ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY AND SOME CRAFTING SSHHH DON'T TELL ANYONE!

Some weeks this post is a breeze to do - really easy to draw on the little things in life that make life beautiful but this week I feel like I'm treading treacle and it's become seriously hard work.  Now don't get me wrong that would seem that I've had a 'bad' week - (actually I don't believe in 'bad' weeks just challenging ones) so this one has definitely been challenging.  But Rocking Your World Friday is about the gratefuls and the positives and that is where I'm going to stay this week - even though I could have a good old moan - it won't change anything and it won't make it any better.  (I started this post on Thursday morning because I like to plan ahead and properly reflect, my day today has been just as challenging but more productive, rather than hide away from issues I've dealt with them head on in a positive and productive way and as a result I've come home somewhat happier in my head) - the moral of the story is that communication is a fantastic thing when done properly and productively!

I'm very grateful for family days out and making them a priority! 

We went to Chatsworth again last week for their Sotheby's sale called Beyond Limits now you'd assume this was an auction being Sotheby's, but what it actually is is a sculpture show in the gardens at Chatsworth - they are all technically up for sale and I'm assuming there will be an auction for them at some point but I'm sure they are all serious money and to be honest one of them would be bigger than our postage stamp garden could contend with, however, I do like the day out we have when we go to see them.  

The day was cloudy but the rain held off until we came away, we had a fabulous day, wandering around, deciding on our favourite sculpture, enjoying a picnic (a slimming low fat picnic but a picnic nonetheless) and later in the afternoon we enjoyed a coffee on the terraces outside Chatsworth house, sheer bliss! 

Little moments of beauty we saw on the day

from this flower

to the trees (I love trees)

to our favourite sculpture

to secretive visitors

absolute bliss - if you haven't been and can get to Chatsworth I can highly recommend it, it's on until the end of October check their website for details.

So a positive grateful to the great outdoors, beautiful artwork, exquisite gardens and absolutely grateful for family time!

Speaking of which - last night was spent with my Mum, my sister and my niece and we were - wait for it - crafting!  So a big grateful for family craft nights!

My sister is making great strides into the crafting world and was keen to have a go at making a card - something a few months ago she wouldn't attempt, we used a sketch as a base and all had a go using up some card stock and papers I had left over from last year and although I will never profess to be a cardmaker I'm actually quite happy with the results, we spent a couple of hours playing with composition and colours and had fun in the process, we've decided to meet weekly so we can do 'Christmassy' things in the build up to Christmas - I refrained from putting on the Christmas carols - despite Melanie protestations that it wasn't too early.  However, in the process of two hours we only managed to make 3 cards each - at this rate we'll be ready for next Christmas not this one LMAO! 

So here is what I managed 

I did mention a couple of weeks ago that we had finally finished the guest room so here are the photos to prove it and yes that is the Rocking Your World Friday button canvas finally in it's rightful place in our home!

It feels so positive in this room now! 


In addition to this are the canvases we did for the stairs and before you ask the words are lyrics from my favourite song of all time - Glitter in the Air by Pink!

and the overall effect

it's amazing how 'finished' this part of the house feels with the pictures up.


And finally a big grateful for belated presents - this one was presented today when I was feeling mighty low and was from my lil bro!  Now the question is read the book first or watch the film?  Decisions decisions!

Thank you for visiting my blog today another huge grateful to you!  If you are joining in with Rocking Your World Friday don't forget to let us know either by leaving a comment with your blog posting or adding a linky to your blog on Mr Linky below!

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

Ok so let's hope I can actually get this posted on the correct day this week!  Honestly!

 

 So this week has been a strange one - settling back into school routines, enjoying family time oh and my 38th birthday (ssh don't tell anyone I'm getting old) and my son reached double digits - yes he his the grand old age of 10 - I mean when did that happen?

It's all very scary if you ask me the time seems to fly by, work is very busy at the moment which means I'm having to be ultra organised at home, I'm thankfully receiving many many many e-mails each day from Flylady which allows me to consider my cleaning options which are usually

look away look away it'll get better eventually 

or 

clean something right now

the only downside to the e-mails is if I start to read them late at night I feel the urge to go and clean something so I've decided to ignor them if it's too late and deal with them when I can.

We've finished the guest room which has now been renamed from purple room and finally have a home for the awesome piece of artwork that my bloggy friends helped me create in a dark time in my life 

There are still a couple of things to tweak but overall things are looking good and I'm ultimately happy with the overall look of the room - it looks great and feels really positive which is exactly what I was after.

