Weekending

Good morning

Oh what a difference a few days makes - we were so lucky here in Suffolk at the weekend, sunshine and shorts weather. Yesterday was yuck - wet, very wet for most of the day - I managed to get out to see my Grandma during a break in the showers and timed the walk back well too.

I love weekends - always have done - as a child it was a break from school and now as an adult its a break for work and housework. Weekends for me are for nicer stuff - time with friends & family, a spot of gardening, more time to cook different things and of course a good wander and rummage around the car boot sales and charity shops.

Here's a few bits from recent weeks;

 I think you've seen the little painted tray on the right before? I found the little one with daises on a few weeks ago and finally yesterday both were hung on the kitchen wall. Had one of those minor diy days - hanging pictures, attached hooks to doors and hanging new curtains.

 Sundays boot sale was great - big without being too much. The vintage Famous Five book was a must - my favourite story of theirs which I remember reading over and over as a child during the school hols. 

Brand new Cath Kidston flip flops - just £3 - ideal for slopping around the garden in.

This little enamel pot was a CS find - it will be perfect for when come Autumn it will be often just me and little son for dinner - might help me learn to scale my cooking down from dinner for 3 to just 2!!

Another weekend favourite thing is when the boys and I are all at home - happens less and less these days as we all have busy social lives. However the other weekend it happened AND the weather was lovely - time to drag out a new toy of mine - a fire pit;

 As you can see this was before the garden had a jolly good tidy up!

It was lovely sitting there - cooking dinner and then afterwards toasting marshmallows.

One last favourite weekend thing this time of year - sitting in the sunshine with a book or magazine - and when it all gets too warm - time to retreat into the shade of the apple tree;

Thanks for reading. Time to have a wander around blogland then get myself sorted. Off out later today - one of my favourite things - a gig with friends.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

A fab day out

Good morning

Excuse my absence again from blogland but real life is all rather busy at the moment. I am working more as my boss is off work ill and then with the house, family and a rather fab newly discovered social life, blogging is rather losing out!!

Yesterday the boys & I were up rather early for a Saturday - we needed to leave the house at 7.30 as we were heading out of Suffolk to visit my little brother in Cambridge. We nearly had a problem when the train from Ipswich to Cambridge broke down in the station but another was found and we were soon on our way running just 10 minutes late. We were met by my little brother at the station and we headed into the city centre;

 I love the old college buildings.

 3 of my favourite menfolk - the boys & my brother :)

We walked around the shops, the market and of course past many of the old college buildings. We stopped for a lovely lunch and afternoon coffee too. The boys were happy to shop - their pocket money and wages were soon being spent. Big son bought the most amazing pair of Converse - I must remember to get a photo sometime - they are almost a work of art!

I wasn't planning on buying any shoes for me but when we were in the shop I spotted a pair that I fell in love with - not buying them straight away but thinking about it for a few hours and then returning and hoping they had them in my size - they did, they fitted and I love them;

Obviously not normally to be worn with flowery pj bottoms !!

Whilst the boys wandered around the market buying dvds - I spent just 5 minutes in the Cath Kidston shop - I must confess the current stuff is rather lovely but I really don't need anymore mugs, tins or teatowels! I did treat myself to a couple of little things;

A brooch and bracelet for me and a keyring to stop us from losing the back door key!!

We are already planning on going back to Cambridge next spring and hopefully finding somewhere inexpensive so we can stay the whole weekend as its rather a tiring journey to do in one day - as this photo shows;

See you soon - can't promise when as there's more work this week and next weekend is looking rather fab - can't tell you what yet but I promise there will be photos!!

xxx Vicki xxx

PS - just realised I missed this blogs 4th birthday last week!! and today is the Autumn Equinox - where is the year going!!

PPS - Spell check not working !!

15 of 52 weeks of happy

Good morning

The sun is shining - the birds are tweeting happily to each other - they woke me briefly at 5am but I managed to snuggle back to sleep for a few more hours.

