Emma's Christmas Cushion

Hello peeps, hope the weather is kind where you are. It's wet,wet,wet here !

I'm just popping by to post some pictures of the cushion I've made for my bloggy friend -Emma . The cushion is actually to sell on a stall she is having at a charity Christmas fair.

I had had great fun making this, using this pattern for the front.......



And a simple granny for the back, with what I hope looks like a star in the centre....



Once again I've used my favourite button closure method....



I made a red cushion pad to go inside as it looked much better than a white one showing through.
While I had my sewing machine out to make the pad I also made three gingham hearts to go with the red and white theme. I hope these will be popular as they make great tree decorations or just look pretty any time of year......



These things have all been made from stuff I had in my stash, except the buttons
. It feels great to put the things to use for a good cause .I'll pop these in the post for you later this week Emma.
The fair isn't till November so there is still time to join in if you want :0)



Jacquie x

My Weekend

Hello Lovelies,
Well I seem to have taken loads of pictures this weekend and can think of so much I could blog about . Do you get this ......sometimes there is so little you can think of to say and other times there just seems so much !

I must admit to feeling a little pressured for time these days, adding another work day to my week is still taking a bit of adjusting to but I love my blogging so I don't want cut down too much.

Anyway , lets not think about work,but concentrate on pictures taken this weekend. Saturday morning was bright and sunny and we went for a walk into the centre of our village. I do love living here, there are plenty of amenities within walking distance, but it is surrounded by beautiful countryside. ....




The boys found lots of these ....



While I wandered along snapping Autumnal things.....





I find blogging makes me appreciate my surroundings even more than I did before . I'm always looking for pretty thing to share with you lovely lot, things I may have taken for granted otherwise.
Once we reached the shops we did some minimal ,fun shopping...



A lemon for baking, a ball of turquoise bonus ...love this colour. And a small paper bag of .........











Shiny red buttons for the cushion I'm making for Emma's charity craft stall, aren't they lovely....better than sweets to me !

Sunday , the weather was not so kind . Never mind ,after spending a couple of hours standing watching the boys rugby training in a chilly field , it was super nice to spend some time in a warm kitchen baking in the afternoon.We made fairy cakes and these.....



Ummmmm, gingerbread men, must share this recipe with you sometime. I love ginger , especially on a cold day. These wonky guys really did seem to have personality !

The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to the boys read, finishing the back of Emma's cushion and enjoying and tasty snack...



Must get on with my long list of jobs now :0(





Bye till next time......


Jacquie x

The Last Day Of Summer

Hello Lovelies,
well today really did feel like summer.In fact it was hard to believe that tomorrow, the equinox, marks the first day of Autumn.
My usual Wednesday shopping trip was very pleasant indeed . My sandals got an unexpected outing due to the exceedingly mild 22 degrees Celsius.
On my way home the country lanes looked lovely......



Though there were definite signs of Autumn, Loads of berries in the hedgerows(love this bright red).........



Tractors ploughing the fields..........



Leaving huge ,dramatic furrows....



My garden is loving the warm weather ,today I noticed these......



Strawberries in September?

I am sad to say goodbye to summer, but I do love the changing seasons.

This week I've actually been thinking forward to winter, well Christmas .
My lovely bloggy friend Emma has appealed for things to sell at a charity Christmas fair .I wanted to help and had already noticed this lovely image in this months Country Living...



Wow, such gorgeous things , don't you agree ? I'm in love with the granny blanket.Those cushions are perfect too , especially the "Noel" one....



I would love to say I'm making one of these, but I know my limitations !
So instead I've taken inspiration from the lovely red and white colour scheme, and started on something I can make....

Crochet circles!.........



It's the same pattern as I'm using for my blanket.But I'm planning to make a cushion cover with these.I'll join 9 ,then add a border. This is where I'm up to so far.........



If you want to join in ,and send something, then just leave Emma a comment on this post.
Jacquie x

Friday Happies

Hello Lovlies ,hope you are well.

Today was going so well. As soon as I dropped the boys off at school,I pulled on these and went for a run( steady jog :0) ).....



