Attic24

Perky

Oh what a difference the weather makes, we have been basking in some beautifully warm, glorious sunshine the past few days and it has made everything seem so happy! I was trying to think what the opposite of Droopy might be (ie the title of my last wet post full of misery) and Perky was the first word that sprang to mind. How happy I am to declare my current perkiness!

Yesterday and today has seen us spend a lot of time outdoors doing perfectly perky May things, and it's been such a relief to let go of all the weather-induced resentment. We've been eating outdoors, picnicking with friends in the park (that's my new little picnic lunch bag there, I am quite smitten with it), and generally just spending time sitting around soaking up the sun rays. I kind of felt like my internal battery had run flat and I was desperate for a bit of solar power to recharge and feel energised again.

Last night at eight o'clock, I strolled up the back streets on my way to Tracy's house. The light on the hills was so pretty, they were lit with a sweet rosy glow that made my heart squeeze. I thought to myself ::  ahhhh this is more like it! This is precisely what May Evenings should look and feel like! Pheww. I'm so glad May has sorted itself out a bit, I was feeling proper cross with it last week.

I usually meet in the local pub on a Monday night with a lovely group of yarny-minded friends, but occasionally circumstances mean that it's easier to transfer the location to one of our houses. Yesterday we met at Tracy's house, which we are always mighty pleased about cos Tracy's house is rather gorgeous and special. Plus she makes her own homemade garlicky hummus for us all to tuck in to, not to mention great slabs of homemade cake. I had the delicious experience of drinking Pimms whilst eating almond slice and hooking up roses, it was a rather unexpectedly lovely combination.

The banter was happy, the munchies were super and the hooky time was great too. It was a lovely, relaxed, sociable and productive evening.

I came downstairs with Little B this morning at about 6.30am, and as I walked in to the living room I was completely bowled over by the light. My house is currently in a huge, disgraceful mess (been a tad lazy of late with the ol' Home Blessing stuff), but the sun made it all look so lovely. Even the piles of plastic toys looked good bathed in golden light.

I treated myself to a bunch of flowers today to celebrate the return of the sun. A really gorgeous, vibrant bunch of Scented Stocks with their incredible sweetly spiced scent. They are sitting on my dining table and I can smell them now. So beautiful.

My plantlets have really put on a growth spurt in the past two days, and it made me realise that it's almost Pot Time. I usually wait till early June before sorting out my back yard pots and planting them up with annuals, and I can't wait to get going with it this year. Need to visit my lovely Plant Man and get my usual haul of geraniums and lobelia (my favourite summer pot combo).

When we returned home from toddler group at lunch time today, the temperature had really soared. We were in the mid 20's I would say, oh it was such a treat! Little B and I ate our lunch together outside, then I got busy with providing some sunshiney outdoor entertainment for him in the form of an underbed storage box filled with warm water. What fun! He stripped his clothes off and leapt in, it was such a joy to watch him play. He was in a complete frenzy of excitement at one point, squealing and splashing and frolicking around, I sat and watched him and laughed out loud at his antics. Sweet boy.

I've really enjoyed the past couple days (can you tell?), it has been so warm and blissful on the domestic front. All rather ordinary I guess, but satisfying and very happy nevertheless.

I'll have a Ring o' Roses blooming for you tomorrow, don't think that's been forgotten. Looking forward to a bit of pretty Ta-dahing, see you then............

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April 2012

April has been such a mixed bag weather wise, we've had pretty much every type of weather imaginable. Lots of scudding clouds, high winds, many varieties of rain (misty drizzle, squally showers, torrential downpours), sleet, hail, and even snow. We had many, many cold wet days where the rain never let up for a moment. Then we had very mixed days which started out quite promising but were full of unpredictable bursts of rain. Sun-rain-sun-rain, with an occasional token rainbow somewhere in between. Sigh. April has been very cold and un-Springlike much to my disappointment.

The calendar image which I gazed at from my desk throughout April was this Ideal Homes one. Almost every day I wished that it wasn't so brown. I wished for sweet, pretty Spring colours and wondered why on earth someone would choose brown ribbon when so many other gorgeous colours of ribbon exist?

My organising calendar was much more satisfactory, and even included my most favourite cake of all time (carrot cake, in case you didn't know). These colours are perfect for Spring, and I approve of the brown being limited to bun, cake and chocolate. Happy sugary thoughts are flooding my brain now, gosh I do soooo love cake. Such pleasure!

In amongst all the grim weather of April, there were little pockets of loveliness. The above photo was taken early one Sunday morning in the middle of the month. It was one of those glorious bright, clear mornings, the sort that makes it impossible to stay indoors. I recall that we were out in the exact same spot at almost the exact same time four years ago, and yet again I marvel at the repetitive rhythm of my life.

