Blogmas Day Twenty One - Sunshine, Seeds and a Gingerbread House

 

Day twenty one of the Advent calendar openings and I just had to get a photo in that glorious beam of sunshine.  

Todays goodies were some sunny Tomato seeds ... phew I thought I was going to have to buy some ... a little jar of sunny marmalade, and from my Christmas decorations from last year recycled calendar my lovely little 'Joy' Emma Bridgewater mug.

Twinkling lights, and all things my style ... oh and another glimpse of Llama Lad.

Would you like a recipe for a Gingerbread House?

Sue xx

Tasty Food, Little Houses and Buying Off the Makers

 

Buying off the makers and supporting small businesses is very important to me.  As someone who has sold at Farmers Markets and craft stalls I know how much work goes into the things that you produce to sell whether it be food items or other useable items, and to be able to sell directly to people who will appreciate your work is just about the best thing there is.

On Sunday we went to the Glasson Dock Artisan Market, we've called there quite a few times as Glasson Dock is a favourite place for us to visit to walk the dogs and have a Sunday morning coffee and sausage bun at the lovely little café there.  We were quite put out that when we were on the narrowboat we were not allowed to cruise up to the Glasson Dock arm of the canal, so we were determined to visit soon after.

This time I might have been a bit free with my money, but I had needed only a bit of shopping this week so I had available cash to treat myself even if it was the end of the month and our accounts department had forgotten to pay us ... Alan are you listening!!

I bought all of the above.  The thing inside the paper plates was a ready to cook Cheesy Garlic Bread, she was serving them hot at the fair but I had just eaten my sausage bun so I asked if she could make it up and I would cook it at home ... she did, and it was lovely for lunch later on.

I treated myself to four pies, it was the same guy I had been chatting to at the Morecambe Vegan Food Festival last month and his pies were gorgeous,  all handmade and ready to be warmed up when you need them.  So I have popped two into the freezer, one is for lunch today and one for my tea tomorrow.

I just could not resist this.

There was a whole stall of little houses made from recycled bits and bobs by a lovely lady.  How to choose just one was the hardest thing of all, but for some reason this one won out.

And my new pride and joy.

Again I was chatting away to the girl who made it and all the other baskets, trays, willow bunting etc etc on the stall trying desperately to make my mind up what to buy.   My heart was divided between two baskets but this one I could immediately think of a use for so it came home with me.

The little house fitted in so well on my little mantle shelf and looks at home already.

This photo reminds me that I need to re-pot that poor little plant, it's far too big for it's little glass jar now.  It was an Aldi purchase at just £1.99 and I've had it for a couple of years now.  Which goes to show you don't really need to splash a lot of cash to get something lovely that lasts for ages.

Sue xx

Thank You ... and Gather in Your Onions

 

Thank you for all the comments yesterday. 

 It would seem that we are all on the same wavelength, I thought we would be, but it was nice to hear from so many of you and some new commenters and gather in all our opinions.  I typed onions there at first instead of opinions and made myself literally laugh out loud ... and of course spell check did nothing as onions are a word.  So gather in your onions to your hearts content. 😄

I seem to be having two Fridays this week as I was convinced it was Friday all day yesterday, not that I'm complaining ... I have always loved That Friday Feeling.

My only question to you today is - What are you looking forward to over the weekend?  

If the weather plays fair I intend to pot on some tomato plants, have a tidy up of the paths and sleeper edges and then set Alan free with our new pressure washer to clean up the patio area which has lots of  unsightly green bits.  Then we may even go out for a coffee and a slice of cake and take the doggies with us.  They love the social side of it as much as we like the cake.

Sue xx

 

Large Jugs ... and Clever Posties

 

I knew that I loved the large brown jug the minute I saw it on the shelf in the gift shop, of course it was a very necessary purchase as my huge bunch of flowers had nowhere to live.  As I was sat watching television last night my eye was drawn to my little painting above the radiator shelf and then I realised why this particular brown jug had caught my eye and my imagination.

