• Reading

I don’t feel like I have spent much time reading this week but when I checked to see how far along I was in my current read – Jojo Moyes The One Plus One, I realised I was nearly 3/4 of the way through!  I have been enjoying reading this book so much and will be sad to finish it.

• Watching

I finally got around to watching the “new” Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as it was on the tv yesterday.  I’m not really sure what to make of it if I am honest.  When I was a kid I quite liked the original film though there were parts that scared me (like when they get in the boat and go through the tunnels…) but this new version just felt a little creepy and dark.  The acting didn’t seem particularly good and the changes that were made to the story to modernise it was a bit of a let down so I don’t think it is a film I will be in any rush to watch again in the future.

• Listening to

I downloaded a new Audible book called How The Pill Changes Everything: Your Body On Birth Control written by Sarah E Hill and narrated by Nan McNamara.  I have wanted to listen to this for a while now after it got suggested to me on the Audible app.  I have not quite finished listening to it yet but have been amazed to find out how birth control can affect stress and anxiety as well as other things too.  I would recommend this book to any woman taking birth control as it is an interesting listen/read and covers some important topics.

• Eating

Cheese on toast with baked beans on top has been my go-to this week, it is cheap and quick to make, filling and just yummy!  I don’t know whether this happens with anyone else, but when all the Christmas food adverts come out on the tv I immediately start craving more and more simple food.  Maybe it’s so I can save myself for the big day?

• Drinking

I’ve been really enjoying rose tea this week and have been alternating between rose tea and echinacea tea in work.  I have been trying to cut down on the amount of coffee that I drink while being healthy, rather than substituting my coffee for something sweet or carbonated I have been enjoying both of these types of tea.

• Doing

I’ve been working on Christmas presents and making a few things to give as gifts, working out what else I need to get or make.  I have also been setting up things for my Mind Crafternoon which will be taking place next weekend!  I’ve been in contact with a friend from school and it has been lovely to catch up on messenger, hopefully, I will be able to go and visit her soon!  I also went out with another friend to see Hells Bells, an Ac/Dc tribute band on Friday night!  We had a really good time and the band and supporting act were brilliant!

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling ok this week though my shoulder is still playing up, so much so that I had Friday off from work as I was in a lot of pain.  I had a really good week aside from that, it has been nice to catch up with friends and get some things sorted for my craft event.  I’m looking forward to the day now but there is still a lot to get sorted (clean the house, tidy up, get the Christmas decorations out and everything set up for the day!) but I am excited to get started!

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

I’ve continued reading “The One Plus One” by Jojo Moyes, which I started a few weeks ago, it has been really nice to come home from work, make a coffee and sit and read for an hour each evening.  I’m trying to find new ways to wind down after work and this has been perfect so far.

• Watching

I have been watching “The Great Interior Design Challenge” on Netflix where designers go head to head in design challenges, each week there is a winner who then goes through to the next round.  It has been really interesting to watch and see what the designers come up with based on a brief.

• Listening to

This week I have been listening to lots of different podcasts while at work.  I have been enjoying the “Do You Even Blog?” podcast as well as “Casefile” and “Crime Junkie“.  I really like listening to true crime shows, it is bizarre how many crimes have been committed and how much people have gotten away with before being caught.

• Eating

Pasta has been my go-to meal this week.  I have been eating it with lots of different additions, from veg to cheese sauce, and it has been perfect to take to work for lunch the following day too.

• Drinking

I’ve been drinking a lot of squash again this week and have found the perfect apple squash which has been tasty hot and cold.

• Doing

I had physio on Tuesday morning, my physio and I chatted about different options that were available to me as well as the pros and cons of each treatment.  one of the options was to continue with the exercises and physio sessions or have a steroid injection into my shoulder and continue with physio and exercises and the third option was a guided steroid injection using ultrasound scanning as the injection was made and then continuing with the physio.  I have opted for the steroid injection and more physio as there is only a 4-week wait for an appointment compared with up to 6 months wait for the guided injection.  On Wednesday I travelled to Cardiff to the HPMA Awards where I was asked to be the photographer for the day.  I had so much fun there, the day was really interesting and there were talks given by some really interesting people.  The conference was all about Respect and Resolution in the Workplace and fitted in really well with the anti-bullying week.  Other things that I have been doing are editing photos and getting the images I took ready to be sent off!  I have also been spending some time setting up my Facebook pages in a better way (I had to delete the one I had and then re-set it up as I was having a few teething problems…)  You can find me on Facebook here (my blog page) or here (my personal page).

