Kentmere? No! Staveley!

Having realised we had a full day to go walking today we'd decided to try a walk to Kentmere reservoir. We've not been to Kentmere before, so it seemed like a good idea. At the time.

We took DD to work then headed north on the motorway, arriving at Kentmere quite early for us.  Obviously not early enough. Not realising how few parking spaces there are there, we found there was no room for us in our van. A lovely man offered us space on his drive, but his house was up a steep hill with not enough turning room for the van, and being on such a steep hill I was staring to panic, and I was the one driving! So back down the hill we went, back towards Staveley. We've done a walk round Staveley before so we parked up near the Hawkshead brewery and finally set off walking. 

And what a walk it turned out to be! We headed up towards Potter Tarn and it was lovely. 

After reaching Potter Tarn ....

.....we headed towards Gurnal Dubs. We had blue sky for much of the day, with both of us down to short sleeved tops (is it really nearly December!?!) ......

....with some lovely views ...... 

.....stopping for lunch as it started to get a bit hazy in parts 

Then we simply turned round and headed back, walking round Gurnal Dubs…….

....and back towards Staveley.....

......as the light was fading .....

Despite a disastrous start to the day we've had a fabulous walk. 

One month to go!

It has to be said. And I'm sorry to upset anyone. But it's one month to go until Christmas! One month. It's not a long time and I've still loads to do, including making the Christmas pudding. I would have made it last weekend if I'd been organised and if we hadn't gone for afternoon tea. However, it will be this coming weekends priority once I get all the fruit sorted. 

I've still got quite a few presents to buy but I have a list to work through so hopefully it won't be too bad. I don't think I'll need to do a last minute dash to the shops on Christmas Eve anyway. 

My mum made me a Christmas cake last week so that's currently being fed a suitable dose of brandy every few days, so it should be just right by the time we cut it. It's almost time to make mince pies and ecclefechan tarts too - yummy! 

Time to plan my Christmas Eve walk too. For the last few years I've managed to get the day off work and go out walking to have some chill time for myself before chaos on Christmas Day. It all depends on the weather but I love going up to the Lakes for a nice walk just for a few hours. 

Even DD is getting in to the Christmas mood. They're dressing up all Christmassy tomorrow where she works. She's bought herself a reindeer jumper with little bells on, and a little Santa hat to wear! 

Ho Ho Ho!

Afternoon tea

It's been a busy few days (yet again) with yet more crafting, housework and shopping. 

Today, however, was a girls day out - to Manchester for Afternoon Tea for DD's birthday. I know it was her birthday last weekend, but today was arranged so that she could spend a bit of time with her Auntie. 

As the Christmas Markets started last weekend it meant that we had chance to look round some of the stalls and sample some of the food. It turned out to be a lovely day too, with blue sky! 

Afternoon Tea was booked for 3pm in Harvey Nichols. We haven't been in the restaurant before and it was lovely. We each chose a pot of tea - I had green tea ........

.......and then the food arrived......

.......sandwiches of smoked salmon, prawns, beef, turkey, cucumber and cream cheese, and egg. Then on the next layer we had scones and macaroons, followed on the top layer by lemon meringue tartlets, mince pie vienese biscuits, and small Christmas puddings cakes. What a feast! 

It was a lovely afternoon, and lovely to see the Christmas lights as we were leaving .....

What a day!

Cat bed

I went to the pet shop yesterday to buy dog food as we were about to run out. And came out with dog food ......... and a cat bed! I thought I'd have a look and see what they had, fully intending to wait for a few weeks before buying one, but came out with this .......

The cats seem to like it, even though it's not what I went shopping for! It can either hang over a radiator (or bannister rail in our case) or stand on the floor. Hopefully it will keep the cats comfy for a while. 

Mid week

So with having Monday off work I was able to get some more crafting done, and this is a sample of what I achieved .....

I also managed to make some more earrings and get them boxed up, along with some bag charms and bookmarks, ready to take to pass on to DD's Auntie when we see her in Manchester on Sunday. She said she'll see if any of her friends want to buy anything, which is lovely. 

