Grow Your Own Advent Calendar

 

I said I wouldn't buy an Advent Calendar this year, but then I saw this really lovely Grow your Own Advent Calendar advertised and went to the website for a closer look.  

When I saw that it was reduced and its cost made me immediately qualify for free postage and packaging, I fell hook line and sinker into the advertisers grasp.

And I am so glad that I did.

Available from Trees Bees and Seeds

What you get inside the box.

A 10m jute rope washing line, 25 little pegs, 25 'Gift Wrapped Surprises' and a seed sack to store all your seeds.

So, once you have it pinned up and stretched out, and all the little envelopes pegged on the line you also have a lovely Christmas decorative garland of beautiful little envelopes.  That I think I will refill with something completely different and use again next year.

Temptation ... it's a wonderful thing!!

Oh, and did I mention that last week in Booths Alan spotted this.  It was actually cheaper than when I bought it two years ago, Alan talked me into it and bought it for me ... 

... and in return I bought him the Lindt chocolate calendar.

So last year I had toiletries and socks, and this year I have seeds and jam ... and of course I have the online Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar once again, the best £7 that I spend every year.

It keeps December interesting for sure.

Sue xx

Of Curtains, Candles, Books and Netflix

 

In this the last month of Autumn, it's really nice to be really slowing down.  

Closing the curtains early, lighting a candle or two and cosying up with a good book, a good television programme or Netflix film while clutching a mug of coffee and maybe a biscuit or three to nibble on.  Pausing only to brush away the crumbs, refresh the coffee and relish the moments that you have created.

I may have slowed down to almost a standstill, but it really doesn't worry me one iota.

Sue xx  

Three Photos of Me!!

 

I sometimes wonder what photo Alan will choose to put on my little funeral menu card (order of service card ... if there is a service).  Will it be my most recognisable one to my friends on the internet.  Me and my beautiful pet cabbage.

He could always use the close-up version!! 

He could use this one and scare everyone.  😄

Or he could just go quite boring and serious, and share this one taken in August this year.

One of the few downsides to being a blogger is that the camera is usually in my hands and therefore I am rarely in the shot.  The poor man just doesn't have much choice does he.  😂

I dare ... indeed I double dare ... any of my readers with a blog of their own to share three photographs of themselves on their next post.

And I apologise if I have given you a shock with this very unusual post, calm down have a coffee and I promise normal service will soon be resumed!!

*If I had the choice, it would be the first photo. Just me in my normal attire of jeans and a t-shirt clutching a vegetable, what could be more Sue!

Sue xx

A Previous Life ... Lavender, Lovely Hubby and Worm Tea

Especially for the person who asked when it was that I started blogging, it was back in 2008 with my shop blog 'Lavender's Blue ...' which was also the name of my tiny shop in Ulverston, Cumbria.  

It was meant to mostly be about my little cat Archie as Shop Cat but he had other ideas, and it ended up being about the lavender and gifts that I sold, day to day shop life and the customers that came in.

I loved arranging my pretty wares, nothing stayed in the same place for long and the window changed at least once a week.  Well it was so tiny it was easy to do. 💜

The shop smelled deliciously fragrant, mostly as you would expect from Lavender but there were occasional forays into other essential oils and soaps.

We occasionally sold at Shows, this was  the North Lonsdale Show just outside Ulverston.

But my heart was really in the shop, upstairs nicknamed 'Grannie's Attic' (because, yes ... I was already a granny back then) the lavender mixed nicely with new collectibles and pretty vintage bits and pieces, and my customers loved to climb the tiny staircase and rummage through baskets of lace and a rail of clothes.

And when we made the split second decision to start  our new life in the country ... after a chat one day in the shop when Alan had brought me a cup of coffee from the coffee shop opposite and sat on the stairs drinking his while I drank mine ... and it was time to close the shop and move onto pastures new it all morphed very nicely into doing the monthly Farmers Markets in our new village setting.

If any of you think the fireplace looks a bit familiar, it might be as it has starred in quite a few of the older Midsomer Murder episodes as our village was frequently used as a location.  Each time we see a repeat showing the hall and the fireplace I shout out 'there's MY fireplace'. 😄

The lavender goodies were popular and after a few months were joined by farm fresh eggs, and deliveries by Lovely Hubby of bags of manure, compost and worm tea.

Here's the man himself when he was caught for posterity after doing a delivery of a trailer load of compost, and calling in at the Village Hall for a bacon butty on his way back.  

He also joined the rota for making the bacon butties that were sold along with the teas and coffees for the early Sunday morning shoppers.

My stall at Tetsworth Farmers Market.

It was always nice to get out of the working clothes and wellies and be in a nice clean hall with cups of coffee and friendly customers, and we both enjoyed the break from the farm.

Maud, Betty and Martha in The Orchard

So there you go, a real blast from the past and a trip down memory lane.  