I've been doing this for three months now,some days it's still a slog to get round my modest two and a half mile circuit , but today was a good and it wasn't too hard.I do feel energised afterwards.And it was great to get out in the fresh air on a lovely crisp, sunny morning.


Then it was off to the supermarket for my weekly shop,which went ok till I accidenallly started to put petrol in our deisel car whilst a little distracted....



BIG OOOPS JACQUIE!!!!


After a couple of panicky phone calls to Mr BM and our Garage I was instructed to fill up with deisel and since not too much petrol had gone in,I should ( hopefully ) get away with it , PHEW!!!!!



Once I got home and put the shopping away, I've cheered myself up by taking photo's of some lovely Asters I bought at the supermarket ..........




Looking at the sweet fawn I picked up in a charity shop this week for 35p....


And taking photos of my circles to share with you lovely lot......



I'm up to 80 now and still loving making them. They are so simple and fun.
Look ,this ones so pretty......


and this one....


Oooh and what about this one.....



or these two ...........?



Yes, they may be a little too colourful for some people , possibly for me too, but I'm hopeing once the white border is added they will look just right:0)

Thanks for being out there ,I love to here your comments.
Jacquie x

Sunny Scarecrow Sunday

Hello Lovelies, hope your week is going well. Mine has been rather busy so far. I've taken on a few extra hours at work, which will take a bit of adjusting to. Plus we are back into the homework/packed lunch/school forms season, which dominates my evenings.

I suppose it makes you appreciate the weekends even more.
Sunday was a beautiful day in these parts.Sunny and warm, so it was great to get out and enjoy it ,knowing the days will soon be getting cooler.

Somewhere we try to visit every September is a local scarecrow competition.
If you are not familiar with these, you pay a small fee to walk around a village guessing the characters made of straw ( and other things ) .Individual households make each scarecrow and place them in front of their houses.There were 80 this year.

The money raised goes to charity and this particular village is so pretty I like to go for the atmosphere.


The theme this year was "Heroes and Villains" .There were traditional ones like this....



Inventive ones like this depicting the local air ambulance, if you look closely you can see the patient has a very nasty leg injury! (you might need to click on the image to in large it)...........



Amazing ones like George and the Dragon .....



On such a Sunny day the houses too, were looking stunning.....



Right in the middle of the village there were cows being milked.The boys watched fascinated as, every few minutes a huge cow managed to squeeze it's self out of the doorway of the building on the right...



Running through the village is a disused canal.....



And a canal basin where the narrow boats would have turned around, now it is a popular fishing spot.Love the reflections and wispy clouds in this picture.............




And the jumble of roof tops and church steeple in this picture....



Well ,I hope you enjoyed the pictures .Writing this post,and looking at these images, has helped me unwind after a rather stressful work day.
Jacquie x

Giveaway Winner

Hello Lovelies ,hope you are having a great weekend.

Well ,it's a day late ,but today I got my youngest to pick out a winner .

I put all 57 ( yes 57...wow) names in his cowboy hat ......



and the lucky winner is ........




Congratulations to Heather at - The Patchwork Heart

That's quite a coincidence,Heather winning my cushion in heather tones !

THANK YOU all for your lovely comments, this has been a great way to find some gorgeous new blogs to read, Heathers included, do visit hers and see for yourself.

My comment about being self conscious, crocheting in front of friends and colleagues certainly seems to be a common feeling, and as I said before ,that's why having blog friends who share your passion is so special.

I don't mind crocheting public ,if no one knows me! When I posted this picture,taken on Cromer Beach ...



Paisley Jade asked me to add it to the Craft Nerds Go Public Flickr group,what a great idea!

Another great idea I discovered recently and wanted to share with you lovely lot is i crochet . All the pictures are links to blogs,or flickr . You might spot mine there too. It's easy to add your own link,just follow the simple instructions.

I'm still enjoying my colourful crochet circles,they really are addictive.
I even did a couple in the car, when I arrived a little early for work yesterday...



Congratulations again Heather,I'm off to contact you right now.

Hope you all have a great Sunday,whatever you are up too .I'm hoping to do some baking,flapjacks and biscuits have been requested :0)
Jacquie x