January the cold month!

This January 2017 will be remembered for its cold and bad weather!
But January really started with sunshine and a walk at the seafront

 Look how clean the water is!

 On the first days of the new year I had the chance to have coffee with friends. At Macedonia Palace Hotel.

At Palermo cafe.

 In January I had my hair dyed.And loved the new hair cut.

Then before schools opened we spent two days at Tsepelovo. I have blogged about it so have a look in this blog post!

That's how it was when we arrived there....(view from our room)

 ...and that's how it was when we left.

Lovely village,

amazing stone bridges all around there...

And my small souvenirs from there, viewcards, wooden fridge magnets and a stone from the frozen river!

 Returning home I took down the tree and decorated with snow in my mind trying to keep the memories of snowed Tsepelovo in my eyes.

Little did I know that very soon this would become a reality. Snow storm "Ariadne" froze us all, the whole of Greece and filled every little space with snow! At first we enjoyed it!

Schools kept closed for a week so I had a week more of holidays!

(photo by my headteacher)

Having spent three weeks of holidays in January I had the chance to read more and stitch more.

Then the sun came out and melted the snow

And we returned back to normal.

 I met my crafty group

At school we performed in class Midsummer Night's Dream with my pupils.

Hubby and I enjoyed attending Smyrni my beloved at Music Hall.

Soon it was sunny again although bitterly cold.

So we went to the beach house.

I collected some sea glass and took some macro photos too with my new gadget.

Doesn't this flower centre look like it is beaded?

Back in the city I went to an exhibition about orchids and their protection,
a collaboration of Greece and Turkey.
There were works of art in various media. Wood.

Watercolours

We also visited the exhibition of Nikos Kryonidis at Zina Athanasiadou Gallery.
There were great paintings there.

I especially adored this painting.

After getting an info from a friend, hubby and I went to this junk shop. Oh it was an awful mess. Filled to the rim with books, cds and toys.  But you really had to look very very hard to find something good in it.

We got this lovely fabric painted with Indonesian shadow puppets.

It was my birthday in January too of course!

We had lunch out for the day and I got a birthday cake from my brother and sister!

We met again with my crafty group at Koumbi coffee and crafts cafe under the guidance of Anna of In my closet and made these lovely key chains and bows for charity.

I had to buy one for my bag as well!

We were also invited at a friend's house for dinner!It was really nice!

As I mentioned before hubby bought a very cheap gadget, a macro lens for our mobiles. I loved taking photos with it.I had the chance to take macro photos at Tsepelovo

during the snowstorm

of my stones

at the beach as I showed earlier.

Barca had to stay a lot in the flat because of the weather unfortunately.

But she really enjoyed the snow when we went to play with it!

In January I received this beautiful new year charm from my friend Kikitsa of DIY my day.

I also received one of my pupil's dolls from the Parents' Association at my school. I had loved her dolls and I am glad I have one now!

I also received some gifts for my birthday. From dear Anna, Angela and Efi,Thank you girls!

My mum and son brought me roses!

In January I also received Christmas cards. From dear Nicholas, a talented shadow puppeteer...

from dear Andria in the States,

from Sophie in the States and Cathy in England,

A beautiful parcel arrived from Marabeth in the States again and Barca was eager to open it.

There were so many lovely little gifts inside.

And then from Tua in Finland,

And a painted card from Ian in England,

Thank you all for the cards and letters and gifts!

In January I read Malkin Moonlight by Emma Cox, which is a great story of a cat world. The book has received the National Literacy Trust Award in England and was sent to me from dear Ian as Emma is his daughter. This was my first book in #readathon17, the So little sleeping and so much reading challenge.

The second book was one more gift this time from Marie -Anne of  L'atelier de Marie-Anne. It is Anthony Quinn's Half of the Human Race and I found it very good too.

No 3 in my #readathon17 challenge was one more gift by my friend Gia. Kathryn Stockett's 

The Help. I had seen the movie and the book is even better.

Speaking about books I also received some books from Anna,

and Efi,

and these two I bought from the junk shop.

In January I started stitching a UFO (unfinished object) I had left behind for a very long time. It was one of my New Year's Resolutions to finish some stash I have.So this is Thea Gouverneur's The Indonesian Dancer (or The Balinese Dancer)

Barca keeps me good company while I stitch every night.

And this is how far I went in it in January.

I made a stone for a friend

and this one for Neus , a friend in Spain who unfortunately never received it.

At my ceramics class I finished my tea/coffee pot.

I also started two more dishes!

I love using my tea/coffee pot!

In January I bought a pair of lovely warm home slippers from a chemist's as it was on sale.

I also bought a diary and a magazine. I found these through another blog and found it interesting. They are so very beautiful inside.It's called Daphne's Diary. If you hurry the diary is half price now.

Finally I bought a little pouch for my bag from my favourite little French e-shop Cozy Memories. Dear Sonia made this such a special parcel.

January was a good month. Let's see what February will bring!See you then!