I bought a little frame from the local charity shop, when I took it apart this little watercolour posy came out from the back, I don't think it is that well done but someone took some time over it and I cannot bring myself to get rid of it so there it sits, on a shelf.

No craft work done this past fortnight, instead some minor alterations and some decorating, I always feel like a change at this time of year as I am sure lots of us do. Anyway my lovely fireplace has gone from this:-

To this:-

We have oil fired central heating and the oil is getting far too expensive now. So we decided to have a log burner to help conserve our oil. We can keep it in all day and night, I like the fact that I can go to work and leave the fire in! In case anyone is wondering it is a Clearview Stove - Pioneer 400. Manufactured in Shropshire - yay!! We have decorated the bedroom, but that is for another post!

An exciting (for me!) thing to happen this past week was to 'win' an old kenwood Chef off Freecycle. I had tried twice before so it was third time lucky for me. It came with lots of attachments and is in good working order. I want to make sausages and mill grain as well and I have found a chap who can supply these attachments too. I have passed several things on through Freecycle but this is the first time I have got something for myself.

My good friend Cath has a B&B in a lovely old farmhouse, she does wonderful cooking with her own hens, eggs, pigs etc , sometimes she shares one of her pigs with me, hence the need for a sausage maker and mincer. I have just thought that maybe I will take my camera next time and show you around her place. There are so many things at the moment that I think would make a good post.

Snowdrops galore

I had to work yesterday morning, it was such a lovely day though that I decided to stop by this place to visit. Several people were enjoying the glorious sunshine and 'The Snowdrop' weekend.

The most notable piece of information I have found about St Mary's, Burford, is that it is the resting place of Elizabeth Plantagenet. She was the third child of John of Gaunt the 1st Duke of Lancaster and was born in Burford in 1363. She had three husbands:- John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke; John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter; John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope and Milbroke. She had 5 children with John Holland and 2 children with John Cornwall. There is a monument to her at the Church which I couldn't get a photo of this time, she was buried there in 1426.

Burford itself is a tiny parish of 1108 souls according to the 2001 census. It is the southern most place in Shropshire, and furthest from Shrewsbury the county town. This Church is next to my favourite Garden Centre - Burford Gardens, which deserves a post all of its own soon. Luckily for me it is only about 3 minutes from my place of work so nice to go there during my lunch break occasionally.

Every year the friends of the Church have 'Snowdrop' weekends where they welcome visitors to see the carpets of flowers, and offer refreshments in the Church to fund raise. These photos give an indication of the prettiness and peacefulness of the place, but what is missing is the sound of the birds. They are certain it is Spring and were singing as if their lives depended on it. I only hope they are not too far down the nesting/producing phase as there is still plenty of time for Winter to bite back and remind us it has not finished with us yet.

It was one thing to go and see the snowdrops, many different varieties, but it was quite another to see primroses, daffodils, periwinkle and tree blossom out - not to mention these shy and gently lovelies flowering away to their hearts content under an ancient yew.

I took HPC with me too!

I hope you are having a peaceful weekend.

Today seemed like a spring day so we decided to take a ride and pick up mum for lunch. The sun was shining, the birds singing - but the wind still had a sting in it.

We lunched at The Stiperstones Inn, we could all only manage one course, I would recommend anyone walking in the area to have a meal there, very good portions at a very reasonable price.




StiperstonesInn-ShropshireStar

Afterwards we bimbled along through Snailbeach, The Bog, Hyssington and ended up at the independent supermarket in Churchstoke that is 'Harry Tuffins'. Whilst I chaperoned mum around the shop ~(first time out in ages and still a little fragile) Ian and daughter 2 went around the animals. How many supermarkets do you know that have a 'country park' tagged onto the side of it for the amusement of bored children and surplus husbands?

I found some lovely paper - it looks ideal for craftwork but I don't know what yet!

And a final photo for Anna, HPC's eyes were out on stalks in wonderment of the beauty of this county of mine!!! - I wonder where the next visit will be?

Well I have taken a slightly longer than anticipated Christmas break. Was it a good one? Well it had its good moments for which I am thankful, but an 86 year old mum having a mishap (a freezer drawer accident), and a 64 year old big sister breaking her back in two places (actually did this at the end of November but obviously still incapacitated), together with tooooo many shifts at work and I didn't know which way was up!

Thank goodness for a return to something like normality, although I think the new normality will involve lots more driving to and from mum.

One bright moment was the arrival of Hillary P Cushion. Thank you! thank you! thank you Anna! He has settled in well, although we are having lots more rain again and he didn't look impressed this morning whilst gazing out at a very soggy garden.

Together with HPC came the most gorgeous little quilt, some lovely Christmas stickers and......posh chocolate! I had had a particularly bad day at work and came home to this!! I hope that the PIF parcel I sent off gave someone a lift too!

I promise I will treasure my goodies Anna, and I can honestly say that your handiwork really is as wonderful as it looks in your photos.

The sunrise was spectacular this morning, as was the amount of sparkly ice over our cars!

This was the view from our bedroom window, the farm over the way is where we currently get our free range eggs from. I hope to re-introduce chooks to the garden in 2008.

A non crafty day in this household today, instead I attempted to get my Christmas cards done, and made apple sauce with the last of the apples from our ancient tree.

I had a visitor too. We have plenty of pheasants around the garden at the moment, I wonder if they know it is safer in my garden than out in the 'firing line'

Christmas - The countdown begins!

1st December - the day of our Christmas fete. Lots of the stalls were inside the church and it was too dim and far too crowded for photos. I did manage to get a photo of my lovely friend Rachel striking a very silly pose, she makes 100's of wreaths every year and she had a table in the entrance taking orders.

The Bell Inn Brass Band played jolly festive music, Cath (in the Christmas hat) played and then had to do a quick change in the ladies loo to join in the Crooked Steeple slot. It was sooo cold today!

Poor Rob could hardly play, his hands were numb with cold!

Santa was in his grotto, and was going to turn the lights on at 4pm, we didn't stay this year though. We needed to get in to the warmth.

Here is the view down the street to the Market Hall and church, past the local butchers.

Punch & Judy and various stalls were in the Market Hall, but again I didn't take photos. However, here are a couple of photos of our Millennium Embroidery - isn't it fab? Every organisation in the town took part in supplying something for this piece and it hangs in the Market Hall. I did the black and white paper shop in freestyle cross stitch. Soon afterwards the owners retired and it closed, so it is already a little piece of history. I love the Church and the view underneath.

Did I mention it was cold today? So glad we got a fire in, and just as we got home it started to rain.

And finally, I saw the lady who organized the Christmas box wrapping - she told me the final number we managed to ship was 1,325!!!!!!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Just a quick post to say two things.

Firstly Happy Thanksgiving to all blogging friends across the pond. May you all be having a wonderful and peaceful day.

Second - I have discovered Tom Baxter! I was sitting in the car yesterday waiting for daughter 2 to get her stuff together before heading for school. This came on the radio and I was smitten. I had to search for the song as soon as I came home, it is soooo lovely. In fact it sums up how I feel about Ian. I'm sure most have experienced that heart thumping knee quaking kind of early love, I couldn't imagine as a young girl what being together for 25 years could possibly be like, I'm sure I thought it would be a little bit mudane actually. How wrong I was! Indulge me and press 'play'

Advent Calendar

This is a photo of my eldest when she was 4, with her Advent Calendar. I cross stitched 24 little pictures and then made bags which hang from brass curtain rings, each year these are filled with Quality Street or Roses, with a tiny present in the 24th. It is stretched over wood and is quite heavy. (Three years later I made another for daughter 2)



Anyway, she asked me how she was going to get it to uni and bring it back with her for the Christmas Hols. I decided that this was impractical, so it will be waiting for her when she gets back, I made her this mini one to take back with her this weekend.

A pretty box (I found a whole set of these - packed like a russian doll - all inside one another, at a Car Boot for £1!!)

24 red felt bags, with gold trim glued and pegged til dry

Cute choccy santas and father Christmasses

Bags decorated and filled, for some reason there was an extra father Christmas at this point, oh well!!

Packed into the box, the final touch was a liberal sprinkling of tiny glittery stars after this photo was taken. I hope she likes it.

Bread

We went to Worcester yesterday and I found these wonderful scales. I have wanted a new set for ages and these were in Cookmate - £25 reduced to £15. I like the big stainless steel bowl and the face is big enough to read really easily - I was one happy girl today when using them for the first time.

I make our bread on a weekly basis. I use 1/2 wholemeal 1/2 strong white and although I have a bread maker I always hand make. Bread is getting more expensive as I am sure alot of you will have noticed. Our local bread shop is on the market, the business has been there since the 1800's, I wonder if customers are going to the supermarkets instead. I get my flour from a local bakery, it comes in small paper sacks (about 15lbs) and the last lot cost me 33p 1lb. I keep my flour stockpile in a second fridge in the utility, wrapped in plastic bags it keeps for ages.



After I have kneaded it, it goes back in the bowl to rise. At this point I put a cereal box 'inner' bag over it. When a cereal box is emptied I take out the inner, pull it apart at the seams and wash it. Then it gets used for breadmaking (below), for wrapping things in the fridge, lining cake tins and wrapping our sandwiches for packed lunches. It can be used over and over again






As well as the weeks bread I also made a traybake, waiting to be iced, for packed lunches this week, and a Weetabix Cake to make the most of the electricity used to heat the oven. Weetabox Cake is really easy - and very very tasty. The receipe is below if you want to try it.





WEETABIX CAKE

2 weetabix

1 cup raisins or sultanas - whichever you have

1 cup sugar

2 cups self raising flour

1 cup milk



Mix all ingredients together, put in a loaf tin and cook! I told you it was easy!!

(Notice no fat or eggs in this one).



Well I am off to watch Top Gear with Ian - and wrap the last 1/2 dozen Christmas boxes. I told my friend that they were last, but she gave me a wicked grin and said - 'yeah - until next year!!'

Christmas Boxes

For a couple of weeks now my house been in a production line of Christmas boxes. You see after a very pleasant meal and a couple of glasses of wine I got into conversation with a dynamo of a woman who every year organises a local push for the Operation Christmas Child campaign. She was bemoaning the fact that this year she had lost one of her 'wrapping ladies.' Well feeling very mellow (after the aforesaid meal) I said - 'Oh I can wrap a few boxes for you' - AAArgh! This woman is wonderful but relentless! I have lost count of the boxes I have wrapped but I keep getting a bin liner of new ones to do every few days!! Even so I am sure I am not doing an adequate amount, there were 1090 filled last year!

Operation Christmas Child is a very worthwhile cause. My two daughters have for years filled one every year, just to reinforce the true spirit of Christmas. I am sure everyone has heard of it by now -http://www.samaritanspurse.uk.com/ there is a page on the site that takes you to knitting patterns for beanies and puppets. I think I will do a few throughout the year next year so that I have a 'stock' done in time. Goodness knows I have enough spare balls of wool and oddments.

The only other thing of note around here is that I have been painting the front lawn! Actually its the colour of our downstairs loo - but I only used it to mark out where we are going to make new beds. We have decided that the front lawn has to go. For one thing it is a pain getting the mower round to the front all the time, and also we are cutting down on electricity usage. There will be four corner beds, a central circle and gravel paths inbetween.

Thank you to those who kindly left encouraging comments about my eldest leaving home. I am pleased to say she is doing very well, cooking lots of nourishing and frugal meals and studying hard already. She is coming home for Armistice weekend, she said she couldn't not go to the memorial with her dad. Awwwww!

Hello, I have ventured back into my blog after a somewhat longer than anticipated absence.

Initially I had some computer issues, and then after eldest daughter departed for uni I threw myself into 'other things' to take my mind off her leaving. Well, busy though I am it didn't work and I am missing her very much!



Anyway, I shall be emailing one or two of you later to thank you for your concern, how nice the blogosphere is with women like you in it!!!!!



Just to show you I have been a little bit busy.... a few photos......




6lbs of blackberries picked on a beautiful summers afternoon. I mashed them and made them into a large demijohn of wine. This was busily fermenting away and we were looking forward to a glass or two at Christmas but it was not to be. Someone (not me!!!!!!) managed to smash the aforesaid demijohn and it took me ages to get a gallon of sticky liquid up off the laundry floor!


Then eldest daughter left for uni.... here are the two best friends come to say goodbye, they have been with her since the age of 5. They have been through thick and thin together but are now across the country from Southampton to Manchester. I sneaked this photo - one for the album I am keeping for her.




I have managed to get to one carboot - there is another this weekend which I hope to get to. I got a lovely mixing bowl and this cute pyrex to add to the collection!






A week last Sunday we went to Upton on Severn . Some of you might know that it was severely flooded back in the summer. They organized a 'Cheer Up Upton' weekend and we went to show our support. I think we definitely need a 'blue' in our side, don't you??

I hope to post regularly now, I can't wait to see what you are all doing for Christmas and I am sure there will be some glorious posts coming soon from you all about that.