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling quite good this week, I don’t know if it is because I have been sleeping a bit better or if the Vitamin D tablets I am now taking have started to work properly or if it was because I was doing something I enjoy this week (photography).  I am feeling a lot more positive, upbeat and motivated to get things done.  I always find it really funny how such small things can change my whole outlook on life.

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

I’ve started reading a new book called “The One Plus One” by Jojo Moyes, which I started reading earlier this week after finishing reading “Who Is Tom Ditto?” by Danny Wallace.  I’m only a few chapters in but I am really enjoying it so far.

• Watching

I’ve been watching The Apprentice and The Apprentice – You’re Fired which has been really good.  I’m not particularly keen on Lottie and hope she leaves soon!  I haven’t got a favorite yet which is a bit weird for me as usually this far in I have already got a favorite that I want to win!

• Listening to

I’ve been listening to a podcast called “Do You Even Blog?” which has been helping me to get back on track with blogging after my burnout from October.  It has been really positive to listen to someone who is so enthusiastic about blogging and shares loads of tips, advice, and help, and from that, I have learned so many things.  I really recommend this podcast to anyone who blogs or wants to start blogging.

• Eating

I’ve been eating a lot of jacket potatoes with beans this past week or so, and lots of soup too.  It has been really cold and miserable weather-wise and this has been filling and warming too.

• Drinking

I’ve been getting back into drinking more tea recently and my go-to tea of choice has been Vanilla Redbush Tea by Tetley which smells as lovely as it tastes!

• Doing

I’ve been given some stretchy exercise bands at my last physio session and have been using them to do some load-bearing exercises to try and improve my shoulder, I really wish I could say that that the exercises have been helping but at the moment I feel like the pain is getting worse.  I have set up my desk and pc in my spare room/office space and I have also painted one of the walls (opposite the small bit I had done previously).  All I need now are some shelves to be put up and I think that the room will be finished!

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling guilty that I have neglected the blog for the past few weeks and then I also felt a bit worried because it meant I was behind on my schedule which then led to me feeling even worse about not blogging.  Sitting down with my schedule and looking at what I had missed out writing, and moving things about has helped me to get back on track, and hopefully, this post will be the first in a long run of future posts!

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

I’m still reading Who Is Tom Ditto by Danny Wallace.  I have been taking it a bit slow despite wanting to find out what happens as I really don’t want the story to end!  I had a mammoth reading session in the bath a few days ago which was a really lovely way to spend a rainy evening when I had backache as well as shoulder pain.

• Watching

I’ve not really watched anything this week, I have had the television on at times but more as background noise rather than watching anything.

• Listening to

My Audible subscription renewed the other day and I downloaded “This Is Going To Hurt” written and read by Adam Kay and have been listening to that in work.  It was really interesting to hear things from a doctors perspective and was really funny at the same time, I can’t count the number of times I had to suppress a chuckle as I was in work!

• Eating

This week has seen me eat a lot of rice-based dishes, mostly rice with some kind of veg mixed in, or risotto.  I make them so that they are vegan and have been really enjoying how simple, quick, filling and cheap they are to make.

• Drinking

I bought some lovely white tea from The English Tea Shop at the beginning of the week and have been enjoying making my way through the selection that I bought (white tea, white tea and blueberry, white tea and cranberry, white tea and citrus).  I’ve not had white tea in years and it has been really nice to start getting back into drinking it.

• Doing

This week has seen me doing lots of little things from my physio appointment on Monday, collecting my prescription, changing the bedding over, doing the laundry, working on a few little projects and making plans for the next few weeks.  I feel like I’ve not done much but seem to have been busy most of my waking hours.

