Best wishes for a happy 2011 to any faithful readers I may have left after the sporadic blogging of the past year!

I hope to do better this year, in many ways, and a big part of that is going to be health-related and avoiding the depression I sank into for much of last year. I feel very good after spending the week in Cyprus, which was great - 25 degrees every day, so I swam in a heated pool, then lay on a sunlounger outside, surrounded by hotel cats. I got back on Wednesday, a couple of hours later than expected, as they had to fix the plane before we could take off (slightly worrying, but obviously everything was OK).

Back here, it is much colder, but not unbearably so, and we have no snow, although some is forecast for Wednesday. If it happens, I will stay inside! I have plenty to do, and have started doing some things, like defrosting the fridge, which is a nightmare, the kitchen is in complete disorder - it will be Monday before it gets back into shape.

I have started the Crazy January Challenge, probably inadvisably, but here is the first one I have chosen:

It's "Marquoir de Blanche" by Couleurs d'Etoile, and I am doing it on a 32 count Weddingen ecru linen, with Raspberry Parfait Gloriana silk, which is a dark pink colour.

I haven't chosen all my fifteen pieces yet, as I am still considering the many candidates. It is hard because there are so many that I want to do, but I have to be realistic and choose quite a few smaller pieces, because I will have to transport them. This first one is likely to be the largest, in fact.

As for other resolutions, I haven't made so many, apart from to look after my health and my finances. I did not so so badly on the finance front last year, being still debt-free, but I did spend a lot of money on travelling, because of the Perth and New Zealand trips while I was in Australia - but this year I will not be going anywhere near the Southern Hemisphere. I've decided that, if they ask me to do that again, I'm going to ask the doctor to write to them and say I cannot do long haul flights at all.

Well, that's about all for today, I'm going to go back to Blanche, plus the Kaffe Fassett scarf I am knitting (also probably inadvisably, it is 160cm of fair isle patterns), plus watching for icebergs from the fridge!