The morning jaunt was short and sweet, cos despite the sunshine it was really cold. We walked the familiar river path as far as our favourite little pebble beach and proceeded to spend the next half hour throwing stones into the water. Little B, oh Little B loves to plop-splash pebbles into water, he was so incredibly happy with it all. Me, I was freeeeeezing. Even a flask of hot coffee and some easter eggs did not hit the spot, but I was glad we ventured out, glad to see my Littlies have so much simple outdoor fun. Little Man gave me this lovely heart shaped stone that he found, it was a super sweet moment.

My brave little seedlings have thankfully survived the soggy conditions that April provided. They are a bit mud splattered, but not doing too bad all things considered. At least the resident slug/snail population hasn't discovered them (yet), hoping it stays that way.

I took some advice and made a cosy little bubble-wrap enclosure for my newly planted passion flower, protecting it's sweet tendrils from the chill. I keep having a little peek in to make sure all is well (it's looking beautifully healthy so far) and am really looking forward to seeing this plant make it's way up, up, up outside my kitchen door.

I thought April would see much more outdoor action after Spring arrived so warmly and sweetly in March. But no, it wasn't to be. April did not turn out to be a warm, sweet outdoor month at all. We kind of took a step backwards and fell into winter again, but it wasn't all bad. It made the business of draping super warm blankets-in-progress over one's knees rather appealing. I'm continuing my lovely pleasure ride with the ripples, coming into the home stretch now I guess. I'm a bit stuck now though as I've run out of yarn. Well that's to say I've got lots of small balls left but not enough of any one colour to make the four rows required, so am waiting for a chance to go yarn shopping. I'm savouring the gorgeous feeling of anticipation that builds prior to a yarn-buying mission, makes my heart go all fluttery just thinking about it.

The ripple may be on temporary hold but the circles have been a marvelous diversion throughout April. I've been really enjoying this yarn and these colours I have to say, and I'm already dreaming up more things to do with it (a new bag is in early sampling stages, something pretty and floral and easy to whip up). But.........must finish the ripple and this sweet round cushion first, must not get too ahead of myself. Cos I know that it does me no good to have too many fingers in too many creative pies all at once, I get all tangled if too much tries to happen at once.

April is always a sweet month for us here in the Attic cos it contains a birthday. Little Lady turned eight years old at the end of the month, and we celebrated with a shopping trip (a much longed for new desk for her bedroom, plus some much needed new clothes), a meal out and a girly sleepover with two of her school BFF's coming to spend the night here. The latter was lots of fun, despite the sleep deprivation. Eight year old girls, what can I say? It's such a tender age, the fashion, the hair styling, the tentative experiments with lip gloss and eye shadow, awww I find myself half fascinated and half horrified by it all. The speed at which they begin to hurtle out of childhood is quite scary. Cripes. It goes so fast. So fast.

April seemed like a long month to me, it didn't go fast at all. The days dragged by, long and wet and cold. It now seems like an incredible long age since Easter, yet that was less than three weeks ago? Doesn't seem possible, does it?

Less than three weeks ago we were in Dorset enjoying sunshine and sea breezes. Sigh. I miss it. That particular bit of April was such a lovely, enjoyable, fun, happy, relaxing bit for sure. And the pictures prove it.

I didn't take all that many snaps of the Attic view in April cos for much of the time it really didn't exist. The hills were blanked out by low rain clouds, and what we could see of the landscape looked bleak, washed out and grey.

This was during the first week of April when we had some freakish winter weather land on the hills...

....this was a mediocre cloud filled day....

...and this was an afternoon of after-rain brightness.

But this was what we mostly became accustomed to.... rain, rain and more rain. April, you will be remembered as being the month of Wet. April showers on a grand scale.

Which is one of the reasons I love to make my monthly mosaics. Cos it reminds me that despite the grim weather there was still creative colour, fun and happiness, that indoors remained cosy and bright, and that we made the very most of the few sunny days we had. The weather can only dampen our spirits if we let it.

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March 2012

Ahh March, you are no longer with us and I miss you! April so far is being completely vile, we're in the grips of an icy storm, the wind is howling and it is s-n-o-w-i-n-g, blasted weather. I look through these deliciously springlike photos and I want it to be March again, March was soooo beautiful. The sky was often blue, and we had warm sunshine for the first time this year. It was quite glorious for much of the time, yes March, you were lovely.

