So here we are almost half way though January and it has been very mild in comparison for the time of year and also when you think about what the past two January’s have been like.  On Wednesday I spotted the first snowdrops at our peak district cottages as well as noticing the hellebores are out.  Wednesday started off drizzly but brightened up in the afternoon when I went to Matlock to get some bits from Wilkinson and do a food shop at Sainsbury’s.  In the evening I went to the Over Haddon Village Hall with Joanna for the first WI meeting of the year.  A busy evening for me as I collected the annual subscriptions, refreshment money and the pennies used to decide the winner of our competition.  A full house this evening to listen to our speaker from Chatsworth House talk about Georgiana.  We all enjoyed it and as I have not yet seen the film I learnt a lot about the story of the early Devonshires.  Thursday was a repeat performance of Monday and Tuesday with Chris doing his presentation at Over Haddon Village Hall in the afternoon.  He will be doing  another one next week.  A lovely sunset so an excuse for a walk to the top of our fields to take some photos. Friday was a lot colder with an early frost.  Down to Bakewell first thing to get provisions for the weekend then the rest of the morning was spent in ironing and hanging curtains back up.  Chris and the handyman are replacing the lino in one of the cottages but felt it would be best to level the floor first.  The afternoon disappeared in a plethora of odd jobs and for the first time in ages we don’t have any cottages occupied for the weekend.