A Look Back at October!

Posted 16th Nov 2021 1 Comment by Zita Norton

One of my goals for this year was to write at least one blog post a month.

And so far I’m on track to achieve that goal, which is really blowing my mind.

I’ve written monthly overviews for every month since January, and have even managed to write other blog posts in between.

The point is, I’m very proud of achieving this.

Between ADHD and chronic pain, I find it very difficult to stick to routines and find consistency within my life.

And yet, I’ve managed to make it this far with blogging.

I’m thrilled honestly.

But we’re not at the end of the year yet, so let’s keep going with the monthly look-backs!

October was birthday month!

I was very spoilt for turning 28, with some delightful presents AND a home cooked roast meal by my housemates.

Not pictured:

Wrestling merch
A drawing of Mikasa by Kyda
Lego flowers
Two journals
A NASA sweater
Harry Potter Cluedo
Wall hanging macrame
A candle + potpourri
One of David Attenborough’s books, that my Nana had given my Grandad as an anniversary present in the 80s

Giving and receiving gifts is my number one love language, so I felt extremely grateful and spoilt this year.

Aside from birthday October also signals a bigger shift into Spring, and Halloween!

I planted the seeds and seedlings of several veggies and fruits in an attempt to get my very first veggie garden going!

I planted a mix of seedlings + seeds:

Carrots
Zucchini (from seed)
Baby broccoli
Pumpkins (from seed)
Tomatoes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Basil (from seed)
Cat grass (from seed)

It doesn’t look like this anymore – the raspberry bush has been planted in the garden, I was able to grab two raised garden beds off Facebook marketplace so the zucchinis + broccoli are in there now, and everything else has been repotted.

I’m very excited to show you all where it’s up to now in November’s overview. I’ve already harvested two stalks of broccoli and a strawberry.

Just call me Farmer Zita 👩🏼‍🌾

(If you want a sneak peek, head to my Instagram and check out the highlight “Frost Hollow” 👀)

With spring really starting to show, I’ve also been out and about taking some more photos.

I’m really enjoying this time of year, which is funny because historically I have always detested spring and summer. I love the cold, the rain, the coziness of winter.

But perhaps just like my seedlings, I too am going through a stage of growth.

Or maybe I’ve just missed the sun after a hard winter.

Either way, I’m stoked I’m enjoying it all.

And speaking of enjoying myself, I went back to the hairdressers in October and went even MORE ginger than last time!

It’s faded a bit with a few washes, so now my hair is this gorgeous strawberry blonde, which is exactly what we were aiming for. But I also loved being a very vibrant red head for a couple of weeks.

Bilv, nail tech extraordinaire, also did my nails for Halloween. I can’t get them done in a salon because of my CRPS. Bilv’s the only one I trust to go near my arm with mini-power tools, and even then it still took around 3 hours because I needed little breaks.

But the nails turned out amazing and I LOVE them.

We also lost power for a day (part of scheduled maintenance) so we had to improvise. Kyda took my laptop to the library to work (their laptop is away for repairs), Bilv went to a cafe with his iPad to draw, Jack went to work with cows (and yes, we are trying to convince him that “bring your housemates to work day” is a thing) and I stayed at home and just. Sat.

I cleaned a bit in the morning before the power went out, but then I just lit the fire and pretended I was living in a Jane Austen novel.

It was dark and dreary so I traversed the grounds in between bouts of rain looking at my plants, I journaled, I read & I boiled water over the fire until the power came back on and I was rudely whisked back to the modern era with cell service, appliances and *shudder* social media.

I really enjoyed my downtime, and I want to find a way I can incorporate more tech-free days into my routine.

Speaking of downtime, I mentioned in September’s overview that I was able to actually read some books in October! I am very excited to tell you about these.

Fever Dream – Samanta Schweblin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A eerie, surreal horror story of children who aren’t quite what they seem. The book is an unsettling allegory for the environmental damage occurring in Argentina. I found it a little difficult at times to place where I was in the story as it jumps around time-wise, but it was worth pushing through.

Darcy Swipes Left – Courtney Carbone ⭐️
A retelling of Pride and Prejudice using text messages & emojis. It made me feel old. And everyone felt very out of character and extremely cringey. I do not recommend it.

Buyan: Isle of the Dead – Martin Etxeberria ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The art is beautiful and the premise of the story is one of loss, love and life but it has major pacing issues. I remember being about three quarters of the way through and being confused about how little pages were left. The ending was rushed and unsatisfying, which is such a shame for such a beautiful story.

I’ve read one book in November so far and it was a 5 star-er so I’ll be telling you all about that (and hopefully a few others) next month!

October also brought about the end of the lockdowns in Victoria, which meant my mum could finally come down and visit us from Melbourne. I hadn’t seen her since April, so I was so pleased to see her again.

She took my sister and I to the next town over for the day, so we could do some shopping and visit the hot springs there.

It was absolutely fabulous. The springs were breathtaking and incredibly relaxing.

I mentioned last month that it was Goal Getter workbook season!

We launched the new Goal Getter workbook collection in October and it was super successful!

I worked double hours which was a lot but I really wanted to get it done in one week rather than 2 or 3, and so I made the decision to work 8-10 hour days.

It’s not something I do unless I feel it’s absolutely necessary, and Leonie gave me the week after off to recover (which turned out to be a blessing because I got tonsillitis again) .

The physical copies of the workbooks are being sold through Amazon, and Leonie was in charge of those.

My focus was on the sales page + offer page, as well as creating the digital workbooks.

This meant creating mockups of each workbook; interior and exterior, going through every page of each book in Adobe Acrobat DC and turning them into editable forms, creating digital bundles, setting up the cart and so, so much more.

But I think it’s all turned out beautifully, and the best part is the workbooks are now undated which means Leonie and I don’t have to lose the better part of 6 months to the workbooks anymore.

And that’s October, in a nutshell!

Oh! Here are my two favourite internet finds from October:

I don’t know how to explain my sense of humour, but it’s this.

5 Ducks That Are All Named Matthew*
Zero gregs!
hours of matthews!
*May contain Janine

W H E E Z I N G

Ahhh, I love the internet.

What else before I finish this up?

Mikasa’s doing well! She had her vet check and is very healthy! She’s being extremely cuddly whenever I sit at my desk at the moment and then an absolute feral between 11pm-1am.

The life of a cat, I guess?

I’m currently doing a 21 day challenge, inspired by my very own boss Leonie Dawson so I’m hoping to write up a blog post about that over the next few days.

And before I go…

You didn’t really think you’d get through a blog post from me without having to hear something about wrestling, surely?