My organiser calendar went all green, sophisticated and Continental for March. Made me think of a carefree time in my past when many moons ago J and I flew to Paris for a romantic March weekend. Searching through my memory banks.......oh cripes.....yeah, waaaay back in my youth....March 1995,  seventeen years ago. Would love to go back sometime.

My ever lovely Ideal Homes calendar had this stunning image for March, it's been a true delight having this next to my desk to gaze at for a month. So beautiful, I find the sight of pink blossom really uplifting and good for the soul.

In my mind I associate blossom with May, as that's when the cherry trees in my neighbourhood flower. But in the past month I've noticed such a lot of early blossom flowering on trees all over the place, and it really is delightful. I don't have much blossom-knowledge so have no idea what sort of trees produce these gorgeous early blooms, but I love them very much. They are more delicate than the flouncy, frilly cherry blooms that come in May, I love their sweet simplicity.

My front patch crocus bloomed their little hearts out through early March, they were such a welcoming sight at the front of the house.

Forsythia sprang into action around here a few weeks ago too, there is lots of it around and about in my neighbourhood. I'm not mad keen on it to be honest (that particular yellow is a bit too shouty and acidic for me), but it's undoubtedly a real sign that Spring is well on the way.

In complete contrast to the indoorsyness of February, March was all about reconnecting with Outside. I love March for that very reason. I love stepping out of stuffy, cooped-up February and breathing in the fresh air of March, it's delicious. Lovely to start pegging out again too, it's a sweet domestic job that always fills me with gladness. Hooray for stripy garments flapping in the breeze!

Outdoor tea breaks also began again last month, oh the joy! I generally stop my outdoor pitstops sometime in October when my hands start turning purple with the cold. It's been lovely having enough warmth in the air to have the kitchen door propped open and a quick breather in the outdoors. In fact, I've really, really enjoyed all the domestic outdoorsyness these past few weeks :: the pegging out, the sunshine tea sipping, the seed planting, and the general feel-good brought on by warm air, blue skies and spring sunshine. I feel really excited about spending more time outdoors as the year progresses, about making my back yard into a haven of floral colour and greenery.

Floral colour has ben happening in abundance inside too, just look! Every Friday I stop by the market after picking up Little B from playgroup and treat myself to a modest bunch of fresh flowers. The tulips and narcissi that fill the pavement buckets at this time of year are brilliant, and represent great value for money. I can get quite a few bunches now for just a few ££, enough for me to fill a small jug for the table, pop four into my bathroom windowsill bottles, and have a few in a jar beside my bed. The roses above came from a surprise Mothers day bouquet. I don't wish to sound ungrateful, but I confess I am not a fan of commercial "mixed bouquets". If I am on the recieving end of one (not often), I tend to split them up, chop the stems short and arrange them into various small jugs instead of one over-the-top vase. Much more my style.

My photo album for March was full to bursting with pictures you know, it seemed like a very full-to-bursting kind of a month. When I'm putting my monthly round up posts together I like to try and capture the general feel of the months activities :: it was hard for March as there was so much! Lovely looking back and remembering the various outings we made :: local strolls, simple jaunts and proper full blown outings, it's been liberating to stretch our horizons beyond our four walls again.

Mind you, March also saw me get to grips with the Four Walls a bit, and I am so happy the Shelves of Doom were finally banished. It remains a highpoint of my year so far, truly it does. And that surprises me a bit, but it's true. I think it was as much about the way I was able to mentally and emotionally pull myself together to tackle this task as it was about the end results. A real Personal Achievement for a rather slovenly procrastinator. I really did it, didn't I? Still wearing ridiculous proud smile over that one, although my two crates are still there waiting, as is the pile of 51 books destined for the charity shop, so can't be too smug.

I had a hair chop in March, it was long overdue as I'd not been since the Blooming Flower cushion photos. That's eight months. I've got more grey hairs now, but I'm remaining true to my natural colour which is still pretty good. It feels lovely to have air on my neck again, I was looking quite shaggy and unkempt with my raggedy grown-out shoulder length do.

Hooky wise, not a lot to report for March, it was a quiet month on the hooky front. I kind of lost the will a little, I just didn't seem to want to do it for a while. I worked a little on my ripple through last month, but not a lot. I've got many, many ideas brewing for new projects though, it's quite tangled again up in my Creative Mind. I'll keep you posted.

So how's the Attic view been in March? Terrific, that's how. The light levels have risen dramatically, especially with the arrival of British Summer Time a few weeks ago, and I am so, so thankful for the extra daylight in my life again. Yeah, the view has been light-filled and lovely, take a look.................

