All Go in Katland

I've been really busy just lately, not just with crafting and gardening, but also in the day job. I have however, had time though to set myself up a new art shop on Folksy as I'm hoping to put some of my art work up there. So far I've made a profile, banner and listed one pic. If you want to take a peak its here at Woodle Doodle Dandy Art.

This is the first picture I decided to list:



I'd been thinking of selling my art for a while and then after a rush of blood to the head last week I took the plunge. I figured there was next to nothing to loose, only 20p listing fee with folksy. Its a bit scarier than selling jewellery though as my art has always been much more personal. I've had an account on Deviant Art though for long time now and have good feedback so I figured it was worth a try :)

I've also been reading loads and finished 'We are all made of glue' by Marina Lewycka. She also wrote 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian' and 'Two Caravans', which I loved and 'We are all made of Glue' was every bit as good. I'm now reading some more Sherlock Holmes and have finished 'The Scarlet Study' and I'm now reading 'The Sign of Four'. Wonderful reading! I'm going to be sorry when I run out of Sherlock books to read so I'm trying to pace myself so I don't run out too quick :)

Spring has Sprung :)

The weather has been absolutely glorious just recently. Its been lovely. I've been down the plot loads and that's coming along well. We have onions, courgettes and potatoes already in and tomatoes, lettuce and sweetcorn started on the window sill. We also have chilli peppers and hopefully some more catnip for the allotment cats :)

I've also been reading The New Messies Manual by Sandra Felton and thats been getting me really inspired to get things organised and decluttered.

I've also been whizzing through Joanne Harris novels - I've read Chocolat, Lollipop Shoes, Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange and Gentlemen and Players. I'm currently reading Coastliners and I'm about half way through. I'm really enjoying her style of writing so I'm looking forward to tracking down some more. I've already spotted another in the library :)

I've also finally been feeling a bit more creative \o/ I've been making jewellery like there's no tomorrow and painting. I picked up some cheap canvases from one of the pound shops in Hemel last week and have already used one. I've put some of the new jewellery up in my folksy shop and have some new stuff on the way :) Heres some pics of what I've been working on recently.

Busy week in Katsville

Last night I went out to see Mark Thomas live at our local theatre. He was utterly amazing. I think to say he was a comedian would do him a disservice - he's kind of like v witty, v human and engaging human rights activist. Last night he was talking about his recent trip to the West Bank and how he walked along the wall that divides the West Bank from Israel. I've been a fan for years but never had the chance to see him till now and I would definitely recommend it.



Completely different and much lighter note, I've finished making all my geeky crafts for the Geeky Swap on Cut Out & Keep so I should be posting those off by the end of the week :) I love making things for others. I think its probably my biggest source of inspiration. Hopefully Kiddo will love the bits I've made her as much as I've loved making them :)

I'm also reading loads at the moment. I finished Gentlemen and Players and I'm now reading another of Joanne Harris'. I'm reading Chocolat. I've seen the film a few times so wasn't going to read it, but after reading Gentlemen and Players I got really into her style of writing. I'm loving Chocolat and I'm already near the end.

It's been a bit of the wet and soggy side the last few weekends so I haven't got the down the plot for a couple of weeks. I have been starting some seeds off at home though. I have chili and onions on the window sill.

Spring has almost sprung :)

I've been enjoying all the extra sunlight the last week and I've been doing a fair bit down the allotment. I've been mostly digging, pruning and clearing ready for our mass delivery of poo tomorrow morning. We're also getting some seed potatoes delivered so we need to be down the plot bright and early tomorrow.
I'm also planning on waving goodbye to my vinyl collection this weekend. After a scour of the web I've found there is a second hand record shop in Letchworth that takes vinyl so I've dropped them a quick email and we're planning a trip this weekend. It will be a bit of a wrench saying goodbye to my record collection but I haven't had anything to play them on in donkeys years so I'd rather someone had them who could play them and enjoy them.
I've also been playing with all my new beads but haven't made anything wearable yet. I'm just experimenting with some old wire and the new round nosed pliers I got from beads unlimited. I'm getting the hang of looping the wire so I'm hoping to make myself a bracelet with my new goodies so watch this space.
I've also been reading loads just lately. I've finished Nick Hornbys' Juliet, Naked. I read it in less than a week and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very likeable characters and very funny in places. I'm now reading Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. Its also really good so I'm already about a third of the way through it.

