My October

October has been a typical Spring month here, alternating between cold, wintry days and 34C (93F) scorchers, with everything in between. There was only one thunderstorm, but it was a pretty impressive one. I had my ups and downs too -- feeling sick, feeling good, tired/energetic, enthusiastic/sad. I could make the usual apologies for not blogging more often etc etc, but I didn't feel like writing, so why force myself? I'm here now, that's all.


What I've been building ...
It's not much to look at yet, but Husband and I are building a garden bed in our front yard. If everything goes according to plan, it'll be an adorably retro, white-pebbled brick-bordered oval bed with a lemon tree in the middle and some quirky succulents or something dotted about too.

What I've been drawing ...
I went to my first ever life drawing class, and it was a very interesting and inspiring experience. That voice in my head which tells me my art is rubbish was very persistent for the first hour or so, but eventually it got quieter and I was able to get into a kind of flow state. If you can call a lot of scribbling and grimacing a flow state! I found that being forced to just sit there and draw non-stop for a couple of hours a really interesting experience, and it left me very excited about my art and the future.

There have been quite a few developments in my art lately, so I'll do a separate post on that soon.

What I've been photographing ...
A few weeks ago I did my first flatlay! I don't know why I became suddenly obsessed with them. I went down a rabbithole of research and finding pleasing examples for inspiration. I decided to base mine around a manga I'd recently read, because of the interesting colours on its cover. I was worried I wouldn't be able to find enough orange-coloured items around the house, but it turns out that wasn't a problem. There were plenty more I could have squeezed in! I'm generally quite pleased with it, though I notice a few gaps and the lighting could be better.

Where I've been visiting ...
Husband and I and our foodie friend went to visit the Geelong Agricultural Show, and it was so much fun, embracing our inner kids (and inner bogans, somewhat). I got to see baby animals and prizewinning vegetables, though unfortunately we couldn't find the handicrafts and I was too tired by the time we realised where they were. I can always see them next year!

What I've been reading ...
I didn't set myself a reading challenge in October, because I decided to participate again in the Dewey 24 in 48 Readathon, which was on the last weekend of the month. Reading for 24 hours out of a 48 hour period is almost impossible for me, but on the other hand I'm known to jump into improbable challenges pretty often. As usual, I used a page in my Hobonichi to keep track, reading in 20 minute increments this time (or half an hour if I was feeling like I could concentrate for a bit longer). I read about 13 hours out of the 24, and got several books and stories finished, but not the ones I was aiming for. That's life sometimes!

My July

I know this update is a bit late, but I thought I'd do it anyway, now that I feel like it. There isn't much to report again from last month. I still have some ongoing health issues and I'm still not able to work right now. I've been doing what I can. It's the middle of Winter in this part of the world, and there have been some cold, frosty nights. I like the cold weather, wearing scarves and hats and layers, but I haven't been able to get outside much to enjoy it so far.

What I've been reading ...
I participated in the July 24 in 48 Readathon. I was busy on the actual weekend of the readathon -- the only time I've been busy for ages! -- so I decided to go easy on myself and let my personal readathon run for a week ... then a couple of weeks ... I kept track of my reading in my Hobonichi diary. As you can see, I still didn't quite reach my goal. I find reading is harder in the age of casual games within arm's reach. Each circle represents half an hour of reading:

What I've been working on ...
I've been doing some research for a new art project. There aren't many details yet, at least not that I'm willing to reveal. Sorry about that, but here's a sneaky behind-the-scenes pic. I again decided to use my Hobonichi to keep my notes in, as it has so many spare pages and I wanted to use them somehow:

What I've been drinking ...
In this cold weather, I've been drinking lots and lots of tea! I re-started my planned series of tea review blog posts. Hopefully there'll be another one soon. I also made progress on setting up my hutch with my collection of teapots and tea storage tins. Thanks to a recent donation from Mum, I now have a collection of Delftsware (Dutch blue and white ware) too, though unfortunately I doubt most of it is real. (I'm not showing the bottom shelf because it's not done yet.):

Selections from Instagram
I only posted one photo on Instagram last month. I just haven't been in the mood for sharing, not feeling like I have anything to share. Nevertheless, here is my photo of the foodie outing I went on a couple of weeks ago (photo is pre-pouring on of the delicious and generous serve of curry sauce!):

My January and 3rd Cativersary

January was very hot, most days -- except for a wonderful -- day/night-long thunderstorm right at the end. I'm "between jobs" right now, so I've had plenty of time for crafting, reading and doing things around the house. I heard the term 'funemployed' for the first time recently -- I'm not quite sure how I feel about it!

What I've been journalling...
I've been very much focussed on my Hobonichi art diary again -- probably because I've finally been able to start using my brand new 2019 edition. To kick things off, I've been doing Rainbowholic's Dare to Dream cute journalling challenge, and started documenting things that I wouldn't have before. As Kaila from Rainbowholic says, daily journalling is all about the little things in life.

What I've been working on ...
Way back in April last year, I posted that I started crocheting a blanket. It's both a craft and art project (I'm doubling up, but it's not cheating, honest!) and I'll do a proper post about what it's all about soon. I've been working hard on it in January, so I thought I'd share a couple of 'preview' photos:

What I've been embroidering...
As a change from constant crocheting, I've been doing a bit on my tapestry project as my TV craft in the evenings. In the artificial light it can be hard to tell the difference between the colours, but it's still enjoyable.

What I've been reading ...
I did the 24in48 Readathon challenge last weekend -- to read for any combination totalling 24 hours in a 48-hour period over the weekend. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be! I ended up with a total just shy of 11 hours. My eyes were sore and dry! I did however finish one book that I'd started a year ago ... and one I'd started over two years ago! Having the challenge there to motivate me helped to keep my short attention span on track and read for longer periods than I would normally.

Here's my to-read stack before the challenge (not all shown):

Here are the books I donated to the Little Library afterwards (only the top one was finished during the challenge! I just had a big stack built up. Also, my mother-in-law gives me a lot of her old romance novels -- don't judge me!):

Here are the books I picked up in exchange from the Little Library:

3rd Cativersary
And now here are some kitty spams to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Sharick coming to live with us, which was on 6th January. He's such a part of our household now, I can't remember life before he came to live with us.