Those lovely boys of mine are dead to the world and I shall leave them for as long as they like as there are no plans involving them this morning. 

Here's this weeks happy post and picture;

1 - My gorgeous new nephew. I spent the morning with him and my little sister on Friday. I had plenty of cuddles with him and I really could have just smuggled him home with me.

2 - After I left my sisters I walked into Aldeburgh and treated myself. Firstly to a new gilet from Joules (well there was 25% off this weekend) and secondly to chips from the very popular chip shop. Chips I know - very naughty especially with a dicky gallbladder - these caused no problems at all and were very, very scrummy indeed - must be 6 months since I've had some from there!

3 - Knitted blue bunny - knitted by my Grandma many years ago and I started to finish him 2 years ago along with a pink one. I never quite finished and wanted to wait until a new baby came along to do so. He was given to baby F on Friday along with several other bits the boys & I chose on a recent shopping trip.

4 - The weather warming up meant I've been able to wear my CK bicycle dress and converse - very happy.

Right time to finish my coffee, hang some washing out and then head to the gym.

Thank you for the comments/emails on yesterdays post - I have now drawn a line under it and consider it closed :)

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

A Winters Day in Cambridge

Good evening

I said I was planning a little escape from Suffolk didn't I. Well all went to plan and yesterday I headed by myself to Cambridge to meet a friend of mine. She lives in deepest Cornwall and we don't get to see to much of each other. Her clever daughter was off being interviewed for a Uni place next Autumn and it left us too with time to wander, natter, drink coffee, shop, drink more coffee and more shopping!

The sun was rather low yesterday so the river, bridge and Kings College look rather dark. The river was empty no punters.

Cambridge seemed rather quiet - am guessing lots of students have already gone home on their Christmas breaks and perhaps the shoppers invade at the weekends only? Anyhow, the two of us had a good time - we found some gorgeous little independent shops in the back streets and presents were bought for family & friends. We also found the CK shop in the Market Place - rather hard to miss. We spent ages in there looking. As you know Miss Kidston & I have had a rocky ride this year both craft kits I've bought have turned out to be rather useless. However her Christmas design with the cute Bambi style deer is rather appealing so I bought a couple of things - Christmas cards (I must get these written) and festive tea-towels;

My friend arrived to meet me at the station bearing gifts;

A gorgeous blue & white cornishwear jug and a Ladybird book - lovely additions to two of my collections :)

All to soon it was time to say goodbye and head back on the train to Suffolk.

Fingers crossed if her daughter gets her Uni place then more meet ups can happen next year.

We've got to that point of the year now - lots of things happening and not many days left for them to happen - meaning that some days we've 2 or 3 places to be at the same time. Roll on Friday 21st when the school madness stops and MrVV finishes work.

See you soon - just can't promise when.

xxx Vicki xxx

Oh btw - thank you & welcome to my new followers. I shal endeavour to pop over to read your blogs very soon. I can't at the moment follow any new blogs as blogger says I follow too many ! I shall have a look sometime to tidy up my reading list - maybe unfollowing some blogs which are no longer in use.

Stanley & his new friends

Good afternoon

Just a quick post. Hurrah its Friday, the end of a hectic week with a fairly busy weekend ahead of us too. No lie-ins this weekend - a very early start for MrVV tomorrow and one for me on Sunday. Least mine is more fun than his boring course - hurrah for me its craft fair time :) Just the pricing left to do tomorrow and then I'm all ready. Here's hoping for lots of sales.

I've found to great things in our Church charity shop this week - firstly another Stanley to add to my growing collection;

and then the next day - something even so kitsch I couldn't bear to leave it;

Bondage slightly evil looking reindeers! 

Thanks for all the comments on the last post - looks like anything CK sends my viewing figures sky high - this one will end up at the top of my most viewed posts list like the Crochet Tin Review did!!

