What I've been up to lately - September 2024

I know I've been a bit quiet here recently - here are some of the things that I've been up to:

Reading

I am reading loads at the moment! The other day I shared a list of books that I've enjoyed recently, and I've read several more since then. I have a big stash of books by the side of my bed to get through but I couldn't resist a trip to the library earlier this week when my daughter had an after school rehearsal. I was really pleased to find a copy of Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey which has been on my radar for some time, so that will be my next read. 

Shopping

I don't shop a great deal, but I have had some treats this month. My daughter recently introduced me to Stationery Pal which is an online stationery shop and it's amazing. It's based in China so there is a hefty charge for shipping, usually around £8-10. But if you are putting together a reasonably large order then the prices are so good and the products so unique that it makes up for it. As an example, I bought a pack of five excellent gel pens for just 8p! In the past I've just purchased things for my daughter but this time we did a joint shop and I got myself some lovely stickers, pens and washi tape. You can see a short Instagram story of the things we bought here - Stationery Pal Mum and Daughter Haul.

Watching 

We are working our way through The Rings of Power which isn't bad, it's quite watchable. But I just keep thinking that it's nowhere close to being as good as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I can watch over and over and never get bored! I do like the lovely scenery and costumes, especially the parts with the elves.

Listening to

It's back to the school run which means plenty of time to listen to Spotify in the car. I have a few Zoe Science and Nutrition podcasts to catch up on from over the summer and I'm also enjoying listening to Pulp at the moment. I also have a great playlist called 'Jen's car singing playlist' which is songs that I know all the words to and can belt out as I'm driving along, I probably get some funny looks from other drivers!

Learning

Our school has set up a Duolingo challenge for parents and students which promises prizes, so I have downloaded the app and got stuck in. It has become very competitive! I've decided to learn German which some might say is a bit of a cheat as I do have a degree in German. But that was a long, long time ago, and I'm really enjoying refreshing my skills. I've also not started from scratch, I've gone in at Section 4 which is quite advanced. I'm pretty good at the listening, speaking and reading, but my written German definitely needs some work. All that grammar has been long forgotten!

Crafting

I've taken out my Olde World Map cross stitch project again this week. I'm finding it really difficult! Especially at this time of year when the light isn't as good, many of the colours are very similar. I'm also enjoying working on my journal, especially with all my lovely new stationery. I enjoy setting up pages with washi tape and stickers and using a coloured pen to write. I get inspired by seeing journal spreads on social media, even though I know that they've been created purely as shareable content!

Planning

At the moment we are partway through a large building project, an orangery extension. It's something that we've been thinking about since we moved in over 12 years ago, and it's very exciting. We've never done any work to the house so it's all new to us, luckily we have a project manager to help us. But there has been so much planning required. We are having a new kitchen too and we are quite picky so we designed it all ourselves which took many hours. There are just so many decisions to be made! 

We are a few weeks in now and in the middle of the chaos, but hopefully it will be completed by the end of the year. 

Eating

I've been busy trying to eat up as much food as I can before we have to empty the kitchen, so lots of tinned tomatoes and beans. I really changed my eating habits at the beginning of the year, and I'm pleased to say that I've managed to keep up with it really well. I cut way down on my intake of ultra-processed foods and I just generally try to be a bit more mindful with what I'm eating. I did lose quite a bit of weight in the early months although I've noticed it creeping back on over the summer - I still eat quite a lot of calories even though they are healthier ones! I'm not too worried though because I think that my diet is generally pretty good.

So we have a busy couple of months ahead with all the work going on, I'm hoping that I can find some peace and quiet and time to relax!