The house felt a little nude, once Christmas had been removed, so I had a good tidy and clean, and up went the little twinkly lights and out come the candles.

The weather here has been lovely for this time of year,  a bit of sunshine most days and the odd gorgeous sunset, this one taken from my bathroom window this week.

I usually find January quite a hard month, like many people, so to remedy this we embrace the hygge.   I treated myself to this little book a while ago,  a lovely little read, just right for this time of year.  It's recommendations are really nothing new to this household. but it's nice that it now has a name.

We're making time for long, bracing walks every afternoon, then coming home, lighting the fire and candles and snuggling down with very contented and tired dogs, for the evening.

Sofa hogs!

We 're eating lots of  comfort food,  last nights offering being free range sausages, puy lentils, peppers, home grown kale in beefy red wine.  We mopped up with crusty warm bread, delicious!

As always, we made stock from our Christmas turkey, used some and froze some too, which I used this week to make turkey soup, served with homemade buttery toasted sourdough. This is definitely one of my favourite soups at this time of year.  You can't underestimate the power of bone broth, especially with all those nasty cold bugs that are going around...more on that later.

We still have some squash left from the allotment and this little Blue Hungarian stored very well. I'm roasting it for another soup recipe, which gets lunch sorted for next week.

I has wonderfully vibrant orange flesh and the aroma of cucumber, which is surprising.  I had a little nibble of the flesh and yes, it tasted a bit like cucumber.  We've not grown this variety before, but I've kept the seeds, so  will definitely be planting it again this year.

I don't indulge in all this 'let's get healthy' post Christmas malarky, .... it's the time I need cake most.    I had some manky bananas that needed using up, plus some left over marzipan and walnuts which resulted in a very tasty cake, lovely with  post walk cups of tea.

Mr. is quite partial to this particular cake, despite his protests that he really hasn't got a sweet tooth!

I have actually finished my bobble hat,  although it's a wee bit tight.  I think I may have a larger than average noggin or perhaps all those extra bits of naughty at Christmas have gone to my head, instead of my bum.

I used the brown and pink to  make a pom pom, but wasn't sure I liked it,  so made a cream flecked larger one and now cannot decide which to use.   Which one do you think would look best?   Just loving my little pom pom gadget, but in danger of pom pomming  everything,  it's so addictive!

I am indulging in a PJ day today, as I now have the lurgy that has been passing around these parts. I have a temperature and every time I cough, I feel like my head is splitting in two.  I've just had a freshly squeezed orange and raw honey toddy (Mr. is cosseting me) and at this moment, he's in the kitchen cooking up a hearty breakfast.  I will attempt to eat some, as like they say, feed a cold, starve a fever.

Hoping that you are all well, lurgy free and enjoying your 2019 so far xx