When it all gets too much !

Stuff that is !
We moved from our teeny tiny house some years ago into what seemed a HUGE house with lots of storage, two gardens, garage and a monstrous attic.  Fast forward some years and way too much stuff later and we have a house in the shape of a barrel about to burst at the seams. There is  literally way too much stuff cluttered on most surfaces and just dont mention the drawers, garage or attic (shudder)
Now I am not for this minimalist clap trap, no offence but I just dont cut the mustard there. But I just cant be doing with all of these things and lets be brutally honest with  ourselves, Do we actually NEED it ? The answer is most certainly NO I DO NOT !!!

I have set myself many a challenge this year for different things but the first one I am acting upon is the Great 2012 De-Clutter.. No cupboard, box, garage or handbag (not that I actually have that many) is safe. Stuff will be re-homed if possible or sent to the lovely ladies who run a local charity shop to be used by another raising money for a great cause close to my heart.  I dont have any photos right now but I will document the shamefull amount of "Too Much" I have and let you know how it is going. I think it will probably take the rest of the year.

Dare you join me ? Go on I dare ya!

Busy as a Bee

The last week as seen me inspired to finish off those craft projects that you start and for one reason or another you just dont get round to finishing, you know the UFO (UnFinished Object)

Well I seem to have plenty of them right now. Well firstly I needed to finish my Father in Laws birthday present,  he recently commented that he would like a crochet blanket to keep him warm on an evening as he always feels cold. So here you are, its more than big enough to put over his lap on a cold evening and it keeps you super warm. It looks smaller here but its on a king size bed. Perhaps not the best colours but this is what I already had in and we are been frugal here in this little house right now. 

Friday saw me behind this little love, that was until somehow the foot fell off and it all jammed up. I managed to get it all apart and fixed with the aid of a trusty screw driver. 

This is what I have been making, you may remember this post some time ago. Well I never actually got round to finishing the quilt and it lay in a box for however long. Friday was its lucky day and out it came to be finished into the lovely snuggly quilt.  Sorry for the poor photograph but it proved a little tricky to get a good shot. Anyway this is to be for her 13th Birthday in a few weeks and I am wanting to embroider a name tag for the back but cant decide upon a name for the quilt. Any ideas ?

This is a quick card that I made for a friend of my Daughters for her Birthday recently. I haven't made cards for years despite the amount of card stuff I have in drawers, cupboards and boxes. It was nice to just sit for afew minutes and get this done, I might even have to make another soon. 

Well I have to dash as Sunday evenings get rather busy here. Thank you for reading and please leave a comment to tell me you have been.

2nd January

Hello again, the picture above shows some of the rather lovely gifts sent to me as part of the Advent Swap by Rachael at http://www.sewrayme.co.uk/ , please do have a look at her website and look at the wonderful things she is making. Thank you very much Rachel, I hope that you liked the things that I sent you.  Oh yes there was chocolate in the parcel but it didnt last long enough to be photographed !

Today was a glorious start to the year with blue skies and the sun was shining, we headed out just before lunch to blow the Christmas cobwebs away and have a walk. We went to Beamish Museum where they were still decorated for christmas. How I would love to live in these houses, I could just spend all day tucked up beside the fire in the rocking chair.

I just love how these rugs are made from fabric scraps, I have all of the original tools to make these that belonged to my Great Grandmother and hope that one day I will be able to find the time to make on of my very own.

Perhaps it was a good thing that the fire was not lit or I might have pulled up a chair, it was very cold.

There were checstnuts in the bowl on the table.

The parlour was all set out in its very finest.

I am enjoying getting back to blogging and hope that I can keep it up. I have some crochet projects to show you when I post next.

Happy New Year

Hello, I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a very Happy New Year.
I have not had the blogging bug recently but over the last few weeks have been thinking about the blog and miss been over here.  I have however been reading lots of your blogs.

I recently took part in an Advent Swap and my partner was Rachael from http://www.sewrayme.co.uk/ , I will post pictured of what she sent me later, however thank you so very much Rachael. Do pop over to her blog and have a look at some of the things that she is making, a very talented lady.

