Happy New Year

I've had a really wonderful Christmas and I know how lucky I am to be able to say that.  It was lovely to spend a few days with all my family and their partners.  We shared gifts, smiles and laughs, but most of all love.

I feel so relaxed now....and I am not the only one!

 

Timmy in his favourite spot.

 

 

2013 has all been about preparing for our relocation Ooop North.  Hopefully next week we will go and have a look at what may be our future home.

 

 

A day or so ago there was an overnight frost and the ground was all sparkly.  I couldn't wait to go out and have a look.

 

First there was the twinkling texture of the crossing

 

Next there was the carpeted park....

and Ruby decided she would rather stay and play.

Later in the day the Best Beloved and I took a walk in the late sun.

 

 

 

 

So here's to 2014...onwards and upwards.

 

Thank you also to everyone who reads my little blog.  Thank you for all your best wishes.  I hope 2014 brings you all lots of joy.....and I raise my glass to toast you all.  Slante!

 

Philippa xxx



I heard sounds that elevate the spirit.................

.......as I walked through Bath today.  There are buskers and street musicians and the man I saw and listened to today was very definitely one of the latter.  He played his guitar so easily I really couldn't do anything other than stop and listen, and my mind just drifted away to another plain.  And who was this man?   Tom McNair.  His face was weathered, his hair in dreads but that man linked to us all.  I admit to being just an incey wincey bit envious of this man who is so very happy doing what he does and who unashamedly shares it with everyone.  I wish I could be more like him instead of so very often weighed down by the Rat Race.  May God bless you Tom (but I think he already has). 

Time on my hands.....

....to do a few things.

Each year Innocent, who make fruit drinks, support Age Concern and invite people to make little hats to go on the top of the bottles of drink and for each behatted bottle sold they make a donation to this charity to support the elderly.  So Becky and I sat down and played - she knitting and I crocheting.

and in no time we had a little collection.

My thanks go to Cindy (Cindy the bee lady from hilltop farm) for her very speedy pom-pom method.  It was perfect for these hats although I found our dinner forks too big and the dessert forks more appropriate.

This one was meant to be an orange with leaves but the leaves look more like ears so perhaps I should have put a face on it.

Both Becky and I followed the instructions on the Innocent website but our hats came up very differently sizes and as neither of us had had the sense to buy a bottle to check we're not sure which of us was right.  Nonetheless we carried on regardless.  As you might imagine I was using the tapestry wool I bought at the vintage fair a few weeks back.   (All being well I'll post soon about the other things I'm making with it.)


A couple of weeks ago I did a fair at Devizes and my Mama and Papa Noo-Noos made their debut.

As you can see they look after the baby Sleepy Noo-Noos. 

Other newbies to my stall: 

As you can see I have really got the crochet bug.

I'll be back at Devizes on Saturday, at Marlborough on 16 Nov, and Hungerford 7th Dec...and that will be it for this year.  I haven't booked any fairs for next year yet and am in two minds whether to do so.  On the one hand I really enjoy making things and I love the face-to-face interactions but business is slow a little too often for comfort which is very demoralising.  I don't think I am unique in feeling this way but in the same way that blogs are always sunny and upbeat when I read about other craftseller businesses it seems everyone else is raking it in.  Am I the only one who isn't?  What do you think?  Should I continue or take a break?

On the house sale side, we actually had a viewing yesterday and I met a lovely couple from Spain - cash buyers at that.  They had other properties to see so we have competition.  The lady very much liked my Wendy Room and said she used to do cross stitch.  Hopefully she could imagine doing it again in our house.  Another couple are coming tomorrow and maybe they will like it.  Two viewings in one week!  The wonderful thing is that No 3 Son is away this week so the house has been cleaned and tidied to within an inch of its life and remained that way.  Let's hope it has a positive result.

Have fun!
Philippa x

Wonderful spectacular evening

Last night I took the family out to celebrate 2 birthdays - No 1 Son's 24th and my father's 84th.  Our trip was to the Bristol Hippodrome to see Slava Snow Show and what a great night we had.  If ever you have seen any of the Cirque du Soleil acts with their larger than life spectacles then you would enjoy Slava's Snow Show and for the greatest enjoyment book seats in the stalls.  We were engulfed in mist, shrouded in cobweb, sprayed with water, climbed over by the clowns (my father had his "wide parting" mopped) and covered with paper snow in a full blown blizzard....and at the end played with ENORMOUS coloured balloons.  I felt sorry for all those people up in the Circles because they only got to watch rather than play... a bit like being the only sober person at a party or the only one without a dance partner.  Have I mentioned I'm still only 6?  I was still finding paper snow in my clothes this morning.

