The January blues

Hello blogging friends. I hope you are all keeping well? Here in the UK the pandemic is taking a turn for the worse and cases are rises exponentially . The vaccine is thankfully being rolled out very quickly and let's really hope that this surge can soon be controlled.  My daughter (an NHS doctor) has had her first jab and my parents who are in their late 80s are hoping to be called up very soon. My Hb continues to work from home and I have now moved indoors again from my garden studio to craft so we are cozied up indoors for now with Billy our dear cat.  I get out for my daily walks and most days go to see my sweet dino ducks who never cease to make me smile. 

I thought I would share a few recent photos of the lovely blue skies we have enjoyed recently despite the cold and show some photos taken in the week of my sweet dinos.

and as the sun went down it shone beautifully through the willow tree. 

Dotty's Teahouse, where I sell my cards has now had to shut for any takeaways so I have had some crafting time to experiment, which is always fun.  It's not me but my crafting which has taken on "The blues" for the last week. I take part in a monthly artist trading card and coins swap and this was the theme. I made my cards and coins with the same theme and then my imagination took over and I decided to make a tag with "the blues".

I have already posted these on Instagram where I just celebrated my 1,000 post. If you would like to find me this is the link 

I made some winter blues artist trading cards using Lavinia stamps

a "Blue starry tree" tag with an oxide galaxy background with Tim Holtz dies

and some "Playing the blues" coins using Visible Image stamps

I would like to enter my coins into the following challenges;

Allsorts favourite colour no guess as to mine...blue of course!

Crafty friends 1/3 anything goes

Creative fingers 1/3 anything goes

Cute card Thursday 1/3 anything goes

Stamping sensations 1/3 favourite stamps these Visible Image Jazz it up stamps are one of my very favoruite male sets. 

I have been keeping very busy with my crafting with some secret, for now projects, too which I will share as soon as I can. 

Stay safe, stay indoors and stay positive.  Please take great care. Keep mindful, things will improve in the coming months, we just need to get through these difficult weeks ahead. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

My photographic review of 2020

Hi friends I thought I would pop in between Christmas with my annual review of 2020 in photos. I have written Jane's Journal for over 10 years now and I also write my journal as a personal record too. It really has been a year like no other, Covid19 hit the news after Christmas last year and by late February the situation was looking dire. Just after the first day of spring the UK was plunged into its first Lockdown on 24th March.

It was really hard to select just 16 photographs from the 100s I took. I made them into 4 seasonal photo collages.

Spring

We were so fortunate that in January we had our tiny garden landscaped as a gift from my dear parents.  We had no idea at the time what lay ahead. What a blessing my garden has been this year.

I sewed seeds, planted new plants and mowed my new lawn. We spent many many happy hours out there this year.  One event that I have to include, despite the sadness we still feel, is the death of darling Bear, our son's dog. He was such a big part of our family. A huge dog with a huge heart who was loved so much by everyone. He loved our newly landscaped garden and I am so glad that he was able to see it and enjoy the magnolia in flower. The one thing I will also always remember of the spring of 2020 was the incredible weather we enjoyed in South East England. The skies really were azure and the sun shone for weeks on end.  I also wrote a series of 10 Mindful Moments which I shared here on my blog. If you missed them, click here for number 1 and you can search for the other by putting them in my search bar on the side bar of my blog.

Summer

I love walking and I walk almost every day. Despite the lockdown restrictions we were allowed to walk locally and my sweet dino ducks brought me so much cheer. I saw the latest clutches of fluffy ducklings grow into the gorgeous adults they are now. We stayed at home and I crafted, gardened, baked and clapped for the NHS. We even enjoyed a socially distanced street party on VE day on 8th May to celebrate its 75th year. 

In August we actually made it to Italy with our family and had a week of bliss in a secluded villa in the vineyards of Tuscany. Summer was a brief respite from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. We enjoyed long hot sunny days and saw our family again. I'm so glad we did as sadly in the autumn things were to change yet again.

Autumn

We enjoyed visiting our favourite public gardens RHS Wisley all through the year. At every visit there was always something new to see and admire. We witnessed the pumpkins growing and saw their gorgeous display when they were harvested.  The colours of autumn this year in South East England were quite extraordinary. The mostly fine weather continued and we saw golds, reds and oranges in the autumnal leaves which took my breath away. My dino ducks made such lovely scrunching noises as they waddled through them to see me on my regular visits. 

Sadly new restrictions were imposed again on 5th November and once again we could no longer see family. I had even started Daisy's birthday cake but everything was of course cancelled. Luckily I sent the decorations I had made and her Mummy made a cake and put them on. As with most events this year we celebrated via Watts App. Thank goodness for modern technology.

