Hi! It feels like itās been a whileā¦ maybe thatās because it hasā¦ Yup, Iām late getting this out to you, yet againā¦ sorry! š¤¦š½āāļø The thing is, my mind flip-flops betweenā¦ āI really must write my Newsletter - My readers are waiting for my brillianceā š andā¦ āGet over yourself, nobody gives a tiny ratās arse!ā š Maybe itās time for a quick pollā¦ why notā¦ Everyone loves clicking buttons, right?!
News From My Life
This is the bit where I tell you what Iāve been up to over the last month, whether I think it sounds interesting or not, so if youāre not here for that, feel free to move swiftly onto the recommendations further downā¦ No hard feelings! š
Motherās Day
That sucks a bit doesnāt it? All that pressure to make your mum feel appreciated and buy her flowers that have been hiked up to five billion times their usual price! Not to mention that youāre supposed to relish in the fact that you are in-fact a mother yourself (if you are) and squeal with delight when your child brings you some kind of paper crafted flowerā¦ that she made in a panic that afternoon, when she realised you actually probably DO give a shit that itās motherās day, despite repeatedly saying that itās just another normal day and not to worry about it - My poor kids - All the mixed messages!
Side note: I am of-course joking about not appreciating the paper flower and I do love my kids dearly - Just in case there was any doubt.
I also really appreciated walking in on yet another blocked toilet, as I dragged myself blurry-eyed out of bed, after a lie in of approximately 2.3 minutes! š¤£ Iām afraid thatās a lieā¦ my kids are 15 and 9 years oldā¦ I got a three hour lie in!! To those who have younger kids, Iām sorry, NOT Sorry!! I DID MY TIME!! š Oh, by the way, the blocked toilet was (unfortunately) NOT a lieā¦ Look away now!
I should say, that after many, many prompts from Mark (the boyfriend), the girls did get their shit together and pop to the shops to get me some of my favourite chocolate and a really cute heart āpalm-palā (If you know, you knowš). They were so proud of themselves, bless them. ā¤ļø
Spring-Time Walks šŗ
Ok, it was one walkā¦ but thatās an achievement for us! Believe me, we would love to go for more, but unfortunately itās quite rare that Iām able to walk further than to the end of my road, without either feeling faint, too hot, breathless, all of the above, or being in so much pain itās just not worth it! š (For those wondering what the hell Iām talking about, you can read about āWhy My Life Sucksā HERE)
Anyway, the one walk was absolutely gorgeous and I really do love Spring with all the pretty flowers popping up everywhere. The blue sky and sunshine re-appearing after the long dreary months of winter is really so wonderfulā¦ and I love that it is not too hot yet for my perimenopausal body - Perfect! š
Thatās a Bit Sketchy!
This is the bit where I share any Art & Crafty things Iāve been working on - You might remember the dodgy Monkey sketch from Marchās Newsletter - Yikes! š Well, Iām happy to report I had a bit more success this month and Iām actually super proud of my colourful crocuses - I usually just stick to pencil, but got brave and added some colour this time and Iām so glad I did!
The Process
Some of you lovely people have asked to see more of the process of my sketching, so I have included this here for those who were interested - Thank you so much for asking, I love hearing from my readers by the way, so do reach out anytime. š„°
A Gorgeous Art Retreat
I was absolutely delighted to be able (and well enough) to attend Helen Ridleyās gorgeous Flow & Flourish Retreat which just happened to be taking place very near me in Farnham, Surrey.
Helen is an Illustrator, watercolour artist and creative workshop host and you can find her here on Substack and on her Website, or read more about her HERE. I can 100% recommend Helen as a fantastic host to have at one of your events, where she can paint live portraits of your guests! š©āšØ
It was a real honour to see Helen in action on this lovely day retreat, which also included a calming breath-work session at the beginning, to get us all in the right head-space for creating beautiful artwork. As well as a beautiful Calligraphy workshop from the lovely Jodie Rose, who is a Modern Calligrapher & Engraver.
Great venue, great hosts, great foodā¦ Great Day! Thank you Helen Ridley & Jodie!
Recommendations
Books
Iāve been reading two great books recentlyā¦ One is a self-help, parenting bookā¦ Oh no, not another one! š I know Iām always banging on about the fact that there are far too many of them, and that as a result weāre all so fucking confused and have been reading ourselves out of having any of our own instincts anymore! BUTā¦ this really is a great one (Iāve read them ALL, so you donāt have to! Youāre welcome!) š
Raising a Happier Mother by Anna Mathur is great because itās more about what we can do as parents to care for our own wellbeing and catch ourselves snapping, etcā¦ and see this as a āwarning signā that weāre lacking in something we needā¦ be it sleep, food, five minutes to ourselves, etcā¦
Anna talks about the importance of caring for our own wellbeing and how that positively impacts our children too. By modelling effective self-care and prioritising ourselves, we are showing our children that it is important to care for ourselves too and that we are worth looking after. The ripple effect can be very powerful indeed. ā¤ļø
If this has made you want to take a hop skip and jump to order this book - support local bookshops (and me š) and use THIS link. š
The second book Iām really enjoying at the moment is Checking Out by Nick Spalding - I may have mentioned Nick a couple of times before and itās no secret that Iām a bit of a fan! Every book of his that Iāve read (and there have been a few), Iām immediately pulled into the story and usually laughing out loud after a couple of pages. He just has this way of writing that is instantly relatable and his observations about situations and peopleās behaviour is absolutely spot on! š
Film & TV
No movies to report on this month (I know, booo!) and just one TV show that really stood out for me. Iām going to get a bit serious for a minute Iām afraid and I was in two minds about whether or not to bang on about this particular topic on here. But itās important, so I thought āFuck itā¦ People can take it or leave itā.
