KW-04 On cold noses and warm hearts

(and pesky piggers)

I think it was probably Tuesday this week, when I opened my eyes to icy windows and a cold nose, and felt proper joy at waking up for the first time in months. Last week, I mentioned that my rhythms had aligned with a sufficiency of daylight; this week, I remembered what it means.

on a normal day, you can see through these windows. On a normal day, they don’t have a solid encrusting of ice on the inside

At the end of very year, I get the winter blues, and at some point in the middle of January, I get over it. I also blog about it. Last year, I remember writing that it wouldn’t be as bad, because I was aware of it, and that I would remind myself that it always has an end. This year, I kinda forgot that a bit. Last year, the piggies helped. This year, this newsletter did the job.

Now, I know that there are plenty of people reading this, some I have talked to about it, who have not yet reached the crossover into spring, and I hope this is not insensitive if that is you, dear reader. But, oh what joy it is - not so much the coming out of the tunnel, that just happens - but a short while later when you look back and remember that you were in it; and you are in it no more.

In more typical news, the pigs escaped six times this week.

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I said that I was mostly going to be working on the kitchen. I have a plan for a large wooden framed construction. This week, I did some tests and some thinks and realised that the incredibly cool and incredibly heavy sink that I have acquired will never be held up by the frame I am planning.

So I spent the week cleaning bricks. That was an unpleasant way to spend a few days, I can tell you. It will be worth it. It had better be worth it!

That metal thing in the middle used to be a pair of tin snips. It makes a very effective brick scraper. The trowel was useless.

This week, the job list is even simpler than last week:

• Continue the work on the Loft Kitchen

• Prune fruit trees and bushes

• No wood chopping. I’m taking a week off!

And finally…

While I’m trying to do something with this Newsletter, I also read a whole bunch of others from writers I have found here on Substack. I thought I might share the occasional one with you.

I thought I would start off with a vegan food recipes newsletter. This is Jack of VeganWeekly. We’ve spoken a bunch of times, and he’s a good one. If you want some vegan inspiration, or if you just want to read a really well-written newsletter that happens to be about simple, delicious, healthy cooking, I strongly recommend a follow!

(and no, he doesn’t know I’m doing this!)

click to go!

Just click the image to be taken to the newsletter. And let me know in the comments if you would like my recommendations of New Things To Read to be a weekly thing!

See you all again next week,

Please comment! Share your thoughts!

The Pirate Ben x