Crocheted cuffs

I've been having fun and getting back into crocheting again. I've been having a go at making some crocheted cuffs and have been using some of the inchies I made before Christmas and using them as details on the cuffs. Its also giving me an opportunity to use some of the buttons I made last year too. Heres the first one I made. I'm pretty chuffed with the results :)




I've also been reading a lot too and I'm currently reading Maya by Jostien Gaardner. I read Sophies World last year and wasn't majorly impressed considering the hype it got but then read the Solitaire Mystery and loved it. I also read Through the Glass Darkly by him just before Christmas and that wasn't all that but Maya seems far more along the lines of the Solitaire Mystery and I'm enjoying this one far more. I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops.

I've also been down the plot at the weekend. I mainly wanted to pick up the seeds we had stored in the shed and just assess any snow damage. I was pleasantly surprised. All the weeds seem to have been pretty much killed off so there's a lot of tidying to do. Most of the veg and herbs we had growing over the winter seem to have survived. Even the Strawberries weren't too bad. They'd got a bit water logged because we'd left them in a tray but once I tipped the smelly water off they looked okay. I can't wait for a few dry weekends so we can get down and do some digging and planting. Roll on Spring :)

*wheeze wheeze*

Still off work at the moment but thankfully I'm feeling a lot better today than I have for quite a bit. Still wheezing like I've got a 60 a day habit but otherwise feeling a lot healthier \o/
I forgot to put in my last post that I was down in Norwich last weekend visiting parents and dropping off Christmas pressies. In spite of feeling a bit rough I really enjoyed it and had a good time on Sunday pottering round the shops with my boyfriend. We had the most amazing chocolate cake in a place called Marmalade in the Arcade and I picked up a few new crystals from Head in the Clouds. We also discovered that Head in the Clouds has its own website. It was a favourite shop growing up and its where I used to pick up my hair dye, floaty skirts, jewellery and other niknaks and stickers. The best thing of all is that it hasn't changed a bit since I was a child so lots of happy memories :)
We also had a walk back through some of the back streets and got to see some great graffiti.
My mum also got me Audrey Niffenegers 'Her Fearful Symmetry' so I've had my nose stick in that since Sunday. Its already looking very good so I can't see it taking long to read.

More fimo fun :)

I've been busy with fimo again. This time I've been making keyrings. I've been using the stamps I picked up a couple of weeks ago in one of the charity shops and using them with fimo to make some pretty flower charms. I'm really pleased with how they've been coming out.
I used to find having no local craft shop a real drag but I think I've learnt that if you keep your eyes peeled you can find crafting items all over the place. My favourites are the local charity shops and car boot sales. You can pick up beads, jewellery findings, fabric, wool and all sorts of crafty goodies. I particularly like these as I like recycling. I also like knowing that the bits I've picked up aren't in abundance so the bits I make will be one of a kind.
I'm also pretty lucky in St Albans as we have a good market. I get most of my felt and ribbon from either St Albans or Watford market. I also buy a lot online and love beads unlimited and ebay.
In other news I'm also reading a couple of books at the mo - Robert Winstons 'The Human Mind' and Jane Austens' 'Emma'. I've been slowly plodding through Robert Winstons' book for a while now but its a good read. I started reading Emma last weekend and I'm really enjoying the story and I'm whizzing through it.

Makings & Tidying

I've been having a bit of a creative spurt recently and have been working on some more jewellery ideas for the shop. I've been using some stamps I picked up last year and using them with fimo to make some new pendants. I've used pearl effect fimo and then coated the cooked pendants with a smear of water colour paint, a coat of glitter glue and a coat of varnish. I'm pretty pleased with how they are looking so far. I plan to hang them on ribbon and managed to pick up a mix of colours today from TKMax.
I've also been doing a second round of clearing the wardrobe and ironing pile. So far I've gathered a binbag full of stuff. I want to get my wardrobe back to a basic level so I've got space to pick up the odd nice thing if I see it. I've also been trying to simplify things. I've been partly inspired by the Uniform Project where one dress was worn everyday for a year. The clever bit was how the dress looked different every day. Sheena, the original blog author, uses all manner of accessories to create a different look. This is a bit too fashiony and girly for me but it did get me thinking. I don't need thousands of clothes, just a few basic bits. I've got a ton of jewellery and other bits and bobs. It would also save me a whole ton of ironing, which I hate with a passion. This can only be good :)
In other news, I've finally got round to finishing 'Two Caravans' - that was such a brilliant read. Every bit as good as 'A History of Tractors in Ukrainian'. I've now started my new Sean Stewart book. He's probably my favourite author and I'd been putting off getting Cathy's book for ages as it was a change of direction for him and I wasn't sure if I'd like it. Its written for teens and so far I'm really enjoying it. I decided not to write it off just because it was written for a different age group, Before I Die was too and that was amazing. Exceptionally moving but brilliant.

