And the lucky winner is...

oneoldgoat! Congratulations!  Your St James' pilgrim keyring should be winging its way to you shortly.

Draw - Extra Time

...for anybody who wants to be in for a chance to win that Pilgrimage keyring - you have an extra two - even three days as I'll not be drawing the names until the evening of 3rd or 4th Feb. I'd forgotten I was due back down in the land of Seabirds and Fresh Sea Breezes for the finish  of the course this weekend.

See you anon.

I have Two Goats

on my reading list, I've realised: occasional reflections from  Franciscan, Good Goat and more recently, through Vicki's blog party - One Old Goat, the latter with sad news today.

Another party-goer, who made me nearly spit my drink out all over the keyboard with her last blog - My Next 20 Years of Living.

A warm welcome to all of you.

So - one with the day, and yes - you've guessed it - I think I can-I think I can- I think I can - I think I can...

Snowday

We have snow! Here are some snaps I took out in our garden yesterday.

  Yes, we still haven't taken down all the outdoor decorations yet. 

Winter Wonderland

GP dog exploring. I couldn't get him to stand still for long enough to get a decent photo.

Let me in!

I got my exercise this morning, clearing the front and back paths. Strangely enough, my wonky back now feels much better than it's been for months. Bit of a drastic cure, if cure it is, but so much cheaper than physiotherapy. What with that and my 45 minute walk back home yesterday after my health MOT, I'd be in danger of becoming unbearably smug if I'd not remembered what they declared my waist measurement and weight to be. Surely not?? I'm afraid so, and the nice young man who did them for me obligingly converted the figures into old fashioned inches, stones and pounds for this menopausal dinosaur, so there is no excuse.  I'm not drastically over, more a case of "could do better," but for somebody who's been a lifelong skinny until the dreaded change kicked in, it's all a bit of a shock. I don't think I've weighed that much since I was last pregnant! Goodness only knows what it'd be like if I didn't do all the walking I do. There are advantages in being one of those rare breeds - a non-driver. That's some consolation, I suppose.

I'm very happy to expand my virtual waistline, however, so a hello to two new bloggers, Pennywise and eLizardbreathspeaks who've landed here via Vicky's blogparty. Welcome and hope you enjoy your time here.

                   

Growing blogs in the Kitchen...

It's the warmest place in the house just now. Brrr! 

So, I've donned my glad rags - read best merino thermal undies and fleecy slippers. (nb. I am wearing jeans, cardi and a top as well, in case anybody is tempted to get the wrong idea) and am all geared up for Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party. Virtual, which is good news both for my waistline and my cholesterol levels. Tests today show me to be in pretty good nick for my age and I want to keep it that way. The polar expedition  walk back home afterwards through the snowdrifts must have done wonders for my fitness!

The beard snoozing on yonder bank is Mr GP. The left leg is mine (I'm not photogenic).

and here is our trusty travelling companion, Old Teddy, searching  for treasure on the Southern Uplands Way. We managed to drag him away eventually...all the way up to Oban, Mull and Iona. That was some  journey we made, our Grand Pilgrimage back in 2011. We've walked all over the place, as have my blogs: I've had three though Growing Greenpatches is the only one currently active. 

 And me? Like Dormouse, I began my blogging career over on the wonderful wibsite by way of that even more wonderful Magazine of Unrest and nest of subversiveness -  shipoffools.com. Like Dormouse,  only the opposite way round, I lived in France before moving back to the UK, but that's another story. Hop over to my Vintage Greenpatches page to read "Greenpatches: Five Things You Wished You'd Always Known," or was it "Wished You'd Never Known?" Far better than me waffling on  here. Don't forget to read my Welcome blurb too, that really will confuse you. Well, I did say Growing Greenpatches was a right old pot-pourri, didn't I?

Giveaways? (You can't have a party without a party bag).  Let's see... Pot-pourri? Might not travel well.     Let's say - if you'd like a keyring in the shape of a Shell of St James, symbol of pilgrims on the Santiago de Compostela route, comment here. On February 1st I'll pick a name at random to be the lucky winner.

Do come and join me in the kitchen and we can raise a glass (of decaffienated fruit tea) together.

Cheers!

Always in The Kitchen at Parties 2

Coming soon to a blog near you - the Grow Your Blog Party hosted by Vicki at 2BagsFull. If the weather forecasters are right, we'll all have plenty of time to join in, 'meet' new bloggers and expand our virtual waistlines. Who knows, I may even stick my nose out of the kitchen, when I'm not in it boiling up gallons of steaming soup. Brrr! 

My thanks to Vicki whose idea this was, and to Dormouse for highlighting the event.

Always in the Kitchen at Parties

That about describes me; I'm a quiet, retiring Greenpatch at the best of times. Be that as it may , I've decided to Be Bold and have just signed up for a Grow Your Blog party, to be hosted by Vicki at 2bagsfull. Just look at that heavenly rainbow mix of yarns. They have me salivating already and I don't even knit!  It'll take place in January 2013; plenty time for me to prepare my coping strategies (maybe I'll even pluck up courage to come out of the virtual "kitchen", who knows?)  To explain, the project is aimed at folk who'd like to grow their number of blog followers. I'm really not that bothered about stats and lists, still, I must admit I've enjoyed the interaction with my small, but loyal band of  ( not sure what to call you - followers sounds a bit creepy IMO) - Greenpatch readers, especially since I moved here from my old typepad blog. Why you continue to read my inane witterings, goodness only knows but never mind, I'm sure you'd be happy to welcome some more bloggers into my virtual abode.

Thanks to Fatdormouse, aka the Wibsite's View From the Teapot for letting me know about this event. Do hop over to Vicki's blog if you fancy signing up yourself; just the thing  to brighten up those grey, cold January days.

[ New to this lark. I've a feeling I should have posted some sort of a logo here, never mind!]