Looking forward.......

What a whirl of a week hey?!

We had a wonderful Christmas........... lots of pressies, food, friends, laughing, glitter, .........and here we are at the end of 2011............. wondering what 2012 holds..........

There are fairly big changes likely for us in 2012, which may well mean we won't spend another Christmas in our farm house by the sea, so I was very quietened while taking the decorations down today.  I am not one for keeping the decorations up into the New Year, preferring to clear the decks and start anew.  I feel full of hope and anticipation for the new, but also truly blessed for all that my family  have had in the 2011.

At supper time, we discussed things we would like to achieve in 2012 and I think we all chipped in some good ideas.  I have a list of personal things, but most boil down to being a little more confident and a little less 'scaredy'!  

I want to start painting again (crochet has totally taken over my life!).

I would like to get some of my paintings, (or maybe even just one) into a gallery.

I want to say 'yes' more often when I know I can do something, but am just too scared.

I want to spend more time playing my instruments and stretching myself technically.

I would like to do more walking as a family.

There are of course a few more here and there, but I think in saying those few aloud, I may be more determined to stick to them!  Please feel free to ask in a month or so how I am progressing!!

Today our house guests left and we pushed furniture back into its familiar places (I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed tonight!!) We had lunch and then went out to blow away some Christmas cobwebs and stretch our legs.

It was certainly a good stretch, as following hubby's lead, we went way off track and ended up trudging around for ages with me saying 'I reckon we should turn around and go back' on loop.............of course, eventually it was decided that we may not be headed in the right direction and we should turn around and go back......(HOOORRRAAAAYYY!).......muddy, wet and exhausted

I think I shall find it very difficult to stay awake to see in 2012, as the bad sleeping, late nights, long walk and fresh air have all added up .......I give myself a further hour before I am sparko!

In the past couple of weeks a  few of my wonderful fellow bloggers have given me the Liebster award, which I hope to blog about in the next week.......I am ever grateful to the inspirational people I have added to my friends since beginning blogging, you have all made 2011 an even cheerier and more wonderful year.

On that note, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that for each of you, 2012 will be the year when some of the seemingly impossible things you dare to hope for, actually come true.

Faithx

That was the week when I.......

Well..........its official..........

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!

This week I have mainly been.........

Wrapping, writing, baking, singing, crocheting, sewing, yawning........

Want to see in pictures?

Nearly a scarf.......but then became a cushion...(time management!)

His and hers hotties

Sparkly armwarmers for my nieces

Twin snakes for twin nephews

Mince pies (traditional and yummy coconut topped ones thanks to Ruth)

Marzipanned cake

Kids craft for mini gifts

So after all that..........I think I may well take a couple of days off.......what's that you say?.........it's Christmas eve tomorrow?........ah, well.........maybe I'll have a nap next week.

Just want to wish you all a peaceful/exciting (delete as applicable) magical, sparkly, tasty, smile-filled Happy Christmas!

Sending you all warm wishes for a lovely Christmas.

Faithx

Reasons to be Cheerful!

Well, being a Thursday (gosh these weeks whip around quickly!) I am going to link up with Planet Penny and my

Reasons to be Cheerful!

Well we are back from our hollies and I feel...........rested and rejuvenated (?) ......we had a brilliant time, but it was all over too quickly and we packed so much in I was falling asleep by 9pm!

Its exciting to be back into the thick of it for Christmas though and now the panic can really set in!

There was snow on our hols (and by some freak of nature it had only snowed in some places)

There were reindeer (Marigold this one is for you!)

The boys painted some ceramics (I was itching to have a go myself)

And when I got home I had this lovely parcel from the lovely Victoria at yarnroundhook seven beautifully delicate snowflakes, a handmade felt heart and a candy cane and Christmas chocolates to boot, all carefully wrapped........what a lovely gift to come home to! 

Another thing I am incredibly happy about is that this afternoon we moved all our cows and calves over the fields and roads and into the shed for winter.......for me, this time is always slightly fraught with tempers rising and plenty that could go wrong!  But they are all in, munching on their silage and feeling a little more comfortable on their straw beds.  I did take a photo of them all chilling out, but it was too dark to come out, so instead I will leave you with a picture of one of our lovely ladies and a calf just minutes old, born in the spring when the weather was a little friendlier!

So there we have it.....my reasons for being cheerful right now, if you would like to see other people's reasons for being cheerful, please go on over to Planet Penny's blog and maybe join in too?

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and thoughts.........I always appreciate them so much and yet again feel overwhelmed by my lovely bloggy friends.

Reasons to be cheerful!

Are you bobbing along or trying to keep up?

