There are still some things around..

Every where i pop my head in blogland there are some more Spring stories and pretty pastel flowers.  Up here in the North of Scotland its still a bit frosty and there is still sleet coming down on us every so often, we don't have any spring things yet or pretty pastel flowers.  We still have cold.  We still have wet, and inside of the house we've still got some decorations I've forgotten to take down....oops, bad luck.  So here they are now, not to be seen until the end of this year!

Lots of cook books, and a bit of home made decorations 

Darn flash!  I do love Paddington 

I love my cookbooks, very varied and good to read up and get lots of ideas from 

Even the cups got a little tinsel on them

This corner doesn't look too festive... 

oops, i spoke too soon! 

these lights are staying up, no matter what month it is, i love the light glow in the evening 

All the bags piled up on the sofa ready to go into the loft.  Poor rabbit, he cant see a thing! 

The tea shelf, just a wee bit of tinsel still hanging around.  I promise this week its all coming down, all the bits i thought id gotten earlier, I'll find and put up in the loft!

Last of the Christmas Presents

This is the last of the Christmas presents.  TH gave me money to buy a Barbour in the January sales.  The jacket i liked best of all wasn't in the sales, but at least i watied it out.  I'm the sort of person that will inevitably buy it the day before it gets reduced by half!

I love my new jacket so much.  I go the olive one as the liberty print is the prettiest one, i think anyway.  With the jacket i got the choice of a free gift.  There were lots of options like lovely Barbour hats and scarf sets, but then i spied the thing i really wanted...a new little coat for Daisy Dog.  I think this is a bargain, although i wouldn't actually spend the £32 for the dog coat, i certainly thought it was fine to pick it as the free gift.  I'm going to have to take pics of her in her little new wax outfit.  I love the smell of Barbour's as my Uncle had a sports shop and i grew up in amongst that lovely waxy smell.  They are really good value too as i plan to send it away every so often to get fixed and altered.  Well, by that i certainly mean that MY jacket will be sent away for....not Daisy's!

January is here!

Oh January, I used to think you awful. You used to be plain and boring after the excitement of December, November had Bonfire Night, October is our anniversary and Halloween, and before that is the general excitement of Autumn. January used to just be exam time at University, or thawing snow.

This year is really quite different. Not only is there no snow, but the garden is completely untended to, and although it’s mild, oh my gosh is it windy-and the whole place looks a mess. This is not helped by the fact the fence is half blown over, the gate has been whipped off, and rubbish is strewn across the place from toppled over bins and recycling totes, and a busy, busy Autumn meant the place was never really tidied after Summer in the first place.

This means that on top of the normal things like sowing sweet peas (if you want to get lovely strong ones), I need to dig everything over. I would like to grow my own potatoes this year too, so will have to get a move on and start to chit some of the many varieties taking up vast corners of garden centres at this time of year.

January is actually quite exciting this year. My friend Holly who was involved in a terrible accident has an amazing outlook on life which has completely rubbed off on me. I feel like last year was a bit ‘Urgh’, I think lots of people have thought that. There seems to be a general consensus-certainly around the coffee table-that yes we did get through it, and yes we should learn whatever lessons it’s taught us, but it was a bit of a long hard slog.

I think we are still in comforting food mode, but a bit more ready for fresh things with bite too. Re-heated second helpings of Christmas and New Year dinner are long forgotten! We’re planning on going on holiday with my family this year and getting a villa in Cyprus for two weeks, so like last year I think I'm going to be having lots of Greek and Cypriot food as we’ll be booking our flights early and I tend to get in holiday mode early…very early! There is loads of gamey foods available, and we’re incredibly lucky that our local butcher has such a wide supply of really good food. Living by the sea means that we’ve got a massive choice in fish namely; John Dory, Mussels, Oysters, Scallops and Turbot. There are bundles of root vegetables about for filling up on, and the clementine’s are always there for a burst of colour.  I'm living by the BBC foodie website here which is full of really great ideas from a range of really great names.

