I had a cool Yule

Well I have been a rather remiss blog-mama of late, haven't I? Too busy eating! Yep, thats Christmas for you. I really did have a very nice time (and don't you all love my highly original pun?). A highlight for me was that it seems that people have been taking more notice of this blog than I had thought. Some friends and family obviously went to great lengths to source recycled gifts for us for Christmas - such as a large carry bag made from recycled billboard, shown above (see link to haul below). I was really touched. And when someone recognised the paper I'd used to wrap her present as the very same paper she had used to wrap mine last year (whoops), she took it with very good grace!

One of the best things about the holiday period was that, with others around to help with the wrangling of The Booba, I got a chance to catch up on my favourite of all pasttimes - reading. My favourite holiday read was No Impact Man by Colin Beavan, published in 2009 by Piatkus. I loved this book! This writer spent one year attempting to live with minimal environmental impact in the New York City apartment he shares with his wife and baby daughter. No rubbish, no non-local food, no power, no mechanised transport....Yes, interesting! And if you expect there would be a lot of sermonising holier-than-thouness here...you'd be wrong. Just a very frank and humble examination of modern life, and a question - does it really make us so happy that its worth the Earth? The blog of the same name is also well worth a look (see link below).

Finally, my sunflowers, when I thought they'd never stop growing (surely these plants inspired the story Jack And The Beanstalk??), have finally flowered. Pretty, huh?