It's next year tomorrow!

 It came and went in a blink of an eye!

We had great fun though, Robert and Anneka stayed from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day

I discovered how to make Puff Pastry Mince Pies, they don't look neat but they did taste nice.

Michael  and Lizzie had Christmas lunch with us on Christmas Day and Peter and Steph and Caitlin and Liam came Boxing day.  Michael and Lizzie left their presents for Caitlin and Liam.  Caitlin is in one of Nana's creations, poor thing it fits where it touches, I expect she will grow into it.

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I wonder what next year will bring?  This year did not fair well for me personally.  Well it all started December 2011.  December 2011 new owners at my place of work.  Go back to work after Christmas 2011 to have my hours immediately cut! By Easter no job at all.  As they say things can only improve, not sure it has even after being at home for eight months.  Perhaps its because I haven't got my head round being at home yet.  Anyway I am looking forward to youngest sons wedding and a vintage fair both in March, which as we all know will soon be here!  Time does not wait for anyone!

  

I will be here

Saturday, 23rd March, 2013 

Trull Memorial Hall near Taunton, Somerset TA24 7JZ 

from 10am to 3pm

Now does anyone know how to stop this

Seagulls have their own characters but honestly...............

Even the crows have given up!

Advent Calendar

24 December

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

ONE AND ALL

Advent Calender

23rd December

Christmas Eve eve.  

We can  start doing  this !  Finish off bits and pieces that need finishing.  Do some last minute preparations. 

and listen to this............... 

Advent Calandar

22 December

This week  Alex and I had lunch out. Alex had a tooth out, nothing exciting about that you would think, but this was the third attempt!  It was either this week or 31st December.  I finished off some handmade presents, iced two Christmas cakes, one for us and one for some really good friends David and Jane with whom we had a Fish and Chip Supper with last night at their house.  Lovely company and something nice to do before Christmas.  Managed to get the tree up - not decorated yet but its up!  This time last year the tree had been up for four week by now!  I am Sort of organised for Christmas, I know what we are eating just got to purchase a few more bits of foodstuff mainly vegetables.  

Advent Calendar

21 December

Just an update!
There were packets of Cadbury's Mini Eggs in WHSmiths this morning
We haven't had Christmas YET!  

Advent Calendar

20th December

Advent Calendar

19th December

The snowman is completed!

Advent Calendar

18th December

Advent Calendar

17th December

What is it about Robins and Christmas.........?

Advent Calendar

16th December

15th December

This week, we managed to find time to go and see James Bond - Skyfall,  I had lunch with my friend Janice and cleaned my kitchen - today it is cleaning oven day - OH JOY! 

I also handmade a few of presents.

I also made a few of these 

EeeeerrrrrrrM!  

Not sure what they look like but they tasted OK!

Best have another go during the week!!

Does anybody out there know how to make Mince Pies that are made with Puff Pastry, I would like to make them but have never succeeded and ended up buying them!

As soon as I hear this piece of classical music on the radio.........

I feel Christmas is well on its way!

Advent Calendar

14th December

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Apparently it is 

Christmas jumper day!

Advent Calendar

13 December

Advent Calendar

12th December

or.......

12.12.12

Advent Calendar

11th December 

Advent Calendar

10th December 

Advent Calendar

9th December

Advent Calendar

8th December

Since last last Saturday I have made Christmas cakes, yes I know I left it a bit late - wasn't organised to make them before.  Cut out a dress for son's wedding next March.  Had lunch with my friend Denise, visited my dad for two days, went Christmas shopping, started making to Christmas presents which need to be finished this weekend and posted before next weekend!  So that is week one!  Week two..........

Advent Calendar

7th December

Advent Calendar

6th December

Advent Calendar

5th December

Advent Calendar

4th December

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I will not be here now until tomorrow afternoon as I am off  see my dad overnight before he goes off on his Christmas cruise!

Advent Calendar

3rd December

Advent Calendar

2nd December

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Friday a parcel arrived for me, it was as complete surprise. 

