For Today...

Joining in with the Simple Womans Daybook for february...

Outside my window...it's dark, and the wind is gusting around the building, splattering raindrops against the window.

I am thinking...about our meal plan for the next few weeks - with my "Frugal February" plan being well underway, I'm trying to make the best use of the contents of freezers, larder and cupboards. So far though the results are looking like being very tasty!

I am thankful...for the resources I have to keep warm, and dry, and fed, and clothed, and entertained.

In the kitchen...Jars of marmalade are lined up, glowing gently while they wait to be stashed away in our storecupboard for future use.

I am wearing...Pyjama bottoms, a cosy fleece, and snuggly slipperboots. Not glamorous by any stretch of the imagination, but lovely and warm.

I am creating...a simplified life for myself in the course of this year. Planning to streamline, to declutter and to introduce various small changes which will improve my own life and that of our household.

I am going...to several Islands this year. Orkney in a couple of months, the Hebrides in late spring, and hopefully another trip to the Farne islands in the Summer, too!

I am wondering...how the hell we are going to get all the marmalade into the cupboard....

I am reading...unashamed Chick-Lit - Penny Vincenzi's The Decision. Half way through, and it's not a life-changer, but a good read nonetheless!

I am hoping...for a good nights sleep.

I am looking forward to...several planned weekends with cheery friends. A simple meeting in a pub this weekend, a group weekend out and about in London at the beginning of next month with some fab girls, and a close friend staying for a few days the following week.

I am learning...Schumann, Gluck, and Purcell...

Around the house...the dehumidifier is whirring away behind me. As essential part of life here in the winter, it helps keep the damp at bay!

I am pondering...the fact that Karma is a wonderful thing, everything does indeed come to she who waits, and without a shadow of a doubt, what goes around, comes around. Or, to paraphrase - if you treat people like crap on the way up, they will undoubtedly be laughing as you pass on the way back down again!

A favorite quote for today...not a quote at all - a piece of music for you instead. This is one of the pieces I'm learning to play on the clarinet currently http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vrkhZwwqM

One of my favorite things...My camera - since it's repair by those clever chaps at the Canon service Centre it has been such a joy to use. Sometimes you don't realise that something isn't behaving itself entirely as it should be, until such time as the problems are fixed!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Today is the last day of my working week, so a walk, some decluttering, some beer, and some rugby will be the order of the day over the next few days!

A peek into my day...Not today, but last Saturday, and the rugby lads looking very smart in their new kit...

Harlow RUFC "Saints"

Robyn