Thursday 24 March 2022

Magnolia season and a project finally finished 🌸

Hello and welcome to another post full of photos...lots of sunny March vibes, it feels like I've emerged out of hibernation! I'm feeling better and better pregnancy-wise and am finally not taking any nausea medicine which is great, also thanks to my new extra soft child toothbrush my gums are no longer bleeding every time I clean my teeth (pregnancy is a wild ride). The problem is that now, after managing to dodge the 'rona for two years, it has finally caught up with me and so I am currently curled up on the sofa on a work day feeling slightly sorry for myself. Juniper is keeping me company of course. Due to getting it during pregnancy I have to document my oxygen levels for the next 14 days which sounds slightly interesting but mostly annoying  πŸ˜… Never mind...back to the happy Spring photos...

I don't think I've ever appreciated the coming of lighter evenings as much as I have this year. Dark wintriness just reminds me of early pregnancy and being so ill so I think I just want to feel as far away from that as possible!

A 6pm sunset from early March

Juniper resting her head on my tummy as she sleeps is so cute, I like to think that the baby can hear her loud purrs:


On the Sunday afternoon before last there was a massive double rainbow! It was probably the most vivid rainbow I've ever seen and I spent a while standing out in the rain to enjoy it:



I felt inspired to make a mini Spring / early Easter display in our hallway πŸŒ·πŸ‡ the rabbits are actually a fold out card from my granny which makes such a sweet decoration:



More of the photogenic white cat...firstly, attempting to reach a huge bumblebee which flew past the window, and secondly, demonstrating that a bonsai pot makes a perfect spot to sit and contemplate life:


It's magnolia season! And I am loving it πŸ˜„πŸŒΈπŸŒΈπŸŒΈ 


Some golden hour light πŸ’›

I finished my 13th pair of socks recently, these were a gift for a friend and Harry Potter fan who requested Ravenclaw house colours! It was fun to plan the pattern and see them come to life, of course I had to have a little photoshoot with them along with Ed's books:



Juni reading the Bible with me one morning...as you can see there is a mug in front of me which reminds me of a big update which I forgot to share in my last post - I am drinking tea again!!! ☕ Since some time in November I completely went off tea which was very out of the ordinary but now I like it again, and strangely Earl Grey is now my tea of choice whereas I used to not like it very much compared to breakfast tea. Mind-blowing stuff!


During the Winter hibernation I didn't bake any bread and we ended up throwing the sourdough starter away. But in this new chapter I have finally made another starter and we're attempting bread again! Here is loaf number 1, not particularly successful (flat as a pancake lol) but it tasted good anyway:


Last week my worst nightmare happened, I discovered mealybugs on my favourite plant! My archenemy pest vs my beloved hoya carnosa...after a trip to the shower for a good dose of bug spray I'm hoping the hoya will win.


Especially as she has a few growing peduncles at the moment and I am eagerly awaiting some amazing blooms! Another favourite plant, my big monstera deliciosa is currently growing a new leaf which is exciting too:


You might remember this big granny square blanket which I crocheted in 2020 during the first lockdown, it ended up sitting in a pile for all this time waiting for me to finish it off with a border. For some reason I really procrastinated doing that (probably because of my love affair with knitting socks oops) πŸ˜† Anyway, I've finally finished it now which I'm very pleased about and I think it will make a nice addition to the baby's room:



It's quite large!

Juniper and her parents:


On Sunday afternoon, Ed and I went for nice walk just around our local area:

A sprinkling of daffodils

Magnolia stellata and some bright orange berberis flowers which were almost fluorescent in person:


My first bouquet of the year, and Ed demonstrating how nice this hedge smelt:


More magnolia! Visiting this tree was the main agenda for our walk as we drive past it everyday but wanted to actually appreciate it in the flesh:


Purple muscari and the red flowers which are finally opening on the quince in our garden:


The baby is approximately the size of an aubergine at the moment so I took a photo in Aldi to document this fact πŸ˜† later that day I took littlest brother to the park and we picked some daisies (I picked them and he threw them):


Sourdough attempt 2, photographed in front of my Quality Street wrapper stained glass window:


Another piece of exciting news! After nearly 6 months of refusing to wear her harness, Juniper decided of her own accord that she was ready to be adventurous again and joined us in the garden whilst we sowed our first seeds of Spring. I think maybe she'd decided to hibernate along with me and was just waiting until the right time to emerge. She was very happy to be rolling around on the warm gravel and eating grass again:



And that's all for now! A very long post but I've got lots of time at the moment 😁 Hope you're all enjoying the change in seasons! xoxoxo

The blanket is Juni approved πŸ‘

Friday 4 March 2022

Blooms and mushrooms 🌼

Hello again!!! I am currently fighting a battle with my laptop to try and make a blog post without it freezing and crashing...but if you are reading this then it means I have won, for now!

Spring is in the air and it is making me happy, bulbs are popping up in the garden and actual sunlight is streaming in the window, hooray!


I like this view.

I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant and thankfully feeling better than I have in a long time! The nausea isn't 100% gone but I feel much more like a normal human and not emotionally dependant on having emergency crisps in my bag at all times. Also I'm finally starting to look a little bit pregnant and am in the awkward stage where most of my normal trousers are too small but my maternity jeans are too big. I can't believe we're halfway there already!


Baby at 20 weeks πŸ’›

Other baby.


Some nature from a late afternoon walk with Ed:



Pottery painting and chats with the gals for my mum's birthday:


Juniper getting into things:


Now a bit of a throwback to some other bits and bobs which have happened in the past month or two...

For Christmas Ed got me an edible mushroom growing kit and as you can see we had quite a successful harvest from it. It was amazing to see how quickly they grew!



Another Christmas present was an amaryllis bulb which shot up and provided us with bright red blooms for weeks 😍 Our jewel orchid also flowered again this year, with some very different blooms - tiny and delicate:


I am so enjoying seeing all the colourful spring flowers at work:



In January I finished my 12th pair of socks in time for my grandma's birthday πŸ’œ (now I'm almost finished pair 13 and am planning a sock break so that I can make something for the baby...we'll see!)


And finally, you know it's true love when you both accidentally coordinate with mushroom themed Valentine's Day cards πŸ„πŸ’›πŸ„πŸ’›


Just a quick update for now, hopefully it won't be so long until the next one! xoxo