We have had quite a few red morning skies in sunny Surrey this month. On a recent Sunday morning when I walked across the frosty lawn to take this pic, it made a delightful crunching noise.
When it's cold like this the air sounds different and the birds are silent saving all their energy to fluff up and keep warm. The garden is barren but I can see my mini daffodils pushing through the soil and my honeysuckle has sent out some shoots.
The allotments have had spectacular sunsets.
We had just one evening of snow, washed away by heavy rain next day. A fleeting glimpse of Narnia. The recent high winds took a fence down behind my allotment, which was swiftly replaced by the local council, I went up last week and covered the paths in woodchip - 6 barrow loads. My onions and garlic are doing ok but celeriac hasn't got bigger than a parsnip so not expecting much there. I bought my seed potatoes last week and am storing in the garage until time to chit.
When anyone is at the allotment and decides to put the kettle on (there's a donated wood burning stove) and make the shelter cosy, they often send out a little message to us all on our whatsapp group saying 'kettles on' - this is in addition to our regular Thursday evening 'gathering' where anyone can join in who owns a plot, bringing snacks to share, a bottle or a flask. We have a pizza oven, a gas bbq and a fire pit, all donated so we are always cosy and often cook our dinner on the Thursday nights and share. The shelter was built by the Stewards from free donated wooden pallets.
I got the Thomson and Morgan 161 bulbs for £9.99 offer! some will go in the garden but most on the allotment. There are 2 beehives on the plot at the very end of the site and although they are likely to travel miles to get their nectar, I thought I would do my bit for bees in general so am growing more flowers than veg this year. The hives are owned by retiree plot holders who went on a bee keeping course and bought all the correct safety equipment to comply with our Town Council regulations. although the hives are theirs, they share the experience, we can all come and observe (they even have spare beekeeper suits to borrow).
Our allotment group has started a monthly walk (heading to a suitable pub for lunch and then either walking back or getting lifts off others who have just come for the lunch only, dogs can come too) which I am going to join in March when I am retired. I am looking forward to walking in the woods and fields with everyone.
I have had several days out in Brighton recently. I spent a large chunk of the day this time in Waterstones looking at travel books and didn't venture near the sea at all - too cold! I treated myself to some Afghan earrings from Yashar Bish recently , a shop that sells Turkish and Afghan rugs but also has a small selection of jewellery and some fabulous glass lamps.
There is a lot of art like this on walls and buildings. It changes frequently.
I have new eyebrows! mine were almost non existent after years of attacking them with a razor in the 70s when it was trendy to draw them in higher and take our eyeshadow up to the original brow line! They never grew back well so I have had microblading, small hairlike cuts filled with semi permanent ink, the tattoos will last for 6-18 months before topping up. This is after my first session, I had a second session to fill any gaps which is currently healing.
We had our 6 monthly trip to the chiropodist. It's so important to care for feet!
I took advantage of a recent promotion on Eurostar and booked a trip to Paris for hubby and me in the Summer at a knockdown price (549 total for 2) for 3 nights with hotel and breakfast. Paris has been on my list of things to do for a long time, there is an awful lot to cram in but I will do my best! I love train rides (I think hubby will enjoy this too).
Hubby is busy looking at a trip to India for Spring- he does the research, booking and itinerary. I leave him to it. Can't wait to find out what he has planned for us. Applying for an online visa for India is challenging (for me), uploading pictures that the site will accept has proved difficult in the past but I am hoping it won't be too stressy - this is the only challenging bit in my opinion. Drivers who don't turn up to get us to the airport, internal flights that involve a massive scrum to get through security, busy traffic with no apparent order, monkeys swinging from power cables above your head as you walk, none of that is stressy by comparison!
On 24th February I will become a State pensioner and stop working. I have resigned from my job and currently working notice. My allotment, garden, house decorating and catching up with friends will take a lot of my time, not to mention, gym, swimming, listing things on Vinted and all the travel we would like to do.
Thank you for stopping by.
The fire looks so inviting.
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