♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 52/52

 Hello Lovelies,
I've reached the final week of my "happy" posts . Some weeks it's been harder than others to feel happy, but concentrating on the positives and the little things that made me smile has been a good thing.
Here are my simple pleasures from this Christmas week

1. Christmas Eve sparkle. This photo was taken in the early hours of the 25th. After all our guests had gone home and just the fairy lights remained on. Everything looked twinkly and for the first time in that busy day I had time to  stop and relish that special feeling of anticipation.....before collapsing into bed exhausted.....

2. Home made gifts. The stripes I shared a few  weeks ago turned onto a hot water bottle cover for one of my boys. I had hoped to make three of these , but in the end I only had time to make one this year.........

3. Christmas day fresh air.
A sunny walk with my eldest late morning .......

There was still a little frost in the shadows but the sun was quite warm .........

I loved the greenery in the church porch............

4. Christmas day with family. Once again my brother and sister in law ( helped by my mum in law) produced a wonderful dinner , this year seventeen of us sat down together. We so appreciate all their hard work and and I love all the handmade touches, like the place cards made by my niece..........

It was a simply lovely day and it seems the perfect ending to these posts.

I do hope you have enjoyed them and thank you for all the comments you have left me throughout the year.They are a very happy thing in my days.

I'm looking forward to another year of blogging in 2014 , but before we get there I'm going to share some of the best bits of 2013 again .
Looking back through my photos taken this year, and choosing the nicest,  has been most enjoyable .
 First up tomorrow  is " a year of flowers". I do hope you will pop back and join me in some floral admiration.
Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 51/52

Hello Lovelies,
I hope this hectic week has been kind to you. December is flying along so speedily and we have now passed the winter solstice....here's to longer daylight hours.

  Here's my penultimate post about some of the small joys I have been blessed with over the last seven days.

1. A family boat trip to help celebrate my brother in law's  birthday last Sunday.........

It felt very different being on the river, rather than beside it. The weather was quite mild and we even saw a little watery winter sunshine...........

and lots of birds, including this cormorant silhouetted against the dramatic sky.........

It was very relaxing to potter along enjoying a chat and  a warn drink........

 watching the riverbank and the reflections.

2. Panettone for lunch yesterday.
Ooooh, this was yummy...so sweet, soft and citrusy. I may have accidentally eaten almost all of it myself...ooops.

3. Sunshine on my dresser.
I still love my Welsh dresser . It's in a dark corner of my dining room so it's hard to get a decent photo of it. But at this time of year, in the middle of the day, the low sun shines right into that dark corner..........

And I'm so pleased as there are things on it's shelves that are making me very happy right now.

The first is a thrifted jug I found this week. The colours of it's sweet rose design looked festive to me.
Next to it stands a handmade Christmas card , painted by my Youngest. I think it's gorgeous and I had to smile when I saw that his teacher had photographed and reduced his original artwork....just like I did with mine...........

4. Another special Christmas card  ..........

 I opened this card, from a friend at work , yesterday morning and it was such a surprise.

 You see it's of a place that was immediately recognisable to me. It's the village when I grew up.

I'm pretty sure my friend just chose the card because she loved it......as do I......but the image it even more special to me because of my connection to it's setting. You can see my pictures of Haworth HERE.( it's a long post )

The artist is Susan Ridyard and you can see more of here work HERE Her site also says this card is for sale in "The Works" .

This lovely painting makes a pretty place look even nicer than reality. You can click on the image to make it bigger.

I love all the little details like the smoke from the chimneys and the icicles. The light in the windows , the wonderful moonlit sky and all the sweet people. 

 I'm sure I'll be keeping these cards , putting them safely away with the Christmas decorations , to be enjoyed in future years.

Since I'm working tomorrow and Christmas eve I'll take the opportunity now to send you lovelies the warmest of Christmas wishes. Wishing you a happy time with those you love.

Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 50/52

Hello Lovelies,

Are we over half way through Advent already ? Here are my happy things from a busy week.

1. The heady scent of Hyacinths.

These beauties are making me smile every time I go into the kitchen at the moment.

The blue ones are my favourite.......

 as usual they have gone rather floppy and I have attempted to hold them up with wooden kebab sticks and ribbon .

