rejuvenation

What an amazing day. Morning coffee with my little family at a super classy little cafe (while Mr Macaroon snuck a few hours out of the office). Gardening (which mostly involved my lying on a trampoline in the sun while the girl devised obstacle courses around me) and then a picnic next to our first tulips of the year. In this part of the world, there's only one thing you can be sure of; that it won't last. So we're making the most of the sunshine while we can.

daffodils from my parents' garden

The amazing weather and sense of being home has had a rejuvenating effect in all sorts of ways, not least that I'm making something again for the first time in months. My Grandmother, who taught me how to knit as a child, turns eighty in a few days time, and this quick and rewarding Different Lines shawl is the perfect project to add to her gift basket. I'm using some Hand Maiden Casbah, which is incredibly soft and easy to work with, but I'm disappointed with my choice of colours, they're not as bright as I thought in the shop, and there's not enough contrast for the stripes. But I won't let that put me off, things always look better when they're finished, and like I said, I'm working to an important deadline.

I've also got cracking (at last) on my New Year resolution, and have loved every page of Persuasion by Jane Austen. It's amazing! When I got to page 80, after five exhausting jet-lagged days staying with my (more than slightly eccentric) extended family, I empathised with Anne when she: "...admired again the sort of necessity which the family-habits seemed to produce, of every thing being to be communicated, and every thing being to be done together, however undesired and inconvenient."

I managed to fold over the corner (for future therapeutic moments) draw a deep breath, and return to the fray rejuvenated, secure in the knowledge that even Jane Austin would understand exactly how I felt!

Yarning along for the first time in months. I've sorely missed taking part which has, in no small way, helped nudge me out of the funk.