Say Goodbye To The Old Year.....

I'll start by wishing each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year....may all your hopes and dreams come true in 2013! Have you made any Resolutions? I tend not to...it's all I can do to get through my day-to-day, plate-spinning excitement, without adding any more pressure by promising to try stuff, that I'm unlikely to manage for more than three and a half minutes!
But. I'm going to try and get more organised (well...a BIT) and sort out more storage in our tiny home. And maybe decorate. And I'm giving us the whole year to achieve this (The Partner WILL be delighted!) so..............Watch this space!
Now, I've just a few photos to show you, that I couldn't before....

....front and back of Jack Russell Loving Daughter No1`s hottie. I used a pattern from www.janetclare.co.uk for the dog. I made a pink, flowery one for Pink Flower Loving Daughter No2, however, I simply wasn't brave enough to face her bedroom, in order to find it, for a photo shoot!
And then I made these, also for Daughters Nos 1 and 2. I shall leave you to work out, which one is for which daughter....

Obviously, the photos show front, back and lined inside of i-phone holders, that I found at www.fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.com . The tutorial was very easy to follow, and each holder took me just an hour to make.
And finally, just to finish with a flourish....I made a cake! Date and walnut. AND IT'S EDIBLE!!!

Happy New Year! xx

Christmas Day Quiet.....

I hope you had a lovely Christmas, surrounded by family, friends and good times. Christmas Day, in our house, was first kicked off at 6am by The Rather Excited Son. I managed to bustle him back to bed til 6.45am, and then successfully squeezed a further 10 minutes from him. But by now we're talking Caged Tiger Status, so stockings were unleashed....of the Christmas variety, I hasten to add!
The day progressed pretty much in the same way that Christmas Day does in our house, every year.....lots of lovely pressies (we were ALL spoilt rotten) and enough food consumed to keep a large army marching on it's proverbial stomach for the next two and a half decades!
The only deviation from our traditional day, was that we wussed out from our Morning Beach Walk.....heavy rain and supreme laziness won that particular round. But all was not lost, the afternoon brightened, and we ventured forth, armed with a bag of bread, to share our Christmas Cheer with the local Quacking Community, down on The Quay.
The High Street Was SSSOOOO quiet! Such a change from it's usual hustle and bustle, that I decided to take a photo. The first attempt was thwarted, as a car came along and I had to move out of the way, pronto....

.....but the second attempt was much better.....

Well, I'm going to love you and leave you now. In the immortal words of Winnie The Pooh, it's time for a little smackerel. Now, I know that he meant something honey based, but I'm sure he'd allow me a little poetic license as I hunt down some more chocolate.....
See you soon. xx

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells......

It's still sssoooo exciting! Nearly 47 years old, and I still LOVE Christmas Eve! All those little rituals! We have a special key (we don't have a chimney) that only works for Father Christmas. It is The Son's job to hang that on the doorknob, just before he goes to bed. I'll have to hold my breath and say a little prayer, just in case this is the last year he wants to do it. That doesn't mean that he won't hang it up next year...just that it might be a Humouring Mother Moment, rather than a I Must Do This Moment!
Then there is the long debate as to what we're leaving for Father Christmas and Co, to snack on. Last year we plumped for apple juice and a cookie for The Man Himself, which was fine. But the bowl of oats for the reindeer was a Big Mistake. You wouldn't BELIEVE how much MESS those four-legged friends can make! I was hoovering up left-over oats for days! Think we'll stick to carrots this year...
And then there is "It's a Wonderful Life" to watch, which is The Law in my household, just before I play my traditional game of I Can't Remember Where I Put..... Such fun!
I've been asked to mention at this point in my blog, that The Partner is about to hoover. Please imagine drumrolls and fanfares, to your heart's content. I'm certainly making the most of this particular Partner Hoovering Moment, as Boxing Day will be the official end to the ban on me lifting heavy objects and doing heavy housework. I'm quietly and secretly amazed that there hasn't been some sort of Countdown Calendar going on, organised by The Partner! This will be his fourth Hoovering Session (always at my insistance!) which I suppose isn't TOO bad in six weeks.....(Please ignore the fact that I have children. And dogs. In the plural. For both.)
So, now I'm going to love you, and leave you, with the only two Christmas Pressie photos that are "safe"-I know their new owners don't follow my blog....
This one.....