Monday night also was my night for line dancing. My cousin's daughter goes to the same class, so we had a bit of a chat this week. She's at college now and she was giving me a bit too much detail about her biology lesson this week - dissecting a pigs heart! 

I was back at work yesterday. It's still a bit strange on my new section, but we're getting there. 

And today DH told me that the pieces of jewellery I made for him to take to work last week to sell for Children In Need all got sold! All of them!! Amazing! I'm really pleased. 

Maybe there's hope for my jewellery after all.....

www.etsy.com/UK/shop/catztaylcrafts

Birthday tea

Yesterday was DD's birthday. She's 24 now. Not quite sure how that happened so fast - it doesn't seem two minutes ago that she was at primary school! 

Anyway, when she got back from York I picked her up from the train station and took her to my mum's so she could say hello and my mum could say happy birthday and give DD her presents - a woolly hat and scarf in red and white with a reindeer pattern. She loved it! And then back home for a birthday meal and, of course, a birthday cake .....

This is the cake that I was icing just before we'd set off to get to the log yurt on Friday afternoon, after I'd got home from a Ladies that Lunch meeting, which was after I'd been to the hairdresser! So it had been a pretty busy Friday. But thankfully the cake had turned out ok, and DD liked it, and it tasted good too! 

And last night DD created interest in my Etsy shop by commenting on Facebook that my hairdressers have taken some of my pieces of jewellery to sell for me, which was lovely - her friends wanted the link, so I'll put it here aswell .......

www.etsy.com/UK/shop/catztaylcrafts 

Have a look and see what you think. 

Log yurt!

As DD was away for a couple of nights we decided to take off for a night too. Back to the Strickland Arms again. We'd not been able to get one of the rooms in the pub, but we'd been offered their log yurt for the same price and decided to see what it was like. 

What a fabulous place! 

It was a bit strange being in a round room, and we think Molly was a bit disorientated as she kept wandering round and round, taking ages to settle down anywhere. But it was lovely. After another tasty meal in the pub we headed back to our yurt for the night. 

Today has been a bit strange. It's DD's birthday, and for the first time, I've not seen her on the morning of her birthday. Very strange. 

Hopefully she's had a lovely time in York and will have lots of photos to show us. 

Moves

Monday morning saw the start of my new work set up - on a new floor with some old, and new, faces.  And I'm sat next to one of my 'Ladies who lunch' ladies which is really nice. It still feels a bit weird, working with people I used to work with over 6 years ago, but it's made the move that bit easier because I know quite a few people and I don't feel like I have to start all over again with new people. 

Tuesday night saw me going out in the car with DD so that she could get some driving practice. We ended up more or less on a test route, apart from the detour down a country lane in pitch black which was a little scary for both of us! But she did it, and did an excellent 3-point turn and managed to reverse round a corner ok too. With her test coming up in a few weeks shes trying to get the practice in when she can. 

Yesterday DD headed off to York for two nights - a birthday treat from her fella as its her birthday tomorrow. So this morning I've been up early to get a cake made for her. I won't get chance for the rest of the day as we're having a night away while DD's away - back up to the Strickland Arms. The cake just needs icing now, but that won't take long (hopefully). 

And I've also been making more jewellery. DH took some to work with him this week to see if people will buy it, with the money going to Children in need. 

Along with the jewellery I've also made some Christmas cards to put on my Etsy shop .....

Busy times!!

Walking and more crafting!

Just a short walk today, and without the dogs. Just the two of us. It should have a pleasant enough walk, but with new boots on and no clear path, it wasn't one of our best walks. But it was time outside in lovely scenery ......

.....and the boots were ok. I don't think I laced them quite right today, so I'll have another go next weekend.  

Then once we got home it was time to finish off a couple of bag charms and box everything up ready for DH to take to work to see if he can sell them for Children in Need this week. 

