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Dear friends! January has been a month full of change - and almost exclusively for the worse. We received some extremely bad news about Mr's military plans, which has put us both on edge for the last couple weeks. Also, our dishwasher broke. It's been a thrill a minute up in the hills, let me tell you! I've been spending my evenings engrossed in Downton Abbey, wearing my fingers to the bone working on the quilt, and am rewarded to find that it's just over half done. Zoey seems to think it is hers, and finds every opportunity to claim it in that sadistically sweet cat way. The photo below barely does it justice, as it was captured late one night under the lamp. My apologies!

 

 

After Christmas (and embarrassingly, after New Years) I finally got around to dealing with the leftover turkey; making the turkey turnovers my grandmother faithfully delivered to me while living alone. Simply diced turkey coated in gravy and seasonings, packaged in pie pastry; they are a treat to pull out of the freezer and bake on those dreary end-of-winter evenings. Like a little parcel of Christmas, hot from the oven. I haven't given in to having one yet, as I try to make them last as long as possible... but I have a feeling there will be some in the oven tonight.

 

As we wear away the weeks into the new year, some days it seems difficult to find something to smile about... fortunately, my darling love always know how to cheer me up. This week he brought me home a bouquet of white tulips - blooms very sentimental to me, as they were the flowers I carried on our wedding day almost two years ago. I remember fondly wrapping the spray in white ribbon, making sure there was one bud left to pin to his lapel, and threading his ring onto one of the stems so that it would be handy when the time came. These are blissful memories, and although I didn't get a single photo of my lovely bouquet I don't need one; my husband always brings some home when he sees them out. What a lucky lady I am. 

Best wishes for the rest of the month friends! I'll be back soon!