My Month In Photos - November 2017.
My Month In Photos - November 2017
So this is a little late I'll admit. I explained in my Pinspiration post yesterday that I have been crazy busy with work, both of my own and with the cider business and it meant I didn't have time to blog and then I went to Manchester for the last few days of November without my laptop and hey presto it's a few days into December and here we are.
November flew by just as I knew it would. I talked a bit in my October round up about how busy November was going to be and it didn't prove me wrong. I'll go into it a bit more in my 'what I did' paragraph but for now it's actually pretty much over. We only have 2 more events left this month and I feel like I am finally on the wind down to Christmas.
I still have plans don't get me wrong, I always seem to but I hope they're going to be more relaxing plans and a lot more fun and I am excited. I also naturally have a cold now and a sore throat because I've been running on empty for weeks and now I've slowed down I'm ill but hey, let's hope that doesn't last huh?
What I Did;
I didn't stop is the short answer. I still have my niece as childcare at least 2 days a week and my brother and his family bring her over for a Sunday roast every week too and we've done some fun things. We've been to our local town park a few times this month, we ended up in Dunelm Mill & Tesco way too many times for my liking and I took her to the dentist with my brother so she can get used to it (she chose a minion sticker for my brother FYI). I've started a little bit of Christmas shopping so I've been to a few local retail parks with my Mum or alone to get some goodies but I haven't properly started. There's been a lot of the usual dog walking, post office drop offs, food shopping, trips to my Nan's and stuff and a lot of work for the cider business. This is our busiest time of the year and we were booked in to a LOT of events and markets. We did a local farmers market at the beginning of the month, had a fortnight off and then we did 14 events in 8 days at the end of the month. It's busy, it's cold outdoor work, it's hard work, it takes a lot of time to set up and put down and sort out stock for the next day and we were all bloody knackered by the end of it but we had a really good season and should top off the year nicely. Looking back in my bujo, convinced I mainly worked this month I was surprised to see just how much fun stuff I got into my diary too. At the beginning of the month Joss and I went to Dorset for the weekend which was well needed before all the busy days, I took my family to see Wales v Georgia at the rugby in Cardiff mid month, we held Thanksgiving with Joss' family before we started our cider season and I went to Manchester last week. More on the last one in my Friday Favs but it was divine.
What I Watched;
I have 106 recordings on my TV. One hundred and six. I dread to think how many hours or when I'm going to be able to get them all off it but they're all things I don't want to miss! I love TV, I love lots of different programmes and I record everything when we're too busy to watch it but christ with the start of Christmas TV coming on soon I think I have a problem. Of the things I have watched The Apprentice, Insert Name Here, Made In Chelsea and Blue Planet have been the best whereas Joss has been all about Peaky Blinders and Detectorists. I spent my journey to and from Manchester watching Louis Theroux documentaries which were ace and I mentioned the Trump one on Channel 4 in my last Friday Favs. The one thing we have been watching is Harry Potter. I think I mentioned before that we're watching all the films in the weekends leading up to Christmas and the last film will fall on Christmas Eve and it's been the best - they never grow old do they?
What I Worked On;
November/December is always a weird time for me business wise. It's my busiest season because people have money to burn at Christmas, cards to buy and presents to order but it's not always the busiest for my commissions. Those who do commission one of prints or personalised cards from me tend to be super organised and hand it to me in about September to make sure it's done in time so actually in November the only thing I finished was the new baby card I mentioned last month. Commissions aside I have been on almost constant trips to the post office for Etsy orders which have been booming. I still have plenty of cards left so if you want to send something cute to your pals or buy a lil summin summin for your secret santa then my shop is the place to be (and if I can sell out I won't be mad).
What I Journaled;
I haven't done a look through my bullet journal in forever and there is at least one planned for the end of this year/beginning of 2018. My weekly spreads have fallen into a routine I'm pretty happy with and tends to be working for me but is very similar in both usage and looks. It's pretty simple just bullet points and tick boxes for each day and my blog schedule stayed the same as well. My start to the month page has stayed the same all year really but I'm not particularly using it anymore so I don't think it'll come back into my journal next year. Being away a few times this month has thrown up a packing list or two which have worked really well this year. Having a master packing list in the front of my journal makes it much easier to get the info to the appropriate journey and I just add in things like presents for example when I went to Manchester. You might be surprised to learn that despite my lack of structure on the blog of late that I am actually planning a Christmas series but I am so I have a few pages dedicated to that in my November section - from a to do list of what I need for each post to a calendar of what I want to create and my Winter photo challenge which will launch as part of the series. Christmas always brings up a lot of unusual bullet journal layouts and I have started sliding them into my bujo including a list of people I need to send Christmas cards to and a spreadsheet of presents which is about half full of ideas. I filled in my current 2017 films tracker so I started a new one of them and I have also started thinking about what's to come in my 2018 journal and have created a January blog schedule and a list of things I already have planned for the new year.
What I Blogged;
Despite the lack of content at the end of the month I am actually really happy with my blog schedule for November and the way it's heading. I have started creating content less per week and I think it's pushing me to create better content and certainly to enjoy sharing it and writing it more. As well as all the normal content I push like my start of the month posts and the Friday Favourites I have managed to create quite the range of content in November looking back at it. I got a lot of traction and response to my post on the difference between starting relationships in your teens vs your twenties and I am glad to know I'm not the only one who feels it! I really enjoyed writing my 54 tabs I have open on my phone post and 11 things blogging has taught you for your CV but my fav post this month was the winter decorating look I created with Talking Tables. It gave me such a good excuse to get the house feeling festive and cosy without getting the tree up mid November and also gave me a good excuse for a photo sesh with my new camera which I am obsessed with.
What I Bought;
This month was a mixed bag money wise but all I know for sure is I spent a lot of it. It's been two years since I passed my driving test and bought my car so it's been that really sexy time of the year when my MOT was due, insurance renewed, needed breakdown cover etc so that was fun. Obviously going away a few times meant petrol and food and snacks cos road trip and I bought too many Costa ham and cheese toasties than I'd like to divulge. For once my Christmas shopping has started slow and I have only picked up a few things but I've managed to save quite a bit of money for it which I'm pleased about. But I did treat myself to a few bits this month too, when I went to Manchester. We went to the markets I bought myself the most divine meal ever and then we pretended to shop elsewhere and as always ended up in Primark. I was relatively reserved for once and didn't spent a million quid but I did pick up a few things. I stocked up on tassel earrings and eyebrow pencils and got myself some basics like a cardigan and slippers and a lil rucksack but I also found my Christmas outfit of dreams which I'll show you in this week's Friday Favs.
So sorry it's late my lovers but here we are - let's not panic than my next roundup will be the end of the year shall we?
