Happy New Year!

Hi Honeys
Happy New Year! I know, I'm almost a week late but I've been battling the mother of all chest infections for the last few weeks.   I'm afraid I'm still at it's mercy too.  It simply doesn't want to give up its grip of my poor beleaguered lungs. This horrible cough means I'm not sleeping either so I didn't want to be a "moanie minnie" here.

Of course this has happened when we're at our busiest at work during the Christmas and New Year festivities.  I'm so happy that I haven't missed work, nor have I made any co-workers ill, thank God.  I usually use anti bacterial hand gel as if it's my job anyway, but during these past couple of weeks I've gone through it by almost a bottle a shift.

Whenever I've coughed it's been into a used-once-then-binned tissue before immediately soaking my hands in the gel and replacing the tissue with a fresh one which is stored in my sleeve.  Should I have been at work? My Doctor would have said no, had I consulted him, which will annoy him that I didn't call.  I know though that the one place as busy as any retail unit at this time of year is a Doctor's surgery!  

Don't worry honeys, I have an appointment this Tuesday morning, for my BP check and I'll mention it then. He'll tell me off for not calling straight away, born with damaged lungs, battling asthma etc, but my Doctor has never worked retail during the busiest time of the year with even one co-worker missing.  Chaos.  We are overstretched on a normal day but at this time of year... oh my 😞

Of course there are other reasons I wouldn't, and indeed couldn't, miss work honeys.  First I was very lucky this year in that, due to the way the rotas fell, I wasn't required to work any more than my normal days.  This actually helped a lot even though I have arguably the busiest shifts, weekend, which run through into late nights.

Secondly we just simply can't afford for me to skip shifts.  We have bills that need paying and even though I don't earn much, retail is right on minimum wage after all, as a famous competitor says in their ads "every little helps."

So, dear ones, we've managed to get past the holidays and now what lies ahead is the best part of the year!  Spring will arrive soon and the garden will start to wake up from its long winter nap.  I've been boring everyone at work with my weekly countdown 😃 I've even thought about making a little badge "ask me when Spring arrives.."  For the record we have eleven weeks from tomorrow evening till the clocks go forward an hour.  This will welcome the start of what is laughably known to anyone familiar with our weather, as British Summer Time 😃

We have all sorts of plans ahead for the Spring, and I'll share them as they happen here honeys. Hubby still has to finish the very last part of the back garden fencing as well as to make a new garden gate, possibly two since we still don't have a new gate for the front garden yet.

In addition we still have our planned little seating area to organize on the patio, under the kitchen windows.  Do you remember the beautiful bench Hubby bought for me with the wrought iron roses on the back rest?

Whatever our little seating area in the garden ends up looking like honeys you can bet this beautiful bench will be at the heart of it 💓❤  I so can't wait to create our little calm space.  I'm hoping to go shopping for more lavender soon too.  Our calming, settle-down-with-a-good-book-while-laundry-dries-on-the-washing-lines space definitely needs the gorgeous scent of lavender in the air.

Laundry! Other than watching the garden go through it's year of growth and change my absolutely favourite thing about the spring and summer months is that I can peg laundry outside. Such joy!

Had I lived a hundred years ago honeys, I'd have happily been a wee "washer woman" who would take in others laundry to wash, dry and iron for them and I would have sung as I worked dear ones 😍 I really do adore doing laundry more than any other household task.  Always have, always will 😍

Among other plans for this year, we're hoping to get back to our great household clear out, de-clutter and organization project.  We had started quite well during last year but my health has repeatedly knocked us off course, I'm absolutely determined to get back to it this year though, even if it is just one drawer or cupboard at a time.

What are you most looking forward to in the new year honeys?  Do you have any plans made already?  Are you, like me, happily counting down to spring?

Till next time dear ones, we still have a few weeks of winter ahead so stay warm and snuggly, add an extra layer when outside, smile lots and hug even more 😃  Huggles always dear ones xx