Returning

Happy 2009! I hope the new year is filled with promise and happiness for you.

I have had a lovely break.

I missed sewing and writing a little, but loved the slow pace and change of scenery of our family holiday. Lazy days spent visiting my sister in the beautiful Western District were punctuated with seaside jaunts, tearooms and nature walks (and maybe a little crochet in a national park). Pictures were duly taken for holiday posterity; snaps to follow!

But in the meantime it is time to look ahead and get organised.

By the end of last year I was treading a fine line of chaos; operating without a diary. My appointment system completely reliant on scraps of paper and a sketchy memory. Such a stark contrast to the former (working) me. I was scheduled, notated and reminded within an inch of my life with Microsoft Outlook, a wall planner, a PDA and the regimented Franklin-Covey planning system.

My new happy medium is a weekly planner to put on my fridge. Its very simple. It comprises a thumbnail 5-week calendar (one week back, four forward) and space for handwritten appointments and reminders for each day of the current week.

If very plain (free) planners are your thing, you're more than welcome to use it too. There's an A4 or Letter-sized version (in PDF format) covering the first four weeks of January. I will add February in a week or two.

Miss January features the pretty face of Blue Hydrangea, who hails from my garden. I shall leave you guessing as to which gleaming white porcelain surface I might have posed Miss January on, for this photograph. (Wait til you see Miss February.)