I also managed to add a few Christmassy items to my Etsy store to see how it goes - www.etsy.com/uk/shop/catztaylcrafts. 

Exciting times! 

Creative Friday!

Today has been a very productive, and very creative day. 

After letting DD drive to work I had a quick stop at the supermarket before heading home to start crafting. My hairdresser is letting me take some of my jewellery in to her salon next week to see if she'll be able to sell some for me. It's very exciting - the first time my jewellery will be out on show in a shop! And this is the result of today's work........

......all boxed up and almost ready to go. I just need to sort out some prices and then hopefully I can leave them in the salon for everyone to look at (and hopefully buy!). 

And tonight I've been baking fairy cakes for DD to take to work tomorrow. The make-up counter she works on has been in the store for a year, so they're having a 'birthday weekend', with lots of free goodies - Smashbox, Ojon and Bumble and Bumble. So she very kindly volunteered my services to make and ice some cakes for them! I don't think they turned out too bad.......

And just time for a bit of chilling before bed......

Last day

So. It was my last day with the section I've been working on for about 3 years. A day like any other, but ended with me packing everything up and making sure everything had labels on so it all moves to the right place ready for Monday morning. It felt a bit strange, but not really sad. With only 3 of us in for most of the day, and knowing the 3 of us are moving to the same floor (if not the same section), there were no goodbyes to be said for us. And by the time I left the office there were only about 2 people left working to say goodbye to. 

Roll on Monday morning and the start of a new team.......

Last Night was Bonfire Night. Thankfully we survived it with no major upsets with the animals, despite the amount of fireworks we could hear. I met DD at my mum's for tea, complete with the dogs as I didn't want them left on their own at home. But I have to say that Molly and Oscar didn't seem too bothered about all the noise. In fact, the worst part of last night was when DD was driving home! We made the mistake of going home via what was apparently a main route for getting to a firework display! There were pedestrians everywhere and so many cars! Poor DD had to cope with so much - and only a learner driver! I have to say she handled it very well, and got us back home safe and sound. 

And then DD kindly told me she's volunteered my services to make some cupcakes for her to take to work on Saturday! That's tomorrow sorted for me - along with the shopping and crafting I don't think I'll have much time left to do anything  else!

Trough of Bowland

After a bit of a discussion about where to go walking today, DH and I agreed to go back to the Trough of Bowland. We don't usually go back to the same place quite so soon after being there, but knowing it was a good path, and knowing I had to wear my walking shoes (my boots have holes in them which explains why my feet kept getting wet!) we agreed it would be s good option. With both dogs with us as Molly didn't want to get left behind, we knew we'd made the right choice. 

And what fabulous Autumn colours at the start of the walk! 

It was lovely - blue skies and wonderful colours.....

 

We stopped for lunch after walking further than we did last time we came here, with a lovely view across the valley opposite. 

Time to put the waterproofs on when we'd eaten as the very grey clouds were closing in, but thankfully we managed to get back to the van without getting drenched. 

And then a bit of crafting tonight after DD had helped make tea (she did the Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes while I did the rest).....

......lots of pretty beads for my jewellery making tomorrow.....

Etsy

Well, I've finally done it and pressed the button to open a shop on Etsy. How scarey! I've talked about it for a few weeks at home now, but have finally plucked up the courage to 'go live' and see what people think of what I've been making. 

It's taken a while to get to this stage, more due to the lack of time to fit everything in - work, housework, animals - they all use so much of my time, that trying to find a few hours to take photographs and get them on to Etsy, not including the time to actually make each item, has been a slow process. 

But it's finally here https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CatztaylCraftsMy shop! Yay! 

For those of you outside UK looking at this, I have to apologise if you like something enough to want to buy it. At the moment I'm only going to post to a UK address. I'm sure this won't last, and if you want to let me know if you're interested I'll see what I can do. But being new to all this i thought it was a safe place to start. 

So with Christmas coming soon I've made more stock today to add to the shop and will put these up in the next couple of days.....

Fingers crossed!