Winter garden

It's taken me a few days to get to grips with the new year, the fact that the holidays are over and we are once more back into the weekly routine of work and nursery. After my initial relief of having a quiet weekend the quiet has now become, well a bit too quiet. My sisters have both left back to their respective homes, and I miss them both. I miss having people around who I feel totally comfortable with, who understand me, to hatch plans with and to share the beauty of places with. 

Over the Christmas holidays we did quite a lot of adventuring in and around Bristol, and it was great discovering areas I don't know too well myself and sharing the ones I do. It made me excited for the year to come and the changes and adventures that will hopefully happen. 

But for now I feel like hibernating, looking after myself and really figuring out what's important to me and my family. I mentioned before that my new year resolution was to love myself a little more. Not in a narcissistic way, but just to be kinder on myself. To know and recognise my strengths and not try and be someone I'm not just because I feel I have to. I've come to realise that I'm not a hugely social person, I don't have a wide circle of friends and I find it hard making new friends and 'selling' myself, networking and the like. But I've realised that's ok, I don't think I'm ever going to be that type of person, but I do really crave deep connections. I need to work on being more open and letting people in a bit more, working on the friendships I do already have and visiting more. I know perhaps I don't need to be a 'social butterfly' but I do still need to ask for help, or be there to help others when I can. 

I thought I'd share these photographs from one pink bathed frosty morning a week or so ago. I feel they match my mood quite well, hibernating, waiting to bloom and grow and leaning towards the sun for warmth and strength.