five little pleasures :)

thanks so much to my bestest friend Carrie for this idea click here! - finally here's my own version.

 ..... the first coffee when I get home from a crazy day at work - sadly there's no photograph as I drank it hours ago! but it's the best coffee of the whole day :)

..... knowing that I have two whole days off work - yay! this weekend was pretty crazy busy because of the Scallop Festival on Valentia; Saturday was especially busy; but now I have two full days to relax and unwind before throwing myself back into the craziness again. This time of year is our peak season (well for the next 3-4 weeks) and I find it so tiring; having these five little pleasures will help me to stop and breathe and appreciate the good things :)

 ..... finding my 4th ever coconut on the beach -- this would have come all the way from South America, most likely! It's so special to find one - unfortunately this one is cracked right through the shell of the 'nut' inside so I'm going to try to dry it out so that I can still keep it. It's too special to have left there!

.....  freshly picked selection of fruits from the garden - there are so many loganberries that the birds are scoffing half of them but I don't mind as long as there are still plenty for me ;)

  .....  rediscovering one of my favourite crochet spots - I used go here a lot last Summer and sit in the shade on hot sunny days (I'm not one to just bask in the full sun like a lot of people tend to do); well today I rediscovered this lovely big rock! there's a small rock-pool for me to dip my toes in too while I'm relaxing - life doesn't get better than that....

I did it!

Woo-hoo I made my 'goal' of having 400 Etsy sales before the third anniversary of my first ever sale - yay!

I'm even up to #404 now so things are moving along towards my next goal...ha ha.

I'm about to do my first craft fairs of the 'season' - with Portmagee market next Wednesday, if I can get myself organised, and then on Sunday afternoon there's a craft fair as part of the Valentia Scallop Festival and I'm delighted to be taking part there too - this will be my third year selling there!

I'm a bit apprehensive about whether it's a good idea to go to the markets as my stock is pretty limited to just hats and wrist warmers, and I'm not sure if many people will be buying them in the middle of a heatwave! But it's worth a try, and my own fault for not having got around to making more of the cotton beach bags - I'm in the middle of one of them at the moment but it won't be ready for Wednesday! I should try and be more organised really...

Here are some summery photos from the last while - I've been going to crochet at the beach as much as I can lately, it really helps me relax, especially at this time of year when things are starting to get bonkers on the ferry.

And here are my new slouchy hats!

I've sold one already, which I'm thrilled about, and I'm really hoping they will sell well at the markets :)