I first took No 1 and No 3 Sons to see this show about 7 or 8 years ago when they were 16 and 9 respectively, and the memories of that occasion were deeply imprinted on them to the degree that it was No 1 Son who wanted to take his new wife (I should just add he doesn't have an old wife, it's just they only got married a few months ago!) to see it.  No 3 Son has always told me he would like to see it again so I made the booking for us all to go it being the birthdays month.

It really was a great evening full of laughter and applause.........and not a single word was spoken on stage because the whole show was mimed.  BRILLIANT.  I cannot recommend it highly enough and it lost none of its magic at being seen for a second time.

Thanks for stopping by.
Philippa xx

PS  I've got some more photos to show you of last week's fair so I'll be back soon. x

Back from the Beyond!

Yes I'm back after an embarrassingly long break from blogging.  I was thinking about that expression "from the back of beyond" and it made me wonder where "Beyond" may be?  And what about other expressions relating to distance:  "far and away" (not home and away as in the Australian tv series), and "over the hill" (please say that one doesn't refer to me) or "somewhere in the distance".  Sorry I'm rambling already.

You may wonder whether I have done anything constructive over the summer.  Well I was busy for a few weeks fulfilling a commission for some buttons.

And also some more bags, toys, patchwork blocks, crochet squares although not everything got finished!  Don't you just love WIPs (works in progress).  I think it may be what long winter nights are for.

This week these did get finished:

The tablecloth behind the birds came from a vintage sale at Box last week and was an absolute bargain at £2!  I've recently taught myself to crochet hearts (as you will see above) but have been horrified at the price of tapestry wool so you can imagine how my heart leapt into my mouth when at said vintage sale I spotted a box of Anchor tapestry yarn.  I tried to look slightly sceptical when the stall holder said it was £10 but I just had to have it.  I also had to have a carrier bag similarly full for the same price at another stall.  And this is why we just love those sales so much because when I got home and was able to count up all the skeins I discovered I had got over 200.  How amazing is that?  I've got lots of thoughts on what I am going to do with it all.

I've also started embroidering towel sets (hand towel and flannel).  There's something so lovely about fresh white towels.  So you see I have been a little bit busy, and that is on top of decorating and packing the house up in preparation for relocating up north.  Sadly the house hasn't sold yet but hopefully the perfect viewer will come along any time now.

I hope you can forgive me for taking so long to update this blog.  I think sometimes it is good to step back and contemplate one's navel as they say.  I'm still not sure whether blogging is really my sort of thing although all through the last few months I have daily logged on to read other people's blogs.  I can't help feeling their lives are far more interesting to read about than mine is.  Until next time.....look after yourselves........and thank you for dropping by.  Philippa xx

Normal service shortly to be resumed

Hi Everyone

I am so sorry for the distinct lack of chat/info/creations/etc recently.  Too many plates spinning at the moment but hopefully I'll get my camera out and show you what I have been up to soon.  Well maybe not everything because I am sure you don't want to see a freshly painted wall or three.

Love to you all, Philippa x

What a grey day!

I don't know about you but I'm fed up with the greyness of this week so it was a blessed relief to see some sunshine at home time today.  It was still freezing out so not warm enough to have the roof down for the drive home but at least with Spring is on its way I will be able to do so soon.

Still I suppose I could warm some of these up........

They're the handwarmers I make.  I gave some to my father at Christmas time because he had to keep working out in his garage and it was very, very cold out there.  Well it was the least I could do seeing that he was making me shelf units for my stall!

Talking of stalls, on Saturday Libby wanted three of my little shopping bags for her granddaughters and I only had two left on the stall.  Those bags were green with spots and blue with spots and it was important that each bag should be different.  She also needed the bag by the end of the week.  Thankfully I had an hour free on Monday and this was what I came up with:

Libby thinks she will have to put names into a hat to decide who gets this one. 

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Philippa xx

A weekend of contrasts

The fair at the Cheese and Grain in Frome yesterday was great fun.  Despite the bitterly cold weather people did venture out.  I think many of them only came into the fair to get a brief respite from the icey wind.  Whenever I enquired about the weather I was frequently informed that it was snowing.  Luckily there was no snow when it came to returning home.

