Tag: intentions

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feasible :: October intentions

October….really? Where did the year go – I can feel Christmas getting mighty close now and summer is but a distant memory. September seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye probably because it is a shorter month and we spent almost two weeks of it enjoying ourselves up in Scotland….but subsequently nothing got done at home.

When I reviewed my intentions for September I was pleased that I had managed to spend some time in the kitchen cooking; baking old favourites and trying out new recipes. We didn’t do much meandering this month though, even in Scotland the focus was on gardening and sadly we didn’t even manage to attend any of the heritage events – we had just missed the Scottish one by the time we got up there and then missed the English one by the time we arrived home – not very well co-ordinated this year!

Looking at the shape of this month it is all about getting the pantry done and making headway with the crafts for Christmas. In and amongst we have a couple of celebrations to organise.

I am feeling the urgency of getting the pantry well underway now. I have this rule which is no decorating beyond October – we have done this in the past and it compromises the time it takes to get everything ready for Christmas.. At the moment we have holes in the walls where cables will run for the lighting and sockets. DH went shopping with me today but while I went to the library for a long browse he went to B&Q and Wickes for the boring bits and pieces like lengths of wood. I never thought the conversion of this little room would need so many materials and we have not even got to the painting stage yet.

Before we set off for town I planned a few meals for the week – I am on a bit of a mission currently to try out some new recipes. I have bookmarked a few that look quite simple and use seasonal vegetables. Leek and mushroom pies and dishes using fresh beetroot and parsnips roasted. You can only buy fresh beetroot by the bunch in Sainsbury’s so I will use the remaining beets grated in a winter salad. A pear and chocolate pudding is also on the list.

In these next two months we have a 1st birthday (Sweetie) and a Christening (Freddie) to plan, these special events never seem to stop – I feel like I should start up a catering company as it is so difficult to find just the right venue, food or caterers and we may well end up with a DIY job and ordering from M&S again.

I have a whole list of crafts that I want to do this month – time allowing. I made a start at the weekend and today called in at our local fabric shop and bought the heavier interfacing for the table mats and some muslin – useful for lots of things. I am on the look out for some pretty vyella to make my two granddaughters a winter dress each but I will have to have a trip over to Dewsbury I think to one of the mill shops. One of the main intentions is to get the calendars completed by the end of this month and have an idea for a lino cut Christmas card.

Apart from visiting my mum (and maybe we can squeeze in a trip to Scotland) there will be little meandering again this month, nor cleaning – with the house full of dust from the pantry makeover, it is just not worth the hassle. The best I can do is keep everywhere reasonably tidy.

I would like to fit in some me time – as is often the case it takes a back seat when other more urgent things come up. I really need to set aside more time for exercising – yoga once a week is just not enough and I am finding that waking up feeling quite stiff is becomming the norm. I have been spending more time recently on building a healthy diet but now must include more exercise.

Of course all the best made plans go out the window sometimes – I spoke to my elder daughter tonight and she is not well so I may have to do some babysitting tomorrow, which might even mean missing yoga this week.

Ah well such is life!! x

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feasible :: September intentions

I am sure I am not the only one wondering how we are suddenly finding ourselves plunged into September. I feel like I blinked and missed the summer but that maybe because we have not had a summer holiday this year. Things happen.

August was too busy a month for us to have made any plans instead we just coasted along reacting to whatever came our way day by day. September should see us trying to get back to some sense of normality whilst we wait for significant dates to roll forward.

Although the start of the new school term doesn’t directly affect us it does make a good starting point for the final part of the year; a time when the weather significantly changes and we turn our attentions to different activities more in keeping with this coming season of cooler weather and shorter hours of daylight. Everything will begin to slow down in the garden so I can use the extra time indoors improving my homekeeping skills!

So, with the best of intentions, here is my usual monthly list of intentions.

The new pantry is top of the list for jobs. It has been dragging on all year but now the units and worktop we chose have been delivered and are being stored in the garage until DH can assemble them. We definitely need to make this a priority. I can’t wait to get it up and running.

