My Summer bucket list & Spring goals recap 2021! 🌻🌞🌳

Hello, hi and hey to you all! I couldn’t decide what to say so today I’m not limiting myself to one 🤣. How are you doing? With Summer officially just around the corner and it feeling like it’s already here, I’m well and truly ready with a list of things I want to do! In keeping with the idea that putting things out into the universe makes them happen (or at least it gives me the accountability to try make them happen 😂) I’m here today to share my ideas with you! Jumping in I’ll begin by closing off the chapter that was Spring (you can read about my goals in a more optimistic light HERE before seeing how reality tried to make them crumble and burn below 🔥).

Usually I’ll do a separate post for revisiting bucket lists but now that my blogging schedule is spaced out to Fridays alone I felt that would make my content very predictable and you’d know what was coming next. I’m all for surprises with some interesting posts coming up soon and this way there’s two for the price of one going on, what’s not to love? 🤣 So in Spring I wanted to do the following things:

Keeping my plants alive (you met some of them back HERE) was for the most part at the forefront of my mind but that doesn’t mean I went about it in the right way! 🌵 I learned you can care too much and there’s a lot more to say about this goal than the rest of them 🤣. It’s so easy to see a dry plant and think OH IT NEEDS WATERING only to remember afterwards that it’s a succulent so that seemingly important feed could go either way 😑. I think it was my Pleospilos Nelii that was wilting at the beginning of the year so at the first hint of warm weather which lasted a hot second back when Spring arrived I gave it some fresh water. I can remember the moment I did it and even then I was unsure whether or not I was doing the right thing but I couldn’t stop myself, I had to at least try to save it!….within a few days some of the buds went mushy and I just about lost it with myself.

On a whim I decided to place it out in the most direct line of sunlight that came into my room around that time (which was scarce enough!) so it would dry out and I won’t lie, I forgot about it 🙈 (a part of me deserves to lose them, the plant loss will educate me 😂). Luckily what was mush, opened up and in-between what I think looks like a puffed up flytrap mouths, sprouted fresh buds!! 🙌🌱😅 Seriously tho, next time I don’t know if I’ll take the risk of watering so soon like that when the sun isn’t fully out. I’ve heard Nelii’s can afford to only be watered a few minimal times a year so I really should step back and let nature take it’s course on them. As for the others, my Gollum Jade is very up and down with looking dried out but I’m not too worried about that because it’s a lot greener and fuller in parts than it was in Winter (I might repot that at some point as it’s getting to be big).

My Lithops (I love calling them little stones!) are doing great right now and I gave them their summer watering 3 days ago because the outer leaves had dried out and fed into the new pods so we’ll see how fast that goes up or downhill! And then my Aloe Vera is not doing so well right now, it’s soooo thin! A while back some of the leaves were turning squishy and I tried to dry it out in hope it’d follow the same route as the Pleospilos but nope! Instead it dried out too much and is a ghost of the plant it once was 😢. I’m not really sure what to do but I’m keeping an eye on that one the most whilst the others thrive. I wanted an aloe for so long and don’t want this to be the end of it! Oh and I forgot so I’m coming back to tell you this, don’t know know how it slipped my mind! One of my three cacti which are doing well bloomed and had these gorgeous flowers on it when the weather was still cold!! I was so confused before I read up on how that can happen and it seemed to have new editions every morning I looked, it was like fresh lil night flowers 😂.

Wow that was a lot for one goal in a dual intention post! I think I’ll speed the rest up 😂. I wanted to sort out my wardrobe and that is done! Not tidy at all but done in a sense of having warmer weather clothes ready anyway. Including pastel shades was something I completely forgot about! Aside from a little bit of sun, a lot of the weather carried on from Winter with rainy days so I was more in the mood for jumpers and sweaters which on my shelves aren’t very bright in colour at all 😂. When I mentioned that I’d like to try some trends I spoke of how if I didn’t in fact get to do that, I could always get some cute earrings I had my eye on all over Etsy (I won’t lie, I went straight for those clay earrings over trying out the craftlike trends myself #noregrets 😅. I may do a collection post one day because I just know you’ll agree and the validation will be welcome 🤣, they’re simply stunning! 🥰).

