Happy January to you all. This week has been the first week back to work for many people and the children are now back at school. Traditionally, this month is a time for setting down resolutions and making plans whether they’re about eating more healthily, getting fit or fitter.... changing jobs... moving house... everything and anything from from small changes.... to big massive scary life changes. What do you have planned for 2013?
I’m not a fan of this time of the year, January’s weather is frequently gloomy, the days are short and I really don’t like that but the sun is out today and that’s a good thing. The bad thing is that I’m looking around the house noticing how much needs to be done. We had a lot of house type jobs done over the last year... holes in walls that kind of thing and there’s a lot of decorating and general house preening needed to return it to being a home and not a cave.
I don’t envisage that this is going to mean throwing out the furniture and starting again (wouldn’t that be nice ?) but it does mean a lot of throwing out, (‘cos we need the usable space back), lots of painting, so lots of opportunity for disagreement amongst the four of us that share this space about colour. We’ll definitely need new curtains... we need new curtains just about everywhere... new lampshades... the bedrooms need ransacking and starting again. That particularly applies to the children’s rooms who being quite grown up need their spaces to reflect that. So, loads to do... bucket loads of sewing on the horizon. (Quite a nice thought actually.)
If the house wasn’t enough to ‘re-create’ and drag resistingly into a home, a warm cosy sanctuary-like space for us all, there is also the garden...and the space beyond the wall which is definitely more field like and is trying very hard to return to the thistle infested space it once was.
I’m longing for spring and longer days of light and (hopefully warmth and some dryness would also be greatly appreciated). My dear husband (equally as 'growing' obsessed as I am) bought me these seeds and I can’t wait to get them in the ground.
Higgledy seeds (lovely, helpful blog and lots of gorgeous seeds to buy) ... flowers in a mix of beautiful, coordinating colours and forms. So, rustic bouquets of gorgeousness are planned for - can’t wait.
I read somewhere once that gardening is an act of faith and I completely understand that. It’s absolutely an act of hope when you put those seeds into the ground that they’ll grown and reward all the previous weeks and months of thistle fights with either gorgeous flowers, or delicious food to eat. We’re slowly winning against the thistles and this year is obviously going to be better than last. We’ve more beds dug and the dark and often gloomy days of January are good for planning what it is you’re going to grow next year. There will always be failures but probably more successes and that’s what keeps it interesting. Plus and it’s a big plus you can’t believe how good those vegetables taste.
Thinking of sewing and dreaming of flowers, delicious vegetables, fruit... and cake definitely cake ‘cos my chickens work very hard at providing us with the most wonderous eggs. I’ve made this.
It’s a fairly straightforward flower with a centre made from a zip. I love the texture that the metal teeth give. Be a great project to upcycle zips from discarded jeans. But, where ever the zip comes from it makes a fantastic accessory for a jacket, bag, hair slides and bands, all kinds of things.
What do you think?
A belated happy new year to you - hope all goes well with those house projects!
Love that bit of zip recycling, very clever!
Posted by: Helen | January 26, 2013 at 08:44 PM
A gorgeous flower, also love the look of those seeds!
Posted by: Tracy Lucas | January 24, 2013 at 10:03 PM
I quite like January (apart from the weather). It feels like a month full of potential, planning the year ahead and cleaning & decorating the house getting things set up for the rest of the year.
Your flower is very pretty, hope your seeds grow to be flowers just as pretty :-)
Posted by: Fiona | January 10, 2013 at 12:45 PM