Ice cream Protest!

Well hello! Yes, I know...it has been quite some time since I tended my little blog allotment! But, there is a very good reason for my absence. I have only gone and joined the working classes! Yip, I am now a fully fledged office receptionist, and I'm settling into my day job very nicely! The only down side is that there still remains just twenty-four hours in every day, hence the weeds have taken over a little in this corner! But, I have great plans to make time for this very important piece of my heart, and I will become a little more productive once things have fallen into a steady, manageable routine! Needless to say, my creative juices have dried up a little as there just hasn't been much time for creating and crafting! I did manage to join up some squares...

I am planning to make a little memory quilt from these lovely little squares. Once I've joined them up nicely, I will add some embroidery, decorative stitching, embellishments, and a few other surprises...which no doubt will come to me as I work on it...I hope!

I feel a little lost this year, as I normally do something special around Valentine's day, but the time and the inclination just failed to find me this February! Hubby had to work, and the kidlets and I had a quiet night in in front of the box. The UK weather has surpassed it's soggy reputation this winter too, and the general mood at home has been equally damp because of it! So, what does one do in the middle of a windswept, cold, sodden winter? One has an ice cream party of course! That's what we did, by candle light, in protest of the weather!

It cheered us up no end! I think it also has something to do with the fact that I'm longing for summer to burst through the door with warmth and lazy, hazy happy days! But, for now, I'll leave you all with a few tempting ideas to host your very own ice-cream party...even if the summer is still a little way off...

Mason jars

Backyard ice cream party

Pretty paper cups

Print your own pretty labels

It's a wrap!

Wine glasses and silver spoons

Roll on summer!

My retro soul sings!

And so I have waited...patiently...And I'm not the patient kind. But sometimes that's all one's purse allows for, waiting and hoping  that somewhere someone will want rid of that one thing that would bring the zing back into your home, without having to cut off an arm! And then I found it. A superb specimen of retro revelation... a magnificent 1960's teak McIntosh sideboard which I have longed for, for such a very long time! These retro sideboards have made a fierce comeback, and hence they are quite pricey. But my thrifty soul is singing, as I found one for an absolute song! Eventually...Why, I ask you, are they so sought after these days? Well, for me it evokes nostalgic feelings of a time when it seemed that time stood still. The pace of life these days leave little scope for reflection, simplicity and calm, and there is something quite calming about the structure of these retro pieces. So, there has been some re-shuffling, nesting and tweaking...

Finally, a resting place for old collected pieces, that breathes new life into them...somehow, they now fit...

And so the oak cupboard had to move, but it's found a happy spot!

Adding a few spring like blooms in blue...

A teapot re-purposed...

And with that done, I can now sit back, transported a little further down memory lane to the sounds of the Beatles, with 'Love me do' and 'Hey Jude'...My retro soul sings!

♥♥♥♥

Do all things with great love...

Hello my lovelies! Wow...we're already half way through January, and I'm only just picking up my blogging pen for the first time in 2014! In all honesty, I've been hiding in a cave for a while, with big bear hibernation tendencies forcing me into the depths of my duvet for much of the time. It's not been the best start to the new year...I feel like I've lost my mojo. But then I hear the voice of the very tenacious Elizabeth Taylor in my head...

So, with that in mind, I get moving. I'm not one for new year's resolutions anymore. I seem to disqualify myself from success before I've even started! So, I don't stick 'THAT'  label on it. But I do reflect on the year just gone, to ponder on what could be better in the new year. And this year, I choose to carry on living my life by 'doing all things with great love', for in doing so, fulfilment rushes along to stir up a feeling of contentment, achievement and a real sense of gratitude for this life that I have been given. When I do things, all things, with love, I appreciate life and all it's possibilities. It brightens up the mundane, and it brings smiles to those around me. As I spend most of my time being a mum, wife, friend and homemaker, I try to apply this one rule to all these roles as much as I can. It's not always easy, because many factors and the stresses of life sometimes get in the way, but in 2014, I will try...

In my homemaking...adding a little sparkle wherever I can...

I like things to look pleasing to the eye, and organised. So, I've tackled my wardrobe, keeping only that which I believe to be beautiful, and useful...

A bargain 20 pence jewelry box, finally organised to hold only the pretties I still wear...

Fairy lights make all things better...adding love and warmth...

And in my giving to others, I will create and give in love...

Teeny tiny parcel, sewn with love

An old book page lovingly hugs a tiny gift inside...

A gift, wrapped with a little added sparkle

Small things with love...

Every day is a new start. I will aim to be practical in this one thing, adding love to ever task, every challenge, every encounter. So, my challenge to you this year, is to do all things with great love. For if you sow love, you will reap it.

Blessings, Tania ♥