Christmas-Every-Day

image from Freepik

I trundled over to Kirkwall yesterday to pay my annual "Mother Christmas" visit to Beverly, where I then spend time hanging the fruits of my gift-wrapping endeavours for her to open one each day during December.  It's a rod I made for my own back tradition that I started a good number of years ago, before Adrian and I moved up to Orkney.  Beverly very rarely came south for Christmas, a combination of her working shift patterns and the unpredictability of the weather for travelling at that time of year.  I came across the idea when I was idly surfing Pinterest one day, and thought it would be a lovely idea to do for Beverly to remind her that we were thinking of her even if we couldn't be together 😊

I can't show you all the little gifts laid out ready for wrapping, just in case Beverly takes it into her head to read my blog for once 😉  Suffice to say, the two bags above were stuffed with all the little goodies I came across for this years Christmas-Every-Day.  I keep wondering when she will grow out of it but she shows no sign of doing so thus far ~ and she'll be 34 at the end of this coming January 😏

Ta-daa ~ everything hung up ready for this year's tradition to begin!  It didn't take too long to get the job done, despite the "assistance" of Belle, one of my grandkitties 😉  The cats are also the reason why the little parcels are rather bunched up, rather than dangling more elegantly 😄

Adrian and I had both planned on going to see Beverly but unfortunately he wasn't feeling too well.  He had the first of the two shingles vaccinations on Wednesday and it's left him feeling very tired and "flu-ey".  He would normally have carried the stash of little gifts for me, of course, but I was able to get everything packed into my trusty shopping trolley.  There was plenty of room on the bus over to Kirkwall, so I had a seat near the front and tucked my trolley in beside me 😊

I had a lovely couple of hours with Beverly, and got the 12.26pm bus home again.  I get on and off the bus at Tesco in Kirkwall, and I suppose it takes me about 10 minutes or so to walk from there to her flat.  By the time I'd got home and had some lunch, I didn't really feel like doing much else so had a lazy afternoon.

I did finally get something done with my little air plants, though.  I bought them when we were down south back in September, and managed to get them home unscathed!  I propped them up in a pot with one of my succulents until I'd decided how to display them ~ and there they sat for three months 😏  As you know I'm currently sorting out my craft room (aka the dumping ground 😉), and in one of the boxes I was emptying out I found the perfect little vintage container for them.  It was something I came across when I was sorting through stuff at Mum and Dad's earlier in the year.  Dad had no use for it and said I was welcome to take it 😊

It's stamped on the base "Hillstonia" and although I haven't been able to find much information online, it would appear to have been made by a company called Moira Pottery.  I was a little confused when I read the Wikipedia article as it said that the Hillstonia range was for forcing bulbs and containing plants ~ I couldn't quite see how you could get bulbs into the very slender opening along the top of the container!  However after I did a general search for Hillstonia pottery, I came across an identical container to the one I have on Etsy.  The seller there describes it as a posy vase, which makes much more sense 😄

I don't know where my Mum got it from but I suspect it came from my Great Aunt Mary, who had some interesting items.  I now have a number of things that were both hers and my Grandma's (Mary's older sister), none of which are worth very much monetarily but are nevertheless a lovely link to that older generation.

My little air plants sit in the posy vase beautifully, with that narrow opening firmly holding them upright.  I've placed it on the kitchen windowsill, which should hopefully remind me to check them regularly to see if they need spraying/soaking! 

Little words of wisdom

 

And there it was...

all gone!

The wind and rain disposed of the snow, thankfully.  Snowy scenes are very lovely to look at ~ rather less lovely to try to get out and about in!  And now that I'm in my 60s, I'm much more conscious that a fall could do more damage than it might have done a few years ago 😳

I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks back that there were still a handful of flowers to be seen in the garden.  Before the snow arrived the patio roses were putting out some new buds, and Eustacia Vye had two that were opening.  All the unopened buds seem to have come through the snow unscathed but the two above are looking a tad brown on the edges of the petals.  I deliberately chose repeat flowering roses, and I'm really pleased to see them living up to their descriptions of flowering into early winter 😊

With the snow all washed away, I had no excuse for not getting out to the craft room yesterday 😄 I just took a handful of photos to share, as it really doesn't look like I've done anything much out there at all ~ despite working for a few hours both in the morning and after lunch!

