waiting for spring

I’m so over it being winter. Being cold all the time. Not being able to use my balcony or to plant anything because it’s all still frozen solid. Winter seems to drag on indefinitely this year and no matter how much I’m trying to be positive I can’t stand it any longer. I think I’ve got cabin fever from being indoors and out of the light for too long and from working too much.

A visit at the ponies still does wonders for my spirits though.


And we do try to be cozy at home, watching movies and doing our best to eat something other than frozen pizza.

A bit of a rant this time, sorry! I’ll be bright and happy again once spring is here ok?

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doing

To start this off with a photo, here is 10/52, titled ‘connection’:

Last week I read Jenna’s Post “You do too much” and it really resonated with me.
I get this a lot too, people telling me I do so much or I do too much. It’s true, I have a full-time job plus a growing business, I sew my own clothes, I do yoga, I go horseriding, I have friends, a household etc.
And I am sometimes plain exhausted by it. And I don’t get up at 6am on a Saturday after a long week at the office and jump for joy because I get to work another couple of hours on my own business doing tax stuff.
But still, I’m with Jenna. Not doing it all is simply not an option. Even if inspiration looks like “this” a lot of the time, it is what keeps me happy and inspired and proud and pushes me out of my comfort zone and makes me grow in ways I could never anticipate. All the hard stuff is so worth the rush of adrenaline and happiness that creating something good out of thin air gives me, whether it be a garment or a photo or a whole business.
This is so much less eloquent than Jenna put it, but it needed out today on a cold, grey, snowy morning on which the excitement of inspiration and creation (and the anticipation of a spring hopefully just around the corner) is pretty much the only thing which could make me crawl out of bed.

And speaking of inspiration, I updated and sorted my Pinterest boards a while ago and made some new ones too and always forgot to mention it here. So, all new and tidy over there in case you want to have a peek (I do love Pinterest so!).

9/52

For the story behind and a bit of rambling about inspiration head over to my photoblog today.

itching

My 8/52 photo, a sweet but totally crazy dog at our barn.

As you can see, still very much winter over here, snowy and grey. Frozen pipes at the barn.


I am so ready for spring, and sunshine, and color, and flowers. I’ve made my balcony garden plans and I’m itching to start my seeds and to give the balcony a good scrub and clean up.
Just a few more weeks now.
Until then, I’m making baby succulents (well, the plants are doing all the work really, I just give all the baby succulent shoots their own pots and water occasionally).

I was given some tulips at the farmer’s market last weekend as a thank you for giving one of the vendors an awesome pumpkin ginger soup recipe (do you want it? it’s super yummy and the vendor said it worked wonders for his date).


So good to have some color in the apartment! And speaking of color, I got some lovely summer fabrics in the mail and I’ve been dreaming up ways to use them for weeks. No actual sewing going on, I’m taking a little break after the red skirt and waiting for sun and motivation to show their faces around here.


There’s hope I’ll be getting some knitting finished though! And, saving the best for last, a sneak peek at some vintage patterns I scored on Etsy lately. I won’t be showing them in full because they’ll be presents for friends if/when I make them 🙂

7/52

Yep, another cat shot. He IS cute though, right?

6/52

We finally, finally got some sunshine and went for a long walk in the snowy woods.

So good for body and soul. More photos from this series over on my photo blog.
It’s carnival weekend over here, which means no office today. Instead I’ll stay in (roads are closed all day due to carnival anyway), work a little on my neverending photo business to-do list and just enjoy the last of the long weekend.

laying low

My 5/52 photo and a perfect mirror of myself these last few weeks. I am really starting to miss the light. It’s been on the news that this past January has been the dullest (in terms of sunlight) in about 50 years. I crave a sunlit afternoon so bad.
Instead, I turn to the next best thing: sleep. Me and the couch and the hot water bottle, we’re close in winter. Come 8pm you’ll find me fast asleep nearly every evening of the week.


So hard to get anything done when you’re sleeping all the time. Some socks, coming along very slowly. A new skirt, waiting for the finishing touches for weeks. Lots and lots of research for the business (exciting stuff in the works this year!).

Planning and dreaming and waiting for the light.

4/52

A portrait a week.

The old mare at our barn, enjoying the quiet of a snow-blanketed world.
This challenge is so good for me.

3/52

So, after declaring one of my New Year’s resolutions to be ‘challenging myself in my photography’ I’ve been thinking about what I really want my photography to be like and where I need to grow.
My photography is all about the little moments…natural interactions between people, with animals etc. (see my photography blog for more). I’ve gotten better at resolutely turning down requests for party photography and such. There are many great party photographers out there, but I ain’t one of them and never will be. I work best on a one-on-one basis.
So, for a start, I will be following Jodi’s “A Portrait a Week” challenge”. I’m already two weeks late to it unfortunately.

I’ll be defining the term “portrait” very loosely for myself. To be honest, I’ll probably be lucky to shoot one nice photo for myself a week, portrait or not. Time will tell whether I’ll be able to keep up, but it’s a nice thing to start and having to blog it may just be pressure enough for me to actually keep doing it!
So here it is, my first portrait, week 3 in 2013.