Into Spring

You can usually hear me saying "Spring is coming!" very excitedly whenever I'm in a shop lately. From the paint aisle where I'm dreaming of glossing the skirting boards and doors to the candles where I'm opting for fresh and sweet scents again to the clothes where I'm definitely following the pastels to the till - Spring is very welcome.

To me, Spring is a time for change. I like to clean out the house, get the carpets steam cleaned, re-gloss anything that needs it, wash everything from the curtains to the floors and air it all out to get out the smell of wet dog from the winter. It's almost March now which on one hand is rather unnerving because wasn't it just New Year(?) but on the other is inspiring. I keep seeing birds nests in bare trees more and more when I'm walking down the street and I just know the grass cutters will be out soon along with the first blooms.

So what have I been doing in preparation? The most exciting thing is yet to be revealed here but I've been working a lot, spending lots of time with my little ones as it's the first half of half term, walking the dogs in muddy fields, cleaning out our parrot to get everything in order, making lots of fresh soups and salads and changing all the light shades in the house. It sounds quite boring, right? No. Not at all. To me, it's thrilling. When we moved in we had these awful magnolia cylindrical light shades that collected dust like nothing else but they were the last things to be changed (and we still have a fair few to go). I'm not buying anything expensive but in the grey hall this floral paper lantern goes well with the photo hanging on the wall and it just brightens it up a little when you walk in. I'm still sourcing a massive runner rug to close in the space of the floor but hello, expensive! Why are rugs so expensive?

I'm also trying to try more new things. I haven't read a book in a little while so on a little trip to the charity shop I picked up two Patricia Cornwell and one Stephen King novel (3 hardbacks for £1!) to get me back on the road to reading regularly. I've been immersing myself in design, DIY projects, cooking and blogs so it feels great to just sit down with a candle burning in fresh pyjamas and to read a real hold-in-your-hands book while boyfriend is working night shifts.

What have you been up to lately?