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‘Live life’ Category

  1. Happy New Year

    January 1, 2014 by sarah

    Happy New Year to you all! Thank you for finding and following my blog as I find my feet with this new experience over this first year. And here’s to finding out new things together over the year and years to come.

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    I feel 2013 has been a good year for me. I think it is because I have had to be much more focused this year, but in being more focused I have also achieved a lot more than just pottering around life, switching from this to that as the mood took me. I think the restlessness inside me has quietened for now as it has purpose. I am much more busy than I have been for years because of the study for the certificate course I am doing. I knew before I started it would be hard getting my now ten years older brain back into its learning gear for proper studying, which I hadn’t done since finishing vet school. I have to admit that in the summer the pressure nearly got too much for me but luckily I got a lifeline (a half day off a week to commit entirely to studying) and help (thank you Anne-Marie) and took stock of my life before it was too late. When I was young I really thought that excelling in my career was the best way to be happy, that it would somehow make me into a “successful adult.” But now I’m not so sure. I get so much pleasure from the other things in my life, and from having the time to cook and make things. I’m starting to really believe that it’s those things that make me feel successful because the only real success is true happiness. I also realise how lucky I am to have my husband to support me, though sometimes I wish the support could transpire into more practical help such as cooking and cleaning but we can work on that.

    This year I have gained a whole lot of new knowledge and conglomerated knowledge I already had but was fragmented. It has also been good to focus my cooking and baking for new aims, namely for posting on this blog and entering the local show. And to have a weight lifted in finally finishing a long abandoned craft project, the scrapbook of our holiday in 2005. And as usual, as one project is finished, the hole is filled with at least half a dozen new ones. At least I am never going to run out of ideas to blog about and I am never going to be bored. Only boring people get bored!

    This year has also involved a change of mindset. Primarily realising that I am changeable; I can mold me to be more effective, more useful, more focused.

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    I am looking forward and planning for the year ahead.  I have two new projects lined up for this blog so look out for them over the next few days. I am so excited about them and I hope you will be too. My brain is over flowing with ideas, currently hastily scribbled in my notebook so now I need to form them into fully fledged ideas that can take flight (oh, that was a bit poetic).

    As always for this time of year, we make New Year resolutions to revel and delight in the prospect of a new day, a fresh start, one more try at life. So my resolution is to promise to make the best of any moment I have, any situation I am in and with any friends I am with. Life would be boring if it stayed the same, lets change it for the better, one day at a time.

    Sarah xxx


  2. Christmas Things!

    December 19, 2013 by sarah

    I thought I would share with you some Christmasy pictures from around the house.

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    The speedily decorated tree; found the usual lights didn’t work so used the little lantern LED ones that usually use to go elsewhere (nice shape but blue light, will need to look for better ones next year). The decorations are a mixture of homemade (the felt hearts and raffia covered balls), childhood (the felt stocking made in primary school), found (the reindeer) and fond memories (wooden decorations from Salzberg). Fake spruce garland over the very real inglenook fireplace (more handmade hearts and cinnamon stick decorations). The 5 minute door wreath; take strands of ivy, wrap around metal wreath making hoop, tying on with twine where necessary but mainly just weaving, finish with holly berries tucked in and a gold ribbon (and rain). All completed in the time it took to drink the mulled wine and eat the very delicious Waitrose mince pie!


  3. A Scrapbook finished!

    October 20, 2013 by sarah

    I have finally finished my first scrapbook, eight years after the holiday that inspired it! I started it soon after the holiday but wasn’t happy with my work flow for the photographs so everything stalled. Now I work with Lightroom, I can process the photos so much faster and I get them printed off in bulk from Snapfish when they have a deal on. I experimented with layouts and embellishments in the album and I consistently find my favourites are the ones with a simple layout, few extra twiddly bits and some writing to give meaning to the pictures. When I come to do our Big Trip round the world album, I think I will stick to this and make it an ‘photo album plus journalling’.

    I was reminded of something said on ‘Downtown Abbey’ last weekend:

    ‘The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end, it is all that is left.’

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  4. Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines…

    August 11, 2013 by sarah

    This was our 3rd wedding anniversary present to each other – a flight in a Tiger Moth at IWM Duxford. We had one each, went up and waved at each other and even got to try flying them. Amazing experience – it felt so real with the wind in your hair! You are probably wondering why this is a third anniversary present? It is to do with the leather flying jackets!

    flying (2 of 2) flying (1 of 2)


  5. Garden produce

    July 17, 2013 by sarah

    Here is a basket of lovely garden produce I picked last night.

    berlin (10 of 8)


  6. Berlin

    July 17, 2013 by sarah

    Here are a few snaps of Berlin from our recent holiday there. We almost bought the solar powered waving Queen as our tacky souvenir until I pointed out it is not of the country we were visiting and was made in China!

    berlin (6 of 8) berlin (7 of 8) berlin (4 of 8) berlin (3 of 8)

    berlin (9 of 8) berlin (8 of 8) berlin (5 of 8)


  7. The Mexican Stand Off

    May 12, 2013 by sarah

    The chickens have been enjoying the sunshine in the back garden today. When I popped out to check on them, look what I found… dog and chickens asleep in the sun. What this picture doesn’t show is that our cat, Brian, was asleep on the grass too only 3 feet away from the chickens. I tried to get a picture with them all in but they woke up and moved off. Happy families!

    May13 (2 of 2)


  8. A short break!

    May 12, 2013 by sarah

    We took a few days off work and went camping in Herefordshire and Shropshire, so I have not done any baking for a few weeks. The weather was glorious every day. I particularly liked the day we sent going around the second hand book shops in Hay-on Wye and all lovely meals we had out, especially around Ludlow. The other timber house , painted in yellow, is part of Stokesay Castle, near Ludlow.

    May13 (3 of 2) May13 (4 of 2)


  9. Flumping By Brian!

    April 21, 2013 by sarah

    Our cat, Brian, flumps! This is an onomatopoetic word so you can probably guess what it involves. When he lies down, he just flumps! This is him flumping on our bed this morning, and yes sometimes he lands upside down!!!

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  10. Friends come visiting

    April 12, 2013 by sarah

    This week  Eilidh and Rachel, two friends from uni days, came to stay. We went to St Albans, Hampton Court Palace and Spitalfields and went to The Rex cinema in Berkhamsted(http://therexberkhamsted.com/) where we saw ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ which was surprisingly good fun! Here are some photos…

    friends (5 of 5) friends (4 of 5) friends (3 of 5) friends (2 of 5)