Homemade Christmas

We have spent the last few days doing lots of activities with the boys. Well with the oldest really though the little one has been joining in. We've magic painted numerous Christmas scenes. Made paper chains and paper snowflakes. Cut chains of little people and are in the process of making a papier mache pinata for when 'all our friends' come on Boxing Day. That's actually my parents, older brother and sister, both inlaws and their six children, (4 and 2 respectively), my boy is very excited about this. We have made pipe cleaner candy canes and pipe cleaner decorations. My husband and I have made Christmas tree, baubles and a reindeer. My 3yr old assures me he has made baubles and snowflakes. They are very good and all hanging on our tree. We have made some felt decorations with some added sparkle from the bead and button box. It is amazing how many activities you can get through in a couple of days. We also made truffles and a gingerbread.

Garden waste!!

However my most recent activity is my current favourite. I was helped by said 3yr old. He gave me the twigs to twist.



Finished wreath

My very own Christmas wreath.

The ribbon was from my ribbon box and the adornments were from a candle wreath I made last year. Sometimes being a hoarder has it uses after all.

Christmas Treats

Marzipan Fruits

This little platter was created by a friend of mine at our Tuesday group. I didn't get a chance to make any as we were planning next term but she did make me a platter too. :o)
I have a few new items from my 'Advent Swap' and pictures that still aren't working so just to update you we have received a Christmas magic painting book, a pretty printed tea towel and a pack of christmas napkins perfect for the busy lunch we are having on boxing day.
How is everybodies Christmas preparation coming along?

6, 7, 8, 9, 10. . .

I have been a busy girl this week with one thing and another but I have made enough time to open my advent swap gifts in the mornings with my cup of tea.
I have opened a tube of bead letters, a length of gingerbread man ribbon, a pack of paper chains with little robins on which appear to have been acquired by my children and stashed in one of their hiding places, a particularly yummy 3d chocolate father christmas chocolate and a tin of, (well I think it is, it's all in German!), vaseline or similar.
My boys and husband enjoy seeing what I open in the mornings. The little ones were both bought advent calendars by Nanny, (mother in law), and hubby has a string of stockings I bought him the first year we were together and filled with sweets and things. This year he has chocolate coins. We were also given a countdown to christmas with a 'candy cane' (made of plastic), that you move down a number everyday. No 1 son has quickly cottoned on to this and it's the first thing he does every day. Occassionally a chocolate coin has been known to pop out of the candy slot much to his delight.
Christmas is very much in evidence in our house.
Blogger however is still not letting me add pictures. Errors everytime. :o(

1,2,3. . .

goodies for me. Well 5 now actually it's been longer then I meant it to be since my last post about the swap, On day 1 I received a gorgeous lip balm. I had pictured it but blogger is refusing my pictures today. :o( Day 2 was a pretty reel of red ribbon, day 3 a sachet of mint weightwatchers hot choc which I drank that afternoon YUM, day 4 a lovely set of heart shaped biscuit cutters and today I opened a chocolate mud mask. I shall have to sneak off to the bathroom when hubby is around and try and get 10 mins to myself.
I am sorry there are no pictures to show you as soon as blogger is playing the game i'll add some pics of the next batch of goodies that come my way.
Thank you Jenny. :o)

Advent Swap

A little late but I almost forgot to post a picture of my lovely box of goodies for the advent swap. I am so looking forward to opening them.

There were a few chocolates hidden in amongst the parcels. My husband has very kindly relieved me of the pressures of eating them. ;o)

Bless he was gutted as he hasn't an advent calendar this year and both the boys and I have something to open.

I will keep you updated as I open the packages.

Tuesday cooking chaos.

