Thursday 1st January 2026 - Happy New Year

 It really is a Happy New Year for us. Last night as we were getting ready for bed, BB discovered that he was no longer wearing his wedding ring. Horrors! It had slipped off his finger sometime in the evening. 

It wasn't in plain sight anywhere so we went to bed, planning to search more thoroughly the next day.

We started after breakfast by slowly stripping the bed; BB goes up and makes it every evening and we thought that might be when he lost it.

Well, hurrah! I found it under my pillow! How romantic is that, sleeping with my husband's wedding ring under my pillow! We celebrated with coffee and croissants. 

It has been properly cold all day, but there was some sun this morning so here is my December 2025 picture of 'my' tree, the oak at the bottom of the garden 

It is almost completely bare of leaves, and will remain so until most of the other oaks are already green.

And here is next-door's cat guarding the bird feeders from all those pesky little birds that keep raiding them. We have a seed feeder and a peanut feeder in the apple tree as well as the one on the right.

Actually,  as long as Aki stays still, the birds will carry on, just keeing an eye on him. Aki isn't a climber, and he just likes watching them. Mostly.

My amaryllis plant keeps on growing. I can see a difference every day. Standing there and drawing the buds as they change helps me understand how the petals are carefully 'origami-ed' inside the green covers. 

Ì did finish the practice piece of the 2By2 stitching collaboration, today, not yesterday. Now I know how I should have gone about it, for when I start the 'real' piece which will be Ang's eventually. 

Another day of holiday, going through my Christmas presents, looking at the books, eating the chocolates and biscuits...

I'll start on the to-do lists, yes, three of them, one Monday. I wrote them on post-its and stuck them on next week's pages.

Until then I'm on holiday. If I was still teaching I'd be up to my eyes in planning; Oh the joy of retirement. Do I miss the school teaching? No, not a bit!