.................was a bit of a write off.
It was raining in the morning and raining in the afternoon it might have stopped now and again but it was still half dark all day.
I should have or could have done something useful but didn't.
A January Painting
Morning in January 1956
Gerald Gardiner (1902 -1959)
A January Poem
Winter, The Story of a Season by Val McDermid is a small book but interesting. This is a book about the joys of winter rather than just surviving it. She is the same age as me and grew up in Scotland but some of her memories of things like childhood Christmas Decorations, the winter of 1963 and November 5th firework nights are similar to mine.
"In Winter she takes us on an adventure through the season, from the icy streets of Edinburgh to the windblown Fife coast, from Bonfire night and Christmas to Burns Night and Up Helly Aa. She remembers winter from childhood, the thrill of whizzing over a frozen lake on skates, carving a 'neep' (swede) for Halloween and being taken to see her first real Christmas tree in the town centre, lights twinkling bravely in the dark night".
She writes about how she sits down to write her books each January, a winter train journey across Russia, birdwatching, Christmas lights, Hogmanay celebrations past and present and soup!
I came across a book blog that gives a good write-up on Winter HERE . I'd love to write book reviews like this but mine are much shorter as I'm always in a hurry to get on with reading the next book!
Winter is one of 4 books about the seasons commissioned from well known fiction authors. Spring is by Michael Morpurgo, Summer and Autumn are not yet published but will be by Bernadine Evangelista and Kate Mosse.
Back Tomorrow
Yesterday, the 18th we had the first new moon of 2026 and the first new moon of the year was very useful in the past for girls wanting to find out who they would marry.....
On the evening of the January new moon sit on a gate or across a stile, look at the moon and repeat:
All hail to the moon, all hail to thee, I prithee good moon reveal to me this night who my husband should be.
After that they would go home and straight to bed and their intended would be revealed in their dreams and apparently putting a sprig of oregano under the pillow would make the dreams clearer.
Did girls really do this?
I do wonder where some of these old sayings come from.
...........................I have no idea.
As well as the short outings I finished the small cross stitch picture and got it into a card blank,
Got all my scrap book bits onto the table and filled up more pages
And read a good book
Hope you have a good weekend - I shall return Monday if I can think of something to blog about.
In 2024 I did 'Reading the Seasons' and for Winter I read Arthur Ransome's Winter Holiday, Winter in the Air by Sylvia Townsend Warner, The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons and The Winter Killer by Alex Pine.
Since then I've gained two books with Winter titles for my shelves- one is the winter word dictionary mentioned yesterday and then The Nature of Winter by Jim Crumley, found at a charity book-sale in the Autumn.
( I also bought The Nature of Autumn at the same time and the library tells me I'd borrowed The Nature of Spring at sometime too, but have no recollection of reading it).
I've not got around to reading further than the prologue of The Nature of Winter yet but can already see he is a good nature writer. I've also not had a chance to properly read the two books that I got myself for Christmas as a gift from BiL.
At the beginning of January I wrote about Just-stay-in- January which is my version of 'hibernating' and had a list of things to do to get through a difficult month. It's not always easy to find things to write about in January so I'd also planned to write some blog posts with words from the book - A Winter Dictionary - that I bought last summer from abebooks after seeing it mentioned on Mary's blog . (Apologies to Mary for stealing book and blog post ideas!)
Mary has already written about Hibernaculum.............. a winter refuge, originally for Roman Soldiers.
This is the photo I took of the sign that introduced me to the word Hibernaculum back in 2018. It's at the NT property Ickworth House near Bury St Edmunds.
But we're now halfway through January and so far I've only mentioned gramshoch which is a word for the clouds that foretell snow.
So here's another word................... brumation which is wintertime sluggishness- a state of torpor. (coming from the Latin bruma, 'winter' and used for animals that don't hibernate, but are semi- dormant)
That's me on dark mornings when I don't want to get up!
Back Tomorrow
Last Saturday I went to Suffolk's oldest surviving, purpose built cinema. It's in Leiston, near the Suffolk coast and has been going since 1914.
The dance group, where 9 year old EGD has been learning ballet since she was 3, were doing a little bit of dancing in Leiston's pantomime. The guy who is Leiston's Mr Entertainment wrote the panto - a version of Mother Goose - and starred as The Dame. He's been managing the cinema since 1994 and also does magic shows and organises all sorts of other events. He also works on a small local radio station and YD said he's just started being the Crossing Control 'Lollipop' Man at the primary school road crossing. They've just reinstated someone there where the road is now crazy busy due to the building of Sizewell C Power Station.
Leiston would be lost without him!
It's been a long time since I'd been to a Panto - I'd rather go to a local one like this than the big city ones with some celebrity. Actually Wayne is a celebrity - for Leiston!
Back Tomorrow
Last Friday when it rained hard all day, would have been perfect for getting on with the any of the things started during the week.........reading, cross stitching or the jigsaw puzzle.
