A picture an hour (well almost!)

Hello! Well my grand blogging plan for this week failed miserably, but better late than never I suppose! Plus the fact that I haven't blogged means that I've still got a whole list of post ideas that I can use over the next few days instead :-). Always looking on the bright side eh! But enough of the waffling now, let's actually get on with the post instead. It's something a little different today as I've decided to do my first ever picture an hour. I've seen lots of these posts floating around the blogosphere and I always enjoy getting an insight into the writer's day. I love how even the everyday things can be beautiful and full of meaning; it's such a contrast to my usual perception of photos only being taken at big occasions and events. Plus, unlike some of my other  posts, this isn't writing heavy which is always a good thing! So here's my pictures, taken last Wednesday. Enjoy!

9 am

A brew, book and biscuits...the perfect way to come round of a morning :-)

10 am

Tea and toast in bed...I promise I did get up not long after this picture was taken!

11 am

A post shower selfie; this is the least scary looking one I got!

12 pm

My necklace...I'd only just got dressed so it felt appropriate to take a photo of something I was wearing!

1 pm

Reading and commenting on some of my favourite blogs...the perfect way to spend part of my afternoon :-)

2 pm

Yellow iris in my back garden. I spent ages trying to capture an image where you could see the bee that had landed on it too, but I don't think it really worked :-(

3 pm

Shopping! Well more like browsing in my case as I didn't actually buy anything but I still enjoyed visiting one of my favourite outlet shops.

4 pm

No picture this hour I'm afraid. I somehow didn't manage to get one in in time!

5 pm

Starting the mammoth task of clearing one of my email inboxes. Needless to say I didn't get very far!

6 pm

Writing my wish list from the new Avon brochure that had been delivered the night before. Expect a haul post when the order comes through!

7 pm

Love summer evenings...check out that beautiful mackerel sky!

8 pm

Getting ready for work, these are just some of the things you'll find in my bag on any work day.

9 pm

Playing Cluedo with some of the family, I really don't play enough board games.

10 pm

Almost bedtime, as I needed to be up at 5:45 the next day :-(.

And there you have it! Hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into my Wednesday off work. If you have, let me know! Or tell me what you've been up to lately. You know I love your comments!

'Til next time...

30 before 30: An Update

So do you remember my 30 before 30 list that I posted a few months back? Well, whether the answer's yes or no, I thought that now that I've started blogging again, it would be a perfect time to update you a little on my progress. So, just over four and a half months in, here's how I'm doing so far:

7.  Have a ruthless clear out of my wardrobes and drawers - I've made a start on this, having cleared out one chest of drawers so far and am going to be doing the rest over the summer, so I can make room for all the piles of clothes I've got mounting up, plus potentially a few new buys too.

9.  Read at least 24 new books (2 per month) - whilst this goal may now prove to be overly ambitious, unless I get a major spurt on for the rest of the year, I have read 3 new books since my 29th (Unsuitable Men by Pippa Wright, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and Death by Honeymoon by Jaden Skye) and have almost finished The Great Gatsby too. Over the past couple of weeks, I've definitely been getting the urge to read more too, so it'll be interesting to see how close I can get to my original target.

10. Bake at least twice a month - I'm pretty sure I haven't achieved this goal every month, although I haven't really been keeping track as well as I should, but know that I definitely did hit the target in May, as I made Nanaimo bars, chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread over the space of 2 weekends. Hopefully I can stay in the baking habit for the rest of the year now!

11. Try 10 new recipes - I'm on 2 so far; the Nanaimo bars and the chocolate chip cookies I made last month were both things I'd tried for the first time. Look out for the recipes soon!

21. Watch at least 10 new (to me) films (to include at least 1 Tarantino) - I think I'm definitely well on track with this one! :-) At the cinema, I've seen Django Unchained (so I can say I've watched a Tarantino too!), Lincoln, Les Miserables and Iron Man 3 and I know for a fact that there's a few more films that I definitely want to try and catch in the weeks and months ahead too. Add to that the films I've watched on DVD/Netflix (I definitely remember Taken and most of Star Trek), and I think I may even have to set a higher target!

24. Start taking part in quizzes again - I've been part of a quiz team on 2 occasions since I created my list, both times on charity quiz nights with work and I've really enjoyed it. My next step is definitely to find a quiz night that I can start taking part in with (some of) my friends.

And that's pretty much it so far. Well, apart from one other goal which was really my number one priority for the year, and is something that I'm over the moon to have achieved, especially so early on in the year. I am so pleased to say that I've been able to tick the following goal off my list:

1. Get a new job!! - I am so happy about the fact I've achieved this, I really can't quite put it into words! Whilst I'm still in my old job at the moment, come September I'll be taking up my new post as graduate library assistant at one of Manchester's universities. Taking the leap to work in libraries is something that I have been considering for years, off and on, and I am thrilled that I'll finally have the opportunity to make my dream a reality. Whilst I'll only be employed on a year's fixed term contract, the job offer was too good a prospect to dismiss and I'm so looking forward to what the new chapter (sorry - but that pun was totally intended! ;-) ) of my working life may hold.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist saving the best for last! And now that really is all for now, but I'd be thrilled to hear from any of you, as always. Anything big happening in your life at the mo? Any goals that you've recently made/met, be they big or small? If so, just let me know!

'Til next time...

(Just Like) Starting Over

So I'm back. It's been a while and, to be honest, there were times when I didn't know if I'd ever blog here again. It wasn't that I didn't want to, I love my blog and really enjoy being able to express myself in a space that's all my own, it was more that I felt embarrassed to. Embarrassed due to all the false starts I've had over the last few years; ashamed of all the promises to start blogging again, made and then broken. I didn't know if I (or anyone else) would be able to take me seriously if I came back to blogging here. So I considered starting over again somewhere new. Maybe I'd change the name of my blog, or even move away from Blogger altogether, heading for new pastures where I could leave the past behind. But when I stopped to think about it, there didn't really seem much point. As I said earlier on, I love my current blog. The layout and design, whilst nothing special or fancy, still felt very me and when I looked back on previous posts I realised that I still wanted to be putting out the same kind of content. There hadn't been a change in the genre of my blog, and my blogging "voice" seemed consistently the same. I came to feel strongly that if I did make the break away from Julie's Jottings, I'd be doing it just for the sake of it and, really, what would be the point of that?

So I'm staying put. Same girl, same blog, same kind of posts (for the most part anyway), but with a different attitude. Life's too short to be embarrassed about something as trivial as a blog, no matter how important it is to me personally. If people want to read, great. If they don't like what I write, or have lost patience with my stop-start blogging over the past few years, then that's fine too. I love my blog and want to write here, so I will. I'd love it if people read and enjoy my posts and if they feel moved to engage with me through commenting on, or following, my blog, then all the better. But if not, I'm still going to be here, writing all the same and posting regularly again. It'll be just like starting over!

'Til next time...