Who is a lucky girl, then?! That would be me :-D Receiving wonderful things in the post. From the lovely Natalie@NeboPeklo one of her absolutely gorgeous gocco prints and she included some really stunning art cards too. Thanks! Your prints will be in the post as soon as I can find an envelope of the right capacity!

What a cold last week it has been here, the weather is sometimes so oppressively dark and dank that it makes thoughts of anything else go to pot until the sky clears again to reveal some stunning blue skies and white clouds. I can't believe that just last weekend, my beloved and I were out in the garden hoeing, weeding and tidying. It was almost warm - we didn't wear jumpers. Scary how much the weather changes, how up and down it is.

Housework has been at the forefront of my mind of late, it seems to be the right time for a slow spring clean, washing net curtains, washing the sofa covers etc. Nothing taxing, but the house feels better. I have, of course, been doing some practically whimsyish stuff, like cutting up an old duvet & duvet cover to make it into a suitably comfortable dog bed for the Mutt. Which if nothing else has been fun to do, since I haven't touched my sewing machine since October, which is just too long.

On the spur-of-the-moment, when enjoying our ritual visit to a local garden centre for a coffee, we decided that we'd like some fish (doesn't everyone have moments like this, I ask myself?) so we decided upon a Calico and a Comet, aptly named, Calico and Olympia (after the heroine of the book I've been reading of late: Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve). After much huffing and puffing, carrying the tank hither and thither, dosing out water purifying liquid and filling it long-distance, it is set in a comfy place, with its pumps pumping and happy fish (with me left very weary!). The Mutt is, as yet, undecided. Although I think she has realised that they are not food, and that their fish food smells far more interesting. She does love to watch them swimming about, though. It is very sweet indeed.


[Olympia & Calico, a tale of two fishies in their new home]

This weekend also saw a visit to my much-loved haven, the local library (two words that are seldom ever bad: free and books) to return a book, buy one (for 10p no less!) and take one out. It looks as though reading shall be my mainstay through these long cold evenings!

With that, I shall bid you all adieu, because I could sleep for England (and probably will). Tomorrow is going to be busy, so much to do, so little time!

Today has been wonderful. For what seems like the first time in ages the windows were flung open with wreckless abandon, the heating was turned off, and the house, as well as myself, had the chance to breathe. The wind was wild, when walking the mut, it seemed like it would blow us both over. The dense pine forest at the bottom of our garden is really spectacular when it's windy. The noise it exudes is akin to being at the beach on a rough day, it roars, and reminds me how powerful mother nature is.

I got some lino printing done today, and also got to go into town to pick up some yummy things. Namely spinach as I'm trying to take lots of positive steps to make myself healthier. For the first time in ages, I'm taking vitamins and evening primrose oil, eating really healthily (most of the time - I haven't touched chocolate for over 2 weeks!!!). My body is rewarding me for my efforts, too. In myself I'm feeling much better about everything, a lot more positive than I have for a long time. I find myself sat in my little paradise, lino tools at hand, staring out of the window watching the crows as they flock and land on the almighty pine trees. It's quite awe-inspiring.

This weekend, if possible, I'm going to try to get some of my prints in to a local shop to see if they'll sell them. It makes me nervous to think of it - but it's nerves mixed with excitement. Perhaps 2006 will be really good after all, I hope so!

Right this very moment I'm off for a bath, whilst reading what should be a really good book. Have a great weekend whatever you chose to do :-)

It has been so long since my last post - sorry! It isn't intentional, but life around here has been so hectic for the both of us recently. There remain days when I just don't get onto the computer at all! Part of this hectic time has been the joint decision that this really is the time for us to tie the knot. After nearly 2 years of being engaged, we decided that there was no time like the present. We have done all the preliminaries, gone to the registry office, have sorted those details out and chosen the date (21st June - the summer solstice). But that's about all we have arranged as yet.
Which means, this weekend, it'll be 5 months exactly until the wedding. I am so excited, and a little nervous too.

These few weeks, since xmas, I have been so busy. Designing goodies to hopefully go into an online shop, learning through doing, and trying to keep the house and myself sane through the dark damp days we've had recently. I love how the birds are really starting to sing here in the mornings, which can only be a good sign of the impending spring. There is so much to do in the garden too. I have onions and leeks to plant (leeks outside, onions in), hoeing to do and so much general faff to contend with sometimes it feels like being pulled in many different directions. Wonderful crafty past times such as knitting have been replaced by wedding planning and lino cutting.
I used to love lino printing in school, I remember doing it really vividly, and getting pretty good results. My mother, being the artist she is, bought me lino and cutters for xmas which have turned out some really fantastic images. Spring is bringing all these exciting things to the fore. It is worth every minute.

My next task (apart from hoovering everywhere) is to start the designing of wedding invitations. How exciting this all is!

It has been at the back of my mind for a while now that this is probably the best time to start forward-planning for the coming year in the garden. Choosing just what plants to grow, changing the uses of beds and borders, and making use of this new 'clean sheet' to show our garden off to its best.

Following last weekend's visit to a massive and rather spectacular garden centre, I am now filled with ideas of what to grow, what plants to try, and where new beds and borders will be cut. On our shopping trip, we bought seeds in abundance, which I am waiting to sow with great glee. The back bedroom/creative haven will be sacrificed for this use, which will have to double up as bedroom/art studio/drying room and now plant nursery. The things we do for food, eh? It's all in the name of self-sufficiency, which of course, is worth every bit of energy we put into it.

On my afternoon walks with 'the Mut', I have been noticing subtle changes in the flora and fauna. Everyone tends to think that winter is a completely dead time. Not so, dear friend, not so - in fact, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Admittedly, at the moment, plants aren't at their most active, but the snow and ice, harsh frosts and rain are all playing their parts to prepare the garden for spring. The smells in the air have changed, even from xmas, they are definitely not autumn smells anymore. That warm-damp-leaflitter smell has been replaced by a cold, earthy smell, which seems to linger on anyone who has been outside. It turns cheeks rosy, and nips at fingers and toes. Snowdrops are starting to come up, which to me is the real sign that xmas is over and winter is in decline. Birds too have been singing different songs, and there are so many! Oh too many to count, from Blackbirds (turdus merula) and Dunnocks (Prunella modularis), to Magpies (Pica pica) and Collared Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) one of my favourites being the brave Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Their song is also starting to change; soon they will all be finding mates, building nests and laying eggs. The Collared Doves cooing to each other, and sitting atop the Victorian electricity pole necking (as they do love to do) is one of the surest signs that Spring will soon be here. One thing that I love to do, and has been a ritual of mine for some time now, is to get up very early (usually around 4.30am) on 1st May, the date of Beltane - a Pagan celebration of May Day - and listen to the dawn chorus. Inevitably there is dew, fog, and rain, but that does not stop the wonderful birds singing their song loud and clear for all to hear. In the semi-light, the mix of tiredness, cool air on a warm face, and the song of birds is altogether somewhat fantastic.

Having first measured the length and width of the garden (over 34 metres long!) it is now time to start deciding how much of the lawn will be removed. This serves two purposes; at the moment, it takes forever to mow the lawn, which as nice as it is to have, isn't the highest priority for us right now. So a small amount of the lawn (about 1/6th of the 19 metres of it!) will be sacrificed, at the farthest end for vegetable beds, and down one of the sides as semi-circular beds for various plants, including the vast array of annuals and roses that I've had my eye on. This year we'll see the addition of two of my favourite shrubs, a magnolia and a buddleja. Both are really great to grow, although the magnolia will only grow on ph neutral to slightly acidic soil - which rules out most of east anglia and Lincolnshire (we know this from experience). They are also very pretty to look at, and fantastic ways to lure more insect life into your garden. Two doors down from us, they have a huge buddleja which in summer is completely covered in butterflies and bees - both very beneficial pollinators and important insects to have in the garden.

There are some of my plans for the garden this year... What are yours?

Birthdays are funny. Either anticipated eagerly, or dreaded with such a heavy heart. I suppose it is the same for everyone. Some people see it as a good thing, a new year, clean slate, a marking of time and the chance to see what else life can bring in the next coming year. A friend of mine (admittedly a man whose outlook is rather cloudy at the moment) sees birthdays as yet another year in which he has failed to do what he wants so desperately. I on the other hand greet birthdays with some sadness, but also joy. It is not only the passing of another year. I am a year older, I have learnt more than this time last year, and have gained alot in that time. The sadness comes from apprehension more than anything else. The same anticipation felt at the start of the new year. It only lasts a short time, but this time, in between xmas and my birthday is always a time when my moods are very much swings and roundabouts.

Today has been splendid, spent in the most wonderful way, with the two people I love dearly (and my mother at the end of the phone). The presents were lovely (I am the lucky owner of a beautiful necklace from Jenny Vorwaller), but the most important gift I was given this year was time. The Fiancé took the day off to be with me. To spend time doing exactly what I wanted. We went out for a drive, pottered around a town, had lunch together, bought cakes (for my new birthday ritual: tea and cakes) and spent the most wonderful day together. It just served to reinforce my understanding of how lucky I am to have everyone in my life, and how nothing matters in the end but the moments and memories we create in our lives. Dinner was served, on time, and immaculately by the Fiancé; filo pastry parcels containing vegetables and ricotta cheese, laid on a bed of sweet-balsamic vinegar onion sauce. Preceded by steamed dimsum (something I've always wanted to try, but never have, until now!) and proceeded by more sweet dimsum (it really is addictive stuff, those balls of sweet pappy goodness). I have been waited on completely by my Fiancé, I hope I can make his birthday equally as great.

So, about 175,330 hours ago, I was being born in a hospital. I was, as yet, not aware of the life that I would lead, or the Great Journey that life would take me on. But boy what a journey it has been so far!