It's our local Tuesday for Women group this afternoon. As 'chair' I get to do lots of the organising and it can be a little chaotic in my house when we have a 'big' project planned. Today we will be 'Taking Home Tea'. A basic cooking class where everyone gets to take home main course and desert. I am pretty impressed that for £38 I have bought food to feed around 24 people. Both main and desert. We are doing a nice simple cottage pie followed by apple and pear crumble. I am a little concerned that we only have you're average 4 ringed hob to cook on and so many mouths to feed. We have a pretty high turn out expected. We went down to 5 people and we've shot back up again to 10 or 11 who are interested and come along.
I have never had so much mince and potato and fruit in my kitchen. The community centre will be buzzing this afternoon. I will try and remember my camera to show you some pictures of our chaos.
:o)

Forgive me bloggers. . .

for I have neglected my little corner of blog world recently.
I have no excuse other than life. It just keeps coming but things seem to be about normal again now. (So hugely chaotic and very tiring). :o)
I went to possibly the worst evening sale ever last week. I felt ever so sorry for the woman who organised it as it was her first. But I think she learnt a lot and despite selling 2 plastic left over bead childrens bracelets for the grand total of £1 I had a lovely evening and I don't regret the experience at all. I was luckier than some of the people who either sold nothing at all or who had travelled a long way. I think there were about 6 people through the door. We ended up calling it a night quite early. I had only paid half in advance for my table and I ended up helping the people set up the room as I arrived early allowing for non existing traffic. After my help she asked me not to pay the remaining fee so I only ended up £4 down rather than £9. And I met a couple of lovely people. 1 who asked me to do a fashion show in Ipswich as the 'exclusive' jewellery stand. I was one of 4 on Friday. And one lovely lady who sells cakes and homemade mincemeat. Subsequently she has ordered 2 bracelets from me for her self and her friend who is leaving for Australia. So not a total washout and I've made a few new contacts.

My little table. That's my friend Mel in the corner. She was at the table next to me with bodyshop.

Other than that I have started a new project. My son would like an orange and black scarf. He choose the wool himself in the shop. I certainly will have no problems spotting him in a crowd. I photographed it wrong side up but you get the idea. Hubby in his excitment at my knitting needles bought a magazine of soft toys for me to knit. I will have to master the basics a bit more before attempting the patterns in it though. The same son has asked me to make him the hedgehog from it. Really?! A knitted hedgehog. . .

I hope you are all getting ready for the festive season. I am looking forward to December as I have taken part in the Advent Swap and my parcel is here already. I must not peek! I will take some photos to show you all next time.
Until then. :o) xx

100 giveaway. . .

I have just realised that I have hit that elusive 100 followers and I did say at 100 I would have a giveaway. I know i've said it before but there are really 100 this time!
I am in the middle of another giveaway at the moment and with half term it's all a bit crazy but when it calms down I will post some more.
:o)

Can you divorce your inlaws?

After dropping everything last week and dashing off 'up north' last week to see his dying grandmother my husband and I have just been told our children are not welcome at the funeral because the only living daughter, (his aunt), wants it to be perfect and our children of 1 and 3 might cry or make a noise.
WTF?!?
It's a funeral you telling me that the whole church is going to be dead quite, no crying or wailing from those who have lost their friend/family.
We are welcome in fact before consulting us even we were booked spaces in the car. Then we were told grandchildren only no great grandchildren. We have the youngest children in the family. All other great grandchildren are teen or older and are all very welcome at the church and able to make their own way so the car thing was no big deal.
Then we were chastised for suggesting we might not be there. We have no one to look after the boys. It's a 6 hour drive, the funeral is at 11.30 am meaning we have to go the day before or get up ridiculously early and travel back same day. But you have to come Nan wanted it and Aunt . wants to give you your inheritence.
My husband has stuck to his guns and said you welcome us all or none.
Long and short. . . we're not going.
I believe we may have just been cut off from the family but I am so angry right now I don't care. It's his family anyway not mine. Mine would never be so insensitive to our needs thankfully!
Ok rant over. Sorry lovely readers but I had to let off some steam somewhere and here is the best place I can think of.
I shall try and be a little chirpier next time. Xx

Scraps Giveaway!

I have just seen this fab giveaway over at The Patchwork Heart. For a chance to win a bag full of scraps just pop over and give her a visit.

