Finish For The Weekend

I have had a busy few days with a lot of finishes in the kitchen.  I have finally made a start on making jams, chutneys and flavoured oils to add to gifts for Christmas, but I will share all this in another post.  Today I am once again joining Jill over at Emerald Cottage for the weekly get together highlighting your finish for the weekend.  This week Gerard and I have finished painting the back of our cottage and we have also finished the fireplace.  I have just waxed the wood fire surround so it is looking good.

Each little job accomplished making it feel more and more ours.  It is such a lovely feeling to see something finished.

Whilst I have been working on Christmas gifts and cards, early due to our planned travels I was surprised on our trip to Stornoway to see so much Christmas goodies out on display in the supermarkets.  Despite my love of all things Christmas, I do feel that is a little too early for me.  How do you feel about it?

My finish for the weekend this week is Christmas cards, twenty to be exact.  I did have so much fun playing around with fabrics and papers.

It was a joy matching the colours of some of the beautiful tweed samples that Christina of a colourful life blog generously posted to me.

I love the reflection of the cards in the tin.

We have had some wonderful visitors in the croft behind the outbuilding, giving us hours of pleasure watching their antics.  They are certainly a distraction and a joy.

What have you finished this week?

See you soon.

Another Day, Another Port

There has been a great improvement in the weather so thankfully we have been able to get some more painting done on the outside of the cottage.  This is a job that seems to be never ending but the end is nigh hopefully.  We are hoping that another good day will see us finished.  The washing has been hanging out today and has been doing hope de hoop around the line.  That is the beauty of this Island, the wind certainly dries your washing in double quick time.   Crafting has been taking up much of my time but I am now back into a routine of doing a project on the cottage as well.  We are working on the fireplace at the moment in readiness for the cooler evenings.  The stove has been serviced and swept so once the tiling is complete we will be good to go.  Just a little grouting left to do.  We did have a little bit of a saga with the tile cutter which broke almost immediately on using it but they were amazing at the shop we bought it from and exchanged it without question.  The only inconvenience was that we had to drive into Stornoway.  Another day, another Port/harbour.

There is such a variety of vessels, it is a joy to have a stroll around and dream.  Where would you go on a luxury yacht?  I am not sure I would want to go far but it would be nice to enjoy the experience and do a tour around these wonderful chain of Islands.  There is also a lot of fishing vessels, so it was a delight to see the fisherman overlooking the water.

The dry weather has brought out a lot of visitors, we have been inundated with rabbits...

...thankfully Mickey is not bothered about them and is happy chasing his toy.

He waits patiently for you to throw it for him, until he wears himself out and is ready for a nap.

We have bought a couple of pews from our local church in readiness for when the outbuilding is converted.  We are hoping that work will start on it soon.

They will make an amazing addition and preserve some of the local history of the village too, so we are thrilled.

On the crafting front, I have crocheted some squares to make a blanket.  They need to be put together, the ends sewn in and a border done.  So still a way to go.

The light is not very good so it is not showing the true colours.  What are you working on?

See you soon.

A Saturday Stroll

A mixed weather day yesterday but beautiful in so many ways, the skies here are always a delight.  Neighbours visited and we had some fun, chatting and catching up.  It as a joy to try to teach Ann how to crochet, she is enjoying the process a little at a time.

We are going to try painting next when we have collected some stones from the beach.

Gerard and I did have a drive to the Port to enjoy a quiet stroll last night, it was a joy to see the waves crashing against the walls, rolling back and then building up for yet another wave.  It is mesmerising if you stand there long enough.

The approach to the Port is always a delight no matter the time of day or weather.  The little boats bobbing in the water add a touch of colour to the greyness on a murky day.

Even the lobster pots and fishermen's paraphernalia looks inviting and conjures up romantic notions.  Although realistically, it is a hard life.

In such a short time, the skies darkened and showed a beautiful redness overhead.  Time to go home and put the kettle on.

All in all a quiet but fulfilling Saturday spent with friends and beautiful views.  Wishing you a happy day.  As always thank you so much for all your wonderful and encouraging comments, they are greatly appreciated.

See you soon.

Finish For The Weekend

Today I am joining in the fun with Jill over at Emerald Cottage for the first Finish for the Weekend.  I have many projects on the go particularly home improvements since moving to our dream cottage on the Isle of Lewis.  This will hopefully spur me on a little when it is needed.  This week a start was made on some of my Christmas preparations, early due to our travel plans.  These are a few of the things that I have finished this week.

The base of these tags are ceramic, which were bought in the January sales with no idea what to do with them.  There was 90% off them so a real bargain, but only a bargain if they are used.  I faltered for awhile not sure of what to do with them and then finally decided on adding some paper and stamping the names on them.   Some natural twine added and they can double up as a tree decoration too.

On out last trip to visit family we went to a lavender farm, which was a great outing with Bertie and Honey.  We had lost of fun snipping away at the rows upon rows of lavender.  We came back with two very large brown bags which I have dutifully dried out.  So my next finish is some lavender bags to be used as toppers for some of my gifts.  I enjoyed the process of making them and the wonderful memories that making them evoked.  I am hoping that my daughter will have some wonderful memories of picking the lavender when she sees them.

First up were some simple hessian/burlap bags tied with some natural twine and a few sprigs of lavender added.

I did spray the lavender sprigs with hairspray to stop them dropping, so they have lost their smell a little.  However the amazing smell from the bag is beautiful.

I had some lovely remnants of fabric which I have made some bags from, they are adorable with country animals.  Perfect as a topper for some country wrapped gifts.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy whatever it is you have planned.  We are planning on a relaxing weekend, catching up with each other and some reading and TV.  As always thank you for your wonderful comments and support.