MAKING sourdough pizza later. Can’t wait! Love pizza
COOKING lasagne last night, it went down extremely well. I don’t buy dried lasagne (or other pasta, apart from orzo) anymore. Fresh is so much better for an occasional treat
SIPPING cider, the rugby’s on
READING an excellent proof! If it continues to be as good I’ll be telling you all about the novel around the date of publication. *Do you like the books posts? Or prefer little mentions, rather than a dedicated post?
WAITING for my tulips to appear
LOOKING at their lush green shoots
WATCHING The Great Escaper with Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson. Glenda’s last film before she died. Michael’s last because he says he’s now retired. We saw it last night. It’s multi layered
LISTENING to the sounds of rugby on ITV
WISHING for world peace. It feels trite to write it now, and realistically will never happen
VISITING Tate Britain: Women in Revolt, so interesting that I’m still thinking about it and The Wellcome Collection: Being Human and The Cult of Beauty exhibitions this year, so far
ENJOYING talking to a 101 year old man and his 92 year old wife earlier. Amazing! Something incredible about talking to someone that old…
APPRECIATING sunny blue sky days
EATING a really good green lentil, chicken & vegetable soup this week, using leftover chicken from Sunday lunch
LIKING lighter afternoons and the fact spring is coming
LOVING having a good result for this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch, unlike a friend who only saw 1 bluetit during the hour
BUYING another bargain yellow sticker (reduced) chicken, it’s in the freezer for another Sunday lunch. Yay! I’ve done really well for bargains lately, I found pork shoulder and a guinea fowl late last year too
APPRECIATING the opportunity to see The RSC’s (Royal Shakespeare Company) production of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, at The Garrick theatre, London, another very good thing I’m still thinking about
MANAGING receipts, ticking off items
WATCHING The Tourist. Into the second series now. It’s quite farcical this time around, lots of humour
HOPING for more QI on catch up, not sure why it wasn’t on this week. ‘Ultras’ episode is next, on 6th February (BBC.) Would I Lie to You was very funny with Craig Charles et al
WEARING owl socks, black leggings, Seasalt top, newly cut (bit shorter than expected) hair scraped up into my version of a bun thingy
NOTICING the library reservation charge is now £1.30. It was £1.20 FIVE MINUTES ago. A friend in Yorkshire pays nothing, though wonders why as she says the district council is bankrupt
FOLLOWING my cousin’s photography journey. Incredible talent
WATCHING Ghostbusters: Afterlife, again, before the new film in the spring
COVETING nothing hugely, except I feel I should be buying an air fryer. It’s weird, but there’s so much buzz and seemingly constant ads for them. Have you got one? What do you reckon?
FEELING a slight cider buzz, thanks Henry Weston
HEARING Cheering crowds, shouting commentator, “YESSSSSSS!” across the room
LOOKING at daffodils in a jug on the side table to my right
I hope your week has been a good one? What have you been up to lately?
*Don’t forget to tell me the answer to my question, please
I’m planning to be back again on Wednesday with an update about what I’m currently making and reading. Take care of yourself, enjoy the weekend
Would love to whirl around in this beauty
I spotted seven parakeets in trees near the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London. They were picking at the blossom then scattering it on the ground, the hooligans! 
You might have to look at these for a minute to work out what they are. Clever eh? Saw in an Antiques Centre
Sparkly and sumptuous, Waddesdon Manor always looks beautifully dressed at Christmas. The garden light trails and the Christmas fair were the best ever this year too 
Cooking : the above to eat with potatoes, petit pois and kale
Regents Park croci
Icicles on the water features at Waterperry Gardens shop
Celebrating: the busy garden birdlife, since I’ve been typing I’ve seen: a Robin, multiple Blue Tits, a Coal Tit, a couple of Great Tits, a male Blackbird and the female Chaffinch is back
My hook is still moss stitching away, gradually adding more sections to the third strip of my blanket. I’m not sure about you, but I finding I seem to be inadvertently taking part in a slow crafting movement. This may, or may not exist, but it’s definitely a thing in my house. I honestly goggle at all the ‘It’s finished!’ posts on Instagram some days. I wonder if they’re not telling us that it’s just been a case of darning a few ends, or sewing up a seam, on a pile of long ago started makes? Whatever. I do not feel any compunction at all to compete, but I do enjoy looking at all the makes.
On Friday afternoon I went to the Members’ Preview Day of the V&A’s new exhibition 
Afterwards walking through Hyde Park, back to Oxford Street to meet a friend for dinner, I saw so many lovely snowdrops. They are so delicate and as the 
Many crows…
And this cheeky pigeon, who only moved at the last moment as I inched closer and closer.
What an unexpectedly agricultural scene! There was a huge fairground set up in the park over Christmas, called Winter Wonderland (otherwise known as ‘be aware and hold on to your purse, while gaping at the exorbitant prices’.) So I imagine this is the process of flattening and fertilising the area before it’s re-turfed.
An eye-catching memorial for 
Now I’ve only got 3 more teeth left to knit of my Hitchhiker, so hurray! Nearly done (again) and then I can start something else. Recently I’ve decided that having one crochet and one knitted thing on the go is good. I don’t really want any more than that at one time. It’s handy to have a choice, especially for knit night when it’s chatty and I need to concentrate. Something you can do without lots of looking is good too, as it’s not well lit in the pub at this time of year. Have I said all that recently in another post? Sorry if I’m repeating myself.
Just before Sewing Club ended for the year another sewer told me she couldn’t see the point of wasting time and energy on making bottle bags; as they wouldn’t be appreciated for the amount of effort that goes into making them. Well, happily I’m glad to report that definitely wasn’t the case. I gave them to members of my family who sew and who totally got the point. They made my (Christmas) day by saying how impressed they were with the quality of the sewing etc etc. Every year we pass around card gift bags and bottle bags, saved from previous Christmases, and last year a few lamented that they had to buy new bags. The horror! I knew that these would be used again and again. It will be quite fun seeing them reappear. Am I revealing my sad nerdiness? Ah well! They’re fully lined with contrast fabric and reversible. Now perhaps I need to make Birthday bottle bags…
We all seemed to arrive at Mum’s with presents for Barty the powder puff tail. My cousin and my nieces all did and I took him a set of jingle mice. But this one was the clear winner: my friend and her dog George sent him a crocheted pillow filled with catnip (bought in Asda, it’s fab.) After I took this photo he got a bit manic. It was so funny to see this laid back ‘I can sleep for England’ young cat so excited. The pillow is already all tatty and with ends sticking out! 
It was so lovely to see this ornament again when we decorated the tree on 23rd. I remembered that one of my nieces bought it for me last year, with her pocket money.
My Dry October turned into Dry November and Dry December (bar 3 occasions where I’d finished in November but then decided to carry on.) All I really fancied was a glass of champagne and so on Christmas Eve I had my first drink in weeks. And my second. And on Christmas morning felt so very ropey that in the middle of drying my hair had to turn off the drier, sit on the bed and take deep breaths! Oh this was not the plan! How pathetic. Seeing a line of just-filled glasses on Christmas morning I apologised to my brother and declined one. During the toast I tasted a sip from Someone’s glass, just to try, and decided it was really rather nice, that perhaps that old chestnut, the hair of the dog thing would be worth a try. My brother said it was the fastest turn around he’s ever seen! I stuck to a single glass all day and it did the trick marvellously. I had another glass on Boxing Day evening with family too. There is a champagne diet, apparently good for weight loss (perhaps not for the liver.) Maybe that will be the one for me in January?
On Boxing Day morning we were so glad to see a crisp and bright morning. We headed out for some exercise. It was a great walk, albeit 7 1/2 miles, not the planned 5. I think it was a combination of a lot of chatter, passing a big group of walkers at a crucial moment and wishing them a Good Morning that meant we missed the intended turning. We ended up in open countryside surrounded by grazing sheep. I turned to my iPhone for our location and saw on a satellite map that we had walked in the opposite direction and were approaching an unexplored village in the west. Oh well, new public footpaths have been discovered and it was a great yomp. Very good for walking off some of the mince pies and Christmas pudding. 
We took ourselves off to the sales on Wednesday and popped into a new-to-me coffee shop, where we sat on wooden boxes and spooned our Demerara from a communal jar with a wooden spoon. How very hipster!
As I wandered the streets around Covent Garden on my quest, I couldn’t help taking a few photos. What a lovely row of window boxes this building had.
At the end of our hour long solo walks our little group met back upstairs in Le Pain Quotidien for hot drinks and to share our experiences. I can’t say I got particular insights regarding the question I asked, but I really enjoyed the afternoon. I always find meeting new people interesting and with events like this anyone can turn up. The experience reinforced the fact that I do tend to notice what’s around me and always end up talking to strangers. I do try to appreciate the little things and look out for little acts of kindness. Even in a big bustling city like London you’ll see everyday, ordinary acts of kindness, with good manners in action and people generally behaving decently to one another. I shall sign up for another Street Wisdom session one day, it was fun. Maybe I could lead a group at some point too.
See, no look of an egg cosy here, I thought it would look gorgeous on my friend. The slouchy beanie with pom pom is a success. It’s a Birthday present and definitely lives up to the book’s name: Hook, Stitch and Give. It’s all come out of the marvellous brain of Kat Goldin. No, I’m not being paid to promote. I’m simply a happy reader / maker.
Menai Bridge by Liesbeth Williams 
The Little Room of Rachell 
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