Busy Times

It is only 6 more days to the wedding, when my beautiful daughter marries the man she loves and they start a new life together, exciting times.  It is the final fitting for the suits tomorrow and the final meeting with the wedding planner at the venue.  The dogs go to a friend of ours for the weekend on Thursday and the flowers are to be collected for the  arrangements for the vases.  The bouquets, buttonholes and church flower arrangements the florist is doing.  We seem to have everything under control.

Christmas gifts are made I still have some to package this week. I need to get cards wrote as some of them need to be posted, although they are all made.  I do need to check what the last day is for posting to America.  I want to get some baking done for the freezer but I am not putting myself under pressure this week.  I also like a couple of stews/casseroles in the freezer so they can be just heated up when time is at a premium.

Although busy I have still made time for a bit of crochet, I have been making headbands for some charity boxes and for gifts.  Here is a selection of the ones I have made.

I have a busy few weeks with the wedding and looking after my Grandson which I am really excited about so I may not have the time to blog or to leave comments, I will catch up with everyone when I can.

 

See you soon.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse.  Mickey is 86 years old today, I wish I could be there with him.  This time last year I was in Florida having an amazing time, soaking up the wonderful weather and atmosphere.

Where do you wish you were?

See you soon.

Vintage Pattern

The vintage pattern I am going to share this week is The Toy Book, a Harmony publication.  It was published by Lyric (pattern services) Ltd in 1976.

I love some of the simple shapes and the vintage fabrics that have been used, it really is an eye catching pattern, still perfect for today.  I have so many scraps and small pieces of vintage fabrics the pattern would be perfect to use some of it up.

They all have some appeal so I am not discounting any at this stage, but I thought I would have a go at the elephant and the owl they seem to be quite popular at the moment.

 

I intend to give my craft room a really good sort out once all the wedding things are out of there, but these are definitely on the top of my to do list.

 

Today I have a date with my husband, we have been married for 33 years so are celebrating.  We have a good strong marriage to which we have both worked hard to maintain despite our differences at times.  I feel truly blessed.

 

My advice for a good marriage would be, never go to bed on an argument.  What would yours be?

 

See you soon.

 

Yarn Along

I have been so busy with my daughters wedding and preparing gifts for Christmas that I thought I hadn't done a lot of crochet so I surprised myself when I looked at the last photo how much I had done.  I am hoping to get on with the throw now that things have started to calm down.

I have just had my Simply Crochet magazine delivered, a subscription gift from my daughter.  We call it the gift that keeps on giving as I get a gift monthly.  I intend to put my feet up and browse through it this evening.  I also have  the delight of a new book, new to me anyway a purchase from the local car boot sale Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwaski.  The true story of Japan's foremost Geisha.  That should be an interesting read.

I am once again joining Ginny over at small things for the yarn along.gsheller.com/2014/11/yarn-along-202.  What are you creating and reading?

 

See you soon.

 

More Christmas Tags

I am still beavering away making the Christmas tags.  It's quite amazing how many you need when you start counting them up.  I have bought the paper so I should be ready to wrap by tomorrow...

I used a stamp on the back that say's Christmas Wishes, quite pleasing to the eye.  I loved the idea of recycling Christmas cards that many of you seem to do, I might do that next year.  I actually love plain brown parcel paper for wrapping presents but believe it or not  it's cheaper to buy Christmas paper, so I have opted for a plain gold.

 

I am almost ready for Christmas, for the first time in years.  This wedding really has had me focused usually I am in a panic the last few days before Christmas.

 

See you soon.

Christmas Tags

Well, the Christmas Fair was wonderful on all levels, money was raised for charity although I am not sure what the final amount was yet.  I was able to catch up with friends and neighbors from the village  that I don't get to see very often and I was blessed with selling lots.  One of the most popular lines was the painted hangars and the tree decorations. A very good result all round.  The money I make at the craft fairs buys my next lot of craft materials.  Over the next few weeks I will start to check  out what I need ready for the January sales.  I only have one fair left to do this year and that is next weekend so I will be able to pack everything away in good time for Christmas.  I do need to make some more button trees or something similar, maybe tomorrow.  Today I want to concentrate on gift tags for my gifts.

