My Month in Numbers: the communal count - opinions wanted!

Hi, hi.

How's things? It's been a wonderfully sunny day here and tomorrow is tipped to be the warmest of the year ... which reminds me ...

During May's Month in Numbers post I floated the idea that occasionally we might all keep a count or record the numbers of the same sort of thing so that we can compare our vital statistics ... and temperature was one of the categories I had in mind. Not that I'm quite sure how that'd work ... but maybe it could be something like we all note down the average temperature where we live one month? Maybe!

But while I'm still not certain on the details ... I am sure that, as a general idea, it would be worth trying because, really, we've done it before. Remember? ...

Last year many of you joined in with my Height of Summer project where we blogged about how tall [or not] we were.

And, after sharing those figures we suddenly all had a clearer picture of how we'd measure up if we all got together and lined up in size order. Just those 3 little numbers somehow revealed so much more about us and made for some great blog-reading.  [OK, so many of us cheated and tried to add extra numbers-  I personally added the all important 1/4 inches to my otherwise measly 5ft 2!]

And so ... I'm hoping that this new communal [and entirely optional] addition to My Month in Numbers might give us a similar - but more regular - glimpse into how we're alike ... and where we differ!

And I'd love to hear your ideas on what we could measure and record ...

If you saw my May Month in Numbers [or the scrapbook page I made afterwards] you'll have seen the tally-chart I made while keeping count of all the hours of crime drama I watched during the month. And, in a similar vein I already document the number of books I read each ... and I thought maybe in a future month we could all count the number of films we watch.

But what else is there?

I know it's inevitable that whatever topic I choose there'll be someone who doesn't feel it applies to them [like if I asked you to count how many episodes of The Archers you listened to or how many Root Beers you drank. Or how many Root Beers you drank while listening to The Archers.]

So, I'd like to get a feel for what you think.

• What could you count up, collate, document, scribble on a notebook throughout a month?
• What is there that's specific enough to keep track of ... 
• ... but general enough that someone else could play along with?

Once you've thrown some ideas at me I'll try to pull out the common threads from your responses and come up with some categories for future My Month in Numbers posts ... and we'll see how it goes from there!

So, get thinking and get back to me - you don't need to be a My Month in Numbers blogger to lob in a suggestion. The more ideas the better. Thank you in advance.

 Right, I'm going to duck out of the way while you start throwing ...

Julie :-)

Simply a Moment [June]: Then off, off forth ...

Hi, hi.

Things have been veeeeeerrrrry quiet around here this month, I know. If you subscribe to my occasional email catch-up / update/ chatter then you'll have heard from me last week ... but other than that ...

I've been having a little healthy I'm-keeping-away-before-I-begin-to resent-blogging-blog-break or ... if you followed my Push-Up Bra Blogging series then I've been taking what we might also refer to as: 'The Kenny Rogers Approach'.  Know when to walk away ... and all that!

However ... as I also covered in that series ... it's useful to have a few regular themes and on-going types of post in your repertoire, just to keep you pottering along during the dry spells [or the times when just looking at your blogging dashboard makes you shudder]. And so ...

...  I wanted to pop in today to share my response to the 'Simply A Moment' meme created by Simply Alexa where once a month, you can stop, pause and record something which could otherwise have disappeared into the ether. [To learn more you can read Alexa's tips on how to record your own moments and  if you do join in, there's a link box there for you to add your post.]

Then off, off forth ...*

Date: Saturday 15th June2013
Time: 10:35am > onwards
Location: a walk from home to Tesco

"So, how long do you think this'll take then?" asks James of the walk we've got planned. A man more used to being a driver than a pedestrian.

"30, 35 minutes" I reply, casting my mind back to the last time I walked a similar route.

I glance down, check the time on my watch - 10.34ish - and we head off up the drive and out into the street.

"I don't think I've ever walked this far along here in this direction before" he states once we pass the post box.

"You've never lived". I reply, smiling, shaking my head at the suburban safari we're now taking, where the main road I've trodden countless times is suddenly the road less travelled.

Not even 5 minutes from home and here's the rain. Light, sporadic, but enough to make my hair unruly. So out comes my floral print shower-proof mac. Pulling the hood up I think, mmm, yes, shower proof .... maybe. But deluge proof? No way. And I scan the sky for threateningly dark clouds and fortunately find none. Anyway ... this is an adventure after all, I don't think Dr. Livingstone here will be letting rain stop play.

We both step aside to allow an elderly man on a motorised chair to pass. Moments later, as if in an act of universal balance, a young boy on a scooter whizzes by propelling himself enthusiastically with his young legs.

"We'd get there quicker if we'd come on one of those" James says as the boy accelerates away out of sight. "The only thing is ... if you hit anything ... you got straight over the top".

Probably best not to let me near one then.

As we walk parallel to the playing fields the wind - like the hand of an older, teasing sibling - holds me back. Pushes my shoulders. Ruffles my hair.

With it's bluster in my ears I hear a line from a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem* repeating in my head: "the hurl and gliding rebuffed the big wind."

Do you hear that wind? I'm rebuffing you I think as we round the corner in front of the Fire Station where I come to a halt. James slows and turns to me, questioning.

"I need a 'fire truck' for the Summertime Photo Scavenger Hunt" I explain. But we look, and there are none parked outside. And I don't think they'd take kindly to me asking to be let in with my camera.

But never mind there's always ...

"Do you think this  would pass for 'a nature preserve'?" I ask, sceptically, of the area of playing field that, after flooding several years back, never dried out and now resembles a mangrove swamp and is inhabited by various ducks and moorhens:

"I don't see why not" he replies. And so I take out my camera and seek out the birds.

And for a moment I'm Hushpuppy from Beasts of the Southern Wild and this isn't a damp corner of a suburban town but a flooded bayou. Then I take the photos and we move along.

Looking down all I see is litter. Discarded correspondence bearing the letterhead from the nearby secondary school. A Pepsi Max tin. An empty bottle of '75% stronger' windscreen wash.

But, raising my eyes higher, I spot a horse in the field. And above that, the hills. My hills. Our hills.

"If you didn't know there were so many houses in between here and there" says James gesturing to the hilltops "you'd never know from here would you?" asks James.

"No." I reply, "It's glorious." Click:

"So, how long's it taken then?" asks James as we turn our backs to the scenery and wait for a break in traffic to cross the road and head into the supermarket. Our destination.

 

Looking at my watch and counting up the time elapsed I say: "25 minutes ... I can't believe it ... I was sure it usually took longer than that" I'm baffled.

 

"And we've been dawdling" I say, thinking about all that Scavenger hunting and mangrove daydreaming.  

 

"Yes, there's been dawdling" he repeats.

 

"Maybe I've got faster?" I ponder.

 

"Maybe you have". 

 

And [because this is what I'm like] I want to think there's something pithy and profound in this moment, in this reply. But I think he literally just means I walk faster.

 

Maybe I dawdle more when I'm walking on my own ... or maybe it just feels longer ... and then we cross the road. Together.   

 

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So that's my June moment - don't forget to hop over to visit Alexa where you can join in with your own too.

And, if you're a poetry lover ... and even if you're not ... you might like to read through The Windhover - the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem I referred to.

I'll see you later this week.

Julie :-)

Scrapbooking 'My Month in Numbers': May 2013

Hello, hello.

Here's a confession for you: I've worn the same dress for two days in a row now [don't worry, I'll wear a fresh one tomorrow. I promise]. And as a result of this fact, this morning, after I'd pulled the dress over my head, straightened myself up and then looked in the mirror do you know what I found stuck to my chest? Something which must have been lurking down the cleavage from the last time I wore it?

A turquoise number '6' sticker. Naturally.

Which, really, should give you a clue as to what I was doing while wearing the dress yesterday. [Come on. Surely you know me well enough by now?]. Here's a big clue [and by 'clue' I mean 'the answer']:

Since creating the 'Month in Musings' printable journaling card set this is my 2nd attempt at a Month in Numbers scrapbook page.

My last layout, which was actually my first layout ... oh,  you know what I  mean. OK, my previous Month in Numbers layout [April's] was quite minimal, linear and with a reduced colour-palette. So, this time around I wanted to showcase some of the brighter cards in the Month in Musings set. Like these:

I also wanted to have lots of layering on this one - partly to show you can use lots of cards on one page [I've used 4 here] and also to get to use quite a few patterned papers in there too [they really are my favourite crafty supply!]. 

Plus I wanted to make room on it not only for a few small photos, but for the tally-chart I made last month counting up all the hours of crime drama I'd watched. For a moment there I almost went to print off the photo I'd taken of it - which I shared here in my April Month in Numbers post. But then ...  I realised ... I could just tear it out of the notebook and stick it to my layout! Am I a genius or what? Just call me Sherlock ...

And of course, as I'm faithfully keeping track of all the books I read this year I listed them here on one of the printable cards:

[BTW: as much I loved The Silver Linings Playbook book ... I've just realised I read it in June ... and not May ... so it's going to have to come off that page now!

But at least that's one of the advantages of having a printable set of cards - I can just go and print out a new one!

And no - I didn't do it deliberately to make a savvy marketing point - I'm just an idiot!

