Friday 2 January 2015

A New Year

It's been a lovely bright winter's day today, which was very welcome after the wind, rain and grey skies of New Year's Day. Yesterday we stayed indoors and had a nice lunch followed by lots of relaxing, reading and watching tv. In the last couple of years I've bought fresh flowers for the house to symbolise a new start, and this year I chose irises and pink freesias. I also did a fair bit of pootling in blogland which was a rare indulgence for me. I'll be back to work next week, so I've made the most of being able to post almost daily over the last few days.


In a bid to feel more organised I've bought, as well as my usual pocket diary, a family diary which I'm really pleased with. It's funny to have one now that our two oldest are away at university most of the time, but it will help to have somewhere that P and I can both write things in, rather than jotting them on the wall calendar. It does make me smile, though, as it has sections on how to organise the perfect dinner and cocktail parties, as well as a menu planner for Christmas Day. Funnily enough, I'm not really feeling ready to plan next year's Christmas lunch yet!


I was also lucky enough to be sent this diary free with one of my monthly magazines. I'll have to have a think about how I use it since I already have the other two.


On the subject of calendars, here is our wall calendar for the kitchen this year. Inspired by other bloggers, I've used a website to design my own one for the last few years using photographs which I take during the course of the year. It's such a lot of fun to make, and I spend ages over it. Here's January's page.


I also made a little desk calendar too.


We'll take down the decorations in the next couple of days, and although I always feel a bit sad at this point, I am very much looking forward to the year ahead, to longer days and the joy of watching the seasons change. Already the winter-flowering honeysuckle which is in a pot outside the back door has started to flower, and smells just as sweet as its summer counterpart.




When I go outside its heavenly scent is a pleasant reminder of good things to come, and that is a very happy thought indeed x

8 comments:

  1. Lovely calender - such a good idea :) Our decorations are already down, but funnily enough the lights have remained! They now grace the mirror giving the most delightful twinkling light to help banish the grey away - mind you, I have to say that the sky this morning and when I left work this evening was definitely a lighter shade of grey!!

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  2. Such beautiful flowers and I love your home-designed calendars. Our decorations will come down this weekend; it's something I'm usually very ready for by this time, although I'm dreading having to sweep up all the needles when we carry the tree out - we'll probably still be finding them in February! Enjoy your honeysuckle. x

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  3. Wow the irises are stunning :) I'm hoping to get the decs down over the weekend too, our tree looks very sad so it's definitely time. Why do we bother eh ?!
    Jillion

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  4. What a beautiful calendar, that's a lovely idea. The honeysuckle looks wonderful, it's a lovely time of year isn't it, with new beginnings and possibilities. I like the diaries, I shall look forward to seeing pictures from your perfectly planned cocktail parties! CJ xx

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  5. Beautiful irises. The calendar looks great, such a lovely way to display your photographs throughout the year.

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  6. Oh I love the idea of the calendar !!! yours is nice !!! My decorations are still up ..... My family will visit me lately for Christmas next week end ... I'll take it down probably at the end of january .... here we like them !!! Well I wish you a very lovely week end !

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  7. Great calender - how good you got that one with your magazine!

    But your own is even sooo much nicer! I made one of these with Australian flowers for my grandmum when I still lived in Australia. So lovely to make something with your own pics!

    Take care
    Anne (Crochet Between Worlds)

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  8. Hello Cathy,

    Beautiful flowers, I love your Winter Honeysuckle it's brilliant for this time of the year.
    And, your calenders what a wonderful idea with each month showing memories of last year.

    Yes, Spring is just around the corner.

    luv
    irene
    xxxx

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