Happy New Year!

Hello Friends,
Happy New Year, & apologies to those of you who have pointed out that I haven't been blogging lately. This was due to a technical problem. My phone & my laptop stopped talking to each other & any attempt to upload photos was met with a sulky array of messages popping up, none of them seemingly anything to do with the actual problem! Anyway, have cracked it, so am back in business!

We've had a good Christmas, spent in London with family. Despite a few pesky symptoms appearing from Boxing Day, the flu managed to save itself until we got home, then arrived full on. And I just can't shake it off! I'm better than I was, but I can't seem to progress beyond this point. Albert Whiskers spent Christmas at 'Cat's Corner' & opened his presents when he got home - 1 laser cat toy, 1 furry purple snake, 3 upmarket cat dinners, 1 soup, 1 goody bag & 5 bags of Dreamies. He's also tucked into his body weight of poached turkey giblets & enjoyed catching up with a few movies.
You know how I can't bear wasting stuff.....well, even in my fluey state, I've still gone into full on new year recycling mode. The freezer is groaning with turkey chilli, turkey soup, stock, etc, & we've already eaten turkey & mushroom supreme & turkey madras. I've sorted & stored Christmas gift bags, paper, tags & ribbon for re-use next year & our cards are all ready to go off to my Mum for her festive crafting.
So January 6th today - Epiphany if you follow the Christian calendar. Or Twelfth Night if you are more of a bacchanalian. For me, it was a chance to recycle a final festive item.

If you make your own wreaths, you'll already be recycling the wire ring & decorations to make this year's. If you bought one (as I did this year, to support a local business), it's still worth taking it to bits. It's a bit prickly, but who cares if it produces some free resources & keeps a few more bits out of landfill? I've saved the wire ring & the plastic berries with wire stems. I can usually rely on my garden for a few real red berries at Christmas, but if not, or the birds have scoffed all the good ones, I'm happy to use plastic ones.

These will be off to the shed with a bag of fir cones & recycled ribbon, ready to be re-made next December. It's really easy to make a wreath using this type of ring because you just cut a bunch of evergreens & shape them around the circle using the wire holders to keep it all in place. Once it's covered, you can add all the sparkly festive loveliness you want & wack it up on your front door. 
Don't forget to recycle the greenery too. It's fine to add to your compost heap.

 In fact, after all those soggy parsnip & sprout peelings, my compost bin was crying out for a helping of something a bit more fibrous.
If you are still just about to chuck your wreath in the wheelie bin because you don't have a garden or any evergreens for making your own......don't give up. You can make a really festive wreath using twigs, instead, just collect a good bundle when you are in the park or forest, along with some fir cones or the little alder cones, make it up exactly the same, then add a few baubles. Promise you it'll look magic!
Well, the coughing is stepping up a notch.......it's certainly the best range of impressions I've ever done of a tubercular sheep.......so it's time to go & put the kettle on for another dose of my friend Hel's germ-busting raspberry vinegar. Lergy be gone!! No flu for 31 years, then flu 3 years running. Rubbish!!
Wishing you all a Happy New Year & all the very best for 2017. I think it's going to be a bit of a rum year, so we all need to stick together, love the planet & inject a bit of sanity.
Love to all,
C xx