Oh My GOODNESS!!!!!

I have a good (?) old-fashioned head cold...you know the sort.....a mizzy head, sore nose and that bit between your nose and top lip through having to blow my nose a gazillion times today; I don't feel ill, don't ache, don't have a sore throat or a fever....but I DO feel bleugh, and could have done with being able to mooch around today, preferably under a duvet, instead of having to look after 20 small children.
So, you can imagine how excited I was to find a parcel waiting for me, when I got home...especially as I've not ordered anything recently. You simply can't imagine the joy I felt (nor the excited little happy dance that I did) on opening it and finding this....

...a bag....a perfect, PERFECT bag! Just look at it...

EVERYTHING about it is wonderful, right down to the little zipped inside pocket. It even has FEET to protect it's bottom (now there's a sentence!!)....

It was made by an Internet Friend, Judith, over at judith-justjude.blogspot.com .....I'd even read about it earlier in the week, and thought how lovely it was, never imagining it might be for me!! I only know Judith through Blogland, but she couldn't have chosen better for me, if she'd grown up beside me!! It even has a chicken on it, for goodness sake, and not many people know about my love of chickens!!
It came with this book.....

...which I've wanted to read for a while. Inside the book is a little explanation from a lady I've never met, Teje, over at nerospost.wordpress.com . The book is a "Travelling Book"....the idea being that the recipient reads it, then sends it on to another quilting friend, along with a quilted item as a gift. What a really lovely idea, and I'm truly thrilled to be a part of it. Thank you so very, very much, Judith, for thinking of me, and thank you Teje, for your original idea.
Now, I'm going to have to love you and leave you, as I have a hot date with my duvet and a rather good book! xx

Simple Pleasures......

This little phrase, in my world, would usually refer to chocolate, in one form or another....but I've found a new love. And the satisfaction that this love is bringing me is completely disproportionate to it's size and function. Voila......

These little gadgets, as shown on Kirstie Allsopp's Homemade Christmas, exist in various sizes, and are  REVOLUTIONARY!! I was never a pom-pom fan....the tedium of the long process required to make one, the never-sure-what-to-do-with-it-now-you've-got-it moment, just didn't do it for me. All that has changed. Using Clover's little gadget (I've got the 3/4" and 1" sizes) in about a minute you've got the most perfect little bauble. I'm telling you....it's addictive...

I have great plans for these little darlings-I just need to make a few more. Watch this space!
In other news, I've finished the baby quilt I was working on........

I rather feel that I may have to change my Quilt Holder. He is perfect in The Husband role, but sadly lacks enthusiasm in the Quilt Holding Department. You can just about see in this photo that he is trying to watch the TV, and not concentrating on the task in hand! Hmmmm.....

A little closer....

And one of the back and binding. Now to bundle it up and leave it in the capable hands of Royal Mail.
Enjoy your Sunday, everyone...I'm about to be whisked off to be wined and dined (well...lunched!) thanks to generous friends and a wedding present! See you soon. xx

And Breathe.........

Firstly, a very happy New Year to you all. I'm keeping fingers crossed that all your dreams come true. I love each and every new year, as it's a magical time of new hopes, dreams and wonderings. I'm a real Pie-In-The-Sky type of person. I don't necessarily believe any of my thoughts will come to fruition...but I DO have a lot of fun dreaming up the plans behind them. This year (as is the case of many previous years, too!) it's all about beach huts, campervans and needlework shops. As the saying goes....."a girl can dream"!!
As for today's title, I have finished the last of 7 Happy Birthday Makes, since the beginning of December! How did I get to be so lucky as to have seven friends and relatives born in what has to be the busiest time of the year???? Anyway...here it is....

It came together quickly and easily (always a Billy Bonus!) and I'm pleased with the result. Now just to find some wrapping paper and that's me done til April.
Other than that, I have nothing exciting to share. I've been enjoying some lovely long walks (some VERY soggy ones too!) on the forest and along the beach with the dog and various friends and relations over the holidays, but as the days have whizzed past, it's now time to face the gritty truth that it's back to work on Monday....which means one thing....I have to love you and leave you and trundle off to a Staff Meeting. Yay.
xx