My Advent Calendar ♥ 7th December

  Hello Lovelies,
I went for my usual Wednesday morning walk today, through muddy fields and under rather gloomy skies.
The sun was trying to beak through at one point and I loved the cloud patterns.

 

 There was quiet a bit of bird activity in the sky and the hedgerows.

 

 Of course it would have been lovely to get a close up shot of these birds to help me identify them. But I do like the silhouette of them in the bare branched trees too.

Eating berries against a golden glow.

Though it's imposible to be sure I think they could be Redwings

I've taken better photos of them at the same time of year HERE

 Happy hump day Lovelies.
Jacquie x

My advent ♥ 6th December

 Hello Lovelies,
for today's window I'm sharing some of my Mum's lovely artwork.

I just adore this Yorkshire dales snow scene.

Mum is actually getting pretty good at sharing her art online herself.
You can check out her Instagram HERE

Hope your Tuesday goes well lovelies.
Jacquie x

This post is part of the blog link up hosted by Julie HERE

My advent Calendar ♥ 5th December

Hello Lovelies,

yesterday afternoon we put up our tree and some of the many other decorations we own. 

This year we have had a slightly smaller tree, which I have stood on top of a chest of drawers. I'm not sure I'm totally happy with the new arrangement, but it does take up less room and avoid the need to move all our furniture around. 

All three boys helped me to decorate the tree this year. That was the best part :0)

Have you got your tree up yet lovelies?
Jacquie x

This post is part of the blog link up hosted by Julie HERE

My Advent Calendar ♥ 4th December

Hello lovelies,
Today's advent post is more of a walk post...but it does contain some festive things too.

Every month or so I meet up with a friend for a Sunday morning walk. Today the weather was perfect and we went to Attenborough Nature Reserve.

There's a rather nice visitor centre which has a cafe, but we were not going there.

The light was beautiful and I was thrilled to get a pretty good photo of this Robin.

These lakes are flooded quarry sites and a haven for wildlife.

The reserve borders the river Trent and it's easy walking with lots to see.

The path also leads to a great "no frills" cafe. Where the staff are super friendly, the mugs of tea are huge and the mince pies are homemade :0)

 Sitting outdoors in the December Sunshine...what a treat.

Too soon it was time to leave. Can you spot the Heron?

Here he is.

I love this white cottage next to the church.

Yay another Robin shot...very festive :0)

It was a very pleasant, flat three mile walk that we hardly noticed as we were so busy chatting.

I hope your second Sunday in Advent has been a good one lovelies.
Jacquie x

This post is part of the blog link up hosted by Julie HERE

My Advent Calendar ♥ 3rd December

Hello Lovelies,

I'm loving this virtual advent calendar, It's a great excuse to do a simple and quick blog post. And to look back through my posts to see what Christmassy things I can find.

Today I thought I would share a crochet decoration I made four years ago. 

If you have been reading my blog for a while you might recall the story behind this, but here it is again anyway :0)

About ...oooh, six years ago now, my brother and sister in law offered to host Christmas at their house..... "just for one year".

 I crocheted them a decoration for their tree as a thank you. The one year turned into two, then three. Each year I made another decoration. Usually using patterns found online, but one year I made up my own...that's how the first ever Easy Crochet Owl was born. My most popular pattern by miles and miles :0)

The popularity of this pattern really took me by surprise and It's so lovely that people are still making them and letting me know how much they love them. Blogland  (and Instagram) is a wonderful thing isn't it.

As my brother and sister in law are once again hosting Christmas this year I think I should start looking for a decoration to make this year. Any suggestions?
Happy advent lovelies.
Jacquie x

This post is part of the blog link up hosted by Julie HERE

My advent Calendar ♥ 2nd December

Hello Lovelies,

for the second day of my virtual Advent calendar I thought I would share my actual advent calendar, but I thought you might like to know about why and where I bought it first. 

When mum and I visited Yorkshire back in September we stopped off in the place I grew up, Haworth.  I had a little wander up that steeply cobbled main street. Throughout my early years at school this was the way I walked home everyday.

The shop  I remember as the Newsagents (owned by a Mr Mitchell,  who was very patient with us children, when we spent an age carefully selecting one or two 1/2 penny and penny sweets) is now a rather lovely gift shop. It had the most wonderful floor made out of an old school gym floor, but all jumbled up so the coloured lines were completely random. You can see the inside of the shop HERE.

It my nostalgic haze I wondered it if had come from my old school...which is now luxury apartments. I had to ask...and no it wasn't from there :0)

Anyway, there were many tempting objevts in that shop, but the thing that really caught my eye were Angela Harding's Advent calendars.

They were just so perfect for me. A beautiful countryside scene filled with the things I love about winter......

The other thing I loved about them was that as you open the windows the surprises add to the overall design rather than spoiling it. Brilliant.

I'm so looking forward to the simple pleasure of opening a window every morning throughout advent.
And it's lovely to have a memento of our trip. I do hope I havn't bored you with my sentimental ramblings.
Happy Advent Lovelies.
Jacquie x

This post is part of the blog link up hosted by Julie HERE

My Advent Calendar ♥ 1st December

Hello Lovelies,

just this morning I was reading Kezzies blog and  came across an Advent Calendar link up hosted my Julie.

Oooh, what a lovely idea and a great excuse to do a short ( and hopefully sweet) daily post .

So here is what's inside my window for the first of December. Like Kezzie I have a love of Holly and after our visit to Calke Abbey on Monday I felt inspired to do this little watercolour sketch.

I hope it makes you smile 

Happy Advent Lovelies
Jacquie x

P.S. I'm sure it's not too late to join in if you fancy being part of the fun. Just let Julie know HERE