February, the month of my birth, the month I grow a year older. 😖
I’ve never really been one for celebrating, I don’t like the attention to be on me, I would rather be in the background in my safety bubble, where no one notices me.
The last few years Hubby and I have celebrated by going away for the weekend and it’s been the perfect way to celebrate. This year of course we couldn’t do that because of lockdown and having to shield. 
Lockdown birthdays are no fun. Not being able to see your nearest or dearest is extremely hard but on your birthday it is even harder. 
Maybe it’s the Fact that I couldn’t see anyone that made me want to even more and all I wanted to do was jump in the car and go and see my family.
They would have been the perfect present. But I stuck to the rules and spent the day at home with hubby and my boys.
We celebrated by starting a diy project which I’m mega excited about and I’m super pleased with it. 
If you know me personally, you will know I love the Victorian era, from the architecture, to the furniture, to their clothing.
My dream house would be a Victorian home that is in need of some tender loving care. How I would love to sink my teeth into a Victorian restoration.

Our first home was actually a Victorian town house that had most of the original features taken out.  We did what we could to on a shoe string budget to restore what original features we could. We opened up a bricked up fireplace, installed a log burner, bought an original Victorian fire surround and reinstalled it in the other downstairs chimney. We put back dado/picture rails, put walls back up and rescued the beautiful original floorboards that were hidden under manky carpets. The hall way was a big project were we reinstalled the spindles, banister and newell post, sanded the floor and stairs. We had a carpet made into a stair runner and added beautiful stair robs. 
If I do say so myself the house looked pretty good by the time we put it on the market.
The up stairs was always a problem area but we did our best to make it work for our growing family. Looking back now I think we would have done things a little differently especially upstairs but we did what we could on the budget we had available at the time.
My biggest regret about our first house was that we sold it.
I truly loved our first home.

Our second home was a 1920s house. Mark fall in love the minute we walked in the door. It’s was really lovely but my heart was firmly fixed on a beautiful Victorian house which unfortunately was in the worst possible position.  After a bidding war that went over the asking price we walked away from it, but my my heart was trapped in those walls. 
Our 1920s house worked its magic and I was soon in love with it, especially the garden.
The day we sold it, both our hearts broke a little, especially as we did not want to move but life had other plans for us.

We now live in a 1950/1960s home and boy don’t I struggle with what to do with it. Don’t get me wrong I love the modern look, white walls, open spaces and clutter free living but give me cosy rooms, real fires and character any day of the week. This house has none of that.
So when it comes to decorating and furnishings it, I have to fight my love for all things vintage and sway toward a more minimalist modern look. They trouble is how can you truly love a design if it’s not in your heart???
So when it came down to our project of making a covers for our god damn ugly night storage heaters that heat the house (sadly we do not have gas where we live so not many other options to heat our home) I decided to mix the old with the new by mixing a vintage classic design with modern Materials.
And you know what I think it turned out pretty well.
I’m kinda smitten with it.
Originally it was for our bedroom but we like it too much for it to be hidden away in there, so now it has pride of place in our front room. I wholeheartedly believe it’s the perfect finishing touch to the room. 
And I can finally say that the once characterless, boring awkward shaped room is feeling like home.
I’m hoping to find the time and the brainpower to write a post about how we made it and all the hours of research that was undertaken to get it as near to my vision as possible. 
Is that something you would be interested in reading about?
A lot of February was taken up researching materials, working on the project and finishing off other bits and pieces for our front room. It’s slowly coming together. We are not rushing the finishing pieces as we want to get it perfect and have no regrets or waste money on things that are just not right for the space. I can’t wait to see it all come together.

🗓

February was a hard month for me, physically and mentally. I’ve struggled. I’ve spent too many days feeling exhausted, in pain and feeling like I’m 109. 👵🏻
I’ve had some of the worst Raynelds attacks to date and I’ve been fighting to stop the small ulcers on my thumbs getting out of control and in truth it’s been very draining. 
Feeling unwell daily really grinds on your mental health. Add to that restless nights were I only get max 3-4 hours sleep, it’s really hard to function probably. 
I try my best, not to let on to my hubby and boys how awful I feel but I believe I failed miserably over the last few weeks.
I hate worrying them but some days it’s just too much and I just can’t fake the, “I’m fine thanks”.
I hate myself for letting it slip just how awful I feel.🤒

🧶

Crochet still isn’t happening, I’ve probably completed 12 rows, max, on my Havana, but grateful to say, it’s now at the perfect size, I can finish the pattern early and start the double border. The end is in sight and I’m looking forward to wrapping myself up in her on those chilly evenings.

🚍

Phillippe is still parked up out front our house, teasing us with the freedom of the open road.
We are counting our blessings that we may hopefully be able to stay a night or two away in him. Roll on April 12th.
We try to sleep out in him once a week, mainly to get out of the four walls that have kept us safe throughout lockdown. It’s been essential for our mental health with the added bonus are some us time.
I love spending time in him, watching movies and having quality time with the hubby and I thank my lucky stars that we have him to escape to. Even though he still isn’t completely finished he’s sure has been a godsend and the best purchase of our life so far. 

🌷

It sure looks like spring is nearly here, It’s been so wonderful to be able to get out in the garden and feel the warmth of the sun. It’s funny how the sun shining can change a frown into a smile and change a depressing mood into one of hope.
Hopefully the sun will shine more often.
As the spring flowers awaken, the birds sing their pretty morning songs, reminding us there is beauty all around us, making these last few weeks/months of lockdown more manageable. 

Harriet Ann Jacobs said it perfectly –

“The beautiful spring came
and when Nature resumes her loveliness, 
the human soul is apt to revive also.”

Right I think I best stop my rambling and let you go about your day, but before I go, please let me ask you to book your Covid vaccination as soon as you can, so life can return to some sort of normality.
I have already done my part by having mine. I hope you all will follow suit so we can kick Covids butt instead of it kicking ours. We have all lost so much already, let’s not let it take anymore from us.

Stay safe, smile and remember Life is beautiful!!!
Too-da-loo for now.

🦋🦋🦋