New Year, Same Me.

It is almost the end of January, the longest month of the year (though March runs it pretty close). In a couple of days will be the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, we are almost there!

I hope that the new year was kind, it can be a drag when everybody is newyearnewme-ing all over the place and dry January, veganuary, get fit, quit this, start that ads are bombarding us, the supermarkets are full of low-fat, high protein foods and keep fit gear trying to cash in. I try and ignore all that, January is not a month to be trying new things. It is a month to be keeping warm, and doing cosy things. Spring is for starting anew, there’s a reason why nature does it that way and I think we should too.

Above: Snow, in January. Groundbreaking.

Above: Even the washing line has got a snow-fro.

We’ve been having all the weather over here, the month started with quite a snowfall. We were cut off for a few days, happily for me I had just done a big grocery shop the day before it started so I was well stocked up. We had no post, no deliveries and no bins emptied. The local kids loved it though; I live on a hill and all day there was shrieking kids on little sledges bombing down it.

After a few days of it being buried, I decided to dig my car out and as it’s an older car I ran the engine for a while to make sure the battery was okay. After doing that and clearing my front steps I was sweating cobs, as they say back in the old country.

Above: Poor little car.

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My first cast-on of the year was the Jojo top by Martin Storey from Rowan Classic Beach (book 9 in the Classic series). I’ve completed the back and am currently halfway through the front. It’s an enjoyable knit though I did have a bit of a stress out when I realised that I had dropped a stitch in a cable section. Have sorted (bodged) it now and am back on course. I ended up using the yarn I had left over from the big cardie that I finished last year rather than buying something new. There’ll still be enough left to add pockets to the cardie which I will get around to sometime..... (weird side-note, according to MS Word, 4 dots is fine and 6 dots is fine but 5 is an aberration ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

I’ve added a couple of new/old Rowan magazines to my collection I ordered #39 and #69 but they sent me #40 instead of #39 which is unfortunate. I did get a refund though so have ordered #39 from another store. There’s not much in #40 that I like but it hasn’t cost me anything so I’m okay with it.

Above: Rowan #69

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My slow cooker has been getting a bit of work lately and someone on Reddit mentioned “slow cooker dump bags” which sent me on a little internet rummage and I found a blog (Taming Twins) which has a tonne of slow cooker recipes. I’ve made the sweet potato and peanut butter stew which I somehow read as a curry and to avoid disappointment I made it into a curry, it was nice but mine had a weird vomitty (sorry) aftertaste which, after googling, could have been the tomato purée. I’m using a different one after the supermarket slave labour tomatoes debacle so I’ll have to try another different one. I’ve also made the sweet and sour chicken which was good. It turns out that the blogger has a recipe book (I know, who’da thunk?), several in fact, so I bought the slow cooker one and another by someone else which was discounted because why not? I like to go through new cookery books to mark recipes that I would like to try and it looks like the slow cooker is going to be very busy indeed.

Above: Sweet potato and peanut butter stew curry.

Above: I'll definitely get my moneys worth out of these two.

Speaking of cheap books, I got sent a link to a new-to-me used book shop called Reuseabook. Friends, I have succumbed. New cookery books are on the way; they have a 4for3 thing going so 8 books only came to 20 quid. It would have been rude not to frankly.

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Above: Like a box of sunshine.

I have a plan to make marmalade as soon as I have dug the jam pan out from wherever I stashed it, I’ve a pile of blood oranges and another of lemons so I’m thinking one of each marmalade and maybe some lemon curd too. I’ve never made marmalade before in my life so I’m not sure what I’m doing really. I bought the jam pan in a fit of enthusiasm some years ago and then never got round to it which is how it comes to be stashed away. This is the year though, before I’m buried in citrus fruits.

Above: Blood oranges, much more bloody than the supermarket ones I usually get.

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I’m currently reading a book called Cuddy by Benjamin Myers, it is an experimental retelling of the life of St Cuthbert, unofficial patron saint of the North of England and it’s making me even more homesick than reading The North Road did last year.

Above: Cuddy. (Cover pic lifted from Amazon.)

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I’ll finish with a few more photos of snow and trees and things and the hope that you’re not out there punishing yourself for eating a cake or having a glass of wine in January, there really aren’t any rules and we need to get through this incredibly long month any way we can. Just be kind to yourselves.

Above: View from the back door.

Above: Bird bath.

Above: Around 4:15pm every day a bunch of jackdaws gathers in the tree, there can be up to a dozen and sometimes joined by a magpie. They hang around for about 10-15 minutes and then fly away. Wonder what that's about.

Above: I love this tree, it lives on the main road opposite the garage.

Above: Cracking sunrise on that day.

Above: I do enjoy a lens flare.

Above: Heart-shaped cloud!