The parcel from my son, 

I thought he was trying to tell me something, as this is what I saw when I shook the padded envelope and this fell out just like this!

But it was OK 

they are Belgian chocolate Smarties set out as an Advent Calendar!

Advent Calendar

1st December

Christmas is on its way!

see yesterdays post if anybody would like to join in

Advent Calendars

Its 1st December tomorrow which means we open doors on the advent calendar!

I used to love opening each door to see what the little picture that was hidden behind.  I don't think the chocolate Advent calenders was heard of in the sixties.

Anyway would anybody like to join me in posting a  christmassy picture everyday on their blog as if it were an Advent calender.  It could be a wintry scene, it could be just a picture of a Christmas card, anything leading up to 24th December.

Rain Rain Go Away

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again

Somehow I don't thinks Spain want's it either, as it says in this historical nursery rhyme.

1976 Denis Howell was a appointed minister for Weather, the following day (I do remember the month was September) the heavens opened!  At the beginning of this year all we heard on the news was the word "drought" well you would think common sense would prevail and not mention this word because there has been nothing but dull days - OK there may have been a few sunny days thrown into the mix but most days were dull!  Is there a Sun Dance we could all do?  There must be one, we have all heard of a Rain Dance so there must be one for the sun - isn't there..............?

I should have done this post yesterday but somehow yesterday ran away with me after doing various jobs and defrosting the freezer and putting the stuff back in some sorted fashion at ten o'clock last night!  

Top of my road looking down

We took a walk around a couple of roads where we live early on Sunday morning.  We actually live on the top of a hill, and there is an actual stream that runs down our road starting on the left-hand side coming down from the hills then weaves its way through the back-gardens of the houses on the right and goes back to the left side at the bottom of the road then continues underground through town to the sea. 

Someones cat watching the fast flowing water

Late Saturday night the water flowing past our house was ankle deep.  

Nothing compared with what some people are going through.  

Children having fun with a dinghy and a rather large puddle

Back outside our house looking up the road

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Nothing to do with this post but I would like to wish our middle son Happy 30th Birthday today

and to say don't forget to take a look at my other blog sites all links are here or on side panel

November Flowers

Immediately after I published my last blog post our computer crashed in a spectacular fashion!  It didn't just crash it CRASHED!  Nothing could be done to save it.  Luckily 95% of the stuff saved was on an external driver so not all was lost, but this saved stuff cannot run without programmes, but I did loose all my email addresses, so if you read this and we email sometimes please could you email me.  Anyway, here all day and no computer, I don't mind if I am not in the house, or I stay with my dad I don't hanker after the computer but I do when I am here and whats more I prefer this computer it is large takes up a lot of room with the scanner and the printer which I use quite a lot, and Adobe programme and its - wells its cuddly and a real old friend.  Alex went out and bought a laptop, new to us but a secondhand laptop which has the google  "vista" on it.  The programmes I use do not run on vista, so we gritted our teeth and ran the clean-up disc and then everything was GONE!  Programmes had to be reloaded, so discs had to hunted out from the place they were stored because we didn't think we needed them, it took a week to reload everything, well the reloading didn't take a week it was "outlook express" I like outlook express, it is easy to use and very easy to attach attachments, what we didn't realise was that if the laptop was up and running, it pinched all my emails and nothing came through on this computer, I was getting more and more annoyed until Alex said close down the laptop and wait and watch, and low and behold my emails came though on this computer, so now I am one happy person I have my old friend back! The computer needed a good clear out anyway just one of those things we never got around too, it still had games on from when our boys were here!

These roses have nothing to do with the computer crashing, the were in the garden,and have been trying to flower since the beginning of October, but it is now the middle of November, so I thought it was about time they were plucked and bought indoors, anyway I cannot see them from my windows.

Looking at them in this photo they look half dead but assure you they came out in the warmth of the house.

I made these felt flowers

and these woolly ones too.  I will be putting them in my shop soon when my friend Jane has seen them as she wanted to purchase a couple of bunches for Christmas presents

Think I am back on the right path.........

