New addiction - Bullet journalling

Good morning

I am still here

Not fallen off the planet or been abducted by aliens

It's been a busy few weeks

Robbie is home from uni and has been job hunting whilst down here. He handed his CV's in at all the local pubs and ended up getting lots of job offers, four of them full time. He chose the Rashleigh Arms in Charlestown as they also offered lots of training with certificates at the end. He has been working there a fortnight now and loves it. It is an award winning restaurant, pub and B&B so the training is first class, the wages are good and the staff are lovely. They know he is going back to uni after the summer and are happy with the arrangements. If nothing else it will be a good addition to his CV

Mum and dad have just gone home after a fortnight here with us. We have been busy doing nothing more than eating, chatting, catching up and generally spending lots of time together, the best kind of time

I have been working hard on the garden, made some changes this year, dug a new border and started planting it up, I will post photos once it is looking a little less barren, all the plants are babies at the moment so it will take a good while for them to become established

We have been back to the Eden Project for another of their 'sessions', this time to see Lionel Ritchie, he was fantastic, so many hits and such a huge personality, he came across as very genuine and quite funny, a good night all round

Now for a little update on my crafting, cards and scrapbooking have taken a back seat to my new obsession - Bullet journalling

I will go into more depth about Bullet Journalling in another post, but as this one is already getting quite long I will leave you with some of the pages I completed in May

The bullet journals equivalent of a yearly calendar, I started journalling in May so my calendar doesn't run from January

Each month you create a monthly calendar, a place to note down important dates, anniversaries, appointments etc, I also add a little brain dump - somewhere to jot down things on my mind

You can also include pages that track things you have done throughout the year -  travels, books read, movies seen etc

And then you can make weekly and / or daily logs

Lists of things to do/ have done, daily tasks, thoughts etc

I started out doing a short to do list and a daily journal entry and also included some challenges but my bullet journal is evolving and I now have a slightly different, simpler set up, I will share my newer pages soon

I also track my water intake daily as I know I don't drink enough, the handy thing is, you can work out how much you have on average every day ( 2.5 glasses last month) and aim to do better the following month

This last page is one of the daily challenges that runs each month, the challenge runs on instagram and the theme is different each month, I absolutely love doing this kind of challenge

The ultimate goal of bullet journalling is to create a more ordered and organised life, simply and easily, less stress and more productivity

Well to be honest I really don't have any stress and being retired I can more or less do as I like when I like, but the downside of retirement is being slightly aimless. Days just blur from one into the next, but bullet journalling has helped me keep track of things I want to to do, I have a slightly more organised day and I am getting much more done as a result. I Don't think I am ever going to be one of those super organised people but hey ho I am extremely happy dancing to my own tune, and, if nothing else, I have a really pretty diary and an excuse to doodle and colour whenever I damn well like !

Love and little scribblings

Tracey 

xxx

Sympathy card

One of my dearest friends recently lost someone very special in her life

It's times like these when I don't like the hundreds of miles in between us, I so wanted to give her a hug

Love and long distance hugs

Tracey

xxx

Get well wishes

One of Neil's friends is really quite poorly at the moment and wanted to let him know that we are thinking of him

I made this card, keeping a monotone colour scheme to try and keep it masculine

Get well Roger, much much love from Neil and I

Tracey

xxx

Duran Duran

On Friday we went to see Duran Duran at the Eden Project

The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky

What a stunning setting for the gig, definitely the prettiest place I have ever seen a band

I took this photo as everyone was starting to arrive, it was a sell out, so all those empty spaces soon filled up

The event was the finale for the BBC's music day and was filmed for the one show

Duran Duran were supported by Izzy Bizu ( who was very good )

And Laura Mvula (who was very good but not my cup of tea )

Duran Duran were outstanding, we have seen them before at a much smaller venue but they just seem to get better with age

Eden lit up the biomes once the sun went down and an ethereal blue glow radiated out behind the stage

The whole project stays open on gig nights, so you can use the restaurants and cafe, they put on a huge barbecue and of course you can wander the gardens if you like, it really was a very laid back but special atmosphere

Thankyou to my lovely hubby for the special treat, it was a fantastic night 

Love and rock star kisses

Tracey

xxx

Thankyou

I hope the rest of the country is also enjoying the stunning weather we have had this week

It has been beautifully warm and sunny all week here in Cornwall and we have been making the most of it, walking every day. We have been to our local Luxulyan Valley three or four times and to Cardinham twice

Talking of walking, this card was made for the surgeon who 'fixed' Neil's knee

Neil tore his cartilage years ago and it had been getting steadily worse

We were referred to a surgeon at the Royal Duchy Hospital in Truro and he confirmed that an operation would help the problem

It turned out the tear was rather large so it was a good job we did make the decision to go ahead

It took only a few weeks for the referral to come through, the procedure went really well and I cannot fault the service Neil received from the surgeon and the staff at the Duchy. The hospital is lovely, immaculate and modern and the staff were all so kind and attentive, nothing was too much trouble ( I even got tea and biscuits on a tray with a doily as I waited in Neil's room whilst he was having his op) And I might add in case you were wondering, this was all on the NHS

I am guessing the health service gets enough complaints so we thought it would be nice to say thankyou 

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx

Cardinham Woods

Come walk with me, let Molly and Bruce guide us 

Today we are going to stroll around Cardinham Woods, 15 minutes away from our house 

The girls at work have been telling me how wonderful the woods are but, until I got there myself, it was hard to imagine what was so special about them. Well, all I can say is that they were not wrong, the woods are truly outstanding

There are plenty of trails to follow, all clearly signposted so you can't get lost, for both walking and cycling

Lots of children's activities for all ages, stick man trails, badger clubs and all manner of nature inspired games

A couple of child play areas

And a beautiful old stone cottage that is now an excellent cafe 

Streams meander through shady passes, beautifully clean and bubbling over boulders and branches

There are quite a few wood carvings hidden here and there

We chose to go on bank holiday monday and the weather was uncharacteristically glorious, and, although there was plenty of people visiting, we spent most of the time on our own, the woods are so big it's easy to find a little seclusion, peace and quiet

Bruce and Molly, always a little way ahead, lead the way.They are both so good off their leads now, super friendly with all other dogs and their recall is good now too, they forge ahead but never let us get out of sight

Bruce waiting for us to catch up

What are you doing down there Mum ?

And just in case you are in need of refreshment,  the Woods Cafe. We didn't use the cafe we took pack up and ate it along the way in a quiet spot, a sunny little nook nestled in the trees

If you are ever in the Bodmin area, it would be a crime to miss this stunning scenery, Cardinham Woods will definitely be a regular haunt for our family, I can't wait to show Amy and Ben

Love and leafy loveliness

Tracey

xxx

Anniversary wishes

On the 20th of this month Neil and I celebrated 24 years of marriage

Our first anniversary in our new home

It's amazing how much love changes over the years, changes but does not fade

It gets deeper, more tolerant, easier

So happy I found my soul mate

I made this card for him

We exchanged gifts, went out to lunch and generally enjoyed the day together, as it should be

Love you Neil

xxx