Leaving on a jet plane......

but I know when we will be back again (unlike the song!!). Yes, we are all (six of us) going to Canada to visit friends this Christmas. How wonderful is that! It is only the second time we have been abroad together as a whole family. Now Toronto where we will be staying already has 10 inches of snow so I have been out to get thermals for everyone!! We just aren't really kitted out here for very cold weather - there has been a chill factor of -19 over there in the last few days so my friend tells me!!

There has been much borrowing of friends' ski jackets and the like by the girls and last minute wellie boot and thermal sock shopping.

As I think about it, this is the first Christmas we will have been away from home too! In nearly 30 years - wow! It has made for a much simpler Christmas this year. Yes, the house does have some decorations but mainly twinkly lights and garlands - no tree. We agreed between us not to buy presents for each other so we could put the money towards the flights. This has made for much lighter shopping. And my friend with whom we are staying has done all the stockings!!! Lovely person that she is. I have only had to buy British magazines for her daughters and her - in fact I have bought three of the British patchwork magazines because she loves to quilt! Other than that the shopping has been for friends, some of which was done at the Country Living Christmas Fair. It has felt so much better not be in the frenzy of trying to decide what to buy for whom etc and whether they will really like it, and then being completely dazzled by choice in the shops. There are lessons to be learned here and I think simple and handmade is the way forward for next year!

So I can look forward to a visit or two to quilting shops, maybe a Michael's craft outlet, Niagra Falls, maybe a visit to a pioneer village and lots of time to chat with my friends and family. I consider myself to be a very lucky person indeed! So no photo today and a little 'intermission" coming up but when I get back..... that will be another story! Have a great Christmas everyone.

Christmas parcels

I love wrapping gifts and this year I am using just white tissue paper which I hand-stamp (these are with a snowflake stamp in cranberry) and then decorate with red tibbon or ric rac, topped with a red crochet flower and hand-stamped gift tag.
This is what I have been making for a friend who has just had major surgery for cancer. It is called a Sarabook and comes blank for you to decorate with papers, embellishments, tags and fibres, anything you like really. It is the first time I have done one of these and it is a lot of fun.


So now I am craving another knitting project! It is interesting really that I feel this way as I used to find knitting really stressful but somehow now it seems theraputic and soothing. So daughter no. 2 is off to John Lewis this weekend to pick out some wool for a scarf. It won't be long and those fingers will be flying again.... in the meantime I will have to go and crochet some more red flowers I think......

The Birthday

Daughter no. 4's birthday started off in style with breakfast in bed at around 9.30am. The croissants were in the oven at this point!
Then we headed off for the Millais Exhibition at the Tate as planned. It was WONDERFUL! So many paintings to look at by him. Millais went to the Royal Academy of Arts when he was 11! By the time he was 16 he was producing the most amazing work. He sense of realism and artistry in creating mood and expression was so engaging. We had a fabulous time.
After this we went on to lunch at Vitaorganic in Wardour Street. I had never been there before but while searching on the web for ideas I came across it and it had pretty good reviews. It is actually a vegan restaurant, quite rustic inside and small but the food is delicious and all homemade of course plus they had truly delicious smoothies. After a scrumptious main course we shared the lightest piece of carrot cake I have ever had, complete with soy custard - a first for us both. Neither of us are vegan or vegetarian but we do like healthy, well prepared food so it was a good choice.

Then we went on to an art shop not far from the station where there was a sale and we purchased one or two small items as birthday gifts. We came home and rock buns were the order of the day requested by daughter herself - much better than a cake Mum!

But I forgot to say that she LOVED the scarf I made. What a do I had to get it finished the night before. It was black and white hand-dyed wool (Colinette prism) and the dye had been coming off on my hands the whole time I was knitting with it so I knew I would have to wash it before I packaged it up. So there I was washing and drying at midnight but I think I got all the excess wool out. However in the morning light it looked a little more midnight blue than black so be warned about this particular wool!!

Cards, cakes and Christmas

Where did the week go? Here are the cards I have made this year with a fun stamp from Paperartsy, stamped in Cranberry with a dotty stamp as background and finished off with some stickles glitter glue in red with gold bits. Inside it says Happy Christmas again in Cranberry. I always wonder whether I will go the whole hog and make 80 or so cards or just do some special ones. For the last 4 years I have chosen a simple design and made them all! It gets a little tedious towards the end but I do it in stages and it is fun to choose a different design each year.


This was the advent wreath I made last weekend. I started this tradition many years ago when the girls were small and they used to take it turns to light the candle(s) at dinner time. It always marked the beginning of the Christmas season for us, when we would get out the boxes with all the books, music, Christmas tree ornaments and special things to put around the house. Now there is only one 'girl' at home plus a lodger it feels very different but it is fun to do it just the same.
Apart from some work based things this week I managed to also visit a good friend with two little girls - the ones I made the totes for. So I decided that it was time to make some fairy cakes both for them and for us. The icing is a little too 'Barbie pink' for me so I must try the colour paste that Jane Brocket talks about in her book. I fancy lavender fairy cakes with lavender icing at some point soon although that sounds less Christmas and more Spring perhaps.

