Little joys in January

January can be a tough old month.

When I get up at 6am each morning, it’s dark. When I drive home after work, the sun has already set and it’s dark once again. The weather is variable, to say the least. Yesterday it was never ending grey, tomorrow I believe there is some snow on the way.  The bright lights and festivities of Christmas and New Year seem as far away as ever and so it can be easy to feel those January blues.

With this in mind, I’ve been trying hard to embrace January and find little joys in the first month of 2018.  I thought I’d share a few of my favourite things and I’d love to  hear what you are doing also to ease yourself into this New Year.

Up first, getting outside into the fresh air and more importantly, daylight. Even if it is just a short walk with Boris or a brief potter around the garden, it really lifts the spirits . Plus, there are lovely winter scenes to be had on even the shortest of walks.

Secondly, I don’t make New Year resolutions. I’m not looking for a new me, I’m not interested in diets or tough exercise regimes and especially not in January. My mum always told me January was never the month to start these things, it’s too much of an extreme after Christmas and as always, I think she is probably right. What does interest me however, is trying to establish a tone for the year, a sense of how I might approach things and so my word for 2018 is BRAVE. I think I’d like to be a little bit braver with what I share on this blog, with my photographs and with life in general.

If you are interested in finding your word for this year, why not sign up for Susannah Conway’s free course Find your Word for 2018.

Thirdly, I have a new found love for my slow cooker. After being outside on a cold, wet Saturday, it just feels so comforting to step back inside into the warmth of the kitchen and the aroma of a simple casserole slowly simmering on the worktop.  I make them the easy way (meat, vegetables and a recipe mix like these ) and then I can leave it to do it’s thing while I go about my day. Bliss !

Fourthly, and this won’t surprise anyone who follows this blog, flowers. Bringing a little bit of the outdoors inside is meant to be good for you. I have a small collection of house plants which add a welcome touch of greenery but for me, flowers are a real pick me up. I bought a bunch of ranunculus at Marks and Spencer the other day, something a little bit different from the usual offering of roses and carnations and they are just so pretty.

Last, but by no means least, a little bit of reading.  Just before Christmas, I bought myself a copy of the magazine Creative Countryside.  I’ve been snuggling up in bed at night, reading Issue 2: Wisdom , a celebration of winter, winter folklore and traditions. It is a lovely read, full of inspiring photography. I suspect some of you might like it.

You can find out more at the Creative Countryside website.

Well, that’s my round up of what I am enjoying in January so far. Feel free to share what you’ve been up in the comments below.

Have a lovely Sunday x