Not quite New Year Resolutions but...

it's that time of year when it feels like a new year if only because the children are back at school. And I feel that I need to make some resolutions/To Do's down on paper so that I have a permanent record of them. Normally I make lists in a notebook. This works well for stuff that needs to be done that day, but not so well for things that by their nature will take some time. Therefore, if it is out there on the internet I'll be able to find it and mark my progress.

This list will initially be a stream of consciousness, and it's position on the list will not be a priority but merely what is on my mind and I'm hoping that one reminder will nudge other things to do into my consciousness.

1. Doris's paperwork to be filed and boxed
2. Do my paperwork
3. Complete School supplementary interest forms, and work out what proof of address would be acceptable.
4. Plant bulbs at allotment
5. Dig over allotment
6. Dig over garden
7. Sign myself up for proofreading course
8. Come up with a weekly housekeeping list that I can stick to
9. Find a new console table for the hall
10. Declutter
11. Make something
12. Sew up cardigan
13. Sew up jumper

OK so that is 13 things that need to be done. And of course, there are way more things that should be down there, and already I can feel them bubbling up. But for the moment I'm going to leave the list as it is. Of course I can feel myself drawn to putting on more washing, anything rather than start on filing.

Ardnamurchan 09 007

Ardnamurchan 09 007
Originally uploaded by citybluekitty.

Actually a bay on Mull. Lovely and quiet.

Tessa's birthday

Last Saturday, T turned 7. I can't get over how much she has grown up in the last year both literally and figuratively, this year she is slimmer and taller than last.





We went to Brighton to celebrate, taking advantage of a free family railcard courtesy of a certain newspaper that shall remain nameless. We went by train and it was a smooth journey there and back, the trains might have been late but not enough to matter. All in all it was much easier than taking the car, and I shall probably do this again over the summer.

I am experimenting to see if I can add photos from flickr and eta I can't.

blanket in progress 004

blanket in progress 004
Originally uploaded by millhillmum.

Progress on my throw, this is my 2nd attempt, nearly 2 weeks in. My first attempt foundered on the rocks of attempted perfectionism when I attempted to rescue a dropped stitch by ripping back but the wool kept snapping, it was all mohair and the edges are done in moss stitch, the extra fluff on that yarn meant it caught on itself. So I had to buy extra yarn so I could continue, glad I did as the yarns I bought have been a bit more interesting but maybe not so tasteful.

blanket in progress 001

blanket in progress 001
Originally uploaded by millhillmum.

Yarn for the blanket, new wool is all fluffy and self striping, or purple. Wool my mum gave me is solid blue.

Isn't it great when shops do a good job

Yesterday afternoon, I placed an order with Mca Direct, didn't really think about where they are, they just happened to stock 2 of the yarns I wanted to order. This morning there is a knock at my door and my order is in my hands, it's only come all the way from Stirling which is approx 450 miles away. This is amazing only because for the last too many years anything not posted first thing in the morning will not make it all the way to London or all the way to Scotland without having to spend two nights in a post bag somewhere, but recently things have improved. My mum posted my cards on the 15th they arrived in london on the 16th, she posted a card to her mum from Perth to Stirling which still hadn't arrived on Sunday despite being about 30 miles from there. Anyway very pleased with the service from Mca Direct which stands for McAree Bros, a shop I actually used to go into when I lived with my Granny in Stirling many years ago. Doubly impressed that the delivery was free so really was not expecting the yarn till next week.

March work in progress with yarn

March work in progress with yarn
Originally uploaded by millhillmum.

These pictures were taken today, just showing off my current WIP, and some new wool i bought today to add to the blanket.

