Happy New Year!

Skip in the snow before Christmas. Now, at last, it has gone.

Christmas is over for another year and, now the lovely lazy lull between Boxing Day and New Year has ended, I feel the need to get going with things again. I've been blogging now for five years - my first post was on New Year's Eve 2012 - though in the past year rather sporadically.  I'm keeping going but won't make any promises as life gets in the way. (Access to the laptop to write posts is limited too as Kate has requisitioned it for her history coursework which I've just had a sneaky look at: nearly 6000 words on Civil Rights in America. She'll have a job cutting that down to the acceptable word limit.)

Back in November I went to a blogging workshop run by blogger Simon Savidge.  It was interesting and he gave lots of good advice to anyone who wanted to start a blog and acquire readers: write a witty bio, prepare posts in advance, link to Instagram and Twitter etc.  All the things I don't do and I'm not going to start now.  I'm happy enough with the set up as it is and not that bothered if there aren't that many readers though I do love it when I get comments.

Our Christmas was peaceful and mainly spent preparing and eating lots of good food in our new kitchen.  This was a real pleasure after months of preparing meals on one single pot hob and a microwave.  I even enjoyed clearing up: it is bliss to have a dishwasher again. We had a very pleasant New Year's Eve meal with old friends.  Paul cooked, my contribution being a fairly successful Sticky Toffee Pudding.  As usual, I struggled to last until midnight and actually fell asleep for a bit, stretched out on the floor in front of the log burner watching Jules Holland, but woke to greet the New Year watching the fireworks in London on TV.

The chef at work on his new island

Ronan the dog likes the underfloor heating and has now stopped peeing in the new kitchen.

I've got a view over the garden so I can watch the birds again

It's all looking a bit showhouse at present.  Soon we'll add our personal touch - general mess and clutter. I chose a Belfast sink like we.had when I was a child. And because of the name.  

I love the roof lantern though I had to lean out of the upstairs window with a mop to remove the bird poo on it.

April is Blog lovin' month: me and my favourite blogs

As a new blogger I feel a bit like the new girl in school.  I've been trying to find my place in the blogging community, to build up some followers and exchange comments with others.   I've had limited success and  this week has been particularly disappointing as only a few readers have looked at the posts I carefully composed last weekend.  So have been considering abandoning this particular inspired folly and deleting the lot.  But reading through my posts I've decided not to do this.  Even if it's just for me, this is a record of a particular time.  And I like recording.  I have twenty years of journals, recording events and my thoughts on them a daily or more often a weekly basis.  I'm still doing this - it's a very different from this online journal which is inevitably an edited version of my life.

One of the reasons I haven't found my niche in the blogging community is that fact that I don't really fit neatly into any category.  My first posts were about fashion, mainly because the blogs I discovered first were about fashion.  I enjoy Style Guile a lot, but actually what I like most is hearing tales about Beth's family life, seeing pictures of her flamingo wallpaper, her pink front door and her trip to 'One Direction' with her teenage daughter!  School Gate Style, is also great in offering glimpses of life in Northern Ireland as well as the fashion tips. But I don't really fit in with this stylish group of fashion bloggers : I'm a bit older; not as fashion conscious -often to be found in grotty jeans and fleece; and also am more interested in wearing the clothes I already have with style rather than constantly buying new items.

And it was on looking for posts on creating a capsule wardrobe that I discovered another favourite blog Just a Little Less, which is about minimalism but also about family life.  This is a wonderful blog and it has inspired me in many ways.  This morning I'm off the the library to pick up a book Claire recommended, 'The Happiness Project'.  Through Just a Little Less I discovered other minimalist blogs.  But don't really fit in here either: I'm too messy to be a minimalist and my efforts to declutter, which I've posted about before, have had limited success.

During the holidays I made a determined search to discover more blogs like mine which cover a range of topics from parenting to planting vegetables.  Here's my list of favourites.  And I've followed an idea I picked up from a gardening blog called Veg Plotting, trying to comment on five blogs every day.  As I tell my daughter, the way to make freinds is to be friendly.

Audrey Finch - this blog is wonderful and has a wonderful header reflecting the name of the blog with a picture of Audrey Hepburn, a copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and a can of Diet Coke, Jen's favourite drink.
She writes about family life in Oregon, USA and includes beautiful photographs.  Like me she loves books and she also writes about her teenage daughter.

My Little Red Suitcase- Crochet, life, being a parent. Always enjoy Heather's posts

As I Roved Out - another newly discovered blog from Ireland.  Beautiful photographs

A Load of Old Tat - Great name and covers topics from Izal toilet roll to pink birthday cake.

Secret Blogger no more

Today I came clean and told my husband about the blog.  Had been posting in secret but now I've reached my first milestone a whole week of daily posts without deleting the lot, decided to tell him.  Well used to my various experiments in creative writing, he wasn't that surprised. He hasn't actually read it yet though.  I've quite enjoyed writing these posts though it's taking a long time mainly because of my lack of technical competence.  I also keep getting distracted by reading other blogs - there are some fabulous ones out there which have really inspired me.

Not much time for reading with all this blogging, but did read a bit with Fashion Girl the last two nights.  She still suffering from a really nasty cold but has struggled bravely through exam week at school, bless her.  But in the evenings she's gone back to being a little girl and last night she wanted me to read to her in bed.  She's reading Ketchup Cloud by Annabel Pitcher. Ordered this for FG as a Christmas present as we'd both read and loved her debut novel 'My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece' in the summer.  She was nominated for a Carnegie award for that novel which is why we read it as we were shadowing the judging.  She captured perfectly the voice of her child narrator and the reality of family life in the way that Jacqueline Wilson does so well.  And FG loves Jacqueline Wilson.

So therefore was happy to read a bit of Ketchup Cloud to her as we snuggled up under her duvet last night.  Didn't get very far.  This time the narrator is a 16 year old girl rather than the 10 year old boy who narrates 'My Sister'.  And the chapter we read describes her going to a party, drinking vodka, going for a walk with a boy...That's when I decided to stop after I skim-read the next page in advance.  Books should be marked with an age rating like films!  Thought about taking it off her to read when she is older but not much point now.

Actually two of the most enjoyable books I have read in the past year have come from the Carnegie shortlist. 'A Monster Calls' by Patrick Ness moved me to tears.  The original idea for the novel came from wonderful Northern Irish writer Siobhan Dowd who sadly died from cancer before she could complete it.  You can probably guess what the 'Monster' in the title turns out to be.   And 'Trash' by Andy Mulligan was a really good read too, a real page turner with a happy ending this time.

Not much fashion today so apologies if that's what you are expecting, dear reader, if you are there at all.