Life: January 2021 - Maine Coon Kittens and Lockdown Musings

We have an adorable new addition to our family in the form of a Maine Coon kitten called Dougie. I contacted the breeder almost a year ago but because she is a small breeder we had quite a long wait, and the litter was born at the end of September. 

Dougie arrived with us in early January and he has been such a tonic to our family especially on the back of the Covid infections. We were all a little nervous about how our ten year old Maine Coon, Atticus would take to him but really it only took around three days to acclimatise. They are not at the stage where they will groom one another but they certainly seem happy in each other’s company.

There isn’t a lot to do in the vegetable garden in January, but I was surprised at the small bounty that I managed to harvest this weekend, including some beautiful blue and red moon radish, some tiny carrots and parsnips and the wonderful but ubiquitous chard. 

I have sown some early peas directly into the ground and a couple of small trays of rocket which are in the mini greenhouse. The other big thing I have done is bought another raised vegetable bed which is yet to arrive. It's slightly smaller than the one we bought last year (at 1.8 x 1.2 m) but it fits better in the space we have. Next month I will bulk order the compost and it should be ready to start sowing in late February/early March.

It was quite a way through January before all of our isolation periods ended and we could resume our walks. I cannot tell you how grateful I was to get back out in that fresh air, even though all I could manage at first were a few short walks around our housing estate. I made a pledge on 18th January to spend at least 30 minutes every day getting some exercise outside and it has been a godsend. Similar to the Move it Movember that I did (walk 60km in November - I managed over 70km), it really helps to have an incentive to get out whatever the weather. It does feel as though we are a little more restricted to where we can walk at the moment in lockdown with the police issuing fines for people only driving a short distance to walk.

I also took up a cross stitch project which I started a few years ago. It is just a small Christmas stuffed heart, but it has been good to pick it up and listen to my audio book instead of endless scrolling through social media!

Love Mrs Jones x