Anyone fancy a Do something new every day thread?

[woodcutbirds]

Been discussing how much it helped kick me out of depression to do something - anything - every day that I'd not done before or not since childhood, or something I was scared to do. It made more difference than anything else.
Does anyone fancy having a go at doing something new every day for a week?

*downtown = down to

News here is that I think the baby birds fledged yesterday! I don't know if it's a bit early. Lots of friendly cats round here so I hope the birds are streetwise!
I lost steam yesterday but did manage to do some decluttering which is not a common thing for me. Also trying to find the right material for 'net' curtains which need to be quite opaque for privacy but let some light in.

I Tonya is a good film isnt it ADHD?
LOL Bunnylady. We used to keep Guinea pigs when DC were younger. Same thing. So cute and snuggly. They whistled with excitement when I peeled veg.

Coffee that is absolutely amazing!!! I'm really impressed by you. I read every word very happily! That's bravery as well as something new.

And I'm so glad the gardening has got you and your DP bonding over something worth doing. (Sounds like the paddle board has too.) I am so happy for you. You are inspiring me to be less timid in my list.

I've not done one today, unless you count picking out carpet samples. We've been in this house 14 years and still have the carpet down left from the previous owners. It's been steam cleaned to death and now it really does need to retire.

I need inspiration for more fun brave stuff to do. Any suggestions?
Today I could get the chiminea going. I've had it for years and only ever use it as a nut feeder for squirrels in winter! Maybe I could fire it up so we could sit around outside as the sun goes down.

Any suggestions on brave things to do?

Bloomed that's lovely news about the birds. I count sorting the house out too as I am so rubbish at it. Your post just reminded me, it's not just the carpet left over from previous owners - we still have their Roman blind up. I really need to update our house. That is something new.

Thanks so much woodcutbirds. I was really buzzing about it.

Lovely news about the baby birds BloomedAgain.

I had a very low key day today...my new thing was taking DD2 on a different route for our afternoon stroll. Went down a few roads I’ve never walked down before after living here for over 7 years.

I fired up the chiminea and we sat around it all evening until it got dark. It was lovely. We've had it for years and after the first few failed attempts to light it I gave up. Now it's working I'll keep using it.

Went for a lovely walk in a new part of the countryside today.

I painted some of the outside of my house yesterday. It looks much fresher .

Going to do the first bit of my chair re-upholster today, wish me luck!

@BloomedAgain would something like this work for letting in the light but without a pattern?

CoffeeChocolateWine the paddle boarding sounds amazing! Do you wear a wet suit or just risk it clothed? I love days that work out unexpectedly well like that!

@woodcutbirds i've not used a chiminea but was tempted to buy one last summer. Could you toast marshmallows in it? I'm not sure how old everyone's kids are but we have done a few new things over the last few days:

1. I bought a 2nd hand keyboard on ebay and dd and I have agreed to start to learn it
2. Tiger have little tubes of marbling paint at the moment (we got 3 diff sets for colour variety) but it reminded me of the fun we had with shaving foam and food colouring doing marbling. So you fill a large rectangular dish with either 1cm of water (tiger paints) or 1cm of shaving foam (food colouring) and drip the colours on top - the more the merrier - then use a toothpick to swirl before carefully laying paper on top to absorb the colours. You need newspaper set up to put the wet papers on to dry and kitchen roll to wipe off the foam (all in one direction straight after peeling off). Then you can use them to cut out shapes for cars/covering text books/making mounts for photo frames/covering boxes etc. Plus the shaving foam ones smell great

Haha - cards not cars! You'd be busy for a while with that idea!

@LonelyTiredandLow Thank you! that would be the right material. It couldn't be a blind though as it's just too big a window.
I'll look round for voile fabric, I wonder if they differ in opacity. I guess it might be even more opaque if I double layer it?

I have an unused chiminea! . I have nothing to put in it so will investigate.
I have made some big medical appointments coming up this week, so my new thing is refusing to be fobbed off. I hope.
Love the marbling and keyboard activities.

Hah, Lonely now I want to cover our car in marbled paper. That would be something new.

You probably could toast marshmallows over it but could get too smoky. May be better to stick them on long skewers and hold them in the chiminea once the embers are glowing.

Good luck with the medical appointments Bloomed

Bloomed John Lewis have voile curtains for £5 each, and there's a surprisingly large range at Dunelm online. Lots of different colours if you don't want white.

Thank you those John Lewis ones are bargainous!
I also see something called linen voile exists which could be slightly more opaque. It's a whole new world ...

Ooo, that marbling sounds like fun. Might have to give that a go!

I wore a wetsuit for the paddle boarding Lonely. It always gets chucked in even if I don’t usually end up using it!

Yesterday’s thing was a bubble bath with new bubbles. One of DD1’s friend’s Mum, who I don’t know all that well, very sweetly bought it for me around Christmas time saying that she’d noticed I was looking a bit run down (struggling to hold my shit and my family together would have been more accurate!) and might appreciate a treat for when I got a bit of ‘me time’.Five months later and I finally got my ‘me time’and a delicious smelling bubble bath! Bliss.

I’m feeling pressure today as haven’t yet done anything but have been vaguely looking at ways to be a bit more eco friendly. So been looking into swapping to a milkman service. Also trying to find an alternative to wrapping sandwiches in foil or clingfilm. Is there such a thing as a reusable sandwich wrap? I know I could a reusable tub but that’s likely to just be more plastic isn’t it? What’s an alternative?

Really impressed at learning the keyboard...great idea, Lonely! Piano is one of my big loves in life...started age 4 and now do a bit of teaching. It is great to have something to focus on and do with you child and is the most wonderful escapism. Good luck with it

Coffee there's a wrap made from beeswax (I think) A very eco friend of mine uses it. In the old days, people used to wrap sandwiches in muslin squares or clean handkerchiefs and then wash them.

Today's big thing was going into a local gym and being given a tour. I desperately need to get fit so I''m wondering if/hoping that being a member will be an incentive to go regularly.

Sometimes the smallest things bring a disproportionate amount of joy.

I bought these Guatemalan dolls online on a whim. When it arrived I was slightly disappointed as I thought I had got only one doll. I was sure in the picture there were 5 or 6. Imagine my joy when I realised the one doll was not actually a doll it was a bag and in the bag were 6 tiny Guatemalan worry people.

The little card says "in the Highands of Guatemala where people are of Mayan descent a story is told. it is said that if you tell one worry to each worry person when you go to bed at night and place them under your pillow in the morning all your worries will be taken away." That's a lovely thought, I can imagine the children doing it.

I keep looking at them and thinking "look, look at the tiny worry people!"

I am going to have to go to Guatemala now!

They are so tiny! Glad they are bringing you joy ADHD> I used to have some in my twenties. No idea where they went.

We have little worry dolls. My 10yo niece was doing a lot about mental health in school and suffers from anxiety herself and specifically asked for some worry dolls for Christmas. I ended up buying her a set and both my children. My DD in particular adores them and I do occasionally find a doll under her pillow. I sometimes feel a little sad that there’s something bothering her and she hasn’t told me about it but if it helps to tell a worry doll then that can only be a good thing too.

Coffeechocolatewine That's lovely. I'm sure if it was a really big worry your DD would be able to come to you too.

Love your worry dolls. First of the difficult medical appointments of the week over but I'm washed out now. Tomorrow is the big consultant appointment. I have bought myself a sun hat which is the new thing of today.