Better late than never

Can you hear the screeching of tyres? That would be me, rushing to get here in time for Silverpebble's Splash of Colour week.

Right. A blossom tree, made by a Latte at local workshops to celebrate Chinese New Year.

(Here you must imagine a photograph of vibrant red and gold Chinese lanterns, taken in the Chinese supermarket on my phone, which didn't come out very well at all. I'm sure it will be better in your imagination.)

A parcel of cupcakes and honey arrived from Rowse Honey, who were hoping it would sway me towards telling you about their new advertising campaign and how you can go to their Facebook page and get free honey yourself. What were they thinking? That I'm the kind of woman who can simply be bribed with cake?

It seems that's exactly who I am.

Hama beads. (Well, the Ikea version.) I bought two tubs of these about four years ago and we have barely made a dent in them despite many desperate attempts. I am convinced that they breed in the dark, creating new little tubes of joy for the vacuum cleaner to savour. Most of them go on the floor anyway.

In our future, I see many more bead princesses. But not bead horses, because I managed to over-iron this one and melted most of the pattern board.

Fresh mint tea, in a favourite mug - an idea I stole from a restaurant I visited with a friend. At home, it was not as good as I hoped it would be - not enough mint left on the plant, probably, or the wrong kind of mint, maybe. It looked gorgeous, however. And I hear you can also put honey in it...