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This month I'm keeping a tally of all the people who join in with My Month in Numbers [the majority of which I've been able to pin to the board]. If you haven't already joined in with your May facts + figures yet there's no closing date ... whenever you're ready so am I.

I'll be back later in the week when we can have that chat about what we could all count up together one month ... get your thinking caps on and I'll catch up with you soon.

Julie :-)

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p.s: I've had a substantial shop update in the last week, with more new products on the way, hence how quite things have been here. But there's lots going on over there, so if you're looking for a little crafty kit treat ... hop over and see what floats your paper boat. 

My Month in Numbers 2013: May

Hello, hello.

How's May been for you?

Traditionally it's a pretty decent month round here what with: 2 bank holidays, a birthday, an anniversary and breaking up from my Uni job for the summer all to look forward to ... and fortunately this month's kept with those traditions. It's been pretty decent here. No complaints really.

So how about we get straight to the numbers behind the days?

21 years = how many years together James and I celebrated:

I'd like you to believe that I was betrothed to him at birth and that I'm a mere 21 years old. It's not true ... but we can pretend can't we?

10oz = the weight of the steak I ate during our anniversary lunch:

We had planned to visit a little bistro we like but, when we arrived, there was a sign saying it was closed due to a function being held there. So we wracked our brains as to where to go and drove around, stomach's rumbling, yet trying to find somewhere equally as nice to eat seeing as it was for a special occasion.

 

[I was wearing a new dress for goodness sake - you can't let that go to waste in a McDonald's Drive-Thru can you?]

 

Eventually we ended up at a pub which we hadn't been to for many, many years and which has changed its appearance, name and, fortunately, its menu since we were last there ...

 

While eating our rather nice meal, in quite sophisticated surroundings I remembered the cheese and onion sandwiches we used to have when we used to visit there in the 1990s when we first got together!

 

Maybe we were never meant to visit the bistro of our plans. Maybe this detour, which inspired us to reminisce was what was meant to happen all along. Who knows ...

Page 41 = the page the story about my Push-Up Bra fundraising  appeared on in my local paper:

 As someone who's pretty coy at times it took me a while to work up to actually opening up the paper and seeing myself in print. [I'm talking days here! Although I did see an online version on the day].

But my parents are obviously less shy about seeing one of their offspring in print and phoned to tell me they'd bought a copy and seen the story, and that it was almost a full page etc etc .... then I could hear my Dad in the background telling Mam to tell me about what was on page 40, opposite me.

Because it was this ...

There was an awful lot of Kirk going on across that double-page spread!

5 = the number of books read [you can hop to my reading list Pinterest board if you want to visit the books in question]:

 I read Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke by Rob Long almost in one sitting. It's a memoir of a writer of US comedy series and, as you might expect, it was funny!! Perfect for you if you like Curb Your Enthusiasm or Episodes or just laughing!

As for One Big Damn Puzzler ... it's a real treat [complete with fab Rob Ryan cover design]. Set on an island ... with lots of allusions to Shakespeare plays ... and featuring a native elder who's translating Hamlet into pidgin English. [Slight word of warning ... it's rather scatological in parts so ... just don't read it while / before eating.]

6 = the number of books borrowed from a different library than usual. [I know ... it's a wild and varied life I lead isn't it?]. And the truth is ... I was a little bit giddy.

You know when you're aware of how much you're smiling, and you try to stop yourself [in case you look insane] ... yet no matter how hard you try you can't keep the corners of your mouth from curling up?  Well, that was me.

Later that day I heard James talking on the phone to his Dad [who must have asked where we'd been that day] saying: "We went to Stockton library ... because Julie's read all the books in Middlesbrough".

Perhaps I've been slightly exaggerating when I've been complaining about not being able to find anything to read in my regular library? Due to documenting my 2013 reading list, both in My Month in Numbers and on the Pinterest board, I know precisely how many books I've read ... and in all honesty I can't really claim it's 'all the books in Middlesbrough' ... not just yet!

1, 3 + 116 = the issue numbers of the 3 different magazines I created for this month.

1000 words = the word count I was given to write about My Month in Numbers for a new magazine. Needless to say, as I was describing my precious blog-baby, I went over the 1000. By about 200 words. I think going over a certain number of words while you're writing about numbers can be filed away under 'ironic'.

50.5* = the number of hours spent watching crime drama this month:

* this number could increase if I watch something tonight of course and it doesn't take into account the fact we watched some Sherlock more than once when there was nothing else on TV. Oh and ... I didn't count that 20mins of Luther I watched while flicking between channels last night either!

I don't normally do this - set myself a specific thing to measure, a specific number to total-up, a specific action to keep track of all month - but I thought that it might be fun for a change!