Next room our bedroom but thankfully that just needs paint and new bedding but before I can consider that i need a serious sort out so going to start on that challenge shortly - hold up Rocking your World has become a cleaning to do list what am I like - I apologise for a break in the transmission and assure you that normal service will resume shortly.

Grateful for an awesome family who bought me some beautiful gifts and came and spent time with us over the two day birthday celebrations.

Grateful for my Mum preparing food for said celebration because I was at work, it was lovely Mum thank you.

Grateful for my little lad taking on board new ideas, we are re-introducing pocket money because he seems to have lost the concept of the damn stuff and as I rightly pointed out the other day there is no magic tree at the bottom of the garden on which this stuff actually grows (although he did look when I pointed LOL).  His first birthday list made me sit down and go a very pale colour followed by "You are joking aren't you" - his innocent bewildered look meant he wasn't - so back to jobs and pocket money we go so he starts to 'get it' again! 

Grateful for clean windows, I know this sounds mad but you can't get to the back of our house without going through the house, so the window cleaner never makes it round this far, so the back upstairs windows don't get cleaned very often, but after all the decorating I was determined to sort them even if it meant me sitting on the window cill and hanging on for dear life - it was worth it because now I can see out of them - bliss!

It's 14 weeks to Christmas so I've set out a plan to get sorted for then, I need to shift some weight (my only new year resolution this year and yes I may have lost 5 stone but it's been the same 4 lbs all year - you know the one 4lb off then 4 back on 4lbs off then four back on - if I add up how many times I have lost that same 4lbs it probably would add up to the magic 5 stone figure I was after - just not in the way I wanted - so concerted effort to Christmas me thinks - gone teetotal - healthy eating - exercise and preparing for the happy season tee hee - don't you love me -you do really!)

And for all of those out there saying that they were going to make things in advance for Christmas there is still time, sit down write a list and then start working through it, do a little bit each week and before you know it the season will be on us, everything will be sorted and you'll all be ready having achieved what you wanted to - how awesome is that!

Talking of list writing - little sis back in blog land - she's converted her 'crafty' blog into a 'chatty' blog - she chat's better than most and more than me and yes i know that is difficult to believe so if you fancy reading the ramblings of another of my clan try here and here (two separate blog posts) encourage her to keep going and if you fancy following her blog follow her  - I think she has a whole 5 followers at the moment - so the more the merrier!

Back to gratefuls - grateful for words of wisdom that come my way in whatever format.  I received an e-mail at work this week about a wellbeing study that has been carried out that has tried to identify the critical parts of day to day actions that are important for our well being - I loved these and am grateful for the knowledge because I intend on trying to introduce them to my day each and every day

CONNECT

 With people around you - family friends, colleagues and neighbours be it at home, work, school or local community - apparently these are the cornerstones of life and investing time developing them will support and enrich our lives I'm all for that!

BE ACTIVE...

Yes I know we hear this one all the time but exercising makes you feel good and it doesn't have to be a marathon run at tea time anything that lifts your mood makes you feel slightly sweaty and breathless is good - my sister this week pointed out the fact that me throwing myself around a squash court trying to hit the ball was actually exercise and I was finding it fun - there was something of a question mark on my face but then I understood what she meant - exercise is supposed to be fun -if  it isn't then you're doing the wrong exercise for you - try something new or something different, hire a squash court and get some racket ball equipment for a change - great fun and apparently counts as exercise!

TAKE NOTICE

Of everything from the world around you to the sight of something beautiful, something unusual or remarkable, notice the seasons changing, savour the beauty of a clear autumn day, or the sight of loved ones laughing - look for what we take for granted and take notice - that way you get to appreciate the beauty of life.

KEEP LEARNING

This doesn't mean going back to a classroom (but it can if you want) this means trying something new, or rediscover something you used to enjoy, learn something you've always wanted to but never go around to, take an on line course in a new interest, learning new things gives you new insights and confidence - try it and you'll be amazed.

GIVE

Doing something nice for others is a great positive - thank someone, smile, volunteer to do something, join a community group, look outside of yourself as well as inside, think of something you can do to make someone's elses life better it doesn't matter how big or small this is - simple actions make your life feel richer and enhance the lives of others!

Some of these ideas you'll do anyway but there might be some you don't do or don't extend beyond your own four walls in order for the richness of our lives to be felt and seen constantly rather than the odd beacon in our lives if we follow these actions every day our lives become an awesome line of discovery and overall this creates a greater sense of well being!

