WOYWW 587

 Another Wednesday so it is time to show you my desk as part of Julia's What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. Warning - this is a very picture heavy post!

My desk is looking rather boring at present. My computer is open as I am getting together all the photos to get my diary up to date.  I do it by copying them and re-sizing them in Powerpoint and then printing them on sticker paper. It takes ages but I love the way my diary looks in the end. You can also see my diary, pens, notes, my almost empty mug of tea and my waterproof camera.

As I said last week I have had the week off work to spend time with Alex and we have had fun doing a variety of things...

 including visiting a zoo (Yorkshire Wildlife Park) for the first time this year. 

Then a wild, windy and quite wet weekend in Scarborough - 

Mostly so Alex could go body boarding in the North Sea.

and at Alex's request we finished the holiday off with Alex paddling a rubber ring down the river at Chatsworth while I swam. The water there is now 11oC so deliciously cold and tingly.  

It's now back to school for Alex and I am back to working from home for the time being.  Take care of yourselves and I hope that you all have a good week.

With love and God Bless,

Caro

xxx

WOYWW 586

 It's Wednesday again so time for me to show you my desk as part of Julia's What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday blog hop. 

Here it is in the chaos of making my final three index cards for the ICAD challenge (Index card a day). I totally failed to make one a day, but I have now managed to complete all 61 cards.  For the final three I used distress oxides and inks, and ink pads, some Dina Wakley stamps, and Tim Holtz sayings. You can see my nearly finished mug of tea in evidence.

Here are the final cards - a complete mixture of styles and every one of them taking 5 minutes or less (another challenge!)

And this is all 61 on display.  This is the third year I have done this challenge and really like working on this small scale - in normal years it is something I can keep up with.  This year the shear amount of work I have had to do (while looking after Alex and Tim) has meant a lack of time for crafting so I am thrilled that I have managed to complete it finally.

A post from me wouldn't be complete without some swimming photos.  

Alex joined me in the plunge pool twice this week (sensibly wearing a wetsuit because the water was 11oC) and we played some completely mad games of chase and King of the Castle on submerged rocks - pushing each other in.  

So much fun. That's all from me for now.  My out of office is now on for another 6 days - we aren't doing anything exciting but I had some leave to use up and it is good to spend time with Alex before he goes back to school next Wednesday.  Take care everyone and stay safe.

With love & God Bless,

Caro

xxx

WOYWW 585 (I think!)

 Happy Wednesday and it is time for another edition of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) courtesy of the lovely Julia.

Here is my desk in all its messy glory!  Covered with stickers, washi tape, and scissors as I decided that I urgently needed to get my diary up to date. The observant among you will notice that my usual mug of tea is missing - this is because Tim had taken it to make me a refill! 

I am using a Hobonichi weeks diary which is quite small but generally perfect for my needs.  I use it as a Bullet journal some of the time, but due to lockdown there is less need for planning (at least homewise - I have a separate planner for work) so I have migrated to using it for memories with photos etc.  

These are the monthly pages I have just completed.

And here is a video of a flip through of the completed weekly pages. Diary of events and happenings on the left, photos and stickers on the right.

Last week I was missing in action because I was away on holiday - I had a week in a Caravan on the coast in Devon and also got to spend some time with my Mum, Brother and his family which was wonderful. Alex adored seeing his cousins for the first time since February.

As you can see we had wonderful weather most of the time so spent hours swimming and playing in the sea.  I am back to work and hundreds of emails now but have a little more time off before the end of the month for a staycation - Alex and I will have to work out what we do to have some fun in that time. 

Take care of yourselves everyone. Stay safe.

With love and God Bless,

Caro

xxxx

WOYWW 583

Well, where did that week go?! I can't believe it is Wednesday again and time to show you my desk (as part of the wonderful Julia's What's on Your Workdesk blog hop).

Here is my desk as it was last night - busy making an index card... I am still way behind in the challenge but still enjoying doing them whenever I get the chance.  On my desk you can see the card I am working on, a distress ink pad, stencils, Tim Holtz idea-ology ephemera, my ipad and my trusty mug of tea (almost gone).

These are the index cards I made this week - again all different in style. I haven't followed any of the prompts but just happily done my own thing. All good fun.

I had the week from hell last week work-wise (hours and hours of on-line meetings every day) so in the heatwave on Friday I took some time off to play with Alex in the plunge pool. 

Lots of fun, laughter and silliness...

and lots of jumping on Alex's part (I hope the video works - not sure of the new blogger!). 

I am happy to report that tonight my out of office goes on for 11 days as I am officially on holiday, so I will see you all again the week after next.  Stay safe and take care of yourselves,

With love & God Bless,
Caro

xxx

WOYWW582

Well I was missing in action from our weekly desk hop (WOYWW courtesy of Julia) last week because I was in Somerset visiting my Mum for the first time since February!  It was sooo special to see her but more of that later...

Here is my desk as it is today - laptop in evidence as it is a work day so all crafting is tucked away (mostly). You can see my tea, my sports camera and waterproof casing, and at the back of my desk my latest index cards.

Here they are - a complete mix this week using acrylic paints, paint pens, distress oxide sprays, stencils, stamps and collaging. All good fun for a variety.  Needless to say I am still behind on the challenge, but that doesn't really matter!

On our trip to Somerset, Mum very kindly paid for Alex and I to have a surfing lesson which was hilarious - Alex managed to stand up very successfully and pretty reliably by the end of the lesson as you can see here.  I, on the other hand, could reliably get to my knees, and often into a crouch safely enough, but standing was a different matter.  I managed it about three times for no more than a second before total wipeout!  I ached so much afterwards but it was such fun so worth every ache and pain.

This is my favourite photo from the weekend of us all having a picnic in the sand dunes after surfing.

I will finish with some photos of Mum's garden as it is looking stunning.

Loads and loads of Agapanthus because she grows and sells them!

That is all from me for now. I hope that you are all staying safe and well.

With love and God Bless,

Caro

xxx

WOYWW 580

Welcome to another edition of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday courtesy of the lovely Julia!  I failed dismally to post last week as life was just too complicated and busy.  Anyway, I am back again this week - just!

This is my desk as it was last night - all very tidy as I have been sermon writing and working and everything was put away ready for work this morning.

I have failed to keep up with the index card challenge - only achieving these three in the past two weeks. Now that I have written, recorded and uploaded my sermon to YouTube (it can be found on the St Luke's church, Lodge Moor, Sheffield channel for those who are interested), I have more time to potentially catch up!

Not much else to report - I am still swimming most days after work, either at the plunge pool  (pictured here) where temperatures are around 13-14 oC or at the lake in the park (it was a reservoir in Victorian times) where the temperature is 17-18 oC. At the plunge pool you are swimming in a smaller space against a current whereas in the lake I swim around 800-1000m.  Different things for different moods and both very good for my mental health.

During lockdown Alex and I joined in with the Taskmaster challenges that were set by Alex Horne as 'Hometasking'.  If you are interested I have posted a link to our compilation video on YouTube.
That is all from me for now.
Have a good week and take care of yourselves,  Stay safe out there.
With love & God Bless,
Caro

WOYWW 578

Another week, another Wednesday and it is time to show you my desk again as part of the WOYWW phenomenon hosted by Julia.

Here is my desk in all its messy glory while messing around with the new acrylic inks... I still haven't a clue about what I am doing with them but I am having fun getting very messy!

These are the index cards that i made this week using them. What you can't really see is how glossy the bottom two are as I used the pouring medium with them.

That is literally all the crafting I have managed this week - I have been crazy busy juggling work and homeschooling, and church related activities.  

I have been taking time to look after my mental health and managed to swim every day this last week (apart from Monday which was chucking it down and blowing a gale!). This was taken in the old reservoir in a park in Sheffield yesterday evening.

My favourite place, though, is this plunge pool, which is popular with teenagers who love to jump in and I have been very lucky in managing to have it to myself a few times.

I love to swim against the current looking up at the light coming through the trees or to stand under the waterfall, and have had a few socially distanced swims with friends.   Alex meanwhile has been having much needed socially distanced fun with friends in the park.  Teenagers really do need social interaction with their peers for their mental health.  That's all from us.  Short and sweet as Julia likes it.  I do hope you are all keeping well.  Take care and stay safe,

With love and God Bless,

Caro

xxx