What I've been up to lately

I've been blogging a lot lately but it's been ages since I did a proper catch up post! My work has calmed down recently but I still feel like I've been busy, so here are some of the things that I've been up to:

Watching

I'm always one to follow a trend and so we watched Squid Game on Netflix as we wanted to know what all the fuss was about. It was really good! Although very gruesome, I had to hide behind a blanket at some points and I'm definitely not letting the children anywhere near it. We've also just started the new series of Tiger King and I really loved the musical Tick, Tick...Boom! I thought it was very cleverly done. We are definitely getting full value from our Netflix subscription!

Playing

Mia took her first flute exam last week. She has been learning since May and this was the ABRSM Prep Test, it's like a practice exam before taking Grade 1. It isn't marked as a pass or fail, instead they get a feedback sheet, and it's a great way to sit a proper exam without too much pressure. She did really well and hopefully she'll be ready to take her Grade 1 next term, I'm so pleased with how well she has taken to the instrument. 

I've also been doing a bit more piano playing myself. I reviewed a book a couple of weeks ago, Notes on the Piano, and one thing that it inspired me to think about was trying to memorise a piece or two. I've never been able to play the piano without music, and I'm finding it really hard! I'm beginning with River Flows in You by Yiruma and Snow Prelude No. 3 by Einaudi as we have arrangements of them which aren't too difficult and sound really good when played. 

A different sort of playing now - I'm currently slightly addicted to Pikmin Bloom, the latest game from the creators of Pokemon Go. It's a glorified step counter to be honest, but it has been getting me and the rest of the family out and about together, planting flowers and growing seedlings. 

Reading

I have organised my to be read pile with some new bookends and this was how it was looking a couple of weeks ago. It's a little daunting but I think it's achievable, I just need to stop reserving books from the library as I have to read those first. What you can't really see is the Kindle tucked away on the left which also contains just as many unread books!

I'm currently reading A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, which is a sequel to Life After Life in the pile above, and I'm enjoying it very much. We are going away for a week in December so I'm already planning which books to pack.

Listening

I spend quite a lot of time in the car driving to and from school and so I'm very grateful for our Spotify subscription. I always enjoy listening to songs from musicals, especially ones that I know the words to for a good old singalong. I've also made myself a playlist of relaxing piano music for the days when I'm feeling a bit anxious about the driving. 

I'm not really into podcasts as I'm too easily distracted, but I have discovered Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee which I enjoy listening to from time to time. I've picked up some really useful and interesting information as well as tips about exercise and stress management. I also downloaded a new app, Smiling Mind, which is a meditation and mindfulness app that I'd really recommend, it's all free and there are plenty of different meditations and activities to work through if you need to clear your head from time to time. I'm trying to do a ten minute one at some point most days. 

Eating

I'm ashamed to say that we've made a start on the festive chocolate boxes. They have been on special offer in Tesco so we've been buying a couple of boxes each week for Christmas...hopefully one or two will make it that far!

I've been really impressed with Harry's food and nutrition lessons at school. He's made all sorts of things - a delicious cheesecake, cheese straws, proper meals like lasagne, quiche and green Thai curry. Yesterday he brought home an amazing Swiss roll - much better than the one that I attempted a few years ago! I've lined him up to make us a chocolate yule log for Christmas in a few weeks.

Crafting

I've been sharing lots of recent festive crafts on my blog lately, like my tin can beaded lanterns and my free mini Christmas cross stitch designs. I've just started work on one of my mini Christmas cross stitch kits from Hobbycraft. It's a snow globe design and it's really pretty with lots of different stitches as well as the basic cross stitch.

Blogging

With my paid work taking a bit of a hiatus I've been spending a bit more time on the blog, both writing posts and improving the design. You might notice some new picture sidebar buttons to the right to easily access my themed content, and I've also updated my profile picture which was several years old. I've got lots of Christmas content to work on and I'm making plans for New Year and spring content while I have some time. I love writing blog posts, I'm just terrible at the promotion side!

So that's what I've been up to lately, how about you?