Winter/Christmas 

We saw the stunning Christmas Glow display at Wisely on a cold but gorgeous night in December and for a while thought that we would actually celebrate a small family gathering on Christmas day. Sadly just 6 days before Christmas that was all cancelled. Of course Christmas day still went ahead, in a very different way indeed. I still celebrated my favourite time of the year and made some new memories.

The one bonus of this year has been that our darling Billy cat has had our company constantly. My husband has worked from home since the first Lockdown and is his company is not rushing them back to their City of London office for the foreseeable future.

This was my Christmas place setting this year. I made these "emergency" crackers at the last minute.

I will keep the "real" ones I made 

for when we get to celebrate Christmas with our family at some point next year. Even if it's the hottest day of the year it will be worth waiting for. All the presents are ready and waiting until we can be together again.

As we approach the end of 2020 it is time for me reflect on this extraordinary year. I am incredibly grateful that my family has stayed safe and well so far. My daughter is one of the thousands of heroic NHS doctors we are blessed to have working for us. Their work this year has been phenomenal but so difficult and stressful. They truly are such selfless souls. My son has worked tirelessly and often 7 days a week to successfully move his golfing business completely online. Thank goodness golf was one of the sports allowed to continue from the earliest days of the Lockdown. I am so proud of the way my family has worked and kept going whatever challenges they faced. I personally know a lot of families have not been so lucky and my heart really breaks for them. Let's hope 2021 brings hope of a more normal life returning. 

I will be back on new year's eve with my crafting highlights of 2020. What an amazing year that has been! Despite Dotty's having to close for some of the time (and she has had to close again) my crafting has been incredibly productive. Together with my garden and Mother Nature it has been just the best of distractions for me. 

I will close with one of my favourite poems written nearly 100 years ago, way before our modern life and all is complexities. How important  Mother Nature is to still keeping us all mindful....

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

William Henry Davies          

                      

Take care and stay safe.

Try to find the time to stand and stare, amongst all this chaos. We will get there. 

Back on the 31st. 

Jane x

Being hopeful, Mindful Moments 10

This is my 10th Mindful Moments post and it will be my last as things are beginning to change and improve and we are slowly but surely coming out of Lockdown. By no means is this dreadful Pandemic over but the whole purpose of my Mindful Moments posts was to bring some mindfulness to the very dark place the UK found itself in 10 weeks ago. Back then we had no idea how long we would be there for. Here is my original post if you missed it. It was then the very start of spring and everyone but  key workers had to stay indoors. Now we are rapidly approaching summer. I have been able to see my son outside and will also be visiting my parents sitting 10 feet away in their garden. Although it's not possible to share a hug it's wonderful to catch up "in the flesh". However it seems that it could still be a long time until we see my daughter, her HB and our 2 grandchildren. Jack is only 3 and does not understand social distancing at all and Daisy would find keeping apart (as I would) very emotionally challenging. 

Last night was also the last of our weekly "clapping" for the NHS. This has been a joyful and supportive event for our street but I agree that now is the right time to try to get back to a little normality. What I really hope is that people continue to give the doctors and NHS staff the respect and thanks they have always deserved. Pandemic or no pandemic that have always given 100%. When this terrible illness descended and we were all told to stay indoors, they ran straight out, without ever considering their own personal safety. My doctor daughter also had all her bank holidays until the late May one cancelled and she never once complained. What an incredible job they did and are still doing.

I also hope that society also continues to be thankful for all the other key workers that perhaps previously we took for granted until life changed overnight. Teachers, postpeople, delivery drivers, shop workers, refuse collectors, the list goes on and on.  

So today's post is one where I trying to inspire some hope.

Most of my inspiration over the last 10 weeks has come from my tiny garden and from my daily walks. Mother Nature has never slowed down over these 10 weeks and has carried on blooming and growing. 

I noticed that my ornamental poppies in my front garden came into bloom this week.

Their stunning bold red colour inspired me to use red flowers, like the red in the English flag and hope for the future of our country. 

I noticed red roses in the park

and red geranium.

One of my hanging baskets has a deep red begonia which looks stunning with it's dark green foliage.

So back to my ornamental poppies. My dearest best friend gave me the seeds as part of a birthday present some years back and they just self seed each year. They are real show stoppers as they are enormous. I think the variety is called ladybird, and you can see why. 

I thought that it would be very apt to make my last Mindful moments project using them as my inspiration.

I wanted to make a thank you card for someone who recently painted me the most delightful artwork...and then apologized as she didn't think they were good enough as she has only just taken up painting! Believe me they are so gorgeous and I will treasure them. 

I don't have a poppy flower stamp so I decided to turn my Visible Image Creative Choas set into poppies. 