I mentioned previously that I'd bought some vinyl cloths to cover the old work bench and the new work tables.  The cloth on the old work bench is in a grey linen effect, and makes a nice surface for the dolls' houses to sit on as it sort of resembles concrete.  I think I will buy some more pieces to lay beneath the houses that will be displayed on the other cabinets.  It'll probably be better to get the cloths bought sooner rather than later so that they match the piece I've already got.  Wow, look at me ~ thinking ahead for once 😉   

It was a tad chilly in the craft room, so I wheeled out my trusty little oil-filled heater.  I haven't used it very much since I've had it so I had to have a good look at the instructions again 😏 It's very efficient and soon warms the room very nicely indeed.  It isn't in the most convenient position here, though, so I think I will shuffle things around when I've got more space cleared.

The two new work tables are now covered with vinyl cloths in a rustic brown oak plank effect.  You'd think it would be a simple job to just chuck some cloths over the bloody things, but there was a fair bit of tugging and shuffling involved to get said cloths laying how I wanted them 😒 The cloth to the right is all tucked up, by the way, as I decided to leave my Dremel scroll saw permanently clamped to the table.  I may scoot it along more towards the middle of the table, though, as it's rather close to my working area.

The two little white (bedside!) cabinets fit perfectly beneath the table, with some space left on top of them for storing other things.  I've had them for a number of years and the drawers are very handy for storing smaller items, although I was thinking yesterday that it might be a good idea to label said drawers with their contents 😄 

This was another "little" job that took absolutely ages to accomplish.  All these odds and ends had been just stuffed haphazardly into a cardboard box previously.  I've decided that if I'm going to make my craft room a comfortable space to work in, then I first need to get to grips with sorting and tidying everything in there.  It's very frustrating trying to find things that I'm sure I have but just can't find.  Anyhoo, all the pieces in this crate are now taped like-with-like, and the oddments are all together in a separate pot within the crate.  I also placed another plastic box in the crate as well to keep the lengths of wood better corralled.  It actually started life as a shoe box but the front flap broke ~ I simply flipped it on it's end and it became perfect for the job 😊  (Further up the page you can see a second repurposed shoe box, again due to the front flap breaking, which I'm using for dolls' house wallpaper beneath the old work bench.)

This would actually be a more convenient place for the heater, so I may see if there is enough floor space to squeeze the crate beside the left-hand work table.

The contents of these two crates had been in one very much larger crate.  I'd just used it as a dumping ground for odds and ends of wood ~ or so I thought.  Once I'd decided that it would be more workable to have a couple of smaller crates rather than the big one, I obviously started to empty it out.  Yes, there were indeed the odds and ends that I thought were in there.....along with quite a supply of dolls' house windows, doors, and stairs 😮  I was very annoyed with myself, as I bought a load for Augusta Lodge that I wouldn't have needed to had I been keeping everything tidy 😒  Oh well, I suppose they will be made use of at some point with other kit-bashing projects 😏 

Hopefully I'll continue to make progress in the craft room this week, and have more to show for my efforts!  In the meantime, I'll leave you with the beautiful sight that greeted me when I opened the bedroom curtains this morning 😍

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)    

Hazelton

 

new blog post at Hazelton ~ tales from a miniature town:

Still nothing to report.....

Cast aside...

I should clarify here that I haven't been cast aside 😏 Nope, what's actually been chucked to one side in disgust is the Christmas gift blanket *sigh*  You have no idea, my lovelies, how much the bloody thing was getting on my nerves.  I have done half the envelope border but just got so fed up with it that I couldn't be bothered to continue.  I've decided that the intended recipient will have to have something different for Christmas this year, and I will make a fresh start on a new blanket for next Christmas.