Decluttering

I've been a bit of a lazy blogger of late so I'm long overdue a post :/ I've been attempted to have a good clear out of some of the crap I've accumulated over the years and have been starting on the wardrobe and ironing basket as I have more clothes than I was ever going to wear, and more importantly iron! I managed to bag up 3 big carrier bags for my favourite charity shops and have another bag that I'm attempting to ebay. My ironing basket is now visible again and I've even inspired my boyfriend to think about doing the same.
Next job is to get back to selling my old CDs. Most of the older stuff I don't listen to and haven't for years. And then the vinyl. I've got an enormous box of vinyl records which really needs to go. I haven't owned a record player in years but I've been hoarding them all the same.
I've also been reading quite a bit lately and have about 3 on the go at the moment. I'm reading Janet Street Porters - Lifes to f**king short. This has been surprising good for my head and has really got me inspired. She covers everything from beauty products to cooking and looking after your home and relationships. You can probably guess by the cover that theres no beating round the bush, she gets straight to the point but its a really good read. I'm also reading Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka, who wrote A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian. I'm really enjoying this too and also have an Edgar Allan Poe book on the go via my DS. I think that will keep me busy for a while :)
I'm heading off down the plot for a bit of planting and cat stroking :)

Sewing a Bit of Sunshine

I have been playing around with some fabric I bought ages ago. Its a really pretty shade of yellow and I got it from the remnants basket for about a pound. I've made a design for a simple vest top and even made myself a pattern. This is virtually unheard of for me - I usually dive in scissors first and then think about how its all going to go together.
So far so good. I've hemmed around the neckline and around the sleeves. I just need to hem the bottom and makes some straps. I've also got some cool gold ribbon that I picked up ages ago for about 20p that I want to use on the front to create a band horizontally across it. Hopefully it will come out okay. I've used a tape measure and everything so I can't say I didn't think this one through. :) I'll post some pics when its all done. I may even post a pic of me wearing it :)
I'm also going to make sure I finish this sewing project. I have got a bad habit of starting things and then putting them down when something new comes along. I've still got a shocking pink infinity dress and a tartan pair of trousers half finished in my fabric pile. I plan to get to those next so I can clear a few things off my making list.
I've also made a few new bits of jewellery for the shop. I made a necklace out of some of the beads I bought in Hexton last month and a necklace I made a few months back.
I was working this morning so to treat myself I had a little potter round the charity shops in Watford. There wasn't a great deal on offer today (which was probably good for my purse) but I did pick up a lovely strapless mint coloured dress for £3, a zip for 10p to go with some fabric I bought to make a skirt from, a mini electric whisk for frothing milk for 50p and some wine glass charms for 20p. Not bad for a days work :) The electric whisk will get a bit of a soak in some sterilising fluid and then hopefully it will be ready to go. I'm looking forward to my fist DIY latte.
I've also nearly finished The Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood - I've never seen the film and I picked up the book from Oxfam Bookshops 50p shelf about a week ago. I've had my nose stuck in it ever since. Its a brilliant read. I've got The Count of Monte Cristo lined up as my next read as I've already started that on my DS.

What a Scorcher!

