Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

So that's it, Christmas and New Year all done and dusted for another year. I hope wherever you celebrated that you enjoyed all the festivities. We (plus dogs) had a wonderfully relaxing Christmas at my mum's this year and as a bonus almost all the family managed to overlap their holidays by a couple of days. It is so rare that we are all together in the same place and at the same time so this was one of those occasions to be cherished.


At the beginning of December we had a few very cold and frosty days with a tiny smattering of snow. Once hats, coats and gloves are donned I love to be out walking in this weather. However, the yard was like an ice rink and it took nearly a week for it to melt away.

As we walked around the woods we were amazed to discover that we had some friendly Robins accompanying us. I tried to get one to feed from my hand and it so nearly did, hovering just a few centimetres away until the sight of 2 black labs put paid to that. The next best thing was for M to build a feeding station and we were delighted to see it being used by the Robins, Blue Tits and Chaffinches among others.

Speaking of birds it's almost time for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. We are planning on taking part again this year, it is really easy and only takes one hour over the weekend of 27-29 January. If you are interested this link will take you to the RSPB page where you can download the forms and information.

I spent a lot of my spare time last year working on a very special project for my sister-in-law. It was quite a tight deadline but I managed to get it finished and framed in time for Christmas. This was probably one of the most complex cross stitches I've ever completed and also the fastest from start to finish. Although my photo skills aren't great it looked wonderful framed and thankfully my sister-in-law loved it - that made every single stitch worthwhile.


After 13 years I eventually got our honeymoon inspired cross stitch completed and framed and it now hangs proudly in the den. Mum took it along to her craft group (en route to the framers) where it was very much admired, one person even said they'd like to buy it! I rarely gift (only family) and never sell any crafts so it meant a lot for someone (not family) to appreciate my work; it was very humbling indeed. Last year was definitely my year for cross stitch. I am still (4+ years) trying to finish M's cardigan and once that is done my aim for 2018 is to learn to knit socks! Hopefully there will be more about that later in the year.

    

The afternoon we got home from mum's we had a long walk around the wood and I was sooo excited to see the first shoots of daffodils and snowdrops appearing. It was even more thrilling since some of these were from the hundreds we planted last year; it seems that all that hard work may be worth it.

I was even more elated to find some snowdrops which had already started to flower. I can guarantee for the next few weeks I will be scrupulously scanning the woodland floor looking for signs of life.


Wandering around we noticed that the ground around the veg beds was frozen and had formed some amazing shapes. It appeared that water in the ground had frozen and somehow been forced up through the surface mud.

It was almost like a mini Giants' Causeway. 

In the midst of winter we have an average of 6-7 hours of daylight and often experience a combination of rainy, gloomy days. However, once 21 December has passed I can almost feel the days beginning to lengthen and I start to dream of sunnier spring and summer days. Returning home after Christmas it was amazing to get back to our beach walks where we enjoyed a cold but bright sunny New Year's Day.


Of course a new year means a new project and yes it's time for another room refurbishment as I managed to convince M not to begin this before Christmas! This was the lounge looking rather messy and in need of some major TLC.


It only took a few hours to clear it apart from the really heavy settee which would just have to stay there and be covered up to protect it from all the dirt and dust.


And only a few days, and one full skip, to get to this (M has been working hard!!).


While M is busy with the lounge I guess it's about time I came up with our planting plan for this season. The garlic is growing well but apart from that we are behind the drag curve and really need to get our potatoes and onions ready for when the frosts have gone. With so much already going on and more to look forward to it seems like 2018 is going to be another busy year on the smallholding. I hope you are having a wonderful start to the year wherever you are in the world.