But the cross stitch I'd started - a small bookmark kit that had been hanging around for years - turned out to have some really odd colours that were all similar and I didn't like them - I gave up and found the threads and Aida needed for doing a little picture I've done umpteen times before as it makes a nice little card plus I realised I only have small two-fold aperture cards left now anyway. So can't do anything bigger without buying more card blanks.
I tried to do some of the outer edge of the jigsaw puzzle but the sky edge was impossible, there seemed to be too many pieces. So gave up on that too. Now I don't even fancy doing either of the other jigsaws found during the summer. I think I'll get my scrap book things out on the table instead.
Plough Monday, the first Monday after Twelfth Night was the day the agricultural year started, but before they began their hard work, the plough men and boys took the opportunity to have a bit of fun by dressing up, disguising their faces and processing around the village to perform a plough play and hopefully be given some money. The plough was often blessed in the church on the Sunday before, so that day was named as Plough Sunday.
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| Photo of picture from my book 'The English Year' by Steve Roud. It's described as 'from George Walker's - The Costume of Yorkshire 1814' The church in the village still celebrates Plough Sunday and in the past I've walked up the road to take a photo of the decorated plough, the Morris dancers and the procession around the village. This was 2023  This year I didn't - it was freezing out there, no sun and rain threatened, not good for hanging around waiting. The 12th of January is also the Old New Year's Day which many people carried on celebrating after the calendar changed in the 1752. If on the 12th January the sun shine It foreshadows much wind. Country folk often went on using the old calendar for years so there was also 'old twelfth night' on the 17th, which means there is still time to get Christmas decor down or to Wassail the apple trees. |
This is another of the Vegetarian things Aldi have in each December for Christmas. 'Melting Centre Nut Roasts'. I've looked back in the posts labelled 'Vegetarian Taste Test' and can't find that these have been tried before but last year they had one called 'Root Vegetable and Brie Nut Roast' which sounds similar, just different veg this year.
On Wednesday I finally got around to cooking the red cabbage which was the last of the 5p things from Aldi before Christmas, I meant to do it boxing day but forgot and we had plenty of other veg anyway. Then kept putting it off as it needs a long time in the oven to braise nicely (I add onion and red wine vinegar and a bit of brown sugar) it's delicious done like that, I can't eat it raw. Good thing red cabbage keeps for ages.
The fruit and veg. bought New Years Day from Tesco on the way to Son's had all gone, as had several other bits of store-cupboard stuff and my list was bigger than usual....I don't like to get too short of store-cupboard food in January/February as you never know what the weather will be.......... so I popped to Aldi on Thursday early and detoured via Tesco on the way home for a couple of other things before the weather turned nasty again.........much rain was forecast.
I know everyone loves looking at other peoples shopping so here you go, a HUGE (for me) shop.
There was no snow or gales in this part of Suffolk on Friday just plenty of heavy rain.......all day . Really nasty dismal day, I went nowhere.
Have a good weekend - I'll be back Monday
Oh My Goodness - so many books! all these lovely library books collected, all books I'd reserved on line and almost all crime of course.
From the left -the new book by Kate Ellis in her Wesley Peterson Devon series; Another new book in the series about Owen Archer in Medieval York by Candace Robb; The second by Sally Smith featuring Gabriel Ward KC in Edwardian London. Next is the first of three Val McDermid books in her Karen Pirie series. I was going to wait until they appear on TV but there are no plans for season 3. Next in the picture is 'Spring' a non fiction book by Michael Morpurgo which might just be a section of his previous book 'All Around the Year' . Then the latest in the series by Chris Nickson featuring thief taker Simon Westow and set in 1800's Leeds. Next in the photo is Winter by Val McDermid - no idea what this is or why I reserved it. And again no idea what 'Gunner' by Alan Parks is all about. I thought I'd read all the updated Campion books by Mike Ripley but this one isn't in my book-of-books-read. The Queen who came in from the Dark (Should be Cold thank you to Kirsten) is another by S.J.Bennett in which our late queen gets involved in solving crimes. The small paperbacks are Still Waters by ECR Lorac a recent publication by British Library Crime Classics. The last two are Murder in York by J R Ellis which I think I've failed with previously and something I don't know at all The Bone Road by N E Solomon.
I've still got four here from the December van visit when there were 13 brought home. I've read seven, and abandoned two. The books I read are on the December 2025 page or January 2026 Books Read page.
I need to stop writing this blog post and start reading PDQ!!
There is much promoting at the moment of a film called Hamnet due out tomorrow. One of my very few trips to cinema in the last 10 years was to see the film about Shakespeare.........All is True. This was about Shakespeare's last years when he returned from London to live with his family and him finding out the 'truth' about Hamnet's death. All is True was full of famous actors but didn't have much publicity. I'm thinking about going to see Hamnet, if I can be bothered. Could have sworn that I'd read the book by Maggie O' Farrell on which the film is based but no mention of it in my Book of Books Read, so obviously not.
