Hello, how was your week? Go get yourself a cuppa and let’s catch up.
This is my new series of chatty posts to let you know what’s going on in my life. Because I enjoy writing them, I enjoy reading them back and hopefully you may like it too.
Did you watch the partial solar eclipse on Wednesday? Were you disappointed? I didn’t have any big plans for it, I didn’t do any rituals, I wanted to just watch and notice. I sat outside in my back garden with my book, my journal, a glass of Skip Cherries & Berries with magnesium on ice, a colander and my DIY pinhole viewer made with a cereal box. Oh, and Ted joined me.
So we sat, and I read my book and wrote in my journal for nearly 2 hours, every now and then looking around to notice the shadows and the changing light, a quick glance to the sky and picking up my colander and viewer. I took a load of crappy photos that show very little. And while it wasn’t dramatic or sensational, I did find it awe-inspiring. To think there were so many people all sat outside watching the same thing at the same time across the world. How often does that happen? How often do we all just stop and look to the skies?
It reminded me that the Earth, the Sun and the Moon are so intrinsically connected, that they are all moving. Thinking about the sheer size of these 3 bodies and the fact that they are constantly on the move and we don’t particuarly notice or feel it. As I sat in my garden, the Sun moved to a spot behind my house and it was the first time I had really thought about it. No, the skies didn’t go very dark, but the light took on an eerie quality for a little while. The shadows became strange crescent shapes. It’s all quite magical when you really consider it.
What I am Reading…
I finished reading ‘A Court of Wings & Ruin’ this week, and picked up the last two books in the series from Tesco (the Sarah J Maas books are currently on the 2 for £9.50 deal with a Clubcard) and I have got straight into ‘A Court of Frost & Starlight’. I am looking forward to a slightly gentler read after the dramatics of book 3.
I am still enjoying ‘The Book of Magical Living’ by Poppy Jamie, and did a little exploration into my birth chart this week, thanks to some of the prompts in the book. I haven’t done a huge amount of learning about astrology, aside from the typical reading my Capricorn horoscope. But I learned a little bit about myself this week and definitely want to read a bit more about the zodiac signs and birth charts going forward. If you have any recommendations on books or resources, please let me know.
What I am Watching….
I haven’t done much watching this week, aside from a few episodes of Supernatural. Oh, and catching up on The Great British Sewing Bee! I love the creativity of the contestants, especially with the upcycle challenge. And watching them pull together their garments in the time they have is amazing. It took me weeks to make a dress when I was learning to sew. It does make me want to get my sewing machine out again…
What I am Crafting & Creating…
I am still working on my painting by numbers and I did finally finish my Lego bouquet this week. I have a few of the Max bricks flowers to build too. But other than that, I haven’t started any other projects. I am hoping that getting the house decluttered and organising all my craft supplies will give me the space – both physically and energetically – to do more crafting. Again, I’m finding it’s something I need to plan in to make it actually happen.
What we’ve been Cooking…
We had a lovely Pork Ramen this week, and it was so easy with mostly store cupboard ingredients and using some leftover pork. Step 1 was to boil an egg, then I added chicken stock (made with a chicken stock cube and about 450ml boiling water) to a pan with 2 chopped spring onions, about an inch of ginger in slices, and half a chilli sliced, plus 2 cooked pork chops that I cut into strips. Bring this to a boil and cook until the pork is heated all the way through. Then I added a block of egg noodles and about 2 handfuls of spinach. Let this come back to the boil and cook until the noodles are done. Split between 2 bowls, peel and chop the egg in half and place on top. I then added some sesame oil, soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce, some extra spring onions and sesame seeds. It was delicious. Would also be great with chicken or prawns. Definitely making this again.
Another dish we have been enjoying this week is jelly with fruit. Blackcurrant jelly with raspberries and orange jelly made with tinned mandarins. A great dessert to keep in the fridge for a little something sweet after dinner. Often topped with a little squirty cream and some chocolate chips.
What I’ve been planning…
I actually haven’t done as much planning this week. I have made good progress with getting the house straightened up and ready for decluttering – tackling our two ‘Rooms of Doom’ so it’s not quite so overwhelming when I open the door. I even managed to get bags of clothes to be donated out of the room, into the car and actually dropped off to the charity shop! Over the weekend I need to get plans in place for next week because I am in work a lot and if I don’t plan specific tasks, there’s a real chance nothing will get done. I
I have started work on an index card system to get on top of my cleaning – in that I have sorted myself a box and dividers, but now need to get the tasks written down and in order. I will let you know how this goes!
My Magical Guide is nearly done and I can’t wait to share it! I think I’m going to do another magical month in September as the season begins to change. I don’t know about you, it doesn’t matter how old I am, but September still holds that ‘back to school’ energy that makes me want to start something, learn something or try something new.
That’s all from me for now, have a lovely weekend. Catch you next week!
