Before I start rambling on about my life which I share with Mr Cooper, let me first say a big thank you to everyone who sent me a lovely message last week.  They were so uplifting.  So much so that when I was emerging from my weather house, it was to see a rainbow above, a carpet of flowers before me and bluebirds flying around!  Such a good start to the New Year.

As January can be a dismal month, and one that is often endured not enjoyed, me and Mr Cooper decided to be very sociable during this one.  Well, I did, and Mr Cooper would have agreed with me but he was moaning about the bad weather/dark nights too much.
We had a lovely start to being sociable during January's first weekend, enjoying the company of the Lemons and the McDougalls, with culture and pubs adding to our social weekend.  The only downside being that I needed to be recuperating during the week, and not working!
But if I thought that that weekend was socially busy, just wait to you hear about the weekend that has just gone.  And before any of that, here is a taste of the one to come, where we are aiming to have only one social engagement (plus the usual Friday night in the pub, of course.  This week, The Sussex Brewery, aka The Sausage Pub.  They welcome locals there!)

Each Christmas my brother Mark receives a beautifully large panettone as a gift from his bosses.  Each year Mark gives me this delightful object, and for the last two years I make a pudding from the panettone, and invite Sarah and Gareth round for a pudding-based dinner, as they also love this Italian speciality.  There was one year when Mr Cooper went skiing after Christmas, and Sam and I had a panettone feast one night, just the two of us, but that did not resemble a dinner party in any way at all.  There was far less washing up to do, and we had to get the hoover out.

Here is the 'panettone dolce frutta' which forms the climax of this weekend's feast.  It is the 'frutta' bit that Mark doesn't like.  One man's meat is indeed another man's poison.

I do hope you notice the appearance of a cheeky flamingo, they seem to reside in almost every room.

Before I really get into my 'rambling' stride, let's just pause for a quick burst of culture.
This book caught my eye in the library, from the 'new books' section.  For me, it is a great section to visit, as I can almost always choose a book or two from there, and one which I wouldn't necessarily have chosen otherwise.

After reading the back of it, I was greatly encouraged to add it to my many borrowings.

When I finished reading the book, it was like having watched a very good film.  You needed a moment to sit and digest what you had just seen, and also to enjoy the sensation of having been part of something very good, whether happy or sad.  This book was written about a man not much older than one of my grandparents, and among other things it made me reflect on how harsh life used to be.  I am in no way implying that life today is a bed of roses, but for lots of us, our physical day to day existence is a lot less hard.  Today is my only day this week that is mine to fill as I chose, which is wearing my combats, relishing the fact that for once I don't have to leave the house until my evening exercise classes.  This morning I will write this blog whilst also receiving calls about our insurance claim, and this afternoon I hope to start a textile art project.  In between these activities, I will partake of a little light luncheon and enjoy half an hour with my current book.
 That doesn't sound too bad at all, does it?  And all in a nice warm house.

Rambling onwards again, after the brief cultural interlude.  Last Friday saw me and Mr Cooper and son John heading off to visit Mum.  We paused at our usual hostelry in Turweston near Brackley, The Stratton Arms, where we enjoyed lunch.  John, as usual, didn't agree with our choices until later, when he bought a pie to eat in the car, as a sort of pudding after his cheesy chips.  There's no sense in eating at a table when you can leave pie debris over the back seat of someone else's car.
 Mr Cooper went for starters and main course, see below, and I enjoyed my usual packet of honey-roast peanuts, a real treat.  Not every pub does them, you know.

Then onwards again to Eye, and the weekend ahead.  After making up 5 beds for the Saturday arrivals, we sat down in the evening to enjoy pasta with a Bolognese sauce, which had been beautifully made by Mr Cooper.  Then I rummaged through Mum's hand-written recipes to find one that had been a favourite of the family, and also of my best friend Deborah's.  It was proving tricky to track down, until Mum remembered where her little red recipe book was, which was amazingly enough where it should be.

This recipe for 'Joan's rich chocolate cake' was the dessert to have at any special social occasion.  We never had it with an ordinary meal, but luckily when Deborah came for the day, it was regarded as a special occasion.  Sadly it fell out of favour with Mum when there was the salmonella scare, as the recipe does contain raw eggs.  It was speedily replaced by Delia's chocolate truffle torte, but this one has the edge, being even richer, and also less well-known.