I also knew the perfect Visible Image sentiments to use too, these are from their "The world needs art" sentiment set. Those I have used on my card are so apt and so true! I made a distress stain inky sprayed background in green like the foliage of my plants. 

Here are some close ups.

I added a little glossy accents to a few petals.

I would like to enter my poppy card into the following challenges.

Creative artiste 2/3 anything goes

Lil patch of crafting friends 2/3 anything goes
A vintage journey Beautiful blooms

Sweet stampin 1/3 anything but square

C.R.A.F.T 1/3decoupage/3D

Addicted to stamps and more 1/3 anything goes

Creative moments 1/3 anything goes

Simon says stamp Wednesday anything goes

Try it on Tuesday 1/3 cut it out
Stamping sensations say it with flowers

My lockdown crafting gave me such a focus over these last 10 weeks. I am still Zoom crafting with my little Daisy until we can craft together in person. I will continue as always to craft but I hope over the next 10 weeks that life may actually begin to open up a little more too and allow visits and perhaps even a mini holiday in the UK.  

Yes very, very slowly and by taking baby steps we are trying to move the UK forwards. The last thing we want is another peak of the virus.

So here is my last Mindful Moments quote which is actually a very famous short poem called;

Hope is the Thing with Feathers

“Hope” is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

By: Emily Dickinson

Let's hope we can come through this pandemic with the least possible loss of life. It is certainly  going to change the world and the way we live forever. Let's hope some of those changes are eventually seen as being for the better. One day we will be able to look back at all this as a historical event and my greatest hope is that we can learn lessons from this dreadful disease and that we never again have to live through such dark days. 

Thanks so much for stopping by over the last 10 weeks and reading my Mindful Moments posts.  I really do hope that they gave you a tiny ray of sunshine.

My "normal Jane's Journal" blogging will resume on Monday.

Stay safe, stay hopeful and stay mindful.

Bye for now,

With love,

Jane x

Blooming and growing, Mindful Moments 9

Hello friends, here I am with my 9th Mindful Moments post. If you did not see my first post and wonder what these are do check it out here. Thank you to everyone who has been reading them. I can see from my stats that these are getting at least twice the usual traffic of my other posts, which has really inspired me to keep trying to get them written weekly if I can. I really hope you are finding them a moment to make you smile and stay mindful during these very turbulent times.

This week has been very much a blooming growing week; in my garden, all around me and especially my dear dino babies, more about them later.

I had my fantastic delivery of annuals from my local nursery. 

I bought a few veg plants too including Gardener's delight tomatoes and some dwarf beans. I have also been planting out some of the seed I grew.

My spring pots had finished and it was time to empty them out, wash them and get my summer bedding plants in.

Here is one pot finished..so much colour to add to my garden.

I can't wait to see them bloom and grow. They will bring such joy.

I also have digitalis in flower in my front garden, one of my faves. When they have seeded I will sprinkle some out the back again as all my old plants were dug up when we had our landscaping work in January. I'm sure they will reseed.

In the park there are so many gorgeous blossoms now. New ones seem to appear almost daily.

The coots on the lake at Beddington have hatched their sweet chicks.

 The ducklings swim by to say hello and are growing really big.

The Canada geese goslings who were mere fluff balls a few weeks ago are being proudly shown off by their Mum and Dad.

And as for my sweet dinos...oh my they are doing so well.7 of the babies have survived and even the tiny runt who I thought had died is doing OK. I saw them this morning and just look how big they are!

In the center above and below is the darling tiny runt, he is being well looked after by his family.

It is such a joy to see them growing up.

So my Mindful Moments project for today are some ATCs I made using a rather apt Paperartsy stamp set from yonks ago, a reminder that even rather psychedelic caterpillars will one day grow into beautiful butterflies!

Here is one in close up;

 I would like to enter my ATCs into the following challenges;

Through the craft room door 2/2 anything goes

Not just cards 3/3 anything goes

Cute card Tuesdays 2/3 critters

Fab n funkie 3/3 anything but a card
Creative artiste 1/3 anything goes
Lil patch of crafting friends 1/3 anything goes

Pixie's snippets playground #378 I used snippets of paper for paper piecing my flowers

If you missed my post yesterday I have a little giveaway running on my blog which is open to everyone worldwide. Take a peep here; it runs until 6 June and is gift to yourself or to a friend for one randomly selected commentator.

I found these inspiring words to use today;

“Every bird, every tree, every flower reminds me what a blessing and privilege it is just to be alive.”

Marty Rubin

These times WILL pass.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for the kind comments you have taken the time to leave me, they are so appreciated. Have a lovely weekend, take time to look around you at Mother Nature who is totally unaware of any Lockdown or Pandemic!

