Wintery Seasons of Joy: January 2018

It’s not so much wintery as wet!  It is pouring down with rain this morning and we have all been working hard in the garden, filling the skip and getting rid of all the building stuff left from September.  What a morning to choose!  No matter, we all joined in with a(n) happy attitude 😉

I think my teen girls would have rather been doing anything but putting wet soggy rubbish in a skip.  But it’s good for the soul, and y’know, by the end of it we were all quite enjoying ourselves.

It is incredible what a group of people can achieve in such a short time:

We also emptied everything out of our playhouse.  Remember the one we made into a ‘Little house on the Prairie’?

This spring we will be turning into Ab’s Labs, and creating a perfect place for my nine year old to carry out all her scientific endeavours, as well as her nature study and planting and growing bits and pieces.  We are all quite excited about this.  Another spring/summer of pleasant memory making 🙂  It had fallen into disrepair over the past few years, so it will be wonderful to see it restored to something useful and pretty:

True to one of my goals for the year I have been choosing, printing and displaying photos of the family.  Last week I did a couple of photos from mine and Gary’s wedding .  This week I found a gorgeous picture of Thomas with B(6) who must have been about 2 at the time, and another of the three older girls:

Gary popped them up either side of the mirror over the fireplace.  This has got to be my most favourite ever goal!  I am loving going over all my photos and we all really enjoy them when they are up on the wall:

We are personalising our home and it looks so lovely and homey!  Why on earth didn’t I think to do it earlier?!

We have completed our bedroom, at last.  We had a few bits and pieces to add to it (shelves and hooks for me, guitars for Gary).  I am so pleased by how it turned out.  It is such a relaxing space to retire to each evening.  I love it!

Here’s the view from the (new) doorway:

My side:

Can you spot the photo of Dad and I that I framed last week?

Another of my side.  It is a double aspect bedroom which makes it so light, even in the winter:

The bookcase is made from sanded and varnished loft boards.

On the windowsill I have each of the ornaments Gary bought me at every important event in our lives together:

From the left: The statues represent Gary and I; the twins; Thomas and I; B (6) and I; Gary and A(9) and me pregnant (bought during my first pregnancy).  I used to have them in the living room, but really they only mean something to Gary and I, and we have enjoyed having them in the bedroom 🙂

Anyway….Gary’s side:

He has the photo of the two of us on our wedding day on his wall:

Well, that’s it for this week.  I need to settle and do some school planning.  Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!