First of the Year..............

Well, another Christmas and New Year has been and gone.......Happy New Year everyone!

And you can tell that, unlike some organised and energised folk, I had no New Year Resolution of blogging daily, or posting on a certain day every week.......nope, that's never going to happen!

In fact it is almost a month since I last posted.....just been too busy living in the moment to find any time for taking photos or even thinking about posting, so apologies for my lack of posts!

I always take a few quick photos around the house at Christmas so I do have something to share.

I hope you all had good Christmases, hopefully without flooding or storm damage or power cuts......

We felt ourselves extremely lucky on Christmas Day, having heard that many people in the next village were without power......

And in a nearby town on Christmas Eve, people evacuated their homes as the river rose and flooded their houses. Terrible enough at any time of year, but awful at Christmas, and sadly worse followed when these same homes were looted. 

What kind of senseless, wicked people can do that?

Anyway, as those poor folks gladly put a bad Christmas behind them, I too am happy to look forward to another New Year, having been fortunate to have enjoyed a good Christmas with extended family descending on us on The Day, and having achieved making a record (for me) 5 dozen mince pies this year! (And I don't even eat them!)

Amazingly enough, the poinsettia is still alive and doing fairly well....just a little leaf drop.

I am loving the colour of this one, such a very pale lemony colour which is somehow so fresh and uplifting.

(You can just see here another pair of fingerless gloves that I made before Christmas whilst on a crochet roll, turquoise with the same sort of very pale lemon edging - I think now that's probably what made me choose this colour trim to go with the turquoise! )

A few days before Christmas I popped in to the Antique and Flea market and came away with a basket full of goodies for around £15, including the basket!

I found some large scraps of green and cream heavy woven gingham, perfect for re-covering the Victorian chair I bought last year at the Antiques Fair.

lots of lace trims and crochet doileys.......

a huge bag of vintage trims, braids and gimps in all colours

£2 the lot!

.......and numerous other bits of lace, linens and bits and pieces that I still have to sort through and wash, as they were just put aside amidst all the Christmas preparations.

I'm finding it hard to get settled into a routine now that everyone is back at work and Uni here, and still haven't focused on what to tackle first in the long list of "things to do". 

Lots of painting and decorating to do....finish stairs and landing, finish sitting room... too many WIPS!

The back garden to plan....new terrace and new vegetable beds needed as the raised beds have fallen apart....found some garden design software in the sale, so am looking forward to using that as an aid...

New cooker needed which will mean a minor re-jig to accomodate a larger range cooker - having been used to cooking on a dual fuel range cooker for 12 years at our last house, when we moved here 3 years ago we inheirited a small 50cm single oven cooker, and believe me it is a real challenge, and not much fun, trying to cook a huge turkey with all the trimmings every year for 11 or 12 people on that!

New shower needed......need to source flooring....

etc etc etc.....

I haven't yet shaken off the in-between Christmas and the New Year feeling of limbo, and am just too bogged down with routine chores and tidying up after the holidays to start any of the above yet.

And I have temporarily lost my creative mojo I think, it having been put on hold over Christmas, so I need some inspiration and a kick up the posterior to get me motivated and back on track with whatever I was doing last year.

Have you got back on track?