January

January can so often be a gloomy sort of month. I know that I feel deep down inside that seeing as Christmas is over it may as well rush into spring. I want to see the bulbs and go from deep rich colours to more muted tones. I then zip forward a couple of months when I start to plan our summer holiday, and by the time that’s over its autumn and I might as well get planning the Christmas shopping trips all over again. This has been the cycle for a little while-but long enough for me to get into it-and I want to stop it.

How dull to plan your life away, constantly wishing I was a couple of months ahead of where I was. There are wonderful things in January that I should be grateful for now. I don’t want to get to a busy weekend in spring planting out seeds and wish I could be wrapped up cosy like I should have been in winter.

This January I hope to be different. I have read so much in papers about failed New Years Resolutions, and so I aim to make this difference through celebration of the season. I hope that by ensuring January is kept, well, January like I will see it for what it is and what it can give me.

This means buying in season, and following January pursuits-marmalade making included. It means being true to what your body tells you. I don’t crave salads, I want soups. Last night we had the most delicious bangers and mash, not exciting, just slowly sautéed onions made into thick gravy with gorgeous butchers sausages and lump free mash- heaven after a long day, and definitely worth waiting for.

We are still on for having game-feathers and furred, and although we can no longer pop out to buy super fresh fish from our little village harbour I still want to eat seasonal seafood. I am always keen on buying up veg and using it to bulk up meals and winter root veg is the best.

We now live outside of the village and rely heavily on a boxed veg scheme and a local butcher for much more of our food. I hope that this keeps me in line to succeed in my aim. I love reading about what everyone is up to this January and imagine I will be getting lots of ideas!!

New Year

Happy New Year everyone, I hope that Santa was good to you and that you had a wonderful Hogmanay. Last year was such a funny sort of year. Summer was a wash-out and my Christmas celebrations began on the 22nd when we finally got our heating in.

Part of the lack of blogging was that I was very busy with boring things nobody would blog about-unless I was particularly angry and I would then drag you all into my rant, and part of it was such an awful lot of disappointment. I found it when trying to build bridges with people, when TH and I were both trying to find time together when there were so many things pulling us every which way. I found it when looking for jobs or even planning things to do on a rainy summer day. I felt it when I believed that I should or should not be doing a certain thing at a certain time of the year.

I think it would be all too easy to set up very high expectations and fall so terribly short with them, goodness knows I’ve done it more times than I care to remember. Last year I hoped that I would DO something each and every weekend. I feel that we certainly did for the first little while, but I did have many a very lazy unproductive weekend too. I was inspired by The Wonderful Weekend Book, which is my favourite sort of book, to not be so awfully boring and be able to make my way back to work on a Monday morning and proclaim that I knew exactly where my weekend went.

This year I would like to work on the very same thing. This might take the form of getting back into baking, or celebrating the seasons more or maybe even getting out in the rain in the height of summer and doing something or other. I may end up taking a class like TH who I am immensely proud of for following his dreams. I may even join a club at our local community centre-seeing as it is just over the fence!

What all of this boils down to is celebrating what you have in life. Not what you wish you had, like more time, people of a certain nature around you or warm weather. Not only because, I work full time, can’t change other people and live in the North East of Scotland. It boils down to not wishing your life away. It boils down to recognising I am busy with a full time job that I wanted and my heart burst with pride when they said they thought I were the perfect candidate. It boils down to being grateful, and I would be truly ashamed if I was not that.

The Weekend

I blogged a wee while ago about a book I loved called The Wonderful Weekend Book. I still think its great and unlike fictional works, I read non-fiction more than once and keep their battered copies on the bookshelf. Over Christmas I read this one, starting and finishing in no particular place and going through the whole book.

Last year my resolution was to lose weight. I managed to lose four stone, but didn’t keep a track of it the way I wished I had. I guess when it comes to weight you either get to do a big post about how wonderful you’ve done… Or you end up having to do posts which feature beautiful descriptions of cakes, but you do have to add in that you haven’t lost what you hoped you would that week!

The up-side of my resolution last year was that its made me healthier. I was always one for long walks, but I ate so badly, now I have to admit that I'm quite proud of what I put into my body and I feel miles better because of it. There is still a little way to go, but the important thing is that I’ve got a good habit now.

That takes me nicely onto this years resolution. I haven’t blogged about it so far, but I have been doing it. This year I want to DO something in the weekend. Just like the Elspeth Thomson book I love so much. It should be easier for me to keep up blogging about it, and it makes me feel good when I achieve something, no matter how small, in the weekend. I need to catch up and start getting back into the bloggy swing, but I can’t wait to share our tiny little mini-advantures!

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.

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!

It has all been..

I think 2011 is the year of being an awfully lax and lethargic blogger. There have been, in my defence, many changes. One of which is the fact that I’ve got a new job. It’s very exciting and I love the new challenges involved. I love working with kids and its keeping me busy, very busy!

However it leaves me really tired at the end of the day. Its also a completely different shift pattern-I’ve actually got weekends and evening to myself-something I don’t think I’ve had since I was a teenager! So I should really feel like I’ve got more energy, but for now its something I have to get used to, and my sleepy body is only slowly going that way.
This year has been difficult in places and very, very good in some others. Something that I personally think has been a massive achievement is that I have lost four stone. I wish I kept a better diary of it on here like I said I would do. There is still things I need to get a hold of, so I'm still a bit far away from my original plan of putting up a before and after picture-yup, I was that bad ‘before’. I would ideally like to lose another three stone, but my main goal is to be healthier throughout…maybe I should make it a better and more defined resolution.

I'm not too awful and a massive Thank You

Hello one and all, and may i also add HAPPY NEW YEAR.  I have been quite absent this last little while, and no...its not because i was at an amazing party to bring in the New Year.  I have been struck down with actual FLU!  I don't think I've had the flu for about 7 years, colds and sniffles, but i have been very lucky, no matter, I'm not one for big parties and especially the new year, so if it had to come, then good job it didn't come in Spring or Summer time.

There are a whole host of things i haven't been doing lately and some of those are on here, in blog land.  I haven't said thank you for my wonderful swap parcel.  So here i am, going a very short way towards saying a massive thank you to Purple Sparkle Crafts for way too many gorgeous things and thoughtful presents.  My camera is dead and the charger has gone walk about again so i don't know when i can even begin to take pictures of all the amazing things i received.  Once again I've not only been astonished, but utterly floored by the kindness of the lovely bloggers out there.  Not only did Purple Sparkle Crafts organise the Christmassy Secret Santa Swap, but she outdid herself!

The obligatory New Years Resolution post will follow shortly, but sadly i must take down the Christmas decorations now.

Wishing you all a happy healthy new year full of the realisation of dreams and the love of the ones you care for.

x

A New Year

It doesn’t seem that long ago that during this time of the year I would be swatting up for all of my exams. Hogmanay would be the last hurrah for me, and by the beginning of January I would be writing lists of books I should have read during the term, gathering resources and furiously taking notes. The end of summer would always signify a new start, as that was the start of a new term. Instead of New Years resolutions I would claim to my Mother that I would spend twice as much time in the library or start essays when titles were confirmed with lecturers.
Now when i can go out and spend the night dancing i just dont want to.  Tonight i will bring in the bells then go to bed!  Thats it, nothing in between, just some nibbles with The Husband and an early night!

Have a perfect end to 2009,
lots of love and luck in the New Year!
x x x