There was a time when I wanted to create a blogging space but that was before I took a break over Spring 😅 so moving on swiftly, I blocked together Bake/DIY/Craft as one big goal and can gladly say I baked loads of cookies and got into weaving alongside a few other small projects! I dreamed of the season being nature filled…or filled with nature and to be honest that time is a little clouded over up until more recently. I did get out into the garden on a few occasions where my sister has planted loads of flowers, vegetables and fruits + she worked hard on creating a space on the side of the house for everyone to sit and enjoy themselves, it’s incredible!! 🍃

I have some great memories of it all coming together and checking it out at various stages. All was golden with the sun casting a glow over the garden as well as a sunset sit out! 😍 I’m more so getting to enjoy the great outdoors now that the weather is warmer and the dampness isn’t getting to my bones tho! 🥶 Adding some spring decor/design to my room was something I highlighted a lot in my mind and it went as far as having a flower print duvet cover but that’s about it I think 😅. I love the cover tho so there’s always that! 😂

Learning new things is always a must and I definitely took in a lot of information through podcasts and learning platforms like Skillshare. My mind has been on the go a lot lately with ideas forever forming and at times the pressure of that can become overwhelming when flare-ups of chronic pain get in the way and don’t allow me to act on my thoughts. I’m really trying to balance out what I want to get done whenever I’m able and have it so that all areas of interest are being given attention no matter how big or small the energy granted may be (getting back into blogging from my break was a huge step in the right direction regarding this! ✨). I had a nice time which was my very last goal and I can’t wait for things to get even better (a breath of relief now that Summer can be spoken of! 😂).

To start off the current season section of this post, I’ll explain the image logo I used up above! Can you guess what it is?? 🤔 I don’t know if I could had I not taken + edited it myself 😂.

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Times ticking ⌚ (there’s nothing like unnecessary pressure 🤣).

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It’s a s’more!! 🔥😋 Did I leave a big enough gap there for guessing? 😅 My sister got a mini bbq last week so we fired it up and had a laugh trying to keep the flame going whilst attempting to cook an egg (it didn’t go well but not for lack of trying! 🤣). We did cook a meal on it but that didn’t turn out nice either so the delicious s’mores that kept on coming won the day! 🏅 For my very first goal of the season, this summer I’d like to try out different barbeque recipes and ways of cooking in the kitchen in general so that should be fun!! I’d love to make jam from scratch so let this be a notice for that so I feel like making it happen even more! (Foodwise, the other day I made focaccia bread 🍞 The topping of rosemary was delicious but the dough was a bit meh and nothing to write home about 😂. Have you made anything lately? 🍽️).

Next up I want to try pilates or yoga! 🧘 I used to do Pilates and it was an amazing way to start the day so with this warm weather having a positive impact on the extremity of my flare-ups I want to use that extra energy to build myself up for when Autumn/Winter rolls around again! Every so often we’ll have a rainy day which isn’t so good for me despite my liking the overall calm that they can bring with feeling cozy indoors 🌧️. I won’t beat myself up about not getting to exercise in those moments because there’s really no point in that. I’d also like to be very mindful as I go about either the pilates/yoga and not just do it for sake, I’ll try my best to live in the moment as that sounds like it would be a rewarding experience 😊.

I’m going to enjoy reading with no expectations other than that alone 📚. So often I’ll feel the need to set a bookish target and it rarely gets met! I’ve already done it over on Goodreads and although I’m holding up a few books right now, I haven’t finished any this year 😬. Not only is this because of the difficulty I had being able to take in the writing + focus, I really think having the idea of needing to finish what I’m reading has overshadowed the excitement of getting lost in the pages themselves. Lately through not forcefully thinking like I did before I’ve been a lot more drawn to reading without the annoyance that if it becomes difficult I won’t meet a certain target. If I’m not up to it I can just set it aside or pick up something more on my wavelength, it doesn’t have to be carved out by an outlook that didn’t favor it in any way! 💫 Speaking of books I got my hands on an Anne of Green Gables collection and to say I’m overjoyed is an understatement!! 😆😂. What was the last book you picked up? ✨

Going to beaches is something that has already happened a few times this year because we live quite close to them 🏖️. Because these last few months were so cold it’s been more of a park up for the view and the breeze which has been beautiful in itself! A lot of the time we’ve taken advantage of more dull days because then the areas will be empty of crowds even tho we haven’t actually gotten out of the car 🤣. You just know for a fact that even Summer will have those times where its not as sunny as it could be so that option will remain alongside getting there when it’s nice and bright for hopefully, fingers crossed, finally touching the sand again! ☀️ That reminds me of my Summer goal back in 2017 where I wished for a beach trip and it was always so close before I finally got to document the half achievement of it 🙈 that’s actually a pretty great memory despite that lackluster title! 😂. So yeah, as I was saying before I got a bit distracted, I’d love to walk on the beach again!

