Friday 27 January 2017

January Favourites // Little Loves


As January rolls towards it's close, I am wondering where it has gone! Whiled away in quieter hours, daily routines and much needed rest. I am feeling so much more like myself this month. December was wonderful, but hectic and chaotic and mad and everything that December always is, and January has been a welcome reprieve. My yearly friend who instills a little calm into the madness and mayhem. I always do love January...



And January has afforded me some time and space to do some things I enjoy again. I haven't been running backwards and forwards between two homes, I haven't needed to make decisions about radiators and light switches and the position of kitchen cupboards... I've been doing a few last bits; returning things, putting on finishing touches, looking into blinds and curtains and bits and bobs, but there's been no pressure, no time frame now (other than the arrival of baby in 4 months!)

And so I thought I'd share a few of my favourite things from January, jump back into #littleloves for my monthly check-in and share a few recommendations. One of the things I love about other blogs is getting a few ideas of things to add to my own list of things to try out!

Enjoy, and do share any of your own January favourites in the comments!

Read



The Children on Troublemaker Street // Astrid Lindgren
Oh! How we loved this book... we laughed out loud at the ever hilarious Lotta, enjoyed Mia-Maria's perspectives and delighted in the adventures of the mischievous Jonas (always a bonus when one of the characters has your kid's name!) The girls and I loved it. There is something wonderful about discovering a fantastic children's book that you never read yourself as a child! It is typical Astrid Lindgren (for any of you who already know the authoress of the infamous Pippi Longstocking!) - witty, mischievous and yet so life-like! We literally read the whole thing in a week (which is good going for a chapter book for us!) and I can't recommend it highly enough... the best bit? There are more in the series, and we shall certainly be returning to them!


They also have the cutest illustrations, don't you think?!

Musings through Mark // Sarah Woodall
This little gem was a Christmas present from my brother- and sister-in-law and I'm loving dipping into this little thought-provoker every morning. Beautiful words of truth etched into stunning prose... its challenging, inspiring, and a great little daily read. I'm enjoying using it to kick off my days in the best of ways at the moment!



The Green Parent
One of Dave's colleagues handed this copy of "The Green Parent" over to us as it had a whole section on the concept of Hygge, and being a half-Scandi family, it seems to be the buzz word associated with all things Scandinavian at the moment. Anyway, I dug straight in and lapped the whole thing up. It's not often I find a magazine in which I'm genuinely interested in every single article, but this one had me...


It has loads of interesting articles on purposeful parenting, on education, on wholesome, natural living, and I'm now investigating a possible subscription... do I dive in?!


Very interesting article on the benefits of foreign language acquisition for kids, and as a trilingual family, particularly relevant!


Fascinating stuff all round!

Watched
Captain Phillips... oh my word... literally on the edge of my seat the whole way through! What an incredible story... and, of course, Tom Hanks is his usual genius self. The film is the true story of Captain Phillips and his crew and their experience with Somalian Pirates. Absolutely fascinating, and terrifying, and edge-of-your-seat thrilling... and all the while knowing its a true story!


I also really enjoyed the Bronte drama that was on after Christmas, "To Walk Invisible"... it was quite slow-moving, and a real wake-up to the hardship of lives for those three women, but what achievements they made in their all-too-short lives. I didn't know much about their story before, and there were certainly a lot of themes you saw which translated into their writing from their own experiences... really interesting (and available on iPlayer if you missed it).


Made
It through the build! We are back home and pretty much fully adjusted to our new space... it's been a long old 9 months, but totally worth it! Moving home was strange, it felt like we'd moved to a new house and all felt very surreal, but it didn't take us long to feel fully at home in our new environment! I guess in terms of "making" this month, I've just been making this house a home again!



I have a post in the pipeline with some more pictures, I know many of you are like me and love nothing more than a good nose around other people's houses (or am I on my own in that?!) so I'm working on it!


I also have had fun making up new variations of essential oils for my diffuser... if you are interested in the whole essential oils journey we've been on, check out this post I wrote earlier this week!

