Is it too early to be thinking about Valentines day chocolate?

Yes, I know it was only yesterday that I said I was getting around to the healthy eating and fitness regime that most people are already two weeks into, but you know how it is, you can’t rush a good thing and I’m hardly known for being early for pretty much anything, and I’m easily sidetracked.

I start off with good intentions, make a plan and then often somewhere along the way get derailed. But this year I’m hoping that will happen less often as with the tenacious attitude I’ll be adopting, there’s a chance that this year I’ll be buying Valentines day chocolates earlier than my usual night before the big day.

Photo by Jesse Goll on Unsplash

But even I know that if I spend the next month looking forward to and drooling over the Valentines day chocolates that I might buy, or even the ones that I’d leave large hints for MOH about, then January would be even a duller and longer month than usual.

So instead I’m going to be wondering about the history of the day and I’m sharing 5 facts that you might or might not already know:

1. Valentines Day is linked back to not one, but two, early Roman saints, both named Valentine but the connection to romantic love came later.

2. The first Valentines Day was in 496, so quite a while ago, and is thought to have originated from a Roman festival, called Lupercalia held in the middle of February, and the official start of their springtime.

3. Its first link to a romance appeared in the ‘Parlement of Foules’ poem by Chaucer in 1382, which contains one of the earliest references as St Valentine’s Day as a special day for lovers.

4. In Queen Victoria’s reign exchanging small tokens of affection or handwritten notes became common for friends and lovers of all social classes, as did the Cupid-themed gifts and cards.

5. The first Valentines day heart-shaped box of chocolates was sold in England by Cadbury in 1868 and was known as the Fancy Box, which as you might have guessed was a huge success.

So know you now, fascinating hey? There’s so much more to our romantic box of chocolates than you first thought, I bet.

And in answer to my original question, is it too early to be thinking about this, I think not. I mean January is well known to be the longest month in the calendar, with at least 91 or so days, so we definitely need something to look forward to.

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.

Reflecting on my week #66

After managing to survive my first five day working week of the year relatively unscathed, the weekend called for some taking it easy. Like most of the population I’ve been trying to get January off to a healthy start, and for me that’s involved walking to and from work each day and so most days I’ve clocked up a healthy 4-5 miles.

After watching a recording of the Twinstitute, where they pitched one of two sets of twins to lose weight through diet, and the other through exercise to see which fared better, both did well, but with diet just tipping the scales I realised something I already knew deep down. And that’s, this year as well as getting more active - I mean, I am seriously threatening to actually make it to the swimming pool this month - we probably should look at what we’re eating, or more specifically our portion sizes.  So maybe a fortnight or so after everyone else we’re getting on the healthier eating bandwagon.

We've fallen into a bit of a rut, especially with the lunches we take to work so I’m looking to branch out from our failsafe rolls, which if I’m honest can be quite dull, but easy to put together of a morning. It’s going to take more planning, but it’s entirely doable and if we work it right our lunches will be tasty, and good for us, and not leave us starving!

Getting organised 

My craft supplies drive MOH mad, well not mad exactly just a little exasperated. He doesn’t get them, and doesn’t see why there’s so many, or why I keep things just because they might be useful one day.  On one level he does have a point (there’s no need to let on, is there?) and I do need to have a bit of a sort out as everything is everywhere, it’s all mixed up somehow and I’m struggling to find what I want, which is hardly conducive to a productive and mindful craft session.  

Oh, and I want the storage to look pretty too, surely that’s not too much to ask. On Saturday I rounded up the ribbon I’ve saved and wound them securing with pegs, real size or miniature depending on the quantity and dropped them into this glass storage jar, which is now on display.

I bought the jars originally to use in the kitchen a good few years ago, and while I regularly use the smaller size, I  use this larger size less.  I think it’s worked well and is much nicer than having the ribbons shoved out of sight. I’m not sure if MOH has clocked it yet, so there’s no verdict from him as yet...

I don’t mind having my supplies split between our two upstairs rooms, but I’m as keen as MOH that they don’t take over - and with wool for crochet and knitting projects, materials and threads for all sorts of sewing projects and card making loveliness too, that’s quite possible.  I’ve been hatching a plan to get items for the same crafts together to make it easier for a little while now, but I’ve needed some of MOH’s DIY skills as the plan only works if I’m able to access the storage space I have. 

And that’s meant fixing the shelves to the shelving unit, rather than balance them on the boxes. lt’s a small thing, but it’s radicalised my craft supply storage. The shelves have been cut for a while, and the boxes and baskets have been storing stuff. It’s just that, in the case of the boxes I’m not sure exactly what and finding out has been a palaver.  