:o)

The Patchwork Heart: Scraps Giveaway!

Apologies

I am sorry I have been meaning to post on here for a while now but there has been lots going on and still is. I haven't forgotten you all and I promise to be back soon and fill you all in. :o)

Bead Soup Party Time. . .

It's finally here. The day we've all been waiting for. The Bead Soup Blog Party.

Organised by the amazing Lori Anderson over at Pretty Things.

An amazing 362 people took part from all around the world. For a full list of participants please visit the Bead Soup Blog Party Participant List.

My particular soup was sent all the way from Wisconsin by the lovely Michelle of Life in the Bead Lane. She has a great blog and her own bead shop. Please do pop over and pay her a visit.

A quick reminder of what I received before I show you what I have created from my delicious soup.

These were the main soups. Yes not one but two. I was truely spoilt.

I loved these beads when I opened the package. They were very tactile and awfully pretty. When I initially sat down with a head full of ideas I will admit I became a little frustrated, nothing came out the way I expected but with a couple of nights of no beading I came back fully refreshed and created no less than 9 items from my stash. This left me with a few beads, a couple which were surplas to the pattern I created and the teardrops which didn't quite fit even though I tried to add them 3 or 4 times. I was thinking that I may add them to some Xmas decs to give them a bit of pizazz. I also still have my blue bead and sari silk to use in a future project.

Green focal and two bracelets.

Though I think I have not strayed far from my style it was fun using different beads and incorporating other items I'd not used before. I love the three way rose connector but the item has turned out rather bright. I am not sure it's something I would usually go for but I have decided that I will try to wear everything I have made. The elasticated bracelet has had several outings all ready and I have plans to wear both the necklaces made with the focal pendants. I need to find a chain for the little pendant I have made before that can be shown off.



Pink focal, three way connector necklace, bracelet, pendant and two sets earrings.

I really enjoyed the challenge and the beads I was sent. So a huge thank you to both Lori for organising and Michelle for being such a great partner. It was a great event. Now I am looking forward to visiting you all to see what you received/created.

CALLING BEAD SOUPERS

I have spent 2 and a half hours on here and after having my pictures rejected three times and computer crashing twice when I finally came to upload blogger decided to turn my entire post into complete gibberish. I am shatterd. I am close to tears and I can't do it again tonight so I really hope you don't bypass me altogether and come back later when I have slept on it and had another go. I can't understand what has happened blogger has never behaved like this with me before. :o(

In or Out?

With all the goings on on Folksy and with not having been on there much recently I am at a loss as to whether I am allowed or not allowed anymore. I guess I shall see on the 1st November whether I am still up and running.
It has made me think though, I need to get myself in gear and have a go at getting my website sorted properly. I have started it but there is lots of work to do and I need to sort out the 'e.commerce' section as it's labelled by the host.
I have taken photos of most of the items I have which is a good start. And I do have ideas for other things coming up too.
I have also decided to 'rent a square' at Rosewill Charms for a month and will be sorting out my bits and pieces to send off this weekend and posting them on Monday. It has to be worth a shot right?! After all it never hurts to try.
I had a few friends over last night and it was fun to relax and laugh and not to worry about things. It was a gentle reminder that the people who matter are not always those you see everyday.
We are off to see my sister later and my neices with a belated present for the youngests birthday. You have seen the pictures already on a post lower down the page.

Gnoming about in Devon

Picture completely unrelated to the blog post but we saw the Gnome Reserve today on a house programme today and it made me chuckle. ;o)
Until next time peoples.

