The Story So Far In 2024.

January

The year has started well for a change with none of the dramas of the last few years and I am in a much better place mentally too.

I have decided to start the year with a new Temperature Blanket. I haven’t made one for a few years and this time have chosen to make a 12-point star pattern with a grey middle and then each segment for one month. For months with fewer than 31 days the remaining rows will be completed in the same grey as the middle.

Thursday 18 January, Ryan had a follow up appointment with ENT after his sepsis episode in December 2023 and he is doing fine so has been discharged. You can catch up on that drama in the previous blog post. https://www.sarahloucrafts.co.uk/blog/blog-post-2023

Thursday 25 January - Dydd Santes Dwynwen, Welsh day of love.

Friday 26 January - Band Tref Llandeilo Town Band Concert, Lampeter with Côr Pam Lai to support Diabetes UK & British Heart Foundation.

Temp Blanket 2024

Dydd Santes Dwynwen

Lampeter Concert

February

Friday 1 February - Imbolc Celebrate the awakening of the land. Snowdrops appear as the heralds of Spring. 🌿🌱🌿

Sunday 4 February - World Cancer Day is a global event that takes place every year on 4 February. World Cancer Day unites the world’s population in the fight against cancer. https://www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk/2023/07/world-cancer-day.html

Friday 23 February - What an amazing day the #SBSEvent2024 was. Did you know that there are now 4,000 winners and 80% of them are women. Plus 53% of winners are sole traders, so that has really helped my imposter syndrome knowing my micro business is worthy of being in those numbers. I officially have my certificate, which will be going in a frame soon, seeing my winning entry to @theopaphitis on the big screen and meeting online friends I have known for years finally for real. The event was jam-packed with inspirational and informative talks. I was able to have a professional photo shoot for free. I spoke with Google experts and Dorset Tech about website options. Susan aka Dottie from @britishcrafthouse & @buyindie gave a brilliant talk about how she made her dreams a reality. Finally @staceysolomon was absolutely fabulous. She is funny, intelligent, insightful and gave Theo a run for his money with her entrepreneurial mindset. Her support for small businesses is incredible and she definitely has a new supporter from me. Thank you to all of the @thesbs_crew for organising and managing such a wonderful day. 🧡🩵

Imbolc

World Cancer Day

SBS Event 2024

March

Friday 1 March, Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus

Sunday 3 March, Band Tref Llandeilo Town Band entertained the crowd for the Dydd Gŵyl Dewi celebrations in the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

Friday 8 March, Today I dedicate International Women's Day to my mum. She inspired me to start my degree in my 40s just as she had done and taught me to believe that I can achieve anything I set my mind to.

Saturday 9 March, Spring Makers Market at National Waterfront Museum, Swansea Marina.

Sunday 10 March, Sul y Mamau / Mother’s Day. You look, but you cannot see. You listen, but you cannot not hear. You follow, but you do not understand. You do not know me, but I know you. I will remember for both of us. I will keep with you in my heart as I know you kept me in yours. You were, you are, my inspiration. I am your daughter, you are my mum. ❤ #Dementia

Monday 11 March, Commonwealth Day - and you can celebrate any of our fabulous countries with colourful crochet cord Friendship Bracelets in a range of patriotic colours or a Rainbow Thread for love, diversity, unity, inclusion and hope. https://buyindie.co.uk/product/colourful-cord-friendship-bracelets/

Wednesday 13 March, To coincide with National Nutrition and Hydration week, I thought it would be good to share with you Ryan’s experience of malnutrition as a result of his lymphoma diagnosis. Malnutrition is a common problem among patients with cancer, affecting up to 85% of patients with certain cancers. When Ryan was seen by the Paediatric doctor in February 2016 he weighed 53kg. It took months of chasing the GP for an ENT referral and we finally got an appointment in May 2016. By this point Ry's weight had dropped to 49kg. We didn't see ENT until July when they discovered a tumour by which point Ryan’s weight was now 46kg and by formal diagnosis, at the end of August he had reached his lowest weight of 42kg. So in total he had lost over 10kg from Feb to diagnosis in Aug. The haematology consultant was quite concerned that Ryan's malnutrition by the time of diagnosis was going to make the fight even harder for us. Ry was not well enough, strong enough, or nutritionally able to begin Chemotherapy so the decision was made to fit him with a Nasogastric NG feeding tube, Ryan then went on to have a PEG, but this almost killed him with sepsis and peritonitis, but that is a story for another time.