I had a look on THAT website today - seems they are selling some of the felt decs made up - the quality looks better than in the book but I beat there's glue involved rather than proper sewing :( Have a look here and see what you think?

Have a great weekend whether you get a lie-in or not!!

xxx Vicki xxx

Cath Kidston - Make your own Christmas decorations - my review

Good morning

Firstly, I must stress this is not a sponsored post nor did I receive this book as a freebie to review. This is something I've bought and as there are lots of comments in blogland and on Amazon about it, I thought I'd add my own.

As the cover says - everything you need to make 12 festive felt ornaments - in small print 'not including needles and stuffing'.

This isn't strictly true - lots of the decorations are based on traditional Christmas designs - including snowmen and snow covered cottages - however in the kit there is only cream felt. I was always taught to avoid any snow that wasn't pure white!!

I thought I'd make one of the designs at the weekend - I opted for the reindeer on the front cover. However rather than using the supplied items I used felt & materials from my stash. I used the main reindeer template but did it my way and completely ignored the rather long winded instructions in the book;

I didn't bother with the spots on his rump nor the rather naff bow on the neck. Instead I borrow an idea from those rather tasty chocolate reindeers that the shops are now full of and attached a bell to the collar instead.

The book recommends sewing the pieces together with a straight edge over stitch - again I chose to do it my own way and use a small running stitch. The illustrations in the book are not great - the quality of stitching is rather poor. Also the colour combinations are rather random too. For the festive Stanley it suggests sewing the two sides in different colours - same with the Christmas cottages.

I've been told that some of the designs are not MissK's own instead they've been taken from other bloggers and used without their permission. Therefore it made me chuckle to read a big copyright notice on one page stating you could only use these patterns for personal use - like anyone can copyright a felt Christmas pudding or some holly leaves!!

Overall I would give this book a 6/10 - the designs are simple and there are several that I will use but I will adapt them to suit my style and taste. The quality of the materials included is ok - the felt is soft and I know I will be able to use it in other projects even if for some of these I'll have to supply my own. 

The cover price is £15 - I am glad that I paid just £5 as part of a deal I got on Amazon.

This book is nowhere near as good as the earlier CK books - I loved Vintage Style and the Make/Patch books were great too. However its much better than the Crochet Tin disaster of last Christmas!

I'll leave you now with my Rudolph hanging outside in the sunshine;

Have you bought this book - if so what did you think? I

xxx Vicki xxx

Bubbles, Ladybirds & Cath

Good evening

Hurrah its the weekend again :) Finally caught up with the post holiday washing from both ours and Big Sons trips. He arrived home Sunday night with a huge bag of washing, having had the most brilliant time away on camp. He's rather an old hand at these sort of things now so there's no worries about whether stuff is missing - nor is dirty washing and clean stuff mixed up. That boy of mine is getting old.

Talking of such - yesterday was GCSE results day. He went off to school and I paced around waiting for THE call - his voice was full of emotion when he told me his results - he'd done very well even in his worse subject of English - I really must thank his teacher she really did get the best out of him.  He's happy to be heading back to school to do A Levels next month.

Last night a small celebration was in order;

Today he's been hard at work with MrVV but a shopping trip and reward is planned for Sunday :)

Whilst tidying away holiday stuff I found something I'd treated myself to in York. I'd arranged to meet a friend out the CK shop and of course we had to go in. Just a couple of things for me - a diary for next year and a set of stacking tubs I'd wanted for ages;

The charity shops came up trumps this week - I happened to be in the right place at the right time - a pile of Ladybird books;

Now I've managed to double up on the 'What to look for in Summer' and 'Night Sky' books so if any other Ladybird collectors have doubles and want to do a swap, let me know.

Have a good bank holiday weekend - we're off to a new folk festival nearby tomorrow. I've been told to wear lead lined boots as there is to be no repeat of last August bank holidays dancing disasters!!