Well here endeth the lesson I hope it gave you food for thought - if you got to the bottom of this posting - well done give yourself a pat on the back and a big cyber hug from me!

How's your world Rocking this week Rockers and Rockettes?
If you are joining in put your linky below so we can come and visit! 

I KNOW IT'S LATE - BUT INTERNET DOWN FOR DAYS! ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

Yes here we are again on Rocking Your World Friday - can you believe how the weeks are flying by?

Well back to normality - whatever that's supposed to be - back to school back to longer working hours, it's been a mad week to be honest!

Thought I'd do a picture based posting for a change so thought I'd share a few photos from Chatsworth last week

Grateful for fun family days out which last week included the following- (and using the photos to summarise the joys of life)

Jousting Knights - which reminded me that I need to learn to be brave and bold when I need to be (and yes before you ask there was a female jousting)!  So nothing to stop us!  A little armour plating is sometimes necessary and can make us more colourful and vibrant.

and these amazing people - yes that is the Red Arrows!

Who through practice achieve so much - practising things means we can make progress and see improvements and also that dedication can lead to great things

 and this display team - who proved that even when you've never done something before (some of these had never rode a motorcycle until the joined the display team) that you can achieve anything!

 and a freefall team who proved that sometimes you can aim for the target and miss but that sometimes that's the way it's just meant to be

and fun times-the joys of just being a child!

and spending time with your Dad - amazing stuff (I still miss mine so much but it's always beautiful to see that love in our little one)

 and on Saturday we went and got lost in the cow's Christmas dinner (Maize Maze) and had great fun trudging round trying to find the clues!  Which reminded me that sometimes the maze of life leads us on a merry dance but even in the dark when it's not logical what we're doing that we can still have fun as long as we take family along for the ride!

and I'm also grateful for fabulous diet ginger beer at sensible prices but I don't have a fun 'life' statement on this - well maybe it should be that we should all be like ginger beer - fiery on the inside and bubbly to boot!

and time to craft

I also managed a little gift for a friend's little one that I'd promised month's ago -thankfully I haven't missed the birthday - it's amazing what a bit of felt and an evening and a sewing machine can achieve.

I'm also grateful for Lesley for encouraging me as I return on my weight loss program - not sure how it'll pan out but working on it at the moment.

Definitely grateful for fun family conversations - they make me laugh so much - honestly literally laugh til I cry! 

So if you'd like to join in and list your gratefuls once you've posted on your blog pop over here and provide a link so we can come and visit and find out what been Rocking Your World this Friday

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

Yes I know this is very very late - sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Today basically got in the way but in a good way!  So without further ado!

 Let's look at the gratefuls today

flexi time - meant we managed a day out a Chatsworths Country Fair today and it has to be said we've had a mighty fine day - I promise to share photos but not right now because I'm sooooooooooooooooo tired!

crafting because when hubby insisted on watching a film which turned out to not be my cup of tea (which the film 'Body of Lies' was night before last night) it means I can carry on crafting whilst he carries on watching meaning we both get to do something we enjoy whilst still being in the same room

grateful for...

hairdressers - little man's hair back to manageable LOL

grateful for... 

moving forwards on decorating - now which room next

grateful for...

Argos - duvet sets at a sensible price!

grateful for...

finding out that the Sotheby's Beyond Limits will be returning to Chatsworth from the 13 September to end of October - it was fantastic last year all those sculptures in gorgeous settings - can't wait to see what is in store this year

grateful for...

sunshine - late summer sunshine which we've enjoyed today to the enth degree, it was cloudy when we arrived in Chatsworth this morning but as the morning progressed the sun was shining and it was awesome!

grateful for...

SIMPLY BEING ALIVE, BREATHING AND LIVING AND LAUGHING AND BEING WITH LOVED ONES!  MAKES ME SMILE!

Yes the list is short and sweet this week but I'm beyond tired and as my back is playing up I'm being positive and rather than waffle for hours I'm going to bid you farewell! 

I've had a quick look on my blog lists and see that Jo has posted her Rocking Her World Friday and what a beautiful list it is too - so pop over and say hi to Jo and if you're joining in there's still time to acknowledge what's Rocking Your World and once you've posted your Rocking Your World pop your link below so others can join in, if you're not joining in but are just wandering by don't forget to say hello!  


Hope everyone is having a truly blessed Friday