I’ve said it before – April is the cruellest month. This winter was so long, my usual February low didn’t hit me until April. The dark days and the cold weather caught up with me when I came back from London – which was a resounding success, btw. My mum loved it, and investing in some mother-daughter-quality time with lots of sightseeing, galleries, eating out and even a musical show, really paid off. Not a single moment of tension or discord. We had a great time together, and I have decided to take my mum on a mother-daughter-trip every year, now. However, once she had left again, I somehow stumbled into a dark hole. There was a lot of soul-searching, doubting and recalibrating, but at the end of it, I finally emerged with a smile.
There were two things that really helped. 1) Spring time finally arrived in Ireland. We had three beautiful *summer* days in Dublin last week, weather fit for wearing t-shirts and for digging out the window boxes. Within a matter of two days, the trees in the park opposite suddenly started sprouting leaves. And with that, somehow my mood became lighter, too. 2) I had a lovely e-mail correspondence behind the scenes with a new (for me) fellow fan. J___ had attended the NIFF events three weeks ago, and on the back of that requested one of our fandom badges. (Which leads me to ask – did any of my attending fandom friends actually sport their badges in Newcastle?) I answered morosely, but undeterred J___ kindly attempted to lift my spirits with some questions and some private insights. If you are reading this: Thank you, J___!
And so I emerged with a smile and a reinvigorated urge to do some creative fan work. Three shrines burst out in quick succession. What an effect a little bit of self-imposed absence can have… Sneak peek:
Staying with the theme “emerging with a smile”, the minty springfresh RAPS in the picture above is today’s presentation.
Yum yum kiss kiss. What could be inside?
A social butterfly *coughs* emerges. The smile says it all… I needed a bit of silly fun, and continued the theme accordingly.
Yep, the goofiness is one of the things that I actually quite like about Mr. A. I’ll light a candle to that.
And that man is acting in a horror/thriller? Hard to believe… Personally, I’d prefer him to explore his comedic side in a professional project, rather than all this dark stuff like horror flick The Lodge and recently announced audio book thriller Their Lost Daughters, but in the absence of that, I’ll just consult my poison cabinet of dorky duds…
Does this make *you* smile? Does *Armitage* make you smile? If not, what *does*?
In any case, Guylty’s back in business. With a smile.
Guylty Pleasure 
Hello and welcome back, my friend! I have missed you!
Sabbaticals are LOVELY, aren’t they??? I came back so renewed from mine!
LikeLike
Thanks for the welcome! Yes, it was good to take time out. In fact, maybe one should be obliged to take a sabbatical every once in a while, to recharge and recalibrate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like I said, I’m glad I took mine! I was getting very irritable and that’s NEVER pretty,
Aside form Heaven has updated; I can’t remember if I update Nemo before or after your sabbatical and I posted the Ginger-Almond recipe at RABBBWW.
LikeLike
Oh, lots to catch up with! Hooray. (That’s a good thing about going AWOL – lots of new things to keep me occupied…)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Klasse, dass du eine reibungsfreie Zeit in London hattest.
Und schön, dass du wieder obenauf bist 😉 War echt still hier…..
Was bringt mich zum Grinsen? Dein Blog. Immer wieder. Egal ob mit oder ohne RAmania. Sitzt, passt, wackelt und hat Luft! 😘
LikeLike
Hehe, ja, ohne mich ist hier im Blog nichts los. 😁Aber dafür gibt’s ja dann noch die anderen Blogger, die für Stimmung sorgen 😉
Und danke für das nette Kompliment. Das hebt die Laune noch mehr. Brauchte ich mal wieder 😘
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it does make me smile 😁
So glad you had a good time with your mother and have emerged from the darkness… this winter just seemed to go on forever, didn’t it? We’ve had the same few summery days in England and everyone has been going around smiling! Xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
The winter really was too long. I mean, snow storms in March?! Unheard of in Ireland. And temperatures of 10-12 C in April – depressing! The sunshine and mild weather was badly needed – it definitely has an influence on the mood. Which makes me wonder whether I would be permanently happy if I lived in California… #RetirementGoals?
LikeLike
Yes, you would. Come and visit me. I would make sure you were happy for a while. I couldn’t guarantee permanent happiness, but I’d give it my best shot. You provide lots of rays of sunshine for me and your other “fans”, I would love to return the favor. So glad you are back, I was about to send out a search party.
LikeLike
Aw! XXX! I am actually sure, too, that I would be in a permanently happy mood if I stayed with you, Kathy! However, that is only as long as one doesn’t overstay one’s welcome ;-). I need to work on those holiday plans…
LikeLike
Glad your back and creating. I hope you got my email,thank you so very much, it brighten my day.I too was having one of those down days. Thank you again. D
LikeLike
Oh goodness, Dede – I probably did. I stayed away from everything, blog, Twitter, and e-mail. Will have to catch up!
