Instagram : July Round Up

Friends, can you believe July is over? That’s it’s August already? Crazy isn’t it.

This year has moved in fits and spurts for me – sometimes slow, sometimes fast and sometimes at a glacial pace. It doesn’t seem that long ago we were booking my flight to New York City – a city I have longed to see again for 15 years – and now I’ve been and gone.

So with the ending of my favourite month of the year – my Birthday month – I though it time to do an Instagram round up, to take a little look back a what was a colourful, Summer month in the Northern Hemisphere – full of fun, travel, toys and kitty cats!

The beginning of July saw us finally eating outside once again, including a BBQ in our friends’ garden. What a treat, after being stuck inside for the best part of 4 months, with rain and temperatures below 10 degrees since October! Yes – October! I wish someone here would tell the Seasonal Gods that there should be a difference between Autumn and Winter – which there is – but only a very slight one. Temperatures drop a little more from December onwards and the darkness creeps in like a shadow you can’t find the edge of. It’s not easy.

I started a ceramics course on Wednesday evenings, hand building anything we could dream up. So July saw me finish some serving bowls, beads for a necklace and kitty feeding bowls in anticipation of adopting a kitten. It was so much fun – but difficult keeping the clay hydrated in the humid weather we had for most of July. It would dry out very quickly after some handling, so we learned to work quickly and efficiently.

July saw a monkey-makeover & the birth of lots of new monkeys and elephants for both orders and stock. Some of which were born on the edge of the cricket pitch. Watching my Hubby play cricket has helped me appreciate the game a lot more (always thought of cricket as watching paint dry), helped me feel like a part of the team – in a WAGS kinda way and is another fun activity we can share together. I think he loves that I come and support him, just as he supports me in my toy-making and crochet projects that I bring to the sidelines.

Then of course, which you would all know from my blog, Instagram & FB page – I spent a week in New York City! What a feast for inspiration and creativity. I was so happy just walking the streets, taking in the people, the places, the smells and the sounds. I’m such a happy camper in a new city, with my camera and trusty travelling companion – Clive 🙂 One of the many highlights was visiting my very first Happy Socks Shop and meeting some of their lovely employees. Watch this space.

We had such a great time. I am still to this day deciphering the 1000’s of photos I took and plan to share a few wonderful moments from my trip here – so stay tuned this month for those posts.

Upon our return from NYC, we were a little surprised to adopt our beautiful new kitten, so quickly. I had had a week of not feeling great – the weather in Hamburg was dragging me down and then the weekend hit. We were happy to have no plans, so thought an excursion to The Bush to meet a potential kitten would be fun. After reading the ad about her  – she ticked all the right boxes – but my hopes were not high. I didn’t think she was the one for us, until we met her.

She was much more beautiful in person, her coat was thick and lush and her personality was second to none. She loved us straight away, purred the entire time, was playful and not afraid of strangers. Such a gorgeous little nature, which made the decision pretty easy. As she was only visiting the Hamburg  area for a weekend – we had to decide by that evening.

Sunday came around and after a little confusion and much anticipation, we finally brought this lovely little girl home and into our lives. We promptly named her Minty and she will no doubt continue to pop up here and on my Instagram feed for years to come. She’s just too darn cute! The camera loves her and it’s just another thing that doesn’t phase her – which makes my life easier.

There were ice creams enjoyed in the heat, a day on the beach in record temperatures (37°C!), friends and family came to visit, more wonderful socks were added to my ever-growing collection and I started colouring-in again!

Last weekend was my birthday, which saw me riding a rollercoaster with my love, spending too much time on the phone, opening presents and many, many cat cards, enjoying a new lens for the camera and drawing again. It’s been a jam-packed month of travel and wonderful moments, which I am so grateful for.

How was your July? I hope you made some lovely memories too.

Thanks again for stopping by,

jx