When you are feeling down...

you can pick yourself up by writing your CV.
Yesterday I told M I'd get round to cleaning the oven this week, in fact it might even have been 'tomorrow' that issued forth from my lips, and he said he got round it by rewarding himself with something nice afterwards. Now it looks as though cleaning the oven might be my reward for doing my CV.
Aagh, I know it's not that hard but it seems very hard when your self esteem is at zero, but finally this afternoon after cleaning and polishing in the dining room I finally sat down at the PC and started plugging away. This morning I had a quick look at monster and decided to steal some blurb from the agency adverts. My main problem is remembering what I used to do and using the right language to make it seem worthy. I have a bad habit of denigrating everything i have ever done. As a result I don't actually feel I have ever achieved anything, how could it be noteworthy if even a doofus like me can do it. So I started feeling down and now feel slightly more upbeat about it. The real hilarity is trying to remember the more obscure jobs I had back in the 90's - do they count? And how many words from Office lingo bingo can I manage to put in my CV? The real work is yet to come in the final details, 80-95% of the facts are down it's now a matter of presenting it in a more attractive manner but that as they say is for another day. now where is that oven?

a Day of Rest after a week of action

A day of Rest
Finally, we are having a rest day here. It's the final day of half term and it has been really good this time. Obviously the secret is to keep it busy.
Of course it seems a very long half term in that it actually started the Wednesday before last with J & T being off sick, Thursday was a snow day and Friday was an inset day.
So small round up of half term.
Friday - cleaned house, shopped and visited I
Saturday - children were all invited to a party which lasted all afternoon, giving M and I some much appreciated couple time where we were able to visit some tile shops but this soon became an opportunity to visit our favourite Chinese on Finchley Road.
Sunday - I think this was a quiet day with no rugby as J had a cold.
Monday - should have been a quiet day but actually involved lots of driving (in the rain) to Cricklewood and back and then to Harrow and back, but we went to ILVA in the evening and bought a new table ours is the Houston.
Tuesday - we visited friends in Barnet
Wednesday - I took the children into town to visit the Natural History Museum, followed by lunch at McD's at Picadilly and then a walk up Regents Street where we came across Hamleys, we visited a couple of other shops but J just doesn't 'get' why women like looking at clothes. We were very lucky with our tubes as there were no problems on the Northern Line so once back at Edgware I got some yummy food for dinner a deux with M. Children were packed off to bed early as they were shattered from all the walking.
Thursday - J had a friend over late morning and then we all went to see Charlotte's Web with I and O in Watford. We all really enjoyed it.
Friday - Friends came over to visit us.
Saturday - winding down now but we went to London Colney to get M a suit for Monday, various bits for me and the children, then home for lunch. After lunch seemed very flat till J was invited out to a friend's, I went to a jumble sale, sam slept and while T and M were out delivering J I lay down. Heard some knocking went down, I actually thought it was a dyno-rod van outside it was so bright but surprisingly it was a postman with a bright red van with a big box which was full of exciting goodies namely wool from my mum and lots of knitting needles.
So I now have a stash of wool, which is rather fun. I had a go with crocheting in mohair but it didn't work too well, I think I need a bigger hook.
Sunday - a day of rest for T, S and I as M has gone off with J for rugby but this week they are having a practice session at the Saracen training ground and then get to watch a match at Vicarage Road in Watford.
I actually feel like it's a New Year, and now is the time for me to make some resolutions.
So here goes:

I want to take S swimming at least once a week
I need to make time to make sure Tessa does her spellings every week. We bought her a special notebook yesterday and she has already asked me for 2 spelling tests so she is pretty motivated.

I want to try and go over the main rooms at least once a week. I always seem to be firefighting with the housework. I don't know why but I spend an inordinate amount of time tidying up everyone else's stuff before I can actually get to cleaning. Ideally I would like a house that was company ready all the time but that will never happen.

I would love to go swimming myself once a week, and I would like to spend more time gardening. This year I would like to sow some seeds at the right time and not 2 months late.

Now the hardest thing for me will be to actually stop reading about all the things I would love to do and start doing, so a little less time reading other people's blogs and a bit more time updating mine more frequently and then going to do whatever I need to do. In a moment's time it is tidying the hall that awaits, I tidied it last week but unbelievably other peoples stuff that actually has a home upstairs has started squatting down here and needs to be cleared out.