One of my New Years resolutions was to do something creative every day, and that's something I'm determined to stick to. I have always been a creative person and for most of my life have found it easy to be making things all the time, one way or other, but since 2014 and leaving Plymouth life has gotten in the way a bit, and it didn't come naturally to me anymore. I've really tried lately to use my time in the evening once Ivy has gone to be to make something to unwind, and have really enjoyed doing more crafty things after years of fine art, and theory, and having to explain myself.
The legwarmer with the leaf pattern that I was working on may have to be called off and unraveled as the website I took the pattern from seems to have disappeared. No matter, the pattern was difficult anyway, it was a 16 row repeat, and would be better suited to something larger possibly. I will get started on those dinosaur toys.
I have started working on a cross stitch/embroidery. I used to love embroidering and haven't done it in a long time. I have never done cross-stitch before, it is time consuming and calming.
I have done a little more batik. I will be doing some more as I love it, but I will try to be a bit more patient next time and build up a few to dye all at once. It seems a waste of dye and is time consuming doing all that rinsing when you only have a couple of bits.
We got a T.V license for the Christmas period and I watched the Blue Planet. I love jellyfish. We saw a large Compass Jellyfish when we were swimming in the sea once.
This morning Will was wearing Ivy in the wrap so she could get some sleep and I treated myself ot a little stamp carving. I am looking forward to living near woodland, I never have before and it is what I always imagined for my grown-up home.
For the last month or so we have been practicing baby-led potty training - basically looking out for signals from Ivy that she's gotta go, and whipping off the nappy, We learn what to look for, and she learns to hold it until her nappy comes off. It's going very well, we're using a lot fewer nappies than we were and will be able to do awash every 2 days if we keep improving which will save water. We bought a Beco Potty, a biodegradable potty made from bamboo & resin. When you are finished with it, you bury it in the garden and it biodegrades in 3-5 years.
I am borrowing a ring sling from a friend at the moment. She is selling it and was happy with me trying it out for a few days to see if it suits us. We're struggling a little at the moment to be honest as Ivy keeps straightening her legs and losing the seat. I think I just need to make it deeper from the start. I'm going to keep trying as it's so quick and easy to put on. I love baby wearing and am amazed that parents manage without to be honest.
This week our new blender jug arrived. It's glass, and I knocked our old one off the counter before Christmas and smashed it. It was as expensive to replace as it was to buy a new blender nearly, but it saves the motor which still works fine from landfill. I was please that the jug arrived without the plastic lid, blades etc. as our original ones are obviously all still fine.
There were about 5 pumpkins knocking around in the kitchen from Autumn that I've been putting off using which I finally got around to preparing. They made pumpkin & split pea suit, pumpkin & rosemary spaghetti, and pumpkin, lentil & othe fridge veg curry, most of which I've frozen. We are not planning to have a large freezer, or perhaps one at all when we move as they take up a lot of space and power. Will was looking up off-grid DIY cool storage.
We haven't been food shopping since Christmas, we've have enough vegetables and a lot of dried food stored which I'd like to use up.
Everything else rolls on as before. We are still waiting on news from the house. Something to do with it being a private lane has raised eyebrows from the mortgage provider, but I'm sure it will all weork out and we are both very excited and ready to move into our new home.
