Goodbye January Hello February

 

Here we are already halfway through February already, I just don't know where the time goes. 

In our family we celebrate three birthdays in January starting with mine and this year it was a big birthday ending with a 0.  

I was very spoiled receiving lots of lovely cards and gifts.  I was treated to a lovely evening out with some of the family and then treated to a delicious afternoon tea with all four of my children which is always the best present of all to have them all together. 

I know we have talked about not making new years resolutions because I just can't keep to them. I tried doing my sock challenge again in 2022 and failed abysmally with only achieving possible three pairs of socks.  I decided this year that I would just try and finish off some of my UFO's before planning my new projects for the year. 

This pair of socks had been on the needles since September 2022 and I finally got going again with them over Christmas and finally finishing in January 2023.  I can't even remember what brand of wool they are from but I know at the time I liked autumn colours. 

Last year I decided to make Advent Calendars for each of my children. Now I know my children are all adults but I couldn't make advent calendars when they were children so they've got them now so that when I have shuffled off my mortal coil they will still have something to remind them of their mum each year. 

and of course I had to make them for my two grandson's too 

I ran out of time to complete the last one for my youngest son so this is another of my UFO's now completed and although it wasn't ready for Christmas 2022 it is definitely ready for Christmas 2023. 

Now technically this isn't a finish of a UFO as this little dragon was stitched approximately 25 years ago,  if not more but,  I never got around to having it framed.  It has stayed in the cupboard wrapped in acid free paper for all these years.  I finally took it to the framers just before Christmas and picked it up two weeks ago and I think it looks stunning.  Even though it has sat in the cupboard for all that time the colours are still as vibrant as they were when the last stitch was added. 

Shetland detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to Fair Isle to introduce his fiancée to his parents. With the autumn storms raging, the island is cut off from the rest of the world.

Then a woman’s body is discovered at the renowned bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair. Perez has no support from the mainland and must investigate the old-fashioned way. He soon realizes that this is no crime of passion – but a murder of cold and calculated intention.

There’s no way off the island until the storms abate – and so the killer is also trapped, just waiting for the opportunity to strike again.

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A journalist working a story. Now his murder is a headline . . .

When the body of a journalist is found in a traditional Shetland boat, Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is drafted in to head up the investigation.

Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his local knowledge is needed and he decides to help the inquiry. Originally a Shetlander, the journalist had left the islands years before to make a name for himself in London, leaving a scandal in his wake. He had few friends in Shetland, so why was he back?

When Willow and Jimmy dig deeper, they realize that he was chasing a story that many Shetlanders didn't want to come to the surface. One that must have been significant enough to kill him for . 

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Over Christmas I managed to read the last two books in the Shetland series by author Ann Cleeves.  I have enjoyed reading the series.  They are very different to the BBC1 series and you get to know alot more about the man that is Perez.   I know they are going to carry on with the TV series but I think the books finished at the right point and I would definitely recommend reading them. 

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I have had The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri on my bookshelf for sometime.  I had tried starting it a couple of times but just didn't get into it, but I think that was more to do with me than the book.  When I did get to read it from cover to cover I really did enjoy it.  It follows the story of Nuri and his wife who have fled Aleppo during the war and were trying to make their way to England to be with family and to request asylum.  Albeit fiction the story gives you insight into just what some of those seeking asylum have been through to find a safe haven. 

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Finally The Wish by Nicholas Sparks was a Christmas gift.  This is Maggie's story.  She knows she is dying and having befriended a young student working in her gallery she decides it time that her story should be told.  She is only sixteen when she has to make one of the toughest decisions of her life. It is also when she meets Bryce who is not only her best fiend but also turns out to be the love of her life.  He shows her what her life can be like through the lens of a camera and this is the story of her of love and life with all its ups and downs.    

It was a beautiful emotional story and I would definitely recommend you make it one of your reads for 2023 and you don't have to wait until Christmas. 

Lastly what have I been watching on the Telebox?  Not a lot if I'm honest. Christmas was it's usual let down of repeats.  I did of course watch the animated version of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse on Christmas eve and yes I cried just as much as I did when I first read the book. 

Obviously Call the Midwife was on the watch list and after seven years of waiting it was finally time to bring the third and final series of Happy Valley.  I was so excited to know that we got to see  Catherine Caewood, her grandson Ryan  and her sister Claire one last time, and of course we all wanted to know what was going to happen with Tommy Lee Royce didn't we. 

If you have never watched this series then I highly recommend you do.  Series 1-3 are available on BBC  iPlayer and I don't think you will be disappointed.   If nothing else you get to see lots of hand knitted things and crochet blankets. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mx