I especially love that last photo, it was taken on 27 March at 18:20 after a day of the most glorious sunshine. I love the golden glow of the landscape at that time of day, I remember it made me want to rush out and frolic around in it (which I actually did, I took myself out for an early evening walk to watch the sun set and the moon rise, it was beautiful)

March was altogether a beautiful month. It was light and bright and upbeat, both indoors and outdoors. In March it became Springtime, and I was so ready for that change of season, was so over the winter.

Do you ever think of the year in terms of fractions? I do. I keep thinking wow, we are one quarter the way into the year now. Can't quite believe we're in the second quarter of the year already, but as this is my most favouritist quarter of all (April-May-June), I am more than happy with the progress. Bring it on, I'm ready to give it my all.

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Edit to add :: A Question.......do you think I go on too much? Should I make my posts shorter/less wordy? Interested to hear what you think as I never give much thought to my posts in terms of how they read, I just write what I feel like writing regardless. ♥ oh that's ok then, thanks so much for the feedback and reassurance...will carry on with my ramblin' ways. Not sure I could do any different anyways?! ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 2012

Funny isn't it, that even though February is the shortest month of the year, it very much feels like the longest? I try not to struggle with this funny second month, try to remain immune to the sneaky, wintry blues that often descend like a damp cloud. But truthfully, it isn't always doable. Sometimes February days just suck, and that's all there is to it.

My February calendar pages were certainly not gloomy though, they told me to remember the good things about this time of year. The celebration of Love by way of disgraceful quantities of chocolate, and the celebration of Pancake, by way of errm, lots of pancake-eating. Both were good, sweet, edible events in our house this year, enjoyed by all five of us.

This is February Ideal-Home-style, beautiful and inspiring as ever. I love that the February image is content and creative and indoorsy, it does certainly make me want to go away and plan something stitchy. It's been an age since my old Bernina came out to play. Ooooooo, which reminds me, I do need to apply myself to finishing off Connievan's curtains which were started last year and not completed (re-making ten curtains was a far bigger job than I originally thought). Right then, that will be my March challenge, remind me in a week or two will you?

February here in the Attic was beautifully floral, oh I've had such a tremendous amount of pleasure and good value out of February's blooms. I mean, just look at them! True spirit lifters, that's for sure.

My Amaryllis burst into flower in February too, I watched day after day as the green shoots made their usual speedy ascent. This year, for the first time, I placed it on the windowsill behind my desk, so I really was very aware of it's daily progress. It's been lovely watching the first bud unfold......

.....the light shining through the petals has made them almost appear to be glowing. Such beauty and such intense, glorious colour. When I chose the amaryllis (I bought it when I was in Ilkley in January sometime), I really did deliberate over which colour to go for. In fact, at first I picked up one that was the palest pinky white with delicate pink stripes running through the petals. I thought perhaps it would be good to go with something a little different for a change. But I just couldn't bring myself to go through with it in the end. I put the pale pink variety back and predictably plumped for good ol' Amaryllis Red Lion, always guaranteed to pack a punch with the colour. Pale pink? Whatever was I thinking?!!

The focus of February has been very much on indoors, keeping warm and occupying our time with cosy, feel-good pursuits. Baking, crocheting and fireside pleasure. Early nights tucked up in bed, good, wholesome home cooked food. Keeping the Little People happy indoors whilst allowing time for my own creativity. When I look at these pictures I think cor! What a lovely, happy, homely, cosy, warm month February was! Yet I recall that there was often an underlying feeling of discontent. Bad weather. Restlessness. Gloom. Germs. I guess that if you jumble up all the good things with the not-so-good things, then overall the month evened itself out. It was just right. It was a slow, winter month spent doing indoorsy, winter things.

Some good things certainly came my way last month though, and the above is one of them. I was incredibly chuffed to pick up a copy of Inside Crochet magazine (the March issue) to see the results of the Blog Awards in print. Such lovely words were written, so complimentary and flattering. I slurped my latte as I read (I was in a cafe with Heather at the time) and felt like my cheeks had gone pink and my insides had gone all tickly. Thank you SO MUCH, all of you lovely people who took the trouble to vote for me back in November. You really made me feel super-duper, if a little flushed and tickled.

Do you recognise the photo above? Know where it is?

It's the little village of Craster in Northumberland where we've had numerous summer holidays staying in the white house at the very end of the row. We were last there in August 2009 when I was carrying Little B around inside my rather large, round bumpy tummy. Last week, I booked the same cottage for us to re-visit for a holiday this summer, and I am soooooooooooooooooo happy about that fact! As soon as I had made the booking and paid the deposit, I went straight into my photo archives and pulled out this image to make a print. It's sitting on my desk like a postcard from the past, reminding me that in less than six months time we will be back there again. I think planning and booking a summer holiday in February is ace, I can highly recommend it.

