It was my wish at the beginning of the year to avoid that Sunday night feeling of a weekend wasted. My goal was to have a plan in place for the coming weekend by each Friday evening.

This weekend the plan was to plant our small Christmas tree in the wood. We chose a nice spot and popped it in the ground. Sadly it didn't have much of a root ball, so it might not survive but it's got two choices.

Andy then chopped some wood, which I loaded into the truck, while we chatted away, enjoying being outside. I love spending our time in the wood, I really hope our little tree survives.


A lesser plan was to go to the supermarket, get rid of the glass recycling, and pick up some flowers for the lounge. With all the decorations taken down and packed away for another year, it looked so bare. I was able to use some greenery from a bouquet Andy bought for me just before Christmas (why does the greenery always last so much longer), and I filled two vases with vibrant yellow roses and purple carnations. They're no substitute for a 7ft Christmas tree but they do look cheerful.

I definitely didn't get that wasted weekend feeling on Sunday evening. The whole weekend I pottered about, getting lots of household chores done, returning the house to normality after Christmas, ticking things off my to-do list. I wrote our meal plan for the week, flipping through recipe books for a new dish to try - Brazilian Style Fish Stew - and placed a grocery order. I spent a lovely hour in the greenhouse sorting out some hanging baskets and container pots. I helped Andy cook roast pheasant with all the trimmings - because we haven't eaten enough recently! And I found time to sit and read for a while, and do some work. We also made a hefty dent in The Soprano's boxset.

How was your weekend?