Then, whoopee, Friday evening was spent with Deborah, where we chatted and laughed the time away.  A lot has happened to us both since we left school together in 1980, but when we meet all the years just slip away.  It is so good to catch up with what is happening in our busy lives,  and not only to share problems but to also find the humour in some very difficult situations.  Thank you Deborah for another lovely evening, and  I am looking forward to the next one!
As usual on the morning after an evening with Deborah, Mum always says, 'Do you know I never realised before how attractive Deborah is' and all of us present look at each other, rolling our eyes.  As Mark once said, 'Why did you think Phillip wanted to come round when Deborah was visiting?'  We must have seemed a like couple of exotics, being 15 when Mark and Phillip were 12.  We were probably wearing navy blue mascara too, and 'Starry Eyes' eye-shadow, wow!

Mr Cooper seemed a little out of sorts on Saturday morning, but broke down under intensive interrogation.  It seemed that as he had cooked Friday night's meal, he was thinking that my son would have done the washing-up bit (he did clear the table, I hasten to add) and he was feeling saddened and cross that he hadn't.  'You've become a member of the 'saddened and cross' club', I said.  'It's been rather an exclusive club so far, as I have been the only member for around 17 years.'  Then I offered some caring and loving advice.  'You've just got to get on with it, and not let it spoil your and ours day', which he did. ( The 'get on with it bit', not the 'spoily' bit, thanks Mr Cooper, you're a star)

Mark joined us all on Saturday, even though we had not come apart. (Mr Cooper doesn't do all the bad jokes around here.) He brought with him Ella and Jem, and his lovely, fairly new still, girlfriend George. It is great to see Mark so happy, and I am not surprised that he is.  It is also good to see them both so happy together, a very good feature in a relationship!
We then went for a drive round our old haunts, visiting Holbeach St Marks and Gedney Drove End, where our grandparents had lived.  If I had had a camera, I would now be adding atmospheric views of the countryside, and perhaps even a helpful one of Mark and George looking happy, but hopefully later today the insurance company with give me the go-ahead to buy a replacement.*
Saturday evening saw us enjoying a feast in Mattoni's, the Italian restaurant conveniently close to Mum's, and Sunday saw us departing, after having done some gutter-clearing.

When we got back to The Gables, our holiday atmosphere dispersed a little, as we were met with an electronic beeping.  Having tracked down the culprit, the carbon monoxide alarm, we then found that the beeping meant that it had come to the end of its life.  Well, it may well have done, but it wasn't giving up without a fight!  We couldn't throw a battery-laden, still beeping device into the bin, but removing both its voice and the batteries proved to be a challenge, but with a satisfactory conclusion.

I won't bore you with the rest of our Sunday activities, as we acted remarkably like a no-longer young couple with a dislike of technology.  Talking together over a meal at a table formed part of the evening, as did watching Countryfile.  I did warn you!  Featured on Countryfile was an elderly female farmer, who had won the award for 'Farmer of the Year'.  When asked what advice she would impart to up and coming youngsters, it was to 'get up early, and just keep going', which chimes so happily with my mantra, ' just keep buggering on'.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw this small article in our village magazine, and turned up to their monthly meeting.  I was warmly welcomed, and also took along a project to start, which had been on the back burner for a couple of years now.

Having started to customise a camouflage jacket during the meeting, I am now having to make significant progress before the next meeting, which will form part of this afternoon's activities.  Working with textiles as an art-form reminded me of the three years, around this time of year, that I modelled my art garments as part of the Cloudhopper Gallery's annual art fashion show.  Sadly the gallery is no longer in existence, but here is a photo of me and Mr Cooper proving that you can still be happy together after many years, and just before I change to model my Prawn Cocktail apron, followed by modelling a dress made with cassette tape, created by another artist.
 Mr Cooper is holding my camera which is sadly no longer with us, the three of us were so happy together for 14 years....

I miss the Cloudhopper Gallery, and all the events I was part of there, but life continues to change.  Hopefully I am still able to go with the flow, rather than to try to resist change ( apart from certain advances in technology, and a worrying faith people seem to have in social meeja)

I hope you have a week or so ahead of you when you also feel free to embrace change (I will allow you to have a cross outburst first, before embracing) and also where you try to add a social aspect to January.  It really does change the feel of the month, even if it does leave you feeling rather tired!  Well, perhaps that is just a side effect of being 'no longer young'.  Or perhaps I should just try to limit just how much you can fit into the weekend.  Having said that, me and Mr Cooper are already having to include Friday as an honorary member of the weekend, we have just so much to fit in to it.
So go with the flow, pacing yourself if necessary, and I look forward to being with you all again soon, in the next week or so.

* I got confirmation that my camera is to be replaced at 4.10 this afternoon, hurrah!  Funds for such to arrive shortly into my bank account.
Now let's get the rest of it sorted.