I wonder how your year is going? January is often a difficult month, with (quite literally) tightened belts, gloomy weather and still short days.

I am a strange creature in that I actually quite like this time of year. For me it can be a time of reflection and stillness after the chaos of Christmas. I love the Danish concept of ‘hygge’ which sort of means a cosy winter hug, so think of log fires, hot chocolate, curling up with a hot water bottle and a good book.

I have also been enjoying cooking some winter warmer meals, stew and dumplings, fruit crumble and custard and last Sunday roast beef with – to my son Joe’s delight – proper homemade batter puddings. Simple things are often those that give us the most pleasure, much more than any expensive purchase. That’s what I find, anyway.

Apparently a study has been done on human happiness and it found that when a person’s income rises above a level which is considered comfortable, then there is no further increase in contentment. So, there seems to be a limit on happiness, and if wealth increases exponentially, then it can have the reverse effect of making a person feel unsatisfied and discontented.

That’s good to know.

Keep warm folks,
Wendy x