Oh and we had some more

Hope you're all well and have had a good Christmas. 

I thought you might like to see what greeted me when I left for work last Wednesday morning.

Mmmmm - it was snowing. Lots.

Some of you may have seen our village on the BBC 24 hour news or the BBC One O'Clock news. I did shout at the TV a bit as they kept saying it was the first snow we'd seen. But why let facts get in the way of a good story.

I did get to work - despite a bit of slipping - but then we all got sent home due to the continued heavy snow and worsening road conditions.

I'm very happy to say at long last the snow has now melted and we can all get out and about.

I hope you've all had a good Christmas. I had some great pressies - very nice books that I'll share with you soon.

I've also almost managed to get rid of my sticking cold - was a little rough but am feeling better as each day goes by.

Anyway - I'll leave you there now and hope to hear from you all soon.

Books and stuff

Hello all. How are you? I'm really good. I'm certainly enjoying the gradually improving weather. 

One of the challenges Bren set us was to stock take our books and magazines. Hmm Can't give you the results (as DH reads this sometimes) but there's alot. And one thing we were also asked was to pick the one book we'd take to a desert island. Well my selection is the one below;  'An illustrated Life' by Danny Gregory. I often pick it up and can always find something interesting to read. 

What book you you take?

One of the many books by my bed at the moment (there's always a pile) is this one 'The 12 secrets of Highly Creative Women' by Gail McKeen. I'm so enjoying this so much. The women interviewed are so generous with their ideas - it's a really encouraging book to read.

When I went to the November Rocheberie Schoolhouse Quilters one lovely lady was demonstrating making Christmas Puddings - they looked so cute I couldn't resist - so here are my two.

And finally here are my completed strawberries. Another bit of fun. I got the kit for these from The Bramble Patch some time ago and have finally stuck on the stalks.

I'm off to spend more time tidying up - have a good weekend.
'The mere sense of living is joy enough' Emily Dickinson

A great book

Thought I'd let you know about a great book that Radio 4 will be having as their book for Bookclub. The programme format is the audience will have the book and the author, John Irving, is there to answer them. I can't begin to tell you what a great book it is. I've always found that John Irving books always make me laugh, when I know I shouldn't and always have surprises in them. This one is so funny in places but so moving in others. If you do get time to read it - please do. I can promise it will stay with you.

I have finally got round to making some things for Christmas - but I'm sure you'll appreciate that I won't be able to share these with you until Christmas.

Luckily I've got a sewing day tomorrow in a neighbouring village hall - so I've got a list of things I want to crack on with.

If you're in the UK take care this weekend as it sounds like we're going to have some rather bad weather.

Take care.

A very crafty weekend...

Well I've had a great weekend - lots of quilting associated stuff.

I had a great day at Great Doddington at the Quilder's Guild Regional Day. I was very impressed with the 2 speakers they had Ferret and Katherine Guerrier. Both very different, but it was great to hear how they have developed their ideas and skills. It was a delight to heat them both speak. I'd highly recommend making the effort to attend either a regional or area day - it's a great opportunity to meet other quilters and hear well known ones speak and also meet up with fellow quilters.

I had a great day. It also fitted in very well with my challenge for this month - to do something towards my creativity everyday. So that's Saturday 4th October started - and today I've posted on my blog, bought some calico (for dyeing) and get set up to start some other things too.

I'm also very pleased to have my sewing machine back in full working order.

I'd also like to let you know about a few events coming up:

NSPCC coffee morning:- Saturday 11th October between 10 - 12. There's a £1.00 admission fee but that does include a coffee for you. And the Market Bosworth Quilters will be there selling some quilts. If would be great to see you there.

Christmas Fair - Saturday 29th November, 10:00 - 3:00 at the St Peter's Church Hall, Park St, Market Bosworth. It was a great event last year - and we were very lucky that Santa was able to make an appearance. Please do try to come along - you'll be able to buy some beautiful gifts for Christmas (or for yourself) and they'll be raffles and tombolas too.

Well I hope you've all had a good weekend. Hopefully I'll have some photos for you all next time.

Christmas

Not too heavy a post today as I'm sure some of us may still be experiencing the excesses of Christmas.

Well - as you can see from the photo above I managed to cook a rather good turkey. A combination of a good quality 11lb turkey, good tips from Jane and a quick addition from a Gordon Ramsey cooking programme I saw on Christmas Eve. I'm very proud of my first roast turkey. The rest of the dinner was very good too (even though I do say so myself).

I'm also really pleased with the pressies I got. And I can share a little tip with you all. The reason I got a subscription to Selvedge magazine was because I said I wanted it on my blog and DH read it - what a great ploy - I'll be using it again LOL.