.....I've used Janet Clare's fabulous book " Freya and Fred" to personalise a little friend's shop bought throw. You can (and should! SO worth a visit!) link to her here www.janetclare.co.uk . I hope my little friend loves it as much as I do!

And this one.....

....is a lap quilt, made with love for my Fairy Godmother.

I wish you all, all that you wish for yourselves. Merry Christmas! xx

Time For Immersion....

Right. Just time for a short blog. All presents have been sorted and dispatched to Father Christmas (am I the only one still calling him Father Christmas, and not Santa??) ready for him to deliver them late Monday night.
Just need to buy potatoes and custard for Tuesday. And dog food for Sunday (I shall run out by then, leading to a disgruntled George.). And that's me DONE!! Well....not QUITE....a few faces to be embroidered onto a throw, but that doesn't count, because I'm looking forward to doing those later, snuggled on the sofa, in front of the Entertainment System we call a TV.
And that's what I mean by Immersion. The dvds are stacked up, ready to go....in fact Nanny McPhee is loaded and ready to play......Must dash! xx

Oh No! The Guilt.....

I've just discovered that The Son's Carol Concert is tomorrow morning at 10am, and not at 1pm, as I'd originally thought. And I've got Plans. It's not like I haven't turned up to the 485 other Carol Concerts that he's been part of, this Festive Season. I even managed to get to The Official Christmas School Lunch today....And I'm not that keen on turkey! But apparently at THIS Carol Concert, The Son is The Cow. Wait a minute, while my mind boggles.....
And so The Guilt begins. What to do for the best??? Forego shopping plans, go cracker-less (and most of the food-less) on Christmas Day? Or miss The Cow's rendition in Carol Concert 486? Explain to me again, why mums, the world over, are given second, and even triple helpings of guilt, that comes into it's own, whenever there is even the merest whiff of LettingYour Child Down??? Why aren't the Brownie Points, that we've collected on other occasions, allowed to balance out the deficit when Life's Timetable gets a bit tricky?? Or better yet, why aren't mums just simply cloned the instant we become mums for the first time?? Goodness! Wouldn't that make life simpler? No need to organise extra time off work...just send The Clone! Need to be at three differnt places with three different children.....what a doddle...send The Clones.
I could be onto something here! I'll leave you now. I need to put in a few phonecalls to Medical Science..........xx

All Done!!

That's it!! After a MAMMOTH session with my very lovely sewing machine, that even saw me missing Holby City (outrageous!!), I have finished the last of The Christmas Presents!!! Hoo-flippin-ray!! (Still no photos though.)
I don't want to give the impression that I'm Bah Humbug at this time of year.....quite the opposite. It's just that I had SSSOOOO much to do! In typical me fashion, I'd probably bitten off far more than I could reasonably chew. (This is true in ALL walks of my life, EXCEPT chocolate. Obviously.)
Now all I've got to do is wrap, wrap, wrap.....always supposing that I can remember all my Squirreled-Away-Hiding-Places......
Catch you soon. xx

The Elves Are On Strike....

...along with The Housework Fairies, which is why I haven't blogged for nearly a week-I've had to make some presents AND do the household chores. Well...not the hoovering, as that is temporarily The Partner's department.
And this is going to be a very dull blog (what's new??) as I can't even post photos of my present making efforts, in case their future owners happen to drop in for a peek.
However, I can now say, that I'm officially excited about Christmas! It was a long time coming this year....but I have now seen The Coke-Cola- Holidays-Are-Coming-Holidays-Are-Coming Advert, and that twinkly red lorry does it to me every time.! Hooray!! I can now break out The Christmas DVD's.....Polar Express, Sound of Music and Love Actually being my "Must-Sees". I wonder what your lists would include? Has anyone made a definitive list of what makes Compulsory Christmas Viewing? I think someone should get onto it!
But it won't be me......I've got to get back to my little present making factory.
See you soon. xx

Note To Self.....