I need time in the garden too – tending to plants, feeding the lawns and continuing to dead head the annuals to keep them flowering for as long as possible.

When September comes along I think of harvesting the abundance of food that is around – blackberries in the hedgerows, apples from our tree and with the start of this new season I always want to spend more time in the kitchen. As the days begin to get cooler it is a nice warm space to be trying out new recipes, using up the plentiful supply of tomatoes and left over greens to turn into delicious soups. I am even in the frame of mind to make some jam.

I am quite proud of myself that I have been able to keep our house looking neat and tidy throughout the summer. Having visitors helps! Once I had done the initial big clean it has been easy to keep on top of it all. There are some basic household jobs on my list that really need doing this month – clean my new oven and put away the garden furniture and cushions. Maybe switching some of the decorative items around for something a little more seasonal.

Whilst things have not been easy for us during the summer I still managed to keep on reducing our stuff bit by bit, a pair of boots and 3 pairs of shoes I can no longer wear have gone to my daughter. I decided that the fixtures and fittings from the cloakroom and other oddments in there would be best sold at a Car Boot sale – a few extra pounds in the coffers would not come amiss at the moment.

September is the month of Heritage open days. I always look forward to these and squeeze as many venues in as we can wherever we happen to be. We are already making plans and marking off the ones we want to go and see should time allow. Even better now we are not limited to weekends only.

We will also be going up to Scotland and no doubt another trip to North Yorkshire and if there are any late open gardens or well dressing events then we will add those in too.

As the summer is drawing to a close it is time to revise our budget for the four remaining months to Christmas. It is important to conserve what we can so that the cost of Christmas does not become a potential problem. I will be posting my monthly tally in a day or two.

I an doubtful, but quite hopeful, that I might be able to do some crafting this month. I have lots of ideas all I need is time. Watch this space.

I always find it helpful to have an idea of what I want and need to accomplish during the month though I don’t always succeed – but like they say if you fail to plan you plan to fail!

Enjoy September x

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feasible :: July intentions

Can it really be July already? As usual on this journey of mine I have been busier than busy this past month, whilst the weather has been wetter than wet.

Moving on to this month and better weather, I hope, I am still not sure myself how I am going to fit everything together – at the moment it looks like a jigsaw with a few pieces missing, and we all know how irritating that can be.

During the next 31 days I have to fit in our summer holiday, celebrate my birthday and wedding anniversary, entertain and look after an Aussie cousin of DH for a few days, attend Jimmy’s in Leeds (the lovely Bexley Wing) for my yearly blood tests, attend again a couple of weeks later for my results and check up with the consultant and then have Little L to stay for a few days near the end of the month.

In and amongst I shall have house cleaning, tending the garden (both of them), lots of cooking with my new oven (yeah!) and plenty of exercises for my poorly knee….oh and at some point see my dear old mum (to which I hear her say…less of the old please!).

As ever I am searching for that slower lifestyle and as ever it seems just a little beyond reach; especially when I look at what I have to do for the month, my obligations, and what I would like to do in the month, my desires….when I can fit them in. There must be a solution and believe me I am working on it.

So as usual I am setting out my intentions for the month as doing so helps me stay focused….well sometimes…. and also helps me to log what I have to do and then squeeze in what I would like to do.

We will be going up to our cottage (caravan) in Scotland soon for what will be our summer holiday. We cannot have the full two weeks we would have liked due to so many other commitments so somewhere between a week and a fortnight will have to do. Can’t wait.

But there is the packing to do and that can’t wait either!

There will be plenty of house cleaning to do (didn’t I say that last month….. and the one before, but this time I mean it). My house needs a thorough clean……. everywhere – it is in a worse state than when I was working. Somehow I have not managed to get myself into any routine as we always seem to be focused on one project or another and some of those never get finished.

DH and I had a big planning meeting a month ago and listed all those tasks we needed to do but for some reason it is taking ages to get anything crossed off the list. I feel like giving myself a C- and I hear that old teachers comment you would find on any school report “must try harder”.

