I captured the cardigan

This year I want to try to buy and wear only natural fibres. I know at the outset I will fail because of coats and running shoes and probably other things I haven’t thought of. It’s difficult to find a waterproof coat that’s not made from plastic. I do have a waxed cotton coat that I love but I tend to wear it over the summer and autumn. It’s actually very good in the rain. Maybe I’ll try it in winter. But running shoes? Are there any good ones not made from plastic?

I love the philosophy behind the Herd yarn and knitwear brand with all their yarns travelling only 150 miles from farm to yarn. It is an expensive brand but what do you expect if you pay farmers and workers a fair wage, avoiding cheap labour on foreign shores while also shunning harmful petrochemical dyes? Save up and buy yourself something that will last forever or wait for a sale or buy their yarn and make your own garment or lastly, pick up a bargain second-hand which is exactly what I just did. I snapped up this cardigan on Vinted for £90. Retail price is £425. It is so soft and so warm which is what I need on cold winter days at my desk. The yarn is undyed – sheep coloured – and the ribbons are organic cotton, dyed with plant-based dyes.

I don’t usually have the heating on during the day but since we got Rocket who is old now and yes, still alive, I keep the thermostat at 17C but as soon as he goes I’ll lower it. For this reason I usually sit with a blanket on my lap, wrist warmers to keep my hands warm, and a nice thick jumper or cardigan. Sometimes I’ll even add a scarf or beanie.

I’m trying to let my hair go grey. It feels like I’ve been trying for years now but I always get to a point where I hate my natural colour and end up dying the lot. The problem is I don’t like my natural hair colour which is a mousy brown. The grey I quite like but mostly I don’t want to become an old woman trying to look young because I’m not young and that’s ok. On the weekend I thought I’d try dying it grey but this didn’t work. I think you probably have to bleach your hair first and then dye it grey. So instead I’ve been trying to dye the non-grey bits only. I have quite a lot of grey at the sides which is most visible when I tie my hair back. Ben took this photo of me on New Year’s Day and at first I wondered who that strange old lady in the photo was.

We spotted this treehouse on a walk in Tollohill Wood in Aberdeen.

Nearby was a swing that grabbed Elizabeth’s attention.

This next photo shows the window in Daniel’s bedroom on a recent frosty morning. It’s a triple-glazed velux window which works so well the frost stayed there all day. Isn’t the pattern pretty?

I’ve just finished reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I loved it and recommend it if you’re looking for something. It’s set in 1930s England in a rundown castle occupied by an eccentric writer who published one successful thing but nothing since and he and his family have been living in extreme poverty as a result. It’s told through the eyes of one of his daughters in a diary format. It’s quite funny in places but also mixed with some insightful revelations about religion and love as the narrator comes of age. It was beautiful even if I found the ending slightly disappointing. It’s right up there with a good Jane Austen novel.

Our oven is still broken. Someone came last week to look at it but said a gas engineer is needed. It’s a 26-year-old Rangemaster and I’m told these things only last 15 years which seems ridiculous. They should last a generation but we’re not sure whether to persist and keep paying people to come and look at it only to be told we need a new one. How old is your cooker?