Its been really summery this week and its been a baking hot weekend. Yesterday we went to one of our favourite haunts - the Lavender Tea Rooms in Hexton. Its a not really doable if you don't drive so we don't go very often but when we go its wonderful. Its a really old fashioned Tea Room in the Village Hall. One side is Tea Rooms and the other side is Craft Market so as you can imagine, I'm in seventh heaven :). We stuffed ourselves silly on cake and tea and then had a little potter round the Craft Market. I managed to get myself 3 bags of mixed beads, some wool and some bits for putting in my hair for £5.50.
Yesterday afternoon I spent a good couple of hours sorting out my new beads and tidying my big box that I keep all my jewellery making stuff in.
I have also been making stuff for a new swap that I've signed up to. I've signed up to a Tiny swap so I'm making 7 tiny items for my swap partner, Violetta. I've already made 5 so I was on a roll last night.
I've also been making some new bits for my shop. I've been making Snake Pendants and Face Earrings from Fimo and using googly eyes. There a bit silly but the best things usually are.
I've also been reading tons. I've finished Bill Brysons' A Short History of Nearly Everything and now I'm reading Robert Winstons' Human Instinct. I'm enjoying reading something scientific for a change and have already been looking at the shelves to find what to read next.

Sweeties \o/

I got my sweeties on Friday from Rhibi in Australia for the Sweetie swap we've been participating in on CO&K. So far they're all yummy, especially the raspberry and white chocolate bar which has unfortunately now disappeared :P
I've also been crafting away for the Newbie/Vet Swap which I'm participating in as a Vet. So far I've made a few bits and I've been really enjoying feeling a bit more creative. I've also retaken a lot of my product shots for my shop so feel free to check out the preview on the side bar. I think they're a really improvement so I'm pretty pleased with myself.
I'm reading another Bill Bryson book now as well as I'd finished A Walk in the Woods. I'm now reading a Short History of Nearly Everything (I think thats what its called). It's absolutely amazing. I'm already about half way through it and have been reading about the planet and the progress science has made in understanding the universe and our own planet. It's fascinating and really inspiring.
I was hoping to get down the plot today but the sky looks really grey and miserable. I was hoping it would clear up but its not looking overly hopeful right now and its already a quarter past four. I wanted to get down and continue weeding and plant out the pansies. At the moment they are spread around the herbs and onions in their pots where I would like to plant them. We also wanted to plant out the Sunflowers and they're on the windowsill at the moment and have grown loads since last week.

Got my creative mojo working overtime

I've been feeling really arty and crafty lately which has been really nice. I've done a few smallish paintings and been working on the t-shirt refashion swap that I'm running. I've just got the finishing touches of that to do and then its ready to send out. I've also been making a fair bit of jewellery :)
This is one of my recent paintings and my current favourite.

I think my extra creativeness has come from the really nasty cold I've had this week. I haven't been able to go into work and I think I've had a temperature yesterday and part of today so my brains been extra strange. I also think boredom is an excellent motivator. I absolutely hate colds and flu and I'll do pretty much anything to take my mind off it so I think that's what's happened.
I've also been having fun trawling through you tube and have been watching loads of Steven Wright. If you're not familiar with him he's an exceptionally surreal American Comedian. I've loved him for years and remember first seeing him on telly donkeys years ago, probably late 80s early 90s.
I've also been reading some Bill Bryson which has also been making me chuckle :D. I'm reading A Walk in the Woods and it has had me chuckling most nights. I can't believe I hadn't read anything by him till now. My bf's a big fan and so is one of my best friends but I'd never quite got round to reading anything till now.

HTML 0 Kitkat 1

I've been faffing around since yesterday trying to make a button for my blog. After playing around most of yesterday evening and nearly throwing the laptop out the window a few times cos it kept crashing, I finally had a brainwave. I got back down to business this morning (well 1ish) and got it cracked \o/ I have never done anything in HTML so I was pretty chuffed with myself.
I've also had my nose stuck in another book today. As I got through The Solitaire Mystery at neckbreaking speed I've now started The Minotaur takes a cigarette break (I think that's what its called). Totally different to what I'd been reading before but it looks promising.
Been making lots of jewellery tonight and have made a nice necklace from the vintage beads I picked up the other weekend. I also made another pair of earrings from the beads too and a pair to match the wooden beaded one I made the other day. I must get piccy taking tomorrow so I can post some pics and get some put up in the shop.
I'm going to make a concerted effort to go down the plot tomorrow, basically because I've been a very lazy gardener and haven't been down for ages. I want to check out the state of things after the flooding and see if any of my bulbs are coming up. The grounds probably going to be like glue though so I must remember to wear wellies. The soil down this way is really clayey which means we'll probably come home caked in the stuff.

