Sunrise, sunset

I feel like my blog changes and evolves all of the time with new things I fall in love with, or that inspire me.  This week I have some haircare and skincare reviews to share with you (amongst other things) and although I know I haven’t featured these often in the past I want my blog to reflect my interests and it’s fair to say I’ve been doing a bit of pampering and trying new products lately.  I feel generally really inspired and excited to be creative lately and so my blog will still feature a good dose of writing and photography and I’m counting down the days until it warms up and becomes lighter so I can potter in the garden, ride my bike into town and share with you more parts of my life and where I live without my camera getting soggy.

If you read the health/diet/fitness blog I contribute to (Where Are My Knees) you might know that I’ve been trying to be more active over the last few week by running (when it’s not pouring down or pitch black in the mornings, which is most of the time), exercise DVDs, going swimming and using the gym and walking the dog or tagging along when Tom walks Bodhi in the mornings.

I love the light when the sun rises and just before the sun sets.  I love watching its warm glow touch everything and slowly everything becomes enlightened and renewed.  On Thursday there was a particularly beautiful sunrise and so I joined the morning dog walk (I usually spend this time frantically pulling clothes out of my wardrobe deciding what to wear to work) and brought along my camera and my 50mm lens, which I don’t get enough use out of.

Sunrise

Sunrise

Light on the trees

I know the last one isn’t really a wildly exciting picture but I’ve tried to capture that light that I love – that warm, almost orange-y glow that reminds me of summer and of camping or being away in the van.  There is a part of me that yearns for days gone by when the rising and setting of the sun would rule your day, out in the fields with the sun on your face and then retiring for supper and baths when the daylight faded.  Nowadays in the winter I’ll often travel to work in the dark and watch the sun set from my office window.  I’m so thankful I work so close to home and don’t have the hour commute back home in the dark to contend with anymore, it always felt so treacherous.  

We’ve gotten into the habit recently of trying to maximise the weekends by doing something fun on Friday nights and so this Friday we went straight to the spa for a swim and steam room after work and then headed over to my parents’ (about an hour away) for dinner and puppy cuddles.  You may remember that they bought a 6-week-old schnoodle puppy last weekend and named him Henry.  We wanted Bodhi to get used to being around Henry more so we brought Bodhi too and they spent lots of time nosing at each other and running rings around each other.  Bodhi was really gentle and loving towards Henry and I have a feeling they’re going to be best pals.  Even the hardest of hearts couldn’t fail to melt when watching Henry, he really is the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen (except for when Bodhi was that age of course!) He really does just look like a little teddy bear.

schnoodle puppies

Today we popped to Matalan to pick up some bits which I’ll be reviewing on the blog later this week (I managed to order a cardigan online and then buy the same one when at the store picking it up, what an idiot!) and then we popped to Dorchester to celebrate Tom’s niece’s 7th birthday with tea and cake.  We also went to Carluccio’s for lunch which was a disaster from start to finish and has culminated in me writing them a complaints email!  There are lots of things I forgive in life but bad service isn’t one of them!

  • Despite being very poor this month I treated myself to a few new books from Amazon; Cupcakes and Cashmere and Be a Free Range Human.You may note from those titles (if you know them) that I’m searching out extra inspiration for improving my life and maybe doing a bit more of the creative stuff from home.  We’ll see.  It’s also been my turn to pick a book for book club and I’ve picked The Snow Child, has anyone read it? I hope it’s a good’un!
  • Last night we watched Super 8 on DVD, it’s not really the sort of thing that I would usually watch (thriller/sci-fi) but I thought it was really good.  It was well accompanied by a stir-in white hot chocolate with strawberries from Morrisons, yum.
  • I am really excited to announce that from this month I’ll be writing about homes and gardens for the awesome site High Tea Cast.  I’ve been a huge fan of the High Tea Cast for the longest time so I’m absolutely over the moon that I’m going to be a part of Team Tea.
  • I’ve been using Bloglovin lately to read blogs as I can’t unfollow blogs on GFC (and I follow hundreds!) so Bloglovin helps me ensure I don’t miss my favourites! Three that I’m really loving at the moment are: The Style Box, Lily Loves Lola and Eat, Sleep, Cuddle. Let me know your favourite blogs in the comments (and your own too!) so I can add to my reading list.
  • I spent a blissful hour before bed last night reading Country Living magazine.  I feel full of excitement for Spring and Tom has had to quell my yearnings to run away to the country and start a small holding with pigs and hens… 

What have you been up to this weekend?

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