January and February have been quiet months here at Three Sons Later. Unlike last year when crochet took over my spare time, so far this year I haven’t lifted a needle at all. I haven’t had time to since I have mostly had a book in my hand. In the past month I’ve read everyday and have gone through four books, two in German, two in English. Should I find the time to catch up on my 40 by 40 reading challenge I set myself a few years ago, I’ll review those books. ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara is next on my list. With over 700 pages, I could be lost in that for a while.

There have been times  though when I wasn’t reading. Well, not reading books anyway. Thanks to the wonderful “subscribe” button on most blogs (mine is just above my Instagram feed, wink, wink), I get all my favourite bloggers’ latest posts delivered to my inbox and I have been trying to keep  up with them. The ones I was really glad I read lately were, in no particular order, these:

• Andrea’s common sense article on screen versus paper
• Elizabeth’s Thai Chicken Noodle Soup recipe because it sounds like it ticks all the quick and tasty boxes and because we are back in love with Asian food after overdoing it from 2001 to 2007
• Janice’s simply gorgeous February printable. I don’t do bullet journalling as such, but if I did, I wish I could do it as prettily as she does.
• I also stumbled across this old post of Helen’s – I missed it when it was new because I had just given birth to a baby and was otherwise occupied. Three and a half years later I finally discovered that you can make chickpea rolls as an alternative to sausage rolls and they are tremendously good.

In other news my kitchen was featured a few days ago on the Laura Ashley blog after we gave the room a mini makeover. In doing so I got back to basics, cleared some clutter and remembered what I love so much about the heart of our home. Next up on our DIY list is to fix the kitchen door. We are attacking that this weekend, so wish us luck.

Tulips – and flowers in general  – have been a big feature of this year so far. I ordered myself a lovely Bloom & Wild bunch last week since The Bavarian doesn’t do Valentine’s Day. They are beautiful and I have several pictures of them up on Instagram. You might have seen them. To get a discount off you own order, you can use my discount code . Usually I treat myself to a bunch of tulips from the supermarket on a Friday morning. I know it is a good day if the only thing on my mind at that moment is which colour of tulip to choose.

We’re all set for a cold, cold weekend here, so I am looking forward to lots of reading, some DIY, a spot of faffing with flowers and lot and lots of coffee. I might even fit in a blog post. *might*.