Wool, Wiltshire and All Manner of Wonderful Things!

Archive for December, 2016

Photo Challenge- Spirit

The last prompt for the 2016 Photo Challenge was Spirit.

In 2009 my husband Mr E had cancer. He had a gruelling six months of chemo and radiotherapy. He had been self-employed so we were dependent on my earnings and I had to keep working whilst supporting him. Our youngest had just started uni. My step-mother had a stroke and was in hospital too.  It was a question of heads down and keep going a day at a time.

And then it was all over. He had an all clear. Our eldest son got married and my lovely in-law family gave us a holiday in Crete.

What sustained us through all of this was our faith and our love of the natural world.

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This church set amongst the trees and mountains of Crete, taken on that holiday in 2009, encompass this perfectly.

Next year Sandra and I have devised a new photo challenge and we very much hope you will take part. Once again here are the prompts.

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Don’t forget to leave a link to your Spirit picture in the comments.

Happy Snapping 2017!

 

 

 

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Thank you Secret Santas.

But first a great big thank you to Sheila at Sewchet for once again organising the Secret Santas. I know it involves a lot of organising and Spreadsheets, oh my. Few minutes silence here of awe and thanks…

I was away for Christmas and saved my parcels till my return.

So now,  a great big thank you to Anne Lawson who sent me a parcel all the way from sunny Australia.

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Oh my. Would you look at this.

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Vintage fabric, lace, a bookmark, a beautiful shell drawing. Love, love,love them. Am wondering if I could get a dress for my granddaughter from the fabric, or a stocking or or or… Thank you Anne.

And then from Nikki at Sewing Nikki came this.

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and inside this was a project bag

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and inside the project bag was

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all these goodies. Oh my, oh my. Thank you Nikki. I adore the robin and the the buttons. And those books, what shall I make first?

Thank you all so much. Now time for a cup of tea, some Christmas cake and a look through my bootie.

Photo Challenge- Music

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Wind in the trees, nature’s own music.

Please leave a link in the comments to your music picture.

Next week’s prompt and the last for this challenge is Spirit or Spiritual .

Happy Snapping.

This week!

We are now in the countdown to Christmas. It’s a time of year when I really really wish I lived closer to my grandchildren. I do so love a Nativity play.

However a newspaper reviewer on Sky news reminded me the other day that you can’t just have  a simple nativity play, now every child must have a line to say and it takes forever. I remembered at that point the agony of sitting through the school productions that lasted nearly three hours. So easy to romanticise life!

Ah well, finally sent out all my Christmas cards. This is a different experience than it was even as little as 10 years ago. I used to write long letters to friends and family I didn’t see much. Now they are all on Facebook. I see the pictures of the little ones, the triumphs and the funny moments. So much more a part of people’s lives than we used to be. Facebook comes in for a lot of criticism and probably justified, but for staying in touch with distant relatives and friends who moved away, it is good. I still write letters but they are much shorter now!

Present buying is over. I am happy with the gifts I have for my family. A benefit of being retired is the time to think and research gifts thoroughly. Here’s hoping I got them right. My Secret Santa packages have been dispatched. I had such talented people to send to, it was a big challenge for me. The Guest room which was so full of stuff last week, is much emptier, but now I can see the projects I thought I would make this year and didn’t get round too. Oh dear.

I attended a wonderful monthly talk at the U3A entitled” Dickens, did he invent Christmas?” Course he didn’t but the talk was terrific. The best of the four I have attended so far. The speaker came from the local Dickens society in Malton. Malton having a connection to Dickens and the Christmas Carol. Dickens had a friend in Malton whose office provided the description for Scrooge’s office. Not certain that is something to boast about or not. The Speaker read extracts from the Christmas Carol , and did so jolly well, and she spoke of the origins of all our Christmas traditions. The only that really reflects Dickens being the christmas card images of Carol singers in Victorian Dress, oh and the consumption of turkeys instead of goose.

The talks are on Tuesday mornings and we get coffee and this time mince pies. Time for a chat with new people. It helps being from Yorkshire. People just bowl over to each other and introduce themselves. Anyway there is always a second-hand book stall. Three for a £1. I mean three for a POUND. So far I have bought three books at each meeting, that means twelve in total, and as I am still on my read through the alphabet challenge at the library, self-inflicted, I now have a very big heap of books on the bedroom floor.

