what ice there was left. I usually enjoy this as there are some out-of-the-way spots that have fantastic ice hills and such. Although we couldn't see a lot, we did see that there would have been some lovely spots if the weather had cooperated! We have decided that, if the weather cooperates, we'll try again next weekend. The weather is colder again this week - not above freezing until Friday so the ice shouldn't melt. 

There were quite a few Mergansers at this spot, and I did manage to brave the weather enough to take a couple of photos of them - it was fun watching them fish!

This poor female caught a fish, and a gull immediately flew down and nabbed it!

Before I went to bed last night, I wrote my list for today and managed to stick to it. It wasn't a bad day, quite productive. I struggled to stay warm today though. I went for a walk this morning and it was brutally cold, dull and windy. Quite a change from last week. I didn't stay out long, but I couldn't get warm. It took until late afternoon for me to warm up! I did keep busy and usually moving around helps but not today. Maybe it's just taking my body a while to adjust back to the cold lol. 

Hope everyone had a good start to the week!

Saturday

Another dreary day. It started off a little icy as there was a thin coating of snow/ice overnight. Husband and I took a drive to the Amish shop. We haven't been there for a while and it's a treat, so we got some donuts, cheese and bread. Yum. Definitely something we only do once in a while. 

For the rest of the day, I got together a few of the things I need to ship on Monday, listed a few things and then spent a bit of time up in the craft room. As usual, there was more moving things around rather than getting rid of them. I think I ended up only pulling 5 items out - sigh. It's five more donated than I had earlier lol. 

I had a chat with daughter by herself and then a video chat with Baby A. They think she has her molar teeth coming through as she is very grumpy. Every little thing seems to upset her. Poor her and poor parents. 

Tomorrow, we're off on a Sunday Adventure. Not sure where it will be or how long as there is predicted to be a bit of snow overnight and into the morning. Not a lot of point going far if the snow is obstructing the view!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend

Photo today - the Sandhill Crane couple are back at Asylum Lake. It must mean Spring is on the way!

Friday

Thanks for all the comments about Living Simply/Slow Living. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or even the losses perhaps. Whatever the reason, I know it's something I want to think about, especially with husband sliding into retirement, working on what kind of life we want to live and what's important to us. 

Today I woke before the alarm, a common occurrence lately. It was noticeably colder this morning, Our False Spring is over for now and it was snowing this afternoon and this evening, the winds howling up a storm outside too. I did manage a walk this morning and only got a little bit wet, an improvement on yesterday. 

I didn't have to go anywhere after the walk and went straight home. Husband was off work early as he had put in his 40 hours and they don't want overtime. He took two boxes and three large bags to the charity store for donations! I have already started another bag. I'm glad the items left the porch (where they had been stored) though.  

This afternoon I actually went up in the craft room! It's still quite a mess  a big mess, but I want to make a point of going up there and at least looking at things. I sorted out a bottom shelf on the one of the bookshelves I have and threw out a few bits, tidied things up and sorted a few bits for donation. There is some space on the desk, and I pulled out a couple of 3d decoupage pages and put them together. I find it kind of soothing to sort out the layers and put them together. That's as far as I got but it's a start! 

There are sentiments that came with them and when I put them together on cards hopefully, I'll take photos and share. I paid 10p for the pages

75p for this one, it came with more bits I haven't put together yet. I think I got it because it reminds me of the deer in the garden. 

I spent a bit more time up there working on some mini albums again. I kind of have to get back in the groove again to make those. I'm hoping to go up there again tomorrow. I had to stop as there was a Zoom meeting I had to attend. 

Dinner tonight for the guys was Chicken Chilli. I don't eat meat so it's hard to taste these things. I usually toss in stuff and hope it works. They liked it so I'll mark that down as a win. I stuck it in the slow cooker early this morning. I really need to find more meals like this as it's so nice to have everything ready to go by the time I'm running low on energy late afternoon.

Hope everyone had a good day! What are the weekend plans?