Sleightholm Folk Art

Good morning friends, and a happy Friday to you! I have a little Good Things Gathered to share with you this morning, but it’s something that’s made a big impact on my life for the past several weeks. I’m talking about….

1. Planners! I have kept a planner off and on since I was in highschool, when I used it to keep track of my assignments. I also used a planner when I was working, and have kept one off and on since I’ve been a work at home mom, but tend to fall out of the habit. However, after reading so much about the benefits of routine and being intentional with my time, I’ve started mapping out my days– complete with the chores I aim to complete, what I’m making for dinner and even just ‘studio days’ when I go out to paint. It seems so simple, yet it’s really put my mind at ease to be so diligent in this way. Usually, I’d be feeling like “I need to be painting!” when I was doing housework, and when I WAS painting, I’d think “I have so much to do in the house!” So truly, I was never really focused on the task at hand, and would often feel overwhelmed. Taking the time to map out my days in my planner has helped me get a lot more done, and with a relaxed mind. This may be very old news to many of you, but to me it’s been really great and I highly recommend it! I’ve already got a new planner waiting for when the one for this year is over (bizarrely, it seems my planner goes from July to June! Luckily I found a new one that starts when the one I have now ends!) Do you use a planner to map out your days? Do you have any planner tips?

2) Frosted Banana Bread: A while back I made an Italian Cream Cake for my daughter’s birthday and had leftover icing that I packaged up and froze. Yesterday I made a loaf of banana bread and decided to thaw the icing and spread it on top. It turned a plain loaf of banana bread into a very nice treat! I froze half of it (I’m always freezing things!) and the rest we’re having for desserts. It is wonderful with a cup of tea (or coffee!) I just thought I’d mention it as, if you’re like me, you won’t want to waste homemade icing if you’ve gone to the trouble to make some and then have too much! This was a cream cheese frosting and did just fine being frozen. I also freeze bread and will freeze cookies as well.

3) Escape to the Country: I was SO excited to see that this wonderful television show from the UK is back on BritBox (no, I am not paid by BritBox, but most of what I watch is on that app!) It followers prospective home buyers on tours of various UK counties and regions to find their ‘perfect country house’ and is a lot of fun, as you also learn about the areas they’re exploring. Sometimes you can find this program on Amazon Prime, but for some reason it seems to go in and out of being accessible. It’s on BritBox now, and I’ve also seen some episodes on YouTube. But there’s nothing like watching the show season to season,start to finish!

Well, I am off to start the day, but I hope you have enjoyed these Good Things, as I’ve been very much enjoying them lately! And great news– I’ve almost finished that shawl I showed you a few weeks back! I’m hoping to have it done to share completed next week (fingers crossed!) I hope you are well! Thanks so much for coming by,

Take Joy!~
H