New Year

Well, it's nearly the start of another year already. And what a year we've had! On reflection, we've had some fabulous times. Sadly we've also had to cope with quite a few sad times.

We had to say goodbye to some of our family pets earlier in the year, and although they were the older ones, their loss was still hard to deal with. First losing our dear Molly who was such a wonderful character and totally faithful Westie …….

……followed closely by my gentle giant Gadget, my Maine Coon who was never on the plan as far as having cats was concerned, but who I wouldn't have been without …….

….and then my dear, dear Gizmo in June - such a character and such a 'lady' to the very end. We will miss them all. I have had far too many trips to the vets this year than I care to think about. Hopefully next year will mean I see less of the vets (nothing personal there, I'd just rather not see as much of them now).

We have had some amazing holidays - finally visiting family 'down south' and then having family travel north with us for DH's milestone birthday in the summer in Scotland (a holiday we won't forget in a hurry!), followed by another Scottish holiday just the two of us in September, and then a girly holiday for me with DD. They haven't all gone to plan - typical scottish weather in summer wearing woolly jumpers and raincoats, and incredible heat and a thunder storm in Cyprus with DD. You can't win 'em all!

I've met up with a couple of cousins I haven't seen for years which has been lovely, and realised that just because somebody is family doesn't mean you have to like them, and that it's ok not to like them. Actions speak far louder than words, and showing somebody you care about them is far more important than just telling them - telling somebody you'll do something means nothing if you don't go ahead and do it (sorry, bit of a winge about in-laws). But, we all have those family members who you find frustrating, irritating or just plain annoying.

My mum has discovered the joys (and frustrations!) of technology - yay! A mobile phone earlier in the year and, as a bit of a wild card, a Kindle for Christmas from me as a step up. I hope she finds it exciting to browse and see all that there is to look at and discover over the internet. It's a whole new world out there once you start browsing, and I'm so glad she's starting to find out.

We've been on some fabulous walks over the year, although not as many as last year due to either the weather or other commitments. Hopefully we will continue to find some out of the way places to escape the crowds again next year. I think my highlights have to be our amazing walk in Scotland in September overlooking the Kylesku Bridge and the random wild camp that followed ….

……and our climb up to Little Harter Fell with the contrast in weather conditions along the way and the amazing views from the top ……

My crafting has slowly taken over as the year has gone on, with me taking the plunge and going to craft fairs and actually facing the general public with my goods. Although it was scary to start with, I found that I started to enjoy it, and have met some lovely people along the way. I have more craft fairs lined up for next year, so fingers crossed for those.

And so we come to the end of another year. Another year where I've managed to keep up the blogging.  I hope I've made it interesting along the way.

Here's to 2016, to blogging and walking and crafting and reading, and doing things that you enjoy in life, with people who matter.

#walking #reading #handmade #crafts
www.facebook.com/catztayl

Christmas 2015

Well. He's been for another year. Santa left a stocking for DD (mainly chocolate) and some lovely presents for everyone. 

DH's mum was here, staying in our room, and my mum came on Christmas Day for lunch. I managed to overcook the parsnips, but other than that everything else went ok with feeding five people. DD left to collect her boyfriend after we'd eaten, and he stayed over for the night. 

We each received some lovely presents, having decided not to spend as much this year and concentrate more on spending time with each other. I'm just a bit excited as DH got me a taster day for glass fusing in February!! It's something I've wanted to try for a while, so should be good.  We treated my mum to a Kindle, as a sort of progression from her phone that she uses the Internet on. Hopefully she's managing ok with it - a bigger screen to view things and a few more options. 

Then Boxing Day DH's daughter and partner arrived for the day - more presents and more people to feed! After realising the night before that our table doesn't really seat 7, we had to have a quick think how to arrange the chairs!  But we did it, with me sat at one end.  And it was a lovely meal - lamb and turkey with all the trimmings. 

Yesterday we took DH's mum home and started the job of rearranging everything back to how it was before Christmas.   

And today has been a day to get out walking. In the car again. We went back to Rydal Water where I went last week, but walked a different route. 

We headed up on to Loughrigg Terraces overlooking Grasmere .....

.....then over on to the fells.....

.......back down towards Grasmere where  we stopped for lunch looking out over the water  .....

......and then headed in to Grasmere for a cream tea! 

And then back to the car for a quick cup of tea before heading home. But as we were driving out of Ambleside we could see the sun setting over Winderemere so we stopped to get a few photos ....

What a lovely way to end our time off work .....

 

Christmas Eve.

Well, not long to go now. Just minutes from when I post this blog. And what a week it's been to get to this point. 

There's been some crafting (or attempt at  crafting), some baking, some walking, and wrapping presents eventually. 

I think yesterday started off the worst. I normally go walking on Christmas Eve, but because of the weather forecast I opted to go yesterday. I nearly didn't make it. After getting hot chocolate and sandwiches packed in my rucksack and everything in the van, I set off and then realised I hadn't left the bin out to be emptied. No big deal you think. But knowing it was full and that we wouldn't be able to manage another two weeks, I turned round and went home. And there I got stuck.  I put the van in reverse to go on the drive and then nothing. It wouldn't move. Not forwards or backwards. Just stuck. In the middle of the road. HELP! I rang our breakdown provider who said we didn't have Homestart, and then they gave me a number of a local breakdown firm who were lovely. They came out within an hour and managed to move the van on to the drive. I'd had neighbours complaining that they needed to get past and had to end up driving over next doors garden to get out of the cul-de-sac. So much for friendly neighbours! Some were ok, but others didn't seem to understand that I just simply couldn't move the van. However, the van is now booked in to the garage next week as it appears there may be a problem with the brake discs. 

I nearly didn't go out after that. But, after chats with both DH and DD I headed off in my car. And headed to Rydal Water. And I'm so glad I decided to go. 

I went up first to see Grasmere ......

....and then back towards Rydal Water ....

..... with some fabulous views and this amazing view of a rainbow ...

.....and then up on to the fells where it was so peaceful ....

The light on the fells when the sun came out was so beautiful ....

I wanted to stay out longer but was conscious of how long it would take me to get back to the car park. So, a quick climb up to see Windermere .....

... and then the long walk back by the river back to the car. With so much rain around recently it was horrible to see how full the river was. With so many reports of flooding in Cumbria it was hard to look at this and not feel for the people affected. ..,,

It seemed to take ages to get back to the car, walking back past Rydal Water. But then I had time for a cup of tea before setting off for home. I made the mistake of stopping off at the garden centre in Ambleside to have a quick look. Oops. Big mistake. It's huge!! So I had a good wander round and bought a few things ....

Then when DH came home it was time for the Christmas shop. We got nearly everything. I just had to nip back out this morning to get a few bits before getting the spare room set up for us to use when my mother in law uses our room for the next few nights. 

So. The presents are wrapped and under the tree. The cake is iced (finally). There are mince pies and Ecclefechan tarts made. All that's left is to say 

Happy Christmas to you all!

Less than a week to go!

I've made my first mince-pies of the festive season on Friday. Very yummy - made with home-made mincemeat. 

And we've finally put the lights up outside the house too, something we meant to do last weekend but weren't able to because of the weather. So, while it was dry on Friday night we finished off the last bit of Christmas decorating, including putting lights on the Christmas tree we have just outside the front door.

I bought the Christmas tree on Thursday. I like to have a small real tree outside the house with a few lights on it. I'd love a real tree in the house, but with Oscar and the cats it may be a bit awkward, and with all the pine needles around it might not be much fun for them. My mum came round on Thursday and I took us to the garden centre to have a browse. While we were there we asked about their afternoon tea in cafe. They're doing a special Christmas Afternoon Tea. Sadly they said you had to book, so we were going to choose something else when the assistant came over to us and said they had a spare one if we wanted to have it! Obviously we said yes! And it was lovely. They set the table with some festive paper and crackers, and the food was really nice …….

After we'd had our Afternoon Tea we headed to another garden centre as I hadn't been able to find a tree at the first one. So, second garden centre, and we have a tree. Then on to another store where we found a nice bird table for my mum to buy me for my birthday just after Christmas. I've been wanting a new bird table for the last couple of years as the one I have is slowly disintegrating, so I'm really pleased to have a new one now. And then last night I made our Christmas puddings. They've now been steamed once, and are now stored in the garage ready for Christmas Day.

Friday consisted of the hairdressers, the supermarket, and sorting out part of the garage so I had room to keep the Christmas puddings nice and cool until next week.

It's hard to believe that in a few days time we will have had the full Christmas Day meal, have opened presents, and be sat down watching a bit of Christmas TV with both of our mums. DD will be here too, along with her boyfriend (we think). 

A bit of last minute shopping on Saturday, and time to get the marzipan on the Christmas cake.....

And finally, last night DH had tickets for us to go and see Jools Holland and his band in Manchester. A fabulous night of feet tapping music. 

Still loads to do yet this week but only one more day at the day job. Then a decision to make on where to go for my Christmas Eve (eve) walk........

www.facebook.com/catztayl

Last Craft Fair of 2015

Well. That's it. I've done my last Craft Fair of 2015. And I can honestly say that despite being extremely nervous at my first fair back in August, I actually look forward to them now. I've met some lovely people and sometimes see familiar faces from previous craft fairs, which is really nice. Yesterday's craft fair wasn't extremely busy, but I did ok, and had lots of nice comments again. 

I took these little fellas with me yesterday after finishing them off on Saturday night.....

They were the first things to sell! 

I now have two different lists of dates to look through for next year for the next lot of craft fairs.....

Roll on 2016!

Mid week markets

After crafting on Monday, and line dancing Monday night, I had to go back to the day job on Tuesday, for all of one day, before having another day off. Can't you tell I've got my new holiday allocation for the year! To be fair, yesterday had been planned for a little while as it was a chance to meet up with DD's Auntie in Manchester, and also chance to wander round the Christmas Market. 

Thankfully it wasn't raining when we got to Manchester, and we had a lovely wander round all the stalls, sampled some of the food and drink, and generally had a good catch up. 

It looks really nice when it's all lit up at night. But with DH away, and Oscar to get home to, we couldn't stay too late. I think we were all ready to head home though - we all had tired, sore feet!

Then back to the day job today before my usual day off tomorrow. Tomorrow should be good - it's my Ladies that Lunch Christmas meal so I'm looking forward to it.  

I've just a few more bits to finish off on Saturday for the Craft Fair on Sunday. Then I think I can relax a little and think about putting some Christmas decorations up at home ....

Rain and walking

The weather here has been awful for the last few days - rain, rain and more rain. Thankfully, where we live, we haven't been flooded. There are, however, thousands of homes in Cumbria that have been damaged by flooding over the last couple of days. And the scary thought is that we were very nearly caught up in it all. We were due to have a night away in the Lake District on Saturday night. 

When we woke up to heavy rain and wind on Saturday morning we made the decision not to chance the journey. Then, not long after DH rang the hotel overlooking Ullswater to cancel, we heard that parts of Keswick were flooded and you couldn't get in or out, and Penrith was also flooded in some areas - both towns that we'd planned on visiting. We've also heard that the bridge at Pooley Bridge has been demolished due to the heavy rainfall - again, a place we very nearly visited. The scenes we've seen in the news are just heartbreaking - such a beautiful part of the world now damaged so much. I hope that everybody pulls together to restore this wonderful area. 

We were very lucky yesterday, as with no rain and very little wind, we managed to get out walking - the first time in two months! We headed off to Clougha Pike, and apart from a slight diversion the roads were fine. 