See you soon.

xxx Vicki xxx

New loves / Old loves

Good afternoon

I thought I'd best sit down to blog - there's a quiet little while between the boys coming home from school and getting dinner prepared - the choices were blog or hoover - blogging won!  I'd planned to post tonight but realised I need to call my Mum and those calls are never short!

Time to catch up on the last week and the photos I've taken before the Bank Holiday weekend and probably more photos come along!

Last weekend 3 of the VV household braved the rain and headed out to a free event we'd seen advertised by the side of the road. Apache Approach - a chance to get close up to one of these wonderful helicopters that we often see & hear in the Suffolk skies. It was being held at Framlingham College (a nearby private school);

From top left - Framlingham Castle & Mere, Old Love (MrVV & I), Apache appears,

Getting closer, whipping up the leaves with the force, On the ground.

Taking off, Goodbye & Like Father Like Son.

We had a chance to get close and talk to the flight crew - I think Little Son would quite have liked a flight in one of these!!  When it arrived we were warned to take off hats / take down brollies etc - most listened! The same warning was repeated when it took off and we were told the force was stronger. Some of the crowd didn't listen and there were brollies / hats blown away!!

This past week in Suffolk has been a right mixed one - sunshine & showers. When we had a sunny afternoon I got out into the summerhouse and gave it a good spring clean. As a reward for my hard work I took my cup of tea out there and sat quietly watching the birds on the feeders.

A rainy day, a sunny tea-break, an abandoned & underused watering can.

Bluebells, watching for birds, forget-me-nots.

Alpine strawberry plants starting to flowers, new leaves on the silver birch (shame the pollen is making me sneeze!!), daisies enjoying the sunshine.

My new love in case you haven't worked out is Instagram. Whilst the Android version isn't quite as snazzy as the I-phone version, its enough to get me hooked! If you are on there let me know - am always looking for new people to follow. I am VickiMowe on there - trying to limit myself to just one or two pics a day as I could easily get sucked in totally!!

I came home from another busy morning in the charity shop to find the postman has brought me some lovely lunchtime reading;

 My WI magazine with actually surprisingly lots of interesting stuff in it - loving anything Jubilee at the moment and the new CK magazine/catalogue. Now I did fall out of love with MsKidston & Co at the beginning of the year but this current mag has some lovely things in there - I won't be buying but can happily drool. Had to chuckle there's one dress in there for nearly £80 - we have an almost identical one in the CS for about a fiver!! I tried it on but the colour didn't suit me :(

Right - I shall bid you all goodbye, wish you all a good bank holiday weekend and shall see you soon.

Ours plans - Wrap up and get on with it - hopefully out & about May Fairing, Car booting and seaside visiting - oh a little craft selling on Saturday too :)

xxx Vicki xxx

Product Review - Cath Kidston Crochet Kit in a Book Tin

Hello again

In fairness to other bloggers and potential buyers of this product, I thought it time to write a review. It wouldn't be fair only to write positive reviews and recommend things if I didn't balance it occasionally with reviews for stuff that wasn't so good.

I received the Crochet Kit in a book tin as a Christmas present - it was something I wanted and I was very much looking forward to some hooky fun whilst watching mindless television. I'm a big Cath Kidston fan and on paper this set seemed perfect for me. It promised so much - 6 balls of yarn in CK colours and instructions to make a cushion and of course a rather lovely tin for me to use afterwards to store my crochet bits and bobs in.

It started well - yes the colour were lovely and the initial instructions were easy to follow - though as it was a classic granny square I didn't need to follow them to closely. The yarn however was proving annoying to say the least - regularly it split and I had to pull back to sort this out. I got very annoyed at the regular joins in the yarn too and in places it thinned down to one strand -like it had been wound by a beginner and with not much care - not something you'd expect from a brand like this. Normally when I crochet I use a basic acrylic yarn from my local shop and I never have the same problems with that.

