Embracing January

There’s that time at the end of December when I look at the Christmas decorations with disgust.  The tree is getting tired and I know that soon I will have to box and bag and tag everything and then put it back in the loft.  Urgh.

Usually the house looks very bare and a bit bleak at this time of the year.  No garlands or fairy lights or presents or Christmas cards.  Just plain and a bit quiet looking.    Living in a house with grey walls can sometimes be a bit of a depressing.  Whilst the colour is very calming and goes with anything that we want to do, it can look too sparse.

But just like in the autumn, we have decided to embrace the grey and white for January and so the twigs that we had in the room before the tree arrived have returned with additional twigs and candles and a frosted pinecone wreath which we purchased at the adorable Nina store in Barnes.

Turns out that if a shop sells pretty things and they offer me mulled wine as soon as I open the door, I will most certainly buy things and be planning another visit soon to pick up the earrings that I really should have bought myself in December.  They are still calling to me!

The twigs are sitting on the mahogany bookcase, but after seeing the photo after pasting it into this post, I’m thinking that I might put some photos out.

We had my 20p silver vases on the mantlepiece at Christmas with greenery, red tulips and berries, but they look good still with greenery and the white frosted sticks.

What do you think?  How do you decorate once the Christmas decorations have been put away?

~ Pru

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Instagram Photos of the Garden

Before I was sick, mum and I spent two days working in the garden. We managed to do nothing else all weekend (except watch a tiny bit of the rugby and walk Violet). It was back breaking work (I was off work for two weeks following this time in the garden although it wasn’t related). I am so glad that the garden is nearly finished.  Mum and I weren’t happy with the garden all summer long.  It just wasn’t right.  But I think we may have worked it out a lot better from now on.

I tweeted photos via Instagram over the weekend and thought I would post them here too along with their captions until I have time to go into detail about the new plants that were purchased and what changes have been made.

‘A lovely sunny morning but a little chilly.  Perfect gardening weather.’

‘First trip to the dump of the day.’ (Mum and I did two trips on Saturday and dad did another trip on Sunday.  One more trip on Monday is scheduled in).

‘The last bush (maybe) out of the ground.’  Yep.  I was wrong.  Two more came out after that one.

 

‘ Mum and the eucalyptus’

 (Sunday) ‘9am and into the garden we go.’

‘The rose section about to be moved.’

‘Working out where everything should go.’

‘Violet scouting out a new place to rest (her bed must not meet her standards!)’

The garden once the work was completed.

I’ll be putting together a post with before and after photos.  I think the difference will really be seen once summer comes around again.

~ Pru

Fancy following me on Twitter so you don’t miss out on any more of my photos?  Click the link here @prusinger.

Is It Tuesday Night Already?

It seems like it was Friday just moments ago, but now it is already Tuesday night and I am trying to catch my breath (with the help of my new inhaler – doctor says I have mild asthma) to look back on the last few days. They certainly have been busy.

Mum and I did the Moonwalk (13.1 miles) in just over three and a half hours and we were both so pleased to cross the finish line. It also helped so much having a hotel room less than 20 minutes walk away and we were both tucked up in our beds at 4am and ready for breakfast at 8am.

I find that I always forget to take many photos when I am out at an event – truth be told, I was too busy singing and dancing and taking in the atmosphere to bother with the camera. I would much rather experience it first-hand than miss things and just look back on the photos. So really, the photos I took are the ones from Hyde Park earlier in the afternoon. And just for good measure, one from Cocomaya, a brilliant cake shop/chocolatier near Paddington.

And now, it’s Tuesday night. Home for the first evening and I am taking stock and getting sorted out. The garden has sprung up within the last week or so, and I can’t wait for the warmer weather to arrive so that I can sit outside and enjoy it more.

Have a great week. I know that I am behind on loads of projects so you won’t see me until next week, but by then I hope to be back and on track.

‘Stuff’ – Can I do away with lots of the things in my room?

Recently I wrote that one of my main goals this year was to redecorate my bedroom.  It’s not just the colour of the walls that are on my mind, or what new bedding to buy.  No.  Recently it has been the amount of ‘stuff’ that fits in my room. 

 

I have a lot of stuff.  And I have been wondering, if I lost it all what would I want to replace.  The thing is, although some see their ‘stuff’ as temporary as I do in a way, I also see it as ‘stuff’ that I have loved and looked after, and treasured in some cases, and spent my hard-earned money on.  So, parting with some of it will certainly be hard but the  books I read ages ago and keep just in case I want to have a look through them again would I replace them?  Probably not.  And the DVDs and CDs that I liked ages ago but never watch anymore?  Maybe one day.  

 

Therefore, I am going to experiment with living with less.  I currently have five things of hand lotion in my room for which I moisturise once a fortnight.  It’s crazy. 

This is my bedroom at the moment (I didn’t bother to tidy it beforehand – we are friends after all – I am sure you won’t mind).  Tomorrow I will start boxing and bagging things up to see if I really need them or if they could be donated to others. 

How much stuff do you have?  Any ideas on what I should do?