A New Year

☆Happy New Year!☆

I know I'm a bit late, but it is my first blog post of the year! I do hope you had a good Christmas. We had a great one here with all our youngsters together and my lovely sister-in-law, A. It really was one of the best I can remember with lots of laughter, chatting, games, seasonal fare and relaxation. It also contained some creativity. A is a talented embroiderer (-ess?) and designed and sewed this lovely fern while she was here. She is very crafty and only started embroidering last summer.

I even put my crochet aside for an evening and joined her in sewing a quick festive design. I've got until next Christmas to decide what to make it into.



I discovered a little seasonal project here at the Loop blog and fell in love with it - a mistletoe garland. I mentioned my love of mistletoe before, so as soon as I saw it I had to make it, even though I had only a couple of days to go until Christmas and a to-do list as long as your arm. However, I was very determined and seized a few quiet moments here and there with a cup of tea to pick up my hook and get crocheting.



I finished it in the in-between period before New Year, and like how delicate and simple it is. All the decorations were put away last week but my mistletoe garland is still hanging on our back door.



I love having some books to peruse after lunch on Christmas Day when I feel full and drowsy, and this year I was lucky enough to receive some gorgeous reading material. A lovely book of poetry for the coming year, an almanac, a foraging diary and a book of mindfulness. I'm going to enjoy these.



Now we're all back at work and school (both for me - term started on 2nd January, so that put and end to the festivities!), and J has returned to university, it's time to look forward. Going back to work the day after New Year's Day felt like a bit of a shock to the system, but once we'd taken the decorations down it felt good to move into the new year.

At this time of year I'm drawn to anything that can replace the sparkle of Christmas. Something is needed to lighten the gloom of deepest, darkest winter, and for me that takes the form of candles, fairy lights and flowers - three of my favourite things in all the world. This little Christmas cactus has begun to flower and I'm thrilled. Last year I had one and all its buds dropped off, so I'm paying it extra attention this year. Isn't it the most beautiful pink?



The bulbs which I planted back in October have been in the dark of the garage until I brought some out just before Christmas. Now hyacinths buds are pushing their way up through the leaves and I can't wait for that familiar heavy, rich scent to waft its way around the room, giving a foretaste of spring.

Clover has been enjoying herself over the holiday and likes to spend the winter curled up in various places around the house, finding cosy little patches of warmth. It's nice to come into a room and find her quietly snoozing somewhere. Here she is next to the radiator in her basket with some of her Christmas toys. She so loves the heat.

I've realised that I have not yet introduced you to the newest members of our family, which is very remiss of me, as they moved in to The House with the Blue Door last spring. They are the sweetest little guinea pigs and go by the names of Luna (black and white) and Ginny (brown) and they belong to J, who loves animals. Although he is away at university for much of the year we agreed look after them when he's away and we have quickly become very fond of them.

Luna is very sweet and cuddly, the quieter and calmer one of the two - she can be quite feisty when necessary, though.

And Ginny is a skittish little adventurer with a quiff, and fur which grows in all directions. J named them after Harry Potter characters, and we already can't imagine life without them. These photos are of them enjoying the garden last summer.

See you soon xx

A Return and A Fresh Start

Hello again - remember me? I have been an errant blogger haven't I? I can't believe that we're on 1st November already. It's been months since I've posted and in the meantime the summer and a good deal of the autumn have passed by. All is well here at The House with the Blue Door, and I'm pootling along as usual, but I have very much missed blogging, and sharing my thoughts and photos with you - Blogland is such a warm and friendly place. 

I realised though, that working full-time is just not conducive to frequent blogging, not to mention actually finding the time to be creative, make things, stay active and run a home. So I reluctantly stopped for a while and as time passed I got a sort of blogging block. Every time I thought about posting it felt like too much time had gone by. I have now decided that this is nonsense and I need to stop thinking about it and jolly well just get on with it. So here I am.

It has been a full house here with our three young people in residence again. B returned from New Zealand in the spring and is now working, J is back at university and D is in her final year of 6th form. It's been a busy house full of comings, goings, friends and visitors, a pleasant buzz of activity. Now that we are in a house of adults, you'd think that I would have more time to myself, and I suppose I do in many ways. This year, though, many weekends and holidays have gone on DIY and house-related stuff, kind of catching up with ourselves. 

However, some changes have been made in the time I've been away. One is that I've made a change to my fitness routine. I still have weight to shift, and whilst I've been a frequent visitor to the gym, after almost 2 years I was becoming very bored with it. I am quite an outdoor, seasonal sort of person, and need a daily dose of fresh air and to be surrounded by greenery and nature, even if it's just the garden. After a busy day indoors at work, I need to breathe in the outside: touch leaves and flowers; feel the rain, sunshine, or cold air; smell the soil and vegetation; listen to birds. I don't feel right if I don't do this. And I felt stifled at the gym: the same view every time I went; breathing in re-circulated, air-conditioned air; watching the little numbers on a screen ticking away the time as I exercised; my only idea of what the weather was doing was a view through a skylight. The people there were lovely, but I couldn't justify the monthly cost. 

