Five Happy Things In January

1. SNOW! Only a little sprinkling but still enough to make things look exceedingly pretty
2. Days off work with slow tasty brunches
3. Mia being puppy-like as ever with her menagerie of friends
4. Toasting my Grandad's 92nd birthday with our favourite local Gin, Silent Pool
5. The first spring bulbs bursting into colour and scent

Frosted January Garden

In what feels like a blink of an eye, gloomy old January has nearly shuffled off for another year, hurrah! Dear old Blighty has been feeling mighty chilly of late, much more so than last year don't you think? It's only when the frost has settled can you really see the graphic details and shapes of the winter garden, and I love taking time to enjoy these different views!

I have several willow and dogwoods that have been setting off the sparkling frost, but also the various sculptures I've been collecting in various areas of the garden. I've been trying to tempt back the garden birds with a variety of new seeds and energy filled suet cakes, I love watching the blackbirds springing across the lawn when I wake up, the little birds will come and sit outside the kitchen door now, they're getting braver! 

The Shepherds Hut is still usable this time of year because of the little stove, I have enjoyed hiding away in there with a piping hot thermos of tea and the radio to keep me company! I have been crafting with my new BigShot machine which I will show you soon, trying hard to keep being creative on my days off rather than just collapsing in a heap in front of a 'Four In A Bed' omnibus! 

The only thing I can't abide about this time of year is having to defrost my car morning and evening, I was extra unlucky this week as I was defrosting it in INSIDE as well! My own personal snow flurry, which set me up in a proper grumpy mood, frozen fingers and a soggy car, grrr! Ok, I'm ready for Spring now!! Hope January has treated you kindly!

Ice on the INSIDE of my car -horrendous! 

Thanks for popping by!

Katie

December Begins...

December has finally brought the cold. On waking this morning, I saw my garden had finally been visited by Jack Frost himself! The sky was perfectly blue, the sun was shining, but the ground was looking decidedly wintery indeed - I must admit I wasn't up with the lark to take these pictures, luckily it was still powdery white by mid morning! 

It's only this time of year you learn to appreciate the smaller details of nature, the textures and the graphic shapes rather than petals and bright colours. Ferns have their last hurrah before they curl back into the earth until spring, and the last rusty leaves have fallen and settled - winter could finally be here! Am I the only one who looks back at my childhood winters and swears they were much longer and a heck of a lot colder? Could be nostalgia...more likely Global Warming!

This photo of my garden shows what a frost pocket it is! The sun completely misses it until late afternoon so it keeps looking wintery for much of the day now. The Shepherds Hut is luckily kept cosy by a stove so I am currently holing myself in there making all sorts of Christmas crafts (I will blog about those soon!) I gave it a good clean this week and made sure there were plenty of snuggly blankets and thick socks for myself and any visitors that might knock on the door. 

I haven't started Christmas decorating quite yet, but I did find these wonderful star lanterns that I will gradually infiltrate into every room because I just find them so cosy and beautiful, they will stay up through the January slump too! I also treated myself to some ultra snuggly new PJ's from White Stuff, Slumberland Bear, I highly recommend snuggling up in a pair of these! 

Hope you're having a great weekend! Have you got the festive feeling yet? Am I lagging behind on the decorating front in comparison?

Thanks for reading!

Katie