Wow! We arrived, 2020 this is it! The big new corner turned and today we take our first baby steps into the new decade. It does feel momentous and memorable, certainly something to make something of if ever there was an opportunity. Ten years ahead of us in a brand new chapter.
I did have a scoot back through my 'new year' posts of years gone by and was struck that last year I completely forgot to mention my blogging anniversary. Today marks my 9th year of writing this blog although only posts from August 2013 onwards remain - which is still a huge lot, 1382 to be precise. Last year was the leanest by a little stretch, a mere 200 published which while it falls short of my ideal 'Monday to Friday' stamping them out in clockwork fashion, was also an excellent compromise as sometimes I just didn't want to try, so didn't (and didn't feel remorse). Blogging has been a wonderful hobby but I never wanted it to be a chore, so promised myself that if I had nothing ready or didn't feel like sitting myself down with the intention to write then so be it.
What I would like to say is a heartfelt thank you to those of you that return time and time again. I'm grateful for the support you have given me in those visits; be it the time you spend browsing, comments or shares on social media. There's no massive changes I have in mind for the content, always just focusing on what I see or do, or go to or what's crossing my mind at any given time.



I see yellow brain fungus on most visits out at the moment. Now I know it's about, I catch sight of it here, there and everywhere.














With all the glorious time off I issued myself over the Christmas and New Year period we made the best of each day by taking trips out whenever possible which means that I have started the year sitting on a hole pile of posts all neatly stacked up and scheduled, ready to go. My love for well executed organisation leaves me beaming at this and congratulating myself on having started the year on excellent form. Dreary mud or not, I did my best.
Here we go, who's with me?
Take care,
Sophie

I had a meeting arranged for this evening. Since the England win on Thursday night I knew there was only one place I was going to be: sitting on my sofa cheering on the Lionesses.
The last few weeks have been crammed full of everything and nothing. Yes, I have lots to do but no, there's no way I'm missing a match. Yes, there's lots to do but in Saturday's scorching sunshine I spent a couple of hours on a chair in the shade reading my book. I'll compromise but on my own terms.

We took trips out to open gardens two weeks on the trot. If you haven't indulged in a circuit of someone's gorgeous landscape when they not only open it but serve tea and cake then you really are missing out. Perfect way to spend an hour. C and I both thoroughly enjoyed them.

It did mean that time was short for jobs, walking and just generally but never mind - you can only spend time once so might as well spend it wisely. Our own garden is a veritable joy this summer, we've made sure to head outside to admire our hard work. I sniff the roses each time I pass and fuss over the greenhouse twice a day.

If I fashion a day or half day to knock out some posts about all the things I still have to share (and off the top of my head that would total around 5 or 6) then I'd love to but at present they are not surfacing as  priority. And my 90 minutes are spoken for this evening. I'd like to write about that too. Seven then.

Take care,
Sophie

I've been thinking about the past twelve months and the twelve to come. Each day gives opportunities and closes the door on others which makes me feel simultaneously hopeful and like sand is slipping through my fingers no matter how tightly I clench my fists. Usually I like to make resolutions and reflect on what's happened of note during the year - or rather which pictures I was pleased with. 2018 saw me snapping about the same as always but I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should just hang up my camera and stop trying to pinpoint days and times and moments when things were the way they were. Ought I just leave them suspended there for others to discover in situ? Should I just not write, not type, not recreate feelings and express them in a capsule.
I don't know, I really don't.
Yesterday I watched a short clip of someone giving a motivational pickup and it made me question myself and my actions. Just because it's the obvious next step/continuation or what you've always done why should you default to going long with it? If you could decide right here, right now what you wanted from life and did something today to make a start getting there what would it be?
It stung me slightly, as I'm a creature who fervently avoids change and confrontation. Ouch. Yet, how intriguing. I never think like this at all.
Take care,
Sophie

I've been reflecting lately and many things are making me unhappy. It's people, it's time, it's many facets of life. Over the last few months I have been giving it some serious consideration whether to step down from blogging, step back from social media and shut the door on that path in order to free up every part of my existence that it reaches. No more photography, no more writing.
I know it's a hobby and although it's a discreet one at that, it does infiltrate further than it would appear on the surface.
Life would be quieter and I do yearn for quietness but how far can you push it before the quiet turns in to a deafening silence?
I'm still chewing it over.
Take care,
Sophie    

