In the meantime I have to rest, unless of course I have yet another church event to attend - and this Saturday evening  is the History Group's talk in the church about the history of the church and various infamous villagers!  I will walk there and wear some outdoor clothes for the walk home. It's only a 10 minute walk so I should be ok.

I will keep you posted - I'm sore and I need some sympathy!

We served mini meringues with a glass ( or two) of Pimms and there was a great plant sale.  I had been busy over the last few weeks raising cosmos, nicotiana, nasturtium and Hilary provided lots of herbs and vegetable plants.  We made £92 on plants, which was surprising as I didn't think we had been that busy - the cold weather stopped many of the older people from venturing out.  I took over from Faye on the door - and I was glad of her blanket to wrap around my legs as I hadn't brought any suitable outdoor clothing, optimistically hoping for sunshine!  We set up in the morning and opened from 4pm - 7-pm - but it was much later by the time we cleared up - more like 8.30pm, and very cold!

There were quite a few plants left over so we will sell those at our next fundraising event on Saturday when Langham History Group make a digital presentation in the church, about the church and it's past, including some notable parishioners!  Let's hope people bring a warm jacket just in case it's cold.  Following that there will be our Feast Weekend on 25/26 June when we are having an exhibition of childhood toys. Already we have been promised some interesting old relics...

But happily we are all well now and I can go walking in the evenings.  It has been so lovely this week I haven't needed to wear a outdoor jacket - just a fleece.  The weather has been awful in Scotland and we are still selling lots of waterproof jackets and outdoor clothing in our concessions.     We are in the process of designing a new range of outdoor clothing for the autumn/winter, and hope to have all the samples back in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday and today we have had someone working on the new phone system that will take us into the next century.  We areplanning a HUGE warehouse clearance next Saturday 16th April in the Congregational Hall in Oakham and there will be lots of bargains to be had as we want to clear as many jackets, fleeces and assorted outdoorwear as we can, before we bring in the new range.  We have mens waterproof jackets, 3in1 jackets and fleeces as well as ladies outdoor clothing, and of course childrens jackets and fleeces from £3.  So if you are in Oakham, do come along and grab a bargain or two - the prices will be a lot LESS than advertised!

On another note, Harry is getting bigger but is very well behaved these days, although when it's sunny he lets us know he would prefer to be outside playing! ( Wouldn't we all, Harry!)

Then tomorrow night I'm going to the Stamford Arts Centre to see The Cole Porters - a grassroots band.  First of all there is supper with Deirdre and Marilyn, then off to tap our feet - so it should be a fun evening!  I haven't seen Deirdre for ages so there will be a lot of catching up to do.  Sunday should be a day of rest, but after church I might just chill out and read the papers. 

I'm taking a few days off at the end of the month and hope to go and see my sister.  We postponed our trip to Tewkesbury when the first snows of the winter fell - she lives in Brecon half way up a mountain and was snowed in for days. The walking is amazing however, right at the top of the mountain is a tarn and when it is frozen over you can go kite surfing!    Not for me.  I quite fancy going to Hay on Wye right on the edge of the Black Mountains but we will work something out when we speak.  

We are busy designing a new range of outdoor clothing for autumn/winter and have had some great garments made up - sadly my favourite sample jacket is too small so I'll have to do some serious dieting!

I went to see my daughter in London at the weekend and we had a lovely time wandering around at a leisurely pace visiting all her favourite eating places en route!  I thought it might have been warmer as it is further south than here, and only brought a lightweight jacket - what a mistake that was!  I should have had a heavier jacket on, as it was Louise lent me a warm Russian shawl to wrap around my shoulders - very bohemian for me, but I got lots of compliments!  One of my favourite experiences was eating at Govinda's, the restaurant beside the  Krishna temple in Soho - all the food is vegetarian and blessed whilst being made!  It was great value and very tasty!    

In the evening we went to the tri yoga centre in Primrose Hill where I participated in Kirtan yoga ,  chanting for over an hour with about 60 other people - I was a bit apprehensive and had to concentrate on the phrases, but  felt strangely elated at the end and will definitely repeat the experience!    Louise practices yoga daily for 2 hours and is incredibly fit and supple as a result. It would take me forever to achieve this level andLou is half my age.

I was still freezing when I got home and judging by the heavy frost last night we will still be wearing our fleeces  for another while.

I had a viewing of my house today and it seemed to go well except that the people haven't got their house on the market yet.  It wasn't as traumatic as I expected given my sad day last Friday, in fact I am quite excited about moving on.  And I need to lose my mortgage before the interest rates rise too much.   I am feeding the blackbirds every morning, they like chopped up apple and raisins soaked in warm water.  There is a baby robin which is very hesitant, (not surprising as blackbirds can be real bullies) and it sings beautifully from the top of the apple tree - I'm sure it will gain in confidence as it grows, and become quite tame as they often do.

I'm looking forward to going walking at the weekend  if it is fine.  I miss the outdoors and am looking forward to longer evenings when I can  potter or walk when I get home from work.  There will be less tome to do this when we move to our new warehouse, but I can go for a walk at lunchtime instead - normally lunch is at my desk with soup or a sandwich.

Colin is off to his French class soon - au revoir!

The whitewashed cottage is at the end of a little lane and cannot be seen from the road, so is very private.  It looks out over fields where horses and sheep happily graze.  In the summer it is perfection, south facing .  Even in the winter it is beautiful - a blanket of snow adding to the beauty.  My dogs, Lottie & Sophie, (Italian greyhounds) and tabby Puzzle  loved to chase eachother around and around - they had their own doorways - catflap in the kitchen door and another in the conservatory - so they could come and go as they pleased.  They are buried in the garden - Lottie and Sophie close  to each other in a sunny spot, and Puzzle under the catmint where she loved to roll.   Sometimes I can feel their presence when I am in the garden, I know they are with me in spirit and I hadn't really thought about leaving them until now...and I feel very sad.

But even though I must move, I will still be planting my seeds this weekend - nicotiana, cosmos, sunflowers  and sweet pea so that the garden will still look beautiful  for the new owner.  And I enjoy seeing things grow.

So sad as I may be today I have hope in my heart for the future.  Life goes on...

We are hoping to be in by the middle of March but that could be a bit optimistic - especially as we would have all our telecomms to sort out.  We shouldn't need to  to wrap up so much, but I still think we will end up wearing some of our outdoor gear on the coldest days.  Thank goodness we are in outdoor clothing -  waterproof jackets, fleeces etc. I  now wish we had saved the balaclavas as I can see us needing them later in the year - but we also stock thermal underwear, so everything will be covered except for hands and feet!  I've been thinking about taking my bicycle there so I can go for a bike ride at lunch, but I need to be more enthusiastic - exercise has not been one of my strongpoints over the years although I do enjoy walking and swimming.  

Now - for the important question - have you bought a Valentine's card or gift?  I have had my gift - some very nice Origins anti- wrinkle cream - what is he trying to tell me?   My reciprocal gift is a book on how to write a novel - could be a good investment if Danny Boyle end up making  the movie!!!

Everyone I know is fed up with the weather - sunny and cold one day, windy another day, then wet and miserable.  Scotland seems to be bearing the brunt which is actually good news for us as our concessions are doing well and we keep sending out replenishments of waterproof jackets and our best selling 3in1 IZAR jacket which has a (detachable) fleece for added warmth.  Even the extreme weather and ski jackets have been selling well.  We are in the process of designing a new range for later this year/next year and it has been fun thinking of names - what theme to choose - so watch this space!

Scott is going to get Harry soon, but with any luck he won't have that hideous bone he was chewing the other day - beef/liver I think - the smell was atrocious to all but Harry who was in seventh heaven.  It's a bit like having a baby, you have to lug all the kit backwards and forwards all the time.  It will be great when we move to the warehouse as it will be a much better place for him and we can go walking with  himover the fields at lunchtime.

It's colder today but just as windy so I put on my warmer jacket again.  I may have been a bit premature in thinking spring is round the corner, however I am delighted to see snowdrops appearing all over the garden, the bright white clumps adding colour to an otherwise drab winter garden palette.  I raked up some leaves last week to make leaf compost and cleared the shed to start my seedlings but that's as far as I got.  I want to grow some vegetables this year and add to the augergine, tomatoes and runner beans - I just need to think what is easy and not too labour intensive!   Has anyone got any hints?