The Year of Living Gorgeously: A mid-year gorgeous pause...

As the summer solstice passes us by in a deluge of rain and flooding (God love England), it seems only right to mark this mid-point with a few thoughts on my atttempts to live gorgeously so far.

Certainly, this blog has encouraged me to bake even more than I usually would and expand my culinary repetoire beyond the safe and straightforward. Not all ventures have been wholly successful but I have explored beyond my usual confines with a courage and a determination that some might call brazen.

I am usually a fast and furious reader, but with the advent of my bike, I've lost my precious book-time on the buses. That, combined with studies demanding much less interesting concentration, has left me staggering from one gorgeously read to the next. Without this blog, I would probably have left reading for pleasure altogether. That, however, may very well have been a good thing as more often than not, I have been left a wreck.

Photography is never going to be my strength, but I have really enjoyed seeking inspiration from your images and attempting to improve my own. I fear Paola will eternally excel me in this category, as her flickr hits can attest!

All in all, I have enjoyed having the impetus to get projects made and look for events and posting potential in my day to day existence. I have stitched, baked and viewed, all in the name of blogland and, considering the pecuniary disadvantage I have had this year, it's been going pretty well! I'm looking forward to the next few months and, if this dreadful weather is anything to go by, I'll have plenty of reasons to stay indoors and get bloggorgeous!

Finally, a brief pat on the back to myself and all the fabulous helpers we enlisted at the major fundraising push that took place this Saturday. There are more images here, but a taster of our Summer Fete is below. We even had media coverage. The weather managed to stay reasonable all morning and rain called off play at 3pm, not before we took home a tidy £800 from sales of plants, cakes, books, craft projects, jams, chutneys, old toys and face painting. With a local bank pledging to match us up to £750, we are delighted that we now only have £800 to make by next February. I will be auctioning off the leftover craft items in the coming weeks and promise to let you know when and where you can find them.

Here's to a gorgeous rest of year, with many more projects, discussions and loveliness promised.... Oh, and maybe even some kitchen disasters too... You never know.

Comments

well talk about small world, just read your news article and I used to go to Pates, albeit 10 years before you! I live in Cambridge now but love going back to Cheltenham on family visits, miss the beautiful countryside, its far too flat here. Good luck with the fundraising!

Posted by: Kala | June 26, 2007 at 08:11 PM