Last week I was sent this utterly divine personalised leather journal for my writing pleasure. Never have I owned something of such high quality to record my thoughts inside, it's almost biblical. A glorious leather bound beauty of a book, the pages even have stone-marbled edges. For this I have to thank Central Crafts who are a family run business sourcing and making beautiful handmade products, set Hertfordshire countryside which has served as both inspiration for running a firm they're passionate about and selling further afield, to all around the globe. Amongst an array of other pieces for your home and garden are a wonderful collection of journals, this is the Firenze which is handmade in Florence by a small family business who use high quality leather and sustainable vegetable based tanning techniques to bring out the character of the natural material. The end result is not only beautiful but hard wearing too.
It's got my name written all over it. (well, the corner certainly does at any rate). The paper inside is plain and acid free which enables a fountain pen to be used and even though my crow's feather is no quill, it reminds me of how we were forced to use fountain pens between the ages of 10 and 13 for seemingly no good reason whatsoever at school. I doubt a soul of us has had cause to pick one up again since leaving. Though in my heart I'd rather like to give calligraphy a go one day; those ornate pages of script used to fascinate me. Maybe one day, one winter, when I'm confined to quarters on dark evenings.
You can imagine how delighted I was to open the carefully boxed parcel, open the cotton protective bag and slide out this heavenly book. What a timeless gift, especially when personalised for the recipient with their name or maybe a little message.
A big thank you to Central Crafts for sending me such a gorgeous gift, I will treasure it and fill it's pages full of thoughts.
Sophie
All content and opinions are my own

I am most definitely not a perfectionist. I realised this a long time ago. Back when other girls at school had beautifully brushed hair and exercised books with sharp corners and a tidy pencil case to match their manicured hands. By comparison I was haphazard and more 'as served' than neatly prepared.
My blog holds testament to my general mindset though (and thank goodness it does) for if I were to wait for every last thought to be put down, every picture to be flawlessly edited and waiting for the perfect content to present itself then my post tally but currently sit around 4 or 5 at best. Nothing in life is perfect and I'd rather live at a buoyant 90% than to be hanging on and waiting for things to be right in order to satisfy than extra 10.
But that's just me.
Sophie

I've been very lucky over the years with this little blog; there have been some wonderful opportunities crop up and I've had the pleasure of sharing plenty of things I love on here. When I started writing way back in 2011 (was it then? was it further back? I can't even remember) it was a relatively new thing, some really quirky blogs were out there with the coolest of people I didn't know, yet felt like I'd befriended. We wrote about what we wore, what we ate, what we slapped on our faces. The bigger bloggers had over 1000 followers of GFC, remember that? I didn't dream of becoming that big. Fast forward to 2017 and the big bloggers have millions of followers and are online glossy magazines. They are models, they are celebrities and they are the chefs du jour. 

They say time flies when you're having fun. When it comes to December people comment with great frequency they can't believe how fast the year has flown by. I'm guilty of it. But this year I feel like things have been different. I'm not going to say it again.
Instead, my version of the year can be summarised as busy. It's been all go; here there and everywhere. I can quantify where the time went. Some of it is recorded in pictures, some of it blossomed in a vase and much of it resulted in being able to sit here and tell you all about it having completed the regular chores.
They say that life is what happens while you're making plans.
It's all too easy to put off things in favour of an easy time; maybe slobbing on the sofa all evening and telling yourself that you'll have a better day tomorrow. Sometimes I do that.
To be fair though, it feels like I've crammed in as much as is realistically possible while allowing myself plenty of sleep. There has been plenty to look back on this year and I can say for certain that I've given it my best. Boxes have been ticked. Over the next few weeks the list of plans for next year will be collated and it will be interesting to see what direction 2017 will lead. One thing I can say for sure is that it's going to be made up of doing things and not just letting time fly by while I'm slow out of the blocks.
Sophie

Now, you may not have noticed but I sneaked away for a fortnight and arrived home yesterday. It does the soul good to escape in it's entirety to a new landscape and new skies. Our destinations were the Brecon Beacons in Wales and Devon. I drank coffees to the backdrop of the sun rising and munched buttery crumpets most mornings.
The mornings waking up to this view were priceless. A window from floor to hip is a tad unusual but as it was a converted barn we stayed in, who was I to protest? Sleeping with the curtains wide open with only the gentle rolling hills and grazing horses separating us from the sun rising.
It goes without saying that we went out exploring. I have so many pictures to sort through, edit and share, hopefully many will make it here over the next couple of weeks.
There will be so much to bring you in Autumn nevertheless, we'll see what makes it into each post. I've got my new season plans and aims to share soon too.
Keep your eyes peeled.
Sophie x

So often here I can feel like I'm an imposter.
Much as I adore taking pictures with my camera then writing my thoughts down to empty my mind, with the end result complete and scheduled for publishing, doubt creeps in. I'm convinced that with every coming post I'll be rumbled as a clueless pretender, that you'll realise actually I'm rubbish at producing content. Somehow, I've got away with it day after day for years. One day someone will notice that actually I'm just no good. In real life nobody considers me creative.