• Feeling

This week has been a real rollercoaster of emotions from feeling anxious and worried about my physio appointment, to feeling pleased that I did the logo for work and emailed it (and my presentation off), to feeling tired and grumpy then feeling relief that the weekend was near and not feeling motivated to do anything much because the weather has been really rainy, cold and dark.  I did buy myself some Vitamin D tablets which I have been taking for 4 days now and am hoping to see an improvement in my feeling tired all the time, once I have got that bit fixed then I think everything else will get better.

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

I started reading Who Is Tom Ditto by Danny Wallace last week and have been reading it at lunchtimes in work.  I am now halfway through it and can’t wait to see what happens next!

• Watching

I discovered that there is a series called Rabbids Invasion on Netflix!  I loved the Rabbids games on the Wii and have been loving watching the show!  It’s really funny!

• Listening to

I don’t know if I have mentioned a podcast I have been listening to called They Walk Among Us, it is a podcast that goes into detail about murder cases and is really interesting.  I’ve been listening to a lot of these podcasts in work.

• Eating

I’ve been eating a lot of cake and other Birthday treats this week as it was my birthday on Wednesday.  I’ve seriously consumed more sugar and calories this week than I normally do in a month! Lol!

• Drinking

I used to love apple Tango but haven’t bought any in years but recently, I discovered that Morrisons Apple Squash mixed with fizzy water tastes exactly like I remember apple Tango tasting so this has been my beverage of the week!

• Doing

Most of the week was fairly normal and I just went to work and came home again but Wednesday was my Birthday and I was off from work so I’m going to tell you about that instead!  I woke up in the morning, came downstairs and made myself a coffee, then I sat and opened my presents and cards from my brother, sister, niece and nephew.  I got dressed and went to the local pet shop to spend my birthday voucher.  I got some stuff for the tank my friend had bought me.  I came back home and spent a few hours setting up my tank.  My Mum and Dad came up and bought cake, cards and a few presents!  While they were here Dad had a look at the toilet repairs I had done and was pretty impressed with what I had done.  My lovely neighbour called in so we all had a cuppa and chat.  Mum and Dad stayed for a while which was nice.  After they had gone home I had a little nap then woke up and watched The Apprentice before going to bed!  It was a lovely day!

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling pretty positive this week despite having a few days where I had a bit of a bad day and felt angry and annoyed and upset.  But overall, I have been feeling pretty calm and happy.  The things that have made me angry, annoyed and upset are things that I can’t change and are more a reaction to others actions and just show how some people can not and will not listen or care and it’s not really a reflection of myself, but more about them and their lack of understanding.  So, I have decided that even though I am affected by certain situations there isn’t much I can do (at the moment anyway…).

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

I picked up a new book earlier this week and have started to read it, it’s called Who Is Tom Ditto by Danny Wallace and is about a guy called Tom and the disappearance of his girlfriend.  I have only read the first few pages but it is pretty good so far!

• Watching

I’ve been getting back into watching Eastenders this week.  I used to watch the soap regularly but have got out of the habit of watching it over the past year.  I always love their Christmas disaster and wanted to start watching it again so I get to know what is happening and witness the build-up before the event!

• Listening to

I’ve been listening to Fearne Cotton’s podcast – The Happy Place which has been really lovely to listen to while in work, I thoroughly recommend listening to the Ruby Wax one, it was brilliant!

• Eating

I’ve been eating a lot of tinned tomatoes this week in different ways, from making a sauce to have with pasta to having them on toast hot, I love heating them up and adding a dash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt – perfect for these cold evenings!

• Drinking

Water has been my go-to beverage this week and I have easily drunk my recommended 2 litres a day.  In work we have a machine that cools the water before dispensing it, the water is filtered too and it has been just the right temperature and has tasted so good, not that the water ever tastes particularly bad where I live or anything, but it is something I have really noticed this week.

• Doing

Aside from blogging, I don’t really feel like I have been doing much outside of my 9-5 job.  I did get some washing done and a couple of other things that I wanted to do, but not really anything that significant.  I did spend the first half of Saturday with my Mum.  I went to my parent’s house for breakfast, saw my Mum, Dad and brother who was down from London, then Mum and I went to have a look around town for some jumpers and a present for my Birthday.