P has been a regular runner for years now, and in the last year or two has taken to running in the countryside around us. He often returned with tale of places 'you'd love', and suggested I run too - remember the poppy field he showed me? Now I haven't run for years (make that decades!) and scoffed at his ideas of me jogging along behind him, gasping for air and red in the face. However, I knew I had to make a change. Then two things happened to make my mind up.

 Firstly I went to cheer P in his most recent half-marathon, and noticed that not everyone taking part was a super-fit, highly-polished, Lycra-clad athlete. Secondly I started to wonder if I could actually run, so a few weeks ago I put on my T-shirt, leggings and trainers and cast aside all feelings of embarrassment and self-doubt. We went to a lovely spot in local countryside and went for a walk/run. I ran when I could, and walked the rest - and surprised myself. It was a warm day and now and again we stopped to admire views and take photos. We went 3 1/2 miles up and down some big hills and even explored a prehistoric long barrow along the way. It was heaven! I was tired when we got back but happy, so happy ♥ and P didn't mind going at my pace because he runs with a running group and on his own. Here are some photos from our first run/walk.

  

  

Since then there have been more walk/runs in other lovely local places, sometimes with my camera and sometimes without, just to see how far I can run without stopping. 

And I have so enjoyed it! It's made exercise into a fun activity that I look forward to, rather than a chore which hangs over me and which I invent reasons to escape. There are at the moment no targets or goals, other than to get out weekly and do a bit more than last time. I get out of breath and hot, and know that it's doing me good, and we get to chat along the way and stop and look at beautiful sights like these orange, gold and green beech leaves.

And this delicate tracery of tiny silver-grey seed heads which made me want to go home, grab my knitting needles and cast on a delicate lacy shawl.

Or make a necklace like this gorgeous garland of bright red bryony berries adorning the hedgerows.

Back at home I've been busy too. There's been a fair bit of crochet going on - lots of little woolly flower brooches for my Etsy shop, as well as sewing and embroidery too. I've had an Etsy shop for years, but have recently spruced it up a bit, given it a new name to match my blog, and generally brought it up-to-date.

There's been knitting too, in the form of a heathery hills wall-hanging.

In the kitchen I've managed to keep up with our modest harvests, producing through the summer rhubarb and vanilla jam, redcurrant jelly, blackcurrant jam and most recently blackberry jam with berries I'd frozen as I picked them. They were all a success, with no runny or over-cooked batches among them. I think I've got the hang of this jam-making lark now.

I've loved gardening this year, and have moved plants around and introduced some new ones, like hydrangeas and heathers, as well as planting more fruit - blueberries and gooseberries in pots.  The Japanese anenomes have only just finished flowering.

My shed is looking suitably autumnal now, and the evenings are really drawing in.

Reading-wise, I've been enjoying natural history books lately, and have just finished this one which was a brilliant and very seasonal read about apples and orchards. I got it for my birthday a few weeks ago, which was apt because my favourite birthday tea has been in recent years what P has described as a 'large cheeseboard' involving local cheeses, lovely grainy bread, appley chutney, quince jelly, posh crisps, and delicious local apples.

I started the book in the garden and finished it in bed with a dose of flu, followed by a chest infection which I'm still trying to get rid of (ugh, that's the only downside of lovely autumn - the return of the horrid bugs). But that's enough of that.

Thank you if you've taken the time to read to the end. I really do appreciate anyone who reads my blog, and I am so glad that I've posted again. It just feels right and makes me happy, however infrequent it is ♥ ♥ ♥

See you soon x

Bits and Bobs

Hello again! We're home after another break away, and I'm enjoying the fact that it's the summer holidays. It's been a warm, breezy day today, just right for being in the garden deadheading, cutting back, staking and generally tidying up. I've also been sorting out my photos and buzzing around in Blogland again, so I thought I'd share with you a few of the nice things (in no particular order) that I've been doing lately:

*Reading my summery magazines with a cup of tea al fresco

*Stopping to admire these beautiful blue cut flowers from P (he knows the way to my heart)

*Spending time in my shed, changing my noticeboard pictures for holiday ones

whilst enjoying Clover's company

* Making bunting for J's new student house

and for the outside of my shed

*Enjoying the Bristol Harbourside Festival

as well as its street market

*Smiling at the sight of Bristol's Urban Food Trail

*Heading for the river to swim/relax on the bank as we often do for J's birthday

*Going with whatever the weather does, rain ...

... or shine

*Noticing the little things

*Feeling fond of our native cherry tree, planted by P and I eighteen years ago

 - blackbirds love the tiny bitter cherries

*Wondering if I could one day make these sweet little bee tiles into a mosaic

*Loving bee-friendly annuals in the garden, like this fabulous blue borage

*Smelling the sweet perfume of the phlox which is at its strongest in the evening

*Eating lots of lovely berries

*Reading books bought from a sweet second-hand bookshop

(I took this photo back in the spring, as you can tell by the daffodils!)

*Looking forward to the blackberry season

*Feeling pleased that the little flower bed that I made back in May has filled out so much

*Taking the time to pod and cook broad beans from the local farm-shop for my lunch - crushed with mint and garlic on toast a la River Cottage (delicious!)

Next time I'll show you where we went on holiday - see you soon x