Thinking back to when I was younger I was always interested in writing things down. Little poems. Thoughts. Notes to people. Letters. Lists. Writing stories. As a child I was happy left to write whatever I fancied, but remember the lack of interest with which they were received when I excitedly read them out. Naturally, you can't please everyone. Grandparents did seem much more easily impressed by things. One memory that really sticks in my mind was when I created a little story book and illustrated it myself when I was around 10. The paper was some curious old fashioned writing paper and string was threaded through a hole in each sheet to keep them together. The story itself was about a few friends joining a football team. My handwriting was abominable; the letters all different shapes and sizes, weaving their way round the pages and defying gravity.

Recently, I found the book again in the stash of things Mum keeps from our childhoods. Knowing it would be there (they weren't all that many things worthy of keeping) it filled me with nostalgia seeing the paper again. The mini book obviously had an impact on my (paternal) grandfather; when I was 15 and the question of career paths reared it's ugly head I received a typewritten letter from him. This baffled me slightly, but even more than the idea of him writing to me was what he actually wrote. He questioned whether I had considered becoming an author as the story about the footballers I had read out some years before had stuck with him. My grandfather put forward the suggestions of how I could go about writing a book and the realistic practicalities of being a writer. I dug out the letter a few minutes ago, knowing exactly where to find it. Reading through it brought a tear to my eye and a lump to my throat. His enthusiasm and sincerity was touching; the letter came with a sheet of notes jotted down with perhaps how to create an ideas board for a story's format.
Racking my brains I can honestly say that nobody else has ever encouraged my writing in the least, not even vaguely. Perhaps he would have been the only one to support my blog. Perhaps, in the back of my mind his letter written in 2001 gave me the thumbs up to go ahead with writing down my thoughts, sharing my ideas. No, I'm not ready to consider writing a book yet. Probably no more so than half a lifetime ago, but that's not to say never.

Sadly, my grandfather passed away several years ago, before I started this blog. I like to think that even if everyone else in my family were to disapprove of it (if they were to find out - you know I like to keep things to myself) that my grandfather would have enjoyed being an approver against the flow.

That letter is one I will treasure forever. Someone had faith in my creativity.

Sophie

A Steampunk event! Well that was something new to me. So new, in fact, that I had to Google what it was. What do you know about Steampunk? Probably more than me! Anyway, I was intrigued and was excited to head along to meet the League of Essextraordinary Gentlemen (and gentlewomen, naturally) at the Museum of Power near Maldon in Essex.
I thought ahead and planned a meet up with long-time blogging friend Kezzie so we got to spend a few hours catching up and admiring all the wonderful outfits that people were wearing. I have to say there were all sorts of visual delights happening all around which, as a girl who is fascinated with clothes, made for quite a captivating time. People went all out with their looks; we're not talking a last minute, cobbled together outfit here.
There were hats to be found crowning every head. Fine top hats were to be seen in abundance, with a few military caps and safari hats too, adorned with a variety of accessories including feathers, cogs, keys, goggles, ribbons and for the ladies a few flowers and lace too. They were fabulous!
For the gentlemen, a majority wore a shirt, waistcoat and jackets or long coats. Boots, smart shoes... trousers of a smart nature.... A cane! A pocket watch! (I do love a pocket watch). Some took the more military approach with a military jacket which looked terribly smart too.
As a gentlewoman I would be at liberty to wear pretty much anything a man should wear or perhaps something a little more feminine; a white blouse with a corset... a fitted dress with a long sweeping skirt with a bustle (who can resist saying bustle?). Oh yes, with a lace umbrella too and a fan for good measure.
I was so pleased that I was invited along for the day, both C and I enjoyed it. The atmosphere was great, there was a real buzz about the place and it was most lively. There were stalls of beautiful Steampunk pieces for sale (I bought a floral hair clip and a beautiful necklace), accessories, handcrafted pieces, books... all manner of wonderful things. We saw demonstrations, heard talks and there was singing as well as a spot of burlesque too (which seemed to attract quite a crowd). The Museum was the perfect setting for a Steampunk gathering.
There was so much to see that I have more on the Museum of Power itself to come soon. They have many special events on during the year, the next being the Christmas workshops and Christmas wonderland so check the Museum of Power events calendar as they have plenty going on throughout the year.
Have you discovered Steampunk before?
Sophie
Thanks to Essex and Suffolk Water for inviting us along for the day!