Journal | September 2019

Welcome to my September journal. Each month I gather my musings and the stories from the month to document our life. For me it forms a way of creating my own regular gratitude and journaling practice. Journaling can be achievable in small snippets, you don’t need to write long prose to remember your time. I choose to document our memories by taking photos that capture the moments during the month and writing short notes about the time we have had. There are no rules to journaling. It is a space to document in whichever way you choose.

September has been a month of preparing, organising and shifting with changes. Here is my September journal…

…We spent a time in our garden in September, the temperatures weren’t quite so hot and so we managed to sit outside in the shady areas and play. I’ve not had the best summer with gardening and so spent some time tidying up our garden and preparing things for Autumn and winter weather by refreshing the nonslip varnish on our decking and tidying up.

…We have visited our local park almost everyday, been on the swings and shopped on our high street. The gentle nudge towards autumn has been happening with the signs of leaves on the ground, the air temperature changing in the morning and the light changing too.

…Early September saw me updating my summer capsule wardrobe. It probably seems quite late in the summer season for most people to add to a seasonal wardrobe, however I decided to make the most of my favourite shops having a sale. Over the years I have gradually curated a lovely set of summer clothes for a British summer and additional pieces for hot holidays abroad. Following having a baby and continuing to breastfeed my shape has changed. My feet are bigger (I had no idea this would happen!), my shoulders and chest are wider, my hips and tummy are a different shape and a bit bigger too. It has taken time to be at peace with my new shape and after some realistic self talk, a chat with my dear friend Kate, and after Chris and I booked a holiday abroad, it prompted me to just bite the bullet and shop for my new shape and size. I took the opportunity to go through all the pieces I had and see what would work this year and what classic pieces I could find that could add something different. I bought three long linen and cotton dresses that I could breastfeed in, one shorter dress, two pairs of lightweight shorts, two new white tops, a new striped t shirt and two cardigans that went with all the pieces I had bought and the clothes in my wardrobe that I had that still fitted. I am so incredibly happy with these new pieces and have a new love of long summer dresses with sandals. I treated myself, and my new shoe size, to a pair of olive Saltwater sandals. I wear my brown Saltwater sandals so much and they are about 5 years old and still almost perfect condition so I know the investment is worth it.

…I went to see the Downton Abbey film at the cinema with my friend Kate. We went to a Saturday morning cinema screening and it was a great way to start the weekend, and enjoy a film in an almost empty cinema.

…We headed off to Portugal for a special family holiday and stayed in a lovely resort where everything we needed was available. We enjoyed being outside and in the swimming pools, visiting the beach and having moments to rest and reflect whilst Chloe had her naps. We took the time to savour local produce, enjoy a few meals out and soak up the last of the summer sunshine and energy. I spent a few weeks getting organised, creating lists and working out a few things and it all paid off.

…We’ve seen lots of development in Chloe this month. She has started to crawl and discover all parts of our home! She has had a few colds, got stung by a wasp and had another two teeth come through in the space of a week and a half so it was a full on time for her and us. On our holiday she enjoyed splashing in the pool, managed to sleep on both flights we took to and from Portugal, and was very adaptable to her new surroundings. Her curiosity, love of food and adventurous nature is starting to come out.

…Chloe and I headed to the Climate Strike in Bristol, listened to the talks and went on part of the march with my work colleagues. I wanted to be there for Chloe so we could look back and say we attended the gathering. We have been making a lot of efforts in our home to reduce the packaging and waste that comes with any purchase and have been making swaps for about two and a half years.

…We started to plan Chloe’s Naming Day set for November and working out a venue to hold it in. We decided on a beautiful country pub near to us with a lovely sized room, lots of natural light and a place where we announced to our friends that we were pregnant on my birthday last year.