Sorry!

Right, so sorry about that. Last year apparently wasn't exactly my best blogging year. I stopped publishing sometime in October, even though there were many ideas at the back of my mind that I wanted to share with you. I kept taking pictures for a while but once I realized I couldn't find any time for posting them I stopped that as well. 

We're well into the new year already, my birthday has passed (I always associate my birthday with Christmas & New Year holidays, as I was born on January 6), and hopefully my blogging energy will restore. I did something a good blogger would never do, I guess, I posted the old photos with the approximate dates they were meant to be posted - once again, sorry about that. I can't promise to be a regular contributor in 2015 but I will do my best. I still very much enjoy following your blogs, though!

And if my blog is a sort of an unfinished project, here's another one! I've wanted to crochet a blanket for aaages, and I've had these granny squares made for at least two years, but I somehow can't bring myself to actually finish the darn thing. So here's to a challenge in 2015! Will keep you posted on the progress, I promise!

Advent Sunday, And Not The First One!

Some unplanned blogging absence due to certain health issues in the family - better now, thank you very much. I realise I'm a bit late for introducing our advent wreaths this year but hey, it's only the second Sunday in Advent :)

My little girl & I attended a wreath-making workshop on the Saturday before the first Sunday in Advent and made three lovely wreaths for our home (plus the fourth one for my Mum, forgot to take a picture, sorry).

The above wreath is my little girl's work - she's a pro, isn't she? The wreath lives in her & her brother's bedroom and we light a candle (two this week) every night when saying our prayers.

The second wreath is my creation, it lives in our dining room and we light the candles during lunchtime. Magic!

This one hangs on our sitting-room door to welcome the visitors in our home. Made by me :)

We bought a lovely wreath for our main entrance, handmade by a local craftsman - it's absolutely gorgeous, but as usual, the picture has yet to be taken ...

Stay tuned!

Lost For Words

 

I have been following Gretel's blog for quite some time now. She's an incredibly talented artist and a really lovely person. I cannot begin to imagine how it feels to be in her shoes. I'd love to help.

Gretel, please know you're in my thoughts and in my prayers.

Done!

Just a quick hello and another apology for the lack of posting - I had to finish an urgent translating job, and it's done! It was an exhausting philosophical text so I didn't really have the energy to write about outfits and crafting...

The pictures are a lovely reminder of this year's summer holiday - we went hiking to our mountains with a group of friends. The views were breathtaking, the company was beyond enjoyable, and I won't even mention the food!

A Month...

...that's how long I've been absent, my dear blogging friends. Life taking over, as usual. Some health issues in the family which were rather time-consuming. I'm still here, though, and I've been following your blogs, adding an odd comment or two.

First of all, I must tell you that I'm the lucky winner of Franca's giveaway! The umbrella embroidery arrived last Saturday and it's beyond sweet. Thank you so much, Franca!

I hope to be able to blog more frequently in November, there are many things on my mind (and in my camera), so here's to another month (last but one in 2012, yikes!)...

I'll give you a hint what else has made me really happy in the last month (apart from reading your blogs, of course) - a brand new leather handbag, hand-made in Britain (and you know what this means to me, right?)!!! Here's the beauty, I've borrowed the images from its Etsy seller:

Isn't it pretty, with the lining and all?

Thank you for your patience. Have a lovely week!

Hi! Sorry. Fancy a Reading Suggestion?

Hello, my dear blogging friends. I am awfully sorry for my totally unexpected four-week blogging absence. I have no particular excuse up my sleeve, just life as it is. Nothing special. Children finishing their school term, along with all their extra activities, idling away on hot summer afternoons (yes, we have plenty of summer to be had in our little part of the world - all you soaked British bloggers are more than welcome!), and to be completely honest, it takes me ages - literally - to download all those pretty photos from my camera, waiting to be blogged about. There's a camera full of lovely garden shots, outfit shots, crafting shots... you get the idea. I will hopefully get round to it in the next days :) 

In the meantime, let me share some of my current reading material (I must have told you already that there's always more than just one book next to my bed/kitchen table/picnic rug... 

First of all, a classic, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. It's funny, though, I've read Pride & Prejudice at least a million times (feels like it, anyway), but I haven't read this one so far. Go Fanny Price!

Another classic, and oh what joy! I've read Three Men in a Boat several times but it's always so good to get back to them. And I'm totally looking forward to the sequel as well...

Last but not least (although admittedly the least interesting of the three), some statistics about Great Britain. I was told at one point that reading statistical data about a country for pleasure was utter madness but that's how mad I am, I can't help it (nor do I want to!).

Hope you're all having a lovely summer, despite the (non-) weather!

P.S.: I have been following all your blogs on a regular basis, even leaving an odd comment or two, just to let you know I'm still here...

Weekly Gratitude & Apology

Right, so, let me express my gratitude first... This week I'm very, very grateful for:

- our family finally living in a house!!!
- our dear, dear friends who helped with our move
- my husband getting much better; his plaster cast came off last week (after nine weeks...) :)
- more translating work, even though it takes up enormous amounts of my time
- my two sweet children on a school break this week
- enjoyable get-togethers with our friends, big and small

And now the apologies... what can I say? As usual in cases like this, life has taken over. I even skipped last week's Gratitude post, that says a lot. First of all, we moved. Finally. We spent our first night in the house on October 19th. We love it here. The flat is not completely empty yet - I'm amazed to see how much one family can stuff into a flat in a decade and a half... And unfortunately, I'm not one of those people who can get rid of things easily. I tend to keep everything. Put on a 'Made in England' sign - or at least 'Bought in Britain' - and it's a keeper! For life!

Anyway, we enjoy living in the house, even though we still partly live out of our boxes, the reason for that being my new translating work. I have no idea why people always come to me with last-minute commissions... Everyone needs their texts translated yesterday, which leaves me with afternoons and evenings behind my computer, typing in word for word and living in the world of the text topic for the following few days. This time, it's the church history of our capital... Amen!

Apart from my Gratitude post, I'm afraid I'm missing another important project this month (I was sooo hoping last month that this would not be the case!) - my Being Creative challenge. I really love this project, but what with the move and the evening translations, there was absolutely no time left for anything creative. Perhaps next month?

I've got a few more pages to go with my translation and then, hopefully, my normal blogging service will resume. I've got so much to show you! I do follow your blogs, though, my dear friends, and enjoy them enourmously. Let's stay in touch!