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling a bit all over the place this week and have gone through all of the emotions from being happy, sad, annoyed, fed-up, tired, and all the in-betweens.  I am not really looking forward to being a year older, my job is making me feel miserable and I have so many things I want to do but that seems so impossible to achieve at times.  I know everything needs baby steps and doing little and often will help me to achieve my goals but sometimes my brain doesn’t want to think logically and gets impatient!

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

This past week I have been reading lots of different things about colour theory, the meaning of colour and how different colours can affect our moods.  I love colour and have been really interested in reading about why different colours are chosen for different things.

• Watching

The Apprentice is back on so I watched the first episode on iplayer the other night.  Alan Sugar set a really good first task but I can’t help wondering where some of the contestant’s common sense is…

• Listening to

I downloaded “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck” by Mark Manson to my Audible account and listened to that in work!  It was a really good listen, funny but with lots of tips and advice along the way!

• Eating

This week I have been eating tons of pasta, it’s quick to make, filling and can be eaten with so many different things!

• Drinking

I bought some really lovely ground coffee from Morrisons to make in my Bodum Travel Press which I have been enjoying in work each day!  It was pretty cheap compared with the coffee I usually buy and so far I have been plesantly surprised by it!

• Doing

I took my Mum to see a friends choir perform at the beginning of the week, it was a fab evening with a brass band performing too, we had a brilliant time.  I started Blogtober and also Inktober this week which has been really fun to start too!  I have got so many ideas running through my head from starting Inktober and am amazed at how the act of just sitting and sketching each day has started my creative thought processes off again.

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling pretty tired all week and I can’t wait for Monday to roll around just so I can go to my physiotherapist and get my shoulder looked at, hopefully, they can suggest some exercises or something to ease the pain.  I’ve also had a dull headache of sorts this week too, though I think it is caused by the air pressure.  Aside from that, I’m feeling pretty good!

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

I feel like I have not made much progress this week with reading my book this week.  I have been reading a lot though, but it has been articles on the internet.  I have read a vast amount of articles covering so many different topics from art, design, skincare, fashion, computing, software, reviews, gardening and typography.

• Watching

I started to watch I-Land with my friend this week, its a new series on Netflix and so far seems pretty good.  10 people wake up on an island with no idea of who they are, how they got there or any recollection of their past.  They are all dressed in similar outfits and have an item found near where they wake which, so far is unexplained.  I won’t spoil it by saying too much more, but as the series goes along we find out more about each person and their lives before which have led to them being on the island.

• Listening to

More podcasts!  I’ve been listening to more of the same podcasts as last week (LogoGeek and The Deeply Graphic Designcast).  I have got a few new podcasts downloaded to listen to this week and am really looking forward to listening to Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast as I have heard some brilliant things about it!

• Eating

I haven’t really eaten anything interesting this week though I had been craving bananas and custard so treated myself to a bowl of custard with chopped bananas one evening!  It was soo good!  I’ve also been eating a lot of apples, they are so tasty and juicy right now!

• Drinking

I don’t very often drink fizzy drinks but really fancied some Coke-Cola this week which I thoroughly enjoyed.  It made a nice change from water and squash and the tea and coffee that I usually drink!  I only bought a small bottle and it lasted me a whole day.

• Doing

You may have noticed that my Saturday Shout Out didn’t happen yesterday, I had written it in the week and thought I had scheduled it but when I checked on Friday it was nowhere to be found.  I planned on re-writing it on Friday evening but had a few other things that zapped my energy.  I spent much of Friday afternoon and evening running between home and our local DIY store with the toilet cistern in pieces.  I have had problems with it leaking water into the overflow and the pipe constantly leaking which I thought would be an easy fix, all I needed to do was adjust the ballcock float surely?  Anyway, to cut a long story short, I needed to replace the whole cistern filler unit so I opted for a newer one that does away with the ballcock mechanism, instead, the float is built into the filler tube and moves up and down as the water is flushed/refills.  I had to remove the flush part of the cistern and turn it 180 degrees as there was not enough space for the new mechanism to fit beside it.  I needed to remove the whole cistern from the toilet, undo the washer that held the flush part in and turn it, then put the cistern back onto the toilet before re-connecting the water pipe and the overflow.  There were a few problems…I didn’t have the right sized spanner,  the huge nut that held the flush mechanism to the base of the cistern wouldn’t undo, then when I had got it all back together it was leaking.  Fixed the leaks then the cistern wouldn’t fill enough to flush.  Removed everything again to see what was going on.  Then realised (if I had read the instructions which came with the new ballcock mechanism ting) that all I needed to do was adjust the height of the fill unit in order to adjust the amount of water in the cistern, not take it apart.  Anyway, I managed, with the help of my friend who came to the rescue, to fix it and now I have a flushable, leak-free toilet!  We didn’t finish sorting it until nearly 12pm on Friday night and by then I was absolutely shattered and couldn’t think of anything other than climbing into bed.  Sometimes, as they say, “shit happens.”.

