Quiet celebrations

Part of one of my goals for the new year, in a year where everything had been a bit mad, I lost some loved ones, and gained some - I wanted to make sure I spent time more thoughtfully in 2016.

Whilst I was raised Catholic, I'm not really religious, I can see the appeal in marking the year with specific dates and days. I seemed to blink and miss 2015, I'm not really sure where it went, it was a blur of new jobs, travels and trips and a flurry of activity. Therefore I wanted to make sure I made time to celebrate the turning of the year - I've always been interested in the idea of the wheel of the year - the equinoxes and solstices punctured by festivals throughout the year to celebrate the year. More importantly, they make me think about spending time outside, and remind me to make time to take time. 

So earlier in the year, to celebrate getting rid of the darkness, the first signs of spring, and about letting light in, I decided to light candles wherever I could, and spend a little time to celebrate the time of the year. I'm harsh on the winter, however I do forget that it's necessary - and it makes the spring all the nicer when it does arrive, with sudden showers and spring buds.

Some other dates for your diary... 

20 March - Vernal Equinox
20 June - Midsummer Solstice
22 September - Autumnal Equinox
22 December - Midwinter Solstice

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Springtime (and I feel human again)

I wasn't ever going to blog about how the last post on here was about Christmas, or the fact I've felt like a little shell of myself, the last few months but I've realised I don't care to post content that everyone else wants to see... 

It's funny how winter affects me so much; after the rush towards Christmas, I feel like I just slip further into a hole that is hard to climb back out of. It's not every year it happens, but when it does it catches me so by surprise it knocks the wind out of me - in January I kept thinking I was fighting it off, that I was getting to the gym and being sociable and doing all those things I was taught to do to keep me going, before realising I was finding no joy in them and I ground to a halt.

It's not until the first warm day of spring that I start to feel like me again. Only when the sunlight begins to feel warm again, and I roll my window down on the drive home from work, and I sit outside in my garden on the weekends to eat my lunch and it's okay, cause everything starts to feel okay again. Today felt okay, for the first time in a while. I woke up this morning after a lovely evening with a new friend, I have some things to look forward to, I feel like I'm more solid in my skin and things feel good. This afternoon I sat and watched the blue tits in the garden, did some knitting and drank my coffee with full fat milk, to feel indulgent.

So I guess I'll just sit tight until summer...

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spring forward: cherry blossom season

Why does spring seem to take an age to roll around, and when it does, it seems to come all at once? I feel like after the excitement of Christmas,and then the dull stretch of January and February, March and April are the most exciting months. They give me that autumn-feeling, when I'm desperate for the crisp weather and the change of the leaves. So you slog through March, taking peeks at the cherry tree in the garden, which is stubbornly refusing to show any signs of progress, until one morning you wake up, and the whole garden is green again, and the blossom appears literally overnight.

So I apologise if you're sick of seeing a thousand snapshots of cherry blossom plastered all over your Instagram or blog feed - but I really couldn't care less, haha. I'm happy to pretend it's not grey and miserable outside this morning, but spring is fully here - and that means summer weather is just around the corner. 

This is the stunning cherry tree that lives in my dad's garden, and has this stunning white blossom all over it. It lasts about two weeks in this state, and it's already shedding it's petals all over the garden, but for those sunny two weeks, it is alive with bees, which makes me inordinately pleased to hear the background fuzz of them crawling all over the tree.

an easter weekend

I wasn't very well last night, woke up late, and wanted to just chill with my family - so I am forgoing my usual Weekend Wanderings posts, in favour of a mini run down of things that have made my weekend a good one...

• Eating freshly baked, homemade croissants, straight out of the oven, smothered with jam for a very late breakfast with my family. Accompanied by giant mugs of steaming hot coffee, 
• Catching up with a friend and seeing the new Cinderella film - it's exactly what you expect from a Disney film, that saccharine twee-ness that sometimes you just need to zone out to when you've had a stressful week!
• Enjoying the small pleasure of a lie-in - first bank holiday weekend I've had completely off (four day weekend!) in about 5 years. I used to get Easter Sunday off in my previous job, but usually worked the bank holidays either side...
• Watching the garden come back to life a bit with the greenery, the blossom beginning to come out on the trees, and watching the pairs of blackbirds, goldfinches, blue-tits and collared doves that have made it their home (which all made me very happy).
• Bunches of spring flowers in the house, daffodils in my bedroom, tulips and hyacinths in the living room. 
• Spending an afternoon doing some Easter baking with my mum - decorating little biscuits and trying our hands at creme-egg brownies, too.  
• A roast in the oven as we speak, preparing for a good roast later today.
• And of course, a little pile of chocolate waiting for me this morning when I came downstairs - you're never too old for an chocolate rabbit, are you?

What are you up to this weekend? If it isn't stuffing your face with food, then I don't want to know! haha Hope you're all having a lovely time with or without your family, eating or not, spending time in the sunshine or curled up on the sofa watching Grease, I hope you have a nice long weekend. (:

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

just summer spring things

I know that really, it's only just spring, but today was so nice though, I felt tricked into thinking it was later in the year. I had a summer dress on and my sunglasses and was sunning myself with my mum in the twenty-two degree weather that I could be forgiven for hoping that this warm weather sticks around, right? 

I feel like this post is very blogger-y, which makes me laugh, because I'm not, at all. Like, cherry blossoms and close-up photos of food and candles, haha. Oh well, these things make me feel like summer! The cherry trees where I live are all coming into blossom and it really is one of my favourite things. Ours blossomed on Saturday, and it's been buzzing with bees ever since, so today I pinched a bit for my room. 

I also know summer is on the way when strawberries start getting cheaper in the stores, and I eat them out of my mum's really adorable patterned bowls with copious amounts of my new favourite yoghurt and wildflower honey. I've been obsessed with greek yoghurt and honey at the moment - but I think that is probably a whole different post about my 'healthy eating' haha. 

This candle I got in Tesco today, it's one by Price's and it apparently smells like Earl Grey tea - I'm not sure about that but it sort of smells like a fresh, but slightly spicy orange (my mum tells me this is bergamot, apparently!) which I am enjoying. 

Anyway, this has sort of been a nothing-y post, but I am content with that. Hopefully, I'll have some more interesting things for you over the next few weeks, if I don't descend into a Game of Thrones/ASOIAF coma  (I'm desperately trying to finish ADWD Part 2 before the next season starts!). 

Right, let me know what you're up to this week, if anything!