Christmas Week

 We have had a wonderful christmas this year, and i hope you have too.....we are still enjoying our christmas week so i thought i'd just post a few pictures today taken around the house........

 ....i love scented candles and the wintry ones made with cloves, cinnamon and oranges are amongst my favourites.......

 .....we have spent most of christmas week with family and friends, with a lot of laughter and good times...

 ....plenty of festive food.....and willing helpers to cook and serve it......(new xmas oven gloves from this year and some from last year too ).....

                                           .....the christmas cake with simple decorations......

 .....and a little time for crafting here and there too....here is a peek at one of the crochet cushions......

.....i hope all is well where you are and you are enjoying your christmas week too....thank you for dropping in here to see me here today........wishing you a wonderful time in 'the bit inbetween'....back soon xxxxxx

Merry and Bright

 Not long now till the festivites start.....i am enjoying the last 'quiet' day before the holidays begin, and trying to finish off the things that are left to do.....i took the photos of the potting shed last week when i potted up some bulbs, some for our house and some as presents......i decided to put my chipped but still loved CK mugs to a new use...

 ...seeing the new bright green shoots is something i love in the middle of winter....makes me look forward even more to those garden days to come again in a few months....

 ....the potting shed is looking a little festive with children's stars to decorate the windows and a berried wreath on the door.....the tiny tree is now covered in tiny red and white baubles and stands in the kitchen....

 ......wrapping presents by candle light on a grey winter's afternoon, with a cup of tea and a candy cane.....

......i think all the presents are wrapped now, so that's one list ticked off.....and most of the other lists are done too, including my last magazine commission for the year, due for it's deadline in January.....

.....here is this year's christmas cushion for Crafts Beautiful magazine, a christmas present shaped cushion with a hand stitched tag and matching cross stitched card.......

.......thank you for your very kind comments about Merry Mouse, and for all your visits and comments during this busy time and over the year too, i love reading them so much ....i hope to be back very soon to show you my crafty christmas makes... and in the meantime i wish you all a very ......

                                            ***Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays***

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All Through the House

 It is a busy week here...as it is in most homes at the moment....and there is sooo much to think about and so many lists to make and keep checking.......i ran around the house with my camera, taking pictures here and there of the decorations ......the mantel above is in the lounge, which is painted in pale colours......

 .....the year it was painted i bought lots of pastel coloured tree decorations and we add a new one now and then....the look is frosty and icy and the tree has white lights...it looks pretty at night when the old glass ware i keep in that room reflects the lights and the candles, and when the log fire is lit in there.....

 ....as i have mentioned (many times) before, i love red and white decorations, and red and white textiles too...the whole Scandinavian look has been my favourite for a long time and this year the dining room dresser has a lot of red and white along with the usual simple white china that i keep there.......

.....and the sitting room is where we have the red and white decorated tree, ( the merry hearts red and white felt decorations always hang on this tree too)....last year i made a new mushroom merry heart but so far this year i haven't had a moment to make another but i might yet....

 ....lots of baking plans going on in the kitchen..... and i have been enjoying this wonderful book.... Bake & Decorate.... which was suggested to me by the lovely Madelief who kindly thought i would enjoy it, and indeed i do...it has so many lovely decorating ideas for all the seasons, including some charming xmas ones.....

.....and here are some sweet new tiny red and white baubles ready to go on a very small tree.....i hope to show you some more Christmas pictures very soon....
Thank you for popping in to see my Christmas house.....and thank you for taking time to read and comment when things are so very busy.......i hope you are enjoying the countdown to Christmas and finding time to relax and enjoy it all too......have a cheery cosy week....back soon xxxxxx

Still Making Merry

 Hello! Just popping in with a very quick post - don't want to feel too out of touch during this happy holiday time! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. We have had  such a lovely time with the family. We've been enjoying it all so much, and will still be making merry for a few more days yet. We have lovely friends coming tomorrow and more lovely friends the day after that, so it's still rather celebratory here.

                   New plants and bulbs - some lovely presents bringing the promise of spring to midwinter... 

 All the snow has dripped away here but we still have Snow Bites in the new Pip Studio bowl (next to it is my new pink knitting which has kept me busy when ever there's been a spare moment)....

Soon we'll be eating less of these...

                                                                 And more of these....
   I wish you all a happy time in 'the bit inbetween' Christmas and New Year. Back in a few days. xx

Merry Christmas

 It's so close now you can almost hear the sleigh bells jingling....I've wrapped up nearly all the presents, just a toy hamster with special armour to wear (?) and a very small cycling helmet left to wrap which I'll do tonight. Tomorrow we'll be dropping off a few presents here and there to family and friends so I have to make sure they're all ready and labelled properly....

 I've ironed the snowy white tablecloth today, reflecting the snowy outdoors, a family heirloom from my lovely mother in law. Assembling the things, organising the food, trying to make the long stripy candles stand up properly in the tall glass candle holders....tea lights like the reindeer here are so much easier...

And knowing that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and my younger daughter will be home, we can start the festivites and the goodies in the Christmas corner can be opened and enjoyed (apart from the ones we've already been enjoying this week...)

 Such a magical time of year - I do love the Christmas atmosphere, the special feeling - not just about presents or delicious treats, but a kind of magic in the air, a time of stillness and beauty, of peace and joy - I know other adults who feel it too - the sense of wonder is not just confined to children....