Inside the hall there were distinct warm and cold spots as some of the heating wasn't working and there were a few drafts.  Fortunately for me I was in one of the warm spots and I had taken the precaution of wearing my furry boots because last month I got chilled to the bone.

New boxes on the stall

 

I had some lovely conversations with people.  Craft fairs are such friendly places I find.

 

 

 

 

My own little parliament of owls made its first appearance too.  I know owls are all the rage at the moment but I couldn't resist making a few in my Scandinavian fabrics.  I think they looked really cute although they are not entirely suitable for children under the age of 3 because some of them have button eyes.

 

 

In contrast to yesterday's fun, today the Best Beloved and I have been painting doors, door frames and radiators in preparation for our relocation Ooop North.  I have come the the conclusion that painting is only marginally more enjoyable than watching it dry!

 

Have a good week.

 

Philippa xx





I'm still here!

I've realised I have been a little lax in posting recently and for that I apologise.  Lots of less than cheery reasons which I won't bore you with.  I think a lot of us struggle at this time of year to keep ourselves feeling upbeat.  I have been cheered the last couple of weeks though when I have been out and about to see snowdrops nodding their heads at me, and yesterday I saw my first crocus, and the daffodils are will soon be out.  The pulmonaria in the garden has also started to flower and I know this is one of the first pollen flowers for the bees when they come out of hybernation.  Spring will hopefully come soon.

This week we are improving the look of our kitchen.  It's funny how your tastes change.  When we bought this house 5 years ago I thought how lovely the kitchen was with its blue tiles and dark work surfaces but very quickly I changed my mind.  New kitchens are expensive so we are instead just changing the doors and already it looks a lot lighter.

The before:

 

 

And the super duper after:

The Best Beloved and I have just compiled a list of To Do's because we're also likely to be moving in the next year.  Don't you just hate having to write down all the jobs that have to be done before you sell a house?  Isn't it one of the most depressing things?  Prior to actually putting it on paper life can seem blissful and relaxed.  In my world of sticking my head in the sand I thought the house was almost finished.  Now I have no idea how we are going to get everything done in such a short time........and work.............and supply WendyRoomCreations.......and go to the fairs I have already booked.  Maybe its a good thing I have only paid up to end June and reserved dates thereafter.

So yes, WendyRoomCreations will be moving but not overseas!

Talking about creations, I belong to the Broughton Gifford Piecemakers which is a quilting group and we have our Bi-annual exhibition in May.  I've been so busy with everything that I am sorry to say I haven't got anything to exhibit other than the advent calendar made last year.  However, everyone in the group made a couple of blocks each and these have been made into a quilt and other raffle items. 

Here is my contribution to the raffle:

The bucket stands about 14 inches high and the walls are stiffened with a sort of stiff felting.  It has 4 pieced blocks round the outside and ..............

a surprise at the bottom inside.

The Best Beloved asked what the bucket was for!..................I know you dear friends would be able to list a 1001 things in reply.

Happy crafting weekend. Let me know if you have seen any flowers too.

Philippa xx

Happy alternatives............

When I awoke this morning there was an inch of snow everywhere.  An hour later there was two inches.  Nevertheless I set off on the drive to work.



A mile down the road I decided the roads were too bad so turned round and slithered my way home.

What to do with this unexpected free day?

Well to start with the dogs and I crunched and slid our way down to the park.  Treacle carried her usual bone but whenever she dropped it she didn't like the mouthful of snow that came with it.  I decided to take it off her once we got to the park as I just knew it would be lost in the snow.

Then we played a game of "throw the ball-lose the ball-hunt the ball" for the next half hour. Such fun! The trouble was that added to the problem of the depth of snow if the ball rolled it gathered snow and just became a snowball. Phoebe has a good sense of smell so she was able to sniff her ball out.  I could see her as a rescue dog. 















However poor Treacle has poor eyesight and even is she was standing right next to her ball she couldn't see it.  Instead of chasing the ball she decided it was safer to lay down and bite bits off it.  It does seem to be one of her greatest pleasures in life.





Now back at home and with the dogs asleep I'm going to sit and sew.  I'm making some heartshaped padded boxes at the moment using red Scandinavian fabric in time for Valentine's Day.

Time to snuggle under a fleecy blanket with a cat or dog to keep me company .....and sew.

Keep safe and warm wherever you are.
Philippa xx