So, here we are in what I think of as the grey months of the year, where winter bites and all the fun and frolic of Christmas is replaced by ‘how on earth did we spend this much?’
It’s rained so much down here in Dorset that everywhere seems to squelch and I’m starting to wonder if sunshine exists because we’ve seen it so rarely. This means that it’s going to have to be an indoor time, which starts with taking down the Christmas decorations. This is where there’s a slight difference of opinion between darling husband, who likes to leave them up till twelfth night and put them up at the start of December and me, who likes to tidy up pre-New Year and throw myself into new projects.
Because you see, slushy romantic planning freaks like me always have a plan, and mine is a little game I started playing with myself during lockdown I’m lucky enough to live ten minutes drive away from beautiful beaches, near a gorgeous park, some saltwater marshes that are brilliant for bird watching. We have excellent small local food shops and a whole internet full of goodies that our amazing delivery guys and girls and posties bring to my door.
In fact, it’s the sort of place that a lot of people come on holiday to every year, so my long term plan was to make our little Dorset Victorian cottage near the sea into the sort of place where you’d want to come on holiday.
That means clean, smelling fresh and aired, with a subtle back drop of aromatherapy oils from a diffuser (that’s my latest toy and I’m really enjoying it. I can recommend orange, ginger and vanilla oils because it makes the house smell of baking.) It means sorting out my wardrobe and organising my favourite outfits as if I was packing for a week, safe in the knowledge that if the weather outwits me then what I need isn’t hundreds of miles away.
It means trying new recipes, making a fuss over table setting, putting music on in the background. It means taking a deep breath and editing out the things that don’t matter and don’t make me happy so that I can have that extra cup of tea while we chat. It means having nice tea too. In a teapot. With a tea cosy. And teacups and saucers at the weekend.
And the odd thing is that doing this makes domesticity more fun because I’m working towards a dream. So why not have a dream yourself? And share it with the rest of us.
Today’s picture is of our gorgeous coastline, up by Old Harry Rocks. And now you’ll see why my little house by the sea is the sort of place where I want to imagine being on holiday all year round!
