What a Year

It's been quite a year.  I finally found my little dream house in the country.  I didn't do too badly envisioning what I ended up with.  To clarify what I was looking for I decided to make a textile collage to remind myself what I needed and desired and hung it out in the old garden.   I was haunting Zoopla morning, noon and night and had almost given up when this house came along.  

I was totally stressed out, two offers on other houses had not been successful.  I was ready for a weekend off, no more house hunting and then this one popped into my inbox.  It's not old, but it ticked all the other boxes so I went, I saw, I loved and the rest is history.

Whatever the weather I never tire of this view .....

Then came the unpacking, choosing colours (always a favourite task) and then enjoying the results of my labours

There was lots to explore for the cats, a new garden to sniff around, new territories to conquer.  And they are so less stressed as I've only seen another 3 cats in the area whereas there were 10 that I knew of over the wall at the old house.

 Christmas has come and gone for another year.  Billy enjoyed the Christmas tree as usual, seeing it as a seasonal activity centre.

What will the New Year bring? What are we looking forward to?

• More homebaking, coupled with some vegetable growing, there is a whole blank canvas of a garden to make over!
• The summer house will be erected, a bargain in the sales, a welcome addition of some much needed shade on my sunny plot
• More colour in the garden, it desperately needs flowers
• More charity shop trawling and treasures to unearth
• More visits to more cemeteries and more photos of angels
• More rest - listening to my body and taking it easy sometimes and not feeling guilty about doing nothing
• And definitely more creative making (an easy intention to keep as last years creative output was paltry as the very least)

A Happy New Year to all my friends and family!  I hope it brings you all you wish for!

Charity Shop Find

I got a bargain in the week, a big bag of threads and bits and bobs for £4. I can't believe my luck, as the journals I'm now making a very heavy on thread and as we all know thread's not cheap. It must have belonged to a dressmaker judging from the amount of different colours and the other bits such as chalk, buttons, pins and needles.The thread at the bottom of the above photo is silk made in switzerland and I can't help wondering if it was used for a wedding dress. If only these pieces could talk. The vintage white buttons are just adorable.

This wooden cotton reel reveals some of my home town's history, Leicester used to be a centre for hosiery but hardly any of this industry remains now. My first job was working in a thread dyers and finishers, in the laboratory, doing quality control and colour matching.

An Award and lots of Piccys

I've been given an award by the lovely LaaLaa at Hookin' with LaaLaa She is a lovely lady with a super blog. I just love her crochet and patchworks and her little chats, why not pop over and pay her a visit. Thank you so much LaaLaa.

Now apparently as a receipent of this award I have to disclose 7 interesting facts about myself and nominate 5 of my fellow bloggers as being worthy of an award!

So here goes, after careful, well almost careful consideration, deliberation and desperation here we go (apologies if this is not exciting but hay oh, here we go)


1. I love cats, shocker I know, you never could have guessed this one, lol. Here is Merlin in moody repose. I put it all down to having a cat wallpaper for the first few years of my life, the die was cast. If I won the lottery the first thing I'd do would be to set up a cat shelter.



2. Apparently, according to friends, I have a cushion fetish. Never noticed this in myself but on counting up I do have 30 spread all over the house and 18 in the lounge itself. I've always lived by the phrase, you can never have too many cushions! Is this not what everyone does?!


3. Now I know I'm alittle bit unusual in this pursuit - I love old cemetaries and graveyards - but I know I'm not alone, it's just we're not easy to spot in our everyday lifes but visit a cemetary.... I love the old statues, angels, the symbolism and the human history and stories on the gravestones. They are normally peaceful and serene, and if tattered and overgrown around the edges I love them even more :)



4. Whilst I hate horror movies and books I just love vampires. Can't quite define why but there you go. I love watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Gary Oldman in Dracula and more recently Bill Compton in True Blood (my young cat is named after him because he bites)! I love the True Blood novels by Charlaine Harris so much that I ration myself and have not let myself read them one after the other, they are so much better than the series.

5. No not cats again but charity shops (thrift stores I think in the States)? I love going in them. You never know what treasures you'll find such as the above book on this weeks trawl of the shops near me. It's the thrill of the hunt, the pounce on the treasure and the taking to the cash desk and running away home to gloat over the hoard, or not, and think maybe next time......



6. I'm rather partial to a big cup of tea, but it has to be black and it has to be hot. My favourite teas are Assam, English Breakfast and Lapsang Souchong.



7. Are you still with me? I love christmas. I love the cards, the presents, the decorations and the all round loveliness and goodwill of the season. Here are a selection of cards I've saved from other years that I hope to incorporate into a christmas journal.

Phew, this must be my longest post by far. Now I would like to give this award to the following bloggers. It has been a difficult choice and apologies if it is not you, I love all the blogs I read but there can only be five nominees, so without further ado -

Ta da!

1. Amanda at Amanda Makes A lovely lady who sews and crochets the most delightful things
2. Kazzy at A Mermaids Purse who does the most amazing illustrations and has a wonderful eye for charity shop treasures and shabby chic decorating. She has the most relaxing music on her blog as well!
3. Gill at Bois-Fleurie who is so creative and clever with a needle.
4. Toos at Chaotic & Creative. Not sure about the chaotic but creative definately. I've had the pleasure of doing some group swaps with Toos.
5. Karen at Tilly Rose a veritable feast for the eyes, wonderful photos and delightful words.

Ok, off to watch last night's True Blood with a cat on my knee and a cup of tea in my hand!