Hello and welcome back to my blog. I hope you are all keeping safe and well. I am sorry I have been missing in action these past two weeks, but we have had crazy building works here. Back in October we discovered a spring/stream running under our house following torrential rain, and two weeks ago we realised that it was running into a pipe that was not fit for purpose - not only that but the pipe had a hole in it partway along and just terminated outside the front door without entering the drainage system. No wonder our entry way was soaking wet! Well, this dodgy pipe has now been replaced with proper drains, proper joins and now connects into the drainage system. We still have bare concrete in the entry way as we are not certain that this is the entire cause of the damp so are waiting for some really wet weather to see whether the concrete stays dry or not before putting a proper floor down. The additional challenge to all of this is that we are also in the process of replacing our 40 year old air flow central heating system, causing chaos in every room!
Anyway, enough about building works and chaos, I am back for now and here is my desk as part of Julia's What's on Your Workdesk blog hop. I have had very little time for crafting as you can imagine, but in this picture (taken last night), I am in the process of getting my mini journal up to date.... I write the text every night, but the photos are printed out a little more sporadically. Here I am sticking in the photos and using MU transfers to add additional decoration to the pages. My trusty mug of tea is there - almost empty now.
These are the pages I have completed recently - only two weeks behind now!
I have managed to get out swimming occasionally over the past few weeks. In total I swam 16 times in February, and 4 of those involved ice! The water is slowly warming now and is mostly just above 5 degrees. There is something so wonderful about immersing yourself in cold water and swimming out into the middle of a lake when there is no-one else around - it is so peaceful and refreshing for the soul. It helps me feel truly alive and close to God.
Alex has his first lateral flow test today and will be back in school from Monday which he cannot wait for. In contrast, I doubt I will be back in work properly before September, although I know I have at least one day in work to look forward to, setting up for the medical student's final exams at the end of March.
That's all from me for now. Take care and stay safe, and if there is anything I can do for anyone, do let me know.
With love & God bless,
Caro
xxx
25 comments:
Your journal is wonderful. I know what you mean about working sporadically, or working in fits and starts. I never would have thought of making an art journal page that I did not complete in one session. Now I do it all the time, letting things ruminate and trying not to rush. I would rush out of the cold water, but I visit you every week and leave amazed you swam. And OMG yes! Kids back in school. It feels so WEIRD now, having a quiet house during the day. It'll get normal again soon, I expect and I'll bet you will miss your constant companion, like I already miss mine a little. Best for them for sure, but still...
Have a great desk hop!
Mary Anne (2)
Sounds like the plumbing projects may go along way to fixing the problems. I am amazed at your fresh water swimming escapades..... give me a hot tub any day. Love the mini journal. Have a lovely week
Sandra de @20
Oh blimey Caro, what a business with all the issues with your house. Fingers crossed that all the work will solve the problems and you will be able to relax once more. I’m really glad for Alex that he can get back to school and some sort of normality, it’s so important. I can’t wait just to give my family a hug and see my friends for a coffee. The journal is great btw, well done for keeping up with it!
Hugs LLJ 9 xxx
Oh bless you with coping with all the building work mess and life too. Really glad the mess is coming to an end now.
Hugs,
Annie x #11
Hello Caro. I had not been on for two weeks but not for same reasons as you. Oh my word - what a lot you are going through. Many years ago we had same sort of heating, it is certainly disruptive having it changed. Hope the works re water are totally successful. My grandchildren are in process of returning to school this week. I would be terrified to swim to the middle of a lake! Take care. Anne x 22
I'm loving your journal with those transfers! I've been looking for something similar for ages but didn't know what they were called. I think I've found them now! They would work just as great on art journal pages. Super photos too - I know it takes a lot of dedication to keep taking and printing those photos! Hope the leak has now been sorted - have a lovely week xx zsuzsa #24
Oh my goodness - what a mess you have ben coping with - I hope its all sorted soon. Your journal pages a re so lovely - you take such care with them too. I hope Alex enjoys being back at school. Ben was up early, dressed and already to go on Monday morning! xx Jo
Hope all the construction and piping is completed without any problems in the future. Again, great pages. Love all the little photos and journaling. Have a wonderful week!
Carol N #28
What a time to be needing building works done! Glad they are done and fingers crossed it has fixed the problem. Our current problem is mice in our loft-7 in two days!! Days are getting longer and hopefully Spring is coming.
Lovely to see you back! When you said you were having building works done you were not kidding about the disruption were you?! Anything involving water is so tricky because it finds it's way in places you never knew existed until there is sufficient damage that it becomes obvious to the naked eye. I hope it's all sorted and I think we will be having a lot of rain in the next couple of days to test the theory out so I'll keep everything crossed for you. As always, stay safe and keep smiling, Lisa-Jane #8
Loving the latest finished journal pages and glad that the building work is largely over. Hope it's solved the damp problem Caro. Good luck to Alex as he returns to school. Stay safe and happy WOYWW. Sarah #4
No Caro, it is us that offer to do anything for you. I wish I could come round and relieve you of the dust and inconvenience. Working from home means that the noise must have been horribly distracting for you! Congrats on all the exercising and swimming, you are a great advocate for the positive mental health effects you really are. I think your journal is amazing, and I’m not remotely surprised that you have to catch up with photos now and then!
No wonder you've not had time to join in - glad things are getting sorted and I hope that they have got to the bottom of the trouble and there aren't any more disruptions to come! Great journal pages. Helen #3
It sounds like you have had lots going on to keep you busy the last few weeks, good to hear you got the water problem sorted you may have had a river to swim in right outside your front door. Always love to see your bullet diary, there's been lots of happy faces pass my house going back to school this week.
Take care & I hope you soon find a little down time to sit, craft and enjoy a big mug of tea. Hugs Tracey #15 x
Caro, I know I say this every time, but it is such a lovely pleasure to come to your blog! I look forward to your beautiful journal pages (those MU transfers are gorgeous, by the way) and precious pictures of you and your family. Likewise, I love to see your nature pictures of your watering holes!! That will FOREVER fascinate me, but hearing you talk about getting out there when no one else is around bringing you closer to God really resonates with me!! I can totally see that and appreciate it so much! That is SOOOO how I feel when I go on hikes!! Yes! It's such a sweet place to be! You and your son are just the cutest!!! Have a blessed rest of your week! Felicia #31
I love your journal - so many pictures! I love the ones with the deer - so beautiful and lovely to have them nearby. I know what you mean by swimming out to the middle of the lake alone and feeling alive and close to God. I think that's what a lot of extreme sports do for people, even if they don't realize it. Have a wonderful week, Lindart #35
Very good to see you back in action, Caro, getting back to your journal. I am sorry you've had to go through all that awful upheaval. I know just how worrying it can be because a few years ago we discovered dry rot under the kitchen and until it was properly investigated, they wouldn't know how far it had spread. We were looking at losing our wood block floor in the sitting room and the removal of most of the fitted kitchen and it was a worrying time especially as it wasn't covered by the insurance. In the end it was confined to a very small area and it was sorted, and out of it I got my beautiful walk-in pantry! God is good.
Thank you for your visit - so glad you enjoy seeing our kitties - they are rather gorgeous, aren't they! We can never get enough of them!
Happy WOYWW and God bless,
Shoshi x #12
I love your journal. Lots of writing and the added bonus of the photos. Great! Enjoy your week. Dorlene #34
What a mess you’ve had to deal with! I hope it sorts itself out soon. Part of me thought though, wow, a spring! Is there anyway they can use that water? I can understand you need to control the damage it’s causing, though.
Beautiful journal pages. I love the decorations.
Take care, stay safe
Hugs
Lynnecrafts 7
I am amazed that you have had any time for crafting!
Love your journal pages...
Stay safe and keep well.
Happy WOYWW!
Susan #6
Hi Caro, I'm late this week as I had to sort some stuff out yesterday ready for my mum coming home. I have been keeping my eye on your swimming adventures though. Hope the plumbing gets sorted okay. The journal pages look great and I'm very impressed that you manage to keep it up to date. Happy creative, belated WOYWW, Angela x19x
Oh dear what a disaster! Hope everything is going well now and the concrete is remaining dry. It must be wonderful to swim in natural surroundings, although I couldn’t cope with the cold. Have a great week Angela #21
Oh My Word, that mini journal looks to contain a lot of work - but what a lovely memory diary it will serve as in years to come. How I wish I had kept a journal over the years, or even just a simple diary. I hope that my blog will serve as some kind of memory jogger for me and a resource for anyone who wants to read it.
Sorry to hear about your problems. I once had a house with a culvert running underneath it. The first I knew of it was when the drive collapsed and my car with it. It ended up in a big hole which led to a Victorian arched "thing" underneath the house and garden. It all started as a trickle in a farmyard miles away and ended up as a rushing torrent as it got to me. Not a pleasant time in my life as I was in danger of losing my house at one time and could get no help.
Hugs, Neet xx
oh wow that's a LOT of work on the house (especially with home schooling and work too!) so pleased you were able to still go swimming though, as you say, its a great medicine both mentally and physically.
Hope the return to school went ok and thanks for visting my desk already
kyla
You've been very busy! Love those mini Journals! sorry late...again!! Just ran out of time! Stay Safe! Keep crafting. Happy WOYWW ((Lyn))
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