Friday 6 January 2012

Simply books!! ;-)



There's nothing like the feel of a good book, is there?!

(Regardless of the advantages of a Kindle! )

And there's nothing like giving or receiving lovely books.

I love books!

So here are the lovely books that I have recently either received or given:



I have to admit that I love these books

by Miroslav Sasek!

If I had the room , I would collect... the whole lot!

Funnily enough (and unbeknown to me until I showed him

my London book) , Nich was given the 'This is Paris' which is in the same series.

I'll nab that when he isn't looking! ;-)




'This is London' now takes pride of place in my little classroom.

I'm itching to do some mini London projects with the children.




Moving on...I'm very inspired by some of the ideas in this lovely book:






And this next book is a joy to behold as are most things illustrated by Pat Albeck.

If you didn't already know, she is Matthew Rice's mother....

thus Emma Bridgewater's mother in law!

This book is beautiful!




More inspiration in the form of...



There's plenty to get your creative juices flowing here, that's for sure!!






And talking of gingerbread men...I gave this book to my daughter,

at Christmas:



And then bought it for myself!! I thought the ideas were brilliant

and not just for baking!




Nich received the top two of these books below, from me.

I gave my mum the Vintage Gibbons book

and Greavsie's book to my Torquay supporter nephew!

(Good job I didn't get the wrapping muddled up!!)

I already own 'Where's Your Caravan?' so didn't have to sneakily read it first!!;-)




I grabbed this next one when I saw it for snip, in a charity shop.

In my classroom, I already have some lovely Rupert fabric

which I bought from Donna, some time ago and had been looking for

a Rupert annual for ages!




Phew...all that reading lined up...and then these arrive!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!!

;-) x




Wednesday 4 January 2012

A bit of simple crafting!



Very aware that my crafting has taken a back seat for some time, I felt quite inspired

before Christmas, when I picked up 'Patch' and thumbed through it.




I made these little patchwork lavender bags for a friend's 'new home' pressy...

I hope she likes them!



The book is gorgeous ..I just love the snippets of vintage fabrics

included in the ideas and I could sit and stare at them

for ages.





So...' Start the year as you mean to go on', I said to myself!



I've tidied up my craft room, which had become a dumping ground over Christmas.



I gathered all my vintage scraps... and lo and behold...

a bit of crazy patchwork.













My New Year's Resolution...to do a bit more crafting...

along with a bit more reading!

Books next time!!

;-)

Sunday 1 January 2012

A Very Happy New Year! ;-)x


A very Happy New Year to everyone!

Here's hoping that 2012 will be a good year for you all.

Yesterday, I did a little bit of looking back at 2011!


Jan 2011



Jan 2011 saw me looking back to 2010; visiting Bygones for another

trip into the past; enjoying the magic of the FA Cup and browsing through

an old baby book...with a new baby about to enter the world!

February saw...




February was dominated by the arrival of a certain little lady,

Megan Amber, daughter to Helen and Ben.

Thus, we became grandparents!

There was a birthday visit to Bath; a wander around Exeter and a

number of books waiting to be read.

March soon arrived...



Much happened in March!

We played Chess in Torquay!

Nostalgic Mix, Totnes added a new dimension with its

' Guy's Stuff' stall!

Powderham and Widecombe were on the agenda...amongst other things!

April entered...




Mothering Sunday with my gorgeous son and daughter;

a visit to fairs in Portscatho, Frome and Chipping Sodbury; the wonderful

'Blood Brothers' at the theatre and enjoying the sights of Newton Abbot!

May was about to nudge April out of the way and visit us...




Now we're cooking'!

Things were getting interesting in the garden!

Nich left for Canada...leaving me in total charge of his garden!

Hill House was delightful and we came back from a garden fair

at Chagford, laden with vintage, garden goodies!

Roll on June!




We enjoyed a lot in June!

A La Ronde at Exmouth; the pretty village of Kenn; fab Ashburton;

a celebration of 100 years of Decoy Primary school and two vintage fairs

at Tavistock and Chipping Sodbury.

July surely couldn't live up to that?



RHS Rosemoor Gardens were 'to die for' and who'd have thought that Trago Mills

would push the boat out with their garden displays?

We added a lovely summerhouse to our garden... and Meggy

was growing up fast!!

What did August have in store?




August was pretty! Especially The Garden House!

We did the Portscatho Homespun Fair

and I found myself next to an onion man at

'Vintage in a Teacup'

September was looming.



Another wonderful Nostalgic Mix; that stunning display of

Rudbeckias at Cockington ; a stroll around Dartmouth.

Autumn had arrived!



And with it came a letter from Canada,with a gift.

Just when I was thinking of giving up blogging...saved by that letter from Gray!

Our Wedding Anniversary was absolutely lovely and we lunched

at The Redcliffe Hotel, by the sea, in the sun!!

There was another fine Vintage Bazaar in Frome.

But November was near...



I treated my oven to a top class spruce up!!

I treated Meggy to one of Hen's lovely doll's cradles!




So much happened in December that we almost

needed to add to the 31 days in order to fit it all in!

Getting ready for Christmas;

The V&H Christmas fair; an overnight stay in Totnes; Christmas Eve in

Topsham; a visit to the fabulous RAMM; Exeter and Ashburton!


I'm left wondering what 2012 will bring...!

Meanwhile, I wish you all the best for 2012!!

xxx