So, the plan was to do one of these every three to six months but I’ve just checked my published post list and it seems I haven’t done one since June 2023! Anyway, I enjoyed looking back at last year’s post and seeing what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. I’m still reading lots of books at the same time, and it appears that two of them were started this time last year and are still on the go now. I’m also continuing to love seeing the wildlife in our garden but I’m upset that the hedgehogs who used to visit last year are no longer coming – our hog biscuits are being polished off by various other creatures included neighbourhood cats, a fox, a cute little mouse and what appears to be a baby rat (the images and videos on our wildlife camera show a twitchy nosed character who is bigger than the mice we’ve seen featured onscreen!). Here’s some more things which are currently filling my days…
Currently reading…
I now record my reading on Storygraph (rather than using my bullet journal) and at the moment, I have 9 titles listed as current reads. However, a few of them have been shelved for a little while so here’s the ones I’m actually grabbing on a regular basis:
- Prickly Company by Kitty Johnson – a lovely romantic fiction book which features the goings on of a street called Hilltop Place and a side story of hedgehogs visiting gardens via a ‘hedgehog highway’. If you’re looking for a light read coupled with facts about hedgehogs (and a possibly unexpected twist), this is the book for you! It’s taken me so long to finish this blog post that I’ve now actually finished reading this one and have moved on to the book directly below.
- Salt Slow – this is a book of short stories by Julia Armfield which caught my attention when I was reading a book related blog. Described as a collection of gothic, magical realism, the stories are like nothing I’ve read before. I’ve enjoyed some of them more than others so far but my favourites have stayed with me well after the conclusion.
- Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal – I put this down for a bit and picked it up a few days ago when I was chillaxing in front of our tower fan on a very warm day. As I’ve been reading, I’ve been using a highlighter pen to highlight interesting lines and paragraphs. At a later date, I’m going to summarise the highlights in written form.
- The Happiness Year: How to Find Joy in Every Season by Tara Ward – full of seasonal tasks to help you find the joy during Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, no matter which is your favourite and which you least prefer.
Currently feeling…
I’ve recently made some changes to my diet which have helped me to feel better about myself. So far, I’ve lost 9lb which I’m really pleased with as two of the medications which I take for my Bipolar disorder have a side effect for me of increased appetite and tiredness which have led to weight gain over the past few years. I’ve tried really hard to modify my eating habits after a doctor recently told me that my cholesterol level was a little on the high side. Changes I’ve made include:
- cutting out sweets – bye bye Colin The Caterpillar sweets from M&S and other gummy favourites!
- choosing healthier breakfast cereal – supermarket own brand Weetabix every day (no more crunchy nut cornflakes) and Special K to ve reintroduced when my crown has settled)
- sticking with our vegan spread on bread for sandwiches and in white sauces rather than using up the butter purchased for a particular recipe (only having butter when we go out for a meal)
- watching my portion sizes – having a small handful of crisps from a large packet rather than a full individual bag, reducing the amount/type of table sauces and dressing e.g. mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, less calorie laden salad dressings etc, having one or two biscuits instead of three, checking the portion sizes on boxes, packets and tins, making sure most of my plate is full of fruit and veg etc.
- not having so many treats on weekends (less cakes, ice creams, less calorific desserts etc)
Currently working on…
I’m trying really hard to spend time working on our garden each day so that plants thrive (apart from those irritating weeds that seem to pop up everywhere within days), deadheading is done regularly, leaves and stems are checked for disease and little critters such as greenfly, snails and slugs and evaluations of fauna which helps us to see if our spaces are wildlife friendly. At the moment, it feels like I’m not dedicating enough hours each week to keep on top of things, but I’m trying to be happy with the progress we are making in our front and back spaces rather than noticing all of the bits we haven’t got around to!
Currently creating…
I have two creative journals on the go at the moment – my summer 2024 TN insert and another insert for our North Wales holiday last month. I’ve printed lots of photos from my phone, manipulated images taken on my dslr in Photoshop and have made stickers and ephemera for decorating the various pages. I’ve also got postcards, tickets, receipts and other bits and pieces for tipping in too. Now I just need to dedicate some time each week for creating the spreads.
Currently enjoying…
I love summer time as it means I can enjoy a range of fresh and juicy fruits and easily get my 5 a day seven days a week. I love mango, raspberries, nectarines, peaches, watermelon, pineapple and sweet oranges but my absolute favourite are strawberries. Although not as healthy as enjoying them on their own, I’ve bought some cooking chocolate and for dipping them in as a special summer treat. If you seen my bucket list, you’ll also know that I plan on making strawberry lemonade at some point soon.
Final words…
If I’m going to be in with a chance of this being published any time soon, I think I’ll have to leave it there. As before, I encourage my readers who have their own blog to give writing a ‘Currently…’ post a go as it is an interesting way to evaluate your current priorities and, over time, see how they have changed.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about what I’m currently up to in July 2024. I think I might add a date to my bullet journal future log for starting the next update so I don’t leave it too long next time!
Keeping it creative 