The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Tuesday 18 January

Outside my window... it's very sunny. We had rain. And more rain. And more rain overnight. Normally you can't hear it in my house when it's raining, but last night it rained so hard, it woke all three of us up. Now the skies have cleared and after some early morning mist, it is now a beautifully clear winter's day.

I am thinking... that a hot bath before bed would be nice.

I am thankful for... hot water bottles...

From the kitchen... soup, lots of soup! Tried slow cooked root vegetable soup yesterday, which was a bit disappointing. For supper tonight is sweet potato and tomato soup, and just now I found lentil, ginger and orange soup over on Gina's blog, which is on the menu for next week. At least my freezer is getting well stocked, and having soup in my freezer means I don't have to eat ready-meals on days that I'm too busy or tired to cook.

I am wearing... still lots of layers - still no oil. Yesterday I got all excited when I spotted an oil delivery tanker across the road, it sat there for an hour and then disappeared! Argh! The weather's been a bit warmer recently so I managed to get away with switching the heating off, but now it's cold again. I'm looking forward to my days in the office where it is sometimes so warm, you can just wear a short-sleeved t-shirt!

I am creating... just about to cast on for N's hat. My dishcloth is finished and will go in the mail today. And then I. surprised (and delighted) me by asking if I'd knit her some fingerless gloves. I'd like to make a hat and gloves for myself too before we go to Lyme Regis next month.

I am going... to sit down on the sofa in a minute and treat myself to an hour of knitting, even though I should be clearing up the kitchen and folding a mountain of laundry.

I am reading... several things at the moment, thanks to our library visit last week. A portrait of Britain by David Dimbleby, Make do and Mend, a cookbook with recipes from Sicily and a book about ecological architecture (lovely photos!).

I am hoping... that by the time I write my next Daybook, I'll be sitting in a toasty warm house!

I am hearing... birds singing in the garden. I think they can feel Spring is coming.

Around the house... it desperately needs hoovering. The Christmas tree dropped soooo many needles and although I hoovered straight after we cleared everything away, we keep trampling them around the house.

One of my favourite things... is the Lyme Regis webcam. Every year in February my dad, the kids and I spend a week in Lyme Regis. I already knew Lyme Regis but went with dad and the kids for the first time when N. was not even 2 - we have a photo of him eating a chocolate icecream and sitting in his push-chair completely covered in brown icecream... We have had several holiday cottages by now but the one we have at the moment is by far our favourite - right at the top of the hill, but still only a couple of minutes' walk to the beach. Every year we do much the same things, but every year at the end of the week we ask each other if we want to go again and every year everybody says yes. The Marine Theatre webcam is pretty special in that it streams a live view. It's just missing the sounds of the seagulls and the smell of the sea!

A few plans for the rest of the week... again nothing out of the ordinary - N. finally doesn't have afterschool activities on Wednesdays so tomorrow we'll have a quiet afternoon at home, and this weekend it's our Saturday together, which I'm very much looking forward to.

A picture for thought I'm sharing...


We went to Aldeburgh last weekend as B. had to do a site visit nearby. We both knew about the scallop sculpture by Maggi Hambling and went to see it out of curiosity more than anything else. But it's lovely, it sits very well in its surroundings, the material is beautiful - we both liked it very much.

Instructions for the Simple Woman's Daybook can be found here.