The Living Moor

As we drove across the moor yesterday, we drove through the rain lashing down on the windows and then a quiet calm before the rain thrashed down once more.  We did get a reprieve whilst we were in town so I was able to have a wander without getting too wet.  The moor is living thing and evokes the senses on so many levels.  At this time of year you can see the gold and earthy colours that are used in the making of Harris Tweed.  Natural colours that inspire creativity.  A paintbox of Autumnal colour, always something to draw your eye.

Mist and cloud shrouding the distant hills, making the picture look distorted.

The changing colours of the moor adding their own beauty to the landscape.

Berries adding to natures beautiful table.

A tour of the charity shops was fun, it is always a thrill to find something  you want/need.  Today's find was three lovely jars that I will use to fill with homemade biscuits or chocolates, a bargain at 10p each.

The supermarkets were well stocked, much to my surprise so some Ferries must have been running.  I was thankful, I have a full fridge and have stocked up with extra essentials once again.  I did get lucky with some yellow sticker bits and I had a £9 off coupon which helped reduce the bill.

Gerard's rehabilitation has been extended again, a little disappointing but it is what it is.  He is to be reassessed in two weeks prior to seeing the cardiac consultant.

Once again we have no real plans for the weekend, have you?  We have lots to keep us occupied, a new jigsaw, books and craft projects, along with keeping in touch with family via skype.  A warm cosy cottage and plenty of food, what more do we need?

Thank you for your visits, comments and emails and a warm welcome to new followers I do hope you enjoy my little adventures through life.

See you soon.

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Another beautiful sunset rounded off a very stormy day yesterday.  However, the awful weather continues with the forecast predicting it getting worse not better as hoped.  Snow is forecast for over the hills but not sure if that is local or the Highlands on the mainland.  There are still disruption to travel on the ferries with more cancellations, even the freight is now cancelled.  The website is now stating that there will be more disruption and cancellations for Friday and Saturday.  I am glad we haven't any travel plans but my heart goes out to all those who do.  It must be quite frustrating.  I do wonder what the supermarkets are now looking like, if there are any empty shelves yet?  Tomorrow I will know the answer to that as Gerard is doing the last week of the rehab course and seeing the cardiac nurse.  I generally have a little wander...

Today in our cosy cottage it was like a little cottage industry of Christmas tags.  I have so far resisted the urge to play Christmas music but I am not sure I will be holding out much longer.  A bit of a picture overload but here are the tags made so far.

Wooden dinosaurs and reindeers covered in Christmas scrapbook paper, very simple but effective.

Again paper covered wooden trees with the words of the song written on.

Snowmen and stockings added to the pile.

I made some luggage style tags added a star and then using a silver pen wrote Matthew 2:10
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Wooden baubles were covered in paper and embellished.  Matthew 1:21 written around the sides.
She will bear a son; and you shall call his name Jesus.

Luggage tags have been embellished.

Wooden tags embellished with wooden shapes.

A couple of notelets made using Harris Tweed.

A fun couple of hours and another task completed and ticked off the list.

Have you made a start on Christmas yet?

Thank you as always for your visit and comments.  A warm welcome to a new follower I hope you enjoy my little adventures through life.

See you soon.

The Smell Of Christmas

I do so wish you could smell my little cottage at the moment, it smells of Christmas.  My trusty Christmas mixing bowl came out last night, evoking lots of lovely memories.  Our youngest daughter and I always bake together and it was her that bought the beautiful mixing bowl.

The ingredients for a walnut, orange and whiskey mincemeat were added, the aroma once again evoked memories of Christmas's past.  It took some stirring due to my shoulder but between us we mixed it well.

Another bowl used to mix the ingredients for another mincemeat using figs and apricots as well as the more traditional sultanas and currants but once again it was given a good stir.  

It was left overnight to develop the flavour.  So you can imagine the smell already.  The tantalizing smell of aromatic spice blending with the fruit, peel and juice was a delight.  The stove was already lit due to the temperatures dropping and yet another storm hitting so we lit a couple of  Yankee Candles to add to the atmosphere.  Beautiful.

This morning we woke to  gale force winds howling around the cottage and  rain, lots of rain hammering against the windows.  We are thankful that we have a roof over our heads and heat.  Once again the ferries are cancelled for today so I am thankful for our store cupboard and all the extra food I have put away.

I have packed the mincemeat into sterilised jars and labelled them.  I have also made some covers out of scraps of cotton and stamps.

I use Archival ink which is permanent/waterproof.  It seems to work.

All ready for the store cupboard to be used as little gifts when needed.

The recipes I used were from an old Women's Institute book that I had so are easily available from the internet.  I have made it a little earlier than usual but we are hopeful of getting away to visit family through December, we shall see...

I once again thank you for your comments and emails, Gerard is feeling much better the steroid injection has certainly helped.  Rest, warmth and a little spoiling goes a long way.

See you soon.

Paintbox Giveaway

I was thrilled last week when I had an email from Jennifer over at thistlebearhome.com/ telling me that I had won her giveaway, sponsored by loveknitting.com.  10 100g balls of Paintbox DK, how exciting.  That same day I received another email to let me know the code for choosing my 10 balls.  Decisions, decisions...what fun I had looking though the website.  Finally I chose the yarn I wanted to make a little treat for myself, it arrived on Saturday.  I was delighted with my package which included a pattern and another discount coupon, well it would be rude not to use it, so another browse and another project planned.

Anyway, here is the said package.  I loved how it came in a organza bag which added to the luxury.

A while ago I crocheted a beautiful shawl using the West Yorkshire Spinners winter warmers pattern.  It is my intention to crochet the same shawl using my new stash  of yarn.  A wonderful reminder of a generous blogger friend.

This is the one I did previously which is for a gift.  Sadly crochet is a little slow at the moment as I am only able to do a few rows at a time due to the pain in my shoulder.  A few rows here and there soon mount up so I am pleased with the progress I am making on my current project.  I am about half the way up the blanket and enjoying working on it across my knees as the temperatures here are starting to drop.

I intend to do a border on it but haven't decided on which one yet, something plain just to tidy up the edges I am thinking.  What are you working on at the moment?

The chickens have settled in well and are enjoying strutting around and making friends with my neighbour.

See you soon.