Snowflakes

I never had to wear a uniform in my old job.

 I was able to wear my own clothes but I wanted my work wardrobe to be different to the clothes I normally wore. 

I took to wearing a uniform of my choosing which would always be either a black skirt or pair of trousers along with a selection of tops which could be worn all year round.

Once I had these things on I was in work mode, doing a job I knew inside out and could do with my eyes closed.

When I changed job I saw no reason to change the way I dressed for work as I looked smart and presentable enough.

 But since the return to work after Christmas I haven't been keeping to my self imposed uniform so much.

I think it's because where the job is still new and I'm not fully settled or fully confident I want something I feel a bit more 'me' in.

My mum gave me this long length tank top for Christmas and I would never have considered wearing to my old place of work, it would have been a definite weekend wear only, but I wore it to work this week and I'm glad I did. It made me feel more comfortable being me.

Does any of that make sense? Or does it make me a bit strange?

Although, granted, this headless shot does look more than a bit strange but I was struggling to get a photo where I didn't have at least three chins!

Very pleased that the necklace given to me in our secret Santa present swap at work goes so well with it. Bonus.

What the Fox Say

In Portsmouth at the weekend G bought me a new mug. I had spotted it in Wilkinson's last year and had been good and just bought a notebook with this fox motif because I didn't really need another mug, but I did need a new notebook.

I had hankered for Hey Foxy ever since though and now he's mine.

And a lovely mug to drink from he is too.

S received a Gruffalo inspired set of toiletries for Christmas from friends of ours and the fox shower gel was the first to be selected for use.

A fox on my socks.

Another foxy gift from G. This scarf was a Christmas present and I've worn it loads.

A few years ago I had a soft spot for hedgehogs, but now with the above bits and pieces, my leaving gifts and my fox necklace there seems to be a new favourite emerging. 

Portsmouth Photography

Well it's just as well that very early on this month I realised blogging my good in every day wouldn't actually be possible every day, otherwise by now I would have been very disappointed with my blogging rate for January.

The internet connection has been a bit hit and miss these past few days and then last week my laptop was out of action for days on end because it was running so slowly and needed some attention.

I'm not going to recap on all the time I've missed, I'm just going to record our Saturday afternoon.

I had noticed there was a photo exhibition on in Portsmouth showing the work of Harry Goodwin, who was a resident photographer on Top of the Pops from 1964-73. I mentioned it to G who was just as keen as I was to see it and so we settled on visiting last weekend.

I double checked the website for details in the morning and we set out from our local train station at lunch time.

Another location, another wall to be walked along.

A group of volunteers have planted up an area on the platform and there were some lovely pops of colour, enjoyed by us and other creatures.

The Guildhall is just a hop, skip and jump from the train station so we didn't have far to walk.
Once inside I asked the lady on the desk if she could point us in the direction of the exhibition.
'I'm sorry but it's closed today,' she said. They were having some electrical work carried and this had meant that they had to close the exhibition.
I said I had checked the website that morning and there had been no information regarding this online and that we had come down on the train from Southampton specifically to see it.
I wasn't rude, I just wanted to express our disappointment.
She called someone to come and see us and they explained that the music which accompanied the exhibition couldn't be played because of the electrical work but nothing else was affected and if we were happy to view it without it we could go in and they would waive the entrance fee.

As well as the photos we had gone to see there were other small displays, one of bands who had come from the Portsmouth area and one of the artists who had come to play at the Guildhall over the decades from The Beatles to Rizzle Kicks and everyone in between.

The Harry Goodwin exhibition didn't disappoint. They were all there, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Roy Wood, The Who, Slade, Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, The Sweet and this glam trio.
Marc Bolan looking so beautiful, Rod Stewart looking so cool and Elton John looking so young!

This photo triggered many memories of prancing around our living room with my sisters, making up dance routines and pretending we were Pans People.

And never in a month of Sunday's would I have guessed this was Barry Gibb.

Being the polite people we are we made sure we thanked the staff on our way out for letting us in,  we would have been sad to have missed it. 

Brooch Fest

Earlier this week I was really pleased to have been able to spend half an hour sorting out some my jewellery which had got into a right old pickle.

I bought this multi pocketed holder from Ebay last year. 

It's brilliant.

 It folds over the horizontal part of a clothes hanger and is held in place by a row of poppers. 

It can then be hung up in your wardrobe out of sight. 

This is a good thing so it doesn't clutter up the bedroom but also a bad thing because when it is out of sight I tend to just shove things in randomly when I'm in a rush and then it gets messy. 

But not now, now it's nice and tidy

and an extra bonus is I found a mistletoe brooch I had forgotten I had. It's a shame I didn't find it a month ago as I could have worn at Christmas. Will definitely have to make sure I keep things tidy this December.

A new addition to the brooch collection is a beach hut and beach umbrella design which Father Christmas very kindly put in my stocking.

And on the summery theme I'm looking forward to being able to wear this kitsch couple together. 
The lolly I've had for a while but the sunglasses are newer.
They were a chance find inside a basket of random items sat on the counter of a charity shop, just goes to show it's always worth having a rifle through the randomness.

Weekend Snippets

Well we all know the weekend officially starts on Friday evening and so to help us  relax into it G and I decided we should watch a movie.

 Now last year my lovely blog friend Jo set herself the challenge of watching one old movie a month which I thought was an excellent challenge.

I already had a little pile of movies which I had been given as gifts or picked up cheaply at car boot sales during this past year which I hadn't got around to watching and then I got three new ones for Christmas, so inspired by Jo I have determined to make sure I make time to watch one of month.

