Thursday 26th December 2024

Happy Feast of Stephen. I’m feeling motivated to write here again after a few months. It’s been a year of contrasts in that circle of life thing - death, birth, grief, anxiety and joy - things that are difficult to share and not always mine to do so. But I'm still here - pottering about, drinking tea, sowing seeds, knitting rows and hanging out laundry. Sadder, happier, just as busy - keeping going.

We had a nice day yesterday—just me and the boy. We had a lovely Christmas dinner, which we ate in the living room on trays while watching the Strongman competition series. I still cooked too much food. I’m seemingly incapable of scaling back from the hordes I used to have around my table.

This morning, I nipped out to the potting shed and sowed a couple of trays of onion seeds - Ailsa Craig and Tropea Rossa Lunga. I also got some garlic planted in the polycrub. The sweet pea and broad bean seedlings I sowed in Autumn are looking strong, and the outside garlic is poking through the ground. That Circle of Life thing again.

I’m planning to read The Lord of the Rings over the holidays. I read The Hobbit last week in preparation. I had only ever got as far as the Goblins before, so it was nice to find out the rest of the story. I didn't watch the film version.

That’s about it for now. I'm heading back into Hobbiton with my chocolate orange. I'll try to report back sooner this time.