Happy New Year!

Well. It's hard to believe that we're now in 2017. When I first started a draft of this post it wasn't even Christmas Day! It's gone by far too quickly. So much has happened that it's hard knowing where to start. But I guess I'll start at the beginning ( or the end of the last post! ). 

After the successful craft fair at the RSPCA I made good use of any spare time making up more bauble snowmen and reindeer for my packed craft fair weekend - Saturday and Sunday. I don't normally do both days at a weekend, but had decided to just get out there and see what happened. While making up the baubles I had a bit of a play and came up with Christmas puddings too! And Santas! 

 

Saturdays craft fair was a bit quiet, but I find even if it's quiet it's lovely to chat to the other stall holders. I see a few familiar faces most times now, and it's just nice to get out and chat to them.  

Sundays craft fair was in a completely new venue - in a barn on an estate where they've opened up a cafe and wedding venue. Not many stalls turned up, which was such a shame. 

 

 

But what a place! The organiser was making up wreaths with moss and holly, so she got another stall holder to help, and I had a go too. It was good fun, and people coming in were commenting on them. Although it wasn't very busy, I did quite well. 

I've also had a go at making candles and bath bombs. I had a kit to make a macaroon candle, then bought some extra wax flakes, colour and scents and made some more! 

I also made some wax melts using the same combinations ...... chocolate, orange, grapefruit, and mojito. They smell lovely. 

 

 

The bath bombs were fun to make too ....  

These were all packaged up in to jars to give as Christmas presents. 

I had one last Christmas Craft Fair on 18th December. 

 

Again, a bit quiet, but a chance to chat to other people and let people see what I do. 

Things have taken a slightly different turn since then, as DD collected the keys to her first house on 21 December, taking the plunge with her boyfriend on a brand new house. And I have to say it's lovely. No time to breath though! The day after she got the keys I'd booked afternoon tea with my mum and DD .......

To say it was delicious is an understatement. A lovely way to spend an afternoon with the 'ladies' of the family. 

All systems go then with shopping for Christmas and getting organised, along with taking a few bits to DDs house. 

And then Christmas Eve, and a chance for me to get out in the hills for a few hours on my own. The one day a year when I head off to chill before bedlam at home. DD was up early so I decided to head out early too. It sounds daft, but I went to one of our regular spots - up to Rydal Water - but took a slightly different route. 

 

Along the shore of Grasmere.... 

 

 

.....then up a bit higher.....

 

.....along a path we haven't been on before..... 

 

 

......and round to Loughrigg Tarn ......

 

......before heading back towards Ambleside over the fells ......

 

.....with views of Windermere......

 

.....before stopping for lunch while trying to get a bit of shelter from the wind! 

 

 

As it was so windy I decided not to carry on walking on the exposed Fell, but headed down to the road that runs from Ambleside round to Rydal Water.....

Perhaps not quite as scenic as being high on the fells, but lovely all the same. And then round the edge of Rydal Water.......

 

 

 

......with lovely views .....

.....before heading back the van to finish off a 9 mile walk, and back home, and time to get ready for Christmas Day. 

Christmas Day was lovely, after starting off very differently. DD had been out with her boyfriend and friends on Christmas Eve and stayed overnight at his parents, leaving just the two of us in the morning. Very strange indeed! DD came home later, when we did the present opening. I'd got her quite a few bits for her new house to help get her started. And then my mum came round with more house things for her! As she's starting from scratch with her boyfriend we're trying to help out as much as we can. Christmas lunch was good - I even managed not to burn anything this time!

Then Boxing Day saw DD heading off shopping with her boyfriend to find curtains and othe bits, while we went walking. Back to Rydal Water again, and another slightly different route.....

 

 

 

 

The weather wasn't too bad for us, and after stopping in Grasmere for lunch we found a lovely spot further on with fabulous views of Rydal Water that we've not seen before...  

 

 

A lovely 5 mile walk.  

Since then I've been doing quite a bit of painting and DIY with DD, helping to get the house ready for them. It's fun, but very time consuming, along with being back in the office on Thursday. 

 

But, the house is looking lovely now. The bedroom is finished, we've been shopping today for more bits for the bathroom, and they're on with sorting out other furniture and accessories.

And my crafting while all this has been going on? Well, it's been for me, for a bit of fun..... snowmen of course.......crocheted .... 

 

.....and then this cute stripey cat! 

 

 

And after a trip to IKEA yesterday for a new bookcase for me, we now have a complete wall of bookcases in the dining room! We also have tins of paint to start our own long overdue decorating this week in the lounge......

And tonight, so far, I've made a chocolate tart, tiramisu, and cherry scones,......

 

Time to chill I think, and plan what I can do in 2017!

10K and crafting

Hello! Yes, I'm still here. Still using up every spare minute of every day to get as much done as I can! 

I seem to have packed a lot in since my last blog, including a 10K run, a last minute fabulous walk in the Lake District, two days of shopping, two Christmas Fairs, a night away with DH and my regular job in all that too!! Phew! 

So, Saturday 26th November saw me driving with DD to get parked up ready for our 10K run. The race itself was on roads quite local to us, so it wasn't far for us to get to. And at 10am we set off - all 550 runners. I stayed with DD for the first 2 1/2 km to make sure she was ok, then I kept at a steady pace on my own and carried on round. It was a glorious day .....

 

......and I just keep on going, and going, avoiding the icy patches in the roads, until I saw the 8 and 9 k markers and realised that if I could just keep going for a bit longer then I would actually be able to run 10K non stop for the first time. Yay!!! I did it! And DH was at the end to see me finish. 

 

And to make it an even better day, DD finished not long after me - her longest run in about two months due to injury. So well done to her too. (Oh, and the pub we started from was serving bacon buns and coffee afterwards - delicious!). And although we weren't the fastest there, the fact that we finished at all makes us feel good. 

No rest for me after that though. A visit to my mums to pick up my Christmas cake which she'd made for me (thanks mum), and then back home to catch up with housework and craft stuff. And not even a rest on the Sunday either. Thankfully no aches and pains after running, so we headed up to the Lake District for a very unscheduled walk. The weather was nice and we haven't been out much at all recently. So, rather than stay at home and wish we'd gone out somewhere, we went. To Rydal Water. One of our favourite spots. And had a lovely 6 mile walk with Oscar, taking in the edge of Grasmere......

 

.......and a view to Rydal Water......

 

Round to Loughrigg Tarn .....

......and a lovely spot for lunch .....

 

.......and then heading back over the fell .....

 

......and a view of Windermere.....

 

 

 

I'm so glad we opted to go.

Then back to work and using all my spare time at night to get things ready for my Christmas Craft Fairs. Thankfully I'd booked a couple of days off work to try and get some Christmas shopping done of my own, along with making my Christmas puddings. I make them every year, and the smell in the kitchen as they get their first steaming is fabulous. 

 

I'd also booked one night away with DH. Without Oscar. We're getting Oscar used to the kennels so we booked him in for 2 nights last weekend while we headed up to just outside Carlisle to a fabulous hotel. I'd booked a standard double room, and we ended up with 'The Cottage'! Bedroom, lounge, bathroom and kitchen!! 

 

It was amazing. And the food in the bar was fantastic. We had a lovely night there. Such a pity we couldn't stay longer. But we know it's there now and hope to go back again one day. Friday night had been the only  night we could go anywhere as I have so many craft fairs booked up to Christmas. I had one on Sunday at our local RSPCA which was my best Craft Fair so far. It was so good that I'm having to spend this week making more reindeer and snowmen for next weekend! I've also had a bit of fun making some Santa baubles.......

 

 

Well, you have to make it fun don't you?! 

So, I haven't been sitting around doing nothing. Quite the opposite! Busy busy busy all the time! I think I need to book some more time off work ...........

Hello!

I've done it again. Left it far too late between blogs. Again. What can I say? I have no excuse again other than my time being filled with so much going on that by the time I think about blogging it's so late that I fall asleep! 

I haven't had any spare time at all over the last couple of weeks. We all headed down to Bath on 12th November, to watch the start of the half marathon that DD should have been running. DD and her boyfriend were staying in the centre of Bath, while we stayed just a few miles outside in a lovely pub. The rooms were all separate from the main building which was lovely. 

 

We all met up in the pub to eat at night which was lovely - an early treat for DD's birthday. Then Sunday morning we all headed for Bath racecourse and watched everybody else set off on the Bath Hilly Half. The weather was lovely, so after they'd set off, and DD had headed back to her hotel, we parked up and had a lovely walk along part of the Cotswold Way. 

 

 

 

We were very lucky with the weather, although it was a bit muddy after the rain during the week....

 

 

We were only out a couple of hours, but it was good to be out in the fresh air before spending the next few hours travelling home. 

DD arrived home Monday lunchtime in time to get to college for the afternoon. I'd booked the day off so took advantage and went out for a run in the afternoon! 

Tuesday was DD's birthday - 26. My little girl. Growing up so fast. Doesn't seem two minutes since she was starting school!! I'd made her a cake and iced it using her preferred colours for the house she's buying with her boyfriend - yellow and grey! 

Both my mum and DD's boyfriend joined us for tea, and of course a slice of cake. 

Since then it's been all go with running and crafts. I went out for a run on Friday morning, which was perhaps not a good idea. Within minutes of stepping outside the door it started hailstoning, and continued this way on and off all the way round - a whole hour of getting wet! And not only that, but the amount of puddles I had to run through meant that my running shoes were wet through when I got home too!!

 

Oh the joys of running!!

Saturday I had a craft fair and very nearly didn't go. It started hailstoning which turned everything very white and very slippery. Needless to say we didn't have a lot of people coming in to buy. Not a bad day, but better luck next time. 

 

Then on Sunday DD decided to try a short run. The first one she's tried for about two weeks. It seemed really strange only running for a couple of minutes instead of 20, but she did it. And her knee didn't collapse. So that's a good sign. She'll need to build up slowly again to make sure she doesn't do any more damage, but fingers crossed she's on the mend now. She went out again today before work and said her knee was gone find too, which is very encouraging. I went out running after work, getting home as soon as I could do I could get round before it went dark. And despite wondering whether I should go or not, by the time I'd done 15 minutes I knew it was a good idea and really enjoyed the rest of the run. I knew I had to get out tonight after having a couple of days off - with a 10K race on Saturday I know I couldn't just turn up on Saturday morning and expect to be ok if I don't get some practice in. I think DD is planning on at least attempting to get round, all depending on how her knee is after she's been going for a while. 

And then there's the crafting - painting, sealing, crocheting. It's all go! And then there's the time to help DD make handmade lip balm ......

 

It's a kit I bought her last Christmas which she suddenly decided she wanted to do one night. So easy to do. I think she may be getting the handmade bug..........