The next problem was as I started on the 2nd side I realised I wasn't going to have enough yarn to complete the project - again surely someone should have checked this during the development stage? I contacted CK and they promised to send me some extra balls of yarn.

I then started looking on the net to find that I wasn't the only person who had had these problems - several mentioned the very poor quality of the yarn and the fact there wasn't enough to complete the project - I advise any of those who had these problems to contact CK direct - then they might realise that they need to test these products out before selling them on to their buyers.

Even after being supplied with extra yarn it still didn't mean I could finish the project properly - the instructions became as clear as mud and I ended up colour matching from my own supplies and finishing it off my way.

 One side

The other.

The overall verdict - a product with a premium price that promises so much but fails to deliver.

Would I recommend this set to others? - no.

Will I buy from CK again? To be honest I've become quite disillusioned with CK and their products and the quality of the recent things I've bought is noticeably poorer than the original items. I think in future it will have to be something amazing before I hand over my hard earned pennies - and yes you can quote me on that!!

xxx Vicki xxx

PIF winners and other stuff

Good afternoon

Did you have a good weekend? We did :) It started with a walk on Saturday morning with MrVV went via the local Panto (oh yes it did) and ended in a family meal out - rather lovely.

Right important stuff first - remember I was a PIF winner in December and in turn I offered 3 people the chance to receive a parcel from me sometime in the next few months??

Well there were lots of takers - sadly there can only be 3 winners. So in true blog fashion, the names were put into a vintage teacup and the following 3 were the first ones out;

Traci @ Madaboutbags

Pene @ Scrapmymiddlelifecrisis

and last but not least

Sue of @home 

Ladies I will be in touch to get your details and then all you have to do is sit back and wait a few weeks for the postie to bring you a parcel and then in turn you offer a parcel for 3 lucky people - simples :)

In other stuff news;

I received some more yarn from Cath Kidston so I can finish my Crochet Tin project. Lets just say this hasn't been the experience I expect from a brand like CK and the quality of the yarn leaves a lot to be desired. I think in the fairness of it all, I shall be writing a proper review so that others who are considering buying it are prepared :(

Much better news - I decided the other night to make something for me - a fancied one of the infinity scarves I've made for pressies and the forthcoming craft fair. I decided to recycle some yarn I'd previously used for a couple of knitting projects (blog posts on 27.9.10. & 16.9.10.) Its a Debbie Bliss product her Eco cotton yarn - the colours are lovely and its great to work with. Firstly the 2 scarves had to be unravelled - that took a little while;

I've finished now the basic scarf - I'm just waiting for another ball to arrive so I can finish the edges off neatly and then I can show you the finished result.

Lastly for today - there have apparently been some fantastic sunrises/sunsets recently - sadly our house doesn't get to see them. In the mornings the rising sun is hidden behind other houses and trees and even in the afternoon its hidden behind a massive oak tree in a neighbours garden. I did manged to get one photo the other day which shows the glow of the setting sun, between the bare branch of our cherry tree and the said oak tree.

Right - another day - another birthday cake is baking - this time for little son who turns 14 tomorrow! Oh and there are parcels to wrap too.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

A Little Bit of Hooking on a Friday

Good afternoon

Blimey the end of the week already. I hope everyone is ok after all the awful weather we've had this week? I was quite glad to have a few days indoors. Thanks for all the comments on my last post.

(1) I'm feeling much better - better than I have for months tbh.

(2) I've emailed CK and they are 'looking for some matching yarn' for me. I hope I hear something soon - certainly not what you'd expect from a company as high profile as that.

Well today has been a good one - the weather has been gorgeous - sunny and quite warm. I decided to do something I've not done for over 4 months - I walked into town and back - all by myself! It felt rather strange to start with not having someone there but I soon got used to it. It was lovely to have a wander and a good look about without being hurried up. Sadly the charity shops turned up nothing at all - lots of unloved christmas pressies lurking on the shelves and a distinct lack of pretty china and vintage wares. My favourite little shop opens again on Monday so I'm hopeful they might have some nice things for me to browse through.