These were my latest haul.

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Talking of my reading challenge has anyone ever come across an author whose name begins with an X? Just asking, there must be one, surely.

Knitting has gone on too. I managed another 6 rows on the cable cardigan. And I finished the next 6 blocks of the crochet blanket.

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And that is about my week. Next week, I have a Christmas cake to ice and a dentist check up which means shopping in York.

Hoping you all enjoy the last week before Christmas.

Take care.

xx

Scrap Happy December!

Some little Christmas makes for the Secret Santa and friends.

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These were very fiddly.

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Heart shaped ornaments, and the other side

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Joining with Kate for Scrap Happy

Have alook at these other Scrap Happy Posts too.

Usually has a scrappy post:

Gun at https://rutigt.wordpress.com (in Swedish and English)

Titti at http://tittisquiltlek.blogspot.se (in Swedish only)

Heléne at http://quiltochsom.blogspot.se (in Swedish only)

Sometimes has a scrappy post:

Eva at bambisyr-evaj.blogspot.com (in Swedish only)

Sue at sewingmagpie.blogspot.com (in English only)

Nanette at http://stitchandsow-homeandgarden.blogspot.com.au (in English only)

Lynn at https://thetialys.wordpress.com (in English only)

Lynn at https://thetialys.wordpress.com (in English only)

Norma at https://shesewsyouknow.wordpress.com (in English only)

Lynda at: https://pixilatedtoo.wordpress.com (in English only)

Birthe: http://birthesrom.blogspot.no (in Norwegian only)

Turid: http://densyendehimmel.blogspot.se (in English and Norwegian)

Debbierose: https://sewrosey.wordpress.com (in English only)

Tracy: https://itsatsweetsday.wordpress.com/ (in English only)

Jill: http://nicepieceofwork.wordpress.com/ (in English only)

Claire: https://knitnkwilt.wordpress.com/ (in English only)

Jan: http://thesnailofhappiness.com/ (in English only)

This week!

So this is how the room where I should be creating in looks right now.

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Yup that’s right I can barely get in through the door. Something will have to be done… later. I finally found the bag in which my purchases from the Vinatge fair lurked.

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I do not approve of fox hunting at all, but couldn’t resist the jug with the foxes head for a spout. Nor this one

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So cute.

Kathy reminded me of home made pomanders so I just had to make one.

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Claire sent me a lovely surprise . Thanks Claire, it’s so pretty.

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Was rather pleased with this pie I made last week. Left over roast chicken, bacon, mushrooms and a white wine tarragon sauce topped with puff pastry.

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Christmas shopping was finally completed on Saturday and I couldn’t resist this little fellow.

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Maybe it’s time for some tidying up now….

Have a good week everyone.

Yarn Along!

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I do love John Steinbeck and I really REALLY love this book. The descriptions of the land are so incredible, lyrical indeed. They make you want to go out and feel your own garden, the soil, the plants and trees. The prose is simply sublime.

That would be a bit of Secret Santa knitting occurring this week. Soon be time to pack it all up and sent the goodies on their way.

Linking to Ginny for Yarn Along

Photo Challenge – One a Week, 2017

The 52 week Photo Challenge 2016 was such good fun that Sandra from Wild Daffodil and I have created a new challenge for 2017. Called One a Week, it is what it says on the tin. One word each week acting as a prompt for our photographs.You can take special pictures or use ones from your archive. You can participate as and when you fancy. It will run Tuesday to Tuesday and you can leave a link to your photographs on Wild Daffodil  To give you time to get ready here is the list of Prompts.

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Thanks to Rainbow Junkie for making our list look so good.

We really enjoyed the 2016 challenge and would love to have you along in 2017. Wild Daffodil links her entries to a haiku, full details of this appear on her blog, Wild Daffodil

Look forward to seeing your pictures

Happy Snapping!

 

Photo Challenge- Creation

After food and shelter, surely the need to create comes next. Certainly the blogs I follow are full of that need and its fulfillment. The fruits of people’s creation is everywhere to be seen and I love public art in unexpected places.

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Pheasant at Lacock Abbey. And a Gallery of some of the Creations I have encountered this year.

Please leave a link to your Creation pictures in the comments. We love to see them all.

Tomorrow I will post details of the 2017 photo challenge.

Next weeks prompt is Wrap.

Happy Snapping!

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