It’s Not That I Don’t Like Christmas..

..I do, but, I’m always glad when it’s over.  I can’t be only the one who feels that way, can I?  Anyway, this post is about the days before Christmas.

In the run up Caroline and I had a day shopping at The Trafford Centre and I tasted my first piece of Christmas cake of the season in John Lewis restaurant.

Nicholas had a sleepover and naturally pancakes were on the menu for breakfast.

He was showing me here how real chefs walk about while they’re making things on the telly.

A big moment!  I believe this was the first time I let him have control of the pan over the flame!  Needless to say I was hovering very close.

George came round later in the day.  They’re playing on the iPad in this shot. 

Looks like some serious stuff going on here.  I love their freckles and the dimples in their chins.

On the 14th the tree was decorated.  Grandad always gets the tree down from the loft, erects it and puts the lights on it, then makes himself scarce.  Then the boys come round to help do the decorating.  The boxes of ornaments etc. get unwrapped at breakneck speed and before I can blink the house looks like a bombsite!  It’s always fun though!  When they’ve all gone home I usually spend the next couple of days tweaking things and it all ends up looking the way it should in the end.

On the last day of school Charlie took part in a Fancy Dress Parade.  Caroline, a fulltime working mum, got creative and came up with this great little snowman outfit.  Charlie was more than pleased with the way he looked in it.  I took him to school that day and he went in with a spring in his step.  Bless his little cotton socks!

The weekend before Christmas my older daughter, Victoria, and her family were away in Cornwall and the Scilly Isles.  Thereby lies a whole other story and I won’t go into it here but I will say it’s been an emotional few weeks where hopes were raised and dashed, tears flowed and dried and once again life now goes on pretty much as before.   So, while they were away Caroline brought Charlie round to bake mince pies with me.   Things started off with a great big oops! moment then progressed without further mishap.  I love baking with these little boys mainly because they love it so much.

A snap from an early evening walk round the neighbourhood.  Poor little old Muffin doesn’t always want to go for a walk these days but he does need some exercise and a walk around the neighbourhood is just enough.

More Christmas posts to come but they’re for another day… 

..I’ve got some socks on the needles and I’m itching to get to them.

Until next time,

There’s a First Time for Everything.

And yesterday for the first time ever I went to the pictures all by myself.  

I fancied seeing Song For Marion and there was nobody available to come with me so rather than miss it I went anyway.  The film was showing at the little old fashioned picture house in Hebden Bridge I mentioned in this post.   On a Thursday morning the Cinema is open for Elevenses.   The film starts at eleven and in with the price of your ticket you get a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit which you’re allowed to take into the theatre and enjoy while you watch the film.  How civilised is that?  That really is the attraction for me.  The time of day it’s shown, the reduced ticket price and the fact that it’s an old fashioned picture house and not a plush multiplex affair. 

As for the film – it was an easy going kind of affair, a bit of a tearjerker but it probably won’t win any awards or break any records at the box office.  Having said that, the picture house was practically full so what do I know?

A beautiful day it was yesterday so after the pictures I toddled along to my favourite cafe, ordered my usual, grabbed The Times and took it outside to sit and read and eat in brilliant sunshine.   It was a bit cool and my tea and toasted teacake soon went cold but that didn’t matter because it was sunny and when I looked up the sky was blue and not grey!

I was fascinated to see on the front page “Learn to knit in 10 minutes”.  Knitting is definitely a popular pastime these days.  Blogland is full of knitting blogs and they’re mainly young bloggers too.  It’s all to the good, I’m glad the art of knitting is not going to be a lost art.

Talking about which here is my latest project on the needles.  Another pair of socks and I’m knitting them on the tiniest pair of circular needles ever.  They only measure 20cm from tip to tip!  Aren’t they cute?

Sticking with the daily paper this headline caught my eye last week.  It was good news on the front page!  How amazing is that?  And what good news it was too.  I hope it comes to fruition.

After a morning of leisure yesterday it was on with real life and on to the supermarket.  A ray of sunshine while doing the shopping was this hyacinth indoor plant I bought for only 50p.  That was a bargain I couldn’t walk away from.

