My Month in Numbers ~ June 2013

I didn’t do much counting in April and May, but June proved to be a very good month for numbers so I’m joining in again. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then go check out Julie’s blog, where you’ll find all the information you need.

It began on the very first day of the month, when I drove 45 miles to meet up with a group of 17 lovely ladies (and a couple of chaps) in Burbage. The drive was a bit nerve wracking, with an intermittent fault light flashing at me. I’d stopped to check the manual, before I was too far from home, and rung The Mechanic. His response? Just keep driving and if you break down, call the AA. Thanks then!

I made it there in one piece, if a little frazzled. I had a brilliant day with wonderful company and the most amazing lunch laid on by Jan. They don’t call her Lunch Lady for nothing. It was fun matching people up with their blogs and deciding if their real life personality matched how they came across on line. I don’t know about you (if you’ve ever met any blog friends) but it’s all about the voices for me. So often people sound totally unexpected and I always ‘hear’ blog posts in their owner’s accents for ever afterwards.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one weekend, there was more to come. The following day I drove (5 miles) to Shaftesbury, to meet up with these 6 lovely boys. We met for coffee in King Alfred’s Kitchen, a favourite hang out when we were sixth formers. Back in the day, they’d have spare tea bags in their pockets and ask for an extra jug of hot water, to eke out the stay as long as possible!

We spent almost 7 hours together and the conversation and laughter flowed, with barely a pause. The casual observer would never have guessed that it had been 26 years since we were last all together. We’ll not leave it so long next time.

There were 13 days between my boy’s last exam and the end of the month and we went out on 2 mini expeditions. One of them took us to Stourhead, which we are extremely lucky to have virtually on our doorstep. We spent 2 hours there and I took 59 photos. 5 of them featured in my Scavenger Hunt round up on Friday.

These 3 little ducks dashed out from the undergrowth and crossed our path as we walked past.

We spied this group of Canada Geese, but all attempts to count them failed and even with a photograph in front of me I’m still not sure. I’ll leave it to you to decide.

I taught my card class on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. We made 5 cards and a Post-It note holder between the 2 classes and I now have a total of 8 lovely ladies who come along each week. Next Wednesday we are moving into a bigger room, because we have outgrown our current home.

This may seem like a bit of a random selection, but I did have a vague idea of a theme in mind when I chose them. You may remember, way back at the beginning of February, I posted about my word for the year and haven’t mentioned it since. These numbers are a good illustration, I think, of how I have been connecting and reconnecting with people in my every day life.

The final batch of numbers for this month are all related to my blog, another great way of connecting. I managed 13 posts, a record number compared to other months this year. I gained 7 new followers, having been stuck at 122 for an age. A warm welcome to you all. I reached my 300th post and had a little giveaway, inspired by Sian’s Great Big Swap of Little Things and the 3 winners are:

• Twinkle Star
• Scrappy Jacky
• Ladykis

If you are a winner, please could you get in touch, with your address and a preferred colour scheme eg bright, neutral, subtle. Thank you.

My email is angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com.

We’re planning on another little foray tomorrow, to tick off a few more items on the Scavenger Hunt list. I hope to share them in the evening. See you then.

PS My blog visiting/commenting has ground to a halt this week. I’m mourning the loss of Google Reader and not really feeling the love for Bloglovin’. What are you using now and are you happy with it? I think I need an alternative. Something more like Google Reader, if such a thing exists. All suggestions gratefully received.