I love crime / legal / murder-mystery dramas and I always have. I have fond memories of bonding with my Grandma throughout my childhood over a good episode of Columbo or L.A Law!  And it continues to this day for me. But even though I knew I loved this kind of TV ... I still didn't expect my viewing of it to add up to over 2 whole days from the month!

Makes me wonder if I've transgressed some European Union time-directive ...

[Pssst: as this tally-charting was quite fun this month I'm thinking of broadening it out and opening it up so you could join me from time to time ... where we could all count the same thing so we can compare .. but more on this next month. OK?]

And finally ... here's a fool proof way you can feel 20+ years younger next month ... seriously ... take my word for it ... it happened to me ...  

I made a deliberate trip to the shops to buy two things.

Two things that had the power to make the years fall away.

Two things which, unlike expensive face serums or plastic surgery, didn't cost the earth or require stitches.

So what, exactly, are those two magical things that can you purchase in your local supermarket on the same day [like I did] that can whizz you straight back so you feel like your teenage self [like I did]? 

Well, they're ...

1.  a newly released CD you've been eagerly anticipating even down to calendar watching for the release date [in my case it was Vampire Weekend] plus ... and this is the clincher ...
2. ...  a tube of spot cream!

And suddenly ... you're 15 again!

Try it for yourself ...

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OK - they were mine - what were yours? You're welcome, as always to throw your numbers in the direction of me and the ever-expanding band of international Month in Numbers bloggers out there ...

Here's how to join us:
If you've never joined in before there's a lot more information on the Month in Numbers page - including a 'How To' guide for you to take inspiration from. [You don't need to follow any guidelines other than those I'm about to set out below ... everything else I'll leave up to your own creative  interpretation!]

If you want to share a link to your Month in Numbers post / photo / layout etc for me to then visit, comment on, and then pin to the communal Month in Numbers Pinterest board then ...

• Leave a link to it in a comment on this blog post ... but ... 
• When you swing by my blog to drop off a link to your Month in Numbers post - please leave a comment for me while you're there. Not because I'm needy ... but because it's nice to not be link-bombed where all I can see is the dust your link left as it hits the ground ...
• Please remember to link to my blog in your post. As much as I'd like to think that everyone who reads your blog already knows what 'My Month in Numbers' is [hey, it's nice to be popular, right?] ... the truth is, they don't. So unless you explain to your readers where the idea comes from and how your readers can join in too, then they'll never know.
• And finally ... please try to take time at some point in the coming month to visit and comment on a few of the other posts too. It's always a real thrill reading through everyone's experiences and spotting patterns, coincidences and similarities between us all. As Maya Angelou once said: we are more alike than unalike!
• Any further numbery questions - just ask - my email's in the sidebar.

Right then ... let the counting commence ... see you in June!

Julie :-)

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p.s: don't forget there's now official Month in Numbers merchandise with 'Month in Musings' - the first of a new range - of 'memory-keeping by numbers' printable journaling cards. [Available to purchase as a download from my Etsy shop AND via SJ Dowsett's Little Musings store.

Card making: It's lovely! [Hopefully *lovely* anyway. I can't tell. It's in Russian!]

Well hello there. Come in, come in.

No need to take your shoes off. You can't see dirt on this floor anyway. [A masterstroke on my part selecting a grey and brown striped carpet!]. Anyways ...

... here's a mini card I made featuring one heat-embossed heart, [washed-over with colour from a spray-ink bottle + a paintbrush] plus ... one little hand-cut foreign text heart.

Which all kind of builds up to me not being able to resist introducing it as  ... from Russia ... with love:

The small vintage text paper packs I have in the shop have been popular lately - the 'Numbers & Diagrams' sets in  particular - so ... I thought I'd draw your attention to the 'Foreign Language' text packs as another option:

I've managed to collect a fair few foreign language books which, of course, are only 'foreign' to me! I would re-name them but 'non-English language' packs doesn't sound as catchy ... but I fully accept that some of them won't be foreign to some of you!

I can always create custom packs - or I'm happy just to take suggestions for the future too - but here's what you can find inside the current sets:

... each pack contains several sheets of each language ...

I like to use them as backgrounds in journal pages as well as for stamping on to, and for smaller, focal points such as die-cut flowers ... and hearts.

And ... while I may not be able to read what this actually says ... I can rest assured that it's not anything rude or risqué because ... it came from an old book on nuclear physics!

All the other papers in the packs come from traditional phrase books and, unless I've missed anything, there aren't any untoward phrases translated in them!

The current batch of 'Foreign Language' packs are just £4 and you can find them here.

If you treat yourself then do enjoy them ...

... whatever they might say!

Julie :-)