New design

As you can probably see, I've had a little play around with the look of my blog. I have also had a change around of my shop logo and banner so please feel free to have a look and let me know what you think. I'm quite pleased with it, especially as its completely my work - I painted a couple of cats to try out in a logo or banner and went with the one with his paw up and then uploaded it into Gimp and added the text.
I've also been crafting away making more jewellery for my shop. I've uploaded 3 of the earrings I've made and I've just got 2 necklaces to add. I just need to have a fiddle around with ways of displaying necklaces. Earrings are easy enough as they hang nicely from the wine glasses I've got but a necklace is a bit tricky. I might see what vases we have around the house and try those out.
I've also finished Sophies World - a bit too clever for its own good towards the end but I still really enjoyed it. I've also read The Solitaire Mystery by the same author and that was amazing. I read it in about 4 days and it was one of the best books I've read for a while. It was similar to Sophie's World in that he put a lot of philosophy into the story and made it an interest of several of the characters but it managed to got loose the story to being overly clever. The story was lovely and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes something a bit magical.

Beads, Spiders and the Meaning of Life

Just before Christmas I spotted the coolest invention online, its a spider-friendly spider catcher :) Our shed at the allotment appears to have become the local hang out for the spiders of Hertfordshire. As a result getting anything in or out of the shed has become a bit of a delicate operation involving long poles and some, not so child friendly language. In fairness to the 8 legged ones they are appropriately dressed for the allotment and can be found wearing boots and heavy coats (well thats what it looks like to me!) so they maybe planning on helping out with the work. Nevertheless, I'm not their biggest fan but don't want to kill them. This little invention was therefore met with delight. It also bought back some memories of growing up. My dad is of a similar mindset and has come up with numerous, ingenious ways of catching our little and not so little visitors. I therefore thought I had to get one for him too, so one has winged its way to him too for his birthday (along with chocolate). Here's a little glimpse at the device.

Anyway, thats spiders.....
Also this week I've kind of fallen of the wagon and been buying beads again. In my defence though I haven't bought any for ages so I'd been strict until now with my bead diet. My favourites so far are a toss up between some glass beads I bought from a vintage store and some pretty ones I have got from Beads Unlimited. As well as those I've bought a load of different coloured wooden beads. I'm looking forward to having a proper play with them tomorrow and hopefully making some more jewellery for my shop.
I've also been reading loads recently. After finishing A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian I have now started and almost finished Sophies World by Jostein Gaarder. My mum bought it for me a few years back and I started it but never finished it. Its an amazing read and I've been totally engrossed for the last few days. Its written as a kind of mystery centring round a 14 year old girl in Norway and her meetings with a mysterious philosopher called Albert Knox. In amongst the story is Sophie's journey through the history of philosophy right from Greek times to almost present day. I love philosophy and studied it at A-level and uni but I have never come across anything that has been able to explain it in such an accessible way. Its brilliant. I can't wait to find out how it ends :)

February

I lost track of time for a bit then so haven't posted anything for about two weeks. Oooops.
Not much has been going on the last couple of weeks. I finished reading How to be Idle. That was a good read and I enjoyed it. It was probably because it was quite good for the soul to read something that says doing nothing is good and that actually promotes guilt-free time off. I would definitely recommend it, not just to workaholics but to anyone that struggles to sit still and relax. Some of it I found a bit idealistic and not entirely practical but I liked the fact that he he acknowledges that. I would also whole heartedly agree with the concept that work costs money and cutting down on work doesn't mean you'll necessarily be giving up on your quality of life. I cut down to 30 hours a week last April and it was one of the best things I did :)
I've started reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and so far I'm really enjoying this. It reminds me a little of A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. It has a similar wit to it.
I've taken up another craft swap on CO&K, I am making 12 Inchies to send out. I'd never heard of Inchies until a week ago but basically, from what I can gather, they are inch squared pieces of fabric which you decorate through stitching and using buttons, beads, anything else. I've got a couple on the go at the moment. The theme of them is 'springtime'.
I also finally sent of the Sweet/Candy Swap to Kira in the US and have recieved hers. It was packed full of yummy sweeties from the US including Reeces Cups, which I love :P.
Finally I got to have a trip out to the Hare Krishna Temple, just outside of Watford on Friday and had a really nice time. The grounds were so peaceful and must look amazing when everything is flowering. We also got a brief tour of the temple and saw people making up the flower garlands which get put on the idols first thing in the morning (apparently 4.30am) and we saw prayer time. I also brought some snacks from the shop and we were given some yummy sweets when we left. Although I'm not religious there were a few things that really struck me about the temple and their philosophy. Firstly they seem to take the view that everyone has value and something to contribute no matter what their age, disability, background, etc and rather than just say it we actually saw it in practice. Also everyone seemed so at peace and friendly.

