First post

Another Christmas gift from daughter, she knows I love these blooms, sadly I can only get them to bloom once, I have a white one already growing, should bloom in the coming weeks. My hyacinth bulbs are beginning to open, pale pink flowers giving colour to a dreary time of year.

The box has come in very handy, as Lilly loves it, our house has become a toy shop for cats, neither Grace or Purdy played with toys, so we had to go shopping for Lilly, she is happily playing or sleeping most of the day. I had said I would get an older cat to love here and have a second chance of happiness, but after losing both of ours, it would be too heart breaking to have to go through loss again too soon, so when daughters cat was pregnant the choice was made for us. 

I've sorted through my seeds, most came free with my subscription to Kitchen Garden magazine, these I am passing on to my neighbour. I have plenty left, I will cancel my subscription in February, 12 copies are enough, and a helpful reference point as I have kept them all. It's a time of planning, I have my note book out, I sketch my beds in the veg area and work out what I'm going to grow, I always cram plants in, my veg space is small.

We enjoyed good TV, Gavin and Stacey on Christmas night as did most of the country, loved The Split Barcelona, Strike, Ink Black Heart, The Christmas Lectures with Chris Van Tulleken, we also are watching The Day of the Jackal, still have a couple to watch. Christmas and January are always full of programs we love, so less reading time. Having I said that New Years Eve was just rubbish up to Graham Norton. 

New Years Eve was quite, just the two of us, we had a nice meal, shared a bottle of blush prosecco, waited up to watch the fireworks in London on the TV, we did stay up until all the fireworks was done, most locally were set off early because of the weather. We had a very blustery night, loads of bangs, neither of us slept well, my greenhouse and garden all came through, later in the day the rains came, some of the worse weather we have had, luckily we do not suffer from flooding here. It's a shame so many displays had to be cancelled, the weather has been horrible once again.

Lilly has settled, she has two igloos tucked away so she can retreat when she needs to, already she is following us and playing, after all her new toys a simple box and balloon not blown up fully keeps her happy. I had forgotten all they joys of a tiny kitten, she is house trained, which means we have a litter box inside, we won't let her out until she has had all her injections, been neutered and chipped.

At the start of another new year, I don't make resolutions, we have changed our lifestyle over recent years, turning our back on commercial, ignoring all the messages on my phone showing stuff they want to sell us as 'stuff you need'. No plans to declutter, our life with less feels so rewarding, our choices are not for everyone, but we both enjoy life. My hope is for 2025 to be a year of peace and calm, if not in our wide world, in each of your worlds.