Wooly Christmas Gifts

My old Fair Isle cardigan was becoming very worn at the elbows and last week holes appeared; I was quite distressed, I love that cardi!  However, not to be defeated, I cut some patches from a scrap of closely woven woollen tweed and stitched them into place, I was happy again!
Then, much to my surprise a new Fair Isle cardigan came my way (it was Christmas after all), so now my dilemma is which one to wear

 

And, in keeping with the wooly theme, I also became the proud owner of a pair of Haflinger clogs.  They are a deep charcoal woollen felt with a cork base and a really sturdy rubber sole - perfectly comfortable for wearing around the house as slippers but also ideal for nipping outside to the garden or to bring in more logs without having to change.
I'd now just like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and I'll be back in 2014.

Wedding Fabric and Winter Flowers

I couldn't resist showing you a close up of Emily's wedding dress fabric - it's so beautiful.  From the offcuts Emily made some thank you cards so that we all have a little bit of her day to remember.

Initially we were a little concerned about which flowers would be available for her bouquet in the middle of winter, but as you can see, there was no need to worry.

All our buttonholes were slightly different from each other and as it was Christmas I was able to make use of them after the wedding day and create a simple table decoration that we could enjoy all week, along with our place setting names.

The Secret Wedding

It's such a while since I last posted on my blog and for that I do apologise, however, I can now reveal why I have been so preoccupied. Our eldest daughter Emily was married to Harry at the weekend in a 'secret wedding'.  We knew, of course, but they wanted it to be small with no fuss and just immediate family.  So I can now reveal THE DRESS that I've been working on.

The Proud Father preparing to give Emily away.

The Beautiful Happy couple.

Emily had her dream dress so Harry chose his dream vehicle.  The only slight problem was that she couldn't get into it - Harry had to lift her in, which caused huge amusement!

I had to show you the back of the dress and even though I say it myself, she did look amazing.

Emily with her sisters and their boyfriends - you wouldn't believe the number of times that they were asked when they would all tie the knot!

The rain and wind that day had been particularly heavy but we managed to dodge it for some photos in their garden.  What an amazing and wonderful day.
I'd now like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas with lots of naughty food and drink - have a lovely time x

Christmas Door Wreath

I gathered some holly and some ivy this morning to make a Christmas door wreath, however the holly was far too prickly so I discarded it and just used the two different types of ivy.  The base is just a circlet of dried clematis stalks that my mum made for me 12 years ago - I can't believe it is still so sturdy after coming out every Christmas since then. 
To decorate the wreath I place the circlet on the table and lay the ivy around the top of it so it is completely covered.  I then use a strong black sewing thread to wind around and around it all.  I have some fir cones that I wrapped wire around the base of and these are just poked through in various positions and the wire bent over at the back.  A few artificial berries and a large red bow complete the picture.

James wasn't very pleased about having to put a nail to hang the wreath in his newly made front door, but I said Christmas wouldn't be the same without it, it had to be done!!
Whilst taking a photo of the wreath I thought I would show you our new door handle too - it's rather lovely isn't it, it took us ages to choose!

And here's another Christmassy photo - just because I think it looks pretty.

Busy, Busy

First of all I apologise for not keeping up with my blog recently but I've been unbelievably busy - you can't imagine just how little spare time I have had over the past few weeks.  But, all will be revealed soon!!
I did fit in a spot of baking yesterday, we still need something to go with the cups of tea and this recipe is really quick and easy so I thought that I would share it with you.

Gingerbread Cake
75g melted butter
100g sugar
200g Self Raising Flour
1 egg
2 tablesp. syrup (1 black, 1 golden)
1 teasp. ginger
1 teasp. bicarb of soda
quarter of a pint of boiled milk

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl (it will look rather sloppy) and bake in a 7 inch square tin for 45 mins at 160 degrees C.

Because I don't have anything else to show you I thought you might like this small fat bird sitting on the woodshed, I think it was a bit tired and sleepy because it didn't even move when I got up close to photograph it.