It was fabulous to get out in the fresh air after so long, and thankfully the path wasn't too waterlogged. 

It's not one of my favourite walks, but considering the weather I think we did well to do the 6 miles that we did. 

 

And today has been another day off from the day job, and a bit of crafting .......

Hello December!

December already! This year has flown by! 

Work and Line dancing on Monday, and work yesterday. And no day job now until next Tuesday. Yay! Quite how I managed to get basically a week off I'm not sure.

But hopefully it will give me chance to get quite a bit of crafting done amongst other things. 

Today, however, has been a non crafting day. DD was off work so we ended up going shopping. The intention was to look for a few Christmas presents. That didn't really happen though. I found a couple of things, but it all looks pretty much the same as other years. So I will do what I originally planned and look online at all those other small businesses on Facebook and get my orders in. There's so many talented people out there I should be able to get nearly everything that way. Sometimes I feel that the things that I make aren't good enough. But then I have people make such lovely comments at the Craft Fairs, and this week I've had two orders on Etsy! I was surprised to get one order on Sunday night after it being quiet for a while, then I had another order today.  I'm so pleased! I'll need to put more stock on my shop soon! 

What a weekend!

It's been a bit of a mixed weekend. DH arrived home on Friday instead of Thursday, so it felt like a very long week. But I've been busy painting and getting new bits ready for craft fairs, so it's not been too bad. 

Saturday was a day for meeting up with family. DH's brother and his wife were visiting DH's mum, so we said we'd meet up with them. Only one slight drawback - I ended up with a migraine yesterday.  Not good. It meant that we left home later than planned as I tried to sleep off the migraine for as long as j could. And it also meant I probably wasn't much fun company as I wasn't feeling well. But we got through lunch, and I managed brief conversations, before we headed home and I went back to bed for a couple hours. 

Then today was another craft fair for me. I could really have done with sleeping in to recover from yesterday, but we headed out to see what I could sell. Unfortunately, with the awful weather and the knock-on effect from Black Friday, the craft fair was really quiet and I didn't sell much. But it's all experience and I quite enjoy being out and getting feedback from people about my stuff. I even set up a Christmas tree to hang some clay decorations on! 

So despite the foul weather and the lack of sales, it's not been a bad day really. 

I've finished off a couple of orders from friends, and while watching TV tonight I've had another order from my Etsy store - I haven't had an order for ages so it was so nice to get that - and I'm contemplating doing a three day craft fair at the end of January. 

Exciting times ahead! 

#crafts #handmade #craftfairs 

Birthday Treat

Well, I've finally used my birthday present from my mum. Yes, I know my birthday is in January, and it's now November, but somehow I just hadn't got round to booking anything. I had an Afternoon Tea Gift Experience to use at one of the venues on a list. 

I went to a lovely little tea shop with DD on Tuesday and had some fabulous food. This was my second attempt at going for afternoon tea with the voucher, the first attempt being a complete disaster.  I booked somewhere quite local a couple of weeks ago, to go with DH. We arrived a little bit early, sat down at the table, and were then told that they weren't able to serve any more afternoon teas as they'd run out. Their booking system hadn't allowed me to speak to anyone to explain what I wanted to book, and their online booking system hadn't given me an option either. Considering it was 2.10pm on a Sunday afternoon, we were quite shocked to learn that they'd run out of food! As you can imagine we were more than a bit annoyed and left within about 5 minutes. I have since complained to them (no reply received) and also informed the Gift Experience company, who have offered me a discount on another voucher. 

So, Tuesday I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would be OK. And what a fabulous little place! A bit out of the way but they couldn't have been nicer. We were a bit early, but that didn't matter. Out came the food .....

.....with unlimited cups of tea. Delicious! We couldn't eat it all between us, so we brought some home....