Blustery days

Well it seems Autumn or is it Winter already is here to stay. More blustery days and leaves and branches well little bits of them bl;owing past the windows.
I haven't been up to much recently to be honest. I seem to be in a bit of a slump. I think caused by factors external to crafting but a slump none the less.
I think I am going to start the day well ok the middle of the morning with a quick spot of washing up and a list of things to be done. Perhaps that will help give the boost I need to get going again.
I hope you're all getting on ok and I look forward to visiting you all soon. I have read some great things from you all recently.
Take care and I hope you are not too blown about by the wind.
:o)

Bead Soup Bead Suprise

I meant to blog about this earlier in the week but the days seem to have disappeared. I completely forgot to photograph the packet I sent off to my swap partner Michelle of Life in the Bead Lane. Now Michelle owns a bead shop so I was a little nervous about my package. So far I haven't heard from her to say it's arrived but I hope it has. We posted on the same day to try and ensure we received about the same time.
My packet arrived earlier this week all the way from Wisconsin.

The Package

The Sentiment

Inside the Bag

A little extra handmade bead

Bead Soup mix 1
Gorgeous Greens

Bead Soup mix 2
Pretty Pinks

As you can see my little package had an amazing variety of contents, not 1 but 2 bead soup packets, a pretty blue handmade beady bead, a piece of sari silk and a little note explaining what all the beads were, where they had come from or who had made them.
I have some ideas and had my husband not come down after settling the eldest and told me he'd decided to sleep in my bed as it was cold, not Daddy's side Mummy's side, apparently Daddy's side is too warm and Mummy's is just right?! I would be creating tonight. However my beading bits are currently being stored in our room after we turned my beading room into number 2 sons bedroom. I don't want to risk waking him so it will have to wait until tomorrow.
What was in your soup?
:o)

New ideas

Well the sun appeared briefly yesterday morning and it was just long enough for me to grab a handful of my new makes and take some sunny pictures. I knew my window of opportunity wasn't going to be very long so I opted for the fairly bog standard white background and used the trampoline as my base so I could move around the items to get teh least shadow possible. I did venture a bit of arty photography with a couple of necklaces and was pleased with the results. The old apple tree has more uses than I thought. 

Blue Daisy Glass pendant becomes a necklace.

I love the detail of the tree. The colours are really spectacular in the sunshine. I also took some photos of some new things I've made. These are all actually presents but the idea is to start offering similar items for sale. I really like them but then I suppose I am biased. See what you think. . .

September Sapphire - no adornment

September Sapphire - charm adornment

August Peridot - bead and tag adornment

The rain has set in today and doesn't appear to be letting up so I shall have to hope for another sunny morning to take some more pictures. In the meantime I need to get on with advertising all the new items I have photographed so far.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope to see you all again soon.

:o) Fiona @ Christals Creations.

Pipe Dreams. . .

I was idley searching the www last week and I found a beautiful house for sale. Needed a bit of work but nothing we couldn't manage and for 5 minutes I actually let myself believe it was a possibility. Then reality struck and I remembered that we are stuck in this job for a good while yet and the chance of us moving anywhere is slim to none.
Still it was nice to deam for a minute. . .
What about you? What would you love to be doing?

:0)

Using leftovers and finishing up.

So recently I have made a bit of a deal with myself to use up all the odds and ends before buying anything new. I have made a few quite interesting and striking pieces of jewellery which I now need to photograph and showcase on the www. I have found it a bit of a challenge in somecases and I am not sure what I am going to do with the beads I just haven't managed to use.
It's seeped it's way into the rest of our lives as well, using up everything in the cupboards before buying anymore. It has meant we've come up with some very different creations when it come to cooking which have all been rather tasty so far.
I think I might have to do a batch of scones for lunch and maybe make some bread.
I am looking forward to tomorrow. Hubby has some left over annual leave which starts tomorrow and i'm looking forward to two weeks of family things and a bit of a sort out. Things have got on top of us a bit with birthdays and christenings and the house could do with a once over.
Some of you may remember I mentioned a giveaway. I haven't forgotten i'm just being patient and waiting for the last 5 followers to appear. I will still have the giveaway it may just take slightly longer than anticipated.

I haven't really got any new photos to share with you today so I will leave you with this, it's a gift from my belated summer swap.

Good Bye!

A busy few days.

