Write about a favourite summer night from your childhood

The days stretch on in summer and the evenings creep up on you with sticky fingers, casting shadows as long as the day. The heat plays tricks on your brain as you walk back up the street, hair dripping, boogie board under one arm. Feet drag on the bitumen, and you jump at every rattle in the grass. Snake? No, just grasshoppers and butterflies bending long, yellow stalks in the dying sun. There is a chorus of birds and cicadas in the background, mixed in with the gentle whoosh of the waves you've not long left behind. Your mind singles out the whoosh of the tide, focuses on it, and reflects…

Anticipation builds as you wait, board at the ready, head turned as you seek out the perfect wave. This one you say to yourself. You jump forward onto the board, kick-kick-kicking as a wet roar grows louder in your ears. You look back - it's coming! You look forward once more and feel your lips press together, your brows knitting in concentration and determination. Your legs are pounding up and down, and then the wave hits you, picks you up and carries you toward the shore! Your face widens in elation, butterflies do somersaults in your stomach and you feel free! You twist your body to the right, wrenching your board with you to follow the wave down the line. The shoreline looms closer as the wave begins to fizzle out. You awaken from your reflection, hair still dripping, board under one arm and look up at the dying sun. The birds and cicadas come back into focus. The rumble of the ocean is replaced with a rumble in your tummy. A smile spreads across your face as you continue onwards, homebound.

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Creative writing is something I've wanted to do a lot more of on the blog for quite some time, but I never seem to know just where to start. I recently found this prompt through Kate's new Write It Out series, which I came across on Tori's blog. With my new look, and desire for an update in blogging direction, it seemed like the perfect time to give something like this a go. If you're interested, head on over to Kate's blog to link up your own post, and find more like-minded, creative bloggers to follow. This is actually last month's prompt, but I will be posting this month's soon, in an effort to catch up!

This little reflection has me yearning for the long summer nights it describes. I'm sitting here in my big, fluffy dressing gown late at night with my skin tingling from an imaginary sun's touch. The summers here are long and dry and hot, but I wouldn't trade them for anything! I've recently swapped my boogie board for a surf board, but  ache too much in winter to head out into the deep blue, even with a wetsuit. Bring on summer, big, floppy hats and long days in the surf chasing the rush that only a roaring wave and a plank of fibreglass can give you. I'm craving the long awaited (our three months of cooler weather drags on forever) return to my second home, beyond the sand. 

A Very Groovy Saturday

It seems the sun is taunting us here at the moment. A few days of sweet sunshine and now we are back to grey skies and cardigans. Jake and I made the most of the rainy Saturday we were given, with a late breakfast at Groovers Cafe and Restaurant followed by a few hits at the driving range and a snuggly afternoon with some movies on the couch.

Groovers Cafe and Restaurant is relatively new to town, but their good food, quirky decor and reasonable prices mean that Jake and I, being a mere 200 metres away, are frequent customers. So far we have only been at either breakfast or lunch time, but I hear they do a killer tapas style dinner accompanied by good tunes and cheap beer, too. I'm sure I'll test it out sooner or later! 

I got a little overexcited and forgot to take a picture of our breakfast this morning before we ate it, but you'll just have to trust me that it was good! Jake and I both ordered the Aussie breakfast - two eggs, turkish bread, bacon, mushrooms, potato (yes, potato!), pineapple, a sausage and cooked tomato and yes, it was as filling as it sounds! Jake joked on the way out that mine should have been half price, based on how little of it I could eat, and even he had a little bit left on his plate. Their coffee wasn't bad, either. I drank my first quickly before the food came to warm my belly, and savoured the second as we finished our meal. If you're ever in Lennox Head, I'd definitely recommend you check it out! 

Next up was the driving range - one of Jake's favourite rainy day activities. Nothing releases the anger of an incredibly active person having their weekend sporting plans ruined by the rain quite like whacking 100 golf balls as hard as you can from the safety of a tin shed. Apparently. Plus, the puddles make it easier to see where your ball went!

Finally, we retreated home for one of my favourite rainy day activities - snuggles and movies! Jake convinced me to watch Wolf Creek 2 (oh, the nightmares!) and then left me home alone to go to the gym while I watched Alladin to calm myself. When he got home, we finished off the day with a steak dinner and The Wolf of Wall Street. Nothing like a bit of Leo to ensure you have sweet dreams!

What's your perfect rainy day sound like? I have to admit, I think this one would be pretty tough to beat!

*Note: This is not a sponsored post, I just really love Groovers. If you go for lunch, I totally recommend the BLT*

Where I've Been...

A few instagram snapshots of my time away from the blog, for those of you that don't already follow me over there...

