Hello and happy new year to you! I hope it's going well so far. I have learnt my lesson over the past few years. I won't expect this year to be reasonable in any way. It might be good (who knows) but it's gotta prove itself first. For now though, I'm focusing on having a "gentle January", which has been relaxing.
I went to visit my parents for Christmas. My uncle came over for Christmas day, and we also went to the pub for an hour to see some friends and relatives. It was a nice time, and not too busy.
This year's selection of Christmas cards.
And I got a lovely selection of presents too.
Food and kitchen gifts, including tasty cinnamon biscuits from Isla. Underneath the pile are some reusable bags for loose fruit and vegetables at the supermarket. I'm continuing my bid to reduce plastic in the kitchen, so these will go down well. The knife is from my parents. I hadn't requested a knife, my Mum had just noticed how I always compliment one of their knives when I use it in their kitchen, so she got me a similar one. (I even, unknowingly, made just the same compliment on Christmas day, before we got out the presents.) Using this new knife I have realised that I maybe haven't owned a sharp kitchen knife in my whole life. My current set of knives is about 20 years old, and even though I do sharpen them, they never get properly sharp. Whereas cutting things with this new knife is so easy it's blissful.
Toiletries, including some bath bomb eggs from Isla and a box spa set from Asia. The spa set is very strongly rose themed. The face mask from the set unfortunately didn't sit well with my skin, but the few other items I have tried so far have been good.
Other gifts from my parents, including two books, neither of which I have read before, a new top, and a tiny USB stick with a huge capacity. The socks I requested specifically. I got some last year and they quickly became my favourite socks (am I allowed to have favourite socks?) They're so soft and comfy, and the toes and heels are reinforced, meaning they don't get immediate holes, which is always a problem for me.
In early December my parents and I went to Hastings for a long weekend. The weather was very cold and grey, but I haven't been away with my parents since 2019 so it was really nice to spend time sightseeing with them again.
I hadn't been to Hastings before. It's a very hilly town, with an interesting mix of jaded Edwardian seafront and old winding medieval streets. Very pretty. We went on one of Hastings' two (two!) funicular railways, and we also went into the fisherman's museum. The tall black huts are a Hastings speciality and were historically used to dry the fishermans' nets. It's still an active fishing town today and there was plenty of fresh fish for sale.
All in all, it was a lovely trip away and I'm still thinking about it. Have some photos:
