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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Lakeland Postcards

Hello! As you can see - I'm back! Back from a really lovely week in such beautiful countryside, and more daffodils than I have ever seen before...We had sunny walks almost every day (will show you the rain pix too!)..

This was our sweet little cottage, near Ambleside, down a long windy lane with a farm gate at the end that you had to open and close to go in and out....you could go for lovely walks straight from the cottage...

These are four pictures I took at Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's house, where we've been many times over the years. I love to see the garden too. The vegetable patch looked pretty, the flower garden still quite bare but in the summer it's filled with blooms....there is a sheep pen too, and this little lamb was my favourite of all the (many) lambs I photographed this week, with its perfect little lamby face and pink ears....

 Beatrix Potter has always interested me, first because I loved her books, especially the illustrations, then because I found her journals and letters interesting to read and re read, and then because I discovered it was thanks to her that so much of the Lake District was protected from developers - she bought up lots of land and farms and bequeathed it all to the National Trust when she died...I can see why she chose to live at Near Sawrey - it's such a pretty, picturesque spot. We had a lovely sunny walk there after visitng Hill Top.

Now I have to be honest...this was the Lake District so it DID rain...for two days...and here are some rainy pictures, first the cloud and mist rolling in off the fells, then the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop with rain swilling down on it, and then a view of the dark cloudy rainy sky...and the final one of puddles...yes, plenty of puddles everywhere...muddy boots plodding down the lanes, wellies splashing through puddles...

Apart from wet walks, you can always stay out of the rain for a while and read, or knit...I finished off the blue cardi while I was away, and here it is having the buttons sewn on..the quilt is the one that came with us on this trip - this one doesn't have a very pretty name, it's just the Floating Four Patch Quilt....

Or you can go to a tea room out of the rain - mmm we always enjoy doing that, in fact we go when it's not raining too. This is our very favourite place for afternoon tea, Jumping Jenny at Brantwood, Coniston. It has wonderful food and a lovely location looking over Lake Coniston - well worth a visit.... we specially like going there in the autumn, when there is mist and wood smoke and it's sooo atmospheric...

Some treats to bring home for the family...we had lots of Kendal Mint Cake this week, it completely took over from the mini eggs for me...the Grasmere Gingerbread is famous and legendary with a secret recipe and I must say I've never tasted any like it any where else... 

                                                        Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
                                                       Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

A little bit of Wordsworth there which I thought of when I saw the daffys at Ullswater Lake, I like those lines more than the more famous ones now....

So, now I'm home again and lots of things to do, including some new Christmas designs (yes really) and lots of lovely blogs to catch up with reading! Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my last post and kind wishes for my little break. I do feel refreshed and will be back with another post very soon. Have a wonderful week, with sunshine, spring blossoms and happy days. xxxxx

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

Jolly Holiday

 Hello! I'm back from our little holiday in York! It was the perfect place for a festive break with its fascinating medieval architecture, lovely little shops filled with treats, yummy food and such pretty Christmas lights and decorations - it had a really magical atmosphere, especially at night.

 We had booked an apartment near the city centre, which actually turned out to be a tiny sliver of a house, nestled up against the city wall in Goodramgate. The house was very old and had become rather lopsided in places - the floors felt like being in the fun house at a fair, or even on a slightly tilting ship - but it all added to the historic atmosphere!

 The shop windows were stunning and I took lots of pictures. Here are just a couple...this one had lots of sewn and stitched fabric gifts....

 And this is one of my favourites - I love the look of pretty little sugar mice ...

And did it snow?! Yes, it did! Just enough to make the city look even more picture postcard lovely, a light dusting of icy white on every roof, and on the crenellated tops of the city walls. This is the snowy view we saw when we woke on the second day of our trip.

 Luckily for us, the roads were clear, so at the end of the week we had a nice drive to Harrogate, through the beautiful Yorkshire countryside with wide sunlit snowy fields dotted with sheep. The Knitting and Stitching Show was packed and buzzing with customers, and I was soon one of them filling my bag with goodies.

Home in time for Mr P's birthday and a lovely cosy family celebration. Thank you for all your good wishes for our trip and for Mr P's birthday! I have missed reading everyone's blogs and am looking forward to catching up again. I know I missed some giveaways...sigh. And then it's back to crafting - lots to do, deadlines looming...stitch stitch stitch..! I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you keep warm!! xx

On A Little Trip

 Rather like these little festive folks, we are also looking happy and smiley and going on a little trip. It's Mr P's birthday at the weekend and in recent years we've gone on a short break, usually to a city, around this time. Tomorrow we're off to York for a few days.

I'll also be popping over to Harrogate to the Knitting and Stitching Show (it will be well worth a visit if you are near enough too).

Travel-wise we are rather hoping it doesn't snow although I'm sure it will look magical if it does! I'm packing my warmest clothes, my camera and some stars - or the pieces of fabric and so on to make them with. Yes, I'm still stitching stars and when I've got enough I'll be showing you what they were for...

Here is my Little Snowman, who I think looks a little anxious. I made him last year for a Crafts Beautiful Christmas project and he has been hanging around with the Gingerbread Boys recently.

Before I go off on my little break I must say a big thank you to everyone who has commented, emailed and visited my blog over the last few days. Thank you, thank you lovely readers! Have a wonderful week, keep warm and snug, and I will soon be back with lots of festive treats to share. xx

The Town of Books

Hello! It's nice to be back. These pictures are of Hay-on-Wye - the town of books - where we went for a few days this week. Such a pretty place, and it really is chock full of bookshops! We spent part of each day browsing among the books and found just a few we had to bring home with us.

Some of the time we spent visiting little cafes and shops, buying apples from a local orchard and walking by the beautiful River Wye. It was perfect weather so sunny wanderings through the valley beneath blue skies and watching the sparkling water flowing fast between the flowery river banks was especially lovely. (The famous nature diarist Francis Kilvert lived nearby and wrote his beautiful observations of the countryside about the Wye Valley scenery.)

And did I find time to do something crafty too? Of course! I began knitting my Autumn Blackberry Cardigan, shown here against the Hydrangea Quilt which came with us on this trip. The holiday home had a deck overlooking the river, so a bit of knitting went on there while Mr P read the paper...and I did a bit more knitting in the evenings too.

I'm really looking forward to catching up with your blogs now. I hope you have a lovely weekend! x