I want to teach my puppy Nina some tricks if she’ll be kind enough to listen! Since I introduced her in my last post, under the space of an hour the other day I taught her how to sit on command which I’m taking on as my party trick now because I personally don’t have one myself 🤣. I started out by enticing her with treats, then I got a toy and only gave it to her if she sat and now she just does it for nothing at all (which I wouldn’t do if treats were on the cards but don’t tell her that! 🙌😂). If anything this shows how smart her lil brain is and that can’t go to waste or else she’ll implement that power elsewhere and chew up a skirting board so tricks are a must to keep her mind busy! 🐶

Something I’ve felt intrigued to do lately is create a whole new skincare routine! I’m very much one for taking a long time deciding before doing so the end of Summer is my deadline to have something to show for this!

I’m going to attempt to do a bullet journal spread! It’s been a while and maybe I shouldn’t straight up say that it’s going to happen incase it doesn’t 😬. I would love to just get out some stationery and go for it as opposed to planning a whole idea! I think this can work to some extent alongside having an overall idea of what pages are worthwhile to include because I have a history of ignoring a few after spending a fair amount of time drawing them out 😶. For now I don’t need a weekly or monthly planner because I have books already that I use on the daily. Perhaps I’ll change direction completely and use it as a study aid for any useful information that comes my way! I like that idea actually 😍. I can list out pointers on what I plan to do for a particular month regarding ventures too and have it be a motivational drive behind making that stuff happen.

With hotter weather on the way I figured that’s got to extend into the night a bit so I finally want to camp out in the garden!! ⛺ It would be a great idea to toast marshmallows again and make the most of the whole experience as well! (Any reasons good enough for more s’mores 🤤). It’d be lovely to spend time out in the garden in general, it’s so green out there!! I’m not used to it after the trees lost everything for Winter ❄️😂. The coldest season of them all leached the colour out of almost everything but there are surprisingly still autumn leaves hidden in certain areas that have turned to mulch 🍂. Now it’s time to enjoy what Summer has to offer which so far is a gentle breeze rustling the full green trees back and forth. On that note, I want to have a picnic too 😂 It’s become apparent that I’m easily swayed in what I do, not dissimilar to those trees! 🧺🌳

What’s on my mind the most out of everything on this list is that I’d like to have an amazing time planned out for my mum’s birthday next month! 🎉🎂 An exciting thing that happened earlier this week is that I won a competition for two to go glamping on the Aran Islands and also a voucher for a diving academy!!! 💥 I entered it with my mum in mind, knowing she’s always wanted to stay close to the sea and this just feels magical! 💫 In thinking that I hadn’t won, I was going to get her a gift voucher for a stay there around this time which is really weird. It’s so strange how things work out and super lucky that I didn’t go ahead with that the night before I got told the good news! 🙌😆 My sister and I will be sure to put the diving academy opportunity to good use once we’ve learned how to swim! 🌊🙃 Good thing that one expires in 2026! 😂

One thing tho, in the moment of shock when I received the email that I’d won I only went and told my mum all about it didn’t I? 🙈🤣. That created a brilliant moment too though so I’m not that frustrated with myself. In my mind that can’t be her birthday present anymore because it has to be something with thought put into it specifically for the day, like what I have in mind! She knew I entered that competition wanting the getaway for her so that’s the icing and now I’ve got to think of the cake 😅😂. She deserves to be spoiled and I know she’s probably reading this so I’ll just stop talking right now! 💗 But yeah, there’s a holiday coming up in the future and I can’t wait!! 😭 My tears of joy are not a pretty sight 🤣.

Moving on, this is a pretty random goal for me but I’d like to take part in a writers challenge/set one for myself if I cannot find something that works! 📝 Last month I came across a challenge that spans an entire year and part of me wanted to go for it but then I thought: would I keep that up after coming from nothing at all like it? I mean it’s been so long since I dedicated time to any writing projects other than this blog (y’all are a project apparently 😅 I gotta get better at explaining myself). Could I go into something like that without baby steps and what even are baby steps with something like this?? I’ll have to look deeper into what’s out there and see if there are any schedule type things that show of a gradual climb in the writing process and where I’d be best to start. It’s kind of exciting! ⚡

And there we have it! I feel like this will be the best Summer yet!! 🌻 Someday I’ll look back at this list and hopefully a lot of it will make more sense and have a huge invisible tick beside it 😂🤞. My question of the week for you is: Compared to last year’s Summer, what do you want to do differently this time round? 🤔🌞 Personally, I want to remember it more. There are probably loads of pictures on my phone of what went on in Summer 2020 and my mind could be jogged of those memories (it was a load of zoom call video bakes, that’s what it was! 😂) but this time round I don’t want to have to rely on pictures if I can help it! Summer 2021 will speak for itself…well I’ll tell the story of it but you get memo! What season is it where you are? 🌞 ❄️ 🍁🌱 (Random order of emoji’s there) and what are your plans? Let me know in the comments below and I really hope you have the best time ever!! Stay safe, take care and I’ll see you again next Friday 😄💗xx.

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