Somewhere between the beginning of the week and now, things have changed up a gear, I'm trying not to panic, but I must admit I feeling a little pressured! 

This morning a funny thing happened and made me feel a little reflective (in a thoughtful, non-shiny way!)

A friend requested that I make her some Christmas decorations and I was pleased to be asked so hooked a couple of cotton snowflakes and a couple of golden stars, I blocked them carefully (more so than if they had been for me!) and put them in an envelope for when I next saw her.  Well, unfortunately, after hoping to see her at my local toddler group this morning and her not making it, I put them under my chair to take home again.  While we were singing on the mats right at the end, I saw someone doing a really odd stretch (the type a young man does on a date to the cinema with his new girl!) and the next thing, my envelope was being folded up and put up a sleeve of a lady I don't know.  It is very possible that her name might have been the same as the name written on the envelope, but somehow I think that is irrelevant.  I came home feeling a little odd about the whole thing, but giving her the benefit of the doubt I rang the group leader to see if said lady had a sudden realisation of what she had done and handed it in.......but no..........I am not confrontational and I hope she will at least put the decorations on her tree.......I hope the stars sparkle and catch her eye and the snowflakes look crisp and white ..........

Anyway.....I digress.....its Thursday and I am going to join in with Penny from Planet Penny with my

Reasons to be Cheerful!

I have been trying to think of reasons apart from the obvious one to think of.........ummmmm.....  but no.......much as I try I can't get away from the fact.......

I AM GOING ON MY HOLS TOMORROW!!

We are off to centerparcs tomorrow along with my brother, his wife and their three boys and we are going to have a wonderful time!

There are reindeer, snow, a brilliant swimming pool, great cycle paths, lots of activities....phew, I am sooooo excited!

This week, I made myself a woolly hat to keep me toasty in all the (fake) snow that will be on our hols!

Littlest modelling!

I won some beautiful crocheted snowflakes from the lovely Victoria on yarnroundhook.  I am so looking forward to adding them to our family's decorations....how lucky am I!!

Christmas festivities with the children.

This is our towns traditional lantern parade, where the children make their lanterns and the council provide a little torch light to go inside, then there is a procession through the town finished off with Father Christmas turning on the lights.  Here you see my boys all full of mischief  (the photos that followed got decidedly more ridiculous!)

There you have it.....oh, by the way, did I mention I was going on holiday?!

Hope you all have lots of reasons for being cheerful too, why not go and check out the other ones on Planet Penny's blog and maybe join in too!

Year of projects (wk16)

Well what a week this has been.  Both big and medium boy have been sent home sick from school, I've dashed here and there, cleared up sick.......... and to boot.........they were generous enough to share it with me!

I've also done more than my fair share of crochet with a sprint to the finish on my flower scarf which has already been given and has winged its way to sunny S.Africa.

For all you super-clever folks out there who guessed Springbok last week, I take my hat off in awe, I've got to say my dreadful crochet definitely didn't make it an easy guess!

I re-attempted the springbok for my FIL, and I'm not sure telling you that this photo is a bad one is convincing enough!!  I couldn't really say where it all went wrong, but it looked quite good and then I decided to make a badge so it would hide all the ends sewn in and tied off in such a small piece, and to be honest the more I worked the worse it got!  I ended up quickly taking a picture and packaging it up before I did any more damage! I'm sure it will have high amusement value!!

I was very inspired recently  by Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch lovely knitted armwarmers and thought they would be a great gift for my two nieces, so I found this crochet pattern and gave them a go, with I think quite good results.

 

Both dreadful pictures......and how bad that I got biggest boy to model some girly gloves for me!  I made them longer than the pattern suggests and will definitely make another pair for my second niece.

In other news I am doing the sums and looking at the list and things are starting to look very busy!  I have another blanket on the starting blocks, two snakes, another pair of armwarmers, my mum's present.........

So same time next week then? 

If you would like to see others Year of Project work then check out here. 

Reasons to be cheerful!

It's Thursday so I am linking up with Planet Penny with my

Reasons to be Cheerful!

My reasons for being cheerful ( among other things) this week are all Christmassy...........for me, I love to begin decorating the house on the first of December, as the time from now until the big day is like the blink of an eye.

So first things first..................

Our tree is up.........

(it will take a week or so to get other bits and bobs up, but we've started!)

My biggest boy has written his letter to Father Christmas.....unprompted.....but remembering to say thank you first for last year's presents.

My in-laws got on their plane today and they had their pressies with them.........I was so relieved to finish this scarf (yes its just pretending to be an lampshade cover!) .

So short, sweet and Christmassy.  My house is making me very cheerful with all the lovely sparkly things..........what is making you cheerful?  Why not pop over to Planet Penny's blog and join in too?