I have made a start but there are lots to make so it may take some time.

A pleasing overall effect for the tags for the children, should go well with the red stocking gift topper.

 

Do you make your own tags or buy them? 

 

See you soon.

Christmas Fair

I have spend the last hour or so packing things into cartons in preparation for the Christmas Fair over the weekend.  It is a Fair that I love to attend as it is in the local village hall and I get to catch up with people that I don't get chance to see very often and it is for a very worthy cause, Arthritis Research.  A cause very close to my heart as both my husband and father are sufferers.

Whilst I have a substantial amount of stock, as I add to it on a regular basis, it was sadly lacking in the Christmas department.  I have therefore decided to devote my day to making some tree decs out of some oddments of fabric.

That is my day planned and in fact the weekend planned.  What have you got planned for the weekend?

 

See you soon.

Bonfire Night

Yesterday was bonfire night, with bonfires and fireworks going off all around us which was wonderful for all the local children.  A real community affair even the local school got involved.  However not so good for my two dogs who cowered under the table shaking and barking for two solid hours, nothing we did would calm or console them. 

On a more positive note three years ago yesterday my beautiful Grandson Bertie was born.  It was unfortunate that we were unable to be with him to celebrate but from all accounts he had a wonderful day, bless him.  He had previously celebrated at Thomas Land which was idyllic for him as he is a big fan.

I spent a couple of hours sorting out my yarn stash and winding some of the gorgeous wool used for making Harris Tweed that I brought back with me from the Isle of Lewis/Harris from my trip last year.

I used three strands to make a thicker yarn to use to crochet some headbands.  The colours are a lot richer than the photo is portraying.

The yarn reminds me of the natural colours of the moors and evoke some wonderful memories.  The winder was a vintage buy from Renningers Mount Dora bringing back some more wonderful memories of a past holiday to Florida.  A couple of wonderful productive hours well spent.

 

How did you spend bonfire night?

 

See you soon.

November

Where did October go?  Here we are in November already, the time is just flying by.  Time to share The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady  and the Country Diary Book of Crafts.  They are two of my favourite books some of the paintings/drawings are exquisite and the poems and observations that go alongside are a real delight.

The Anglo-Saxon name for November was 'blot-monath;' (blood-month) the latter name probably alluding to the custom of slaughtering cattle about Martinmas for winter consumption.

 

November take flail,

Let no ships sail.'

 

'If there's ice in November that will bear a duck,

There'll be nothing after, but sludge and muck.'

 

The craft book shows some delightful dried flower arrangements and a stunning toadstool, a crochet pot holder which I love.  I actually intend to crochet a couple for gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

I love these two books and although a little dated some of the crafts are relevant today and can be adjusted for modern times the artistry is second to none a real pleasure to browse.  I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have.

 

See you soon.

Weekend

The weekend was spent spending blissful time with my youngest daughter Lucy and her family, who came to visit for the weekend.  We had a wonderful couple of days just spending time catching up and relaxing in each others company.  All the wedding attire was tried on and looks beautiful and is now hanging on the hangers made for them in preparation for the big day.

We spent time teaching the girls how to play simple board games.

A fun time had by all.  We also had a session crafting with Granny using some of Granny's special things to make Christmas cards for the family.  They loved using the glue.

The dressing up clothes came out and were tried on several times, it was lovely to sit and watch them getting so much fun out of a box of outfits bought from the car boot sale earlier in the year.  They really did enjoy them and have taken them home.

They also enjoyed trying on their new hats and mittens my Mum had knitted for them.

We also had a wonderful time watching and eating our way through a DVD.

                                                                          I am missing them already.  Wilbur had a very successful Halloween party and Bertie who will be 3 on Wednesday went to Thomas Land.  A great weekend had by all.  How was your weekend?

 

See you soon.