Hello folks! This post is going to be a little short on photography, particularly compared to my last Monthly Memoir; I’ve just realised I’ve taken hardly any photos to share with you. March has been a fairly quiet month for us really…
Chris was in America for work for the first couple of weeks, and often when he’s away, I use that time for self-reflection and planning. It keeps my head busy so that I don’t feel lonely. Rather than thinking about work this time though, I spent more time thinking about myself. I’ve noticed that most of the podcasters I listen to, and quite often their guests as well, are currently having, or have had at some point in their life, therapy sessions. And they often impart some of that therapy wisdom to the listeners. The book ‘Playing Big’ by Tara Mohr has been recommended a few times, so I’ve also started reading that and taking her advice. The main thing I’ve been practicing is quietening my inner critic and talking to myself kindly. I’ve also tried not to ignore my feelings of stress and sadness, and have spent time journalling about it or talking it over on my dog walks; trying to analyse why I’m having those feelings. And if there’s time, also trying to work out how to move forward. To be honest though, just talking through why I’m feeling that way is often enough. Then I can let it go and get on with the day much happier.
Little things can bother me for a long time without me even realising it, so I’ve started to work on making it a habit to be much more self aware of how I’m feeling at all points through the day and dealing with it immediately. For example, I had a run-in with someone the other day, where they accused me of something that was just a misunderstanding, and not very important at all, but they really were quite unpleasant about it. It spoiled my mood all day, until I finally made time to think about it properly during the afternoon dog walk. I realised that although they were having a go at me; it had very little to do with me at all – it was more about the fact they were running late and were also stressed about an event later on they were nervous about. As as soon as I had talked it through, I could forget about it and I was in a much better mood the rest of the day. I wish I had done that sooner, and therefore spent more of the day feeling cheerier.
I’ve found it really helps, whatever the situation. And if I find I’m not feeling my best due to something that is completely my own fault, I talk it through kindly to myself, being rational rather than putting all the blame on myself, nor giving myself excuses. I really endorse it; so if you don’t have a handy dog to talk things over with, that’s where keeping a diary – or ‘journalling’ as it’s more fashionably known these days – comes in. There couldn’t be a better reason to buy yourself a pretty notebook!
Whilst Jude and I were on our own, we went out for an impromptu Sunday lunch at The Fountain Inn in Wells. I had a delicious roast lamb, and the service was fast and friendly. I’d never been in The Fountain before, and was surprised at how hipster and eclectic the decor was, without being pretentious about it. So here’s a recommendation for a restaurant in Wells if you’re looking for one. You can park opposite, but make sure you get a ticket from inside the pub or you might get fined.
Here are the photos from my phone:
A couple of days after Chris came home, Jude and I drove to Bristol airport to pick up Rain. Her three-month au-pairing stint in Spain is over, and it’s so lovely to be able to give her a hug and hear her chatter again. She managed to post a couple of videos of her adventures on her YouTube channel while she was away if you’d like to have a look at those. She has got some editing to do now though to catch up!
444 is my magic Instagram number! Sometimes it goes a bit up; sometimes it goes a bit down; but at least once every other day for the last six months, my follower number hits 444! It’s frustrating when you put so much work into it. I did Sara Tasker’s exercise of writing a list of things throughout the day that give you a spark of joy, and it was fun to write, but difficult to photograph. My self-timed photo of me gathering sticks for kindling didn’t do so well, but I’m very pleased with the photo I took a couple of days ago, and really didn’t expect to get, of the family of deer. I took my camera out every day for a week before I managed to capture them well enough, and I think it paid off.
In other news, we are getting our bathroom done! It was quite a spontaneous decision and only really happened because a couple of months ago the electricity went off for a scheduled maintenance thing so we decided to go to Wickes! Anyway progress is good – here’s my first post about the bathroom renovation, and I’ll update you when it’s finished.
And the month ended in a lovely fashion with Mothering Sunday. We weren’t able to travel to see our Mums, but I was glad to have both my kids home with me. They spoiled me with some lovely gifts, and seeing the MUM balloon when I came down in the morning was such a nice surprise!
That evening we watched The Favourite so here’s my little review. It quickly became apparent why it was an Oscar film, and not the light-hearted comedy we are led to believe it is from the trailers that kept popping up on my Instagram feed! Yes, there were some amusing moments, but most of the time it was just a bit weird. And very disappointing. The cinematography was interesting, but the sound was annoying. I would not recommend a cinema trip to see it, but maybe on dvd if you have something to do at the same time! Oh well; I’m glad I’ve seen it, but really, I feel lied to and kind-of conned or duped into watching a different film from the one shown in the clips and trailers.
So that’s my news! I hope you’ve had a good March – and now onto my birthday month – April!
Linking with #sharealllinkup at Not Dressed as Lamb.