Author Archives: penny
FollowSearching for Reasons to be Cheerful…
I have to admit to having to look really hard this week for any cheerfulness at all! It’s entirely weather related, and I’m sorry to be so feeble. I haven’t coped at all with the heavy layer of cloud which has been sitting on top of our little corner of Norfolk, my mother describes it as being inside a Tupperware box with the lid on…
But this morning, hooray… after a gloomy start the clouds started to break…
and as the weather lifted, so did my spirits…
and of course there are reasons to be cheerful!
The very first one must be the wonderful response that I had from my last post about Team Hannah which you can read in the comments there. I know Hannah has been very appreciative and if you go to the Team Hannah website you will see the amount raised is moving steadily up, although there is still along way to go. Its very uplifting to find out how many kind and caring people are out there.
I’ve been beavering away making Christmas decorations for the Pick’n’Mix Makers Market which is not far away now, and as part of my stall I have bought a Christmas Tree, which is …whisper it….up my studio with decorations on it!!!!! In November!!! Very scary! I’m not going to frighten you with pictures of the tree, but just a little peek…
Coming on nicely I think, and out on my walk this afternoon there was holly…
and ivy…
…so I’m really getting into the spirit of things!
Out in the garden, there are still a few brave plants doing their thing. the Welsh Poppy…
…and these little blue flowers which normally flower in late Spring whose name escapes me for the moment…
…and the Eden rose.
This isn’t a rose I would really recommend as it has these spectacular heavy blooms on spindly weak stems so it’s very droopy, and the roses easily rot in wet weather. but they do last for ages as a cut flower, and it’s trying awfully hard to do its stuff at the moment!
I also found this dear little bird feeder in our little market town this morning which I hope the birds will discover soon…
…and it cost £3!! I couldn’t believe it!
Well I’ve certainly exceeded my three reasons this week, and I haven’t even come to the one which cheered me up no end last night. I won something!! Such a surprise. Wendy over on 1st Unique Gifts had a giveaway draw, and despite having 72 participants, I won one of Wendy’s brilliant clocks. And it’s SO appropriate!
Isn’t it great!
So what are your Reasons to be Cheerful this week? Can you share them so that if like me, someone is having fit of the winter glums we can visit your blog for a little happy moment. Just add yourself to the Linky at the bottom of this post and then we can find you, and if you don’t have a blog do join in via the comments. I love to hear from you…
I’ll leave you with another beautiful Winter Sky…
See you soon x
Silent Sunday
Reasons to be Cheerful 3
It’s that time of the week again, and actually there’s a lot of cheerfulness this morning as the sun is shining on the dew in the garden so it’s all looking beautifully sparkly!
Higgins is rather enjoying being allowed to have the door open so he can gallop in and out without always being the wrong side of the door.
And the garden looks rather good from his level too!
I’m very cheerful about the fact that I have a hollyhock growing at last. I love hollyhocks, and have been so annoyed by the way they will happily seed themselves in between gaps in the paving at the side of the road, and refuse to grow in my garden. This one has spent six months getting enormously tall, but has managed to flower before the snow arrives!
Now I’ve just got to see if I can get colourful ones to grow next year…
And talking about sparkly things, today my younger son’s new fiancee is coming to lunch to show us her engagement ring and to talk about making bunting for their wedding next May. Now that really is exciting!
So I have no trouble at all finding three reasons to be cheerful this week , how about you? If you’ve only just arrived, you can find out all about the Reasons to be Cheerful Linky here. If you add your three reasons to your latest blog post and add it to the Linky at the end of this post, then we can share a bit of cheerfulness with all our bloggy chums. And if you don’t have your own blog, don’t worry, just leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you xx
Making Winter
With all my moaning and groaning about the approaching Winter I was really happy to find another excellent way to combat the glooms over on Silverpebble‘s Blog. Emma feels just like me about winter and has obviously been running through the same thought processes about making it more enjoyable. It’s a good way too for all you Autumn/Winter lovers to share the things you love about the season, and lovely warming recipes and seasonal crafts and makes.
So that has got me revisiting a favourite recipe from a favourite chef…
..and make yummy Leek and Potato Soup. Follow the link for my version of the recipe, Nigel Slater has a great way of guiding you rather than being strict about quantities, which is what I love about this cookery book.
We have a special visitor for lunch tomorrow, so this soup, with some local Pesto bread and Goat’s cheese will be delicious, I can hardly wait!
So do visit Silverpebble where you’ll find links for all the other participants…
…and don’t forget to come back here tomorrow to join in with…
Between us we’ll beat the Winter Blues!
Dolly Peg Dolls for Handmade Monday
It’s Handmade Monday again, isn’t it scary how the weeks fly by? Even though I’ve spent time having fun with two small boys last week, I still have a few handmade things to share with you, as I’m still beavering away making for the Pick’n’Mix Makers Market in just over 3 weeks time.
I really, really don’t like it when the clocks go back. I’m sitting here looking at the gloom outside, and it isn’t half past four yet! a few people suggested that the extra hour in bed is a compensation, but it only happens the once and not in a house where the body clocks of children and animals are still running on the old time. So it was out of bed at 6.30 for CeeBeebies and Henry/Higgins breakfast!
Added to which the boys went home this morning so it’s very quiet as well as gloomy so I have been SO appreciative of all the lovely links for Reasons to be Cheerful, thank you very much. And if you are feeling a bit like me, pay a few bloggy visits and say hello!
Anyway, this week we went to a windswept beach to do a bit of charging about…
To a mini funfair to do a bit of flying around…
To the cinema for some 3D magic…
… to Bewilderwood for some Halloween spookiness…
Topped off with a trip to Norwich Castle for some more half term fun.
And I bet you’re wondering where the dolly pegs come in!
Well they’re here…
Happy little ladies decorated with needlefelt and yarn, crochet fleece and buttons.
I’ve had such fun making them, and although they’re perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree, they could keep you company all year round, hanging on a door knob, a pin board, or the dressing table mirror.
So they might be hanging around, but I haven’t been!
As usual there is a link to Wendy of 1st Unique Gifts, who kindly hosts Handmade Monday each week, and there you can visit all the other makers to see what they’ve been up to! Have fun, and see you soon x