I will finish the blanket at some point, because I have decided that it will be useful after all as a lap blanket when I am sitting at the computer in our rather draughty hallway 😊 

Once I'd made the decision to put the gift blanket to one side for the time being, I got stuck into the baby blanket that I'm making for Beverly.  Well, not for her personally ~ it's a gift for her friend 😄 I've finished the body of the blanket now and have just made a start on the ruffles.  It is lovely yarn (King Cole Cottonsoft DK) to work with, very soft, and would make a lovely jumper or cardigan.  As I predicted I ordered way too much yarn, so I shall have a look through my little collection of crochet baby clothes books to see if there is anything in them that I fancy making.  I shall probably leave it until the baby has arrived, though, so that I know if I'm making something for a girl or a boy ~ and will also make it in at least the next size up as I'm sure the new parents will have lots of first-sized  baby clothes!

And whilst I have been very good and not added any more to my yarn stash, I'm afraid I did succumb to temptation and bought myself another tapestry kit 😳  This one really caught my eye but it was out of stock at the time I bought the cactus one.  I filled in the "notify me when back in stock" option and just couldn't resist when Wool Warehouse let me know that they had it in again.  I know, I'm very naughty 😏 

The end of the gardening season...

image from Freepik

for us, anyway.  Winter is definitely upon us and with all the snow we've had this week, I haven't even ventured out of the house let alone done anything else in the garden 😏  Just a handful of photos to share, then there'll be no more garden pics until next spring I guess!

Just like the previous couple of winters I haven't managed to get the dahlias out of their pots, but at least they are in a more sheltered position this year  in the arbour seat.  Hopefully that will keep the worst of the wet weather from them!  I need to rearrange the pots at some point, though, so that I can fit the two big ones in there as well.

Winter/spring bedding has now taken the place of the tender perennials in the tubs and planters.  This tub is to the left of the arbour seat, and is planted with pansy matrix mix Coastal Sunrise.

The planter on the kitchen windowsill is filled with the same pansies as in the tub above.

The tub on the other side of the arbour seat is filled with myosotis (forget-me-not) Mon Amie Blue.  I had a handful of plants left so I put them in the raised bed in the new patio area in the front garden.

No more room at the inn!

I just about had enough room to fit in all the tender perennials.  I also brought in a couple of the solar garden lights to protect them over the winter, along with some windchimes that I don't want to get too bashed about.  I've got another solar light in the central raised bed in the back garden patio area that I really must try to remember to bring inside as well ~ once it's safe underfoot to venture outside again!

I did leave myself a little bit of work space, should I feel like sitting in a cold greenhouse anytime over the next few months 😉

This funny little wet patch on the gatepost at the side of the back garden caught my eye from the kitchen window yesterday ~ I thought it looked like a pear on a stalk, with a couple of leaves...

which later morphed in a fat lady (looking very much like yours truly!) sheltering beneath an umbrella 😄

Little words of wisdom

 

Bits and pieces

image from Clipart Library

As per usual, I'm behind with my garden photos 😉 

I'm really happy (and not a little surprised!) that we've managed to get as much done as we have over the last few months, but must confess that I was glad when put our garden work on hold until the spring, as I was starting to feel pretty tired!

There were still a few flowers to be seen in the garden last week, though.  I'm not sure what this shrub is called as the writing on the label has disappeared, but I'm pretty sure it's viburnum bodnantense Dawn.  It was totally smothered by weeds before I got this section of the border cleared, so it's very pleasing to see it flowering.  Less pleasing to see the bloody weeds coming through again though 😒

These two plants are papaver rupifragum.  I was surprised to see the larger plant flowering again, plus the newly-forming buds, at this time of year.  Like the viburnum I guess it was happy to have been released from it's weedy prison 😏

Some of the fox and cubs plants (pilosella aurantiaca) were also flowering.  