 

Weather wise, February here in Atticland has been pretty dire on the whole. It's mostly been a month of wet grey yuckiness. Of course, there have been some good weather bits here and there. The snow was good fun. And the odd bit of sun and blue sky that peeked through the gloom was incredible and very memorable.

My February attic views are mainly shades of grey..........

Oh! Not so grey! That last picture above was 24th February, a time when the sky finally cleared after the rain and for a wee while there was some colour back in the landscape. I'm hoping March is going to be very much more along these lines, I've SO had enough of the wet grey stuff. So over it. Need Spring to come now. Anytime as from tomorrow would be good.

So that sums up February 2012. Not really so bad after all. In fact, it looks pretty good I'd say.

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Late Winter Landscape

A Sunday mid-day walk to enjoy the late Winter landscape.

First picture taken at 12:00.

Last picture taken at 12:46.

Forty six minutes of crystal clear skies, icy cold air, sun dappled water, gentle exercise, beautiful vistas.

Forty six minutes of happy, chattery, laughter-filled family time.

Exactly six months since we were here enjoying Late Summer.

Little B walked this time, with just a short ride on Daddy's shoulders at the end.

My my, how quickly time flies.

♥

 

 

Snow Play

We went out to play this morning. We wrapped up warm and walked the five minutes up the road to our local park where we knew from previous years that the Snow Play would be first class. We weren't disappointed, the park looked as beautiful as I remembered it from before. There was a terrific atmosphere with so many excited children, dogs and parents-of-children-and-dogs all out to play. We met and chatted with lots of friends and neighbours, I think half of our street was at the park this morning.

The Little People had a wonderful time with their sledges, they were a complete joy to watch. Such visible excitement on their faces at the end of each long, fast downhill run. Little B was a little bit more tricksy as it turns out he really doesn't like the snow very much at all. It made him cry and he refused to walk in it. Like absolutely, completely threw a wobbly when his boots touched down on the stuff. After much persuading we managed to get him to sit on a sledge so we could pull him to the park (he was happy with this arrangement cos none of his body was actually in contact with the snow). Actually he enjoyed being pulled around on the sledge and eventually after an hour or so he did manage a little bit of walking and a little bit of snowball throwing. It was so funny when we returned home, I took off his hat, mitts, boots and snow-suit and his face suddenly broke into a wide grin of pure relief, as if to say Thank Goodness THATS over with!!! Bless.

Ahhhh, it's been a wonderful weekend here in my patch, full of Winter Joy. Warm, cosy, indoor stuff and cold, exciting outdoor stuff. Perfectly Februaryish. But much as we've enjoyed our snow time, I'm keeping fingers crossed for sunshine and a Big Melt tomorrow. It can all go away now, thank you.

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Keeping Warm

A beautiful start to the weekend with pale, clear sky and streaming sunlight. But cold. Oh so very cold. Well below freezing.

After a super quick (and freeezing) hop into town to buy a magazine and drink coffee, I came home and settled myself in for the day. My main priority was to Keep Warm.

Today the tightly closed buds of my narcissus "Bridal Crown" began to unfurl in the warmth of the room. So beautiful.

My attempt to Keep Warm this morning found me in the kitchen. I practically wrapped myself around the oven to absorb the heat into my body. In fact I loved being in the warm kitchen so much that I double-baked. Oaty apricot cookies followed by buns. Warmth and good smells.

I took time out from my heat seeking activities to help Little Lady with a craft/sewing project. Totally her idea, she just needed me to provide the supplies and assist a little with the design.

There was some colouring fun too. Little Lady plus two visiting friends (our house is never dull or quiet at weekends), then later on Little B joining in.

I love that this table gets used for so much daily activity. Cutting, stitching, gluing, colouring, eating, crocheting, designing, working, playing, climbing (oh that naughty Little B!), reading, drinking.

Late morning and I found myself unexpectedly alone for a weeny while. J and Little B were out together, Little Man was at a friend's house, Little Lady (with her two friends) were playing upstairs.

I made coffee and settled myself into the Big Chair to lose myself in the pages of Country Living magazine. It promised Fresh Spring Style, how delicious!

Three blankets and three cushions made up my Chair Nest. Got to be warm and cosy and comfy when I read my favourite magazine.

I lit the fire at lunch time. I made a second nest of blankets and cushions for myself on the floor right next to the hearth.

My lunch was yummy. I made a bowl of tomato cous cous and tossed in some oven roasted garlic and rosemary veggies left over from last nights dinner. Carrot and pepper strips, chunks of red onion and courgette, whole cherry tomatoes. Mmmmmmmmmm.

