52 weeks of happy

{12/52}

far too many things keeping me happy this week, most of which has been beyond me to get photos of, but you will have heard & seen it all before, lovely time spent with my family & friends, being grateful to have them all close, cooking & enjoying lovely food together, the littlest one & i are taking today out to be quiet and make the most of having the house to ourselves, while the boys are out at a football match, i'm really looking forward to seeing the new year in with good friends {& plenty more good food & wine!} hope you've all found some quiet time over these busy weeks - i dont plan to be back untill the new year - have fun!

52 weeks of happy

{11/52}

1. making the most of todays peace, i found time in the middle of all the washing, wrapping, decorating, last minute knitting, to take a breather & put my feet up - it was lovely!

2. i finished of the last of the knitted gifts, phew! 

3. teachers gifts have been gifted, school has broken up - hoorah, no packed lunches or school run for two weeks

3. we're tucked up safe at home, candles are lit, dinner is in the oven, i can take a deep breath & enjoy it all

christmas puds

i made a whole batch of knitted christmas puds to gift to the little folks school teachers, here they are before i added some silver thread so they could be hung on the tree, they are so so very cute, i really wanted to keep them all, i can't face making another one right now, especially as i'm busy finishing off the other last minute gifts i decided to make, these were made from a pattern i found on ravelry here, i was also lucky to have plenty of odds & ends in the right colours in my stash

52 weeks of happy

{10/52}

1. another food related happy, grannys bread, made with the help of little O today, still warm from the oven, just perfect spread with butter

2. school evening carol service at our village church, my little angel, it really was lovely

3. made a start on writing some cards, feeling far more organised now!

4. the children decorated the tree & i actually didn't feel the need to move it all around again once they'd gone to bed! 

52 weeks of happy

{8/52}

1. december is upon us - we're all rather excited

2. our latest film arrived - i've been wanting to watch this for ages, so looking forward to snuggling down later with it this evening  {or maybe tomorrow as we need to catch up with the killing III first} 

3. happy post! i was really lucky to win a little give-away from lilymoon, over on her facebook page, these beautiful postcards arrived this morning, just so lovely

4. i had my first gingerbread latte of the season this week - mmmm sure it won't be the last

you can visit lilymoons etsy shop over here or pop over to facebook as i think she has got another give-away going at the moment

day 28

thank you so much to the Aldersons for the fab kids christmas presents,  i did let them colour in a few pages, {even though i was very tempted to keep them for myself!}

day 20

christmas is creeping closer, we've been keeping ourselves very busy, christmas parties {i honestly had not coordinated her top & hat combo} theatre trips {to see the firework makers daughter - do go if you're in london & have a child of at least five} last minute quilting, snuggling on the sofa to watch the snowman, scoffing christmas chocolates, as i type the children have turned the front room into a huge den, i was hoping to get them making some hama bead snowflakes {still i'm quite happy to get with these on my own} looking forward to lighting the wood burner & making some mulled wine later - hope you're all keeping cosy

day 6

nearly one week into the month & i'm getting organised, two hats finished at the weekend {one a christmas pressie, the other for little O}most of the presents brought, decorations found, advent calendars on the go, nativity dress rehearsals under way, parties being prepared for, i just need to remember to find time to stop & take it all in

hat patterns can be found on my ravelry page

hibernating

we seem to have had all the cough & cold bugs thrown our way in the last few weeks, we've all be fighting them off with varying degrees of success! little O & i seem to have been hit hardest & have been spending the last couple of days hibernating at home {i'm very lucky to have some great neighbours happy to help me out with the school run}

but don't think i've been snuggled up on the sofa watching dora for the umpteenth time! i've been trying to get on with sewing the mountain of nativity costumes that need to be ready for next week, along with ploughing my way through some of the christmas knitting on my needles, indulging in a little on-line christmas shopping, as i can't actually make it out to the shops {far far better this way but it does mean i miss out on an excuse to have a gingerbread latte}oh & having a practice run on the 'christmas morning muffins'

goodbye 2010

having had a really lovely, busy & fun family Christmas, we have had a few lazy days at home, playing lego or play-mobile, watching films, knitting (well maybe just me with the knitting bit!) but today despite the rather grey weather, we made it out for a walk through the woods

armed with a camera, Thermos of tea & our snacks of choice (mine being Christmas cake) we set off for a slow stroll,  

it felt great to get out & we all enjoyed the fresh air & jumping in the puddles (& mud)

i'm looking forward to what is becoming our new years eve celebrations of a curry & a movie, then heading out on new years day to watch the morris men at the village pub, then back for drinks with friends, we also have something extra to celebrate, we have found another house, won't get too excited before it's all down in writing but things are looking good for 2011 - fingers crossed, 

wishing you all a happy new year

'twas the night before christmas

& we're about as ready as we're going to be 

wishing you all a very Merry Christmas

more christmas knitting

lots of knitting, has been keeping my fingers busy, think i'm all done (but do have some fireside knitting lined up for myself over the next few days) all the project details can be found over on my Ravelry page,

it's a hoot

i found it quite hard to come up with a quick handmade gift idea for big G's school teacher, so after a little web browsing i came up with a mug cosy, because surely all teachers enjoy a cuppa in the staff room

& this one turned out so cute, i'm really pleased with it, it also turned out to be very friendly on the purse, as the mug came from Sainsbury's & the yarn was some Debbie Bliss cashmerino i had left in my stash from another project, the buttons were all from my huge button stash too

it only took about 18g of wool & knitted up in an evening, trouble is i want one now too! i will probably include some nice tea bags with the present when i warp it, (or home-made biscuits if i get the time)

the pattern can be found on ravelry, but i changed it quite a lot from the original, so check out the notes on my projects page if you want to make one the same

tis the season to eat (a lot!)

we've been getting in some practice for all the christmas eating we will be doing soon, first up 'millionaires shortbread' these were amazing, although having never made them before i couldn't quite believe how much butter & sugar went into making them! so maybe not something i'll be making too often

i had forgotten how many christmas gifts you get working at a pre-school / nursery, mostly these are tins or boxes of well known chocolates, but one mum had gone to the effort of making each & everyone of the staff (that's nine in total!) a box of 6 cupcakes, each cake a different flavour & was beautifully decorated, 

(almost) too pretty to eat

& keeping up with my in-laws family traditions, my husband made some Piragi

which didn't last long either

christmas sewing

having been so encouraged by how well the advent calendar went, i set about making something with my little tree patchwork squares, (having had no idea what i was going to turn them into whilst i was actually making them), 

a pair of Christmas pillows, 

made using some greenish scraps & some cheapo cream ikea cotton

a tiny amount of hand sewing & backed with some green amy butler fabric

all coming together to make me (& my sofa) very happy

now i'm off to finish my glass of warm winter Pimms & stare lovingly at the Christmas tree