Awakening...

Like the blossom on trees and spring flowers starting to appear, my time of dormancy is coming to an end. It's time to awaken...You may have noticed that I've been a little quiet over here and there are good reasons for that. I made the decision to take advantage of winter, the time of year when hibernation is part of the natural seasonal cycle. Hibernation brings with it the chance to focus energy where it is needed most. Perhaps for me this winter has meant a focus of energy on my roots, of who I am, what I do and what I plan to make happen this year. It has felt the very best way to spend my time and has given me the much needed energy to begin our wedding plans, make changes to my day job and focus on my personal development of becoming a life and business coach...

Planning our wedding started full force at the start of the year when Mr C and I made the decision to set our date for October this year. The decision to get married with under 10 months to go, meant that we triggered a surge of decision making and bookings to enable us to firm up a few key plans. We've taken time to get our heads straight, work out what we really want for our day and decide what is really important to us. We've started piecing together a day that stays true to us, our values, our beliefs, and have put time and energy into planning how we want our wedding day to feel. We want our celebration to be chilled out, relaxed and fun and these three words are at the heart of everything that we want to experience on the day, as well as during the planning phase. We have really embraced the words as a guide which has helped us sense check all that we are doing.

With my day job and career plans I've realised that I've had an awakening of sorts... During the past two months I have allowed myself do something a little differently and to challenge myself. With a big project about to begin in the next week or so I've been reflecting on past learnings, preparing and making the most of this time to establish a few new elements in my role. I want to enhance what I'm doing each day, to reinvigorate myself, and enable my job role to tap into areas of my skill set that I know I can comfortably deliver but have not yet shown in a work environment. Deep down I know that I have been putting too much energy into burying what I can do, hanging around in the doldrums and sitting on the sidelines being safe.  I know deep down that to feel reinvigorated I need to take control, make it happen myself and not wait for anyone else to tell me what to do. Taking that control has given me the chance to sculpt something that I'm really very proud of, with a fusion of my creativity, knowledge and delivery skills I'm seeing the true me surface once more.

As you may have read in a blog post last autumn, I'm undertaking a dream of mine to train to become a life and business coach. The time on the course has gone so quickly and we are now nearing the end of the training. I am really going to miss the incredible people that I've been lucky to meet who teach the course and the fellow students that inspire me in so many different ways. Being in a learning environment since September has enabled me to believe that I can push myself and study again whilst working, something that I was unsure I wanted to do again. I know that learning is a core part of who I am and it's where I thrive the most. There is something special about this coaching course and learning environment that has sparked something in me that no other qualification has done so far in my life. I know that passing this course is very important to me and my future plans and I feel very lucky to be part of it. I don't know when I will have the privilege to learn again in such an encouraging environment, so I am making the most of the final weeks of the course. I have been immersing myself in the subject and studying as much as I can, and setting myself a daily check in to ensure that I'm applying what I'm learning every day.

I've awakened a process of change in me that I'm really enjoying. I'm grasping it with both hands as I take a journey I haven't been on before. When I think back to the very moment of realisation for me that signalled I needed a change, I can see how very far I have come in the past nine months. The closing keynote that Anthony Peters made at last year's Blogtacular conference was that moment for me. In his final few words at the conference he said, "Are you doing what you love? Or just what is expected of you?", these words still bring about a huge emotional reaction within me. From a feeling in the base of my stomach that moves through my body to the surface of my skin...through to a few small tears that fill my eyes...the feeling is quickly replaced by a knowing desire to push myself to move forwards with a feeling of excitement and relief. I can wholeheartedly say that I am now doing what I love, and not what is expected of me. My wall of feel good messages has helped me bring about a focus of momentum that I needed.

I know that all I needed was to give myself permission to make the change and to believe in myself. I gave myself the gift of dormancy, to plan and prepare, and have given myself permission to make steps forwards. I can see and feel that I have awakened from a slumber and like a bulb planted in the soil, absorbing nutrients and resources from the surrounding soil, I feel that for the first time in a while that I've created an environment ready for a new shoot to begin to surface... Taking the time to hibernate was what I really needed to prepare myself and get ready to grow again. I needed to dream, to believe in myself, to own my plans and feel the achievement in the changes that I'm making... I have taken a brave move to awaken the resources in me and to awaken my heart.

Winter Weekend

On Friday we had lots of snow, covering everything in a thick blanket of white in a few hours. Like many people in England this weekend, we are enjoying the perfect excuse to stay at home and relax. I've been spending time snuggled on the sofa under a fleecy blanket, with my hot water bottle, a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake.

I've been enjoying having the time to read a few magazines...

With the cold weather outside I had a real desire to pick up my knitting needles and knit. My knitted cushion cover project has made a bit of progress...I'm loving seeing the cables grow...

I started a new project this week and made a little progress this weekend.

During the week the temperatures dropped rapidly and our little flat got a bit chilly. I decided my next project would be a knitted blanket for Mr C and I to snuggle under on cold nights. I'm planning to knit lots of squares and join them together, I made one so far and have many more to knit. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino dk wool in dark navy and teal, it's so soft and a real pleasure to knit with. I thought it would be nice to knit these squares whenever I need something simple to do.

I hope that you are having a lovely weekend and you are keeping warm.

How to make sloe gin

Sloe gin is one of my favourite winter tipples, it has such a sweet taste and a fantastic deep pink colour when the liqueur is made. To make your own sloe gin in time to enjoy during the winter you need to start early! I know we are quite a few weeks away from Christmas but to get Sloe gin to be ready in time for then you need to start now. Making sloe gin requires patience and time so the flavours mix and to allow the drink to reach perfection. I'm hoping to use the homemade sloe gin as small gifts for friends and family, it's a great excuse to search for some pretty bottles and create handmade labels using my stamps.

Mr C and I went foraging for sloe berries during the middle of September on a walk in the countryside so hopefully there may still be berries around that you can pick now. You need to look out for berries on the blackthorn tree, they tend to grow in hedgerows. When you get home from picking your sloes I'd recommend putting them in a freezer bag in the freezer until you have all the things you need to make your own sloe gin. They say that you should pick sloes after the first frost but the freezer does a great job instead.

Here's what you need, the measurements are approximate...

300g of sloe berries

150g caster sugar

500ml of gin

The first step is to buy some nice gin. I love this bottle...we bought a litre and divided the gin in half adding the rest to a spare bottle.

We picked around 600g of sloes as we are planning to make a large quantity of sloe gin so that we can give away some small bottles as gifts.

Making sloe gin is so simple...defrost the sloes, then wash and remove the stems...

Add the sloes to the gin...

then add the caster sugar to the gin...

Firmly replace the lid of the gin bottle and lay flat. You'll need to turn and/or shake the gin every day for the first three days, and then twice a week going forwards for a few months.

If you have other berries that you have picked such as blackberries or elderberries you can use a similar method to create some lovely liqueurs. We collected elderberries to make elderberry vodka and blackberries to make blackberry vodka. To make these drinks just stick to a similar set of proportions....whatever volume of vodka you want to create you need to have a third of the bottle filled with berries, then half the amount of sugar to the weight of the berries.

I hope you enjoy making your own sloe gin. I can't wait to see how this sloe gin tastes, it does involve a lot of patience but it is always worth the wait!