So to answer the question ... I have been blogging since 2008 in many formats and with quite a few different blogs and as there are lots of you don't know me from the earlier blogs if you have any questions please ask away in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.  

And those of you who have been reading from the very beginning ... WOW hasn't the time just flown by!!

Sue xx 

Weeds, Bread ... and Answers on a Postcard

 

I've been a blogger for so long that I'm used to having either my camera or phone to hand to snap various things that I suddenly have an idea that I might use for a blog post.

But sometimes the photos then live on the computer for quite a while,  so when I look through the files for each month I wonder 'What on earth was I going to write about this?'

Oranges and Lemons anyone?

An obvious lunchtime sandwich containing perhaps salad and something!!

My favourite weed, now sporting lovely little delicate flowers.

I know what this is ... it was going to be a decluttering Before and After, but nothing left the house (or even the jug) so I guess it was just a This is How it Is.  Not a very good spot the difference eh  😂

And the grand finale ... a loaf of bread!!

Nope, I have absolutely no idea what I was going to write about this ... answers on a postcard please. 😃

Gosh I write such eloquent and interesting blog posts ...  occasionally!

Sue xx 

Seasons Change, and So Do We

 

Just recently the world feels as though it is ramping up to something urgent, as though there's something we need to do and something that if we don't do it, will make us slide off into a sea of oblivion.

When what we actually need to do is slow down, take a breath, regroup our thoughts ... and relax.

At the moment it feels as though just at the time that many of us are either short of money, or deciding to be more careful with the money that we have, we are being bombarded with advertisements telling us we have to have this or without this item we would fall apart, or our lives won't be worth living.

I completely understand the large and small businesses need to be selling to us, needing to up their profits year on year just to stay afloat.  Being an ex-shop owner and shop manager myself I know the need to grow your business by at least 10% year on year ... but when does it stop?

It stops for each of us when we decide to ignore the hype, the sales patter and the need to  be 'like everyone else'.  It stops when we are happy in our own skin, happy with our own homes and happy to walk the path that we want to walk.

This final declutter of mine that is ticking over slowly but surely is making me very thoughtful.  

There is less to get rid of this time around.  There is not the keep one get rid of the three spares mentality this time, mostly because there are no spares.  Instead this final time it's more thought provoking, in a strange way it's deeper and more final.  It makes me question why I bought the items, why I thought I needed them and how would my life be better or worse without them.

It's enjoyable in a very strange but satisfying way.

But the more I whittle away at what I have, the more the adverts that are everywhere jar my senses, annoy my head and hurt my heart.  There is talk everywhere of the earth having limited resources and the need for us to change and then there are the adverts that tell us we need this and that. 

It does not compute!

Sue xx

Not Long Now ...

 

I was on the Government website the other day, gritting my teeth and paying my half-yearly Self Assessment tax bill, while I was there I decided to nip over to the Pension page to double check on the date of my retirement.  Somebody had said that things had changed yet again for those of us of a certain age, but no ... I'm still due to retire a month after my 66th birthday.

And GOSH isn't that creeping up fast!!

Alan is just over a year older than me and will be retiring first if he decides that he actually will retire this time so that made us sit and have a really good conversation, working out exactly what we have coming in and what our retirement might look like.  It's not too bad really as we will both be getting an individual full state pension and of course Alan has a Navy pension, but as two self-employed people we have had to set up other provisions to keep us afloat for the future and that is something that we will always have to keep an eye on.

To take my mind off the future and bring myself back down to earth I tackled another kitchen cupboard.  

There's not a lot in this one as the pipes and drains of the sink are obviously all down there, but I had gotten the kitchen fitter to put me a shelf that was cut around for the pipes in there to give me as much storage space as possible.  He did a really good job.

I found a few things that were no longer needed and they have gone now.

I decided to take an after photo ...

... and no matter what I did I just could not get it straight.

Just one of the downsides to a kitchen that is just six foot wide with cupboards on one side and a breakfast bar on the other.  😄😆  

The after photo is slightly deceptive as the two glass storage containers from the top shelf are currently in the fridge full of leftovers!

Sue xx

Of Girls, Windows and Shopping Lists

 

I cannot for the life of me find out the artist of this image but I think it is beautiful.

Edited to add:- Thanks to you lovely lot I now know - It's called Cleaning Fruit by William Kay Blacklock  

What is it with me and girls and women by windows doing something domestic ... looking at it broadly it is possibly my need to escape into the fresh air at every opportunity and to move forward in life.  Never staying in the same place for too long has always been my thing, so looking at it that way I see windows as just that, windows of opportunity ... but with simple household chores thrown in for good measure to keep me grounded.

Doorways are too easy, but windows offer that chance of escape with just a little bit more work.

