Having turned over the calendar yesterday, I realised another month has gone. Another month closer to those long, long Summer days, when the sun rises around 5am and doesn’t set before 11pm. Pretty crazy how the days turn into weeks and then with a snap of your fingers, another month has passed, isn’t it?
April saw lots more activity on my blog – having made more time to write, post and share my world with you. I hope you’re enjoying reading about it. So sit back, grab a cuppa and let me take you back on a quick look at my last month…
I Took Stock in April, with an update on things that were happening, how I was feeling and what I was thinking about. It’s such a great way to look back on where you were at. Sometimes it helps to remember these moments, to remind yourself you’ve made head-way, managed to work through something, or that you’re not in that place anymore. Do you take stock in your life, in some way?
April also saw lovely friends come and stay with us. We love having fellow Aussies stay with us – the usual banter takes place and we fall into that familiar rhythm we’re used to having back ‘home’. Offering them vegemite on toast for breakfast always gets a smile too 😉
Over on Instagram and with thanks to my lovely Blog with Pip community – I joined my fellow Pipster Emily over at Squiggle and Swirl, who started the #squiggleandswirlsketch a day! Unfortunately I didn’t manage to keep up with this project – but hope to still finish all the prompts soon and share them with you then.
Easter arriving, meant another Easter tree to decorate to home and the hanging of the Spring wreath on our front door. Easter marks the beginning of Spring for me – where every shop window and cafe hangs colourful eggs from every conceivable point – filling the streets with colour. After such a long, grey winter, it is a welcome relief to see colour injected into the neighbourhood again.
Then Spring arrived with a bang! We had multiple days of sunshine, which seemed to result in all the blossom trees blooming at once. I jumped on my bike with my camera to capture the magic – simply breathtaking.
New monkeys were added to the Gus & Ollie family – and it seemed only fitting to take them with me on my photoshoot. I propped them in the blossom tree and snapped away. I’m sure I looked a little mad to those there, enjoying the sunshine and spectacular display – but I’m pretty used to being the crazy monkey lady here.
I also wrote about the ups and downs of being an artist this month – working in the studio day in and day out. How some days flow and feel amazing – how other days don’t. But I feel this is what being an artist is all about. The process feels so much more important to me, than the finished product. More new Monkies were finished this month too and a wonderful new Sock Haul!
I wrote about my spectacular ride home, one afternoon – which was too beautiful not to share. The trees were in full bloom by now, the sky was a deep blue, the streets were full or people smiling, eating ice-cream and filling the parks and playgrounds. My neighbourhood is simply delightful right now.
I also posted about the Heart Pillow Project, a group of crafty friends and I participate in each year. What a gratifying way to spend the day – hand sewing the gorgeous pillows for breast cancer patients and survivors. They are in turn donated to a local hosptial.
I recapped on my #FMSPHOTOADAY Challenge over on Instagram. It’s been such fun having a prompt each day to inspire you to take a photo and upload it. Makes for such a lovely album of moments to look back on.
Sock Cat Mackie was blogged about over at Zinc Moon – after his adventures to Sydney! Sarah’s photos of Mackie Cat are so lovely – it made my day to see him having such a wonderful time. Thanks Sarah!
Last but not least, was my recap of our recent Mini Break to Oxford, in the UK. What an amazing mini-city. We had such a wonderful time exploring the bookstores, laneways, pubs and even found a fantastic games shop!
My Sock Monkey Clive was of course along for the ride too. Stay turned this month for Clive’s adventures in Turkey!
Thank you all so much for tuning in this month – for your comments and likes. It means so much to have you all with me along for this ride. I look forward to sharing all of May’s happening with you too.
Enjoy your weekend!
jx
Gus and Ollie 
Jess, I love seeing your images, always so bright! I feel very honoured to see my name in your gorgeous blog. I hope you get time to some sketches just for your own enjoyment. I’m feeling a bit relieved to have some pressure off, but plan on still keeping going with doing something creative every day. Emily xx
Thank you Emily – it was my pleasure. I loved following everyone else’s sketches along the way too. I will continue these creative pursuits daily too, xo