Happy New Year!

BLYWYDDWYN NEWYDD DDA I BAWB*! Oh I'm sorry, was that too loud? Just read in a whisper then, til you get that fourth cup of caffeinated goodness into you along with a greasy breakfast. I thought I'd let you have a lie in, but it's past 1pm now, so get out of bed you lazy bones, time's a-wasting. You'll be right as rain in no time, not to mention you've now learnt how to spell Happy New Year to all in Welsh (but probably not pronounce it). I hope you all had a great NYE, I stayed home and pretended it wasn't happening as I'm not a huge fan of the holiday, too much pressure to have a good time and too tight to pay a tenner to go to a pub I get in to for free every other day of the year. But one of these years, mark my words, I'm going to get to a Blitz Party in London. One of these years! Bizarrely, I love New Years Day, it's always so quiet and calm, and filled with the zany. This morning, whilst walking the wolf, we passed a trim young man who was wearing nothing more than what appeared to be a pair of lime green braces attached to a matching posing pouch as he wandered along the street chatting animatedly in to his phone. I resisted the urge to get a rear view as he passed, given how poorly the front was being covered I wasn't sure I wanted to see the back side. Happy New Year and then some!

Ahem. Anyway! I wanted to catch you up on what I've got planned for 2013, just don't hold me to it, we all know how I am at following through on things (rubbish!) and they are a little ambitious. Due to the need to get the house decorated as quickly as possible so I can get a lodger and some help with the crippling bills (anyone need a place to live?) the focus of the blog is going to shift a lot more towards home decor and DIY. How do I know this?

That there represents six full months of planned posts and a further six mostly sketched out. While sewing is going to be shoved unceremoniously on to the back burner as I frantically paint every room in my house, I have six items of clothing that I want to make this year and twelve (yes, twelve!) items I want to make for the home or wolf. Because my focus is going to be on my home, especially over the next couple of months, I've planned a series of posts about decor, period properties, themes and colour schemes to cover the entire year (get me!). If that's just not your bag then feel free to look away for the next twelve months, but do pop back in 2014 because there's a good chance my focus will have changed again by then.

I've also signed up as an affiliate to a number of different companies, because I like what they sell and I think they might be of interest to you. I don't get paid to talk about them, I only get paid if you guys buy stuff from them, so it's entirely up to you whether I make any money (please help me make some money!). I'm also hopeful that some of the things I have planned (already sketched whilst temping as a receptionist before Christmas, with materials for some waiting in my store room) will be suitable for sale on Etsy/Folksy because the idea of them is amazeballs (to me), but that's still very up in the air because, frankly, I haven't made them yet and they may turn out to be completely pants.

According to my wall of post-it notes, there should be three posts a week including Ffefrynau Fridays (I do miss those!), I'll be endeavouring to post on Tuesdays and Thursdays (because I'm a fan of Týr and Thor and because it appeals to my OCD tendancies) and, of course, Fridays. Again, don't hold me to that, but I'm hoping because I have so many posts planned I won't be frantically running around like a loon worrying that I've got nothing to post about. Overwhelming indecision tends to lead to me crying like a baby and curling up in bed with a favourite book, all whilst pulling my best ostrich impression (who, contrary to popular belief, actually just play dead when faced with a predator, not bury their heads in the sand**).

House updates will start out fortnightly (because I need the pressure to get my arse in to gear) but will taper off to once a month come March because if I haven't finished by then I'll have lost the house, unless someone sees fit to offer me some work (writing or part time, I'm not picky, I'm really very good, just vastly overqualified for everything apparently). And I hope to collaborate with Joanne, my photographer friend, on at least three major projects throughout the year, plus any more she'll consent to being a part of. I'm also hopeful I'll curb my instincts to overuse the exclamation mark, it's an ongoing struggle you may have noticed if I've ever left a comment on your blog. I can only apologise and confirm my New Years Resolution is to get that woefully inappropriate habit under control. If I'm really going to push it I might try to smile in my photographs occasionally, just to mess with your heads and make you question if it's really me or a look-a-like created by the BBC's creature makers.

Oh! And before I forget, the 200th post giveaway I mentioned a couple of posts back has been postponed until I can find ... well, anything I own, when it will probably become my Blogiversary Giveaway instead, fair warning. Wishing you all a wonderful 2013, I hope to see you here again soon.

Thanks for stopping by,

* Apologies to any native Welsh speakers in case I guessed wrong and the correct use of everyone should have been pawb rather than bawb, this is what happens when you teach yourself a new language.
** My goodness, I'm a veritable fountain of useless information today. Don't tell me this blog (and by extension, me) has never taught you anything because I'm sure that would make you a filthy rotten liar who lies. Possibly.