2. Christmas socks.
Oh yes I do love festive feet :0) .....picked up these cheery charity socks at the supermarket............

3. Youngest in his school play.

He did a brilliant job of getting into character for his own part and joining in with all the singing.

The effort put in by the teachers at his small primary school is amazing.

  All the children benefit from being involved in an impressive and highly entertaining show.  As he is now in his final primary school year this was the last one of these plays we will ever get to see .....I may have tears in my eyes as I type this sad fact. I've so enjoyed watching all three of my boys gain confidence over the years of performing to audiences of parents and grandparents.   

Given the choice of a glitzy night out or the school play, the play would win hands down for me.

4. Christmas decorating.

Or should I say,  help with the Christmas decorating. This year my boys did most of the work themselves. Last Sunday saw them  climbing up into the loft the retreive our huge amount of festive stuff, building and trimming two trees and sticking up lights. They were all brilliant , especially eldest who would not stop till it was all done , then he put all the empty boxes away , bless him.

I'm not convinced they will be so keen to help pack it all away in January :0)

 Shortly after we had finished,  and  flopped on the sofa, we noticed the most amazing sunset.......

We all stood in the street admiring this wonderful display .........

As it faded from fiery orange to purple and pink..........

It was as if mother nature was joining in with the Christmas decorating .

As usual I'm pretty last minute with my Christmas preparations.

This coming week will be full of making, shopping, writing, wrapping and tidying. I'll be happy when most of the jobs are done.
I hope your "to do" list is manageable lovelies.
Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 48/52

Hello Lovelies,
I hope you have had a good week. Thank you so much for all the kind comments on my previous post.
Here are my happy things from the last week in November, and the last week of Autumn.
 If you go by the Met Office's definition of the seasons Winter starts today.

1. Short days.
O.K. I'm not always happy about these, but there are plus points. Sunrise at the end of our street, at a time I can easily be awake to see it has to be a big happy..........

Tuesday 7.30 am

Wednesday 7.30 am

And when it gets dark shortly after 4pm there are always candles to add a cosy glow..........

2. Feeding the wild birds.
The day after I had hung up this coconut shell full of bird food it was showing evidence that they had been enjoying a little peck..........

I love to see birds in our garden and like to think I can give them a helping hand to survive the winter.

3. New Slippers

now it's getting chilly, and my old slippers have holes in the sole, I've bought some new ones, with knitting and pom-poms....they make me smile :0).......... 

4. This weeks Drawing.

A heart shaped November wreath............

 I love the beautiful paintings by Edith Holden, of the natural world she observed over 100 years ago. The "Edwardian Lady" books made from her diary and illustrations were only discovered in the 1970's, many years after her death. They are arranged into months of the year and each new month begins with a full page painting like THIS.

I couldn't even attempt to produce anything so accurate and accomplished , but this year I've discovered the  enjoyment in  creating simple, colourful, fun drawings. Like Edith, I'm hugely inspired by the changing seasons.
So this my celebration of November..........

After appearing in the background of many of my drawings this year, Tom Tit has finally got the lead role :0)

This drawing is full of inspiration from many other sources too.......beautiful photo's in blog posts like THIS and THIS and THIS. And of course Autumn inspired crochet like  THIS
I'm so happy with how it turned out, I'm already working on a December version:0)

I'm kind of sad to say goodbye to November, it's been a good one , but there's lots to look forward to in December.....It'll be busy, and the boys love it.
Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 47/52

Hello Lovelies,

here I am again, looking back through this weeks photos and smiling at the sweet, simple things that have made me happy. 

1. Pastry stars. 

Along with hearts, stars are another shape I adore. The boys popped into the kitchen and helped with making the first mince pies of 2013.........

 ready made pastry and jar of mincemeat....dead easy :0)

Well, it's only a month till Christmas so I couldn't resist producing one of my favourite seasonal foods..........

they may not be made from scratch but they still taste so much nicer than the bought version  and made the kitchen smell lovely.

2. Quiet drawing.

 Yesterday I took my inspiration books up to youngest's bedroom as it's cosy, quiet and gets good light. I'm enjoying sketching out another Autumnal picture.........

Just the colouring in to do now....my favourite bit.

3.Old Buildings

Because this Autumn has been blessed with many bright interludes the different light cast by the suns low angle seems  more noticeable to me. I love the long shadows even at 1pm.........