I've thrifted a vintage suitcase and a pair of hugging ghost salt and pepper shakers

Celebrated my baby sister turning 18.

Met my favourite band.

Caught a couple of flathead (and made them into a delicious dinner).

Hidden from the northerly in the sand dunes, admiring the beauty of the coastline

as Jake enjoys the start of the kiteboarding season.

Taken pictures of the sunset with visiting friends on the cold sand, then retreated to the warmth 

surrounding performing fire twirlers.

The Re-Awakening

I woke up one day, logged into blogger and the words that spilled onto the page did not contain my voice. They weren't "me" and I wasn't happy to publish a post that felt flat. It didn't seem right. I tried multiple times over the next week or so to sit down and write a post, but each time I became disenchanted with the words on the screen and backspaced. As I typed and backspaced and typed again, I thought "why aren't the words coming out properly? Why am I not enjoying this?" With each failed attempt at collating a post, I started to realise that the words weren't coming out properly because they were forced. Each post I attempted to write was not "me". They were cookie cutter reflections of countless other lifestyle posts I see all the time. They lacked the imagination and flair with words that I so love and they lacked the unique piece of the writer (me) which I believe every blog should have.

I stopped attempting to write, feeling flat and deflated and negative.

I stopped reading many of the blogs on my bloglovin' feeling flat and negative and unable to differentiate between one writer and the next.

My unread posts climbed into the thousands and I stopped reading blogs at all except for the odd one written by a close friend who linked it on Facebook and I felt relieved. Never before have I felt relieved to not go anywhere near a blog. I knew then that something was wrong.

As time went on, I started to forget how to blog. As even more time went on, I felt sad as I realised it's possible I never truly knew how to blog at all. I started Little Foal as Because I Said Sew in 2012 when I was 18. It started out as a sewing blog, but I soon realised that I didn't sew enough for an entire blog to be centred around it, so I started writing the odd lifestyle post, posts about things I'd thrifted and it evolved into Little Foal. I started reading more lifestyle blogs around this time, and started to see many of the "small" blogs I'd followed boom. I craved that acknowledgement and success, and I began to model my blog on others that had those things. While I've always thought that Little Foal held a piece of me, and showcased my unique voice, recently I've begun to doubt myself.

I think a part of this doubt comes from the realisation that my taste is still developing, as are my interests, and therefore this blog should be evolving with me as I explore different styles, experiences and hobbies. In some ways it has, but in many ways it feels static to me. It feels more like a product of the blogging community than a product of my mind, and for that I am sorry.

Over the past few weeks, I have considered starting a new blog entirely, starting a second blog focusing on my health/midwifery and, at some times even giving up blogging altogether, but I realise now what an amazing, important thing Little Foal is to me. As much as it's content feels static to me, as much as I have come and gone and come again to this blog, it showcases a very important transitional part of my life, and I think I will treasure that in years to come. For now, Little Foal will continue to be, with a fresh new design and with new content that is true to my voice and to me. I want to look back on this blog in years to come and see my true interests, passions, thoughts and feelings. I want to be able to write freely, and find my niche whatever that may be, and however many times that might evolve as I evolve and become a better version of "me". I understand that my new direction may not be to everyone's taste, and I accept that. No longer will I blog for numbers or follow the crowd. You can like it or leave it, but you will always be welcome in my corner of the internet as I journey through the next chapter of my life. If you're still reading this, thanks for sticking with me,

Yours truly,

Moodboard: Blog Layout

All images & credit can be found on this pinterest board.

Since I am incredibly impatient and was eager to return to blogging, I thought I'd show you a little sneak peek of the feel I hope Little Foal will have once it receives its shiny, new layout. This colour palette is much more "me" than the one the blog has now, and I think it has a much more earthy pastel feel, which I love. All these pictures come from the pinterest board I sent Ella the link to when I asked her to redesign my blog. Rather than trying to describe the feel I wanted it to have, I thought I'd give her a visual aid to go by and get her inspired. I am really looking forward to seeing what Ella does with this pinterest board, and how she interprets the colours and themes that it shows. The colours and themes of this board tie in with another project I am currently working on (a business idea!) which won't be ready to be revealed until early next year. I'm really looking forward to my return to blogging, and the new direction I hope it will bring to this blog. I thought long and hard about starting fresh with a new name and new blog entirely, but Little Foal is too much a part of me for me to be able to let go. 

Back soon!

Just a quick post to say that I will be returning to blogging momentarily. Please bear with me while I await a new layout and install a custom domain, after which I will be back writing! Thank you so much for sticking with me over my hiatus and I look forward to posting properly and catching up with all of you soon! I have also welcomed new followers in my absence. Thank you for taking an interest in my blog and I look forward to getting to know all of you!