New Year - New Coddiwomples
A new Venture
Hello and welcome to my new look newsletter. I’m still getting to grips with this new platform so please forgive me if it looks a bit clunky for a while! I hope Christmas and the New Year were kind to you and I wish you everything you wish for yourselves in 2024.
If you’re discovering me for the first time via Substack and are wondering what the hecky peck “coddiwomple” is all about,then please do have a read of my recent (ish) blog which will explains more what “coddiwomple” means to me and why I believe we all coddiwomple.
Was it just me or did December seem to pass in a blur?! I love the build up to Christmas as from 1st December (not the end of the summer like some of our shops would like us to believe!) Highlights for me are going to cut down our chosen tree from a local Tree farm the week before Christmas and attending a carol concert at Pashley Manor Gardens in Sussex, where I work. This is mainly for staff and the owners’ friends & neighbours and they invite a local brass band to come along to keep us all on track, helped along very nicely with mulled wine and mince pies! It sets us up perfectly for the next few festive days ahead.
I love choosing presents that are slightly off the beaten track and therefore feel a bit more personal. This year I’m sending Tim off for a day in a blacksmith’s forge in Amberley, West Sussex and I can’t wait to see what he comes back with!
Tim and I enjoyed a brief trip to Windsor in the Betwixt time where we explored the picturesque, historic town. Unfortunately we started to develop a virus while we were there which meant we didn’t explore as much as we would have liked to, but it was still a lovely break nonetheless. It made such a refreshing change to see a busy shopping centre with nearly all the retail units filled not just with the usual chains but also with smaller, local businesses. The bug really took hold on our return and confined us to barracks for New Year’s Eve. No glasses of fizz for us, we were tucked up in bed by 10.30 with our hot lemon drinks!
This downtime gave me a perfect opportunity to catch up on some reading and I got stuck into “Notes from a Small Island” by the well known travel writer, Bill Bryson. He describes his trials and tribulations travelling around the British Isles in a manner that is laugh-out-loud funny and well worth the read. I would love to be able to write like that!
How are you feeling about the new year? Personally, I’m not too sure about the “new year, new me” routine. I prefer to set smaller, more attainable intentions and one of mine this year is to spend at least 5-10 minutes a day creating art in my sketchbook, whether it be a quick doodle, a quick sketch or just experimenting with mark making. It’s a great way to have fun and lose the perfectionism block as the sketches don’t have to be perfect. Here are a couple of pictures I have created this week. It’s great for calming a busy mind too, I really recommend giving it a go. All you need to get started is a piece of paper and a pen and just start doodling.
I’m also taking part in a couple of Manifesting Challenges this month, which are great fun and encourage us to get clear on what we wish for ourselves and our lives. I’ll let you know how I got on in next month’s newsletter.
Well, I think that’s about it from me this month, thank you for reading this and I look forward to coddiwompling with you again in February.
Sending much love,
Wendy x