I can hardly believe that today was the first Monday of the year. We slept in a little bit (we stayed up late again) and then we got ready to head out. We needed to pick up some shampoo and conditioner, which also gave me an excuse to do a bit of mooching around in the charity shops and Poundland.

I’m always on the hunt for more colourful glassware and the charity shop we went to has been very reliable in that department. Today I found a little purple glass trinket pot for only £1.50! An absolute bargain and it’ll look delightful next to the pink trinket pot I have in the bathroom.

Once we got what we needed from the shops we drove over to Dorking to exchange secret Santa gifts. It was nice to get to see Jenny and Tom, Alex’s sister and her husband, since we couldn’t get together with them for Christmas.

At the moment Alex is in the kitchen making chili for dinner and it smells incredible! The bright aroma of cumin and tomato purée is making my mouth water already, even though we’ve used this chili recipe for years. Sometimes when the weather is grey and cold you just have to go for comfort foods. Today, I chose chili.