{ my july }

Can somebody stop this year, I want to get off.

I'm sure I say this at the end of every month, and if I don't I certainly think it. But, is it just me, or is this year going really really quickly? I don't think I can blame this strange time phenomena on being really busy. Nicely busy, yes, really busy, not so much. The super productive month I was hoping for in June's reflective post didn't materialise in quite the way it could have done. I'm thinking more that tentative baby steps might be a better description for it. However, as I realise that we're hurtling at breakneck speed towards Autumn, Christmas, and Winter, and peak knitwear season, I really had better start taking bigger steps towards getting MissSmith up and running.

{ exploring }

A month which began with a trip to the Derbyshire Summer Market, which as usual was a delight, and led to me discovering a few more designers and makers. A day trip to Uppingham in Leicestershire led to a few more discoveries. An incredible pretty town, with an antiques centre that you can quite happily lose yourself in for a few hours, and home to a number of lovely independents, including Priddy Essentials, and Goodwin and Belle.

A happy discovery was another great independent coffee shop, almost on the doorstep. The Steamroom opened earlier this year, and it's combination of really good coffee, and a quieter location than that afforded Booboo Coffee and Peel & Stone, I think it may become my new favourite.

The month ended with the PopUp + Hustle market, hosted by Studio NL at their workshop in Tur Langton. A wonderful mix of designers, illustrators, ceramicists, and others were brought together under one roof, for a weekend celebrating local independents. A really lovely new find to end the month on, and the dates for their next one are already in my diary.

{ baking }

Slowly starting to bake again after a short break. The last of this years blackcurrants were baked on top of a madeira cake. Using Donna Hay's Olive Oil Madeira Cake, replacing the orange with lemon, and scattering a good handful of blackcurrants on top. The blackcurrants bake into a jam like consistency, adding a wonderful tart note to the cake. On a slightly healthier note, Madeleine Shaw's Buckwheat Granola made a change to my usual porridge, though it is incredibly moreish, and much like the cake, really needs to be put out of sight between servings.

{ painting }

Continuing to enjoy a little watercolour painting, as I finished the last couple of prints for a client. Really looking forward to seeing how these turn out on the finished product, and I'm happy that it's given me a bit more confidence to step away from the laptop and return to drawing and painting more. Plus I have a feeling it's a little better for my increasingly ageing eyesight.

{ freeing up my insta }

I don't think it's any secret that I love Instagram, but just recently there's been a feeling of Insta fatigue. Frustration with the change in algorithm's, the more recent phenomenon shadowbans, and a sense that Instagram has lost the spontaneity that was it's original intention. My feed is full of undeniably beautiful images, but I also know that in reality most of them are not captures of a moment, but are carefully curated, edited, captioned and scheduled, something of which I'm as guilty of as most. 

I know that I'm not alone in feeling this, but it was Allison Sadler who stepped up to the plate, with her hashtag #freeupyourinsta, which in her words, gives you the ' freedom to share whatever the f*ck you like your way '. 10,000 posts and counting, and if you fancy being an Insta rebel then round 2 starts tomorrow.

And so July, over, but for a few hours. In August I've got friends and family birthday's to look forward to, and a To Do list which reads something like this; Knit, Sell, Sleep, Repeat.

{ have a happy day }