My Pocket

101 Things in 1001 Days

Lately things have not been so easy. I want to hunker down for the dark season, go into hibernation, gather my strength and nurture my heart. Take all my dream seedlings in from the garden and look them over and take stock of the year, pore over next year's garden catalogs, you know. I've still got heady things to do though - assignments due, clinical hours to attend, exams to study for and practicing to do in-between. Sigh...

Making lists and poring over my calendar is my way of coping - at least I have an overview then. I love lists and on a bad day when in dire need of one I'll put everything on it: prepare supper - tick, tidy up the floor - tick, go for a walk - tick! Few things are more satisfying and justifying for your existence I find - yep, done that and at least one person noticed that it matters.

One reason I need lists and calendars badly is because I'm such an inveterate dreamer, I frankly don't get things done. I need to have it on paper somewhere, something to make it real, make me realise that hey, I can do this and if it's for me - I deserve it. This 101 Things in 1001 Days list I've spent weeks putting together and it's all for me - only things (dreams!) to help me feel good! So yes, I have been poring over next year's garden catalog, though I don't technically have the time for it.

And right now I need it, not to do them now necessarily but to know that I've got all these seeds growing and sprouting underneath the surface, gathering energy and magic, even though I can't tend them for the moment. In the spring there'll be tiny fresh green tips poking out of the soil, but for now they're safely tucked under a layer of leaves, only a few showing above the blanket.

I've put the whole list on a page in my sidebar to keep track and then I'll tell you about each number in a post whenever I've turned that particular challenge into reality. The challenges are of all kinds really, from the small to the down-right scary. I just know I'm going to enjoy this though - it's just what I need. To have an incentive, inspiration and witnesses.

So, by Thursday the 2nd of September 2010 I aim to:

1. Get my acupuncture degree
2. Send three unexpected presents in the post
3. Comment on two new blogs per week for 2 months
4. Move to Devon and nearer the ocean
5. Adopt a rescue lurcher or greyhound
6. Make our porch more homely by planting lavender in big ceramic pots
7. Begin wearing jewellery that makes me feel feminine
8. Create my own Christmas cards
9. Buy a pair of plain, but funky, boots – and wear them
10. Enter one more drawing in Illustration Friday
11. Join a knitting group
12. Do a course in using either Photoshop, Illustrator or other software
13. Sew a linen gypsy/peasant skirt
14. Create my own website and move my blog there
15. Create a Blurb book about Brockwood Park
16. Make a quiche
17. Fill a notebook with things I am grateful for, that make me happy and/or that I wish for daily
18. Get a DSLR camera
19. Set up an Etsy shop with things I have had ideas for
20. Finish one college assignment ahead of deadline
21. Invite three people for dinner, not necessarily all at the same time
22. Visit three British RHS gardens
23. Do a course in realistic drawing
24. Finish three craft projects that I have the material for but not the commitment
25. Do a Reiki course
26. Visit a retirement home as a volunteer once I have a dog for them to stroke
27. Go on a train trip to Scotland
28. Knit a cardigan, with the help of someone
29. Join a yoga or qigong class
30. Plant a vegetable garden, however small
31. Plan and create a surprise for Duncan (Ssh, don’t tell him!)
32. Sew a quilt for our bed
33. Introduce one daily ritual of reflection of some sort
34. Take five photos that are not my ordinary style
35. Order an organic vegetable box delivery
36. Book and treat myself to a massage
37. Get and use a Gocco to print on paper and fabric
38. Have a one-month theme on my blog
39. Take photos of my family during one of my visits home
40. Join another blogger's theme or challenge, at least three times
41. Learn 10 new recipes that are more intricate than my patience normally allows
42. Show 10 drawings, paintings or other artwork on my blog
43. Go through a ritual to become aware of and let go of fears
44. Find a mentor, for my acupuncture practice or life (oh, how I'd love to have that...)
45. Have a garden and plant flowers in colours I love
46. Go for a very early morning walk before work
47. Find and do up a vintage wooden ironing board to inspire my sewing
48. Sew an apron in linen, with a large pocket on the front
49. Take five photos that take courage
50. Call my mum every Thursday for two months
51. Send my grandpa a card for every season in a year
52. Take five photos that tell a story
53. Sew a simple linen dress
54. Come up with one monthly ritual, for the first or last day, and do it for three months
55. Design a pattern to print on fabric
56. Sew a pair of loose trousers
57. Find out how to and begin making photo collages sometimes in my blog
58. Offer my photos for sale as prints, on Etsy or my own webpage
59. Go camping and hiking on the Southwest Coastal Path
60. Join a dance class of some sort, just for the joy of moving, no performing
61. Come up with a tradition of my own for Christmas
62. Sew a bag with real handles
63. Come up with a tradition of my own for celebrating autumn
64. Come up with a tradition of my own for celebrating spring
65. Come up with a tradition of my own for celebrating summer
66. Bring indoors finds of nature for each season of a year and display it
67. Get an inspiration board to have over my desk
68. Find and get a (preferably vintage) wooden, rustic kitchen/dining table
69. Visit an art gallery
70. Create a Blurb book for my dad
71. Get some of Iris Hantverk’s natural brushes and dust-pans
71. Do five pieces of embroidery
72. Create my own Christmas decorations
73. Go for a real picnic with wicker basket, picnic blanket and eat-with-your-fingers-food
74. Sleep outdoors for a night
75. Buy flowers every week for a month
76. Knit a teapot cozy
77. Bring a blanket on a mild night and lie down for some stargazing
78. Call each of my three brothers five times
79. Write ten letters to friends
80. Walk barefoot at least ten times in a summer
81. Watch a summer sunrise
82. Begin singing to myself again
83. Do my I’m-on-my-own-and-I-can-dance-as-I-like routine once per week for two months
84. Create a notebook of poetry and quotes that speak to me (like the one I made in my teens and threw away)
85. Pick up my habit of morning skin brushing and neti cleansing again for a month
86. Gradually save up £1000 for a rainy day
87. Prepare and pack lunch to bring to the school (work) 5 days a week for two months
88. Compile a list of both small, commonplace things and out of the ordinary adventures I can do that make me happy when I need to be reminded
89. Eat one green leafy vegetable at least every other day for a month
90. Take my vitamins every day for a month
91. Imagine and write down all the things I would like in my life, as if I already had it
92. Find and get to know a kindred spirit local to where we will live
93. Walk into a classy shop that intimidates me, try out garments I like as if I belonged in that shop, find something that makes me feel luxurious and elegant and buy the piece of clothing even though the price tag is beyond my usual budget. And feel good about it.
94. Sew a picnic blanket to bring for beach excursions, walks in the woods or packed lunches in city parks
95. Find and gather a collection of beautiful but simple boxes for storing any belongings that don’t have a proper place (I love boxes! And bags. And anything that can hold and organise – well, pockets big or small basically. I don’t have near enough of them)
96. Start up a co-op for sharing deliveries from a healthfood shop
97. Go for at least three train trips to places within an hour from where we live
98. Go to a café on my own, bring a book, a notebook and my camera and just enjoy myself, at least five times
99. Take more (weekly!) baths with lavender oil, nurturing music and a thorough body maintenance including a good scrub
100. Introduce a daily way of relaxing, a time just for me - to let go
101. Go for a walk through the woods every day

