Ready, set, clean!

My house is now pretty close to spotless, I even got down on my hands and knees to wash the bathroom floor. We have guests arriving for the New Year and I hope they appreciate my efforts (and dont choke on the fumes from cleaning products).

Merry christmas everyone

I now have more snow than anyone can possibly want!

Everyone has snow except me

We have ice, and its very VERY cold, but no snow. All my shopping is done, all my prezzies are wrapped, all my cards are written and posted, all I need to do is bath the dog and put some cash on my Oystercard (which I have intended to do for over a week!)

How many broken things?

My TV went off last night, and it has just cost me £65 for a new booster box on the aerial ... did get a free check of my front guttering tho! I've arranged to have my carpets cleaned on Friday afternoon (get rid of the doggy pong) and I'm still waiting to have my back guttering fixed. All three CJs are here now, but two orders that I placed at the end of November have not arrived ... where is my stash???

Terry had a bump in the car yesterday, thankfully he is OK. Someone jumped a light, seems that his car is a write-off. Chap in car behind him offered to be a witness ... he works for a "no win no fee" company ... yikes

We are all sneezing

Ty woke me in the middle of the night with a window rattling sneeze, just heard DH sneeze in the kitchen, and I have been sneezing ... have we been sprinkled with Fairy Dust in the night? The best news is that the snow is melting ... the worst news is that my guttering has been damaged by the snow, so the water is running down the wall ...

The postie finally restarted deliveries yesterday, and my first parcel was a box of Elemis goodies ... gorgeous!

How many days to go!!!

My Xmas starts early, because we have so many friends and relatives to visit. So I need to be "all done" by 20 December. I have become a woman who makes lists, preferably on bright coloured paper so I can find them easily. The lists are getting shorter but more important ... today I must: pay the credit card bill, get my hair cut, put money on my Oyster card

I'm done with shopping

Nah, not really. But I only have to buy something "small but nice" to give to Sally when we meet (her main prezzie will be sent directly to her from Amazon from her wish list) and then on Xmas eve I'll buy the fresh food for Xmas day. Saltburn has the most wonderful shops, there is a gorgeous jewellery store, a vintage store, an electic clothes store, two sweetie shops and a chocolate shop, and even a "gift shop" (stuff no one needs but pretty). For myself, I would really like a Kindle ... please!

Frozen sprouts!

I've got into a habit of putting the TV news on as soon as I wake up ... mostly to check on the weather ... and the news this morning is that sprouts are frozen in the field! I dont like sprouts, so its no big deal to me, but they are the only veggie that DH relishes.

There is a documentary on this week on "normal" telly about panda breeding in China, I hope it is as good as the series I watched on Animal Planet months ago ... there is something magical about pandas, I was lucky enough to see Chi Chi at London Zoo when I was very young (on a school trip) and it was s surprise to see her many years later, "stuffed and mounted" at the Natural History Museum.

Snow is now ice ... yikes

It takes me ages to get ready to go outside: jumper, scarf, hat, walking boots padded coat, gloves and finally "mad dog on leash" ... so Ty and I got a bit of a shock when we started off this morning, the step was ice and the path was ice and the road was ice. After slipping twice in a couple of yards, I went back home for my WinterTrax. These are covers for shoes/boots, metal springs that dig into the ice to prevent slips. I guess they work to an extent, I do find myself "stomping" and I take teeny tippy steps. And they have to be taken off to go into shops, otherwise its like being on roller skates!

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.564136.cm_scid.KeywordSearch

... very elegant (not)

Is it on or is it off????

Yesterday, my central heating boiler made a noise like an elephant in distress, then turned itself off. So from 3pm yesterday I had no central heating and no hot water. I'm insured with British Gas (ironically I had a service booked for Monday) and gave them a ring and a chap is due any minute to (hopefully) fix my problem. Phil and I spent a cold evening kept only above freezing with the "mostly for decoration" modern electric fire in the living room, and I crawled gratefully into bed in socks and flannel PJs. When I got up at 7am I noticed the boiler has a reset button, and hey presto the boiler kicked into life. However, I suspect there is something wrong, cos the heating has been on for 7 hours and the thermostat says 17 degrees!!!!! I'm grateful for the warmth from the laptop.

I'm still snowed in, so have not been able to buy any decent paper for the printer to print out Shimelles gorgeous Xmas journalling cards. The dog will run out of food on Monday, so whatever the weather I will be out buying necessities!

Weird one yesterday

Big Issue seller outside Sainsburys sold me a old (June 2010) copy ... this put me in a dilemma. Should I dismiss the event completely or never buy an issue from him again? Is he so desperate for money I should hunt him down and give him a tenner? Genuine mistake or fraud? It also made me think about why I buy the Big Issue. I did feel a twinge of guilt when I emerged from the warm store with bags stuffed with goodies to see him standing there in the cold, and handing over my pocketful of change made me feel good. I would NEVER give money to a beggar, but I cannot pass a Big Issue seller, I feel that its a transaction from one self employed person to another.

I'm very sad that the craft event at Kirkleatham Hall has been cancelled because of the weather ... I imagine that those craftspeople would have prepared for months for the two day event, and will have been looking forward to getting their stock shifted before christmas. Last year I bought wooden fruit, and a couple of bowls, from Barry they are beautiful and tactile.

Day 2 JYC

Today I dont need to look out of the window to find out what the weather is like, today the weather is hammering at my window and falling from my roof. Today I will empty ANOTHER box of tissues and today I will slather my nose and lips with balm (and my hands and shins) as protection against the snow and hail.

Kitch ...

Could not resist these cute Xmas decorations ... looked for my name but alas its not popular, but was able to find this "family" and the next ...

... and kitcher!

Calico Dolly Mixtures ... face time

Paula makes the most amazing things, and I cheekily bought a gorgeous vintage cat from her with the express idea of copying the embroidered face she had made. Mine is no where near as "catty" but I do think it is cute!

altered colour CJ ... blue

I believe that this CJ belongs to Elysian Angel (Catherine). I used glimmer mist, Tim Holtz masks, a variety of blossoms (from swaps YEARS ago) and a number of brads (I have so many brads, I'm a brad-a-holic)

... right hand page

How many sheep have a view of the sea?

Not a great photo, taken on 12 x zoom without a tripod, do the sheep know how lucky they are to have this view?

Shimelle Journal Your Xmas starts here ...

Not sure how much of this I will do, not sure if I will get left behind or if I will be able to sneek a few minutes out of each day, but I have signed up to Shimelles Journal Your Christmas. My journal is made from sheets of 12 x 12 that I have had for several years, folded in half, then nipped with a punch so the black elastic band holds them together. Shimelle

... then I gathered together a collection of Xmassy stuff ...

... and this is what its all stored in