Where did it go.........?

Last night when we went to bed there was snow on the ground, albeit messy from where people had walked and icy from where the footprints froze.

We fought off the Seagulls.
They flew into the bird feeder to knock the food we left for the garden birds

A few birds managed to find food even after the bully Seagulls had been

We awoke this morning and found this,
it is as if there hadn't been any snow

except for the tell-tale pile of snow left at the bottom of the garden!

I had some left-over Mincemeat

so I thought I would make a few more mince pies yesterday

We had a chuckle when it came out of the oven!

Didn't last long I'm afraid!

365 days to go..........

................till we do it all again next year! Hope everybody had an excellent Christmas. Ours was extraordinarily quiet. The first Christmas without anybody visitng. We just chilled out and even had Christmas lunch on our laps watching television.

Merry Christmas Everybody

Alex collects these old magazines.

These are the latest editions to our collection,

and they make good reading especially the adverts!

These particular two issues are dated

24th July 1936 and 10th December 1937

Stacking storage devices

Mmmmmmmmm..........think I've seen them

in Debenhams kitchen department

and as for the idea for making cakes pretty dusting icing sugar through dollies, I'm

sure I saw that recently on TV - Kirsty I think!!!!!!

In the summer of 1936 you could knit this dress

(If anyone would like the rest of the pattern I would be happy to send it to you)

I love this letter page from 1937
and wonder if every county had their own hotpot

or is it a version of Somerset Hotpot?

as this one seems to be for Taunton!

Most issues there was a page for children

and discovered a word used in todays language

"MICRO"

If you would like to do this Dot-to-dot?

right click on the picture

and save it to one of your files on your computer

Well I've dug it up!

The rug has been out there since Monday so thought it best it was dug up!

I found it straight away, as I knew more or less where it was.


But because we went out for lunch with friends Bill and Janice
we've abandoned it in the shed till tomorrow when we are going
to roll it and bring it in to dry!
Don't worry I will certainly let you know.........

OK Hands Up Who is Fed up with the Snow?

Yes I know it looks lovely when it first happens, that snow that quietly falls from the sky. You can't hear it like rain and hail, you only see it! We live at the top of a hill, no-one but no-one left their drives in our road yesterday, the postman didn't visit and not sure if the recycling people will make it today either!

Alex before he can go to work!

Neither of us went yesterday, but Alex said he would have to

go in today, my boss said I could have another day off!

My poor Yukka

........and the Roses

For all you lovely bloggers who left a comment

asking about my rug, well it is HERE!

I will let you know if it works when I can find it again!

Let it snow! Let it snow!

Saturday morning woke up to a snow covered garden - very pretty should have gone to Taunton, for various things, last minute shopping and a hospital appointment. Cried off the appointment on Friday as I had been listening to the local radio and television weather forecasts. OK the receptionist said I'll just mark you off on the computer to say you rung in and gave me a number to ring on Saturday morning which I duly did, only to be moaned at, obviously they hadn't looked at the computers but it was my fault and I should make an effort was their attitude (I'm just becoming a grumpy old woman!) but as it was a 25mile trip to Taunton and the same back we were not going to risk it for anyone! Did what we needed to do in town and came home.

What is it about trees with snow on them?

Michael and Lizzie still came for Christmas lunch yesterday, seemed the only frozen dangerous bit of the journey was our road, he said the motorway from Bristol was clear and empty. We swapped Christmas presents, I had an album of lots of lovely photographs of their wedding, they absolutely loved the Sampler from the last post. On the back I stuck a montage of all the wedding stationery, and a list of the meanings of the motifs.

*************************

This morning just before 8am I took it into my head to take the sitting-room mat into the garden and lay it in the snow. Mum always did when we had a good fall of snow, apparently it is a very old fashioned way of cleaning mats. Snow is a natural bleach (did you ever taste it as a child or after a snowball fight?). Well I thought I would have a go, what could go wrong, the mat was 15 years old and grubby.

Mat laid in the snow..........

.........twenty minutes later - erm.........

where is it?

Janet my boss rang, to say stay at home, her and Roger would open up about 10ish if they can get in from Dunster. So I have decided I am having a duvet day when I have written this, mind you my brain and body thinks it should be working in a shop and is getting agitated! Right I have had enough of the snow, and feel sorry for the people further up country who are snowed in, this snow is getting a wee bit tiresome now and I am sure they think so too, dreading the defrost all that water! Two lots of snow in one year is just not on! Go here for a picture of Parks Walk, Minehead, it a pretty walk whatever time of the year.

FINISHED!

