How are you all doing on this last day of August? I have very mixed emotions today as tomorrow my two girlies that have been with me more or less 24/7 since mid-March are going back to school tomorrow.
Like everyone else I found lockdown came with many ups and downs, for us personally as a family the home-schooling was by far the hardest thing we had to do. Not getting to do our usual beach trips was hard however we have so many beautiful walks close to our house and we had a lovely garden before lock down which is now blooming so really our lack of beach trip was substituted with equally wonderful nature. Not to mention the seagulls flying over head almost help me imagine I was at the sea….almost.
The kids got a chance to bake every week, which now means I’m at least half a stone heavier (probably more if I got on the scales lol) as we couldn’t share with any other families and had to eat it all ourselves! They are now very confident reading and following recipe instructions which is great and a big bonus is that they bake better than my husband or I ….no more baking for me. Mollie is even talking about making her own birthday cake (althugh i'm not sure I could let her do that). They also picked some dinner dishes they love and help prepare them whenever we are cooking them.
We planted vegetables and herbs, which as a family we loved and we now have a list for next year that I can't wait to do. We also managed to make some more reduction to our plastic usage in the house (I feel every time you manage one or two then you can tackle another) which has really been good but we are still a long way off to where we hope to be.
A little sneaky bonus is that the kids do all their own clothes washing, right down to putting everything out on the line then folding back up and putting it away. It’s a pity they are too young to use an iron lol.
As for my business, I had lots of plans. Like my open afternoon which was going to be vintage tea party, it was going to take place in May. My website launch was going to happen around the same time along with the launch of my new sea glass collection. Plus I was going to take a few new courses to up my skills. One was going to be in photography (I really do need to improve this). As for my jewellery school I wanted to add a new silver smithing class.
I really shouldn’t be to hard on myself as I can do a vintage afternoon tea party in November, right? My new website and new sea glass collection has indeed gone live (3 months late but hey). I can still do those courses now come September once the kids go back to school. After all September I think is a great time to start learning (we are all tuned that way from school) and as for my new classes, there is always next year….something to focus on for then.
Did I mention my book keeping got better over lockdown (well it could not have gotten any worse – still room for improvement though)! I managed to source compostable envelopes to post out all your beautiful jewellery to you. I rebranded (still trying to bridge the gap with the jewellery boxes) and I signed up to Ecologi to help reduce the businesses carbon footprint.
So on reflection, lockdown threw us a curve ball (and still is) but as a family and a business we have adjusted and come out on top. I’m feeling more positive as I send my kids off to school tomorrow knowing their life skills got a major top up and that I kept my business ticking over during it all so now when I get back to my usual schedule, I will be more organised and thankful for 4 hours of kid free work.
Overall I’m feeling proud of us all!
I would love to know have you reflected on your time over lockdown and what has been your proudest moments?
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That’s all for this week folks. Same time next week?
Until then
Katrina xx