It is daughter no.4's birthday tomorrow and she will be 20!! She doesn't want to be 20 so the celebrations are to be kept to a minimum!! Breakfast in bed (freshly made fruit juice, croissants and maybe some coffee on a pretty tray with a simple Lily in a vase perhaps?) followed by a small gift and then off to London to see the Millais exhibition at Tate Britain. We will then have lunch (not sure where yet but she wants to go somewhere different!) and then home for me and I think she is staying on to meet one of her sisters. The partying with friends happens this evening when she gets back from work with another trip into London. Now shall I make a cake or not? Doesn't seem like she will be around much to eat it at this rate and I have a scarf to finish yet which I want to wash, dry and package for her for tomorrow. Maybe the cake will wait for a day or so?

The Holiday Tradition Exchange

Here is what I have sent to my swap partner in the US. It is made out of hardboard and could be a little book but I decided to make into a tree decoration instead.

I also stamped tissue paper for wrapping with a new heart stamp I acquired recently at a bargain price!

So what else have I been up to then? Well, I had this craving to do some knitting. I haven't knitted anything for absolutely ages so I wanted to do something that would come up quick. I had some wool that I bought in the US three years ago which is very soft and multicoloured so I decided a scarf would be a good option. Here it is.

It's not the best photo in the world but it gives you an idea of what the scarf is like.

I have also started a ripple afghan using Jane Eaton's book on ripple afghans and choosing an easy pattern. I am not yet sure I have got it absolutely right but will need to do a few rows to see it.

I also managed a visit to Loop this week. I have been on the website a few times to have a look and I was in the area so just thought I would make a 'creative excursion' to see it in the raw. A lovely calm atmosphere greets you as you walk into the shop and the range of colours is truly delightful. I pored my way through all the magazines and a lot of the books just looking at this and that. I had gone with the intention of buying one skein of wool for a thin scarf for daughter no.4. Unfortunately she wanted only black and white!! so that it had to be and I ended up with some Colinette Prism. Although I know it is hand-dyed I have been a little alarmed with the black that comes off on my hands as I knit with it and wonder if I should have washed it first? But I couldn't leave without buying just one other skein of gorgeous colour - blues and greens so off I trotted with my goodies. Can you believe I got so excited and wanted to start knitting with it that I did so without winding it into a ball!!!! Never, never again. In the end, dearest hubby had to come to my rescue and unravel the total mess I had got into - he has the most amazing patience for things like this. So while we were watching a dvd episode of Frasier, there he was busy unravelling this tangled mess of wool!!! I must be the luckiest wife out there. So I had to just go and make some rather nice fairy cakes. A picture of which I may share next time! Just off to watch Cranford on the BBC which his utterly delightful and a treat for the eyes and ears. I hope you are having a good weekend!

Can you see George?

If you read the previous post you will know that we lost a precious teddy called George when daughter no. 4 was about 4 years old as she is in this photo. Can you spot him here in the photo? He was always this close! This is a cute memory of my youngest who will be 20 years old in two weeks time!! I can hardly believe it!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by driftwood to provide 8 random facts about myself so here goes.

1. I love water and mountains either separately or together

2. I have a wide variety in music taste from Bach to Santana to Coldplay to Celtic and Gregorian chants!

3. I love travelling and have a number of friends around the world but several in the US whom I love to visit.

4. I had three children under 3 at one point and then a fourth came along 5 years later and they are all girls! I was at home for 11 years with them all before going back to work part time.

5. I am a Myers Briggs Practitioner (Personality preference assessment tool) and have been a Personnel specialist working with Christian charities for the last 15 years.

6. I love owls and have a collection of all sorts - both furry and china/wood. I also love teddy bears - especially small ones. In fact when daughter no. 4 was born I found I indulged my love of soft toys generally and that she was only too pleased to be the recipient and we took delight in naming each one personally. Our favourite was a very small teddy (only 6ins) called George who one day got left on a bus on the way back from ballet class!!! Oh the sadness, oh the woe of that day. He could never really be replaced even though we found one a bit like him but bigger.

7. I thought I would never have an animal in the house until I agreed 6 years ago to have a rescued cat called Alfie. He came with just two teeth and no tail (had been removed because of an accident!!) and he was one of the loves of my life until he had a stomach tumour in April this year and my husband took him to the vet and returned with an empty cat basket! Sooooo sad. We are hoping that in the new year we will venture to have another rescued cat to come and live with us. He will have to be male as we are a house full of females apart from my husband!

