January 22.

Happy 31st January. 

We've made it through the long grey month. Our days are getting longer and the promise of warmer weather is just around the corner, well I hope it is anyway.

 We've made the most of it and taken January as a month to relax and prepare for the year ahead. We've got our for some walks, spent time together and even managed to take Stan the van out for a trip.

I've read some books

Obviously did some knitting

Finally pulled out my wheel

Baked a cake

And started the hunt for some new cupboards for a kitchen update

I really want a pantry !

All in all its not been a bad month. 

Stan's first trip 0f 2022.

 Stan the van is due his MOT and annual habitation check next month. After being snugged up for a few months we thought it best to take him out for some fresh air.  We booked a site half an hour away from home and despite the low overnight temperatures we had a blast.

We stayed at Uphill Wharf , what a great little site. I think 24 pitches all in all so not too big and nicely spaced out. It is a busy area and there is a walk that skirts behind part of the the park so can be a little busy with walkers but other than that great.

Just outside of the site ifs a fab little café, Uphill wharf café bar,  would definitley recommend this if you are in the area. I went for a vegan breakfast, £7.50

This was the normal size, you could have gone for a big breakfast, but honestly this was huge and very tasty. 

After Brunch at the café we walked down to the beach and along into Weston Super Mare.

A very refreshing walk from uphill to Weston along the beach and onto the prom along to Knightstone Island.   Despite having visited here many times I have never actually walked around Knightstone islands. 

After our walk we decided to go onto the pier and get a drink in the tea room at the end of the pier before heading back to site.

Stan the van did great, no major concerns or signs of leaks or damp which is good. Some small jobs need doing but other than that the old man is doing great. I sleep really well in the van and the heating works a treat so we coped with the cold weather and were nice and snug.

I am so grateful that we have Stan, he really does give us the option to go off on a whim. It cost £50 for 2 nights at the site and other than breakfast and a drink we didn't spend anything else as we had taken food with us. 

A weekend well spent.

Just another week.

Another week has passed with no blogging to be seen. Personally I blame the full moon on the 17th. I certainly had a case of the January blues and a touch of restlessness. It's only now I feel like blogging and to be honest have little to blog about. Well nothing that I feel is of note.

I have, however, been trying to notice the small positive things in my day. Which when I work full time stuck in my little box bedroom for most of the day, can sometimes be difficult to do . I am so ready for Spring and longer days to arrive.

Noticing the small things

A cold frosty start, choosing to use public transport rather than drive myself to an onsite, out of area working day.

Taking time to look at the frosty plants and plastic bottle top flowers 

And just enjoying a couple of train journeys watching the view go by, no reading or work was done as they were only 2 short train trips.

Taking a moment to stop and watch the glow from the golden hour outside of my window making shadows on my wall

Sharing a glass or two of wine with the hubby in front of a lovely fire

And totally throwing away any plans not to cast on anything new as I really wanted to cast on something else...

Rock Candy Shawl using Giggling Gecko Yarn which is a dream combination. This pattern is addictive and all I want to knit.

And deciding that I really needed a new book, honestly, there really wasn't anything I wanted to read in my to read pile 😁

The snow song.

To which I am now going to sign off, make a cup of tea and start the first chapter.

Reading plans.

Last year I read a total of 37 books. Not bad. An average of 3 pr month. 

I love books, I love reading and I love buying books. My preference is a real book, there's something nice about curling up with a real book rather than an electronic gadget. I do own a kindle, but generally it collects dust.

As part of my plans to reduce, reuse and recycle this year, my ' to read' pile also came under the spotlight. My plans were to read from what I have and not be tempted to buy more books. Sooooo difficult.....

I love to have my own little  library so I can mooch and decide what I fancy reading. But a plan is a plan. So here's my first small reading pile. There are still many books on the shelves but I have taken out a pile.

Hopefully I will have these read by the half year point. If I don't get distracted and buy more books that is.

Yesterday I had a really really long work commute across 4 trains and back so I managed to read 1 book

I quite enjoyed it and an easy read when train hopping.

I'm also reading this beauty which was a gift from Hubby 

I'm thoroughly enjoying this book, she is such an interesting character and to read about her life just makes me love her more. Its a large hardback though so not very transportable. 

Alongside my reading I also have a whole little mini library of inspirational books for the year, these are books that I will be popping in and out of over the year.

These are books that I have been drawn to. Some feature food, some about reconnecting to nature and some about creativity. There's also a couple of books about WICCA and mystical thinking !  

I've just pulled this one out to start

I picked this up on our last trip in Glastonbury last year. I was actually in one of the gift shops but they had this little hidden book nook so I just had to take a peak and this really appealed to me. 

I am quite happy with my book piles and am looking forward to cracking on. I did manage my first resist yesterday, I stopped in the WH Smiths at one of the stations and whilst I did look at the books I actually turned away empty handed....

A Sunday walk in Bristol.

Yesterday was blue skies, no rain to be seen ,so we decided to get up and out and stretch the legs.

A walk around the harbour and across to college green. We stopped enroute for a breakfast bap and a warm cuppa.

It was incredibly busy around the harbourside, seems like everyone had the same idea. But it was nice to get out, get some fresh air and stretch my legs.