Hi! We’re overdue for another little catch up, though not much has happened lately in all honesty!
If February felt like a bust, the first two weeks of March have been no better. I somehow got 2 different colds within three 3 weeks. A big reminder to myself that I must make sure I am carrying and using hand sanitiser when I take the bus, and not be afraid to mask up when people are coughing everywhere!
I took COVID tests and they never came up positive (though I do doubt the reliability of those). The last one was a particularly aggressive head cold, and after having only just recovered from the previous one – and the dip in energy from my period – when it hit it really got my feeling quite low, I wasn’t happy to be stuck in bed feeling sorry for myself again.
Thankfully, it was also quite a fast moving one, so a few days later I’m finally feeling like myself again! And I also have a whole week off work! I am really hoping to make the most of the time to catch up on the blog and get some bits done around the house, and especially the garden.
I am a bit conscious that a new flurry of activity might be a bit spammy for those of you who subscribe via email! I apologies in advance (my time is limited, I just have to do when I can!), and want to let you know that you can in the settings set the email delivery to weekly or daily, rather than instant every time I post something new. Or if you use WordPress Reader you can turn off the email and catch up in there (this is how I keep up with most of the blogs I follow). To change the settings you can click the link right at the bottom of the email.
📱 Habits schmabits
Predictably, my enthusiasm for habit tracking has not survived my hormone rollercoaster coupled with two colds! I have barely moved in weeks, never mind done much around the house or with my many projects.
We are back to the drawing board! I don’t know if I want to bother getting back into using Habitica or not, I just don’t think I’m a person that get motivated by trackers and it just becomes another thing I have to do.
I have definitely noticed that my mood and motivation has really lifted in the last couple of weeks as the days get longer and lighter, and spring colour is returning to the world. I hesitate to speak too soon, but there is a distinct possibility that this week I might dust off my skipping rope now its getting nicer outside.
🏖️ A Whole Week Off!
I’ve made it to March without any time off work! I am still definitely running on enthusiasm for my new job, but it does also feel like a break is due. We don’t have any plans to go away this week, but I am looking forward to some quality time with my partner and catching up with myself, as well as getting some overdue chores done.
I know this week is going to fly by so I want to try to keep some structure to it, I am hoping to blog in the mornings (which is always when I’m more full of ideas) and if it is not raining make some progress with our garden. I also really want to get Picard finished, he has been very neglected since I’ve been unwell and also, in all honestly, since Hogwarts Legacy came on the scene!
Actually finishing Hogwarts Legacy is a high priority because I just want it done so I can move on with my life! I am hoping I might achieve that tonight, then I can write up some thoughts for the blog (I have thoughts – this game has some odd choices in it, one mission thread in particular has had me shouting at the TV!).
Today I managed to get the garden shed cleared and reorganised! After reading Children of Time I actually felt a little bad destroying the homes of all the spiders that live in there.
Surprisingly, I don’t feel as freaked out by spiders when they’re outside, and it doesn’t matter where they run off to.. as long as they’re not on me. It’s just the ones inside the house I have a problem with!
📺 I’ve been watching
- Our Doctor Who rewatch chugs on! We are now into Series 7 and last night watched the final episode with the Ponds. Rory is a top tier companion (maybe my favourite at this point) and I also do like Amy as well, she is the least irritating of Moffatt’s female characters. Sure some of the writing for them is confusing (the whole Melody plot is so clumsily done) but I do like the balance of Doctor with them. We are about to enter the Clara era which I am quite anxious about! I remember hating the whole series arc with her, and it was the writing for her that finished me off and stopped me watching Doctor Who! I never watched a whole Capaldi series, so we will soon enter uncharted territory!
- I am still loving Elementary. It is my go-to at the moment (along with Bob’s Burgers if I just want something for 20mins!), and I’m getting through an episode or two a day. This is a version of Sherlock Holmes that I really appreciate, and I really like how it has addiction and sobriety at the heart of the show.
- We also just started re-watching the original X-Men cartoon series before X-Men ’97 is out this week. Like most millennials this cartoon was an integral part of my childhood, it was Saturday mornings! We only got through the first 3 episodes so far, but it is definitely still fun! I forgot how fast paced it is though, they pack a lot into 20 mins!
🎮 I’ve been playing
- Hogwarts Legacy has taken over life in our house for the last month! We’ve both been playing it most days. I’ve had a good time with it, but I am ready to be able to focus on something else.
