Instant colour

Christmas seems like years ago now. Without the lovely decorations the house seems very bland indeed, and of course since The Diet began, the distinct lack of cheese boards and chocolate pig-outs also make January seem all the more bland. Today began sunny, clear and bright, if a little windy. By the time we had mobilised ourselves to do something with this super sunday, it was grey and overcast- no good for country walks or gardening. What we need is some instant colour! This grey wintery weather is no good for taking pictures, the natural light is very poor. So I have been happily taking my rubbish pictures with my iPod Touch, using Hipstamatic and Instagram to add some saturation to the colour in the otherwise drab images. I wish I could take pictures well. I'd need some decent equipment really, but with natural light and an interesting enough subject Instagram can produce some rather pleasing compositions. Above is me! Modelling the granny stripe scarf I eventually finished. I've wrapped it in Christmas paper to give to my sister when she gets back from her honeymoon on Tuesday! Cosy and colourful, I love it and feel downhearted giving it away. Maybe I should stop crocheting such nice things for other people? In the background is my lovely colourful heart bunting.

I decided to get the colourful teacups out this afternoon, as the late afternoon was extremely grey and it made me mope. The hideous yellow artificial light has taken away some of the magic of this set. It's SO bright and cheery, and the teapot is A Good Pourer. And easy to clean! Important qualities to look for in a teapot I feel. I take the business of tea very seriously, you see. A nice pot of Earl Grey to brush away the afternoon slump. Made with real tea leaves of course.

Some anemones I purchased from the street market that pitches up in the high street most weekends. The flower stall is magnificent, I love the huge selection of roses and their seasonal blooms are always a highlight. I love fresh flowers, they make a room seem alive. Soon it will be time for hyacinths and their heady scent and tulips and their beautiful colours.

Of course my living room is always full of colours: from my Buster's toys! Here he is playing with his favourite Christmas presents- a bright spotty drum (from Me), and an all-singing, all-flashing baby walker. He loves the colours and songs and pulls himself up onto his feet and bobs along with it.

Today we had a Typical Sunday: a lovely drive through the village of Stock to Margaretting Tye to the fantastic White Hart Inn. A lovely roast beef dinner and a pint of Adnam's Broadside was greedily consumed (NOT on the diet list, by the way, but a weekly treat. Ooops.) and then we drove around Stock looking for houses for sale. None of which we can afford of course, because Stock is THE quintessential village- period homes on every street, a handful of decent pubs and a beautiful cricket green! We returned via Lathcoates farmshop. God, I LOVE that place. Such lovely local produce. We bought a sprout tree, some Lime Curd, seville oranges for making marmalade and some delicious bread which we had with some soup for tea. Hope your weekends have been full of colour too.