(Yes, that box contains a slab of red velvet cake which we have just consumed tonight). If you want to go somewhere with amazing cupcakes and a fabulous afternoon tea, go to 
www.airyfairycupcakes.co.uk

What a find!

Weekend away

I've got all out of sync with blogging over the last couple of weeks. With spending most of my spare time crafting or catching up on housework, I end up so tired at night. 

However, it's all going to be worth it when I take a lots of new wooden items to my next craft fair next weekend. Just as a taster, I finished these off today ......

......hanging 'Home Sweet Home' plaques. I think they've turned out quite well. 

I've spent most of today crafting (day off from the day job) catching up from having three days off. THREE DAYS!! Unheard off! All because we've had a weekend away visiting DH's daughter and partner in Winchester. We'd booked in to a pub just outside the city, called The Plough. And what a lovely place! A bit quirky (with a chair fastened to the wall to act as a shelf and hanging rail), but so nice. 

We didn't arrive until nearly 8pm because the traffic had been horrendous on the motorway. But DH had been in touch along the way and booked a table for us to eat. DH's daughter and partner came to join us which was lovely. We hadn't seen them since our holiday in Summer for DH's birthday, so it was good to catch up. 

After breakfast on Saturday we took Oscar for a walk across from the pub. Although it was dry and sunny it was so windy! 

We headed in to some woods and came across this across the path ....

This made us chuckle a bit as it was similar to our obstacle course of a walk in Scotland last year with DD! Admittedly, Saturday's tree wasn't as bad. But we had blue sky for the whole walk - lovely......

......and a bit of playing with the camera .....

We were only out about an hour, but it was good to get out in the (very) fresh air. 

We arranged to meet up with DH's daughter later on to look round the Christmas Market in Winchester. It only started a couple of days before we got there - all wooden chalets set up round the Cathedral. It was all very pretty and some fabulous crafts for sale. We left Oscar in the van and had a wander round then went for some lunch. Time to check on Oscar after lunch (there's no way we could take him round the market with him being so nervous of everything).  Then back to the market as it was all lit up and looking very pretty indeed .....

We all went back to DH's daughters for tea - Indian takeaway! Yummy! And then back to the pub for us. 

And then the long drive home yesterday. Thankfully it didn't take us as long, and DD was very pleased when we got back - she doesn't like being left on her own when it's dark at night as she finds it quite scary. 

And now back to the day job tomorrow, and Afternoon Tea with DD. There's a tale behind it, but I'll wait and see how it goes tomorrow before explaining.....

Monday madness

Another weekend been and gone. Another blur to look back and think' where did the time go?'. 

The weekend started off a little slowly for me. I went home from work early on Thursday as I wasn't feeling well, and ended up going to bed for a couple of hours. That's not like me at all. I'm hardly ever ill. I don't give in to feeling a bit under the weather. But I had to on Thursday. 

Friday morning I took DD to the train station. She was going to London for the weekend as a birthday treat from her boyfriend - off to see Matilda, the musical. Then I did the usual early morning shopping before my mum came round. She wanted a bit of help with her mobile phone as it didn't seem to be downloading any Apps. Solution? Turn it off and back on again, and guess what? It worked! So she now has a few more Apps to play with. 

Then I had a couple of hours to get some painting in before DH arrived home for tea. Then we were out (yes, just the two of us went out at night) to go and see Bill Bailey. He was so funny! I'd had my reservations about going as I thought he was a bit weird/wacko, but he's actually really, really funny. 

And then Saturday and Sunday have been spent crafting, shopping and baking. Well, you need a birthday cake on a birthday don't you? 

DD arrived home safely last night. Thankfully. After hearing about all the shootings in Paris, I was very glad when i saw her get off the train and get her home. So that's why there was no blog last night. It was just such a relief to have her home, on her birthday, and have her tell us how good her weekend had been - she's even been inside the Houses of Parliament and enjoyed it!

 

And today? Well, today has been all about painting. Lots of it. And stamping. And writing.  

And there's lots more still to make.