Day 30 - January 30th

On and off for the last few days I've been making a card. Its still not finished but getting there.

Day 29 - January 29th

Before Christmas I planted some Hyacinth bulbs in a large china teacup and put them in the garage to force them. They have now shot so I've bought them into the house and hope that the warm weather and a sunny spot will have the same effect on them as its had on the miniature daffodils.

Day 28 - January 28th

At the weekend I bought a couple of pots of miniature daffodils, Tete-a-Tete from a farm shop. When I bought them they were just green shoots so I was surprised this morning to see that after just a few days on the kitchen windowsill one of the pots was in flower.

Day 27 - January 27th

Today I decided to make some bread to have with the Pasta we had this evening.

So this morning I got out the breadmaker and a few hours later we had a lovely loaf of fresh bread.

Day 26 - January 26th

Today we took part in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch.

The idea is that you pick an hour sometime over the weekend and record the highest number of each species of bird you see in your garden during that time. We decided on the hour from 1.30pm - 2.30pm. Unfortunately ten minutes after we began watching the birds it started to rain. It rained ... and rained ... and rained ... and rained! And then, it rained some more! 

Understandably, we didn't see many birds. During the hour we counted just 2 blackbirds and 4 Pigeons. Last year we spotted some Sparrows and Blue Tits too but this year we only saw a disappointing total of 6 birds.

Day 25 - January 25th

Today we took MIllie for a walk over the fields. Lara decided to join us.

In places it was very muddy again.

We spotted some mushrooms/toadstools .....

..... and were surprised to see Catkins already out.

Day 24 - January 24th

I decided to do some baking this morning and made Chocolate Brownies. 

Day 23 - January 23rd

I have a new car! Well, not really. I have a courtesy car, a Corsa, which was delivered this morning whilst my car is in the garage having some work done to it.

On Christmas Eve I went to the supermarket and when I returned to the car park I found another car very much in my parking space.

At first I didn't realise that whilst not only invading my space the driver had also scraped the rear wing and wheel arch of my car. Before noticing the damage  I was more concerned about how I was going to get in the drivers door of my car without having to do acrobatics and climb across from the passengers side.

Anyway, the other driver returned to her car whilst I was there, I took her details and today my car has gone into the garage to have the scratches and scuffs removed. 

Day 22 - January 22nd

Another day, another hospital! 

Today we visited the QEII Hospital, Welwyn Garden City for Steven's appointment with a consultant. All was well and hopefully there will be no more hospital visits for a while.

The QEII is quite an old building and as this sign explains, a brand new building is being built on land just a few yards away which will replace the old building.

Day 21 - January 21st

Today Steven had his first hospital appointment of the week. Today we went to the Lister Hospital, Stevenage. 

Day 20 - January 20th

My ongoing to mission to 'Clear the Clutter' and where possible make a few pounds in the process continues. Yesterday we sold a few bits and pieces on Ebay so today they've been parcelled up ready to post.

Day 19 - January 19th

 Spring has sprung in the garden. 

A few snowdrops are already in flower.

One or two primroses are in bloom.

The daffodil shoots are poking our of the soil. 

Day 18 - January 18th

Today's walk was very muddy. When will the rain stop? 

Not a lot to photograph on our walk today but I did spy some interesting lichen on the branches of some of the trees along the way.

I think Millie is also hoping that the rain is soon replaced by nice dry weather. The footpaths are very squenchy.

Day 17 - January 17th

Lara has had a wobbly tooth for quite a while. The other day she remarked that despite losing teeth in the past, none have ever fallen out at school. Today that changed.

Day 16 - January 16th

Today's photo is of the pile of books which are next to my bed. They have been there for quite sometime with the intention of being read. I decided that this year I will read these books and in fact the top two on the right hand pile have already been read since January 1st. (If you should ever read 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' have a box of tissues handy - it's a real tearjerker.)

There is a real variety of books in the pile: 

• The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults - I bought this because 'The Casual Vacancy' is a seat on the parish council!
• The A303 - we have travelled the A303 so many times on our way on holiday to the South-West.
• The last two books in 'The Hunger Games' trilogy - I read the first book and watched the movie and the intention was to read book 2 before the second movie was released and book 3 before the third movie was released. The second movie was released in the UK in November and I didn't get to see it and I haven't read the book! Hopefully I'll read it before the movie is released on DVD.
• Cloud Atlas - Another book I want to read before seeing the movie.
• Several Chicklits from a few of my favourite authors - I've had these books so long!

Day 15 - January 15th

Following on from last years trip to the hospital with Steven, today we returned to the hospital again to have some blood tests carried out in readiness for next weeks follow up appointment with the consultant.

Day 14 - January 14th

Today I finished off a scrapbook page I started a couple of days ago. Lots of red paint on this one and bits and pieces.

Day 13 - January 13th

Three weeks after Christmas and we still have some left over cheese in the fridge. Its still perfectly fine to eat but in an attempt to use it up I made some cheese scones today.

Day 12 - January 12th

We woke this morning to a very cold frosty day. Not deterred we put Millie's lead on her and went for a walk. In the sunshine the frost was starting to melt but in the shade the plants still had their thick white coats on.

Day 11 - January 11th

Today we took Christopher back to University. I failed miserably at taking some decent photos on our journey but just as we were getting back home we spotted a gorgeous sunset so we did a detour and stopped off at the Church to take a photo.

Day 10 - January 10th

Tomorrow Christopher returns to University so as it was his last day at home we drove up to our favourite bakers at lunchtime for a treat. The cakes they sell are gorgeous and great as a treat. 

Day 9 - January 9th

Yesterday was very wet again and when I went for a walk this morning it was evident just how much rain has fallen over the past week.

I photographed this bridge last week when the water was already quite high but now it is considerably higher and touching the bridge. If we have much more rain I see I will need to wear wellies if I want to cross the bridge.

This pond (which I learned a few weeks ago is one of a number of ancient medieval fish ponds) has overflowed and water has nearly reached the footpath. In the summer the pond is completely dry.

In front of The Old Vicarage the brook has started to spill out onto the lawn.

Thankfully we have had no where near as much rain as other parts of the country and the water levels and effect of the rise in water aren't causing problems but it is interesting to see the difference each day. Living on a hill does have it's benefits.

Day 8 - January 8th

Today I went to Letchworth Garden City. Whilst there I decided to do a bit of film location spotting. Regular followers of my blog will recall me mentioning before that the film 'The World's End' (the third in the Cornetto trilogy, following Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) was  filmed on location at Letchworth.

I saw The Colonnade pub .............

............. which in the film was transformed into The Two Headed Dog.

I saw the railway station ..................

............. which in the film was transformed into The Hole in the Wall pub.

And, I saw The Three Magnets pub ...............

............. which in the film was transformed into The Trusty Servant.

Ironic that the location for a film about a pub crawl should be filmed on location in a town which when created in the early 1900's had a total ban on the selling of alcohol in public premises which wasn't lifted until 1958.