The painting of The Milkmaid by Vermeer has the girl pouring from a very similar jug.  So it seemed only right as I took my cards down this morning and had a bit of a dust-athon that I put the jug and it's contents into a new position and the flowers that Alan bought me onto the sideboard where they co-ordinated perfectly with the pictures behind.

It was my Uncles funeral in Stockport yesterday and the day went really well.  It was nice to meet up with family again even though it was sad to be saying a last farewell to a lovely man who was but two days away from his 95th birthday.  

Mum handed over a couple of cards that hadn't been posted and then my Aunty asked if I had received her card to me.  I hadn't, but then I really hadn't expected her to send me one with everything that she has been going through over the last few weeks.  She had sent it to my old address at the other side of town and the redirection that I did have in place ran out at the end of March.  

We promised we would call to the flat on the way home to see if it was there, but when we got there no-one was in, I even checked in the paper recycling bin outside but no luck.  Then we got home there it was through my new letterbox!!  Bearing the postman's writing saying 'now at no. 4'.  There are definite perks to living in a small town where the postman sort the mail and get to know everyone on a more personal level.  They had remembered where I had moved to after the flat and forwarded it on themselves.

Brilliant service and it really made my day.

Sue xx

    

Books as Ornaments

 

Alan bought me a lovely bunch of flowers yesterday, just a happy thought or a guilty conscience ... we'll see  😄

Anyway they were really colourful, he forgets I like white, lavender and green and just abseils down the route of every colour under the sun.  So to calm things down a little I put most of them in my plain cream jug and rearranged the books underneath it to all white ones.

This books as ornaments thing makes me happy, and as the bookcases around the lodge are all full to capacity and beyond it's very necessary to use them as such.

Also making me happy when I took this photograph early this morning was the sun already streaming into my living room,  and watching The Cottage Fairy on YouTube as she shows us around her new home.

And here especially for Sue ... a clearer look at the titles I chose this time.  💖

Sue xx

Smiling ... and Helping in Small Ways

 

I smile every time I open the fridge at the moment, so much colour and freshness ... I really am spoilt for choice.  My meals all this week are going to be based around this beautiful splash of colour.

I am also smiling a the good folk who are booking Airbnb rooms in Kyiv and all over Ukraine, with the sole purpose of getting the money to the people who would normally be renting their spare rooms to visitors to their country.  Instead the people left in the city with those spare rooms or hotels are helping their newly homeless neighbours, but the money received from their Airbnb accounts can really help them out in a very direct way.

 Some people are just good, they will basically find anyway possible to help the other the good people no matter where they are in the world.

Edited to add:

 After reading Jayne's comment below, I went over to the Etsy website and made a few purchases (the Challenge was momentarily cancelled).  One actual thing from a lady in the UK raising money for her family back in Ukraine and two pdfs, the one above that I have printed out.

There are ways to help.

Sue xx

Sending Letters By Pigeon Post

 

On her blog, Tracing Rainbows the other day, Angela mentioned receiving a Pigeon letter and my curiosity was spiked.  I just had to go straight over to the website ... and wow I fell in love with the designs.  Just look at this one from one of my favourite artists, original Angela Harding artwork just beautiful in every way.

Of course if this had been 'normal times' I would have picked out a couple of designs and ordered some straight way but it's my year of No Spending, so I had to bite the bullet and simply add them to my Wish List.  At least Alan might have a clue about what to buy me for my birthday!!

Summer Meadows Design, just another of my favourites and there are lots to choose from.  If you are as interested as me why not nip over here to read all about The Pigeon Story.

💖💖💖

This is not a sponsored blog post ... none of mine ever are if you are wondering ... but I have acquired quite a few new readers recently so I thought I would just point this out. However, I do like to shout out about useful and beautiful things that I come across in anyway in my day to day life and leave a link for you to discover more about them yourself if that is what you would like to do.

  

Sue xx