Making new friends.....and Cath Kidston gift.

Isn't life strange at times? About 15 months ago, I went to a local knitting group, there were only a few of us and we'd sit and chat and knit and coffee and cake and knit and ..........EAT Cake. It was so funny as one of the girls and I hit it off straight away and we soon found ourselves chatting away (to the exclusion of others) ops!
We had so many things in common, shared lots of the same life experiences. The knitting group faded away and we both decided to carry on meeting each other once a week, and as we chatted more and more the coincidences were more and more. We both felt very easy with each other, just and thats the only way I can describe our friendship...just easy, just is.

I don't know about you but some people take loads of different friends through life with them, that they never really get to know. I've always felt out of it as I'm one of the people that only has two or three, but they have always been there. One I have known for eeeekkkkk! 39 years and she was my bridesmaid. Another lovely lady I met strangely enough when a lot of angst was going on in my life and she became a lovely friend and still is 22 years later, maybe we don't see each other that often but always chatting on the phone............................

and now my fairly new friend, I think its lovely how in life I believe your meant to meet certain people, and so glad I met my knitty friend....and LOOK, I'll let you into a secret...sssshhhhhh! Its my birthday today. 21 again.....not! 55 and loving it. I remember turning 40 and boohooing my eyes out.

My lovely friend knew exactly what would bring a smile to my face when I unwrapped it and she had also personalized it with a lovely knitted corsage which I will pin to my burgundy jumper....whatever you do today enjoy! I'm off to open me cards.....byeeeeee xxxxx

Cath Kidston pretties....

Isnt' this the most sweetest little jug....I can feel a collection coming on here. Popped into Caths in Brighton, was a good girl only brought 3 things, this jug.... cutesy house Christmas tin with lovely humbugs in it...placed it atop my lattic tea plates.......

and of course what every well dressed cooker must have this Christmas......tea towels....such a lovely Christmas print.

PERFECT.............................

So my pretties had to have somewhere to live, stood in my kitchen, had a think!!!.....looked and thought, those jars with all my sugars and flours for baking look soooooooooooooo BORING.... (you can see the before on a couple of posts further down)...a redo was in order. Time to do it...now of course, no matter there's ironing waiting to be done, potatoes to be peeled, ....so my stainless steel shelves (which I must admit I am beginning to loathe) have been prettied up and looks more homely.....I'm getting there slow but sure.... Thanks for stopping by.x

p.s....I have a feeling those shelves will be coming down sooner rather than later....ssssshhhh! I'll break it to hubby...hehe!

A gorgeous blog......

Go have a looksee at this blog.......it ooooooozzzzeeesss charm.....love it....so inspirational....hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

http://cynthiascottagedesign.blogspot.com/

My previous kitchen....same house.

Thought I would show you a couple of piccys of my previous kitchen..the units were originally dark wood from good ol' now defunct MFI... which we painted cream, the kitchen was lovely to use but after several years I got so tired of cleaning all those mouldings etc. But at times I must admit I do miss the fussiness of it but still love the clean lines of my complete red kitchen...hmmmm!!!

Some pretties and knitted scarves.

Isn't this sign just the prettiest thing, found it in a shop in Arundel West Sussex called Sparks Yard, http://www.sparksyard.com/what a great place...full of loveliness, this had to come home with moir along with...... cupcakes pot mat...and then lo and behold, this jumps into my hand.......

gorgeous sweet Christmas letters...lovely time out with my lovely friend is what I had. We popped into a sweet tearoom for tea and toasty teacakes...yummy.

On the knitting front, found this bobble yarn £8.99 a ball, so easy to knit with, you can do a scarf in a evening, well I made 3 kiddie ones....£3.00 a scarf....lovely.

Tell me what style of decorating?

Whilst browsing other peoples blogs, I see that vintage and pinks/creams/blues are very much admired knowadays. So it got me thinking about my own styles through the years.
I remember my first flat back in eeeekkk!!! 1975 was a basement flat and we decorated it in geometric blue/dark blue squares and swirly carpet. We had a dralon gold corner sofa and white table and chairs with blue seats. The bedroom had orange and yellow flower wallpaper....had my first child in this flat, quite a squash. Then moved to a terraced house which then (wait for it) a vast Yorkstone fireplace, complete with place for TV etc and a gas fire with wooden surround, can you just visualize it, oh yes and brown/orange geometric wallpaper. Then the years were spent bringing up the children and we get to the late 80's.....now where into swags & tails/ festooned blinds on the curtain front. That was my dark mahogany Edwardian period, and I found flea markets and antique shops, I would spend so much time looking and collecting. I used to separate my then dining room from the lounge with a huge swaythe of thick lace curtain...I had deep maroon carpet with fleu-de-lise pattern on it, everything was so heavy and dark.
Then moved to end of the 90's early 2000..time for a change, we went minimalist...I hated this look, we got rid of so much stuff and bought boxy square furniture in beech, the house become hollow and seemed unloved. The last four years have seen a change yet again, classic English with a cosy country twist, bit of floral, tad of vintage, plain carpets, plain walls, accents of red, oak furniture, easy living, nothing takes too much time looking after, comfy sofas to fall into lots of cushions....I tend to use Farrow & Ball paints, I love the matt that they give and they have such a lovely coverage and ease of use. I must admit though that I do love the pastel colours now though, so maybe the Cath Kidston prints might be creeping in a little bit more along with my love of Laura Ashley, so would love to hear how yours has changed over the years..