Most of all I think its time to get like Paddington Bear and make some marmalade with Seville oranges!

I'm hoping to have a busy year, I'm planning to go out and do more, this means lazing about less, but with working one normal job means I spend less time travelling. I hope that I'm busy actually doing fun things, or at least a chore I need to do. I don’t want to fill my time with travelling, I don’t want to fill my time with nonsense I don’t want to do, and I don’t want to spend time with people that drain my energy. Those are pretty much my new year’s resolutions-but probably something that you should subscribe to in general-and something I should have had the sense to actually act upon long before now.

Blog ♥ Love ♥ Swap

Ooops i seem to have signed up to another swap!!

Have a wee look here to see information about the swap at the lovely 'Gem's Country Life Dream' blog

Thank you Santa

Thank you Santa.  I knew you loved me!

I'm a sucker for products and love anything by Philosophy as well.  I love sparkles and prettiness.  I'm a girly girl.  Yup, i have to walk the dog through the muddy foot-paths, but if i could I'd do it all in a long dress (six inches deep in mud!!)

Lots of little treats! 

Sparkly glosses to sweep over my lips-must moisturise first!

Ooh i can't wait to have a pamper day!

This is what we do

This is what we do...

when it gets too warm inside, when we wish to feel the crisp air on our noses.

when we want to go for a walk, when we want to see something other than the inside of the fridge.

when we want to feel healthier, when the dog starts to feel restless. 

when the sun is starting to give into twilight, when the warmth seems so far away. 

when we need to feel the harsh winds from the North Sea, when we want to see wildlife. 

when we need to feel small and the weight needs lifted from our shoulders. 

when we are tired from doing nothing,  

 when we need to get out of the house,

when we want another view of the village, 

another view of the things we always see and need,

We get the dog on a leash and taken 'em for a long, long walk.  We come back dirty, rosey in the nosey, happy, and very, very sleepy.

New Year Walkies

The air was fresh and calling to go outside.

Daisy Dog and i walked over the golf course 

and on to the beach 

it looked empty from here..... 

or not!  I guess everyone had the same idea!  It was nice getting lots of "Happy New Year" calls from strangers. 

The harbour and bay looked beautiful 

and luckily the tide was out so there was plenty of beach to share with other walkers

our friends live over the way, but i guess they were still wrapped up warm inside 

so we threw our selves on the sand and stamped our feet...OK, Daisy rubbed her nose in the sand and came up shocked and sneezing!

Christmas no more

Goodbye tree and presents sitting underneath

you're not there anymore, you're not sitting proudly upon presents for the whole family 

i guess it'd be easier to keep you tidy now....but still, i do wish i could see be-ribboned things everywhere 

and those paper chains, i miss you paper chains 

and those twinkly lights (and good ol' re-runs on TV)  

every little corner, decorated in sparkly things 

and cards

until next year 

oh my tummy,  too much chocolate

The decorations are slowly coming down.  Our eating habits are becoming normal again.  The last of the relatives are heading back to their own homes.  No noises of little ones.  No bickering over the remote control.  It is beginning to get quieter.

x

Not so bad

Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.



Mark Twain

Can't i feel good knowing that in about all the cold cuts and sweet treats there is fruit?

How do you get your exercise?

Have you been looking at the sales, or have you been sitting inside all cosy and warm? Shopping online or walking the dog?

This year its TH’s turn to be poorly between Christmas and Hogmanay, the poor thing has had an awfully bad gout attack which has come along at the same time as the dreaded lurgy.
We had everyone round a couple of days ago and luckily The Husband was well enough to see it as the treat it was and not a horrible chore-which catering for others whilst poorly can so very often be.
However, apart from that, we’ve been lazing around, eating sweeties, and watching television. Cosying it up, and petting Daisy Dog, yup, its all good!