packing Christmas away

Things are slowly returning to normal after Christmas and the New Year and particularly now that Jane and John have returned to the UK.

The decorations were put away some time ago but the poor Christmas Wreath got a right battering in all the rain and was in need of some TLC or replacing altogether but we have had it for a long time and I was sure that with a bit of imagination, some baubles and my glue gun that I could restore it to its former glory and I am going to try and be good this year about spending money unnecessarily.  The pound is being battered at the moment and the exchange rate is terrible so if we had to bring money over we wouldn't be getting much for our bucks compared to before the bloody referendum - we just wish we knew exactly how Brexit will affect us - but I guess that isn't going to be clear for quite some time.  So back to the wreath it was repair and not replace and it actually cost me less than 2 euros to do so and a similar sized new one in Jumbos would have been at least 5 euros!

Whilst I was in crafting mode I got down to making a birthday card or at least start to make a birthday card for my hairdresser as her 50th birthday is later this month and I want to pop in a card because she is lovely and always has a very positive attitude to life even when she gets faced with problem after problem.  I stumbled across her as a result of a daily deal about 4 years ago and we have been together ever since.

It is a year of special birthdays with Kate, Lumi, Liselotte, John and my John all reaching milestones this year and as I have a load of card-making stuff at home I intend to try and make all my cards this year rather than buy them - I need the space and although it is quite easy to find reasonably priced greetings cards in Cyprus now it will save a few pennies and be more personal and John will be more than happy for me to get my craft stuff down to a more manageable amount!!!

It is also on my list to declutter a little - the only trouble is that John and I can never agree on what we should keep and what we should get rid of and subsequently we end up keeping everything!

We had a text message from the shop where we bought our anniversary plaques for the garden to say that they were closing down.  This is a shame as the stone ornaments they sold were really nice and reasonable.  As a result of closing down they are taking 40% off of the remaining stock and although we didn't really want anything we went to have a look and found a nice small plaque which we will put up in the garden.

I am so glad that I managed to get out and give the garden a bit of a tidy as the last few days of sunshine have got everything growing especially the weeds - I shall go out later this week and tackle them when they are a little bigger and easier to pull up.

If we manage to avoid the really cold snaps that we have had in previous years then we will be unlikely to lose anything - I have protected the pretty hibiscus which is by the guest bedroom door and so far it is looking ok.  We haven't had the conditions which mean that the solanums and the bougainvillea lose their leaves but February often has a sting in its tail fingers crossed that history will not repeat itself.

The last few days of sunshine have really boosted our electricity production.  We had a terrible end to the year and January wasn't looking so good but if we have good weather for the remainder of the month we will back on track.


The sunnier days mean that we have clearer skies at night and with that dipping temperatures.  I am in love with my hot water bottle and even more so since I knitted mine and John's a jumper which means that they cannot scald our feet when they have been filled.  I am amazed that they remain warm right through the night and I have used the water in them to wash up before now!!!

Last time I was in Jumbos I managed to get some more wool and so when I am sitting watching TV I can crochet yet another blanket - my crochet skills are limited so I can make anything as long as it is square!!!