First up was a bit of fifties froth in the shape of How to Marry a Millionaire. I have seen this before but G hadn't and judging from his reaction I don't think he'll be making time to watch it again!

I love it because Marilyn Monroe is in it and I love her.

Of course it's a completely ridiculous story but who cares when the costumes are so fabulous.

I was very productive Saturday morning and armed with a lovely cuppa in the lovely big cup I was given when I left my last job I set to with my diary and the weekly planner.
The planner was my Christmas present from my mother-in-law and I love the beach themed illustrations. A pad of 52 non dated sheets labelled Monday-Sunday with enough space to write in appointments, reminders for events during the week and very importantly each day's evening meal. I'm hoping I can get myself into the habit of doing this each Saturday morning so I can feel more organised.

G sent me a text Saturday afternoon which said 'I have some lovely cheese.' I instantly knew which cheese he had bought and I wasn't disappointed when he came home with this chunk of Wensleydale with cranberries. Cracking as Wallace would say.

Last November I went to the opera for the first time ever and on Saturday I went to see an orchestra play for the first time ever.
G has suggested both of these evenings out.
What a wonderful experience seeing the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra was. We were sat in the front row, just 6 feet away from them and from the first note to the last we were captivated by the polkas and waltzes. The conductor introduced the different pieces and explained what the inspiration had been behind each one and when he was conducting he was so elegant and so physical he was just as entertaining to watch as the musicians were.
This is definitely my good thing for Saturday.

Sunday afternoon I went round to see my sister and she gave me the mug shown below, isn't it sweet.
A little floral fawn, too cute.
Apparently my mum meant to give it to me for Christmas but she gave it to my sister by mistake.
I would have been very disappointed if it had been the other way around and I would have needed to give it to C!
It's quite dinky, not quite the size I prefer for my tea, I reckon hot chocolate will be perfect though.

Lots of Good Things

I knew when I said I wouldn't be able to blog everyday about my 'good in very day' I was being realistic but I didn't think it would take me this long to post again!

So here follows a good thing or two from everyday so far.

2nd January

I finally got around to sorting out the huge haul of presents from my sister which all came inside this Christmas pudding decorated sack. My favourite item of clothing from among the various tops, cardigans and t-shirts is this dark green knitted top decorated with polka dot bows.

The family sign is now living on the mantlepiece in the dining room.

                                                             3rd January
Two things from the third and each a Christmas present. First up was a couple of rounds of a game which we gave T for Christmas called Who, What, Where. You draw three cards and you have to draw the person doing the thing in the place named. This was one of G's drawings which we had as Dawn French, playing badminton at Gracelands. 
Turns out it wasn't Dawn French but Mother Theresa!

Second happy is the delight on S's face when she ate a ice pop from a whizz pop. The frozen pop twirls as you eat. Simple but fun.

                         
                                                           4th January
A small bag of donations were dropped off at our local branch of Barnados and as they have recently changed their pricing policy so everything is only £1.99 an item I had a quick look round and found this pretty cotton Monsoon skirt which will be fab in the summer.

                                                               5th January
Time spent outdoors! A walk through town but going the scenic route through the parks gave S an opportunity to run along walls, at what age do we stop in delighting at walking along walls?

You can't really tell from this photo but the bread roll this bird had snaffled was as big as his head and he was doing it's utmost to keep it away from the other birds!

A sad sight was this magnificent tree broken into three pieces by the recent weather conditions.

We were quite surprised to see the water flowing in the fountain and it always reminds us of the time one boiling hot day we went there with T when he was little. He was determined to go in and get soaked even though he didn't have a change of clothes, but in he went anyway and we have a photo accidentally taken at such an angle so it looks like the water is spurting out from his behind!

The angel on the memorial to the Titanic engineers.
Don't blink, whatever you do don't stop looking at them........... 

A new plaque dedicated to Craig David spotted on the wall outside a music venue near the Guildhall.

                                                          6th January
G and I completed a jigsaw S gave him for Christmas.

                                                             7th January
The first purchase made towards my sister's birthday present. I had to pop to the Co-op and saw that one of the many charity shops I had to pass on the way was having a half price sale. It would have been rude not to have popped in I reckon. 50p spent on this Apple Sauce dish.

                                                8th January
Each Christmas we send a card along with a letter and some photos to each of our children's foster carers. This last Christmas it was one of the things I didn't get done and I felt bad for not doing it, so I purchased a couple of Happy new year cards and eventually sent those off instead. When I got the photos printed I made sure I got one that had both T and S in to go inside a new frame I was given by friends for Christmas.

                                                              9th January
Clean plates after trying out a new recipe is always something which makes me happy.
I cooked a roasted butternut squash and chicken risotto. It also contained leeks, pepper and sweetcorn. I love it when the children eat veg and don't complain.
Only thing is I didn't take a photo but it was a good moment all the same.

A Good 2014

Everyday may not be good, but there's something good in every day.

I like these few words of wisdom.
And I want to use them to help me record a little snippet from my day for everyday this year.
I'm not going to say I will blog a photo everyday as I know I'm just setting myself up to fail with that one, but I hope this challenge will encourage me to get into the habit of picking up my camera more often, blogging more often and also helping in the development a more positive way of thinking.

Today's good thing is getting changed into my Christmas PJ's and new slippers then settling down with this months book club read. 

Lastly for today I want to wish everyone who visits here a Very Good New Year.