Fishy Wishies

I had my first ever visit to the London Aquarium last week and it was lovely. So calming just watching the fishes swim around and do their thing. The sharks were a little on the scary side but I am pleased to say that I managed the Shark Walk, where you walk over one of the shark tanks on thick, reinforced glass. Initially I was worried that all my sweetie eating would be my undoing and I'd crash through the glass into some sharks waiting mouth but this didn't happen :) Phew! Although they're not exactly pleasing on the eye there is something oddly fascinating about them. Luckily there were no enormous sharks like those you see on telly but they were still sharky enough for me :)
I'm also having a bit of any experiment at the moment with some tartan fabric I picked up ages from the YMCA Charity shop. I only paid £2 and there was masses of it so I'm having a go at making some trousers out of it. I'm using an old pair of combats to make a pattern from and so far so good. I don't know how they're going to turn out but its a bit of fun and I quite like bigger projects. When I was younger I never had the patience to sew something bigger like clothing. I always used to get over excited and rush it so they didn't come out particularly well or very wearable. I'm quite happy now though to take it gently and I know that if I take my time the stitching will be stronger and look much better. I'll post a piccie if they turn out okay. I might even be brave and post one if they don't :)
I've also had my first go at Blanket Stitch. I found a tutorial in a sewing magazine I got ages ago and I tried it on a lion pin cushion I'm making for a swap. I quite like how its come out and might try using this again. At the moment I'm sewing on the lion's mane and thats proving to be a task and a half. I also keep finding little bits of yellow wool stuck to everything :)
I'm currently reading a couple of books at the moment - one on my DS at night - Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy and during the day I'm reading How To Be Idle by Tom Hodgekinson. Both quite readable although I haven't got into the first one properly yet. How to Idle is perfect train reading on my way to and from work and I'm pretty impressed how much I've got through already.

Hello 2010 :)

Self Portrait by kathakana featuring Missoni accessories

Been enjoying one of my favourite pass times this bank holiday weekend - napping. Hugely underrated. Reasons they are great:
1. They are free of charge
2. Require very little planning
3. Can last as long as you like
4. They don't use any power so are very energy efficient :)
5. They don't contain any chemicals or additives
6. You feel better for having them
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I've also found my arty mojo over the last week and have created an account with Deviantart.com. I've been sketching and painting. I've also been having a play around on polyvore.com which is basically an online collection of pictures that you can play around with an create sets or montage like pictures. I've made a few including the self portrait I've posted here. Its great fun and completely mess free.
I've also been enjoying my Christmas presents. I have barely taken my slippers off, the money got spent in yesterdays sales and the butterfly book is amazing. It mostly enormous pictures of butterflies from all over the world and it is just beautiful to look through.
I also finished White Fang last night and, after taking forever to get into, I think I'm actually going to miss White Fang. It had a lovely ending and I'm now reading another by Jack London, Call of the Wild.
I've also signed up for another 6 months of Wardrobe Refashioning. You will be pleased to learn though that I didn't fall off the wagon with the sales. I only bought undies which is okay.

Happy Friday :)

Continued our tradition of not celebrating Christmas but starting the day with a spot of malt loaf and a walk to Durlston Country Park. The weather was lovely and although the ground was a bit on the muddy side we enjoyed the views out to sea and seeing how the restoration work is going. Stopped to watch a robin for ages and almost tempted him over a couple of times with raisins but unfortunately several loud groups scared him away both times.
Did some food shopping yesterday so probably going to have a yummy vegi stew for dinner tonight.
My family still celebrate Christmas so I bought them all pressies and got pressies back from them. We opened them the day before driving down though and got some great gifts. I'm wearing my knitted, fleecy slippers right now and they have been worn pretty much constantly since I got them. They're great and so cosy :)
I'm finally getting into White Fang now, although its a pretty dark story. Its the tale of a wolf cub and his mother and, although its beautifully written, they go though some pretty tough times and he nearly dies a few times either through starvation or at the hands of another animal. I've just reached the bit in the book where he's now living in a native American reservation and he's having to learn how to be part of a big pack.