- I am going to count Sudoku here too! I’ve been doing daily Sudoku, at least one puzzle but often a few and I’m getting a lot better at it! I can do an “expert” level one in my app in around 10 mins now. I need to learn some more tricks and techniques to be able to do any high level ones, which is where I might have to start getting into some maths.
- We are now two games from the end of Ticket to Ride Legacy!
📰 New on the blog
Since last we Newslettered I haven’t been very active on the blog. I’ve not managed to post anything personal bloggy, but I am slowly catching up on my book reviews.
- A very late Reading Roundup for February! Dive into that for links to my reviews.
📥 In the processor
A lot honestly but I am going to have to pick some focus. Motivation, exercise and all that is still definitely floating around but I’ve so much to catch up on that needs to be on a back burner. First and foremost is that I feel like I need to re-centre myself in the things that inspire me and bring me joy, which I have let fall away recently.
My embroidery is definitely one of those things! I still have two kits from Christmas to work on and a course of pet portraits to take. I also have a Rolife miniature kit for an Alice in Wonderland tea shop that looks very cute and I’ve not touched yet! When Vacation Picard is done I will pick up one of those I think.
All the new spring blooms have also reawakened my interest in the garden, and I still haven’t come up with a plan for what I want to put in the raised beds we have cleared. I need to do a bit of research into what plants will thrive in which spots, and come up with a plan. I know nothing about garden design, so if you have any good resources please let me know!
📖 Reading
I caught up to date for February in my Reading Roundup yesterday, so I won’t go over all that again!
This week I finished and reviewed The No-Show by Beth O’Leary and Children Of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Last night I finished Beach Read by Emily Henry so I’ll throw up my thoughts on that soon as well.
I have succumbed to a few more 99p books in the last couple of weeks…
- Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll – A thriller based on crimes of Ted Bundy but from the POV of two women trying to get justice. I’ve seen some great review for this, so definitely intrigued. Could pair well with Penance by Eliza Clark which is very high on my list at the moment!
- Weyward by Emilia Hart – I am always keep an eye out for good witchy books, this has consistently good reviews so fingers crossed!
- Foe by Iain Reid – after loving We Spread I added this to my watch list and almost snapped off Amazon’s arm when I saw it pop up for 99p shortly after!
- Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton – I think this is the book that originally put Eleanor Catton on my watch list but I got the Luminaries before without realised it is 850 pages… so that one won’t get read until I go on a beach holiday! Birnam Wood is only 400 pages thankfully!
- Beach Read by Emily Henry – I had to give this author another go. I loved Book Lovers and I loathed (DNF) You And Me on Vacation. My research showed there are two camps with Emily Henry readers and if you loved Book Lovers you’d probably love Beach Read (and if you hated You And Me on Vacation also avoid Happy Place!). This was an accurate assessment!
💡 Inspiration
I haven’t had much time for reading blogs lately but I did save in my daily notes a couple of posts enjoyed:
- Veronique shared this idea (via Jarod Blundy) of a One-a-Month-Club for financial support for blogs with a low pressure, low commitment price. I like this idea, especially if you are interested in a lot of blogs if they’re all $3-5 that actually adds up quick. There are some amazing creative blogs and projects out there, and I’m slowly figuring our how to find them – mostly through what Veronique shares! I must make some time to explore more and start a list of my own!
- I liked this list of idea for what you can do with your personal website!
- Great post from My Comic Relief: X-Men ’97: Honoring its Predecessor Amidst Fans, Fandoms, and the “Threat of Wokeness”
Instagram Inspo
I have been complete inactive on the embroidery Instagram community of late, but I still have plenty of favourites to share! I adore @caitscapes retro feeling spacey landscapes, these are so my vibe.
❤️ Highlight of week?
The first thing that came to mind was last week, sitting on the sofa with my partner and he put on a YouTube video of Day9TV playing original Tomb Raider. I am not usually one for watching Let’s Plays (unless its The Sims lol) but this video had us both crying laughing.
Honestly still makes me laugh now when I think about how many times he clicks load in the menu instead of save. Videogame controls were so much harder back then! I only ever played a little bit of Tomb Raider (at my friends house) and it brought back the pain of try to get her to do a basic jump correctly!
I hadn’t laughed like that for ages.
If you made it all the way down here, let me know how your week was! What was the highlight for you?
