Happy New Year

Really? Yes, really! I've never been terribly good with dates, deadlines, diaries or calenders so for me, given that I am 9 months out of 12 up to my elbows in compost, the idea of a new year being right in the middle of winter is a little odd.

But today? yes. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the soil is no longer doing it's permafrost impression and things are starting to grow.

A couple of days ago Little Button and I sowed the first seeds. Well, she did really, I just passed tools and tried to keep things contained. Lot of fun, lot of mess and she is now devastatingly proud of her seeds in the "warm seed house", 'propagator' being a bit of a linguistic challenge when you are only 3.

It was, I think, the same day that I came across the idea of 101 in 1001 - a list of 101 things that you want to achieve in the next 1001 days. Despite my dislike of organisation, this one grabbed me. Possibly because it is less structured than a to-do list and possibly because it starts today (my own new year) and ends, 2 years, 9 months down the line, shortly before I turn 40. erk.

I'm not posting my own list here, so mch of it is so odd, so personal or so boring that by the time I'd edited them out, all that would be left would be Work Harder, Grow More, Stop Faffing. But a great set of coincidences (including good weather. Good weather always helps) has got me out of winter sluggishness and finally inspired to do all the things I keep putting off, be they work or play.

So, to all of you, happy new year. Let there be growth!

A Bagful of Promise

The Boss has been fulltime self-employed for exactly one month now and though he does frequently drive me up the wall (and get underfoot more than the dog + Little Button combined) I have to say it is the best decision he ever made. We still havne't quite worked out a perfect routine of work and childcare yet, but we are getting there. more importantly, we both feel we now have enough time to plan ahead, explore new ideas and experiment, rather than just Red Queening it and hoping for the best.

So, I went exploring. Really, the best thing about self-employment is the opportunity to wander at will through pretty websites and getting to call it 'research'.

And look what I found:



and




and



Aren't they gorgeous?

I have great plans for these. There is some work to be done before I'm ready to offer up the final pieces in Overspill and Boutonnerie but I have to say, when this bagful arrived on the doorstep, I couldn't wait to get going!