....NOT a good idea to catch local tummy bug shortly after tummy operation. OW flippin OW!! Still the good news is, that I WILL now be able to wear my black party dress to the Christmas Works Do! Every cloud and all that!!
Now for some piccies.....

This is my beautiful runner that Mari (ZewNice) sent me all the way from Norway, in the Christmas Runner Swap, now sitting in pride of place on my late Nan's sideboard....

....and if you knew what you were looking for, you'd just about spot the small snowman ornament that she sent me too. (Mari, that is, not Nan, bless her-even though I truly, truly believe that Heaven exists, I don't think they have access to Royal Mail!)
To save your eyesight, and to give Mr Snowman better justice, here's a close-up.....

...Isn't he just gorgeous? And Mari made him too! One talented lady!!

As for me, I've been busy too, and have finished the table runner that I showed you the start of, a few days ago.....

Here's a couple of close-ups of the front.....

And now for the back, which The Partner and Friend Jo prefer......

So, unbeknown to me, I've created a Reversible Runner! Who knew??

Right. That's me done for today. See you soon. xx

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas.....

I seem to be full of song titles at the moment. Makes a change from chocolate I suppose!! Goodness only knows which song will pop up next......but while I wait to find out, I'll show you this....

....It's the start of another Christmas Runner, and was an absolute joy to work on  (very quickly!!) to get it this far.
Close up of each end....

...I'm really loving it! Think I'll go all out and allow myself some hand quilting! Goodness, but this girl knows how to live life on the edge!!
Off to make myself a cuppa now (I refer back to my previous sentence!!) See you soon. xx

Another One Done!

Yay!! Another Christmas present all done and dusted! Well perhaps not dusted, but definitely sewn, hand finished, pre-washed, folded and popped away for The Man In Red to deliver.
The Front....

....The Back.....

....and The Binding....

I'm quite pleased with it. It had been put on a back burner while I finished the Christmas Runner Swap, so it was nice to get back to it and finish it. Tick that box!
Thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx

Brown Paper Packages......

....tied up with string..... (For those of you NOT brought up on The Sound Of Music, you won't have a CLUE what I'm talking about!) Well, these aren't quite brown paper and nor are they tied with string, but they ARE some of my favourite things at the moment...

I used a charm pack from creativequilting.co.uk (though I can't remember it's name) and made up 20 of these little packages. I saw the design somewhere and tweaked it just a fraction, and now all I have to do is add some borders, and before I know it, I'll have a quilt top. It will be small throw size, as I seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut....throw size seems to suit me. Anything bigger would result in a tussle with my sewing machine, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure that I would win!
Anyway, hope you like the start of this particular quilt. See you soon. xx

Back Into Routine

Hello! Yes, I've been dragged kicking and screaming (SLIGHT exaggeration as that would actually cause The Scar and me physical pain!) back into routine. So here I am....blogging again.
I went back to work today, after two and a half weeks off, post operation, so thought I'd better blog too. The problem with being off work and convalescing (putting aside my grievances with The Scar, and the Blind-Eye-Condition I developed towards The Partner's skills in the Hoovering Department....or lack thereof!) is that you lose all sense of proper time, and things slip a bit. Sorry!
Lots of nice things have been happening. There were a couple of proud moments when The Son announced he'd been shown how to cross-stitch at school by The Very Lovely Mrs Trant....and wanted to do some more.....

.....and I cleared my back log of Christmas Orders For Others, and have actually managed to make a start on making the presents that I shall be giving.
AND the cherry on the cake is that I receieved my runner from my Swap Partner! And I LOVE it! It's more of a centrepiece than a runner, but that's fine as it fits my table perfectly. Just look.....

...isn't it just gorgeous?? A lady called Mari (from ZewNice) made it for me, and sent it all the way from Norway! I couldn't be more delighted. Above is the front (obviously!) and below is the back....

.....lucky, LUCKY me!!
Thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx