The Three Amigos plus one

Some cheeky and fun new stock added to my Folksy and Etsy store. Get them before they sell out.

Habits of Summer

The summer holidays are here, although living in Scotland the weather has been a bit of a hit or miss.  I think so far, we've had two sunny days in succession with the rest either being overcast or raining with high winds.  Each day I wake up, peek through the blinds in the hope that it's at least dry, so  I can sit outside and admire my garden. It's all very green out there, and there are buds just waiting to burst open with colour.  On the days the sun makes an appearance I sit outside, I crochet, I embroider, have lunch and listen to the birds singing their song...total bliss!  To date I have finished making Jenny's Mandala (crochet piece) and started a new piece; Sophie's Universe.  I was going to buy the cotton yarn pack for this piece but then had a brainwave and decided to be thrifty; using up all the leftover cotton yarn from my Scheepjes Hygge Cal (rainbow and pastel colour wave).

Since starting to write this post my garden has decided to bloom, it appears to have happened very much overnight.  I always start the year thinking, have I sown enough seeds, have I bought enough plug plants only to be surprised by the abundance of colour as July and August come around.  This year I have only planted lettuce, there's no strawberries, carrots, peas or potatoes this year, like previous years.  For one, I couldn't find my grow bags, we looked in the shed, we checked cupboards, under the stairs and even the attic, nothing. Then secondly I was too late off the mark, I saw the seeded potatoes at my local garden centre and didn't think to buy them at the time.  I went back a week later, and they were gone...sigh! The grow bags did eventually turn up after the season had well and truly started, they were tucked behind the sun loungers; I didn't think to look behind them. Silly me.

Illness struck 11 days before the end of term, and I was in a pretty bad way. A month beforehand I had suffered from Strep Throat (which was treated with antibiotics). I initially thought it was the Mumps as the left side of my neck swelled up so much that I couldn't turn my head or tilt it forward or back; it felt as though I had a grapefruit sprouting from it...very alarming. The antibiotics seemed at first to take the Strep infection away, but by the end of the course I still had some symptoms at the back of my throat, and I foolishly didn't return to the doctor. So,  I go to work near the end of term, even though I'm as white as a sheet and taking dizzy spells and after lunch, I nearly keel over. I've only ever fainted once in my life (in my own bedroom), and I couldn't believe it was going to happen a second time, surrounded by little ones. I was walked off the premises by my manager to Paul's car, where he proceeded to give me a lecture about being ill and taking time off.  For five days I drifted in and out of sleep, no energy, no life about me at all and not to sound too dramatic, I remember telling Paul I thought I was going to die.  I later found out that the Strep Throat had gone dormant (never knew this could happen) and the infection had started attacking other areas of my body (kidneys) hence the dizzy spells and feeling of doom.  I returned to work 7 days later, glad to be on the mend. My work colleagues and manager later told me that I hadn't been myself for over a month, that I had been extremely quiet and withdrawn. On my return, one of my work colleagues even commented on how well I looked and how bright the whites of my eyes were!?!?!  Yes, I know! I must have looked truly awful, a walking zombie springs to mind. Lol!

Anyway, end of term left me feeling truly humbled. I love my job, and I do it so I can give little ones a good start in life (something that I was denied as a youngster). I do it in the hope that I'm making a little bit of a difference and adding that little spark of magic that extra adult in their life should bring. I teach and care for them as though they were my own. I want the little ones to know I feel truly privileged to teach them and wish them all the success in the world.

Good Luck little ones, go show the world what you're made of!

xoxo xoxo

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.

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