Yikes!

the bear family christmas

Whoa! What a week that was... So much to do, so much happening at the same time. But now we're in December and I can't help but feel happy in December! How about you? We've no snow like some of you so I'm looking forward to seeing the white powdery stuff when I go home to my family in Sweden in a couple of weeks time. There's no mistletoe there though and I have that here - aren't they lovely with their shapes?

At college this weekend I was thinking about you all - I missed not being able to write every other day as I normally do and I missed reading and commenting on your posts. I'm intending to catch up soon if you haven't seen me around. :)

I've made sure to steal some time to stock up though so the shop is now officially open - :)! I'd love to see you come over and have a look, you're most welcome. I'll be putting up more prints over time and feel free to let me know whether you have a favourite you'd like to see there.

Every December since I was too young to know how, I've opened an Advent calendar every day leading up to Christmas Eve, which is when we celebrate Christmas in Sweden. Do you have Advent calendars? Each year I've kept the one I liked the most and let go only of the ones that didn't have enough magic - you've got to have magic this time of year. Usually I'll buy one new one each year. The doors on my favourites are becoming worn from being opened, despite careful and gentle treatment. This one below is my all time most loved:

My mum sent it to me four or five years ago (it's the size of a postcard) and I coveted it straight away - who wouldn't? The Bear Family Christmas I call it - the title of the artist is On Christmas Eve and it's a German print. I think it was invented in Germany, the Advent calendar? In any case, they make the best ones :). It's got so many delightful details, I still gaze at it even though I've seen it a million times before. Love all the little parcels, baskets, goodies, decorations and sleds. Adore the patched green bag Papa Bear has! And you've got to see what's behind the doors - I get childishly excited over this, because they doors all hide a little something relevant to the scene. Wanna see? Go on then! The first of December had...

...the key hiding place on the door frame. :)

For other days there are things like an acorn on the snow that has fallen off the sled, a mouse scurrying out the door or a little jelly bear that one of the bear brothers must have forgotten.

My second favourite calendar is the one with the elves living in a treehouse. Love the elfling with her pockets full of cookies in the top right corner - oh how I'd like to live in a treehouse! :)