Wednesday 30 November 2011

Crochet goings-on

Hello everyone!

Thought I would just give you a little peek at some tiny little bits of crochet I have been doing recently.  We have hearts

and doilies


Flowers


Here they are all together


I cant reveal yet how these will be used as these are going to be part of my crafty present making!

Helenxx

Monday 28 November 2011

If you go down to the woods today...

Hello everyone! 

Sorry to have not been able to comment on all my favourite blogs for a while it is beyond hectic here.  What with work, a MSc assignment, UCAS etc etc etc its all go go go!!  But I have been reading your lovely blogs and enjoying all the activity out there in blogland.  I do this on my phone but I cant use it to comment. 

Yesterday I got to go for a lovely walk with my DH - and we came accross some unusual faces

Mysterious woodland

Fantastic toadstools - I had never seen so many Fly Agaric in one place, DH couldnt understand why I was so excited!


There must have been well over a dozen of them - here's another one:


The walk was just short of 9 miles, so we worked up quite an appetite.  Good thing, as lovely daughter had been baking these treats

And of course there are not any left!!! (Sorry Sue!!)

Have a lovely evening, will be back soon with some crochet bits

Helenxx

Friday 11 November 2011

Autumn in the garden centre

Morning all!

Last Friday I was lucky enough to go out and about for the afternoon with my friend Sue from @home.  We had a lovely hot chocolate in a local cafe and visited some local gift shops.  I cant show what I bought as they are destined for pressies...

But we then visited our local garden centre.  This was the sign that greeted us on our way in

These plants were charming in their autumn colours


Reminded me of the colours Im using for my crochet blanket

These friendly fellows were also there to great us

This chap is obviously a hit with the birds ;)

These fantastic leaves were attached to all the displays - I wish they had been on sale - three together would have made a wonderful table runner as they were massive

All in all a most enjoyable afternoon!  Thanks Sue for being such great company.


Helenxx

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Pumpkin tableware

Good morning!

I mentioned a while ago that I was obsessed by all things pumpkin - Im sure you have realised that this is the case after my recent posts!

But I thought you might like to see my collection of pumpkin/autumn inspired tableware - I love using these plates, platters and dishes!

First up, the big daddy of them all - the pumpkin soup tureen:

Little pumpkin snack dishes


Pumpkin plates


Not really pumpkin inspired but this is my candy corn bowl - wish we could find enough candy corn to fill it!!

All of the above came from TK Maxx.  However here is the platter that started off this collection, a lovely gift from my sister in law (this made it back safely all the way from Jordan)
Here is the entire collection

I love them all!

Helenxx

Monday 7 November 2011

Autumn Leaves...

...are certainly starting to drift past my window...

I love this time of year so much - it is the best season as far as Im concerned.  The beauty is so awe-inspiring and yet so fleeting so I carry cameras around and make the best of any photo opportunities that present themselves.  These shots were taken from my back door

I always have my phone with me and it has a decent camera so a walk to work becomes a wonderful opportunity for capturing the Autumn beauty:

The beauty of nature a little closer up


Early morning sunshine makes the colours shine

And when Im back home snuggled up in my cosy armchair on these dark evenings, the autumn palette continues to inspire me

When autumn leaves start to fall - I fall in love with the season!

Helenxx

Saturday 5 November 2011

Remember Remember...

...the 5th of November!

Today I am going to hand over my blog to my lovely daughter R who, together with her lovely friend H (Sue's daughter) decided that they wanted to do a  Bonfire Night themed swap!  They both love to see what Sue and I get up to with the bloggy swaps and wanted to get in with the action!


These are the lovely gifts that my good friend H gave me. 


This is the beautiful handcrafted card she gave me.


A nice little scooby on a key ring



I got some very nice ribbon thread and shiny fabric - my Mum really wants to use these so I shall have to hide them !!




Here are all the things together.  Some extra things:
popping candy, glass rocket, hand made biscuits, Mr Guy Fawkes, cinder toffee, hand painted fabric.  All these were packed into a papier mache basket made to look like a bonfire!



These are the things that I gave to her:
treacle toffee, a sparkler in the shape of a H, sparkly pom poms, toffee laces, caramel fudge, hand made headband, corsage, hair slides, yo yo (or suffolk puff) and some sparkly buttons.

We both loved joining in with a swap, and cant wait until we are old enough to get our own blogs!

Hope you have a booming Bonfire Night weekend!

Rxx

Friday 4 November 2011

Spooky goings on...

Morning all - I have finally got a day off from work!!!!  Woo hoo!!!!! (just a tad excited about this...) and am off for a jolly with my friend (aka partner-in-crime) Sue from @home.

But in the meantime I can finally update you with our end of October goings-on. Grab a cuppa and a biscuit!!

As mentioned in my last post my daughter did indeed bake up a storm when Sue and co came for dinner - here we have a Jack Skellington cake (we love Nightmare Before Christmas and all things Tim Burton) a very haunted gingerbread house and a yummy pumpkin pie:


Cupcakes, cookies and crispie cakes


Lashings of lentil soup was served up from this pumpkin
Friendly or fiendish?  You decide...

So the next evening, to wear off all this food, we went for a walk around our neighbourhood.  We always love to visit this street as there is an American family living there who always go to town decorating the house for the season

A groaning mummy greets any visitors brave enough to knock on the front door

This lady keeps watch on the proceedings

And spooky faces gleam from the front lawn

 All in all a wonderful couple of evenings with a wonderful bunch of friends!

Have a great Friday!

Helenxx