Greetings and Salutations All & A Happy New Year!!
I bet a few of you have hangovers today hahaha - a few parties and few too many drinks later!
Did you make any New Year's resolutions?
We spent our New Year's Eve at home, nothing special really - I managed to clean out my Greenhouse of all plants and give it a good sweep through. We then sat under the gazebo and Paul wrote a couple of new guitar tracks, so we listened to him and sang along whilst I was repotting a fern and ripping up cardboard/paper for composting. Caetlyn was doing her knitting (swearing a lot because she miss counted or dropped a stitch... hahaha) and Mavis the dog was just following anyone around to see if she could help or sleeping under the table!
Later in the day we just had a normal meal, watched a bit of telly and then played scrabble until it was time to wish each other a HAPPY NEW YEAR. We did consume a lot of sweets and biscuits/cookies though - which we con't normally do as we have reduced our sugar and salt intake over 2024 quite substantially, so when we have a burst of sugar like this, it does disrupt our bodily patterns somewhat!
As it was also the New Moon, a time to start something new, a fresh beginning as it is the start of the new moon cycle. I did light my huge candle and some incense to welcome in the new year - however, I don't really get excited about it because our (witchy) new year isn't until Samhain on 1st May.
This year in the Chinese Horoscope it is the year of the Wood Snake (which means it's Paul's year this year). That doesn't come into effect until 29th January 2025.
Thinking of 2025 - I do hope that this year will be a better year than the previous 3 years, which have been a bit rough - and even though I do not make resolutions (as I am always disappointed in myself when they all fall apart), there are a few things (goals perhaps?) I would like to do:
1. Keep trying to get fitter and healthier - as I am getting older I need to make sure that I maintain my flexibility and fitness levels so that I don't end up on the "Medication Merry-go-Round". I believe that Mother Nature has provided us with all the help we need in the forms of herbs and food for medicine. I have created a spreadsheet for the next 6 months with every detail I need to form an opinion on patterns (good or bad) so that I can tweak my fitness progress:
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| Front Page of my Fitness Plan |
I have included things like exercise, rest, daily health assessments, supplements taken, fortnightly weight and monthly body measurements. With this information I should be able to see what progress I am making, and if I am not making progress, I should be able to see where I am failing with all the collected information. I also have a page for NOTES after each month and on there - well it's like a journal - I put my feelings on certain days so I can see if there are any cycles or patterns there.
It should be all very interesting!!
2. I would like to progress my YouTube channel by varying the content on there, hoping I will get more followers (but if I don't, ah well C'est Lavie), I will still have fun documenting my journey in life...
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| My YouTube Banner Annette McLean's YouTube |
3. I would like to learn how to make my own soap - from scratch - right now I have done the melt and pour soap, and I am about to embark on the reusing the old soap bits that usually get thrown away - to make soap bars... but I would really love to learn how to make pure soap from scratch, using the oils I have infused with herbs and flowers from my garden. I am a bit wary about the Lye though - I have heard that can be quite a thing to get used to!!
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| Melt & Pour Lavender Soap |
I thought that the soap and pour ones were very easy to do and with the soap colours, they looked quite pretty (plus I did put some Lavender blossoms and oil in the mix as well). For my first try I was quite pleased with them - I did some flowers and some stars - it was a gift for a friend (along with a load of other witchy items) that was moving interstate.
4. I want to repaint and redecorate my witchy room come office.... I want to make it feel more mystical and magickal, full of beautiful things that make me feel peaceful and joyful.
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| My messy work desk and Altar |
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| My witchy cupboards and a load of mess |
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| My bookshelves filled with odds & sods (mess) |
However, if I don't get to these things this year - there is always a next, I am not going to be putting undue pressure on myself just to prove a point.
To do my room I will probably have a month off in either April or May so that I can take my time and get it how I want it.
Isn't it lovely to have a new year, a fresh start? To get rid of ALL the negative aspects out of your life (as much as possible - unless you live in a cottage deep in the heart of a wild forest somewhere, where nobody visits and you have no media to drag you down, just nature) and just breathe a sigh of relief, knowing YOU are in FULL control of what happens in your life - sure, those around you or situations can influence that and how you react, but at the end of the day - YOU are the one who makes the decisions for YOU!!
Take control of that aspect this year - say NO more to things that you don't want to do - even at the risk of upsetting someone you love or the boss at work!
This year is a time of YOU
Now you might think that this is self-centred... and maybe it is to a point, but we have all been living under a man made stress for so long despite our mental and physical health. Self Care is NOT self-centred, it is hard to be everything to everyone if your health is on the brink of crumbling around you.... To be strong, you NEED to concentrate on getting YOU right FIRST. That is why NO is going to be the word of 2025....
If you don't want to go to a party and you would rather stay home in your PJ's with your cat/dog, watching something on TV or reading a book - then say NO.
If you don't want to take on more responsibility at work, tell them that you don't have the capacity to do that - say NO.
If you have a gut feeling that something isn't right and you don't want to proceed - then NO!!
It just amounts to prioritising YOU first.
Anyway, enough of me ranting - I'm off to spend some time in nature (my back garden), so have a lovely first day of January 2025 - get some rest, eat well, spend some time in nature and breathe in all that goodness, and I will catch you in the next blog or vlog on YouTube.
Blessings to you all )O( xxx
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