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling ok this week, just tired still.  Friday was a bit stressful as every time I needed to do something I found I couldn’t as I didn’t have the right tools (who knew you would need so many different sized spanners?) and I spent a lot of time driving back and fore to the DIY store, partly annoyed with myself for not looking to see what was needed and partly just annoyed in general, the youtube videos I had watched made it all look so easy!  My shoulder is still playing up and I’m still taking painkillers for it, I think that is impacting on my sleep and making me tired.

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!

• Reading

This week I have been getting back into reading on my Kindle and have been continuing to read Into The Darkness by Sibel Hodge.  I’m now around halfway through and enjoying the book a lot.

• Watching

I’ve been watching a LOT of YouTube videos about toilet cisterns and fixing them…I have a problem with the cistern filling too much and then leaking through the overflow pipe and onto my outside steps.  I am pretty freaked out by toilet cisterns and really, really don’t like them, well, the whole looking in them and all that, they are ok if the cistern lid is on so this has been a huge ordeal for me.  I have managed to remove the cistern lid and adjust the ballcock (even writing this is making me feel all weird…) but the water is still coming out of the toilet.  I think, after watching further videos, that I need to adjust the water pressure which should stop the water coming out of the little fill-up spout when the toilet isn’t being flushed though I can see no way of doing this.  It’s a bit annoying now.

• Listening to

I have been listening to lots of different podcasts in work, I found one by Ian Paget who runs LogoGeek which is so interesting!  Another one I have been loving is The Deeply Graphic Designcast which I have found to have lots of really useful advice on.  I have found some blog podcasts too which I will be listening to this week coming!

• Eating

Pizza.  Need I say more?  Pizza is one of those foodstuffs which I love and is a go-to food when I can’t be bothered to cook.  My friend came over in the week and treated me to a pizza in celebration of a milestone that I had hit.  Celebration pizza is even better than normal pizza in my opinion, and sharing it with someone makes it even better!

• Drinking

This week I fancied a change from drinking squash, which I drink an absolute ton of, seriously, I go through around 2 bottles a week, it’s crazy!  I decided that I was getting a bit bored of squash and that I needed to up my Vitamin C intake before cold and flu season really hits us, so I have been enjoying the water with freshly squeezed lemon juice added to it.  Lemon water has made a nice change, it’s not sweet or to sour, is refreshing, healthy, hydrating and I have been able to get cold season ready!

• Doing

I’ve been working on some logo designs this week both on my laptop and in a sketchbook.  I usually do all of my planning and playing around on the computer but decided that I would like to see a flow of ideas which I can always come back to and work on further whenever I choose.  It has made a difference to some of the outcomes of my designs and the whole process feels a lot more organic.  I’m pretty excited to see where the sketchbook will take me!

• Feeling

I’ve been feeling really tired this week, so much so that I have either had a nap when I have gotten home from my day job or I have been going to bed around 9:00pm.  I’m wondering whether I need to have a few blood tests, I have an underactive thyroid which I control with medication, to see if the medication needs adjusting.  I’ve also been feeling a bit frustrated with myself, my shoulder is still bad and I am getting annoyed with the amount of stuff I can, or can’t do in the house.  I did manage to wash my hair though which felt soo good even though I could only use one hand!

How has your week been?  What have you been up to?  I’d love to hear in the comments!