Currently | July 2018

It's been a couple of months since I last sat down and wrote a 'currently' post about some of the things I've been doing and enjoying lately, so I thought it was about time for a catch up. 

Let's start with what I've been watching...

Watching

I haven't actually been watching much of anything new over the past few months, because I've not been in the mood to concentrate, or start anything new. Do you ever get days / months like that? I've been enjoying season two of The Handmaid's Tale, and Timeless, but apart from that, I've mostly just been watching old favourites like The Big Bang Theory, and Home and Away. I think the only new film I've watched this summer is The Greatest Showman, which I absolutely love. It's one of the best musicals I've seen in years, and I love that it unapologetically celebrates people of all shapes and sizes, colours, abilities, and conditions. It's so refreshing, and sends out such a positive message. I only wish they had featured more actors who have the health conditions- real albinos, real bearded ladies, real conjoined twins- to truly celebrate and help normalise such conditions, but I suppose finding actors with the conditions who can also sing and dance can't be easy in this ablest society. Regardless, I really enjoyed the movie, and I can't seem to get the songs out of my head.

Listening

I can't say I've been listening to a lot of music lately, just a bit of Linkin Park here, a bit of Fall Out Boy there... but I've been loving Panic! at the Disco's new album 'Pray For The Wicked'. It's full of amazing, upbeat, catchy songs.

 Reading

Since my last 'currently' post, I've been having a bit of a Frances Hardinge reading binge, and have worked my way through A Skinful of Shadows, A Face Like Glass, and Cuckoo Song. All three were fantastic page-turners that kept me gripped until the end. Hardinge has such a beautiful way with words, and her fantasy stories are so unique and original. I'd definitely recommend the three above.

Earlier this summer, I also read The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, a novel based on the true story of Lale Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner of Auschwitz who was forced to tattoo numbers on to the arms of the men, women, and children entering the concentration camps. The importance of his role earned him some protection in the camps, and he secretly used his privilege to help his fellow prisoners and the girl he was falling in love with, while risking being caught at any moment. Lale's harrowing story was fascinating and one of the best Holocaust stories I've read, but difficult to read at times, when the horrors he witnessed and friends experienced were described. Still, I flew through this book in two days, and highly recommend it if you have an interest in reading about the Holocaust.

  

Stitching

As I've been busy working on other craft projects over the last few months, I haven't done as much cross stitching as I'd like, and I'm still working on the colourful Spectrum Mandala cross stitch from The World in Stitches that I showed you in my last 'currently' post. I'm back to cross stitching daily again now, though, and I'm finally beginning to close in on the three quarter mark. I'm really happy with how it's coming together; seeing all those colours blend together is super satisfying. I'm hoping to get it finished by the end of August so I can spend Autumn working on some Christmas craft projects.

Crafting

In June, I finally finished the four felt spring wreaths I taught myself to make during the Spring, (which I blogged about here), and they came out so well it's given me such a sense of accomplishment. I've decided to make Christmas wreaths in a similar style, and as the Spring wreaths took months of work, I've already began working on them so that they'll be ready in time for Christmas. I've started making red felt roses and poinsettias to use, and next I'm going to figure out how to make felt amaryllis flowers, and possibly even pinecones and mistletoe. I can't seem to stop making felt flowers now I know how!

Painting

I haven't done heaps of painting lately, but I recently treated myself to a cheap set of gouache paints, and I've been having fun getting to grips with them. I've wanted to try painting with gouache for years, and I'm loving how vibrant the paints are compared to the watercolours I usually work in.

Buying

I had a nice little rebate earlier this year, so I've been able to treat myself to some amazing Erstwilder brooches, and lots of beautiful pieces from the Cath Kidston Alice in Wonderland collection lately. I've also been buying some Body Shop body butters and lotions, a few books, and a couple of Kimchi and Coconut brooches. I'll be blogging about most of them really soon!

Winning

I was recently lucky enough to win copies of Breathe magazine, and Breathe Special Nature Journal from Emma of The Cornish Geek (thanks, Emma!), which I'm absolutely loving. I've never read Breathe magazine before, but it's filled with inspiring articles on wellbeing, mindfullness and creativity, and illustrated with beautiful art. It's been such an enjoyable read, so I'm definitely going to be picking up future issues. 

The Nature Journal, which is designed to help you connect with nature to improve your wellbeing, is even better, with gorgeous art and illustrations on every page, and tasks to complete throughout the year. From writing down your favourite things about each season to exploring nature and recording the animals and plants you see, it's full of fun projects to help you connect with the natural world. If you love nature and enjoy being creative like I do, you'd love it, and need to get yourself a copy. I'm really looking forward to getting started on all the Summer and Autumn tasks, but it's so pretty I almost don't want to make a mark in it.

Needing

a holiday, a life, and some clothes I can wear in the heat without melting.

Wanting

Everything from the new Cath Kidston Otters and Mini Badgers and Friends collections, all the Erstwilder jewellery, some new bookshelves, a holiday by the sea, to spend some time out of the house, and my heart to calm the fuck down.

Wishing

the heat would cool down, and we could have Autumn weather already. If you haven't heard the UK is currently basking in the hottest and longest heatwave since the sixties. We've had over four weeks straight of 30'C+ weather here in Oxfordshire (it's been up to 34'C!), which is not normal English weather. We might get a week of it each summer, but that's usually it. Our houses are designed to keep the heat in and we don't have air conditioning in our homes, so it's been unbearable. I'm always overheated from my chronic illnesses, and can't regulate my own body temperature, so I feel so uncomfortable in the heat. I've not had the energy to do anything, and I feel like I've lost a couple of stone sweating from places I didn't know could sweat. I'm so ready for the weather to change, and for Autumn to begin. It doesn't sound like it's going to happen any time soon, though.

Celebrating

On the 2nd, I celebrated my 33rd birthday (man, I'm getting old!). I'm not one for parties and don't really have anyone to celebrate with any more, so I had a quiet one with a trip to the zoo, and an evening in eating birthday cake and a buffet tea with my family. I was given some lovely presents, too, which I'll be blogging about soon.

Playing

My younger sister bought me a Nintendo 2DS for my birthday earlier this month, so I've been having fun playing Mario Kart 7 almost every day since. It's been years since I last played it (on the Wii), and it's great fun. Does anyone have any 2DS game recommendations? I need to buy some new games to play on it.

Eating

I've basically been living on ice cream and all the cold drinks I can get my hand on, to survive the heatwave. Maxibons and Haagen Daaz lollies have been two of my recent faves- but nothing beats a 99 from the ice cream van!

Loving

I'm loving Insta stories at the moment. I could spend hours watching them from my fave Instagrammers every day (and sometimes I do). It's so addictive, and I love seeing what everyone is getting up to or enjoying. I began putting my own stories together a couple of months ago, and I'm really enjoying sharing little snippets from my life, like things I've been buying or crafting, and I'm having fun getting creative with it. It's definitely my favourite platform to use right now- although, I don't post every day because I haven't always got anything exciting to share. It's not easy coming up with interesting content when you're housebound and have no life!

So, that's what I've been doing and enjoying lately. What about you? 

What are you loving right now?

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