Whooosh......Where did 2024 go?

 

Goodness Me

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I SWEAR the time just goes faster and faster. 

I'm trying so hard to keep stepping off this fast paced train to just soak up where I am at....where my kids are at.

Keeping ones head down and getting through each day......suddenly months have gone by. 

It's just crazy.

Life has been a rollercoaster this year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some beautiful highs......and some very pants lows. 

I have started this post at least eight times. I write. I leave it. I write again. I delete it. I began writing this post in February. 

 

We are now coming close to October. 

 

I'm not so sure Blogs are read these days. I ponder on closing this little space of mine so often. I can never quite take the plunge for fear of regret. This place here is truly my place for my thoughts and my makes. If anything, maybe looking back and seeing my little journey can show me how far I have come. How far I have grown in my own little world, that was so full of self doubt and shyness.

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I don't even know where to begin with this year. I shall try to sum it up in brief....

Christmas 2023 came and went. Gosh, it feels so long ago now. I felt absolutely no Christmas Spirit. 

NONE AT ALL.

I just don't really know what happened. I'm usually REALLY stressed going into December, but getting the tree and decorations up, it calms me and makes me happier.

I was less stressed than normal, but I had absolutely no motivation to get a tree, get decorations down, make anything Christmassy. I asked the remaining home Bears if they were bothered if I went all out or not, and they just simply didn't care. Maybe that was the trigger. If one had said they love all that stuff, I would have been motivated to have decked up the halls, but NO SIREEEE, nothing graced the house, except for 3 white pipe cleaner trees I bought on sale.

It felt a little weird I have to say, but Christmas seemed to spring up so quickly that I really didn't feel like I had any time to feel sad or miss my lack of trying.

I don't really do New Year's Resolutions, but I do try to have a word that will be my word for the year. That way, I can work it in whatever form I like without that disappointment one inevitably gets.

I've felt so out of sorts these past 18 months, that I just felt like this year needed to be the year of self care. Self care without ANY guilt.

 

 I guess I have sort of been achieving it. I have definitely been carving out more guilt free 'me time'. The pleasure and relaxation of it has been offset with pretty much everything going wrong with the house this year. One of those years when all the big things happen at once....then all the little things happen at once. Just when you think nothing else can go wrong, life proves you wrong. 

By mid year, I had resigned myself to thinking that this will be the year that I will label as 'Not The Best'

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Crafting has taken such a back seat lately, but I have still been knitting socks (woohoo!), and feel like I'd now like to progress to a simple jumper. Being a shortie, there are two types of clothing I want to learn to make for myself.......jumpers at just the right length......and trousers at just the right length. I'm still on the search for simple easy patterns to knit and sew, but am almost excited at the thought of feeling crafty again.

 

 

 

If anyone has any ideas for a great beginner friendly jumper/sweater knitting pattern recommendation........I'm all ears. I'm such a visual learner. Written patterns are such a struggle for me, both in crochet and knitting. I made my socks watching a step by step tutorial, and it was amazing. I don't think I could have got past the first few lines of a written pattern before I'd have given up. Maybe I should search for a you tube tutorial for a basic jumper pattern. The words 'short rows' scares the bejeesus out of me. I fear that I'm at an age where I can't get to grips with knitting and patterns. My memory has always been terrible, but even more so in the last few years. I don't want to let it beat me, but the thought of just not getting it fills me with dread.

As the Autumn draws in, my fire has been reignited for blanket making. I purged my blankets recently and now feel the need to make some new ones. I always love the thought of snuggling under a blanket whilst I'm making it. I want a simple granny squares blanket. I was thinking on quite a traditional one (with colours that were less 'me'), but I saw one that the rest of the family liked more, so I'll maybe go with that. I guess there's no rule on how many granny blankets one can have.

I am now relishing the thought of candle season, cosy afternoons and cool weather baking. I do love the onset of Autumn.

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 After my dahlia success last year, I went crazy, and bought a whole bunch more to plant this year.They did fairly well. One lovely thing in 2024, was the success of my little postage stamp sized garden. I really do have the death touch, and have never really bothered or tried hard to create a nice garden. I'd say it was just functional. This year has been the best in terms of planting things, growing things, and keeping things alive! I have actually amazed myself, and it has spurred me on to try and do well again next year.

I spent last weekend getting the garden winter ready. Clearing out old pots that have gone over. Planting bulbs for spring.  It felt great, like I was getting my head in order.

 

The Bears laugh because I am convinced our road has been cursed by the evil Witch from Narnia. Everything grows and flowers at least 2 months later than normal. If we have snow and it melts, it melts from every other road, but you turn into ours and its shockingly frozen for days after. I'm guessing there is probably a very scientific reason why my little road stays colder than any other place where I live, but the Narnia Witch making a stop here is a more magical thought don't you think? 

I'm all for the magic.

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I have been hearing a lot of peeps mentioning the 'C' word. My heart sort of sinks. As I said, I had no Christmas spirit last year. I don't know why. I sort of put it down to being peri-menopausal and just lacking in any enthusiasm for anything. This year, I'm on a more even keel, but the path into 2025 is going to be a slightly uncertain one. It makes me think then, that Christmas 2024 will be weird.

I'll let you know

Here's hoping that I'll be able to find my words next year. Goodness knows where they went this year. 

 

 

Time goes so fast. I have been accutely aware of it this year. Trying so hard to stop and make memories and just soak up the loveliness of relationships and friendships.

My hope for the rest of this year is that I can be gentle on myself. Do small things with love. If I can take that into 2025 then I'll be content.

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and the shadows will fall behind you"

-Walt Whitman

Cheerio for now

xxx