Faffing somewhere

"What do you do in your spare time?" sometimes people ask.  Oh, you mean when i'm not at work and if by some unknown miracle known to man there are no jobs to do: pots to wash, beams to tickle with a duster or laundry to hang or plants to water?  Oh me?  Well i quite like to just….  FAFF.  It's a glorious thing, to FAFF.  Don't knock until you've tried it i say.  When i have nothing else on the agenda {or sometimes even when i do but the thought of it is enough to bore me to tears - never ending pile of mail to file i'm looking right at you!} i simply like to just potter about, soak in what's going on around me and just be.  It's a funny one to explain, but i think when you've got some little hint at a creative bone on your body, these are the times when you find your inspiration, and really and truly appreciate what's going on around and about you without simply just whooshing through your day ticking off the 'got to do's.'  FAFFing is much more about the 'want to' than the 'have to.'  And it's a lot about following your heart over your head which is forever one of my favourite things to do.  So in the spirit of FAFFING, i thought i'd share some snippets of lately.  If you're a fellow-FAFFER, grab yourself a cup of your favourite something and park your bottom…
Consistency is not something our DEAR northern summer seems to understand.  Since June {which is officially the start of summer} we have had rain, sun, wind, thunder and lightening and sometimes all three in the same day.  But its' not dampened my spirits {too much!}.  It's just made me even more grateful and even more keen to get out there as and when the weather puts on a performance vaguely like one would expect!  On the plus side, our pretty park has seemed greener than ever thanks to the damper weather. I'm sure those wildflowers i catch on my bike adventures and clapping their leafy-mitts….
Our home is never one-hundredy percent tidy.  I also feel like i spend half of my LIFE moving piles of things to different locations and fooling myself that i am tidying up.  Until i re-find them.  And re-move them and add more to them.  I did enjoy giving this little shelf a good tickle this week though.  Cups and tea sort of some up the Mr and I to a tea {get it?!} and so this shelf is probably the tidiest part of our whole home.  I'm still suprised i've got away with these dear sweet fluorescent pom-poms for as long as i have….
Being at home.  I remember at uni we'd spend most our lives either at uni or in our local bar/cafe.  Home never felt like HOME.  Even afterwards when i lived by myself i would spend most of my days off round at friends or wandering about in town or curled up in a corner of a coffee shop with a magazine or book.  It's only really since the Mr and I met and moved into our sweet attic that i'd happily spend each day here.  It's one of the very few places i switch off and relax and there's nothing i love more than a big bubble bath and then curling up on the sofa with a book and too many cushions {his words not mine}.  
Making the most of this little DEVIL whatever the weather!!!  I'm not a fair weather cyclist and never have been.  You'll often catch me in the park in the pouring rain and blustery winds just as much as you will if it's warm, sunny and pretty perfect.  Willow - as she's affectionately called - has completely changed my approach to exercise.  I've gone from someone who walked everywhere out of necessity to someone who volutarily goes out at least every other day and someone who can't imagine not riding a bike.  I should have guessed really, i adored my bike when i was little!  It's true what they say, you never really do forget how to ride a bike!!  I just wish more people did it.  It's the quickest and very BEST way to cheer me up, make me feel brilliant and one of the very few ways that i can truly switch off and be alone with just the green and my own thoughts.  I much prefer cycling around the city streets on a drizzly day though.  The old sandstone buildings of our historic quarter seem far more charming to me on a cloudy day.  Just as the park and all the green areas look their very best on a bright and blue-skied day!
Treats.  That coincidentally and completely unintentionally co-ordinate like a DREAM.  The flower crown cost a measly £3!!!  And i'm justifying it since it's colours lend themselves to autumn and late summer beautifully.  It's from good old Topshop.  Which i seem to have gone from not liking anything at all for about three million years to wanting every god-forsaken thing in there!!! I blame it on all of the 1970's inspired smocks, flares, dungarees and pretty William Morris-esque prints they've been teasing me with.  This summer i've been good.  Because if i've learnt anything in the thirty years {aherm} that i've been alive it's not to overly invest in summer time attire.  It's much SAFER to stock-pile the jumper, trews and skirts and dresses that will work with tights and boots just as much as they will with summer sandals.  

This summer i indulged in a white dress which is actually a nightie but is far too pretty to grace the bedroom.  It's white cotton cheese-cloth with the prettiest broderie-anglaise and lace detail and i've worn it out once or twice with a chunky cardi but it's more than often been my go-to throw-on when i get home of an evening.  A messy top-knot and my feet up and i'm HAPPY.  I also bought a beautifully embroidered cream and black trophy skirt for £10 in the Topshop sale.  It looks a dream with bare legs and black Chelsea boots and a light knit yet i just know i'll get millions of fashion-miles out of it come autumn and winter.  Tights, boots and a chunky cable-knit and i'll be good to GO.   
And THOSE?!  Oh okay they might be the craziest and most impractical purchase of my whole life and pretty much contradict everything i've told about fashion-mileage and not spending too much.  But sometimes, sometimes you have a bad week.  And sometimes the only way to fix it is to buy some outrageously beautiful shoes.  They're worth it though, don't you think?! They didn't cost the EARTH.  Infact they were half price in the Anthropology sale and had an extra 20% off.  I'd loved them from the get-go so i knew i had to have them.  
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Hows your weekend shaping UP so far?  And what wonderful plans have you got?  I'm working all day today and then looking forward to scampering off to a Pottery festival with the Mr on Sunday.  It's been about three million years since we had a sunday off together so i'm looking forward to tea and warm pastries and then spending the whole day together.  

Thanks ever so very much for your kind new job congratulations on my last post and on Twitter, Instagram and the ever so lovely emails too.  I'm looking forward to sharing a bit more once it's all sunk in!  I'm ever so EXCITED and terrified in equal measure!  But sometimes a leap of faith is a good thing don't you think…?!