After lunch I iced the buns. I made my usual glacé icing (icing sugar mixed with water) and added in a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Sweet little chocolate shapes, chocolate crispie balls and mini candy coated chocolate drops to decorate. Finished off with a light sprinkling of edible glitter.

The snow started at lunch time and continued steadily all afternoon. I watched it fall, gazing out of the windows upstairs and down. It looked incredibly cold out there.

But I was warm and toasty-snug next to the fire working on my ripple blanket. The weight of the blanket across my legs combined with the incredible warmth of the cashmere felt heavenly.

Some time after lunch Little B came home with J. He's starting with a cold and is all snotty and out of sorts. He came to sit next to me by the fire. Actually, he tried to pull my crochet away and sit right on top of me, but I gently persuaded him to get his own cushion and a book and sit beside me instead. I rippled away and made all sorts of Big Vehicle noises to keep him happy as he page turned.

3pm and I decided that it was a good time to partake in a tea and cake break.

Little B was happy to oblige. A chocolate iced bun is just the thing when one's feeling just a smidge under the weather.

Outside it continued to be snowy. I kept looking out of the window at our street and thinking how glad I was to be indoors. How glad I was to feel warm. Yes, warmth was Good.

The Little People don't seem to feel the cold like we do, do they? They were out in the street playing in the snow, rolling and sliding around in it, digging in it, scraping it up, throwing it around. Brrrrrr.

Early evening, dark outside. Little B is tucked up asleep and I can hear the excited shouts of half a dozen children still larking about in the snow outside. I peek out the window. They are rolling a huuuuuge snowball down the street, the beginnings of a Street Snowman. I potter around upstairs, folding clean laundry, straightening the covers on my bed. Already looking forward to bedtime.

Back downstairs, making a cup of tea. Open the back door and a stream of light falls into the back yard. I'm surprised to see just how much snow has already fallen.

I think tomorrow's post is going to be predictably full of white. The sledges are already waiting by the door. No getting out of it. I'm going to be feeling the cold tomorrow.

Night night x

 

 

 

 

 

January 2012

So we are now one month into the New Year, I wonder how it's been for you all? I hope you've all had a bright and happy start to 2012 and that you've managed to keep those sneaky January Blaaaaahs at bay. I've had a pretty fabulous start to the year, lots of creativity here as you know which has been a lovely way to launch into 2012. You can't beat a good dose of happy colour and creativity to keep the spirits up.

I'm going to be continuing my tradition of monthly Calendar Appreciation throughout this year, I can hardly believe this will be my fifth year of doing this funny little thing. Wow, how time flies.

I've got the ever wonderful Ideal Homes  calendar on the wall next to my desk here.....

....and a rather scrumptious new Planner type calendar in the hall to keep me on track with family life.

The Ideal Homes calendar does not disappoint, not ever. I love love love it. I stopped buying the magazine a while ago as it no longer appealed (some very iffy interiors with waaaaay too much funky wallpaper and horrendous colour choices for me to stomach). But the free calendar which appears with each December issue remains a true gem. Twelve incredibly beautiful, seasonal photographs which I truly look forward to gazing at every month.

My family planner calendar was  a last minute buy when I suddenly realised after Christmas that I needed one and didn't have one. I really love it actually, but it does make me feel peckish for cakes every time I look at it. I could just do with a cupcake or two right now, mmmmmm.

Isn't January always a super-long month? It seems to me that it contains maybe eight weeks instead of four. I can hardly believe that the beginning of January still contained the tail-end of Christmas, it seems soooo far behind us now.

We haven't had many crisp, bright winter mornings here as it's mostly been a very wet, grey sort of a month with low light levels. But there were a few times when we did get some beautiful skies in January. Oh and I did appreciate them!

And throughout the past month I've certainly noticed (with a glad heart-skip) that our days are slowly but steadily lengthening again. We are still eating our breakfast with the curtains closed, but the evening is arriving almost an hour later than it did in December. I live in a very housey neighbourhood with only small glimpses of the sky (excepting the attic view of course) but I do really  love to star and moon gaze up through the chimney pots and rooftops.

My usual healthyish diet went completely to pot over the Christmas period and continued to be rich, extravagant and naughty well into January. I kept trying to curb my sweet tooth, but my sugar cravings have been extraordinary. I'm looking now at those two mugs of deliciously topped hot chocolate (a New Years Day treat for Little Lady and myself) and I honestly feel like I want to eat my computer....ahhh fond memories.

I love baking in the winter months, and my January photo folder is full of the evidence. Scrummy pictures of jam laden victoria sponge, all-butter shortbread and moist banana bread have been sending me into a spin of craving. I'm pretty much back on track with myself now though, back to snacking on fresh fruit with just a weeny daily quota of sweet stuff.

