OK, so it’s already a couple of months into 2021 but seeing as this is the first time I’m updating the blog this year, I think it’s still OK to wish you all ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!’ It would be rude not to, right?

So please accept this raised glass of fizz, from our NYE campout in Buddy, as a big belated cheers, full of well wishes to YOU!

2021 didn’t really start off all that rosey did it? But with news of the vaccine and positive progress being made I’m holding on to hope for a better year! So, although I maybe super late, I’M BACK to share some everyday happies with you from the last couple of months. YAY!

I’m still going to (try!) and stick to sharing work, play and food shaped happies each month but I’m going to mix it up a bit with a couple of new sections too - one for Rei, Toby & Pegs and one for my Tin Cup Travels!

Just a fave snap from each month for each section, which I imagine is going to be HARD to choose given how many photos of the pets I take but I thought it might be fun.

Anywho, here’s January and February in a not so little nutshell… so grab a brew and ENJOY!

JANUARY

work

I didn’t re-open shops or really get back into the work grove until the middle of January, which I initially felt quite guilty about but it did me the world of good and felt extra nice when I finally did get back in the studio.

I had a bit of ‘help’ packing up some Sunshine Boxes for a cheeky little pay day sale towards the end of the month and I also opened up 10min Portrait orders again, which always gets me excited!

play

paddle and pick

I’m making it my mission to take my little grabber and collapsible bucket bag on paddles this year!

Sadly, I often come home from paddles or wolf walks with a fair bit of litter I pick up along the way so on this occasion I went prepared and learned 3 things:

1. Paddling, balancing and grabbing is harder than I first thought 🙃 My manoeuvring needs work too!

2. Latex gloves are an excellent additional insulation layer for cold fingers as well as keeping you clean!

3. We’re going to need a bigger bucket 😭 I didn’t get very far along the river at all today before I’d filled this 20L one.

back on the bike

I swapped paddles for pedals in Jan and kicked off one Sunday with a brew before joining Claire on a lovely sunny bike ride. We fought wind, flooded paths and chills but there were plenty of giggles and smiles along the way.

Maybe next time we’ll remember to check Eric St Ives is open before we cycle 15miles there though. Claire was raising money for Alzheimers Research UK and cycled 500km over Jan and Feb - she absolutely smashed it too!

I was also quite chuffed I got back into my cycling gear.. with some extra room too! WOO!

SUP January?

I’m very happy to report that there were plenty of paddles, smiles and brews to kick off the new year too!

They were mostly solo, self care paddles but I also had a lovely tin cup twinning paddle with Claire one weekend and another trip was purely just a mission to find a lost frisbee!

During one of our usual morning walks, someone didn’t realise:

A) how strong her arm was and

B) how strong the wind also was…

Seeing as that frisbee is like GOLD and a sure fire way to help control Rei, I knew I HAD to get it back, so at the weekend I went out on Quaver…

Back in Buddy

I started to get behind the wheel in Buddy for short, local drives again too, I’m not sure everyone else shared my enthusiasm but I was well chuffed!

snow?

OK, so I slept through the hour or two it fully snowed in Cambridge in January (gutted!) but we did head out on a super fun, very icy walk across the frozen meadows later that day… and I had to carry this plonker!

food

My favourite bit of the round ups, (after paddle snaps I reckon), THE FOOD! I’m particularly excited about this round up because I think my grown up lunches have been next level… hopefully you’ll agree or at least laugh at me!

furry faces

OK, so here’s the first of my two new sections in these round ups this year.

I am challenging myself to share my favourite photo of each of the furry faces at Sunshine Towers (Beard not included) so Rei, Toby and Pegs will each have a time to shine every month!

pegs

Rei

toby

tin cup travels

The other new section is like a continuation of my ‘Tin Cup Travels’ post and will be where I share my fave snap from adventures I’ve taken my little mug on each month. However, as you may have spotted earlier in this post… you will be seeing more than one kind of yellow tin cup pop up this year!

Over the festive period I discovered a new insta account, @enamelhappy, and quickly became friends with the very lovely Tracey, who is the mastermind behind the happiest enamel mugs you ever did see!

Not only do Tracey and I share a love of tea but we share very similar outlooks on life and LOVE being outdoors so when Tracey sent me one of her gorgeous ‘Honey’ enamel mugs I did the happiest of dances and couldn’t wait to take it out!

Lovely little ‘Honey’ came out with me on a couple of paddles this month and I found it quite hard to pick a favourite but I think this snap @cyclesandsatchels took of me just pips the post because it captures all the happiness I feel when I have a brew on my board!

I think sharing a happy little ‘Tin Cup Travels’ snap is a nice way to end each monthly round up, what do you think?

If you ever want to see more of what my mug (tin and fizzog) get up to each month though, you can always check out the #yellowtincuptravels hashtag on insta!