So I wish you all a heartfelt Merry Christmas - thank you for reading my blog this year, for commenting with such sweet, thoughtful, witty and amusing comments and taking the time to do so - I treasure every one of them. I've also loved reading your blogs too, so full of life and fun, ideas, creativity, humour and joy. I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas and all your merry wishes come true. xxx

Merry Wishes

 Snow again! We woke up this morning to find more snow had fallen, but Mr P told me it was quite nice to walk on - crunchy and crisp. Later on the sun came out and the sky was blue. I spent the morning finishing off some work projects....

This meant I could then clear up the dining room which had become the sewing room, put all the fabric and books away, and clean it ready for...well Christmas! It's nearly here and there are still things to do...

I was helped in my work by a little of this - the most delightful white chocolate and cranberry fudge which I made the other day from the recipe on Green Rabbit Designs blog - everyone here loves it! No one knew I could make fudge (neither did I) but this is so easy and so deeeelicious I'll be making it again. Thank you for sharing it Vivienne!

 This afternoon I spent a long time tramping about in the snow with my elder daughter and the children, doing last minute things, all quite slowly because that's how 3 year olds like to do them as I'm now remembering! I also like to see how much sliding goes on by children who think it's great fun and unlike adults don't see it as something to be avoided at all costs!

Now I'm home and warm and cosy, thawed out nicely, and looking forward to lighting the candles and sewing my quilt while watching a movie with Mr P, who is also feeling cheery as he finishes work tomorrow for a nice long break. I hope you are enjoying the cosy wintry evening too. Thank you for visiting me here and for your sweet and lovely comments. I'll be back again before Christmas comes...Sending merry wishes to you all. xx

Hearts For You

 I've named this post after this little sampler I stitched a few years ago, which is fitting in well with my red and white Christmas house at the moment. The little stripy hearts here are some new ones I've made, but I always have hearts hanging all around the house - it wouldn't feel like home without them!

 I love to have some hyacinths around at Christmas time too (in fact I love them any time!) - the scent is one of my favourites and I love the freshness of the blooms combined with all the Christmassy things. It's nice to add a little sewn heart to a plant for a gift too....or you can just add one to your own plant to look pretty, if you wish...

More tasty treats are being squirrelled away - I don't like to put things in the deep dark cupboards in case I forget they're there and only find them in spring.... So I have a little Christmas corner where yummy things begin to collect about now....

Pretty cards, arriving each day - I still haven't found the perfect way to display them - but the ones I like best are put in prominent positions like on the dresser, the mantlepiece or the kitchen window sill, and others are clipped onto ribbons and hung from the tops of doors..

Is it REALLY going to snow again this weekend?? Everyone keeps saying so, and when I came back tonight it felt sooo icy, as if there really was snow in the air. So the cosy quilts and winter cushions are out on the sofas ready for some serious snuggling. I hope you are having a wonderful week, with all the Christmassy plans going well - and maybe a little time for something crafty too. Keep warm and cosy. xx

A Little Stitching

 This is the little creature I mentioned I was sewing the other day - Liberty Bear is her name. She is made from soft pink fleece as you can see - I couldn't think where I got the fabric from at first and then I suddenly remembered that it was in a bag of fabric one of my sisters gave me after sorting out her stash. I loved the look of the Liberty fabric heart, and added a little bow too.

 This little bear is part of a gift for a certain baby who I know will love the feel of the fabric and will also enjoy biting it, chewing it and dribbling on it too! It's easy to wash in the machine so that won't matter at all.

 Here is a virtual cookie for you - it's a gingerbread one and it was iced (like the ones in my last post) with the fabulous icing pen (made by Tala, bought from Lakeland, for those who kindly enquired!)...

                                                          And now it's time to relax ....

To do a bit of knitting and cosy up for a peaceful evening. I hope you are warm and cosy too, and all your candles are lit and your fairy lights are twinkling! xxx

Twinkle Twinkle

Winter stars twinkling in the frosty sky - and fabric stars twinkling on a ribbon garland on my dresser. The ribbon here also has some little twists of red and white selvedge scraps added here and there randomly along it. The idea is to create a relaxed look, nothing too perfect - it's just for fun...

It's been rather a starry time here in other ways too. Like going to Charlie's first Nursery Nativity, where we got this song sheet (crumples thanks to little Daisy) where the words had a slight tweak on the version we normally sing. I do love how children's educators are now so creative with nursery rhymes and songs - and have sometimes added lots of new verses to ones the ones we used to sing.

 There has also been some gingerbread baking again - some of the starry kind, and some of the heart, tree, gingerbread men, holly leaf kind....

....but as this post has a starry theme I'll just show you the starry cookies for now. I iced them with my new icing pen - I was so thrilled to discover this - my drawing with it is not quite as good as with my Rotring pen but it's definately a step in the right icing direction, and much less stressful than those squidgey icing bags.

And here is another use for my little fabric sewn stars - on a twinkly lit up star and berry wreath. I love the little Christmas lights sooo much, I look forward to seeing them beaming through the darkness every day.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, and enjoying all the good things this season is bringing. Sending you lots of starry moments, cosy warmth and twinkling lights. xx