Back to the hooking - I spent most of yesterday evening sitting at the computer, hook in one hand and best concentrating face on (yes the one with the tongue sticking out). I was looking at lots of the tutorials on Lucy's lovely blog. I thought it high time I progressed from granny squares to other sorts of crochet. Well here's the first 2 results;

 One crochet jar jacket - just using random odds of yarn from my basket. I treated myself to the daffs when I was out today - sort of reward for my myself.

 The first of what hopefully will be many Teeny Tiny Hearts - I picture strings of these all over the house.

 My haul from town today - new yarn so I can start on some makes for the craft fair and for forthcoming birthdays, bobble trim to make feet for the owl in the first picture and a new magazine for those need to put my feet up moments.

Whilst I'm typing I'm waiting for another new project to set. I treated myself to some candle making supplies and have just made the first 2 - one for me and another for a pressie. I'll let you see the finished results next time - they now look like they are starting to set.

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you are doing. I'm hoping we'll get out and about as the forecast is promising. MrVV has also promised to give my bike an overhaul - I'm back to physio on Monday and I'm hoping to be given the green light to start gently cycling again.

Until next time

xxx Vicki xxx

Getting comfy

Good afternoon :)

Thanks for all the comments on my CK problem. I've contacted them via facebook and now email and am waiting a reply from them.

This is my view for most of today;

Aren't those stockings fetching!! The reason, a day stay in hospital yesterday after a minor 'female' tweak. Today I've been told to take it easy and the stockings can come off tonight - hurrah.

Its given me a chance to catch up with Great Expectations that I recorded over Christmas - 2 down, final part to go. I've also been adding another strip to my eventual 100 square blanket - now at 70 squares;

I've also caught up with the end sewing in on my Giant Granny blanket - now 36 rounds big;

I'll keep going with this one for as long as the yarn lasts - the one I'm using has been discontinued - I think I'll be able to get another 10 rounds added before I run out though.

There's someone I've been meaning to introduce you all too - his name is Jack and he arrived here with the VV family just before Christmas;

 Isn't he a total hunk - all furry faced with a fat tummy - a bit like MrVV ;)

He was my win from a giveaway that Jackie @ Sew Special Bears had last year (sorry no link blogger is being a right PINTA today). Thank you again Jackie - he's gorgeous and he's still mine - little son hasn't even attempted to pinch him - I think after all these years I've mastered that 'don't even think about it' look!!

Right time to go back to the sofa - armed this time with a mug of tea and some painkillers!!

xxx Vicki xxx

Belated Happy New Year

Good afternoon

A belated Happy New Year to you all. I meant to post yesterday but (1) ran out of time and (2) hadn't taken any photos!! Plus I got up late, got times wrong and we were in a rush to go from a lunchtime drinks party to a New Years Day family buffet tea!

Anyhow - am here now - better late than never ;). Can't believe its January - we've been out for a family walk today to Southwold and it was so warm and sunny;

I'm getting so much better at this walking lark - stamina is much improved - we just need to work on my speed now - so much of the time, this was my view;

Menfolk strolling off ahead and then stopping and waiting for me to catch them up!

Can I ask you all a question? Did anyone else get the Cath Kidston crochet tin set? I've started to make mine up and I've run out of yarn before I've finished. I've not enough to do the last 3 rounds of the back of the cushion. I could match with yarn I have here but I wondered if its a design fault in general? I was very frugal with the ends and wastage as I've made each square up.

I've also completed my first make of 2012 - I'll share that later in the month when I take part in the Monthly Make posts for 2012 (links in my sidebar).

Don't forget my PIF - again, link in the sidebar.

See you soon.

xxx Vicki xxx

.

Five minutes peace!!

