Or at least I hope it will be when you read this, but I’m writing this on Sunday morning after my first steps in stealth de-Christmas-ing and preparing for the New Year while the only people who could argue with me are the cats, and they’re easily bribed with a handful of treats. They’d have preferred the joint of beef I’m searing before it goes in the slow cooker with local beer and onions but even cats don’t get everything they want in life, no matter what they think they should have. It smells amazing and the house is full of the clean, fresh smell of possibilities as the cold air blows through it.
Because, you see, we are past the winter solstice and little by little the days are getting longer. The fog that haunted us for all of Christmas week lifted yesterday to be replaced by grey skies That made it a wonderful time for telling ghost stories which is something we always do between Christmas and New Year. I got out in the garden yesterday and cleared out a few plants that haven’t come through the wet, and others that got eaten by the dreaded box caterpillar. The RHS website (Royal Horticultural Society) which is my garden reference of choice said it wasn’t the same genus so it wouldn’t matter. Hah! Tell that to the caterpillars! I rebuilt my little greenhouse after what are strong winds for Dorset. I know 60mph is nothing for a lot of you and I’m grateful that it’s not worse, truly I am. So I rebuilt the plastic frame and reorganised the plants. As you know, my garden is tiny and has no grass so everything is in pots which gives me infinite possibilities.
I always grow my plants on from plugs because a) it’s cheaper, and b) I like watching them grow. My favourite on-line nursery sent me a New Year offer so I’ve got 4 little Jurassic gold ferns, 4 little Asparagus ferns, 4 little lavenders and 4 new rosemary bushes with a darker green foliage. I know where they’re going and I’ll fill the pots for them today and then they’ll sit in the greenhouse for a few months so I can shelter them if necessary. On top of that there’s some sedum cuttings coming because I’m really getting into them. Evergreen, a lot frost hardier than I am, and hardly need any attention at all! 25 different little ones are coming so who knows what I’ll get?
The loose covers in the sitting room (Everyone should have these! They make life so much easier) are swapped for pale grey ones with my seaside embroidered cushion covers. Soon I’ll add a seaside quilt because you know how I am about the sea. I swapped my embroidered banner for one that reads ‘Make a Wish on a Starfish’ because New Year is a time for wishes, isn't it?
It’s also a time for remembering the people who will be waiting for me when I do what a poet called ‘crossing the bar,’ which is a term for leaving harbour and setting sail into the unknown. Christmas brings back so many memories, which may well be why I’m always ready to move on before my husband. He came very close to making that crossing and was told he wouldn’t see Christmas 9 years ago, so he treasures every moment of the celebrations. This means that the deal is that I change the cushion, loose covers and banners at the end of the month like I always do. Then, next Sunday, we take down the bulk of the decorations, leaving just the trees for Twelfth Night. I got some gorgeous silk pansies for Christmas. They’re real cheats flower arranging because they’ve got eucalyptus leaves and everything so all I need to do is pick a vase and plonk them in and then add some extra fake ferns and I have flowers but my husband and son don’t have pollen and we’re all happy.
All this means that there are lots of exciting times ahead, and there’s a new book out on Thursday as well as lots of special offers. ‘A Woman to be Reckoned With’ belongs with the first two books in the Oldcastle series and I’m working on two more than follow on from there at the moment. In the second book the hero had a younger sister who is happy to admit that in hindsight that she was a total brat. She not quite runs away so much as retreats at the end of ‘Having it All’ but now she’s back in Oldcastle with a new job, a cottage that will be beautiful when it’s been renovated, two lovely men, and an enemy she didn’t want… Gentle, fun, good for easing into a New Year
So whatever you’re doing, make it a happy one. Do one tiny thing for yourself each day. Read daft books, watch silly TV programmes. Don’t take the world too seriously…
All my love and thanks for reading.
Tia
PS, I hope you like my picture of a gorgeous sea on New Year's Eve. Okay, it wasn't sunny or warm but it wasn't foggy either.
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