 The glare when you are walking or driving into the sun can be painful but I'll put up with it as it also illuminates the day to day scene so beautifully.

After I left the park on Wednesday I wandered round the town. This building is a favourite of mine. It's a bank, built in 1885 . I love the huge chimneys and the attic windows , the details on the brickwork and the pointed tower over the door........

 All summer it's in shadow at this time of day so I was thrilled to see it looking extra beautiful in the November sunshine.

4. Little squares of yummy yarn.

My scarf is growing and I'm loving working on this simple, portable project.........

it's such a great colour fix.

All in all , it's been a very happy week.

Enjoy your Sunday lovelies.
Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 46/52

Hello Lovelies,

I hope you have had a good week. Mine has been pretty stressful at times but I'm, once again, focusing on the good bits. 

1. Armfuls of the softest yarn.

 Last year I gradually built up a small stash of luxury yarn. This year I sort of forgot about my stash building dreams and I really need more colours and balls to begin a big project. But on impulse, needing a portable project  to keep me busy, I took my current collection on a family visit with me last week.

They are various brands of cashmere and merino blends.

I have been wanting to make a really warm scarf for the winter and thought I would  use natural fibres as they are so much cosier than man made.

Without a pattern and wanting to use all my colours I chose the simplest solution for a girl who has just finished a blanket of many squares.......a scarf of many squares.

 These are tiny two round granny squares. 

Once again I'm using the join-as-you-go method and I really pleased with how it's looking so far......

The colours are  lovely and the yarn is gorgeous to work with. I'll take some better (daylight ) photos to share with you lovelies soon.

In case you were wondering, the book by my lamp is Anne of Green Gables........I'm back to reading classics I can vaguely recall from my own childhood.....like I did last Autumn

Gentle and heartwarming tales seem to be what I'm craving right now.

2.Bright Autumn walks.

Fresh air and quiet places are such a tonic, especially at this beautiful time of year.

 The golden Silver Birches are stunning.

 and so are  the frosty fallen leaves.

 Friday morning was perfect for a wander through the trees before work.

I just loved the sun shining trough the Oak leaves.....

These reminded me of washing on the line.

3. Finding another heart............

When I turned around from taking the oak leaf picture I noticed this heart shape in the trees trunk :0)

4. An Amaryllis . I was thrilled to find the Amaryllis kits were back in the shops this week . This will be the third year I've grown one of these beauties in the depths of winter.......... 

Today I'll plant this bulb and hopefully I'll have huge stunning red flowers to enjoy in a few weeks.

 I love watching these grow , first a little shoot, then leaves and a stem getting taller by the day. Then the bud opens oh so slowly. It's great fun to observe and the reward for a bit of care is really beautiful.

I picked up a couple to give as gifts too.....my first one was a gift from my sister in law , so it was nice to return the favour this year.

Thanks for reading and all your sweet comments.

Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 45/52

Hello Lovelies, 

Here are my happy things from this chilly November week.

1. Bonfire Night. We had our usual food and fireworks at home. The food is always jacket potatoes, sausages and mushy peas with mint sauce ( baked beans for the children ).

The fireworks sadly did not include a Catherine wheel ( my favourite ) but there were some pretty rockets and roman candles to ooooh and ahhhh at.

My boys and their cousins still love the sparklers.......

2. Walking with a friend. Happily my lovely friend knew the path I got lost trying to follow last week.....

 it's a shame the weather was grey , but I will be back now I know where to go. I can imagine this view will be wonderful in the sun or snow........

it was still rather pretty on a cloudy day don't you think.

3. Baking with donated fruit AGAIN. This time it was over ripe bananas from my sister in law......I made THIS cake...it was scrummy......

Also on my coffee table is the December edition of Country homes and interiors. I bought this as a  treat to myself ( I have a subscription to Country Living and rarely buy any other magazines) . It was the free calender that tempted me :0)

 This year I had four different calenders and I loved it so I'm keen to do the same next year.

4. Colourful crochet. My next blanket is coming together. I'm going to sew these squares ( plus two more ) together and add a wide border..........

Maybe I'll have completed two blankets by the end of 2013....that would make me very happy.
Hope you have a relaxing weekend lovelies.
Jacquie x