That's altogether how January has felt really....an effort to get oneself Back On Track. Back to routine, back to the daily business of ticking over. I found it quite a struggle when the Little People went back to school after Christmas, they are especially excellent at keeping their Little Brother happy and we both felt a bit adrift when it was just down to the two of us again. But it didn't take long and we soon got back into enjoying the gentle rhythm of our days together.

I've been managing to maintain my enthusiasm for Keeping House so far this year, and am still diligently carrying out my daily swishing and swiping, laundry duties and hot-spot control. My weekly Home Blessing hour is still going strong too, and I've come to look forward to my Friday mornings, more than I ever thought possible. I carried out a little bit of extra decluttering and tidying around my desk area too in January (including the windowsill above, which is directly behind my desk), and I felt so great when I'd done it. I really MUST apply myself wholeheartedly to the Shelves of Doom next as they are beginning to cause arguments. Stuff keeps getting eaten by them, which makes J Very Cross Indeed, cos getting the shelves to spit stuff back out again is not easy. Near impossible actually.

Anywaaayyyyyyyyyyy.....lets not get bogged down with Bad Home Vibes. I want to show you some freezing cold January pictures now. Icy cold, brrrrrrrrrrrr. We've had low, low temperatures here of late. No snow yet this year, but quite a bit of frost and ice.

These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago in mid January, and it's the same scene at the moment too. The canal is frozen over and the poor ducks and swans are slip sliding across the ice.

There are still a fair few canal boats coming and going when the ice thaws and they can travel the waterways. It always looks so cozy when you see a boat with a steady plume of wood smoke rising from the chimney. That smell of icy air and woodsmoke will forever remind me of this town in wintertime, I've come to love it very much. It smells like Home.

And the Attic view in January? Some incredible golden-pink morning light.....

.....and some welcome low afternoon sunshine.

Oh, and lots of white frosty stuff too. Mind you, for many days in January there has been no view to speak of as the hill has been completely obscured. It really has mostly been a month of damp, wet and grey.

My January mosaic isn't damp and grey though, it seems I've been subconsciously combatting the weather with lots of colour, warmth and coziness inside.

Fresh flowers, green shoots, colourful yarn, delicious baking, snuggly socks, roaring flames, cozy blankets, sweet creativity. January goodness.

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Oh-So-Slow

The weather here continues to be plain nasty. We alternate between rain, sleet, hail and snow, all of it wet, cold and yuck. I am longing for a little of the crisp, bright beauty that I remember from this time last year.

Little Man continues his lengthy stint on the sofa, he has never been so under the weather for such a long period of time before. He is battling a throat infection, and it's obviously a very tough army of germs cos he is completely worn out with the effort of just being horizontal day after day.

Every so often he will pep up a little and seek out some slow, gentle activity. Yesterday he cut out and hand stitched a sweet little christmas stocking decoration. My heart squeezed a little as I watched the concentration and effort etched on his pale face.

Little B has taken a while to adjust to these oh-so-slow days stuck indoors. He alternates between being plain irritating (pulling all the wet wipes out of the packet, breaking toys, scribbling on the furniture etc) and super sweet (making me pretend cups of tea, chatting to Daddy on his mobile phone, sitting quietly to look through books, stacking towers of cups and clapping himself proudly).

We continue to bake. Little Man asked to bake biscuits yesterday, I smiled to myself when I saw him get out the silver balls, remembering last year's baking :o)

I continue to plod my way through the slowness of the days, sneaking a little time in Blogland when I can. I am drinking a lot of coffee and working my way slowly-but-surely through the tin of gingerbread festive traybake. I can tell you it improves immensely after a day or two.

When Little B naps in the afternoon, I sit in the bay window and work on my crochet projects. A little bit of holly. A little bit of bunting edging. Slowly, slowly it's coming together.

I am trying very, very, very hard to embrace these oh-so-slow days, to enjoy the comfort of being in a warm, cosy home with my two boys. Drinking coffee, baking, photographing, writing, crocheting, cleaning, cooking, sorting laundry, providing care and comfort and love. But. I am frustrated at not being able to go out, I am missing my friends, I am just about managing to hold down a huge swell of panic when I think about the Christmas presents that haven't been bought yet. Not a single one. There's time yet? It'll be OK? Yeah. I hear you. It'll be OK. I can do Last Minute, I do it every year. Breathe deeply. Drink more coffee. Eat more cake.

It'll be OK.