Please keep safe, keep mindful, keep washing those hands.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

With love, Jane x

Challenging times, Mindful Moments 8

Hello friends, here I am with my 8th Mindful Moments post. If you did not see my first post and wonder what these are do check it out here. Thank you to everyone who has been reading them. I can see from my stats that these are getting at least twice the usual traffic of my other posts, which has really inspired me to keep trying to get them written weekly if I can. I really hope you are finding them a moment to make you smile and stay mindful during these very turbulent times.

There have been some very, very small changes in Lockdown rules in England. Essentially we are still needing to stay at home as much as possible. Some workers have returned to work but my Hb is still able to work from home and I am so pleased that he does not have to travel up to London as the only way he could ever do this would be by public transport. We can also exercise outside as much as we want to and even drive to somewhere and walk. At the moment we are staying put as I think a lot of people may be flocking out this weekend, socially distanced I know, but still we need to stay cautious. What I am so pleased to see as I go out and about is that people around here are being very sensible indeed.

My garden is blooming and the sunny weather has returned.

My little potted rose has flowered on my patio.

Billy is loving having me outside in my studio and having both my Hb and me in the garden enjoying lunches and cuppas in the garden.

We even enjoyed our evening meal and a beer outside one evening as the sun was setting.

Everything looks so lush in my tiny piece of paradise but I am needing to water regularly as we have not really had any significant rain for 6 weeks.

My darling daughter surprised us on Thursday by arranging a "Dotty delivery" of afternoon tea...wow this was amazing.

 A whole box of delicious eats! It was so good to see my dear friend David at the door with our box. I miss Dotty's so much but I am so pleased to see that they are surviving  by doing home deliveries in the local area.
What a brilliant card on the front of our box, on the back was a special message from our girl.

There was more than enough for lunch so we saved the scones with jam and clotted til the next day. Oh my everything was am-az-ing. Such a treat and so thoughtful.

.My dino duck babies are down to 6 we think...there were 7 but 1 was tiny. They are such fun to watch growing up, we knew that 12 could never survive and if 6 do it will be just great.

I have found a way of keeping up my crafting with Daisy, not just by post but by Zoom Video. We are managing some weekly sessions and I just love the hour and a half we sit and chat while making. I send her a kit in the post and we put them together. Like me her first love is stamping. I am lucky to have 2 sets of some of the stamps I use to design for Creative Stamping Magazine as I also get a set when the magazine is published. I have sent the spare sets to her.

This was a photo my end with my screen up on an old music stand!

and below is a photo her Daddy sent of Daisy hard at work stamping her end. You can see my face on her computer screen!

Below are the 2 wonderful cards she made. I just sent her the 2 stamped hearts, she did everything else herself. 

I miss her and Jack (and my big babies) soo much.

Daisy and I are continuing to make ATCs and coins to a theme each week and we swap by post. This gorgeous bundle arrived for me this week including the "butterflies" themed ATCs. I really treasure all these makes so much.

I also had some happy mail from my dearest best friend too. We have been best friends from the age of 11 and she recently found some letters from me from nearly 40 years ago which we smiled over when we last met just before Lockdown. It is so good to not just email and message but to get real mail too. I will treasure this.

So my Lockdown project today is something which I was challenged to make on a lovely Tim Holtz Facebook page I belong to. The challenge was to make something using just a single distress ink colour which was randomly selected.
My randomly selected colour came out as Dried Marigold and I must admit my first thought was oh no not orange! However I had the most delightful, fun hour in my studio and this is what I made.

with a couple of close ups

 How apt these words were! Everything other than the black archival was made using just this single ink pad.

I would like to enter my tag into the following challenges;

Through the craft room door 1/3 anything goes
Not just cards 1/3 anything goes
A vintage journey beautiful blooms
Moving along with the times 1/3 Flowers
Stamping sensations 1/3 say it with flowers

So today I am sharing 2 mindful thoughts;

Being challenged in life is inevitable, 
being defeated is optional. 

Roger Crawford  

and

Every morning we are born again, what we do today is what matters most.

Buddha

Lockdown is such a challenging time but I have tried really hard to find ways to help myself. There are so many things that I cannot change and I have to accept that. However my crafting with Daisy is continuing by working out how to use Zoom, videos, messages and letters keep me in touch with my loved one and I even overcame working with just one ink pad! I really hope that life is treating you all fairly and that you too are finding ways of overcoming some of the many many obstacles and challenges we face.

These times WILL pass.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for the kind comments you have taken the time to leave me, they are so appreciated.

Please keep safe, keep mindful, keep washing those hands.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

With love, Jane x