January Joy

There is something harsh and sobering about January as if December was a beautiful dream and on New Year's Day you wake up to everyday life. For me the fist day of the year always has this back to school feeling even though we never were back until after Epiphany on the sixth of January. Christmas is over and so are all the pleasant things that come with it: family and friends reunions, lovely food, candlelight, Christmas carols, lazy evenings by the fireside. The New Year means looking ahed again, planning, getting busy.
We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas this year. My sister got married just a few days before Christmas in our local town and we celebrated in the medieval castle afterwards. It was magical! There's something to be said for small weddings in December! The Newly Weds stayed around for Christmas, so my mum had all her daughters home for the festive season plus three sons in law and two grandsons.
I'm sad, that Christmas is over but I'm also happy to be back home again. The New Year, as young as it is, has already brought a number of good things and I am very thankful. While we missed out on a white Christmas, a sudden frost transformed the the landscape into a winter wonderland just before New Year's Eve. And on our last day in Germany it actually snowed, enough to make the ground white. I'm delighted that Aidan got to know the snow even though he probably won't remember it.

As much as I liked the snow I was a bit worried that it might affect our journey to the airport. But the roads were free of snow and we arrived safely at our house where our cat Branwell had a great welcome for us - after sulking for half an hour.

And the same evening my aunt phoned to tell us that my cousin had given birth to a baby boy!

Enough good things to keep the January blues away!