Wore
Maternity gear - I feel like I'm wearing all the same old things and was feeling a little down about it (anyone else feel they struggle to look "nice" when pregnant?!), but then yesterday I discovered this shirt that I had totally forgotten about and was so pleased to have something "new" to wear... I feel like I can't justify buying any new maternity wear this time... We're not planning to be doing this again, and with 15 weeks til D-day, we're well over half way now!


Heard

Let there be Light - Hillsong
I got this album for Dave for Christmas, and its pretty much been our soundtrack this month... the children are already belting out the tunes (Jonas especially!!)


Planet Earth II Suite
For homework/school time, the kids have had this on in the background... its such a varied, inspiring, contrasting piece of music and the perfect backdrop for little workers!



Another great little soundtrack for background work-music is the soundtrack to the movie "Belle", the kids and I are really enjoying that one too...

And then there's my usual podcast haul!

Here are my continued favourites...
- Read Aloud Revival
- The Simple Show
- At Home 06
- Storynory


I really want to find some really good British podcasts, so wing me your discoveries people! I'd love to broaden my podcast repertoire!!

And Finally...
I'm trying to blog a bit more again... I have missed this little hobby of mine, but basically the build took over, so I'm excited to get back to writing and photography and reflecting a little bit more again! Exciting times ahead!

What have you been loving this January? Please do share in the comments below!

Little Loves Coffee Work Sleep Repeat

13 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great month, I am desperate to see some photos of your changes so will look forward to that post! To Walk Invisible completely passed me by but it sounds fascinating so I'll have to look it up on iplayer; we often visited Haworth when I was younger and I have always been intrigued by the Bronte sisters' story so thank you for the recommendation :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should definitely check out the Bronte drama, Jess... I think it would be right up your street! And yes, photos of the house coming soon!

      Delete
  2. It must be amazing to be back home. I can't wait to see more photos. I'm fairly new to podcasts. I live a playful day. All your recommendations are new to me so I'll be off for an explore. Those articles sound really interesting too. It's nice to find a magazine where you want to read all the articles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh! I will have to check that podcast out... The name rings a bell! Always a winner when you find a magazine that's right up your street! Happy browsing!

      Delete
  3. Welcome back to #littleloves, I've missed seeing what you've all been getting up to. Your house looks beautiful, can't wait to see what else you've done to it. That magazine you mentioned looks really interesting. I do love losing myself in a magazine. Have a great week :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words! The house is getting there, slowly but surely, but to be honest, it's just lovely to be home! Nice to feel a bit more back in the world of blogging too!

      Delete
  4. Your house looks beautiful! What a lovely idea to put on a music score when your children are doing activities. I might try that too! Enjoy your weekend xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's all about the music scores... Somehow I find it seems to quieten the mood and help them focus! Always fun finding film soundtracks that we love! Although I've found anything too jolly and it becomes a distraction rather than an aid, so we tend to stick with a more classical style when working! Works a treat!

      Delete
  5. Yes to a tour round your new home PLEASE! Looking lovely Claire. And I also love that Hillsong album, it's such a great one to listen to in the car or anywhere to be honest. Only 15 weeks to go? Flying by I imagine. xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh yes please we need a home tour pronto it looks absolutely amazing. So many great reads here too. You have been so busy wow. Happy weekend. #littleloves

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the children on troublemaker street! My favourite story was always the one where they eat pancakes in the treehouse. And it is so accessible to younger children - this was one of the first chapter books I read to the kids that really held their attention.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great little loves. I adore the photo of the wardrobe and chair, lovely colour combination. I hope things are a little slower for you and you enjoy blogging again. I agree that Captain Phillips is an amazing film Commenting on behalf of Morgana and myself x

    ReplyDelete
  9. I LOVE your home! Been watching in Insta and think its perfect. So glad youve moved back in and making it your own, so yes more pics please! Thx for the tips on Hillsong and the Mark book. WIll check them out. I love the new look blog. You asked for thoughts. Been thinking there's one word missing from your strapline: 'beauty'. Your blog oozes it, and your life is about expressing it in different ways. WOnder if that can be added somehow? You could always drop 'Conversations' as you've got the word 'Contemplation' in the header? Just a thought. And well done! x

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments! Thanks for stopping by!