We've had a busy few days here in Suffolk.
Last Tuesday I hosted a baby shower which went well. The rest of the week was spent preparing for my sons christening on Sunday.
Friday I baked the cake, Saturday I made the scone mix and hubby made the cake topper. He is suprisingly artistic for a man in green. I think he may be wasted in his current job.


Not bad for our first attempt!



I had a sale of three bracelets on Saturday and the lady popped round to collect them and not long after some very special friends arrived from Devon to share our special day.

Jo was Godmother and her children were able to come and stay for a few days as it is the holidays. No 1 son loved having his 'best friend' here. Ben is actually 8 but No 1 adores him and Ben has an extrodinary amount of patience for small children. And No 2 was spoilt for attention by Bens sister.

Taking a break on our walk around the lake.

Monday we took it easy and went for a walk around the lake. The children loved it. They particularly enjoyed playing leap frog over the wooden mushrooms. Here are the boy of honour and his very special friend taking a break from all that excecise.
Now we are all back to normal, sadly our friends have gone home, Devon is such a long way from Suffolk. And I am left with lots of Thank You letters to write and a nice pile of washing to sort out. :o)

The Cake

The remains

The cutting

Now to decorate



Taking shape

The end result

Wine Charm Wednesday. . .

It is quite bizarre I have sold 5 sets of wine charms this evening and 2 sets yesterday. There is some kind of mad ruxh on wine charms. Is there some sun coming that no one has told me about and people are preparing for parties?
Anyway I am obviously not complaining. I thought i'd share a few of those sets with you this evening while I am waiting for sons cake to be ready to remove from the tin.

Gardeners World

Dragonflies

Cupcake Fantasy

Cupcake Paradise

OK. I'm off now. The cake has turned out perfectly from the tin. Tomorrow is the real test. I am turning it from a rectangular cake to a Peppa Pig rocket.
Night All.
:o)

Garden time. . .

Are any of you garden lovers. We try to be but with this weather things don't seem to be doing as well as they could. I am pleased to be able to report 1 cucumber is making an appearance and some beans and a few toms. The cabbages are doing ok but the cauli, brocolli and sweetcorn aren't worth the space they are taking up this year.

 (Very busy helping Daddy build the raised bed)

We have a raised bed with lovely soil but the carrots and parsnips have declined to grow and only a couple of onions are popping out. Ah well. Better luck next time.
I have just added these fun wine glass charms/markers to my folksy shop. Something for the gardener in you.

Click on the picture for a trip to the shop.

Until next time.

(Don't forget about my giveaway, mentioned earlier. Only 6 more followers and I shall do the draw.)

Latest Listings and a bit of Charity.

I have been trying to update my Folksy shop since maternity leave is now over. I have also bought a website host space and domain name. Now I have to figure out building the site. It comes with templates and things I just want it to look right! It will get there soon enough I am sure.
For now though I have added a few new things into my Folksy 'Boutique'. Here is a taster. . .



It's an elasticated Help 4 Heroes bracelet. £1 from the sale of each my Help 4 Heroes items will go to the charity. So far I have sold 1 adult toggle bracelet and a childrens bracelet set. Both were commissioned by people I know locally. I am waiting the payment for the adult bracelet and I will give it a week or so to see if either of the new items listed sells before passing the money on.

I am up to 94 followers now so only 6 more and I will sort out the give away blogged about recently.

See you all again soon. ;o)

A birthday suprise. . .

I think I can safely say that my sister is the last person in the world I would expect to be reading my blog so posting a picture here of her upcoming birthday gift should be fairly safe. Christine if you are reading this post Shhhh it's a suprise. . .



It's a maternal line bracelet with ruby swarvoski crystals representing the rubies that would be there if I was able to afford them as the birthstone of July. Thats my sister in the middle on her wedding day and next to her is our mother on her wedding day. Thinking about it that makes our mother younger than my sister here. They were both younger than I was when I got married. . .  I am really pleased with how it's turned out.