Early last week I tried to use my somewhat dodgy photographic skills to capture a picture of the moon.  It was late afternoon and the moon was so silvery and gorgeous that I thought I'd give it a go.

Alas, my photos just couldn't do it justice 😳 Despite the different shades of the background and the moon herself, by the way, these three photos were in fact taken one-after-the-other!

Still, I gave it a whirl and I'm fairly pleased in as much as they are the best photos of the moon that I've managed thus far in my very nondescript photographic career 😄

 

A tad wintery

image from Clipart Library

It should come as no surprise, I know, that it's turned very cold and wintery ~ we are, after all, well into November.  I suppose we've been spoilt a little as to be honest, whilst we had a lot of rain, the weather wasn't too cold over autumn relatively speaking.    

That's definitely changed now, though, and we woke up this morning to a dusting of snow.  The sun has been shining but not enough to melt said snow, unfortunately ❄

My photographic skills can never do it justice, despite my best efforts, but the sky was beautiful.

Everywhere looked very chilly ~ the sea is cold all year but this morning seemed even more so!  As I sit typing this, the clouds are sending down more snow 🌨  I'm glad I don't have to venture out today!  I would have liked to do some more sorting/tidying in my craft room but I'm not going to risk walking up the slope in the garden to get out there😳 

Still, at least we now have the perfect excuse to light the wood-burner and as it was so cold last night, we had our first fire of the season ~ bliss 😊

Peace...

 

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)   

Soon be bedtime...

image from Clipart Library

 for the garden at least.  Work in the craft room has been temporarily put on hold, as I have been anxious to finish off as much as possible in the garden whilst I can still get out there without freezing my fingers off 😉  I think I have now just about reached the point where the garden will have to be left to its own devices for a few months, but I do still have a few photos to share with you!  

Last month I told you that I had moved some ferns into this raised bed near the bathroom extension.  I have since moved a somewhat sad-looking butterfly bush and two more ferns into the bed, along with a lamium.  They had all been in the path border that will eventually be grassed over.  I really must get that little bird bath scrubbed out 😳

The old wheelbarrow had spent the summer in the kitchen courtyard, filled with argyranthemum Grandaisy Pink Halo.  They have been moved into the greenhouse for the winter, so I was able to get some winter/spring bedding planted in their place.  The barrow is now filled with primula Scentsation Rhubard and Custard.  I also moved it round to the front garden, to sit on the stone chippings near the fern bed.

The little plugs had been languishing in the plant tray they had been grown in and were starting to look a little sad, so I was eager to get the poor little buggers planted out!  They soon perked up and one has even started to flower 😊 

I was very happy to finally get the rest of the strawberries moved, as it was a job that I really didn't want to leave half done.  I spread bark chippings on and around the pots as a tidy finishing touch.

I still have about a dozen or so plants left, which I haven't quite decided what to do with.  I may move them out the back, as ground cover in the beds over in the more "utility" side of the garden.  That's a job that I will probably leave until spring to do, as I won't be needing this bed until I'm ready to plant next year's potato tubers. 

The raised bed in the new patio area is also finished.  Adrian dug out the plants from the path border for me, and I sat on my trusty garden stool whilst I put them in their new home.  The soil was less soggy than it had been towards the top, but was still pretty claggy when I had to dig further down to make larger holes for the plants with bigger roots.

Adrian also dug out clumps of the London Pride (I think that's what it is, anyway!) that edges the path border, which I planted in the tubs with the roses and buddleja.

The path border is now looking pretty bare.  I'll dig out the rest of the London Pride in the spring and move it elsewhere.  No doubt there will still be remnants of the dreaded dwarf elder lurking which we'll have to dig out, but hopefully we will get it seeded next year and looking tidy out there!

By the end of last week the greenhouse was starting to fill up with the tender perennials.....next time I'll show you how much is crammed in there now 😄