Sunday, January 24, 2016

How to make January a bit more bearable!













Trying to keep myself busy through this very drab and uneventful time of year. Why is January such a long month?  I woke up on Saturday and I thought 'Oh! Is that a hint of sunshine I see,'  but, it was short lived.  The sun came out for five minutes and then decided to hide again, which is a shame, because I'm really craving some warmth.  So, in an attempt to cheer myself up a bit, I looked out some pamper boxes that I subscribe to My Little Box.    A little box that  is mailed to my address each month, crammed  with  must have beauty products, trinkets and little gadgets to play around with.  I've been receiving these boxes for nearly a year now, and I don't see me canceling my subscription anytime soon.  The boxes are beautifully illustrated and contain some beauty items that I haven't even seen in stores yet.  So thrilled with this subscription,  I rush home from work on the day it is due to arrive and lock myself away so I can ohhh! and ahhh! over  the goodies I unveil. You could say, it's my one guilty little pleasure in life.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

3 Ways to Embrace the Cold

 
 







                                                      Reading, Resting and Knitting

We haven't felt inclined to venture out much over the weekend.  After taking a tumble at work on an icy piece of ground and hurting my left knee; bruising and swelling (not just to my knee but to my ego too) it's been far nicer to stay warm, cosy and safe in the house.  Much nicer to look at the snow from the comfort of my sofa whilst cupping a warm drink in my hand.   This has also given me plenty of time for resting and reading over the past few days, but I'm determined that I should make more time for crafting. So in between reading and resting,  I've decided to stash bust those odds and ends of wool from previous projects. You know,  the ones that are too small to make a project on their own but added together they should or could  make something quite spectacular, such as the  Manic Panic Cowl. 

When I have ventured out into the snowy winter wonderland, I have been  going between my Norie hat and Tears of Bronze.  Both patterns are available from Ravelry.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

The Flumps







I have been quite busy on the crafting front lately.  I blame the weather for my over creativity;  it has been thoroughly dreich (Scots for dull, soggy, damp weather) here as of late, rain, rain and more rain with chilly days making an appearance here and there.  So, what better way to beat the blues than recreating one of my favourite childhood characters; Pootle from the Flumps.

The Flumps was a children's programme, created and written by Julie Holder and produced for the BBC by David Yates. It was broadcast by the BBC many times from 1977 to 1988.  The plot revolved around the various adventures of a family of furry characters called The Flumps and narrated by Gay Soper. The theme tune was played by George Chisholm on the trombone.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Pootle or his big sister Posie; who is in the making. Heck, I may even make the whole family and display them on my craft shelves in the spare room.  I know that would give me a giggle every time I walked into the room, and as I say to my nephews when your not looking or when you're sleeping your toys come to life and play all by themselves.  Now wouldn't that be magical.

(Please excuse the photogrpahs the first one was taken in artificial light)

Monday, January 04, 2016

2015...with a bit of Christmas and crafting thrown in!

May 2015 -Summer 2015
September 2015
November 2015
 

December 2015
 

Ninja Turtle

Purple Minion

Knitted Fairisle Hat


Christmas Eve

Mini mincemeat pie (using up the pastry)


.Rosace a l'orange
Garlic Focaccia
Gifts from Nursery Children

Some of my Christmas Presents

My childish love of the Moomins

Bean, Bean doing a fine job of opening her pressies



First time trying lobster

New Years Day

Chevy '57 #2 cocktail
 


2015 has been a bit of a whirlwind for us both, what with me changing jobs to be closer to home, and adding a new addition to our family in the form of a crazy Rhodesian Ridgeback girl, I feel like our feet have hardly touched the ground. I've had tonnes of time to craft and made quite a lot of different items, however, I couldn't find my mojo to blog about them.  Perhaps it's because I've had a lot of mixed emotions especially towards the latter end of the year about decisions I've made and losing another loved one to cancer late in November...heck at one point I  even considered cancelling Christmas as I felt too emotional.  Even a trip to the Christmas Market in Edinburgh on the 23rd did nothing to lighten my spirits. Usually, this event gets me in full swing for all the festivities to come, but nope...all the beautiful German stalls of previous years have been taken over by cheap tat and duplicated stalls, which left us both a bit sad. In an effort to capture any Christmas spirit we both locked out the world on Christmas Eve, we put on some Christmas movies, listened to Christmas classical music and made our traditional Mincemeat Pies; we've been making these together now for nearly three years.  I think the latter activity gave me the slap around the head that I needed to make me realise that I should be happy and thankful for what I have in my life.

Christmas morning was relaxed, Paul and I don't rush into opening our presents, we prefer to have breakfast first then we each decide which present the other should open first, then second and so on.  We then spend an hour or so looking at our new gifts while sipping some Bucks Fizz (orange juice and sparkling wine, another tradition) and watching Christmas T.V.  Then, we both get dressed and prepare the Christmas dinner together.  We opted for a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, the only difference this year was our starter. Usually, we have smoked salmon pate and a prawn salad but this year I wanted to try lobster.  I was worried it was going to be too fishy, but it was actually quite subtle in flavour and enjoyable to eat. Would I have it again? Mmmm! I thought it was a bit pricey and I have to admit I did miss my smoked salmon pate and prawn salad...so I don't think this will be a tradition for next year.

Talking about traditions, we have both decided to start a new tradition in 2016...instead of opening all our presents on Christmas Day,  we will keep one main present back and our stockings so we can open them on New Years Day.  A much better way to celebrate than being hungover.

What Christmas Traditions do you have?  I would love to know.

Squirrel  xoxoxo