We've got a whole host of birthdays coming up, my husband the day before my sister and my eldest son two days after. We're having a Peppa Pig party next Friday for some of his friends. That means I have to make a Peppa Pig cake. .  .Hmm there may or may not be pictures of this to follow. :o)

We're creeping ever closer to the 100 cut off for the giveaway I mentioned in my last two posts. Do pass it on and hopefully we'll be there in the near future.

Have a great week everyone.

:o)

92 and counting. . .

Well my last post was about my upcoming giveaway and also my attempts to reach 100+ followers. I have gained 4 new comers since then and I have enjoyed popping over and meeting them at their blogs. I may also have accidently found myself spending some money in the process. . . OPPS!!
But it was I feel worth it. I am waiting for my packet with anticipation. In the meantime here is a little sample from said offenders folksy shop. . .
BlueDaisyGlass has a fab shop over at Folksy with lots of pretty things including these gorgeous blue earrings

(which I rather like actually). . . but I have resisted the temptation though I did purchase another of her lovely goodies which I shall picture here when it arrives.

I have been busy over on Folksy today with listing items and trying to get myself stocked up again after my little break. Here is a little sample of what's on display so far. . .

Now I must be off to sort out photos and items that have yet to be photographed and all that jazz. . .

Take care.  :o)

Time for a . . .

GIVEAWAY

I have decided that a bit of a 'spring clean' is in order. A little late for spring perhaps a 'summer sweep'.

I am going to have a through going through of my crafting collection and the things I keep holding onto just in case I am going to finally part with. There is just too much 'stuff' stored away. My husband would say I am a horder. I would say it's just being thrifty. . .

Anyway whan I have started I will put up some pictures of the things I am giving away. I may even add in a few suprises.

For an entry you need to be a follower and leave a comment. If you tweet then tweet about this for an extra entry or you can blog it.

The draw will take place when I have reached the elusive 100+ followers.

I will leave you with this picture of a bracelet I sold at the weekend. I love the inclusions in the jade making each bead unique. I shall be making more semi precious jewellery when I have reorganised myself. :0)

A make a month. . . catch up

I've been  bit lax in posting for the make a month challenge but I have been making. . .

I can't actually remember where I got up to month wise. I know there was a cross stitch in January, cup cakes decorated by me in February, or was that March? I made a focacia bread in April, in the other month was it Feb or March I made bracelets with my Tuesday group which was a lot of fun. May? What did I make in May? I can't remember now what I tried. I know it's been a different craft/project each month. May I think might have been a Fathers Day card using scrapbooking ideas. Again with the Tuesday group we do a lot of fun things in our Tuesday group. Oh and we did patch working too. .  That was fun as well.

So my most recent makes are a resin project there is a bracelet which is not quite finished as I can't find the perfect clasp but also a pendant which has been given as a present to a good friend of mine. It holds a picture of her daughter. I found amazing glaze and I just had to try it. What a fantastic product. I can't wait to do more with it.

Then this month I have made a candle from a sheet of wax which I can't find the picture of. I need to organise my pictures more carefully. Jewellery are all neatly put away and labelled but everything else sits in files waiting to be organised. And also I tried my hand at homemade icecream. It has the seal of approval from my 2yr old I only added those pics 5 mins ago so I haven't lost them yet!

Sorry it's a bit late in coming but that should bring me up to date for the year so far. I shall find the candle pics and add them asap. I am planning on trying one with patterns next. I only have 6 sheets of wax though!

Until next time. :o)

Fiona @ Christals Creations

Where has the time gone?

Tomorrow is the last day of my maternity leave. I can't believe my 'baby' is already 9 months old. Where has time gone? I am so unorganised. I should have been using these beautiful days to photograph jewellery to list on Folksy before the bad weather starts, we've been told thats tomorrow by Mr weather man. . . Too late to worry about that now!
But I really am very unorganised and a little worried about the jump back into being a business person rather than a Mummy! Especially as the little man is teething and up all times of night while the older one has an undescriptive thing going on eith a temperature and lethargy but can't tell me if anything hurts. Gets me up in the early hours in tears and wont sleep unless he has a hand to hold.
I had planned to get organised with ideas for a new website among other things and that just hasn't happened either.
I feel a little like i'm about to dive into a whirlpool but first I need to go and make tea for my tribe.
Until next time. (just realised on hubbys pc so no pics today!)
:o)

All in a spin. . .

