Saturday 4 January 2014

it's a habit worth forming

(Thin Lizzy - Dancing in the Moonlight)

From not knowing what to say, to wondering how to fit it all in to seven hundred words. This makes a pleasant change of pace. I am going to resist the urge to write, rewrite, edit and then delete, and instead just roll with it. Firstly, I'm linking in with TheBoyandMe 365 project, just to give it a go. I didn't know I was going to do this until today, so apologies for the pictures. In all honestly I rarely take pictures so I thought it would be a good habit to form, and when I checked my phone I took the fact that I had actually taken a picture every day of the year so far as some kind of sign. A take part in a picture a day type sign - you know the ones.




1. New Years Day breakfast including lovely homemade jam which was a table gift at a recent wedding




2. Fabulous freebies that came with my make up delivery - one of the (many many) reasons I could never be a beauty blogger is  my complete loyalty to Estee Lauder!




3. The start of The Hairy Dieters Spanish Chicken Bake recipe - a definite success and a spare portion in the freezer - even better




4. Caught Millie taking a break from doing the weeding today

I've quite enjoyed doing this, and plan to keep it up. I'm doing well so far with keeping up with the new habits I decided to take up for the New Year, and this links beautifully with the other part of this post today. Laura at circleofpinetrees mentioned writealm in her recent post, and what a wonderful thing it is. I don't realistically think I will write every day, but I had wanted to start writing more regularly this year, and I'm (slightly disproportionately) excited at the prospect of having someone to simply tell me what to write, and help me get over the indecisiveness!

On the subject of new habits, which is today's prompt courtesy of writealm, I resolved to walk Millie every day (that I am at home) this year, rather than rely on The Husband and stepdad to share the load. It is so easy to get in from work and look outside to the dark, rainy nights and try and get out of it. Once I get out of the house I always feel better for it, and I promised when persuading The Husband to get a puppy that I would do the daily walks. Although I'm on study leave for an impending exam at the moment, I am doing the walks to coincide with the time I would get in from work, to try and get into the habit of going as soon as I get in at night. I felt extra proud today, as my stepdad took Mille this morning when he went out for a walk, and I still took her out for a second walk this evening rather than break the habit four days in. The poor pup will have her paws walked off soon, but, particularly in the midst of revision I'm starting to look forward to my evening escape and the fresh air.

I've also bought this diary, which so far, is proving much more maintainable (real word?) than any previous journals I have had. I have put a small candle on my dressing table, and each evening I spend fifteen minutes slathering on all my lovely night creams (see picture 2!), writing my diary by candle light and winding down. It's another part of the day I've really been enjoying, and have managed to make time for each night so far.

I'm also doing dry January which actually isn't that much of a test for me as I don't drink all that regularly, however I've also thrown into the mix chocolate free January, and so far I've managed to stick to that despite the excess of leftover Christmas chocolates in the cupboard. Finally, in the spirit of new habits, I have also committed to blogging more regularly this year, and so far, so good. Four days isn't a major milestone, but its a positive start at least!

16 comments:

  1. what a really lovely table gift to receive i love it :-) i have never tried that brand of makeup .. i will have to have a go x

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    1. it was lovely, everyone either got jam, chutney or pickle, lots of different flavours but I was very happy with my traditional strawberry. I am mulling writing a blog post on the makeup at some point so I will let you know if it happens!

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  2. Just need the cream and scones for that strawberry jam (from a Cornish girl)

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    1. even for breakfast?! The obvious next question though is which do you put on the scone first ;)

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  3. good luck with all your goals for this year and taking Millie out every day will do you good and keep you fitter! x

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    1. thank you very much for visiting - the getting fit is the other intended benefit, and the achey legs this morning suggest it might be working!

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  4. The jam looks yummy. Love the photo of Millie.

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  5. Love homemade jam. I've been to a wedding where little pots of the family's honey were favours, but jam's a lovely idea too.

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    1. oh there was all sorts, cumberland pickle, elderflower and strawberry jam, chilli jam. I think the mothers of both bride and groom had been particularly industrious in their preserving! Honey is another lovely one!

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  6. for what it's worth, you can use the prompts for photography, too, so when you're stuck on your 365 and don't feel like writing, maybe one of the prompts will help.

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    1. that is an excellent idea. although you do realise that means for the next year you will be guiding the content of pretty much all of my creative endeavours?! I hope that isn't too much of a burden of responsibility!

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  7. Your jam looks divine! Best of luck with 365, I'm sure it will be fantastic. Here's to a wonderful 2014 too :)

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    1. thank you for stopping by! I'm certainly enjoying it so far. Happy 2014 to you too.

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  8. I'm looking forward to more photos of your lovely Beagle cross, such a sweetie. I do like homemade strawberry jam; slightly runny conserve is so much nicer than the set stuff.

    Thanks for linking up to Project 365.

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    1. I get the feeling she will be a regular feature on project 365! She is more naturally photogenic than most of the other pictures I attempt. Thank you for having me!

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