But no longer. Now the shelves are attached to the units - like proper shelves - I can get the boxes out easily, and that’s meant card blanks and envelopes can be stored in the grey boxes, and other “they’ll be useful” items, like maps and music can for the first time be stored together in the larger cream boxes.

All of which makes me inordinately happy.  

During this latest sort through I rediscovered all my momentoes from London 2012, including tickets and maps from the events we attended and much from my time volunteering as a London Ambassador. So many memories, some of which I’d forgotten all about, but all of which came flooding back with extraordinary detail once prompted. These included my pink and purple uniform, walking maps, pin badges and my ID, along with the handbooks of useful information and the celebratory teamwork baton presented once the Olympics and Paralympics had completed. What a great time, and experience that was. 

I’ve a couple more spaces to sort out - not craft supply spaces (at the moment anyway!) - and who knows what memories they’ll provoke, I’ve no idea, but I’m quite interested to find out.  MOH is just pleased that his DIY skills were much appreciated, and happy for them to be stood down for the next phase, I’m sure.

And the best bit? Once the organising is done, the crafting and card making can begin again - yay! 

A few new crochet projects

Somehow I seem to be accumulating crochet projects - there’s just so much I want to get on and crochet. Well, not just crochet, but let’s stick with that for this post. I have at least a couple on the go - the main one is the Vintage Hearts colourful throw and the latest additions are these Granny Flora squares. Strangely they’re much easier than they look. They’re the last design I have to complete from the first section, and I’d left them until the end as they looked tricky. So discovering they weren’t has been a bonus.

GRANNY FLORA FROM THE VINTAGE HEARTS THROW

The colours are great aren’t they? The completed throw is destined for our conservatory, and with the bold and colourful cushions I think it’ll fit right in. As well as this I’ve got the square a week green, natural and pink throw almost there. At one point I thought it might be ready in time for Christmas, but soon I realised that was just pure folly. The plan for that when it’s completed is to complement the material throw over the arm of our new sofas, in an attempt to prevent wear and tear.

But you already knew about both of those, so they’re hardly new are they?

This little box of colourful loveliness was one of my Christmas presents. It’s full of small stone or river washed scheepjes wool, with just about every shade imaginable. I spent a few days over the break just admiring them and pondering how I could use them and show them off at their best. I’ve decided on something a little different to my usual squares, and that’s hexagons. I’m thinking something with a flower centre with a couple of colours against a darker background.

SCHEEPJES STONE WASHED DESTINED FOR A HEXI “FLOWER” THROW WITH A DARK BACKGROUND

I spotted a pattern online, with a pattern for sale but on further investigation only a hardcopy if you lived in South Africa, so that didn’t work. But of course I can’t get that pattern out of my mind so I’ve been trying to work it out from the picture. Strangely the centre of Granny Flora has helped a bit, although I’ve managed to draw a chart that looks as if it might work, I’ve still some testing to do before committing these little balls of wool to it.

My next project is already started, and it’s a lot less colourful than anything else I’ve even got planned. In fact every time I look at the photo below I’m convinced it’s black and white, then realise the bookcase isn’t.

MONO - NOT BLACK AND WHITE - QUITE THE CHANGE FOR ME

I saw a beautiful Portuguese tile inspired throw in a magazine, full of yellows and blues and whites, just like my post of Portuguese tiles and patterns and in a complete shock to the system, I chose the monotone wool to complete this in. Clearly it will have a completely different look, but it fulfils my need for variegated wool and crochet, and I don’t think it will suffer for that. And, let’s face it, if I enjoy it and want a colourful version then I can add it to the list.

The tweedy wool below is for another project, this one without a pattern as such. I rarely wear a coat - I find the sleeves oppressive - and the fleecy type wrap I have is getting a bit bobbly. So in a spate of positivity I decided I could create my own. A colleague at work had made a scarf in a stitch I liked and the idea was sown. I’m intrigued to find out how this will work up, and also now wary about if it will work at all.

As I’ve no pattern, I haven’t really got much of a clue as to how much wool it’ll take - and so I’ve probably got too much, so I could be branching out into everything tweed - or having a very short wrap, who knows. Not me, that’s for sure - but even though I’d be happy to have this completed by the end of the winter, I suspect it may take a little longer to complete - because there’s one or two other projects to make progress with too, along with everything else!

But it’s good to have a plan!