Not me. The washing machine! After two weeks of gadding about here and there the washing machine is proving it's worth today.
We have been having a lovely time while hubby was on leave. The first two weeks were spent housing and gardening and generally relaxing at home with the boys. Then we spent a fabulous if somewhat wet week in Devon where my husband was finally able to meet some old friends of mine. And said friend was a star and babysat giving us our first night off together in over a year. We had a meal in the local pub and wandered home to the sound of cows mooing and the odd bird call. It was lovely.

After a couple of days at home we took a very excited young man to see some rather special trains.

If you have ever been to Drayton Manor you will know what a wonderful day out it provides. If you haven't been it is well worth a visit. Tesco are doing a voucher swap £11 of vouchers gets you a ticket with a 6 month entry date and with adult prices from £19.95 it is well worth the savings. There is not only Thomas Land but a small zoo, dinosaur walk, and many other non Thomas related rides and attractions.

Our final excursion was a little bit special. My husbands brother and his soon to be wife offered to have the boys for us overnight leaving us a whole day and night to celebrate, though rather belatedly, our anniversary. We dropped the boys off at 10 am and didn't collect them until 12.30 the following day. We spent a full day shopping, (I had forgotten how much your feet hurt after 6 hrs solid shopping), eating out without anyone wanting a wee mid meal or to share our food and even went out for dinner, (I wore a dress, hubby sat and counted on one hand the number of occassions I have worn a dress in last 5 years on one hand. Make that two including our dinner date that night). We both had a wonderful time and felt very relaxed. It is wonderful being parents to our boys but that was the first time in 3 years we've been alone for a whole 24hrs!

I am not sure Mr Barclay and Ms HSBC will approve of our weekend but hey we had fun. ;o)

Today he is back to work and I am trying to orgnise us back into a normal routine which after 8mths of disruption should prove interesting.

Hello Dolly!

This is Dolly. . .

She is going to help me display my necklaces from now on.

She is pictured here wearing a few of my new makes ready for the summer.

They will all be available on Folksy along with many others as soon as maternity leave is over.

Blog Comments - Finally Got It!

Blogger has been very frustrating the last few weeks. I couldn't reply to any blog posts and every time I tried i't take me round and round in circles.
I've cracked it. . . . for all you fellow followers who have had this problem. Don't choose google account choose url at the bottom of the list. Put your name or your business name in the name section and your blog address in the url section.
Lo and behold it lets you post just like that!

Good luck. I know a few of you mentioned you've been having problems too.

:o)

Ant-tastic

We were having a move around in our garden this week. Extending the patio with the paving stones someone had randomly placed in the middle of our lawn and here is what we found under the first paving stone. Within minutes this square of earth was completely free of ants and eggs. Amazing!

A walk around the lake

After feeding the ducks we went a little further and found Mummy and her chicks and then Mummy swan and her little ones too. The boys had a lovely day out. And Dad enjoyed himself too.

This was last weekend when we had some sun and when hubby had just returned home from his trip.

Welcome Home. . .

My son had a lot of fun decorating this cake for the welcome return of Daddy on Thursday last week.

He also made a banner and hung a paperchain 'diary' which we made a loop for everyday Daddy was away. This went more than halfway round our living room. And when we sat and worked it out we realised that in the last 52 weeks Daddy has been here for 22. Less than half of the last year. Our youngest is 7.5mths and he's missed 6 of those months. It was a bit if a shock when we looked at it this way and saw what a huge chunk he's really missed!

But that is our life and we adjust to it the way we have to. . .

The cake is half gone now and my oldest is just getting used to Daddy being home. Luckily he seems to have readjusted to the change quite well so far.

Until next time. . . :o)