..............I think I know where I am going.............

You all have been so kind since this blog post, I have had lovely email conversations with lots of lovely people, you all know who you are so big thank you.  At the moment everything is feeling positive but I do know things can change.  The other day Bella contacted me to see if I would like a painting of Magnolias she had recently painted as I had left her a comment and also put it on one of my pinterest boards, and another lady contacted me over the weekend out of the blue and asked me if I would like some more of these to add to my collection.

As readers of this blog have seen, I have been working from the vintage magazines recently.  I have created two and half cushion covers and a bag.  I try and use the colours of the original designs just to preserve the colours of the time, but sometimes I will change colours as the bag should have been made from a hessian sack.  This blog is where I will put all my "vintage" makes because I felt they needed to be separate from everything else - please become a follower........  I have decided to put my knitting, crochet, embroidery and tatting skills to good use (they have been in the wilderness for far too long) and with the vintage patterns......... 

May I offer you my card.........?

..........and if this doesn't work out well at least I have tried!

We will remember them

I thought I would remember them with this patroitic WW1 song.

Isn't she lovely

I bought her home with me from The Trull Textile Rag and Rummage organiseded by the Washerwoman.

She is much bigger than the rest of my collection

Me and My Blogs!

Since April, I have been feeling - well I don’t know how I have been feeling.  I feel I have lost my way.  The feeling is indescribable.  I feel I am in the proverbial dark tunnel not seeing the light yet - well maybe, read on……..  I lost my job in April, the job I really loved, I had been there seven and half years I actually didn’t mind getting up and going to work, even on bad days!  I was in my element, I was selling things I knew about.  I know about haberdashery and yarns and threads, it is something that comes very natural to me, not so much about art stuff, but I learnt (it was a craft shop).  I lost the job because of new owners and new brooms and all that!  Since April, whenever I have started something it always seems the goal posts got moved, people stopping me doing things because I was asked to do something else,  things not finished, things left in limbo or things just not started that I wanted to make because I had no get-up-and-go!  I just didn’t know what to do for the best.

I have been inspired by a lovely lady called Helen.  We have met on a few occasions and each time she inspires me more and more.  We have had great chats, it’s a pity she lives so far a away.  Recently I have been at my dads, he just turned eighty,  I took my knitting, there was no computer so I did a lot of thinking.  Sometimes it is not good to think to much, but I think my thinking this time may take a positive turn - I hope!

As you know I collect vintage magazines, I sit and read them quite regularly, thinking I could make that, and that, and so on……..and as you know I have made these and this, and this all from the vintage magazines.  So this is what I have decided!

KC’s Court - this blog where I am writing now. This is my main blog, the place where I just chat about things and show and tell.

It Works For Me… - is where I give you hints and tips that I have worked out for myself and thought I would share.

View from Minehead Station

All Aboard the Sky Lark!.-This is my photograph album, of trips out, or when we just go for a walk locally

Boxes in the Loft - is where I sell items.  If anybody would like anything just email me and I will reserve it for you and send you a PayPal form.
I will be selling bric-a-brac and other items.

War Time Civilian receiver recently restored by Alex
aka - Utility Set

And last but not least the new blog on the block!

Julie’s New Patch - I started it because for some reason I wanted a new blog, to me it’s a bit like having a nice new note book to write in.  But I have made a mess of the first page and have “torn” the page out and started again!  Please take a look, I am hoping this will be my new adventure!
I will be working at my pace to create vintage things from vintage patterns using vintage and modern fabrics and yarns, so please keep popping by and having a look

I also have two other shops Folksy and Etsy  

photo courtesy of Helen at Bustle & Sew

Little Shop on the Corner - This where I sell my patterns which I have created and designed.

Court Yard Vintage - This is my new adventure!
I will be working at my pace to create vintage things from vintage patterns using vintage and modern fabrics and yarns, so please keep popping by and having a look

All these pictures are in the side-bar just click on them and they will take you to the different places!