Seasonal

❄ A bowl of leafy clementines on the table, bought as much for the vibrant colour as for the fruity goodness. I've got an annoying cold at the moment, a head full of cotton wool and a very sore throat so I'm snacking on these little oranges and hoping the vitamins will do me good ❄

❄ The scent of a gorgeous seasonal candle filling the whole house. I love lighting these candle tins during the day when I am home on my own and don't have to worry about the hazzards of hot wax+Little People. I've got a Christmas Spice candle ready to light tomorrow when I shall be Decking the Halls (ie the fireplaces) ❄

❄ We had our first mince pies of the season this weekend, deliciously baked by good ol' M&S. Personally, I much prefer shop-bought mince pies to homemade ones and don't mind admitting it even though my friends tut disapprovingly ❄ 

❄ Sitting on the sofa, keeping warm by wearing my woolly poncho whilst crocheting the edge of it. I finished it last night and blocked it this morning, I can't wait to show you. It's very satisfying to make something wearable that can provide much needed warmth and comfort at this time of year ❄ 

❄ A few weeks ago I hopped on the train and journeyed to the city to do some Christmas shopping in the Big Shops. It's something I do every year, but this year was even more fun as I went with friends ❄

❄ The beautiful old shopping arcades looked even more beautiful than usual, decked out in their seasonal finery. It was a joy to wander around gazing at it all and marvelling at the sheer number of teeny tiny lights ❄

❄ I'm almost done with my Christmas gift buying now, I've bought from local shops as well is in The City and on line. I find all the festive purchasing and decision making very draining I must say, I'm glad I'm nearly done with it all ❄

❄ A seasonal Attic view, I love this December photo very much. As you can see, it snowed here at the end of last week, just a few icy flurries for us here in town but up on the hills there was proper real snow ❄

❄ Walking to school last week, listening to the excited chatter of the Little People as they discussed the possibility of imminent snow fall. Oh my, I love their excitement so much, especially Little B who recalls with vivid clarity the day I took him sledging when he was two years old and is desperate for a repeat performance ❄

❄ My Christmas cards arrived! Really, really pleased with them. Just need to get down to the business of writing and sending them now. I'm also enjoying my advent tree very much during these December days, the little woodland critters make me smile every morning ❄

❄ I definitely want to make more cards, the whole process of designing, making and photographing, then waiting for the box of cards to arrive from the printers is really exciting! I know it's a bit late for this year, but I wanted to tell you that I decided to upload my owl photo to Flickr so that it's there for anyone who wishes to download it and use it to make their own cards. I've left the image un-cropped as I found it easier to crop at the time I actually made the card. You can find it {h e r e} ❄

❄ ...just a few of the seasonal things that have made me happy during the past few weeks.....I confess I struggle a bit with this time of year and find I'm not generally at my best in December. It's the Winter Solstice on Sunday, I shall be celebrating the fact that each and every day next week will be a little teensy bit longer than this week. Roll on Spring...❄

 

❋...more little snippets from the Attic...❋

This Week...

December Flowers

Crochet Christmas Card

Cowl-neck Poncho

Comments

[kelli]

I am so inspired by your blog and that Christmas card!!!

[Lizy Tish]

The shopping arcades are just gorgeous. Your view is just gorgeous. AND I love your cards! They are just lovely.

[Mary]

So nice to meet you. Merry Christmas!

[OkeCrafter]

I love the way you always use colour to make your home look so beautiful! I hope you get over your cold soon. Like you, I always used to count the days until the Solstice, knowing that the days will start getting longer again afterwards. Somehow I always felt I'd turned a corner once the shortest day was over.

[Rachell]

I bake my own bread and cakes, like you, but I'm totally with you about the mince pies. They are just tastier. I think it's the pastry. X

[Diane]

Hi Lucy,

I hope you are feeling much better. Your Christmas card is amazing. I am always blown away by your creativity.

I am drooling as I look at the picture of your mince pie. When I lived in Toronto I always purchased Marks & Spencer's mince pies and buttertarts. Unfortunately, mince pie is not readily available where live and it is approximately a four hour drive to the Canadian border. I think I will be making a mince pie before Christmas.

Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas.

Diane from Ohio

[Winwick Mum]

Oh! You had snow and I missed it! Typical :-) xx

[Shannon]

Hope you feel better soon! Thank you for sharing your owl picture, that is very generous <3

[Lucy]

I like commercial mince pies best too, and always get a box of Walkers or similar sent over here in France. I also do get a jar of mincemeat and buy pastry, which is also always better than what I can make, and put the two together, but I've never, on the few occasions I've tried, been able to produce any kind of home made mincemeat that's as good as the shop stuff. Life's too short anyway, so don't let the domestic fundamentalist goddesses get to you!

Moo are great for cards but the point of them really is you can get single copies of as many designs as you want, which is why they're so expensive, they're the only ones who do this I think. If you're getting multiple copies of the same one, like you did, you're probably better off using one of the bigger commercial firms, like Bonusprint or even a high street developer. (Also I'm not that keen on the matt finish on Moo's double cards, their postcards are glossier and nicer to my mind, but that's just personal). You probably know all this anyway, but thought I'd mention it!

[Malama Xida]

Very beautiful pectures!8 days left!!!

[Bernadette Edens]

Hope you feel better soon, Lucy. I enjoyed so much seeing all of the lovely photos. I had to laugh, though, as I thought for a minute that the "Saints and Angels" store pictured in one of them might be a religious bookstore. I Googled it and found out it's actually a clothing store! LOL All the best! Bernadette in Alabama, USA

[Albertina McNeill]

One year I thought I'd make some Christmas buns, the recipe for which included mincemeat, but I was a newbie to baking and didn't realise that you have to put the paper cases in a bun tin, not just on a flat one. I watched in horror as the cases filled with mixture opened like flowers in the oven and spilled their contents...

[Hazel]

Looked at the card on flickr but as I haven't a clue how to "crop or resize" anything it's useless to me!

Not one for the computer challenged amongst us I'm afraid.

[Joy]

love it all :-) Xx lots of love Joy Xx

[brigitte peetermans]

Hi Lucy,

I absolutely adore your owl-card!
C'est magnifique!

Bravo,

Brigitte

[Vikki]

Your cards are lovely, as is your blog. Cheers from USA!

[Eva]

How very generous of you to share your creation! I think you are so very clever and creative! That mall in the city is so pretty... I would love to walk through there for some window shopping. Sorry you are under the weather, I hope you get well soon.

[ANA MARIA MILANESI]

Esas frutas que tu llamas clementinas , nosotros en argentina las llamamos mandarinas.Son una gran fuente de vitamina "c".son para curar el resfriado.Tambien hacemos exquisitos budines, en donde colocamos , esta fruta entera, con su piel.
FELIZ NAVIDAD,,Y PROSPERO AÑO NUEVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ann clements]

hope you feel better soon when any of my family have a cold I make them a honey and lemon drink
squeeze half a lemon into a mug add boiling water and honey, very comforting when your poorly and for hubby at night when he has a cold I make him a hot toddy pour a slosh of brandy into a mug add boiling water and brown sugar if you don't like brandy you can use whisky or rum,

[Gillian]

Your card has turned out really well.

[Amanda]

I think shop bought mince pies are just as good too....for the good deals you get on them its seems cheaper to me to buy and the pastry always turns out great ! Lovely card and always enjoy your blog Lucy...thank you for sharing and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours...enjoy ! XX

[Tracy Marie]

Merry Christmas and thank you for the use of your lovely owl image! Wishing you and yours all the best in the New Year!

[Rae]

I'm a great believer in vitamin C to help get through a cold and my Dad (no longer with us) bless him always brought me home a bottle of Lucozade as if it had some sort of magic powers. I always think of him when I see it on the supermarket shelf. I love your crochet card Lucy and the crochet card idea could be adapted into any type of card subject, much more personal than a shop bought one.

[Estelle]

Lucy - you make all of us happy, in all seasons!

[Chris Smith]

Lovely images Lucy. I have been trying to crochet for ages and finally managed it a couple of weeks ago with the help of your ripple blanket tutorial. I've now started my own ripple. Thank you!