FEBRUARY

work

This last month, well throughout February, I have felt a little more in the swing of things work-wise and have taken some steps to hopefully improve the way I run things! Namely asking for some help from the very lovely Rosie Casson, who now runs under the guise of Rosebud Casson Creative Virtual Assistant.

I actually got dressed (see above!) and we had a lovely Zoom call. I avoid zooms like the plague, so the fact it was lovely already speaks volumes about how good Rosie is!

We chatted about all the wonderful things she could do to help me with the marketing side of my business (all the stuff I NEVER make time for!) and there was also a lot of puppy chat because HAVE YOU SEEN POPPY? She is so cute and it was also really nice to share stories about the difficulties and all the poo involved with having a puppy around!

Rosie has already helped me, despite us not officially starting to work together until March. For one catching up with her was the kick up the bum I needed to finish writing up and fleshing out my blog posts - especially this one which has sat on my desktop, slowly growing in size since early Jan!

Chatting through the things I admitted I need help with has really helped get my head into gear and focus more on what I love doing (designing and painting portraits!) so I’M VERY EXCITED to see how things develop!

back in buddy

WOOP! I was back in Buddy again this month painting your lovely 10min Portraits, which all went out in time for that infamous Day of Lurve!

I took my new tin cup, all the snacks and lots of tunes with me and spent a lovely day painting my socks off inside Buddy, who is still just parked in our garden.

The best studio space I could ask for!

studio sort

A HUGE part of February was spent trying to clear out and de-clutter the studio. If you saw my stories on instagram, you might remember seeing me start by emptying out my 'Monica Cupboard'. It started well but 3 weeks later, it was still a complete sh*tshow!

As a terribly neat and tidy person, it’s quite shocking how long it took me to complete something I usually LOVE doing. I think the main reason was that several of the boxes contained A LOT of photo albums, letters, cards, childhood toys and memories ... and honestly, I just wasn't feeling strong enough to go through them because I miss my people so much!

Anyway, after much judgment and bullying from the cats, it's now done and I feel so much better for it. I just need to shuffle a few things around then I can take some photos to share… that might take me another month though!

play

sun and skies

February has been smashing it with our sunrise and sunset wolf walks lately! These ones were just too pretty not to share…

giving blood

I went back to bleed in exchange for more snacks (& juice) this month. I’m quite sad I’m not heading for my traditional inking after this donation but there’s still plenty of time to play tattoo catch up after lockdown ends and I’m already excited about my next appointment with Charlotte at Young Cardinals Studio!

It’s always such a quick, calm and lovely experience at the Cambridge Donation Centre, even with all the extra COVID-19 precautions. So if you can, get out there and give blood!

snow + snowdrops

There have been some wonderful wintery days again this month, from frosty grass and frozen, icy meadows and even another snow day!

Seeing the snowdrops starting to pop up in our garden got me quite excited for Spring too and on one of our wolf walks around Wandlebury we saw so many snowdrops it looked like a blanket of actual snow!

If you’re local to Cambridge and you’ve never been to Wandlebury Country Park, I definitely recommend it for an afternoon stroll. There are so many lovely woodland walks, Highland Cattle, Bird spotting hides and a lovely viewpoint where you can see over to Ely on a clear day.

so much sup

OK, so I know I get out and about on my board and write about it every month but this month, I feel like I have managed to spend even more time in my happy place. I guess that’s thanks to the days getting longer with lighter mornings and I LOVE IT!

From misty mornings and snowy SUPS on the river…

To sunnies, short sleeves and chats with swans…

It’s been so nice to spend so much time on the river and there’s not a SUP goes by when I don’t thank my stars that I live somewhere where it’s so easy to paddle so often!

Especially when the skies throw out their spectacular colours and I have a little SUP Pup on board!

food

Ooooh it’s back to the yummy part of the round up again! YAY! I thought January was good for food and I know I say it most months but February has been particularly epic! What with pancake and valentines day treats but I will let you judge for yourselves…

furry faces

Here’s a little snapshot of what the furries got up to this month…

toby

rei

pegs

tin cup travels

Oooft! SO many good photos to choose from this month but I had to go with this one, when a certain little tea leaf hopped on board.

She actually knocked my beloved Honey mug into the river on the way home * sob * but it won’t be long before I get myself a replacement!

Another WHOPPER of a blog post complete! YAY!

Thank you for sticking with me and I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing what the first couple of months of 2021 have looked like here - the happiest parts that is!

I’m going to finish as I started, by raising another glass of fizz to you all, but this one is my last glass of booze until April 1st as I’ll be taking part in the Go Sober UK #SoberMarch Campaign to raise money for Macmillan Cancer UK.

So until next month’s round up…

* cheers *

☀️