You can read more about our journey on the blog. www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk

Sunday 17 March, Lá Fhéile Pádraig / Saint Patrick's Day ☘️

Wednesday 20 March, Ostara marks the #SpringEquinox, from dark nights to brighter days. 🌑🌗🌕

Thursday 21 March, IT'S MY 1ST BIZ-VERSARY 🥳 Yes I am shouting, not quite from the rooftops and can't quite believe it has been a whole year. 12 months ago I changed the direction of my small business. I rebranded and relaunched as Sarah Lou Crafts. I was nervous I won't lie, I had built a successful biz with my old Adventure Accessories but I felt I had niched myself into a corner and felt restricted creatively. What an amazing whirlwind it has been. The welcome back from old friends blew me away. New friends made. Winning SBS in Sept 23 to attending the event in Feb 24.

Friday 22 March, A fantastic evening with my sister in Cardiff to see @martipellowofficial perform his #PoppedInSouledOutTour2024. The orchestra, backing band and singers were all incredible too, and @listentocasey as a support act was fabulous fun too. Thank you ALL for an amazing show.

Saturday 23 March, I have wanted this for several years but needed time to decide the perfect design to mark my journey since my breakdown in 2017. A semicolon is used when a sentence could have ended but wasn't. As a tattoo is used to represent mental health awareness and a time when you could have ended your sentence but didn't. The music note represents how important my Clarinet playing has been to my therapy and getting me back from the edge. I chose a semiquaver as I wanted the 2 tails to represent my two sons that give me a reason to live and also my partnership with my loving husband who holds me up and supports me everyday.

My story isn't over ;

Ostara - Spring Equinox

Marti Pellow - PISO 2024

Semicolon Tattoo

April

Tuesday 2 April, World Autism Day. Autism is a lifelong developmental condition that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people. https://www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk/2017/04/april-is-autism-awareness-month.html

Sunday 7 April, World Health Day. Schools place a great deal of focus on targets and will often offer incentives and competitions to encourage and increase attendance figures, but what if your child has a serious illness and is not well enough to attend school. What happens then?

https://www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk/2017/09/missing-education-due-to-illness.html

Monday 8 April, mum passed away after 11 long years living with dementia, 8 of which were spent in care homes and 5 very long days sat by her bedside as she succumbed to bronchial pneumonia. My father, brother and sister were all with me for those 5 days and it was special that we could all be together to say our final goodbyes and to support each other in our own ways.

Sunday 14 April, my father’s 80th birthday and my brother, sister and I had organised a surprise party back in February and we decided to still go ahead with it, despite losing mum this week. I needed to get dad to Bristol and had to come up with a good ‘lie’. I dad was staying with me at the time so I telephoned the music shop in Bristol (it was my sister) and booked my Clarinet in for a service. I then suggested to my dad, “why don’t you come with me for the day and we will go out for lunch. He totally believed the story and only realised when we stopped at a nice restaurant and all the family were there to greet us. Yes, he cried and we had a lovely day.

Thursday 18 April, Neo is 9 today. The naughtiest but also cutest beagle in the world continues to defy the vets and lives to hoon another day after being given 6-12 months to live in February 2023 after a Mast Cell Tumour removal.

Monday 22 April, Autism Awareness Month, I Am: Interview with Ryan (15) gives an insight into an autistic mind. https://www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk/2023/07/i-am-autism.html

Tuesday 23 April, St. George’s Day. Celebrate any of the fabulous countries that make up the British Isles with a colourful cord friendship bracelet in a range of patriotic colours or rainbow thread for love, diversity, unity, inclusion & hope. The can also be made in other colour combinations too.

https://buyindie.co.uk/product/colourful-cord-friendship-bracelets/

Wednesday 24 April, World Stationery Day - Plan and record all your adventures. Travel journals are the perfect way for you to plan trips, jot down ideas for places to see and record the amazing experiences you have had.

A travel journal is a great way to store your memories, mementoes, discoveries, and delights. You do not need to rely on a phone signal or Wi-Fi, it can be as private or as public as you like.

There is a joy to be had in writing down your thoughts, plans and ideas the moment they pop into your mind. You can take it with you anyplace, anywhere

Thursday 25 April, I attended a workshop about sustainability and Carbon Cutting and researching my carbon impact. I am still working on reading through all of these reports and researching if there are better options for me to use instead. Sustainability is an ongoing process that needs constant attention and updates.

Imperfect action beats perfect inaction every time. Done is better than perfect and a year from now you will be glad that you started. You can read more on the Sustainability Policy.

https://www.sarahloucrafts.co.uk/sustainability

Monday 29 April, Walk with me my darling. I'm here to hold your hand. Talk to me my darling. I'll try to understand. Read the full poem that celebrates the diversity of having a child with Autism.

www.bellybuttonpanda.co.uk/2023/06/walk-with-me.html

Today was also my mum’s funeral and I read this poem for her.

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there, I do not sleep

I am the thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints on snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain

I am the gentle autumnal rain

When you waken in the morning hush

I am the soft uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight

I am the soft stars that shine at night