I seem to have misplaced my mojo

Crumbs, it has been a while. I seem to have lost my mojo. Not just my blogging mojo either, life in general seems to have got really hard recently. Nothing bad has happened, and when I look at it I have nothing at all to complain about and a hell of a lot to be thankful for, so I feel really shallow wallowing like this. It just seems like everything is getting me down at the moment and all I want to do is curl up and sleep for a very long time.

Time to find some new energy and turn over a new leaf. Here is my plan of action:

Work stresses. I need to stop working extra hours for no extra money and acknowledge that when I have a 16 hours per week contract, then all that work get out of me is 16 hours worth of effort. Plus, I need to double up the effort to look out a new job. I've actually already done this and I submitted two job applications just yesterday.

Family stresses. Once we all get over our sickies and stop feeling sorry for ourselves (we've had a family cold doing the rounds for the last 10 days now and him indoors has a bad back again) then me and the skinny one need to up the effort to spend more quality time together. We are going to ask for some help from the rellies and try having the odd night out/afternoon off from the little man. We adore our little family unit of three but we're getting very insular of late and we have starting being very very crabby with one another. Case in point one night this week where I just about wanted to wallop him (hard) for the way he was breathing. Unreasonable ... moi?

Health stresses. Now I am no longer breastfeeding (sniff) my waistline seems to have ballooned instantly, and just when I thought I'd got away with not piling on stones after having a baby, my metabolism goes into hibernation while my appetite still rages on expecting those extra 500 calories per day, preferably in the form of saturated fat. So I'm going to have to stop making trips to lovely cafes for tea and cakes just to pass the time and get me through the day and start exercising more. I need to do this to be around to see my little lad grow up and offer him the energy he deserves. Sounds heavy but I really need a kick up the proverbial for this one.

House stresses. We need to get our house sold to allow us the flexibility and financial release to relocate should the new job situation go my way. We've been on the market for almost 12 months now and have had 30 plus viewings but still na da. Not much we can do here really given the current financial woes ... want to buy a pretty Welsh cottage anyone? Any reasonable offer condsidered. But in the mean time I must commit to keeping on top of the housework and invest some time in doing those little DIY/tidying jobs that would make the place look even more presentable. Plus, I think renewed energy going into the veggie plot and garden would be no bad thing. Knowing our luck we might just be here to harvest all those veggies in a few months time!

Money worries. These are just irrational and silly as we are actually doing alright money-wise at the moment. So, I just need to stop stressing about this one. In fact one of my resolutions ought to be a positive one to go out shopping and treat myself more often to some lovely things...not the edible stuff obviously. See point above!

Craft Overwhelm-i-ness . I need to review my list of things to make, prioritise them and spend some time actually enjoying making stuff again. I often think my making habit is a bit of an emotional barometer ... if it starts feeling like a chore to pick up the knitting or sewing then I'm heading towards a bad place emotionally. I think if I can get some stuff finished before starting anything else new then I'll get that sense of accomplishment I probably desperately need at the moment.

There that feels better. Ah, the power of the confessional blog post that virtually no one reads. I feel more positive having blurted this lot out and for having seen in black and white that I do actually have plans to address some of the stuff that has had me lurking in the doldrums these last few weeks.

Oh, and my final resolution to self must be to get back into doing this blogging lark. It might help if I learnt how to take a decent photo, looking back at some of my posts my photos are gawd awful!

Toodle pip
J
x

WIPe out!

I've had a run on finishing up some WIPs over the bank holiday weekend. I love how there are little stories behind each and every one...

After much pondering we booked our first family summer holiday a couple of weeks back. We are staying fairly local and heading down the coast to explore Pembrokeshire for a few days. So many places I've never been to and all virtually on our doorstep - tut tut! Anyhoo, we've booked a totally cool place to stay The Tin Bungalow and we are off exploring. In readiness I've bought plum a bucket and spade set and run him up a beach bag ...



Working with plastic covered fabric was ... interesting. Much use of masking tape to stop it sticking on the machine, then much cursing as several fingernails were lost in the process of peeling off the masking tape which has stuck tight!

Then today I have put the last touches to Reuben's hand made cot quilt ...





This is another one of my signature scrappy squares quilts, based around the same colour scheme as a tiny quilt I did for his moses basket while I was pregnant. I keep swearing I'll do something more adventurous with my quilting but I keep coming back to these, I think I just love squares (not to mention spots and stripes)! I'm still very much a learner when it comes to quilting but I tackled doing proper binding for the first time on this one, just don't look closely at my supposedly mitred corners. They went terribly wrong but I couldn't face unpicking anything - so I just fudged them :)

My final work in progress story is less positive. I've ended up ripping out half a jumper I was knitting for myself from a batch of charity shop wool. With no ball bands to determine fibre composition I thought I'd risk making something wearable with my find, a few evenings in and my skin was shouting for mercy! There was no way I was ever going to be able to wear the darn thing so I had to give up. I'll hopefully use the wool up for something that will have less contact with my skin. I've been meaning for some time to turn my attention to crochet and I've a tinkle of an idea running round my head based on a granny squares blanket design I saw at the WonderWool exhibition last month, must get practicing.

Toodle pip
J
x