I have fewer apppointments and no yoga classes for a while, so I do need to make sure I exercise during the next month, especially the ones to help my knee. Does house cleaning count as exercise I wonder?

This month with the aid of my new oven I want to focus on what we are eating and plan for better, even healthier meals, though I may sneak a cake in for my birthday

I got my sketchbook out the other day when it was too hot to do anything else and spent a pleasant afternoon sitting in the garden drawing a few flowers. I feel quite rusty not having done very much drawing for a long time.

There is always some distraction, something more pressing to do – so maybe whilst we are away in Scotland I can fit in a little painting like we used to. I will certainly be packing my watercolours and sketchbook.

I have a couple of patchwork and quilting books from the library at the moment – well you never know I might just find some time to make a start. I have a lot of very pretty flowered fabric in summery peaches and pinks left over from the bunting I made for my elder daughter’s wedding. I had thought it would make a nice quilt for her new baby, but the baby turned out to be little Freddie who I am not sure would want such a girly quilt.

Summer is always such a good month for plenty of meandering…getting out and about, exploring; and we will be doing plenty of that…as much as we can fit into the time.

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I expect that while DH’s cousin is here we will be taking him places too – I think his interests lie in cricket and gardens. The latter sounds hopeful to me as I am sure there will be plenty of open gardens to visit – but the cricket might be more tricky. Entertaining Little L will be much easier than the cousin I think and she is happy to do anything and go anywhere with a park nearby…..so the park it is then.

Well that is my month all lined up….now where did I put my mop and bucket. x

PS. Back soon with my monthly tally (yet another sticking point in my life!).

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feasible :: June intentions

Halfway through the year already and not a lot done. Actually that is not true – I have done quite a lot but not very much of what I originally intended to do.

The little room ear marked as my new pantry is still a dumping ground and the kitchen no more than a bit of a rough plan in my head.

May went far too quickly probably because I was so focused on the Christening that I hardly noticed it passing by. June will be different; must be different because I have a lot to catch up with and half-started projects to finish.

So here are my intentions for this month:-

On the homefront there is still the pantry to sort – it is so long since we drew up the plans I have almost forgotten what we had decided upon.

In the garden it is very much a matter of feeding, weeding and some light pruning – then sit back and enjoy.

I have been trying to scale down my wardrobe so that it is much leaner and both my summer and winter outfits fit into the one space. This is very much a work in progress… without the progress at the moment…and I have decided not to replace garments when they are worn out or no longer fit but just move on to wear something else less worn in it’s place. It is true I think that we wear our favourite few items 80% of the time but I am going to try and have a wardrobe that only has a few favourite garments that I will wear all the time.

The house is ready for a good clean, it has been ready and waiting for days now – I find I just cannot get down to doing it, either I have to go out or when I am in there have been other more important things demanding my attention. My intention is to set aside a day each week and give each room ‘a good going over’ as they say.

If there is time I will make a few more simple cards – I really enjoyed making the last batch and it helps keep the costs down.

I must also finish Sweetie’s jumper and fingers crossed that it will still fit her.

This is now the time for salad, freshly picked leaves, new potatoes covered in mint and melted butter of course and a host of summer veg cooked or raw. I intend to make a few new dishes to have with salad – try out a new quiche filling and make nut roast to slice cold.

The best part of summer is making the most of the outdoors while the weather is fine. I intend to go off meandering….a lot….there are more Open Garden events, Well Dressings, Galas and just generally having a mooch around towns and villages…..down alley ways, over bridges – there is so much to discover and June is a good time to do it.

Scotland will also be on the list this month and another trip to North Yorkshire.

Finally I have booked the appointment with the financial adviser – I am interested to know what he makes of our situation and I am hoping that he will point us in the right direction for a few good investments.

There is plenty to do before his visit – collecting all the information together of our income, outgoings and assets – not a bad exercise anyway as it will help to keep this handy should anyone ever need it.

June is interspersed with appointments for this and that but in between I am hoping for some days when I can really get down to making a big difference in the house, cleaning and sorting. I know already on sunny days the garden will be beckoning me outside though – the temptation will be too much!