Good morning

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas? We had a great day - just the 4 of us and I must confess that's our preferred way. We can please ourselves - and it means if we fancy a mid-morning doze on the kitchen sofa then its fine (one of us had a bit of a 'thickhead' for mixing her drinks on Christmas Eve!!).

Christmas morning started at 7.30am when the boys appeared in our room - armed with mugs of tea and their stockings to open. I do love this part and there are rarely any photos as I prefer just to watch it happen and remember it in my mind. They were very happy with their mix of pressies - including new hats which appear to have remained on their heads for the past few days.

Once stockings were empty and tea was drunk, it was downstairs to open the pressies under the tree. Wow such a lot this year and I'm pleased to say everybody loved everything - no pressies to 'regift' at all.

Here are a few photos from the rest of the day;

Little son in his Monkey onesie suit - he's worn this loads - really suits him!

One table set for lunch.

A warming glow once all the candles on the piano were lit.

MrVV and 2 hyped-up teens!

Little son & I.

Little son again.

Just some of my pressies - loads of new books with ideas to inspire, a hat, a scarf and a mini hot water bottle.

Big son and MrVV - reading out their awful cracker jokes.

I tried this year to make quite a few of my pressies for Christmas and any December birthdays too - here's a mosaic which shows them all. BTW the knitted monster for my nephew was a big hit - he tells me its his favourite pressie!!

One final set of pictures for today - a mosaic for December;

Right I'd best be off - a trip out to the sales is planned - I've been saving up to replace lots of household things that have broken and worn out - am hoping I can replace many of these today at bargain prices.

See you later in the week - I've got my results for the December Photo Scavenger Hunt to share with you - it was a special one - a Festive A-Z!

xxx Vicki xxx

Patchy

Good evening

Blimey I never meant to leave it almost a week between posts. Life has got in the way this week - a few disasters and a few triumphs too. We'll ignore the disasters and focus on the good stuff. 

In my last post you saw a peak of the new Cath Kidson 'Patch' book. I've had a good read and this is for me the best of the craft books she's brought out. I decided to make up the kit that was included with it. Whilst I've made patchwork quilts before using cut squares, I've never worked with paper templates. The instructions were very easy to understand and it didn't take long till I'd the patchwork pieces tacked together;

 

The next stage took a while longer as it firstly involved ironing *yuck* and then remembering to take the work upstairs with me to sew it all together. My sewing machine was most surprised to see me and much to my delight despite being ignored for almost 2 months worked beautifully first time.  Once the bag was together I decided to add some vintage buttons from my collection as it was too plain for my liking;

Hanging in the kitchen with just some of my reusable shopping bags!

Close up to show the colours better.

Now hands up - who was cold today? When I got up this morning and peaked out of the bedroom window I was surprised to see frost on the grass and the car windscreen all frozen up! When I got dressed I picked lots of layers but despite that I was still cold. You know it must be cold when despite lots of layers, a scarf, wrist warmers and blanket you are still shivering;

Not good - when MrVV came home at lunchtime - he was despatched upstairs to set the central heating going for a few hours. It was lovely to hear the gurgle of the pipes as they sprang to life and within a little while the house was feeling much warmer. In fact its off now and probably won't need to go on for a few days - just needed something to take the chill out of the air.

Since I've been on crutches I've not been able to wear a watch as it rubs on them. Now I like knowing what the time is and had a 'doh' moment when I remembered something I treated myself too much earlier in the summer - a gorgeous fob watch on a chain. I'd loved the Cath Kidston one but could not justify the expense - this one was a fraction of the price and just as lovely;

 The enamelled case.

and the lovely watch face.

Hurrah half term has started here now - it couldn't come soon enough. Both boys are very tired and a some lie-ins and a break for the school routine are very much needed..I don't think I'll see them very early tomorrow morning. Might mean I get to watch the rugby in peace. Good luck to Wales for tomorrow and to New Zealand for Sunday.

Have a good weekend folks.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx