Hunkering down

I heard today that it has rained every day in 2026 so far. I am not sure if that is strictly true but it certainly feels like it. January started off cold, sharp and bright but, since the first week back at school, it has been dismally grey. It has been a month of hunkering down, working, not venturing too far from home, and getting outside whenever possible.

January and February are always about small home comforts: potted hyacinths, tete-a-tetes in pretty jars, candles, books and magazines, marmalade cake, dogs on cushions.

I threw out the dying houseplants and turned the plant stand into extra book storage.

I finally got around to hanging the little framed picture of a boat I received for Christmas and adding it to the gallery wall.

Wallpapering finally occurred in the hallway, with much help from my dad. 

Naturally I didn't order enough and, while the bit we have done looks great, I have had to order another roll to finish the job.

The pattern is Blomsterhav by Borasterpeter. I love it. It's very different to the simple, mid-century palm design we were aiming for but I really like it with the wood and pale green trim.

I dusted off my crochet hooks and have just finished this little scarf, more of a neck tie scarf. I just need to block it.

Looking back at these photos I can see the light is already changing. These were from early January and the sky still has that blue-ish midwinter quality.

We even had the lightest dusting of snow.

I always love the bare winter landscape. It is all shapes and bones, no detail. Such a beautiful colour palate.

Now the light is changing slowly although, thanks to the rain, it still feels like it gets dark at about 4pm.

I really like January food. No diets, no drastic changes, but it is nice to go through all the cupboards after Christmas and have a bit of a stocktake. We are still slowly working our way through various selections of chocolate and biscuits, but on top of that there have been delicious winter salads, a lot of soup, blood oranges, fresh bread and marmalade cake. John made a really good vegetarian chilli tonight and I have leftovers of that in the fridge ready for my lunch tomorrow.

There has been one excursion since Christmas - a day trip to London to see my friend Debora, a tradition we look forward to every January. My journeys up and back were quiet and punctual. I was able to get a window seat and make my train nest with my coffee, croissant, book, headphones and crochet. 

We enjoyed brunch then an architecture tour of the Tate Modern. We even saw rare blue sky too, making it a wonderful day.

January has been a good month for reading.  Wifedom is a stand-out book of this month, as well as the discovery of the author Laurie Colwin, new to me but someone I want to read a lot more of.

Bandit has been with us three months now. 

He has very much come of out his shell and we are seeing a cheeky side which is lovely. He's such a good boy on walks: he doesn't pull and is not reactive with other dogs. If anything, he is very friendly, wagging his tail at everyone.

Every now and then we book a dog walking field near us so that he can have a run off-lead. The first time we went he wasn't really sure what to do but now he understands.

He recently had his first visit to a cafe. 

And pet shop where he chose some treats. 

The corner of the sofa is very much his favourite place though.