And finally what I’m hoping is the last snowy picture I’ll be posting this year.  This was taken just a week ago when I picked Charlie up from school.  The snow was piled high in the library car park to clear the area a little for cars and Charlie took great delight in clambering all over it.

William and I are off to Bay View tomorrow afternoon and staying overnight.  Fingers crossed we don’t freeze to death in the process!

Spring Flowers.

In search of spring flowers William and I took a trip to Bents garden centre yesterday afternoon.

We found plenty.  Pretty pansies…

.. pretty primulas all in my favourite colours.

I like the reds and yellows too.  William would choose these rather than the lilacs.

Bents’ is a humongous garden centre with everything it’s possible to need for a garden and then some.  They have a large home wares section too with both ornate and useful stuff.  Happily there’s also a very lovely restaurant.  Pricey I might add, but good quality food and they don’t scrimp on the portion sizes.

Now and again a treat is necessary.  We tucked into a cream tea with strawberries and clotted cream for two.  Very nice!

We both spent some time looking at the housey stuff then William wandered off and left me to it.  I found him sitting on this bench.  His feet didn’t reach the floor and he was sat swinging his legs like a little boy.  It was soo funny.  I couldn’t stop laughing!

It was Mother’s Day a week ago yesterday and these are my happy, sunny, spring flowers off the girls.

On Mother’s Day the kids all came round and I did some baking with the boys.   See the scales and Pyrex dish above?  They were wedding presents and are still serving me well after all these years!   In fact they’re so old they’re fashionable again.  I see things like them in magazines all the time.

I loved the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett  and last week I watched the DVD, courtesy of John and Lesley.  I think it stayed more or less true to the book.  I’d definitely recommend it.

Lastly my sock knitting is coming on a treat.  I was very happy with them until I noticed that I had done the cuffs different to each other.  Hence the third one on the needles – I’d like a matching pair and there’s sufficient yarn in one ball for three socks.  Shame there’s not enough for four!

That’s it for now.

Kathleen.

Books and Socks etc...

... such is the stuff that keeps me out of trouble.

 

I ordered a new photography book on Monday afternoon.  It arrived bright and early on Wednesday morning.   I was thrilled to get it so quickly.  Free delivery it was too. Amazon has definitely got it right when it comes to customer service.  It's a good book too.   It came highly recommended on a photography blog I read.
 

I already have these two Scott Kelby books, which I love. They were a Mother's Day present a couple of years ago from Victoria. I refer to them often and always take them away on holiday with me to browse through. No doubt in future I'll be taking my new book too.

 

 

Talking about good books.  I have just finished reading These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach.  Not a new book, being published in 2004, it has been turned into a film and may be better known by its screen title, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  I completely enjoyed this witty story centred around characters in their retirement years and was left wanting more - it was only 300 pages.   I've read Deborah Moggach before and like her style.  I'd definitely recommend it.

 

Sticking with good books.  I'm still very happily making good use of my BBC iPlayer app.  The ironing is no longer a chore for me.  It's more an opportunity to listen to my favourite radio programmes which are  Radio 4's A Good Read and Open Book.

Tuesday afternoon I drove over the tops to my favourite wool shop, Attica (mentioned in a recent post), to join in their monthly knitting group for the first time.   Just a small group of ladies, all obsessed with knitting and sewing, we sat around the coffee table above and knitted and nattered - truth be told we mainly nattered.   The owners, such friendly ladies, provided us with not only coffee and biscuits but a free magazine too!  How friendly is that?

 

 

I took the socks I'm working on.  One done, the other is on the needles and well under way.  Funnily  enough the other ladies all brought socks too.  A nice small portable project I suppose.  I had a really lovely afternoon and will be going back again next month for sure. 

 

I'm going to switch off now and go and get some knitting and reading done.  There won't be much chance tomorrow.  All three Little Treasures will be here around lunch time and will be sleeping over too.  Which reminds me - where did I put the earplugs!