I also saw a great exhibition today at Warwickshire Museum - Gold Thread and Fire. It's not a huge exhibition but very interesting. I wish I could afford to buy a few of the items.

Here's the square in the village this afternoon at about 3.30; it's just getting dark and the lights are on. It looks so pretty.

And finally here are a few pictures I took of the Michaelmas House window. The animals I think are French and sooo cute. Lots of different textures. If I find out what the make is I'll let you know. Oh and their sale starts on January 3rd.

I do hope you all had a great Christmas break.

I'm back...

Sorry about the delay with my postings - but as you know I've been a bit busy - just like you.

I'd like to say a huge thank you for all the kind words of support for me and my mum. I'm pleased to say she's had her op and it went as planned. I visited her yesterday and she was comfortable - which I think is really all you can expect at this stage.

I'd thought I'd share with you a few things I've bought over the last few months. First is the beautiful Selvedge magazine - I'm hoping Santa might be bringing me a subscription.

Next is my Quilting Arts - such a beautiful cover. I'm still waiting for number 29 - I'm sure it's got stuck in the post.

And a copy of The Quilter - which you get as part of your Quilter Guild subscription.

And a treat now - 'Finding your own visual language'. Since my course with Brenda I've been more adventurous with the books I've selected and don't look at the ones with just patterns in now. This looks a great book and hopefully over the holiday I'll be able to have a better look at it. Have any of you got this and used it? I'd love to hear how you got on.


Now - I did get rather excited when Santa and his sledge came down the road - I ran out shouting 'Santa - I've been a good girl'. My husband is still laughing about it now.

I'll have to go now to check on my infamous Jamie Oliver Pork goulash - I'm cooking it for our Quilting Christmas party tomorrow night. I had to miss last week as I got a stinking cold - I've got rid of it now and I'm just left with a hacking cough.
Hope you're all OK and not too stressed with the time of year.
Take care.

Christmas preparation

Hello - I hope you're all OK and not too over wrought with your Christmas preparation. I've noticed blog postings have slowed down - which isn't surprising considering women do tend to have the most to do around Christmas. Honestly I'm not going to moan about it - it's just how it is for most of us. I'm doing OK - so far. I've managed to write out most of my cards and get the presents wrapped that need to be posted this week. I do still need to do a bit more shopping - but nothing too major.

There is a reason why I'm cracking on with things and that's because my mum is coming to stay with us over Christmas as she'll be recovering from a hysterectomy due to a prolapse womb. I had booked two weeks leave to sew - but as my sewing room has been converted into the spare bedroom now - things have changed. I will still be sewing (as otherwise I think I'd go mad) but it will need a bit more planning and I won't be able to leave it out as I would do in the sewing room. But - that's the way things go isn't it and we juts have to try to make the best of it.

Oh not enough pressies made

I'm having a bit of a panic as I'm rather behind on my handmade gifts. I'm busy at work this week so I'll have to make a concerted effort this weekend (or perhaps buy a few hand made things at our village Christmas Fayre).

Saturday in the village hall

Just to prove I did make something on Saturday in the Village Hall (with its great new windows) and even finished it off on Sunday - my advent calendar. The pre-printed panel has sat in a box for a couple of years and I'm really pleased with it finished. Now I've just got to sort something out for the pockets. I was trying to think of some non-chocolate things - perhaps treats like treat yourself to a soak in the bath. Do you any ideas?

And here is Flo on her 1st birthday. Ahhh... She decided she liked sitting under our umbrella that was drying out after a soggy walk. She can still be a bit of a bugger - but when she's cute - she's really cut.

Art class tomorrow night and I've managed to do nothing. But I know I'll have a great time. I've also got Bramble Patch on Saturday and I'll be screen printing - I can't wait.

More things from last week.

Well I did do some other things last week that I didn't get round to posting about.

One things was that on Tuesday I became a lady who lunched - in fact a three hour lunch. The shop (who's windows you can see above) Michaelmas House have a preview launch of their Christmas range. Part of the launch is either a Champagne breakfast or lunch at the restaurant over the square called Softleys. It was really nice - good company and food - although I must say a drink at lunch time seems to have alot more impact than one at night. I even managed not to spend any money in the shop. If you live anywhere near here please do have a look at the shop as it has such beautiful items for sale and a wide range of prices too.

I also managed to cook another new meal. A Jamie Oliver one from his new book - a Spicy pork and chilli-pepper goulash. It was great (even though I say so myself). If you have a look at the UK Amazon site the recipe is there as one of the samples. The house was filled with the smell of it. Hmmmm