8. I love baking bread and cakes and would happily have a stall and sell them if I didn't have a day job and the need to earn more pennies (to help daughter no. 4 to to Uni) than I would earn doing that.

Well, that was a lot more difficult than I imagined. I found there were lots of things I could say but I didn't know whether they would be interesting enough to be read by anyone else but then ....

November!

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!
November!

Thomas Hood

I came across the little poem last night at a gathering I was at. It pretty much sums up the time of year. But if you feel the need for colour then do check out http//doyoumindifiknit.typepad.com there are some gorgeous colours there to brighten your day.

Foraging in Devon!

and look what I found! Hubby and I had to go down to Devon for a board meeting and while he was in there giving his presentation I was out on the high street flitting from charity shop to charity shop! I couldn't believe how many there were in such a small stretch of road! But I picked up this almost double bed sized blanket all hand knitted, no doubt lovingly by someone. It must have taken simply ages.
And then I found this which is really thick and cosy. And these
lovely linen bags just waiting to be filled with lavender. They were from a shop called Adam's lace which had a real mix of stuff.

I had a great time in the car knitting and crocheting for several hours. I had a craving to do some knitting last week so started a scarf with some interesting wool I brought back from the US three years ago now. The crochet I am doing at the moment is lots of red flowers like the ones on the tote bags in an earlier post, to put on my gifts at Christmas!

So whether it will be death by blankets or death by magazines or even death by bags, I am not sure but things are accumulating round here. This week sees me out with the day job for three days, one of which is organising and hosting a day conference so I need to get myself focused and crafts will have to take a back seat until Friday.

Oh, and I did make some of Jane Brocket's rock buns tonight when we got home. It's been a long time since I made rock buns - I have a recipe that I wrote down at school when we did 'domestic science or DS' as it was called then! Jane's recipe is very good and they turned out delicious. Hubby was very happy!

Guess who I met at the Fair?

I was walking up one aisle when I came to a stand for Persephone books which I was amazed to see as I had planned to make a visit to the shop on the same day to buy two Christmas presents. And who should be there but Jane Brocket (her blog is Yarnstorm and she has just written and published the book "The Gentle Art of Domesticity"). It was great to be able to tell her face to face how incredibly eloquent and accessible her book is and how much she is a woman after my own heart. The book is currently on my bedside table and I only read it last thing at night as I am rationing myself. It is one of those books I don't really want to come to an end! The photos are gorgeous and Jane writes so well, expressing what so many of us have felt for so long and providing a 'why' behind what domesticity is all about.

The Persephone folk were very helpful and I was able to purchase both my books there and so didn't have to make the trip to the store after a long day shuffling along aisle after aisle of inspiration. I was all tuckered out when I eventually got on the train but no rest for me when I got home as daughter no. 4 wasn't feeling well with a bad cold and had two student friends here. So I set to, and made some homemade chicken and fresh coriander soup which we had with some nice bread and a range of cheeses (this is our favourite meal actually - soup, good bread and cheese), followed by homemade chocolate chip muffins. I certainly slept well and I think she felt better!

All the fun of the fair!

Well, I really did have some fun! The smell as you walked in from outside was very Christmassy - cinnamon, oranges, cloves wafting across the aisles packed with goodies, many of which were handmade. Here is a little snapshot of what I bought. Above are some bags from http://www.bill.brown.com/ They had them on special offer and were only £10 each, all sorts of shapes and sizes and I bought these two for my friend in Canada and her daughter who is living at home. Lots more on the website.
This little pot has a delightful handmade fragrant candle inside.
And this little bag also has a candle inside and some bath salts. These were both from the Fowey candle company down in Cornwall - http://www.foweycandlecompany.com/ It was a lovely stall and the people were so helpful and friendly, nothing was too much trouble for them. They obviously delight in what they do and are a family business.
And if you are a regular reader of Country Living you will remember the article about the lavender boys at Long Barn. Here are some gifts from their stall which had the most delightful aroma of lavender permeating the whole aisle they were in. I am sending these to my friend in New Jersey who just loves English lavender.


And these lovely hearts were from Bespoke Country which had many different things heart-shaped and shaker/Nordic style. It was their ribbon which was featured on the CL Christmas fair advert last year that actually made me want to go. They have a good website and mail order catalogue too.

There were other things of course, like beautiful earrings made from handmade paper by Circle and Dash. I bought a pair last year and they are so light to wear you hardly feel you have them in your ears and they come in the most gorgeous colours and shapes. No one was taking photos though and I didn't actually take my camera. I think I would have felt rather conspicuous if I had wandered around taking photos of each stall and it wouldn't have been easy given the crowds there.

It was a real feast for the senses and I think most stalls were doing a very good trade. It was certainly as packed as last year. I found it really inspiring seeing so many little goodies that people had made as well as delighting in all the colours. textures and aromas. I wish you could go, I know you would enjoy it! Maybe next year? We could meet there for coffee? What do you think?