100 Happy Days

I've made 25 days!

This is what me happy in the last week :) 

My late nan's clock now belongs to me 

It smells like spring!

Cheesecake will always makes me happy!

Morning cuddles with Popsy

Completing the level I've been stuck on for weeks!

Meeting JD in the shop 

Finally becoming the owner of a sweet dreams mug

Aren't the weeks just flying by?

I still haven't taken the photo's I wanted so please bear with me….. I promise I will get around to it soon!

Holocaust Memorial Day

Light a candle & remember 

100 Happy Days

Another week has flown by & still no time to take photo's to blog about my knit for victory hat :(

But I've been keeping up with my 100 happy days photo's

This is what made me happy this week!

BBQ pulled pork at the Hubbox

Biscuits & crochet

My wool winder finally arrived

Popsy cheering me up after a rubbish day

Knitting patterns & a handmade book mark from a customer

Lovely tartan blanket

This lovely lady made me smile when she popped in the shop

I've found it harder this week….. not sure why but I think it might have something to do with time.

Need to try harder next week.

100 Happy Days

I have so much to share but not enough time to blog :(

I thought I'd start with #100happydays

Have you heard of it? 

I started seeing the tag on photo's on Instagram & then it started to appear on some blogs…. I thought I'd give it ago as January is such a dull month!

I tend to dwell & worry about bad things & forget to spot things that make me smile so I thought this challenge was for me. 

I've managed to keep it up for 10 days, I'm impressed! I do find it tough, some days I have lots to make me smile & others it's hard to find one thing!

Sometimes you see something that make you happy but it's not always possible to take a photo…. unless you want to look like a crazy person :) 

So do you want to see what's made me happy so far?

Beautiful hand knitted tank tops donated to the shop

Playing with Popsy

Cuddles with Jean

Winter sunshine

Afternoon nap

Seafood linguine 

A big bag of wool!

A day at the animal shelter I work for

Meeting Beautiful Lottie

My brother buying me fish & chips! 

It's the little things in life that make me happy!

Why don't you give it a go :)

You can find me on Instagram here 

Back soon with an update on Knit for Victory & to show off my latest make

The 50 Books Challenge 2013

As you know a few years ago I lost my reading mojo…….. I decided I was going to make a real effort in 2013 to read more instead of playing silly games on my iPad!

So in January I signed up for The 50 Book Challenge…….  you might remember I thought this was 2 books a month so I agreed!!!!

I must have been half asleep because when my brain kicked in I realised how stupid I had been!

I tried my best & I'm pretty pleased with the results!

31 in total!!!!

Wow…… I never thought I'd read that many.

As the year went on you can see I got hooked on WW2 romance!

Some of the books are Kindle books which I vowed I'd never read, however I love reading them now. They're so much easier to read on the bus & you don't have to carry them everywhere.

Working in a charity shop does have it's down side…… I can't stop hoarding books!

I now have a very large pile so I must continue reading in 2014.

I'm going to set my own challenge in 2014……. 40 books.

Wish me luck!!!

Do you enjoy reading? How many books do you read in a year? Did you read any of the books I reviewed?

That was 2013!

Yep another year has passed us by…….. join me in looking back on what I did & didn't do!

January 

 I spent a lot of January working in Bristol, I was planning on going for the store managers position so was trying to impress…. wish I hadn't bothered! 

I also signed up to the 50 book challenge.

February 

 Making 1940's brooches, reading books & testing products.

March

 Holiday, yarn bombing, theatre, gigs & cracking on with my granny square blanket.

April

 An all time low….. lots of gigs, drinking too much & feeling unhappy due to work. I walked out on Sunday 28th April!

May

 Days out, spending time with loved ones & my girls…. feeling free!

June

Enjoying the sunshine, remembering Zoe, finally handing in my notice at Laura Ashley & getting a new job! 

July

Starting working for RSPCA, lovely sunshine, remembering Ted & feeling happy again!

August

 Days out with friends & family in the sunshine & rain! My birthday

September

 Remember Charlie, celebrating 5 years in blog land, days out & crafting.

October

 Make, Do and Mend moves to the shop, autumn sunshine, poorly foot & new shoes!

November

 Working hard in the garden, remembrance day, getting ready for Christmas & Crikey!

December

Feeling poorly, staying in bed, making lots & spending time with friends.

I think 2013 was the year I changed things….. I'm very good at going with the flow even if it makes my unhappy.

My plans for 2013 included…

• Get more cats! Nope…. worried the girls won't like it
• Sort my job out  Yep finally!!
• Pull my finger out with Make, Do and Mend or stop doing it I struggled throughout the year but pulled the plug in December
• Be more prepared for Crikey.... don't leave it until the last minute NOPE
• Sort out my crafting area Nope
• Decorate my living room & bathroom Nope
• Slow down & enjoy life more I think so!
• Sew an item of clothing Nope
• Finish my crochet blanket..... think it's about 5 years since I started! Nope but more about this in another post!
• Read more books - I've signed up for a challenge Yep
• Be happy! For the latter part of the year YES!!

I think I did ok!

So 2014….. what will you bring?

• Book in for 3 big craft fairs at Christmas & don't waste time throughout the year
• Plan ahead & make stock that will sell - be organised!
• Complete my things to do list
• Make something for me!
• Think of different ways to continue Make, Do and Mend on a small scale
• Continue reading
• Spend more time with my family (my mum has been poorly)
• Spend less time on my laptop & more time crafting 
• Stay happy!

I think that's enough to be going on with!

What plans do you have?

Christmas 2013

Over a week has passed since the big day, the decorations have been packed away for another year but I still wanted to do a quick reminder.

For me it's all about the food!! 

OH looks after me very well & cooks for me all day, you can see my lovely dinner (the best bit of the day), turkey sandwiches, pickled onions & the lovely Christmas cake my mum made us.

Popsy & Jean had stockings from my mum but you can see Popsy is not impressed!

I did very well on the presents……. a selection of Cath goodies, IWM calendar, 2 tins of biscuits, iPad case, cat bracelet, crazy cat lady figure (not sure why!!), handmade cat door stop from my sister who's just starting to knit again. Another yarn holder, ok so that was a gift to myself after seeing it on Julie's Facebook page. 

And my beautiful cat purse……. don't you think it looks like Popsy? Not sure what I'm going to use it for yet as I don't wear make up but I'm sure I'll think of something.

All in all it was a good one & this year I wasn't worn out from extra hours at work!

However I still feel terrible with my cough & haven't made it back since the new year :(

Chest x rays are all cleared (a good thing!) so now I'm just waiting for my blood test results to come back next week.

December flew passed as it always does….

I made a few gifts which Matthew seemed to like! I spent every Sunday in December with my family…. something I've never done before due to the joys of working. A evening at the theatre with my lovely Twitter friends, spending time with my girls & being in bed a lot!

I'll be back with a round up of 2013, book reviews & what I plan in 2014

Stay dry & safe!