A photo every day for a year! 1st - 3rd January! Week 1 of #Project365

Happy New Year! It was only Wednesday when I finished off last year's Project 365 series and here I am already with the first few days of 2026! How are we in 2026 already? It doesn't seem two minutes since I was wrapping presents and now the Christmas holidays are over and it is back to reality tomorrow. Hmmf. It's not going to be fully back to normal as Stu has a couple of days' holiday from work, we have a couple of appointments and a cupboard full of leftover Christmas treats to eat, so it's not all bad.

I'm going to share a few extra photos this week from New Year's Eve as we had such a lovely evening out. We all got dressed up, had a lovely meal, a few drinks and danced the night away. 

The food photos are the garlic mushrooms, my starter. I forgot to take a photo of my main course and for dessert we had these rose water cheesecake. I don't know what they were exactly as we weren't even planning on getting dessert but the chef talked us into it. He is so convincing and always makes the best desserts. They were amazing!

Now for a photo every day!

1/365 - 1st January!

No one was in the mood to cook on New Year's Day and it had been a while since we had got a take-away, so pizza it was and cheesy chips, onion rings and cans of fizzy pop! The best thing about pizza is that there are always leftovers for the next day too! Lunch was sorted. It wasn't the healthiest way to start the New Year but it was a nice treat!

2/365 - 2nd January!

I feel like the whole of the Christmas break has revolved around Stranger Things. There were episodes released on Boxing Day and then the final episode on New Year's Day. I was happy with how it ended and I might have cried a little bit. I am quite happy to believe Mike's version of what happened to Eleven. Anyway, I have started watching it again from the beginning. Weren't they all so young in the first season? Stranger Things has gone onto my list of TV shows that I can watch again and again!

3/365 - 3rd January!

The sun was shining and there were blue skies which made a lovely change from the gloomy weather we've been having. Don't be fooled though, it might look like it could be a little bit warm but it was freezing! We've had no snow. Further up north, to the west of us and down south has but there's been none of the white stuff here. I'm not wishing for snow, we had a lot of ice on Friday and that caused chaos for the buses. Stu managed to get to work OK. From what we saw he got the last bus before they cancelled them all until early afternoon.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

This week my Word of the Week is: New!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

Another obvious word from me and I know I have used it many times before but it's a New Year! Happy New Year to you all! How's 2026 treating you so far? I have had a slow start to the year. We're enjoying the last few days of the Christmas holidays by not doing much. There has been no rushing and no alarms, we've just had late mornings, lazy afternoons and evenings that blur into one another. It has been quite lovely!

We spent New Year's Eve at the pub. We all dressed up, had a meal out and stayed out well past my bed time. It was such a great evening with good food, a few drinks, lots of laughs and a lot of dancing! I know lots of people prefer to stay home on New Year’s Eve and I used to feel exactly the same. Give me pyjamas, a takeaway and the TV any day but then the kids grew up and suddenly nights out are fun again and don’t involve babysitters, rushed evenings or worrying about what time we need to be back. We can just go out and stay out! Who knew that freedom would be one of the perks of parenting older kids! Despite the late night I started the new year as fresh as a daisy, while some others didn't. Hehehe

I’m not doing the whole new year, new me thing. No massive resolutions and promises to completely change my lifestyle, wake up at 5am or suddenly become someone who loves going to the gym. I have started a new monthly post with my goals and plans for the month. There's nothing life changing about my goals. They're all realistic things that fit into my life but I am hoping it gives me some motivation and accountability by writing it down. All I am hoping from this year is that it's drama free and my family are happy!

The new term starts at college for Ellie next week and this college year seems to be flying over. When she started in September, the end of the college year seemed such a long way away and now it's just five and a half months until the end of Ellie's full-time education and when you take out the holidays it's a little over 4 months! Eek! She is hoping to find an apprenticeship to carry on with her engineering dreams. I am excited for her, nervous for her but so proud!

Becky is going to try something new this month, not spending any money unless it's really necessary. I am shocked too. lol There is method in her madness. She has over bought concert tickets. 3 big ones over 3 months starting in February but what she didn't budget for was overspending over Christmas and she forgot all about having to buy train tickets and pay for hotel stays for a couple of them. Oops.

How has your week been? Have you eased into the new year gently or dived straight back into normal life? I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!

What I have loved this week! Week 1. #FridayFavourites

Happy New Year!! I hope you have had a good start to 2026! It seems ages since I did a Friday Favourites blog post. I am glad to be writing it again. There have been a lot of things to love over the past couple of weeks and of course I am linking up with Erika and Andrea to share them!

Stranger Things!

I was slightly upset that here in the UK we didn't get the new Stranger Things episodes until the 26th. I could have stayed up until 1am and made a start on watching them but I have no willpower and wouldn't have been able to stop at one episode. I of course loved all the episodes and again Mrs Wheeler was a true hero and Derek too. Hopefully, by now I will have seen the big finale and seen how it all ends and then I might rewatch it all just to make sense of everything that happened!

These pyjamas!

I bought us all matching pyjamas over Christmas and I am in love with them. They are men's ones, it turned out they were a few pounds cheaper than the women's ones and when I was looking for pyjamas I didn't see any I liked apart from these. Anyway, they're so comfy, cosy and they have pockets!! Why don't ladies pyjamas have pockets? Eesh! They are not just for Christmas, I will probably be wearing them all year!