LikeLike
Mums are the biz! So glad you’re back and feeling cheerful. I missed you loads. ❤
(No comments were made in the making of this comment in case it needs to be said, but that pretty green shrine would put the spring into anyone’s step.)
LikeLike
Aw, thanks, Jenny :-). I recharged the batteries to be all the more cheerful on blog 😉
LikeLike
All that glitter, I dig it a lot! 😀 Can’t wait to see other two ❤
And welcome back :*
LikeLike
Yay – a girl needs a bit of glitter every once in a while, right?
Next two coming soon.
And thanks xx
LikeLike
Fun shrine! Glad you had a chance to relax and recharge.
LikeLike
Sometimes, strategic retreats are the only way forward 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sure Mr RA make me smile, but your blog too. Honestly, I missed your posts and started to worry about you, but I also thought maybe you take a hiatus. So I am smiling in fact about your new creation and the lovely butterfly
LikeLike
Aw, thank you B! 😘I took a hiatus from the online world, indeed – although I confess that Mr A and the fandom were actually quite a bit on my mind despite my absence from the blogging world. Glad to be back, too.
LikeLike
You’ve been deeply missed, especially your wonderful sense of humor!! Glad you’re back!
LikeLike
Thanks Monica! A couple of weeks away meant that in the end I really couldn’t wait to come back 😉
LikeLike
I’m glad to see you’re back. I enjoy your wonderful tweets. This pocket shrine is so adorable. He really shows Richard’s goofy side. I agree, I want Richard to do more comedy. He’s a lot funnier than he thinks he is.
LikeLike
I really do think that RA should push a bit more for some light-hearted roles. From what we see in interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, he is well able to laugh and be silly.
Glad to be back, too.
LikeLike
Glad you’re back!
I found that my relationship with my father improved by quantum leaps after my mother’s death. Sad but true.
LikeLike
Thanks 🙂
It has been the opposite for me, unfortunately. Usually, our relationship is best when we are far apart and only communicate via Facetime…
LikeLike
Ahhh, what a lovely smoochy RAPS. Glad you enjoyed your holiday with mum, but even more glad for us that you are back. We miss your butt. 😉😂
LikeLike
Hehehe, missing my butt… You have no idea, Abi, no idea 🍑But I appreciate the sentiment 😉
LikeLike
Glad you’re back with a smile. Your mum is lovely and glad you had such a nice time, you have no idea how lucky you are 🙂 Bur worth taking some time off from time to time and reminding oneself of the important things in RL.Was going to drop email to see if all ok but twitter reminded me you were on hiatus so thought peace might be welcome for a change 🙂 Winter is a drag, glad we got some sun back, we were due and it does make everything look better. Back to spring rather than summer temperatures now but i’m grateful it’s not 5C anymore!
Take your time with everything, anything can wait.
Lovely little cheerer-uppers as usual the shrines :-)))
LikeLike
We had a great time indeed. To be repeated. And it was a really nice evening we had with you – both I and the mumster enjoyed it!
And no worries about not emailing. I deliberately didn’t check my e-mails regularly, anyway. I had to wallow in my thoughts uninterruptedly in order to work through them. Done. Back to normal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Schön, dass du wieder zurück bist und dass es dir (wieder) gut geht.
In den letzten Tagen wurde mir bewusst wie regelmäßig ich auf deiner Seite vorbeischaue: Oh, immer noch unterwegs…
Ich hab dich vermisst und weiß dich zu schätzen. ❤
LikeLike
Och, das ist aber lieb von dir gesagt! *drück dich* Das war nun ein unbeabsichtigter Nebenschaden, dass ich hier Entzugserscheinungen verursacht habe. Ich mach’s wieder gut. Kommt übermorgen gleich noch ein Beitrag 😉
LikeLike
LMAO his majestic goofiness is always a spirit lifter. Glad you’re back and the creative juices are flowing. I actually found some items that I might be able to use in a little shrine when I get back from vacation. But it’s hard to be motivated when you just want to lie around with your dogs. Yes, the pups I took in after the hurricane are permanently mine now. So I’d better get home safely from vacation since I now have dependents. Maybe I’ll find some cool tins in Russia.
LikeLike
Ah, well, cuddle time with the pups is definitely not wasted time, either. Enjoy the doggies.
And oooh, are you travelling in Russia at the moment? How exciting! Happy tin-hunting!
LikeLike
Pingback: RA Pocket Shrine 274/? – Peachy | Guylty Pleasure