Winter bloom

I know, not an inspiring vision for the first day of a new year, but the weather has been gloomy for days and photo opportunities were few.

After our over-indulgence last night, we weren't the brightest this morning. I got up, but S was stricken with sciatica-like pains and stayed in bed all morning. We basically ate nothing apart from the odd biscuit until 7:30 this evening when we dined on bread, cheese, and chutney, followed by the remains of the tart. I finished the bottle of red Corbières we'd had with the steak because it was too good to waste.

In her post today, a blogging friend I follow (ex-OU contact) said that she'd tried to focus on positivity over the last year. She admitted it was a bit Pollyanna-ish and even irritating to some, but as an older person living on her own she found that it really helped her mental health. So she's going to carry on doing it. Her daily blog often recounts the little positive aspects of her day -- even something as simple as freshly laundered sheets smelling of clean air, a scented candle, or coffee with a friend. She does have a point -- I'm not one for making resolutions, or for ignoring the bad things in the world, but those of us who are healthy, have a roof over our heads, and an easy life do need to remember to count our blessings and just appreciate what we have.