Lacoste A Touch of Pink Perfume!

It is my favourite perfume and before Christmas I was having such a hard time finding it. It is still being sold but it's not as available in shops any more, it's more and online thing, so Stu hunted some down and got me some for Christmas. It was a total surprise and I'm trying to use it sparingly even though I want to wear it every day even if I am just slobbing around the house in leggings and big oversized jumpers.

This mug!

Someone got Ellie this for Christmas and it made me laugh out loud! She loves it and so do I!

My dad's birthday!

My family and my brothers family all came together and we went for a meal out with my dad and his partner for his birthday. He didn't want a fuss but he deserved it and got it! There were 10 of us out and we had a lovely meal and catch up. It was a great way to start the Christmas celebrations with his birthday being so close to Christmas!

Packing Christmas away!

As much as I love having the Christmas decorations up the time came to pack them away. I hate doing that job, it always makes me feel sad so it was a job mostly for Stu. It looks so bare in here now but at least I could have a good clean and tidy! Putting all the ornaments back in their places was a challenge. I had to look at photos to check where things went. Lol

Instagram Top 9!

I always like seeing what my top 9 photos were on Instagram and this year was a good mix. Ellie as a baby on her 18th birthday, some of my girls, a family photo and even one of my fella and I! I love that the first ice cream of the season was included too and those duck drawers! lol I thought they were a waste of money but Becky has used them well to keep her room tidy.

Quiet mornings!

I have loved the mornings during the Christmas break. I have usually been the first one up and it has been nice to have downstairs to myself while my family were still in bed. It will all be back to normal in a few days so I am making the most of the peace and quiet.

What have you loved over the last week?

My January goals & plans!

Happy new year!! I’ve decided that 2025 is officially the year of actually planning things. No more winging it and hoping I remember what I was meant to be doing three days ago. This year I want to be a bit more intentional, not just with big life stuff but with all the little everyday bits too. So I’ve come up with a fun little idea: each month, I’m going to share a post all about my goals and plans. It’s a mix of practical goals, little treats for myself, and some fun things!

Get back into a routine!

After December and Christmas I really need to get myself back into some sort of normal routine. I’m talking simple things like going to sleep at a sensible hour instead of scrolling on TikTok and waking at a reasonable hour, making the bed every morning and staying on top of the housework before it snowballs. I love it when my days have a bit of structure, it makes everything feel calmer and more manageable.

Have a dry January!

After Christmas and all the alcohol, a glass or wine here and a sip of Baileys there I am all for having a month off alcohol and I have decided to have a dry January, I did it a few years ago and really saw the benefits.

Watch movies!

My second goal is a fun one, to watch four movies that are new to me. I have this terrible habit of rewatching the same comfort films over and over so I’m making myself branch out a bit. I might try a few classics I’ve somehow missed or something random that pops up on Netflix. If I find any hidden gems I’ll definitely share them in next month’s post!

Declutter one small space each week!

Nothing says January like a good declutter but instead of tackling the entire house and burning out by week two I’m breaking it down, one small space each week.

Week 1: My wardrobe. After my birthday in November and Christmas it’s overflowing. I’m being ruthless this time, bagging up and donating anything that I've not worn in the past year.

Week 2: My bedside area. It’s amazing how much clutter collects there: random receipts, hair bobbles, maybe a biscuit wrapper or two. It needs sorting!

Week 3: My dressing table. It is chaos. Used up make up, empty bottles and it all needs a good clean.

Week 4: The shoe rack by the front door and the shoes in the cupboard under the stairs. There are shoes there that we never wear so they will be donated or thrown out if they are too tatty.

Go on a date!

This one sounds fancier than it is but it’s really about making time for Stu and me to actually go out together. Life gets busy and we end up doing the usual watching telly and eating snacks but a proper date would be very welcome even if it’s just lunch out and a wander around the shops.

Listen to one Audiobook!

I’ve never really been much of a reader. Give me a book and I’ll stare at it lovingly for about two minutes before putting it down, I much prefer audio books but never make time to listen to them. I have set myself a goal to listen to one a month. This months listen is going to be: A Chosen Destiny: My Story is wrestler Drew McIntyre's autobiography, detailing his journey from a Scottish village to WWE stardom, his dramatic fall due to bad choices and personal tragedy and his inspiring comeback fuelled by grit, reinvention and support from his wife, Kaitlyn to reclaim his championship destiny.

A day with my girls!

Something I really want to make more time for this year is spending proper one on one time with my girls. Life moves so fast and before you know it weeks have flown by. Even something small like a trip into town, a coffee date or a cheeky McDonald’s counts.

Sort photos!

Sort out all the photos that I took last year. They're all in folders on my laptop, even the blurry out of focus one's which need deleting. 

Move more!

I’m not about to become a gym regular but I do want to move more this month. My plan is simple, I’ll cut down a bit on how much milk and bread I buy in the weekly shop so I have to pop out to the local shop midweek. It’s about a ten minute walk each way so that’s 20 minutes right there. I'm going to buy the fruit and veg from the farm shop so that's another 40 minutes walking at least once a week so that’s a decent start.

Rewatch Bridgerton!

And a fun goal to finish! Bridgerton Season 4 is released at the end of the month so I’m going to fully rewatch the first three seasons. Who doesn’t want to escape into a world of fancy balls, scandal and stunning costumes for a bit!

What do you have planned for January?