Been Busy

I guess it's been a while since I blogged but I just wanted to say I'm still here!  I've just had a busy few weeks is all.

To begin with I was busy baking and preserving - no surprise for this time of year huh?

I made up several loaves of zucchini bread and bottles of elderberry cordial to donate to an open day and produce sale at the allotments to raise funds for some much needed new equipment.  As a member of the society we get shared use in things like lawn mowers and power strimmers but these things still have to be purchased in order to have them to loan out.  It's nice to be able to contribute to this kind of thing plus it's a great time to catch up with other plot holders too.

Here is hubby helping to set things up.  We had baked goods, jams, juices and all kinds of vegetables arriving throughout the morning.

My zucchini bread was popular and I even managed to trade some for a couple of home grown butternut squash and a bottle of raspberry vinegar.  Our butternut are rather small this year so I was thrilled to get my hands on more.  I absolutely love to barter for things - it's a 'win-win' situation so everyone walks away happy.

A half dozen bottles of cordial went into the sale as well and these proved popular too.

Then of course there were the things I just had to buy like these scrummy cupcakes made by my old boss Jackie.  Her and her hubby have a plot just across the way from ours and I've had enough of Jackie's baked goods over the years to know that these were every bit as delicious as they looked so I wasn't about to pass them up.

And since I now had butternut squash that left me making soup which as it turned out came in really handy for a care package I found I needed.  Nothing better when you're feeling poorly than a hot bowl of soup which is often as much as you can manage.

And somewhere in between all this I managed to get in a bit of crafting.  I have been dragging my Christmas stamps out - some of which I haven't ever used yet and trying them out.

I purchased a book of music sheets earlier in the year and have been wanting to make up handmade envelopes with them for some time now.  I added a bit of stamping to give them a Christmassy feel.  Plus this is the first time I've stamped up tags using some of these sets and I love them.

I am attempting to design projects for a Christmas workshop that I hope to be running at our church.  I have always wanted to make up a 'front door' card and since there was a perfect wreath stamp in one of the sets I knew it would be a perfect project for a beginner.

And as if that wasn't enough, our Jess has come home for good so there has been a whole lot of other stuff going on besides.  Moving her back home has been tough going at times and I know things won't be easy for her for a while yet but we're glad to have her back.

Right now I have a liver casserole in the oven that's about done and potatoes that need mashing.  I know, I know, I don't eat meat but hubby still does and liver and bacon casserole is his favourite so I made one up for him today.  It's getting colder so I'm fancying hot comfort food like mashed potato and gravy - yum.  I'll be back later to post my efforts on the latest Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge that I made up today.

Hugs

Surprise Page!

Well no sooner had I said I might not get time to craft but then I found myself crafting this very afternoon! We were due to have dinner with some friend's this evening so we could meet their new baby boy - just 3 weeks old and I'd promised an additional gift once he was born.  I made some hand sewn items for the baby shower but had in mind to do a framed scrapbook page once baby arrived.

I didn't think I'd have time since I was elbow deep in zucchini bread most of today (I'd promised to make and donate some for the allotment sale tomorrow) but I ran short on eggs after the first couple of batches so I decided to make good use of my unexpected free time and craft.

The page was framed and under glass when I took these shots so apologies for the slight glare - I didn't want to have to take it out of the frame.  Jo is mad about Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and has kitted out the nursery in these characters with lots of bright colours so I knew I wanted to add to her theme.

I tucked a bouncy Tigger cut out in one corner just for fun and to draw attention to a special date - the day they became a family!

I also wanted to add a piece of scripture since these were Christian friends of ours and I knew it would mean a lot to them.

I chose from Psalm 139 and it reads 'you created every part of me; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully & wonderfully made'.  This is particularly appropriate because after having been married 13 years this was very much a miracle baby and an answer to prayer.  Then I finished off the entire page with some machine stitching using an orange thread so it would stand out.

They were both thrilled with this gift which made it all worth while and their little baby boy was lovely.  He's really suffering with colic right now so I really felt for him and hubby got christened all down his trousers.  It's been a few years since that kind of thing happened.  And when we left them to come home, baby was asleep and they were headed for a long night while they wait for their dog Daisy to give birth to her own babies.  I was sooo hoping she'd have a puppy or two while we were there to see it but she didn't.  I love the miracle of child birth no matter who or what it is.  I was my daughter's birthing coach for all 3 of our grandchildren plus I love to watch shows like 'One Born Every Minute' .  I cry every time!

As I type this post I can hear bag-pipes playing outside and every now and then a big cheer goes up.  We saw the pipers as we were driving home. The town is full of ladies walking for charity, in the dark and in their PJs no less and the pipers have positioned themselves just outside our house.  Our two girls are out for the evening and they won't be expecting to see so many ladies out but I hope they stop to cheer them on.

As for me?  Well I'm headed off to Bedfordshire.  It's been a real long and busy day and tomorrow promises more of the same.

Sleep tight and don't let the bed-bugs bite!

Suezie

A Little Bit AWOL

Just stopping by to say I'm still around.  Despite finishing and delivering Caroline's invitations (she was thrilled) I've been a little bit AWOL.  Our youngest daughter has come home unexpectedly - too long a story to go into here - but let's just say we've rallied around her as a family and continue to do so.

I've mentioned before that we live in a tiny 2 bedroom town house which means she's taken up residency in the spare room.  This room was converted into my craft room some years ago complete with a pretty but fully functional day bed in the event we ever needed to house guests.  I may well have gained a daughter but I've now lost a craft room for the time being at least.  This won't stop me crafting - there's always the kitchen table (which I use a lot anyhow) but it does call for adjustments shall we say?

Anyways I thought I'd share the latest Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge.  I am hopeful I might get a chance to play this week.  If nothing else Jilly's coming over Wednesday and maybe we can craft together - sounds like a plan to me!

Isn't this week's sketch pretty in pink? LOL.  You can check out the details here.  Right now I am still trying to be patient while I wait for the newest stamps to arrive so I can go shopping and I'm checking Claire's blog daily so I can get in there real quick - so, so frustrating - for me and for Claire I'm sure!

We have a busy weekend with dinner at a friend's house tonight when we get to meet their new baby boy for the first time - I'm real excited!  Hope I can have a lovely long snuggle with him.  Plus there's an event at the allotment that hubby and I are helping with tomorrow and then I'm back to work full time next week so I'll be doing good if I manage to get a single post up next week but I'll definitely try!  Our computer also happens to be at the desk in the spare room - just to make things even more inaccessible LOL!

Have a good weekend.  Hugs to all

Suezie