Lovely things

A birthday walk in fresh snow

Hi there. Life seems to be taking over a bit at the moment. Which is, I guess, the way things tend to be in the run up to Christmas. Especially when your youngest has a birthday too. Islay was 4 yesterday. She had a lovely time but what she enjoyed most of all, I think, was having four friends here for a party last Thursday. In fact she was almost too excited to enjoy herself.




I have had a couple of amazing parcels in the post in the last week. The first was from Marg - she is an absolute gem of a person and so unbelievably kind. She sent us an advent quilt. Here it is, isn't it fantastic and aren't we lucky? I am sure hanging it up each December will become one of our special family traditions.



John recently announced I should have a present. Isn't he a special husband? And, of course, I couldn't refuse....that might have upset him! So, after a bit of thought, especially towards the Orla Kiely bags I have been coveting, I decided to ask Emma (Silverpebble) to make me a necklace. I wanted something to symbolise my lovely children. We exchanged a few emails and ideas and in the end she came up with a charm necklace. There's a book for Finn, a rocket for Angus and a poppy for Islay. I have only really taken it off for sleeping and showering since it arrived last week - I am sure you can see why. It will be something I will always treasure. I'd recommend reading Emma's blog post as she explains a bit more about it and has much better photos too.



I have made good progress with my sewing. Twelve little birds for hanging on Christmas trees to give to teachers, admin ladies at John's work etc.



Two little foxes (pattern bought from Bird and Little Bird - it is very easy to follow and I would thoroughly recommend it - I did have some tense moments when sewing in the ears tho'). One for my niece and one for Islay. I made each a little tunic dresses with elastic gathered necklines.



And I made the time this weekend to complete my two Christmas runners. Marg, Maria, Jo and Lynz made these blocks for my month of our Quick Christmas Bee. I'm sure the runners will be something else that I look forward to getting out of the loft each Christmas. Thanks girls, I love my blocks!





So, a few more bits of sewing to do and some baking for a few more small presents. And then I can start to relax a bit more. Oh, that's after I have written my cards tonight, oops!