I havent made any New Year resolutions as from past experience I dont keep up with them, however there are afew things that I am going to try and do this year.

• I must try and have the house more organised, so 2012 will see the start of a HUGE de-clutter. My home is literally bursting at the seams.
• I must address my issues with food. I enjoy food and cooking (mostly eating) but find that the busier I become the further down the list of priorities cooking and more importantly eating becomes. Dont get me wrong I cook for the children and they eat healthily, but I am in the habit of snacking or missing meals altogether.  I should take lunches to work with me but run out of time to prepare them so end up either with a supermarket sandwich (blech!) or a biscuit from the tin in the staffroom. This means that by the time I get home I am starving and snack again. For evening meals quite often I just cant face anything and end up with toast or cereal. I have ALOT of cookery books and even have a subscription to Good Food magazine but feel completely uninspired.
• I will take more time out for me before I completely burn out, enough said there.

Anyway I fear that this is becoming a list so I am off to finish off the lovely dinner I prepared this morning and sit at the table with my lovely family and enjoy some food.

I am actually looking forward to getting back into the blog, I have been reading yours even though I havent really left comments.

Blessings x

A cup of something warm

I just thought that I would share a quick recipe to warm your soul.

Hot Caramel Apple Drink

* A mug of apple juice (or more depending on how many your serving)
* Caramel Syrup, how much depends upon your taste.
* A dash of vanilla

Put in a saucepan and heat through. Serve in your favourite mug.

Lovely Jubbley

(certainly not a drink to give to your diabetic mother !!!)

Handmade Christmas

Shhhhhhh I hate to admit it but I have been thinking about Christmas.  "It is still August !" I hear you cry.
Well the truth be told I love the seasons of Autumn and Winter, there is nothing more cosy than snuggling down at the end of the day when it is cold outside and this generally leads to Christmas.
During the last few weeks we have been out and about and I have seen things that would make lovely christmas presents for our nearest and dearest, but it also made me think about what I would like to do for christmas presents this year.   I have decided to try and make as much as possible this year, I have actually already bought a couple of gifts but I may try and make a little something to go with them too.
We give gifts to quite alot of family and some friends so I am going to start with the family gifts (cant post them on here as family will read it, but might post the odd sneaky picture).
I also have lots and lots of card making things. Years ago I used to make cards by the dozen but havent made one in ages. I thought that I would also make a start on the christmas cards too.  So according to the countdown I have looked at there are 118 days until christmas, there is plenty of time !! Ha Ha, better get my skates on I think !

Are you planning for christmas yet ?

Treasure Hunters !

I

 Hello, although I doubt that there is anyone left reading this it has been so long since I last updated. I did try to start another blog as I felt that perhaps my time here was done but I kept changing the name as I couldnt decide on it. However after some soul searching I have returned here, its like coming home ! The above picture I took in a local park yesterday, to remind me that the sun did infact shine during the Summer of 2011, however brief.
My children are growing at a fast rate, the eldest is already taller than me and take a shoe size two bigger. The ten year old takes the same shoe size and will soon no doubt be overtaking me in the height department. Its strange to see my children who I nursed in my arms grow taller than me, it doesnt take alot I guess. There are good things in little bundles as my Gran would say. ha !

Anyway Now that they are growing they dont want to do the same things we have done over previous summers, the eldest skulks around in a pre teenogre way most days and is easily wound up by little brothers who know which buttons to press to get what reactions.  I am trying to get them out of the house at every opportunity to burn off their energy so was super excited when I discovered GEOCACHING . Basically its like treasure hunting with GPS. I used my mobile for the GPS and off we went with the dog in tow.  Once we arrived at the location we then have to hunt out the "treasure". This is the best part as it was in quite a busy place with lots of people about. However find the treasure we did. Inside were little items that you can exchange and a log book to record your find. The box is then carefully wrapped back up and put back in its secret hiding place. The kids thought it was great fun. My only concern was what people would be thinking as we rummaged around for it, but then again my Hubby tells me I think too much. Ha ha !

If you are looking for a free activity to do with the jkids this summer then I highly suggest you have a look into this. I would probably try to look for a cache somewhere I didnt know next time but as this was out first then the local park was a good place to try it out.