Technically I suppose I should have written this blog post yesterday to mark "one year to go" but as it was my birthday I thought you would all let me off!
It has been a good birthday weekend, rather quiet and reflective but actually just how I wanted it to be. However the panic is now on for just how much I need to do on this list to complete it in 364 days time! At my birthday dinner someone suggested a 40 before 40....we'll see!
Ok here goes....
1.Own a sewing machine, - not yet although I’ve dropped hints about it being a 30th birthday present or a moving in present.
2.Learn to knit socks – maybe over the winter?
3.Visit Buckingham Palace – a date is booked into the diary, this will happen in September and I'm VERY excited as there will be a display of items from the Royal Wedding back in April!
4.Swim in a lake or stand under a waterfall - not yet but am trying to think how this will happen, the Serpentine in Hyde Park is looking promising!
5.Own a home (the BIG challenge) – this is the big one for me, the one thing I would love more than anything to complete but im not sure if it will happen, the least I can do is work towards it each and every day.
6.Be debt free except from a mortgage if Num 5 happens – aware of this every day.
7.Visit Dickens House – This might happen in September along with #3 but if not then it will be a separate trip for Mum and I.
8.Go to a soap making workshop - DONE!!!!
And I'm now selling natural soap through my shop.
9.Learn to hang wall paper –Mum has plans for Dad to redecorate some of the house later this year so no doubt I will be roped in - I think hallway and bathroom so I will get to learn tiling at the same time.
10.Spend a night on the Norfolk Broads – Well I had the holiday in April and still need to blog about it.
11.Learn to make pastry – Um.....
12.Learn the succession of kings and queens from William the Conqueror in 1066 – Um.....
13.Make and wear my own dress – I have the pattern I want to make and have found the fabric, just need to buy it and make it!
14.Read five books from my bookshelf - This one is going to be tricky as I am a slow reader and so should really start. I think once the autumn and Christmas fairs are out of the way I can get back to reading.
15.Have a make up lesson – DONE!!! Although I wasn’t all that impressed. I had a free session at Bobbi Brown which was educational and expensive.
16.Do something every day to make me smile – I think I need to start up my journal again, but by the time I get to bed to sit and write Im too tired. But I am taking time to notice more things that make me smile every day like the sun shining over the meads on my drive home at night, a text from a friend or a good song on the radio.
17.Learn to change a car tyre – all I can say to this is ha ha ha ha ha ha!
18.Be able to jog a mile without stopping - with my leg issues this is a BIG thing – I’ve got back to the gym with a personal trainer and that is helping me, I think it will take time to get to a mile but didn’t the journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step?
19.Go to Rome or Sorrento – DONE (almost) flight leaves for Rome on September 30th and I cant wait!
20.Sleep for 6.5+ hours sleep a night consistently – FAIL - I really do need to work on this as I can feel my sleep deprivation affecting my health now.
21.Visit Giant's Causeway – hopefully in Spring with Mum.
22.Have a dinner party - This is the plan for my 30th birthday ideally in my
own house.
23.Have Butterfly-Crafts mentioned in a newspaper or magazine – DONE!!!! – coverage of the craft fair in the local paper.
24.Sleep under the stars - Mum has joked that I should put the gazebo in the garden and sleep in there, along with the frogs that appear in the garden at night.
25.Live as much of a handmade/homemade/economical life as possible - I am developing this as much as possible, making a conscious effort to opt for handmade or homemade where possible and I am learning to live more economically
26.Begin to have the stamina, strength & body shape from pre-leg issues – the gym is definitely helping. I will never be a ‘gym bunny’ but I do feel much better to go after work and at the weekend for a little brain space. I really miss rowing but that’s off limits at the moment, one day though, one day.
27.Watch: Goodfellas, Casablanca, Dr Zhivago, Gone With the Wind, The Philadephia Story, A Street Car Named Desire, Ferri Beulers Day Off, Schindler's List, The Godfather and Citizen Cane – So far I have watched The Godfather (good), Dr Zhivago (l-o-n-g) and Citizen Cane (really good).
28.Go to a comedy club – Soon I hope.
29.Finish my knitted patchwork blanket – I think this will also wait until the winter months when I am not pulling my hair out with fair prep for Christmas. I am going to a new knitting group tomorrow so, although I wont knit tomorrow, I will be getting back into it soon I think.
30.Visit 15 exhibitions at museums and galleries – Well there was Handmade Tales at The Women’s Library, Afghanistan at The British Museum, Out of this world at the British Library, and Eadweard Muybridge at Tate Britain, only 11 more to go!
I will get to blogging about the individual elements soon as I had planned to take August of but now have a fair to prep for!
I know many people who like to treat themselves to a special, unique Christmas ornament each year. It might be for themselves as a way to build a wonderful collection, or it might be the tradition of taking children to the Christmas shop to pick out something special for them to have on the tree.
This year I have introduced stars as a new shape but also created a special system where by you can pre-order a handmade decoration in any of the shapes and colours I have available and just pay a deposit (as I have to list on Artfire in US$, the deposit is $3 per decoration). I will then make up the decorations for you by the middle of November and then arrange paying the balance. Not only is this a fantastic way to have wonderful Christmas decorations but it also helps spread the cost of what can be an expensive holiday season.