I was wondering the other day why my stationery drawer never seems to get depleted and then after a mornings work and lots of printing I found myself saving all the offcuts for shopping lists ... and I had an 'aha!!' moment.

Sue xx

The Green ... I Love the Green

 

Torn between two worlds!!

I love this photo of my kitchen when it had almost been completed, the empty spaces, the clean lines, the promise of what could be.

I also love the homeliness of my clutter.

The basics out ready to be used, the books ready to be pored over and inspiration picked up and be acted upon.  The day to day life that this scene shows I live.

And the green ... I love the green.

Sue xx 💚

AWOL and then AWOL all over again.

 

Sorry I've been AWOL for far too long 😦  

There were lots of reasons but nothing for you to worry about.  The thing is I'm about to go missing again for 10 days, jetting off to warmer climes and leaving our homes and the furries in the capable hands of some very good house-sitters.  They come with their own little furry friend called Oscar so Suky and Mavis will have a little boy Lhasa Apso to fall in love with.  Although Ginger was not so enamoured on his first meeting with a dog that is not used to cats, and one that thinks that the way to get a cat to play with you is to wag your tail like crazy and bark at them.  No doubt and hopefully,  a compromise or truce will be called at the next meeting later on today.

The photo above was taken on an afternoon out to Morecambe last week, just look at that perfect sky!  I used no filters, that's just as it was and snapped quickly with my phone while Alan and the dogs walked along the beach and I followed along higher up on the prom.   

Morecambe is just a thirty minute drive from us and it is always much quieter and nicer than Blackpool.  It used to look so rundown but slowly and surely it is turning itself around and people are starting to really enjoy it again.  I think this is partly due to the fact that the Eden Project North has now been given the go-ahead and savvy businesses are getting in on the act before rents for shop and business premises go through the roof after it's arrival.  It should be brilliant for tourism and the people of Morecambe ... and of course us.  😀

We enjoyed the walk, the fresh air and then a coffee and flapjack in a bustling little café before heading for home and a snooze over snooker for Alan and some reading for me.

I will be back soon I promise, just as soon as I get my shit head together and hopefully have enjoyed my break.  I'll leave you with some memes while I'm away just to entertain ... or annoy ... you.

Sue xx  😎

The Best Birthday

 

Yesterday was the best birthday for a long time, and the best bits just kept on coming and coming.  Phone calls, texts, Facebook messages and cards from family and friends, flowers arriving that were just so beautiful and to top it all off a wonderful afternoon tea booked by Alan at The Barn in Scorton.

I don't know what Alan was saying here, but it could well have been 'Oooh look at all the goodies!'

There was just so much food that we and lots of other folk took home doggy bags of the food that we  couldn't manage to eat.  This is just my leftovers, Alan had put his in his fridge by the time I took this photo.

After we had eaten all we could and packed up what we couldn't, we went around the gift shop part of The Barn and Alan bought me this lovely large jug.  It was needed to hold the huge bunch of flowers bought for me by Simon and Emma.

Later I had some of my leftover afternoon tea for supper while watching Pretty Woman on the television.

And I have saved these two half-price Easter eggs picked up from Sainsbugs on the way home for another day.  You just knew I wouldn't go without a chocolate egg at Easter now didn't you.  😉 

Thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes yesterday, you helped to make it The Best Birthday.

Sue xx

A Special Day ... and a Secret Spills Out

 

It's my birthday, and I'm happy to say that I am 62 years old today.  

Some don't have the good fortune of making it this far and those that do should shout it from the roof tops.  True this has not been a good year for me.  I've literally spent the whole year since the last time a year was crossed off my calendar of life, trying to get over the broken bones and trapped nerves in my back, but I made it through to see another birthday and for that I am truly grateful.

The day started well, Alan had ordered sunshine and warmth and it was lovely to sit on the patio with him and the furries opening my cards and enjoying my flowers and the first coffee of the day.

Yes we were all out enjoying the sunshine.  

Mavis looks a little bit like she's been plonked down, but that is the way she sits when she's waiting for something.  This time she was waiting for a walk, which she got twenty minutes after these photos were taken.  She and Alan set off walking and after ten minutes arranging my flowers in a jug, me and Suky jumped into the car and drove to meet them at the park.  Where we all enjoyed 'bench hopping' ... moving from bench to bench with a slow walk between each ... enjoying the scent of the blossom in the air and the bird song in the quiet park.  Then we all got into the car for the three minute drive home, which Mavis thought was a perfect way to get home quicker than usual for the post-walk dog treat.

And a birthday surprise from me  to you.

 I shared this photo on my Facebook page so the secret is out anyway.  Yes we really are Lord and Lady Hall, each in our own right and not just through marriage.  There ... and you thought you knew almost everything about me.  😄

Edited to add these ... birthday flowers that have just been delivered from Simon, Emma and my grandsons.

Sue xx