Just a change of paint colour.....

Thought would show you my lovely apron from Laura Ashley...half price bargain...will it make me a Domestic Goddess...hmmmm. So Sunday mid afternoon, hubby and I fancied a trip out, so off we went to have a looksee around M & S and of course there is a local Homebase store there too. "Shall we look at the paint for the bathroom" says hubby. Its a job thats needed doing for some time now. Anyway whilst choosing paint for bathroom which we chose Eau -De-Nil...alongside was Pale Eau-De-Nil. "How about that for the kitchen" he says. I do love this colour but had never thought of putting it in the kitchen, which is painted basic boring creamy white piccy below.....anyway arrived home.....started at 4pm Sunday evening....broke for a curry mid evening............................................

and then ta....daaa.......11pm a lovely newly painted kitchen well part of it...what a difference 7 hours makes. Love it, it is so warm and inviting.....lesson learnt....."Sometimes hubbys do know best".

A bit of Christmas sewing.

Well my new sewing machine has had its trial run and its lovely. But I must admit on the sewing front I am a tad rusty, not having done any for a while. But I found this gorgeous red poinsetia material £3.99 metre, purchased it without a clue what I was going to make and then ta.da!!!Light bulb moment, don't you just love that when it happens, why some lumber pillows for the dining room table chairs...what do you think? Oh did I tell you I like red..........

Then hearts called to me, so a cute hanging threesome......felt like a learner driver with my machine trying to go round corners, but getting there.

Dream rooms....

How lovely is this room, so simple, rustic, that roaring fire,
I'm there with my coffee and mince pies,
knitting by my side...ah bliss. Or maybe Christmas morning,
you would love to see, this perfectly set
brekky table.

and to serve that perfect cup of tea Emma Bridgewater

tea pots, now all or any of these would be lovely as

a Chrissy pressie.

Postman made a nice delivery today, lots of lovely

future projects, honestly my list will get longer

and longer.

Caths book is perfect, and the bag so pretty.
Its free inside already cut out and ready to sew.

I'm going to purchase some pink gingham to line it.

Also in was a lot cheaper on Amazon £8.99...bargain.

Have a lovely weekend all in whatever crafty loveliness you do.

Hopefully I should have some stuff to show you soon..............

What makes an interesting blog....

I love looking at other peoples blogs and was wondering what makes one blog more interesting than the other. What makes a person stop/read/look and finally decide to leave a comment. Obviously its the contents therein, I love looking at blogs about vintage etc....crafting...knitting and home blogs. I love noseing at peoples homes and their decor etc, well who doesn't. I notice that lots of blogs that are vintage, flowery in pinks/creams/blues etc are very very popular...with lots of followers.

So what do you think I could do to make my blog more interesting to you. What would make you come back again? I've put up a poll and would love if you could take a couple of seconds to vote, so as I know which way to go with it....and also if you have any ideas that would help me.. that would be great to.... ..thank you....have a great day.

Have just changed background and changed around a few other colours, hope it looks better.

Some gorgeous Cath Kidston goodies, my new craft corner and my lovely new toy.

Been soooooooo excited, my darling lovely gorgeous, sweet kind hubby of mine has made me a lovely craft corner in our spare room. Aren't I a lucky girl, a place for everything and workspace too. Honestly I can hardly contain myself with all the images of needlework that I can now do...and then my trusty old sewing machine which had seen better days. Believe me at 20 years old, she has been a loyal workhorse for me over the years, helping me to churn out all sorts when re-decorating. But alas no more shes now made way for this......a beautiful sleek oh so quiet, no frills and bells PFAFF purchased from great firm below, fantastically quick delivery....Oh and all those threads you can see on the left 100 of them was the gift with the machine along with scissors etc...very impressed. http://www.ekmpowershop3.com/ekmps/shops/janome/

Then of course one has to have some more gorgeousness, in the shape of these lovely tins from the lady herself Cath Kidston....Sewing Thread tin complete with threads inside, a cutesy button tin and pin tin....and a gorgeous knitting bag... I think I'm sorted, off now to fabric shop to search for Christmas material to make some hanging hearts for gifts..........tralalallalalalala.....skips off xxxxx