lovely mail

I got some lovely mail the other day. It was from my blogging friend Jo from Through the keyhole. Jo has been blogging for 10 years and had an anniversary giveaway on her blog to celebrate this. I have been reading Jo's blog for a long time - I checked back on her blog and the first comment of mine that I found was in October, 2012. I then checked on my own blog and Jo commented on mine also in October, 2012. Nearly 8 years! That's a long time!

Anyway, I was amazed, delighted, surprised and ecstatic to win Jo's giveaway and the parcel arrived earlier this week.

I very quickly opened my box of delights.

And this is what was inside.

Oh. My. Goodness. Look at all that lovely stuff. Fabric. Yarn. A kit to make a wee sloth. A book to read. Tulips to plant. Flavoured teas and hot chocolate to drink. And lots of chocolate goodies to munch. (Some may have already been munched!) I don't know what I'm going to make with the yarn or the fabric yet but I'll think of something!

Jo wrote a note inside a card with a beautiful drawing of a Cavalier King Charles on the outside of it.

The picture looks just like Jo's Archie and our wee Rosie (still missed after 7 years.) I especially like when Jo shows Archie on her blog. He just makes me smile just like Rosie used to do.

Of course, as soon as the parcel arrived I e-mailed Jo and thanked her but I just want to say thanks again on here. Here's to many more years of you blogging, Jo, and I hope we'll keep commenting on each others blogs for many more years to come.

looking back, looking forward

Looking back:
I have spent a lot of this year trying to change habits. Habits that were ingrained so long that it's been quite hard to change them and the thought patterns that go with them. I'm sounding vague but I really don't want this to turn into a sad post so let me just say, it's been hard to stop doing all the things I used to do for mum. Visiting her, shopping for her, dressmaking for her (it took me a while to realise that my Christmas gift-making process was so much shorter this year because I didn't make anything for mum), doing what she needed/wanted me to do for her. Even when I wasn't doing all that, I was always thinking about what she would need or want. As I said, changing ingrained habits is difficult. I am getting there. Slowly. But I am getting there.

Looking forward:
I'm looking forward to the year just starting. It's always a good excuse/reason to make lists and I love lists. I write lists for everything. Joanna gave me (amongst many other cool presents!) 3 notebooks for my Christmas and, guess what I'm going to use them for? That's right. Lists!

The one with the sewing machine on it will be a list of everything I sew next year. Dressmaking, patchwork, bags, pinnies - they'll all get added into that notebook.

One of the others will be a list of all the dressmaking fabrics in my sewing room so that I can score things off when they're used. Hopefully, the scoring off won't lead to an "I must replace that one" kind of thinking but more "another one down, only 634 pieces to go". (Slight exaggeration there - but only slight! LOL)

I haven't quite decided what I'll use the third one for - maybe knitting & crochet projects I want to make or have completed? We'll just have to wait and see!

I'm going to stop here and thank everyone who has read my wee blog in the past year. There are a lot of people who leave me comments and I thank you most sincerely for that. There are also lots of people who don't comment and I thank you most sincerely for reading. Let me now just wish you and yours a very Happy New Year. See you in 2016!

an early Easter greeting

Douglas and I are going away for a few days over Easter. I can't wait! I am supposed to be packing today - and finding the controllers for the lights. We put them "somewhere sensible" and neither of us can remember where we put them! LOL

Anyway, I wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter before we go.

See you when we get back! Now, I wonder what we'd call a "sensible" place for light controllers???

and so it ends ... and the next one begins!

Remembrance Sunday

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

from the poem, For the Fallen, by Robert Laurence Binyon.

lights out

The Royal British Legion asked people across the UK to switch off their lights between 10pm and 11pm BST tonight and to light candles in a mass act of remembrance to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War.

We should never forget!

Happy 4th of July!

I had a blog post planned showing the final 4 FW blocks and the start of me getting them ready for quilting but, for some reason, I can't get the photos to upload into my Photobucket account. I suspect it's not PB's fault but, rather, the fault of the (pathetic) upload speed that my internet provider is providing me with. I've tried for the last hour to load them up and it's not happening so I'm giving up for now. I'll just try again tomorrow.

In the meantime, for all my friends in the US:

Happy Easter!

lest we forget - 11.11.11

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

John McCrae, May 1915

the world has lost an amazing man

We are, and always have been, Apple people. Our computers are all Macs. We all have iPhones. Douglas has an iPad - and the girls are waiting for him to upgrade to the new version so they can have the old one. I might just fight them for it!

Today, we heard that Steve Jobs has died. I know that Apple will go on but, even to me, who never watched those talks he gave where he showed the world what was coming next, I know Apple will miss Steve Jobs.

I found this on Anna's blog and am reposting it here because . . . well, just because. Please take a look at Anna's post and watch the other video she posted. The world really has lost an amazing man!

10 years on

Happy Wedding Day!

I had a great day today sitting in front of the telly watching the Royal Wedding.

The dress was amazing. Catherine was gorgeous. William saying she was "beautiful" when she arrived by his side in the cathedral made me smile/sniffle. :o)

They're obviously a very happy couple. I hope they have a very long and happy life together.

If, like me, you didn't hive off to London for the day, take a look at The British Monarchy's photostream on Flickr. Some fabulous photos - and a few dodgy outfits and hats!!

Happy Easter!

Shamelessly reposting the same image as I posted last year because it just looks soooooooooooooo good. :o)

Auntie Win

I was honoured to be given these flowers which had been on the table of the church at Auntie Win's funeral yesterday.



This is a poem which Neil, one of her sons, read out as part of her eulogy. He told us Auntie Win always likened herself to the child in the poem, waiting for Leerie to nod to her. Neil said she was also like Leerie himself - bringing light to everyone.

We'll miss you, Auntie Win.

The Lamplighter

My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.

Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,
O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you!

For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;
And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light,
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him tonight!

Robert Louis Stevenson

Happy Mothers' Day- in the UK

Joanna and I were discussing this morning where the apostrophe should be on  "Mothers" in Happy Mothers' Day. I thought it should be after the S as it's the day of Mothers. But then we only have one mother so if it's her day, maybe the apostrophe should be before the S?

We decided that on this rare occasion, it could be in either place. The most important thing is that there has to be an apostrophe! None of the "Happy Mothers Day" milarkey! :oP

Anyway, that was kind of an irrelevant tangent to the point of this post! Happy Mother's Day to all mums in the UK!

We had my mum along this afternoon for afternoon tea. As usual, we all ate too much but, oh it was good!

We had  gingerbread and Belgian loaf (plate at the back of the photo):



Tiffin and tablet on the plate at the back and Mars Bar nests on the front plate:



And scones which Jo made.



We ate them with strawberry jam - in the green dish in the mars bar nests photo and skooshy cream (not shown). Oh boy, they were gooooooood! Everything was! :oD

happy 164th birthday Thomas Edison!

Without him we'd all be in the dark! :oD

This is google.co.uk's header for today. Very cool! (I'm not hotlinking - I've saved it into my own Photobucket. Hotlinking is BAD!!)

Happy Burns' Night

If you're Scottish, you might have had haggis & neeps for tea tonight to celebrate the birthday of our national poet, Robert Burns - aka Rabbie Burns. We did. :o)

As usual, Google came up with a cracker of a header to mark the occasion. I even managed to grab the explanation in my screenshot! :oD

9/11

to all my American friends …

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day, Debs, Jay and Mollipop! :o)