After a lovely but much needed break over the holidays I thought I’d round off the year with a what I was up to this year post, I’ve done something similar the last few years and I always surprise myself with what I actually did over the year when I sit down to write it out. So I 100% recommend you do it too! If you do, please make sure and share some links below so I can see what you’ve been up too!
This year was a year of a lot of change, in January my hubby was made redundant from his stable dependable secure job; because there’s really no such thing anymore! We knew it was coming and to be honest by the time it happened it was a relief! The 9 months or so beforehand waiting for the axe to fall were probably more stressful; they did mean that he had time to make plans though, so once he finished he joined me in the world of self employed and our little three bed house now has one bedroom and two businesses. It’s been really lovely to have him working from home too and means this year has been a lot less lonely for it, but of course just like I get him to help me with events I’m doing, I got roped into helping him and since part of his new business is running LARP events, it was interesting!
I had a blast taking the promo shots for the new system Orion Sphere Lrp, we set up the studio in the sitting room and roped a few friends into dressing up and posing, it got silly it was a lot of fun!
The first Orion Sphere LRP event was in May and I went along as GOD; seriously that’s what I was! Games Operations Desk or general what needs doing person and also as the photographer, you can see lots of photos on my facebook page SJEgan Photography, we also had a second event in September which I brought a studio set up to, and it got wonderfully silly!
In March Caerphilly like the rest of the UK got hit by the Beast from the East and we got proper snowed in, you’re never to old to play in the snow!
I went on a few foraging courses this year and had a few outings collecting wild garlic and blackberries etc, I haven’t gotten my head around the less obvious things to collect, the courses were really good but I think its practice and time so hopefully more foraging will happen in 2019. I also baked a lot of bread, soooo much delicious bread, I have a healthy sourdough starter going now and I made the most delicious bagels and today just made an orange and coriander bread that will definitely be repeated!
My garden did really well this year, we got sooooo much garlic and had to learn how to dry and plait it, we haven’t bought garlic in about 6 months and we’re a bulb a meal minimum household! We also got all the rhubarb which has made some delicious delicious chutney, and more then a few crumbles and I finally harvested the pears from a random tree on the way to do my post that I’ve watched all the fruit rot off the last few years! We got mountains of fruit so I had an epic day of making jam with the lovely La Martiz, we had no idea what we were doing so its kinda caramelised, but I have also not had to buy jam for months and should easily make it to the next crop! I just wish I’d made more pear and apple chutney, that was really really nice!
I did my best to spend a good bit of the summer just chilling in the garden with the bunnies and as many friends as I could convince, the weather was so amazing it would have been criminal not to.
I also went on a soap making course with green city events and met the lovely Aoife of Zero Waste Cardiff a fellow Irish geologist with mutual friends; because that’s how being Irish works 🙂 and I managed to talk her into (in fairness I think I just had to suggest it) a trip to make some dungarees with Twin Made, these were the first ever item of clothes I’ve made!!!!!! I made actual clothes! Very cool altogether!
Just before the holidays I got all the supplies to make soap, it hasn’t happened so far it was supposed to be today but I got distracted by impregnating logs with mushroom spawn and making lip balm, as you do 🙂 Myself and the hubby also joined Green City for a mead making workshop and we have the equipment to get a batch going soon!
In July I co organised and attended a workshop in Wax Carving with the amazing Luka Pasikowski I learnt a huge amount as well as just had a great couple of days and just recently received a copy of Findings the Association of Contemporary Jewellers magazine with the article and photos I wrote following the workshop.
August wasn’t so good and I ended up in hospital for a few days pretty sick, I’ve already blogged about that so I wont bore you, suffice to say that I followed that up with one thing after another and I think I burnt myself out towards the end, I really did need the week off I’ve just had!
October was particularly busy, we headed back to Ireland for a cousins wedding and a little holiday at the start of the month and ended the month in Great Yarmouth for another cousins wedding, both were a blast and it was really great to catch up with friends and family, but they were both too short and we tried to stuff so much in that I’m not sure we got the relaxing part of a holiday at all!
Business wise it was a busy year and I launched a some new pieces, I started doing rings with stones and I will be expanding on these designs really really soon! I brought out my Athena earrings which I’m loving! More corrugated pieces coming too! I started my animal of the month cufflinks and I think I’ll be adding earrings too soon. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten something! I’ve booked myself onto several courses at over the first few months of 2019 so I’m excited to see what that goes!
So 2019 for me will hopefully be better health, less stress, more garden time, even more baking and making, and lots of courses to pic up new jewellery skills and have fun making new things that I can’t even fathom at the moment! Bring it on!
Happy New Year everyone!