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in october, there were all these typically autumn-related things to be done. like dealing with an endless flow of runny noses and sore throats from coughing. and getting the garden ready for winter on a few sunny days after true downpours for days on end. i harvested my tomatoes: hopefully they will redden on the kitchen counter. the evenings got dark enough again to burn candles. i had to search my closet for cardigans that more or less cover the bump on the colder days (i refuse to spend money on maternity wear) and lately i can't resist a tiny sip of boyfriend's strong red wine on some evenings. must be blamed on the autumn-weather too. on another note, do the amounts of laundry somehow grow significantly larger after summer is over, or is that just me?
it's about time to return to the skinstill-world. so what have i been up to these past two silent months? i was mainly working and sleeping i guess. putting in lots and lots of hours in front of my computer and in my lovely bed. things are now slowly returning to some sort of normal. hardly any morning sickness left and more acceptable hours at work now that i'm getting the drift of things in a place where much needed to be done. what else have i been doing? let's see... i spent quite some time looking down at this bump, amazed by the pace with which it is taking over my body. a beautiful and special thing all over again, no less so than the first time.
it is time for a little blogging break. i am starting a new job in september (the same work in a different department) and i suspect that is going to take a lot of energy at first. which is something of which i don't have a lot at the moment. the reason for that is a very happy and exciting one fortunately♥, yet the result right now is that i would simply love to sleep all day. i will be back with new little stories and pretty pictures though, when the time is right.
after our week of sunshine and roses, we decided to move little imps bed upstairs to his own room. so he takes his afternoon naps there now, and he falls asleep there in the evenings without any problems. he still wakes up a few hours later to nurse a little and to continue the night in our bed (i, for one, would miss it terribly if that would end). we put the most appropriate poster on his bedroom wall: it quotes a well-known dutch lullaby about sheep and it pictures sheep co-sleeping and nursing. still the way it works for us, even though things have changed now that little imp is older.
i travelled through others last week. boyfriend was in the south of england and my father is on the most amazing railroad trip through ukraine. and i was sitting at the dinner table every day, watching youtube-footage of the places they were at. (little imp was quite fascinated too by the way, especially by all the train-related stuff.) i enjoyed this way of travelling, it did my soul some good i think.
the vegetable patch is finally coming along nicely. it's quite a lot of work but i was so proud when i found my first little tomatoes. apart from the zillion tomato plants there's also three zucchini plants (i'm a bit late with those so i'm not sure how they will turn out) and a bunch of tiny heads of lettuce. i watch the progress of my veggie babies every single day, it's quite miraculous.
i've been working hard on going through my stash of samples (such a tough job isn't it). the ones i loved most out of this bunch:
~ broaer xpert vital oil ~ this is wonderful stuff. i have to say though, now that i'm looking through the list of ingredients on the little bottle, there's quite a lot of unpronounceable things in there. too bad.
~ molton brown warming eucalyptus bath & shower therapy ~ a bit of a masculine scent, i like that. close your eyes and it smells like you're in the swiss alps.
~ kiehl's fig leaf & sage skin-softening body cleanser ~ a sweeter scent. i like this brand basically because of the way the packaging is designed. sort of old-fashioned and british.
~ annayake exfoliant parfait ~ a luxurious exfoliator. made in japan. i'm always a bit intrigued by that, since japanese women are said to have quite extreme facial cleansing methods.
i couldn't help myself: i also wanted to try making the liquid version of my body scrub. now this is even easier than making scrub cubes. all you have to do is add oil to sugar until you get the right consistency, and after that you can add some essential oil (i added vanilla to this one). store-bought, this stuff is ridiculously expensive. the diy-version has to be used up quicker because no preservatives are added, but it looks and smells good enough to eat (oh, and you could actually take a bite if you'd really want to).
i made another little batch of scrub cubes today: 50 grams of grated solid soap (i used pink marseille soap, hence the pink colour of my cubes) melted with 25 grams of coconut oil, then mixed with 75 grams of sugar. pressed firmly into a cute ice cube tray, put in the freezer for about an hour and there it is.
and on the reading goes, although a bit slower this month. i read a lot of translated novels of emile zola quite a few years ago. now i'm rereading one of my favourites. this is such a wonderful book: i am drawn straight into an enchantingly different world.
