A Bright and Shiny New Year

Hello readers, and a very Happy New Year to you all, too.  It's been a while since I've been in blogland but the Munchkin has finally gone back to school today (since when did children get twenty-five days off at Christmas?) so I am able to get back to normal.  In fact, I think I need a rest, whoever decided to call Christmas a "holiday" really got it wrong in my opinion!

 (Abigail Brown birdies : Mr Blue, a Christmas pressie to yours truly from Mr HenHouse; Miss Pink, a pressie from... errm... yours truly to yours truly.)



Much as I loved how our home looked and performed over Christmas (by which I mean it was comfy and homely and everything just well, worked, you know), it was nice finally to de-Christmas which took place as soon as I set foot back in the house after our spending New Year away in the West Country.  The tree was but a shrivelled, needle-dropping, ten-foot monster.

Do you know, the sun actually shone for a while this morning?  I am fed up with these grey days we've been putting up with.  Give me cold anytime, so long as it's accompanied by blue skies and the big yellow ball in the sky.  Anyway, I hear that the big chill starts tonight so I'd better get my thermals out and those logs in!

But back to the sun, I don't know about you, but I feel a whole lot better when the weather perks up, it's as if I perk up, too.  The post was promising today, as well.  The Boden catalogue at last has gone all Spring-y with pretty colours and fabrics; pink jeans, minty green cardis and flowery blouses, all photographed against a patchwork-wallpapered wall.  Bring it on, Johnny. I'm pretending it's not Winter and in my kitchen jug this week, resides a pretty candy-coloured bouquet of stocks, daffodils and tulips.  Scrummy.

More tempting post came in the form of a pretty bulb catalogue; I first encountered this company at the Chelsea Flower Show, their stand is always filled with heavenly coloured and scented baskets of perfect hyacinths.  Ahh, a girl's gotta dream...

Much as I loved my Christmassy kitchen, I am just as happy to be back in pretty mode.

(P.S.  Have you had a look online?  It's naughty I know, but Cath has some new goodies in and the kitcheny things are oooh rather pretty.  Not as good as the real thing, of course, such as delightful 1940's goodies above, but nice eye candy and practical all the same.)

In the sitting room, my new charity-shop-bought vase (good old Bridders) is home to some really gorgeous old fashioned chrysants in the prettiest shade of lilac-pink.

Talking of flowers, in a rare restful moment over the Christmas/New Year "holiday", I sat down with a needle and thread, some divine vintage fabrics and much inspiration from a certain marvellous Julie Arkell, and finally made a fabulously floppy flower brooch just for me.

It felt good to be getting crafty once more.

I've started a new quilt, too, ooooh exciting!  How about you, reader, are you getting down and crafty in 2013?