āBuy Nowā ā Netflix
I canāt remember who recommended that I watch it, but I did and I was shocked to the core! Itās a very cleverly created and impactful deep dive into the worsening issues of fast fashion and over-consumerism. It highlights the issues that keeping up with this ādemandā creates. Such as, the speed at which a new trend immerges and how that creates an UNIMAGINABLE amount of clothes/products ending up in landfill/the ocean. A lot of which has NEVER BEEN worn/usedā¦ NOT EVEN ONCE!!! š¢
Side Note: For those who donāt know, Iām a little into doing what I can to help the planet and I am by no means saying that everyone else should be doing this too. I do it because I enjoy it and Iāve made the time for it. But itās often quite difficult (and expensiveš) to replace products with eco friendly options. I have tried and tested quite a few over the last few years and if you WANT to know more about those, I made two little (really embarrassing š³) videos HERE and HERE.
Anyway, back to āBuy Nowā - Basically, itās a great eye opener, brilliantly produced, entertaining, shocking and really quite interestingā¦ in my opinion.
If you want to get really depressed about what a dyer situation weāre in, take a deep dive into The Dark Side of Fast Fashion.š
Warning: Be prepared to feel an immediate and powerful urge to ābreak upā with several of the big companies, who are the worst culprits of some of these dreadful effects that people and the planet are facing. Amazon being one of the worst - Nooooooo! Itās so bloody handy! Damn it! Yes, I have indeed broken up with Amazon! Iāll write about it in a separate post, because itās too long to go into it now. Phew! I hear you thinkā¦ š
Favourite Articles
In no particular order, here are some of the favourite/most interesting articles Iāve read over the last few weeks - Not all from Substack, but mostly.
āMind The Gapā ā Article from āAccess Artā about the Gap in National Curriculum in Art for Primary Schools and Ofsted
āUnleashing Creativityā ā 10 Key Take Aways for Parents from āYour Brain on Artā Written by Dr. Aliza Pressman
āCreative Wrestling with AIā by Kate Campbell of Wonderlust
Slow & Steady ā April: āBelieveā ā Great Tips and Prompts! by Emily Male
The Imperfectionist ā No Escape & Be a Disappointment Two GREAT articlesā¦ I love how he just says it as it is!
āHonour Your Sensitivity while Writing on Substackā ā Great Tips from Kate Harvey and her new Publication Therapeutic Writers on Substack
The Journey Back ā Should we Revisit Old Journals - Great Prompts! Thank you Tanya Lynch š„°
Favourite FREE Resources
Your Cool Self-Care Ritual ā You are not Alone by Tracey Fenner (Complete with a Gorgeous 8 Min Meditation)
Without a doubt one of the BEST free resources Iāve come across recently (recommended by Anna Rose - Thank you Anna š„°) isā¦
The Anti-Burnout Club
This AWESOME space is run by the absolute legend Bex Spiller, who is the founder of the club and author of The Anti-Burnout and Overcoming Overwhelm Journals (pictured below - yes I bought them both - but not from Amazon š).
The Anti-Burnout Club is FULL of FREE stuff - like meditations and journal prompts - and well worth a look! š There is an App too, so you can have everything handy on your phone. Thereās a really lovely community of like-minded people, simply there to feel less alone and take some time to care for themselves and feel supported. ā¤ļø
In Other News
Spring Clearing
Weāve been busy clearing out the shed (I had to pester Mark about it a few times, but we got there in the end š)ā¦ Every year Iām like, āwhat the fuck is all this shit, where does it come from!ā Then as weāre clearing it out onto the lawn, Iām like, āOh, yeahā¦ most of this is mineā š¤£ Anyway, so thatās done for another year, yay! š
I love the middle one with Mark admiring his handy workā¦ we both kept walking around in there saying things like, āItās like having another roomā and ālook at all this space!ā and āWe have to keep it like thisā - Then both looking at each other thinking āYeah, right!ā š¤£
Then, just as weād recovered from the shed fiasco, I started pulling all the stuff out of Child no.2ās room and moaning about the epic amount of CRAP that piles up in there! When I say ācrapā, I mean endless ālovelyā creations made out of paper, cardboard and five million rolls of cellotape! š
Anyway, we finally got her a new (proper) bed - Sheās been in one of those āshortyā beds since she was a toddlerā¦ Sheās now 9! š¤£ We needed more storage for all the afore-mentioned ācrapā, so we got one with tonnes of drawers - Yay!
Some Good News!
I may have mentioned (once or twice) that Mark and I donāt often get out for meals (or any other ānormalā thing a couple might go out and do). Luckily, we quite like being at home and have a great time just hanging outā¦ mostly laughing at people on TV! š¤£ Anyway, we made it out for lunch one gorgeous sunny day and it was lovely! My favourite - Pizza Express - Never fails! š¤¤
Thatās a Wrap!
Blimey! I feel like this monthās Newsletter has gone on forever! Iāve had a lot of fun putting this together though and I hope youāve enjoyed reading it. Just before you go, I put a little playlist together of some of the songs Iāve been listening to whilst writing and here it isā¦ a little gift from me to youā¦ Enjoy! š¶š„°
In Case You Missed Them
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Eva! what a wonder you are - soooo much included. Also, I didn't vote, but I don't mind when your email reaches my inbox - I have lots that I subscribe to and I'm not sure when they all usually arrive, so it's just a joy when they do!
Wow what a jam-packed newsletter Eva! I appreciate all the effort that takes, and thanks so much for including my post in your recommendations - feels nice to know you found it interesting š„°
Hope youāre doing ok and keep smiling xx