May - Cross-Stitch

I am so happy that I have made it to the fifth month of this challenge but also terrified that it is now May and this year is speeding by.

Last year for my birthday my husband bought me a lampshade making workshop which sounded really fun. After a number of postponements, it was finally cancelled with no future date booked. As a replacement he bought me some lovely gifts including this gorgeous cross-stitch kit. 

I have been wanting to try one for a while and have been loving all the modern brightly coloured ones I have seen on Etsy and Instagram. My parents-in-law are expert cross-stitchers and have all sorts of patterns framed in their house. I am sure mine won't be up to their standard but I'm excited to give it a go. 

April Recap - Writing

April has been a month of ups and downs. Early on, it seemed like we might be moving house within 2 weeks and now at the end of the month we have no idea when we will be moving. I have enjoyed writing and it has been a very easy thing to pick up and put down whenever I could find time but even when I have found the time I haven't always had anything to write. My mind has often been elsewhere; making a mental list of removals companies to ring, the companies we need to change addresses with and the leaving presents we need to buy to thank the boys' nursery staff. And then later in the month, a gloomy, distracted mood settled on me, I am impatient person at the best of times and the last year has not been the best of times!

All this to say that my aim of writing for 30 minutes every day has not been achieved. I wrote (or attempted to write) for 21 out of 30 days. For some of those I wrote for longer than 30 minutes but there were also days where I would only write for 10 minutes and some where I stared at a blank page or screen for half an hour and wrote nothing at all. Some days I found words and sentences in previous days' writing that I decided to delete, days with minus figures are never good! I was aiming for 3000 words but only ended up on 2377. 

I have definitely written more than I would normally and I have found times in the day to write, such as when my boys were playing in the sandpit, that I have not used before. The things I have written whilst in the midst of a dinosaur sand battle, were not necessarily always that good, but it has made me think more creatively about when I can write.

I am also pleased with the progress I have made with the plot I had. I have more of a structure and a clearer plan for what happens to the characters than at the beginning of the month. I have also identified a new character which has really helped to tie some ideas together. I have a much clearer idea of what I am writing about, whereas at the end of March I only had some characters and a vague idea or theme that I wanted to explore. 

It is not going to be a quick or easy process but this month has confirmed for me that I really love writing and so should keep going. Even if no-one ever ends up reading it, I enjoy it and find it worthwhile.