I'm not usually fond of this time of year, although it is nice when the morning start to appear ever-so-slightly brighter, earlier. I also get impulses to do things, yesterday it was to 'gut' our bedroom. My hubby has had the week off (delightful) and on the night of my birthday I went to sleep and vowed that we'd have a tidy bedroom by that time the next day. I was up bright and early, which was just as well, because the task that lay ahead was mammoth. I didn't realise just how much rubbish, clutter, junk, ephemera, dust and dirt one little bedroom could harbour. We removed boxes from under the bed, went through every one and got rid of things we didn't need, cleaned, vacuumed, dusted, wheezed and then we had a move-around. It's one of my favourite pastimes. I love it. So now our bedroom is just like new, with vows made all-round that it really won't get that bad again!

So I feel all clean and happy with my surroundings. Whilst on yesterday's sorting/cleaning high, I decided to take down the Christmas accoutrements and pack it all away. Another huge job, and we don't have that many decorations, but just taking them all off the tree, wrapping every one individually in newspaper and putting them in boxes was tiring. Especially since we'd spent 6 hours cleaning our bedroom! Our living room now looks and feels larger, and is no longer mostly Nordmann fir!

Today we went to Hexham, we hadn't been there since November and decided to take the time out (now that the winds have abated) to spend some time at one of our favourite haunts. We scoured the charity (thrift) shops, I found a lovely book on wildflowers (another one!) and some bargains in the various sales taking place. It really was nice just to walk and talk, stop and photograph trees and stained-glass windows, before coming home and making some warming spiced pumpkin, lentil and parsnip soup.