I haven't blogged much recently, I haven't left many comments sorry for that. I had flu and I have made things for a craft fair. The 'swear box' is full too!! My other little bit of spare time was taken up designing and stitching a wedding sampler for our son and daughter-in-law.

I completed it and washed and pressed it by 9pm last night, mounted it and took it to the framers this afternoon, it will be ready for next Saturday.
I washed it in a pillow case. Pin it to one side of the pillow case and then turn the pillow case inside out so the Sampler is inside. Follow these instructions


Yes they are Space Invaders you can see, they were on the all the wedding stationery and table settings and Michael and the two best men Simon and Ewan had cuff links.

RIGHT...........now I can think about Christmas! Off to make the Christmas cake now - if you haven't made on yet either my recipe can be found here!

"E" for effort!

I'm am bad blogger at the moment, what with flu, craft fair and everything else something had to go! I am so behind with everything, I haven't even made my Christmas cake yet! Not happy about that........

I would like to say a big thank you for all the lovely comments on my previous post, I have to say I actually didn't sell anything, well I say I didn't sell anything, three cards, a scissor keeper and a knitted brooch so everything is here now, please feel free to take a look. The only thing that isn't there is the green Christmas sack, but if anyone is interested in that I can make another but with red lining. Father Christmas now has the sack for Caitlin's pressies - shhhhh!

Yesterday morning I had a lovely chat with my friend Jackie. A few months ago I mentioned in an email to her that I had heard the cows but in the many visits to her farm never actually seen them! So yesterday morning I had a tour of the farm!

The calves - not sure how old they are

Bull Calf - he has a name but cannot remember it

but I'm sure Jackie will read this blog and

answer all the things I have forgotten!

Ferdinand keeping an eye on his harem!

two more cows!!!!

This one is called Marion

Exmoor Craft Fair on Sunday

My stall at the Exmoor Craft Fair at Porlock on Sunday

I wanted something unusual..........

..................on which to display my brooches and smaller items at the craft fair at the weekend, so I made this!

I didn't take photographs of how to do it, but the instructions are quite simple! Find an old 78rpm record that you aren't likely to want to listen to, and find a smallish casserole dish. Upturn the dish onto a baking sheet and place the record centrally onto the base of the dish and place into the oven after you have turned the oven off and have finished cooking and while the oven is still warm. I had the oven on 200 degrees centigrade and left the record for about five minutes then removed it. You can either leave to cool on the dish you moulded it on or place it on to another cold upturned casserole dish. Do not place it on a flat surface because it will go flat again! I then used my cake stand fittings to make the stand.

Voila!

If anybody is in the area............

Craft Fair next weekend

Help.........

............I need virtual motivation, I think I just need a virtual kick up the botty...........I am doing a craft fair in less than two week, I need to finish a few things and start another couple of things.
I came in from work put the computer on to do my blog as I haven't done a post since 4th November, cooked myself some toast and sat down to eat it and didn't move from the chair for a while, Oh dear I thought I must do something at which point I got up picked up the camera and took a walk round the garden, perhaps this is the start of my motivation - I hope!!

The little flowers on the Bush Fuchsia dancing in the winter sunshine.

the last of the red leaves on the Sumac Tree

and the "happy" Violas in the hanging basket.

On Sunday we visited this lovely little person who is now running round
she really put a smile on our faces, she is as bright as a button!

and now I must go and make something with this material and print off some notelets, cards and patterns off for the craft fair. The little walk round the garden did blow a few cobwebs away after this horrible flu I had.

Spuds & Flu Bugs!

Do you remember this.......................?

Well I planted it in a pot as I do all my vegetables that I grow.

got this!

and these......................

and found this Ladybird lurking in the garden too!

We both have the flu! Well we think it is flu, the symptoms are the same but we are not blowing noses and going through tons of kitchen and loo rolls, this is aching limbs, lethargy and a nasty cough! I have had it since Monday Alex is two days behind me. I know I managed to blog on Monday but that was after and hours sleep in the afternoon - not good on my part I don't sleep in the afternoons. All Monday morning at work I felt shivery my head was also spinning not sure why I thought my cold and cough were going as I was into week four. I hadn't eaten from Monday lunchtime to Wednesday evening, and Alex had been plying me with chocolate, I now have a little stash on a plate because I just didn't fancy CHOCOLATE! I haven't been to work since Monday and Monday and Tuesday evening I went to bed at 7pm and went straight to sleep. I also haven't done anything either. I have a craft fair at the end of the month and was hoping to get things made! Today was the first day I went into the garden.

In case any body was wondering I had the result of the mammogram - I haven't got to go back for three years!