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Edit to add :: aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes INterNet ShoPPing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a right Plum Pudding now. Of course. The magical Internet. No need to go out tramping the streets! Amazon, here I come!

 

 

 

Stay-home Day (again)

We're experiencing the most dreadful weather this week, it's very wet, cold and stormy. Gusty, icy rain showers, freezing hail storms, furious winds whipping through the streets. It's made the school run really horrid, even with jazzy wellies to wear. The house has taken a real battering today, the rain has lashed against the windows and doors, the wind has whistled relentlessly down the chimneys, and water has dripped mournfully through the bay window roof. Drip, drip, drip.

Little Man continues to do battle with the lurgy and spent another mostly horizontal day home from school.

Which has meant that we've had a second enforced Stay-home Day. But given the state of the weather, it's not been a bad thing by any means. We've had a wee bit of cabin fever, with Little B being a tad on the naughty side due to boredom I suspect, but well, it's been OK. There's been lots of time for me to hang out with my boys. Chatting, singing, snuggling, reading, watching recorded episodes of Postman Pat (Little B's favourite), and generally just hanging out.

We baked this morning Little B and I, yesterday too, it's what I do when one of my Littlies is poorly. Any whiff of a high temperature or achy limbs and I go straight to the kitchen to bake. It's my stress relief mechanism. I made buns yesterday, iced and decorated with glitter and sugar snowflakes. Today it was fruity flapjack. Little B stands on a chair to help, and he's surprisingly good for an under two. He wears a sweet little apron that belonged to Little Man when he was small.

The heat from the oven steams up the kitchen window, I just love it when this happens. Love to stand in a warm kitchen inhaling the scent of something sweet baking and see my little window all steamed up.

Right in front of the steamy window is my beloved coffee machine, which I absolutely cannot do without. I've had it for many years now and I've come to wholeheartedly look forward to my morning coffee at home each day. Always in the same stripy cup. Always with a dusting of chocolate powder on the top, and always with my sweet little melamine spoon for all important froth-scooping. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Mid morning and it's snack time, so I hand out warm-from-the-oven flapjacks and various bits of fruit. I smile to myself as I watch Little B making short work of his satsuma, that Little Boy really does love his fruit. The word Scoff springs to mind. Just as his chequered apron belonged to Little Man, so did his bowl. More smiles from Mummy, and more memories layering new upon old.

Late morning and I suddenly realise with a jolt that we are a whole week into Advent and my Advent Garland is missing. Holy-moly!!! What a slip-up!!! The box of Advent/pre Christmas bits and bobs came down from the Attic eaves weeks ago when I brought out the Christmas House tin, I just forgot to get out the garland. Ahhhhhhhh I'm SO happy to see it hanging once again, it made my heart squeeze a little with so many memories already attached to it. Do you remember me making it?? This'll be it's third advent.

After lunch (cheese and ham sandwiches for the boys, a bowl of left over chicken and barley casserole for me), Little Man retreats to his bedroom for a while and I take over the sofa with Little B. Little B loves sofa-snuggling. He loves to surround himself with cushions (the round one made from Kool Kotton is his fave, he's very sweetly possessive about it) and get his little legs tucked under a blankie. He often gets himself in place, shouts loudly to get my attention and then pats the spot of spare sofa directly to his left. In other words, Mummeeeeee-come-sit. Mummeeeee-come-snuggle. Ahhhh ok then, I'll be right there in a jiffy. Let me just bring my magazine (January issue of Country Homes and Interiors, my-my, it's pages are making my heart leap about!)

Later in the afternoon and Little B sleeps. I make tea and decide to sit at my desk in front of my laptop to work a little pattern through. Small, neat rounds of amigurumi involving some furious counting. I'll show you tomorrow when/if I manage to actually get out the house, get to the shops and find/purchase some suitable beady eyes.

Early evening and thank goodness, back home after a freezing cold and windy walk to school and back. Poor Little Man, with his weak and wibbly legs, I did feel sorry for him, it was awful weather to battle against when one's body is Not Well. I made a gently spiced, super tasty curry for dinner, a fanTAStic recipe passed to me by my mother-in-law. I love to make a sauce from scratch, to use whole, honest ingredients, fresh herbs and spices. I'll do one of my On-The-Menu posts soon and pass you the recipe, it's a good'n'.

It's gone 9pm here now, and I am feeling weary. It's been a funny old day. A mix of mild stress and cosy comfort. Of shut-in irritation and home-loving content. I'm off to the land of fluffed up feathers very soon, to snuggle down between crisp cotton sheets and my warm woolly blanket, a hot water bottle at my feet. I've got a date with page 37 of my magazine, where I am seriously lusting after this.

Sweet dreams one and all ♥

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