A loud noise and rumbling over the bungalow and I looked out to see one of these . On the Globe Watch Airplanes Live website it told me what it was an MV-22 belonging to USA Military, a cross between helicopter and VTOL plane. The odd thing was it seemed to start from a big Country house in Gloucestershire and land by the river on the Suffolk coast. Who knows what's going on.
I'm not at all sure about doing the jigsaw I mentioned yesterday, started sorting the edges and it didn't go well. So went back to reading The Red Shore by William Shaw and finished it - a really good story by a new-to-me author. (Sure, Shaw and Shore - no wonder people struggle to learn English!!)
He's written several others previously so might try one of those. The Red Shore is the first of a new series set in Teignmouth area of Devon - a lovely part of the country and features Detective Sergeant Eden Driscoll, a Met. detective who suddenly finds his estranged sister, Apple, is missing and he has a young nephew he knew nothing about. Upon arrival at his sisters home in Teignmouth he begins to suspect that his sister wasn't just washed overboard from her yacht - she would never have gone to sea at night or locked the boy - Finn- in a cabin. When he starts to investigate it brings back memories of his and Apple's own strange childhood and puts him and Finn in real danger. I've made a note to look for the next book in June.
I did manage a letter to one penfriend and walked up to the post box - the half inch of snow has gone but it was still very cold.
The snow on Monday meant the Grandchildren weren't here after all so instead I got the January Jigsaw out of the cupboard. It's another nostalgia puzzle by House of Puzzles. It has a bit more sky than any I've done recently - if the colours are too much the same and too muted I might give up before hardly starting - just like trying a not-so-good book, no point in persevering with something that doesn't give enjoyment.
I've also sorted out threads to do a small X stitch book-mark/card. So two things are ready to start - but instead I began reading another book - so many left to read, I started on How to Solve Your Own Murder, but it seemed a bit strange so I soon gave up. Then began on The Red Shore by William Shaw which seems very good so far. I'd already abandoned Cacophony of Bones, for the second time - and many others have given up on it too I think as the pages were still very tight in the second half of the book - seems very few had got to the end. I'll be collecting several more books from the mobile library soon......weather permitting of course.
Not as much snow here on Monday as there is in a place that I heard about on a programme on Radio 4. Longyearbyen is the world's most Northerly settlement, way up north on the group of islands - Svalbard - belonging to Norway. The settlement is there for the coal mining but that is coming to an end which will probably mean the town won't continue to exist, with so many weeks of complete darkness in winter not many live there by choice (The programme is in their Illuminated series titled 'The Frozen Light' - on BBC sounds.)
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This below is different to the well known wassailing rhyme, I'd not come across it before.
Back in the summer I came across details of this 2024 book [and later Mary at Trundling Through Life had the book too] and found a copy for under a fiver on abebooks....it's more than £10 now we're actually in Winter.
For some January posts I thought I'd share a Winter Word.
Here's one we rarely get to use - if we even knew it - in many parts of this country nowadays.
gramshoch - the kind of tumultuous appearance of the sky or clouds that suggests a snow storm is on it's way. (from Scots - where it probably gets more use!)
I had a shock when I did my end of year accounts - found out I'd spent almost as much on books, like that one above, as I did on clothes and shoes! Far Too Much even if they are never at full price and usually second-hand. I need to cut back, as most of the books I read are from the library anyway.
Bombing another country, seizing the leader - doesn't seem like a good idea for winning the Nobel Peace Prize- sounds more like starting a war, instead of the eight he say's he's ended. What next?
Back Soon
Tonight's full moon is called the Wolf Moon named by Native Americans and Medieval Europeans due to the hungry wolves coming to the villages for food.
The Twelve Months
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| From the Illuminated Book of Days by Eugene Grasset |
Just-stay-in-January came about because I used to dread the month - often getting depressed - it seems to start right after Christmas and goes on forever, only gets lighter by a few minutes and can be the coldest month of winter.....as the day lengthens so the cold strengthens
It isn't to be taken completely literally as there's the weekly Keep Moving Group and a January Jumble Sale so I'll be there for that and I'll need shopping for fresh stuff - but not much else - hopefully. I thought about a trip out to one of the bigger towns for charity shops but not sure I'll bother if the weather is going to be icy cold.
I've got several things to fill the 'dark days'....................
[Taking tree, cards and decorations down was top of the list - but it's already done and dusted!]
Letters/cards to write to penfriends in Essex and Scotland
The folder full of 2025 paperwork to sort and keep/recycle or shred.
A jigsaw puzzle to get started
The new diary to fill in dates
A box of books to process and send off to World of Books
Library books still to read - with more due next week. I heard that 2026 is The National Year of Reading here in the UK - that's an easy one to join in with!
New books to enjoy
Dishcloths to knit
And I'd really like to do some cross stitch this year after not doing any for a while, so ought to get started.
And blog posts to write - Hope I can think of things to say!
Back Tomorrow...........
Wishing everyone a.....................
