Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - December, 21-31

Hi there everyone 😀

Welcome to my first post of 2019 ... it's lovely to be back after being 'off air' for a couple of weeks.

I hope you've all had a peaceful Christmas and New Year break. For us, this is the last of Martin's four weeks off work and to say that we've been taking it slow is an understatement.

I think we are starting to fall into a bit of an annual pattern where, after a busy last few months of the year, January and February are becoming our recovery time. Where we sit back, rest up, take stock and start to get geared up for the Spring.

Having really recognised this last year ... this year we are approaching things differently. Instead of moping about and feeling cross with ourselves for not feeling raring to go, we are embracing the time of year and revelling in taking it slow.

We don't have a to do list, we don't have lots of plans, we are eating badly, doing very little exercise and generally taking it as it comes and enjoying just chilling out, interspersed with catching up with friends and family and the very infrequent foray out into the fresh air to blow the cobwebs away.

I know we are late to the party, but we have just watched the latest series of Luther and have now gone back to the start so there is some serious binge watching of TV going on, with plenty of very late nights and shockingly late mornings. With Martin back at work next week, we need to start weaning ourselves off this, but are enjoying it while we can.

So here we are right at the start of another new year and I'm starting off with the last of my everyday ordinarys (or should it be ordinairies?) for 2018 ...

Day 21 - After doing the weekly shop and a treat of fish finger sandwiches for lunch, which we haven't had for a long long time, I managed to make a start on an embroidery project which I bought all of the stuff for about a year ago. It was intended to be completed last winter, ready for Spring 2018, but I never built up the confidence to give it a go, but I really felt like doing something crafty and this was just the job.

Day 22 - The start of the Christmas TV guide and the first of our regular Christmas social excursions. We went to a local Miller & Carter with Jackie & Phil for a fab steak dinner in a twinkly restaurant overlooking the lake. It was back to their's for chilled out drinks lolling on the sofas and putting the world to rights before a short walk home. A lovely way to start the festive season.

Day 23 - Martin spent the best part of the day doing more jet washing, this time in the rain. I, on the other hand, spent the day tucked up in the warm eating toasted crumpets and chocolate log, whilst finishing off my embroidery project, which I am really chuffed with. After Martin came in and got clean and dry we put the fire on and curled up n the sofa watching a film for the rest of the afternoon, before finishing off the day with the kind of picky tea that you only really have at Christmas time.

Day 24 - We finished off our Christmas pressie delivering and had our traditional Christmas Eve meal out at Pizza Express with Jo, Steve, Hannah & Megan. We had a lovely evening and were home in plenty of time to hunker down for a second viewing of The Greatest Showman, which was definitely worth watching again.

Day 25 - We had a lovely day, dropping in to see Lesley, Tom, Lauren & Jess on the way to mum & dad's, where we spent the day with the whole family. We all stayed longer than expected and the 'less waste' presents seemed to go down a treat.

Day 26 - Boxing Day and we went to Lesley & Tom's for our traditional turkey and chip lunch which is always a real treat. We were back home for another flake out on the sofa with a film ... this time Ocean's 8. I did intend on having a look through my new book that Martin bought me for Christmas but other than a very quick flick, this treat is being saved for another time.

Day 27 - Our first day for a while with nothing on the calendar so what to do? Well, other than setting up our new Amazon Echo and seeing what we could get Alexa to do, not very much at all.

Day 28 - Another late get up, braving the supermarkets to do the weekly shop, where we couldn't resist these new wellies for the little man. We ended the day with Chinese and TV. I think we need to try and shake ourselves up a bit ... we seem to have wound right down, which has been lovely, but we are both starting to feel a little sloth like.

Day 29 - And yes, another late get up ... we have got soooooo lazy. My blue dimple fleece arrived which is just the job for a blanket project that I will be getting on with in the New Year. Other than nipping out to get some flowers as we were at Jackie & Phil's for a meal this evening, we didn't do much else at all. We had a lovely evening with Jackie & Phil, Chris & Jenny and Rachel & Tom, with lots of good food and good conversation. With the kids now having left home it's not that often we all manage to get together at the same time so it is lovely to try and do this at least once a year over the Christmas period ... another Christmas tradition that is a real favourite.

Days 30 & 31 - Jackie & Phil were coming to us for our traditional New Year's Eve get together, when we are all at home. Sunday was spent getting organised and having a bit of a tidy up, finding homes for all of the random bits and pieces that always accumulate on the dining room table and starting to do a bit of food prep. New Year's Eve was lovely. The food was fab and the conversation even better. We watched the fireworks at midnight, followed by the Madness concert. It was 3am before Jackie & Phil went took the short walk home ... we all impressed ourselves with our staying power!

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So that was us for 2018 

Thank you everyone for following my Life of Pottering for another year

Here's looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings 😀

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