HNY

Just to say thank you for popping over and reading and commenting on my Blog.  I do enjoy wittering on and have had fun so I will continue in 2012.   Looking forward to it very much.  Got to go as K is singing 'I am ready and you are not' to me we are going to take the pooch out for a walkies to get a bit of fresh air - must dash.  Speak soon.  Debs X  Sorry no time for a photo.

From all of us

to all of you 

My beloved silver Angel Wire American tree oh and if you look closely my lovely silver grey Ikea clothes drier

funny fairly pipe cleaner thing and a toadstool bauble

my CB or CS goodies

Pixies

Vintage cards, my old snowman toby jug and my homemade blanket wreath with vintage snowflake brooch

Bambies

more toadstools and pixies

my fireplace

a grumpy toadstool pixie gnome kinda thing

festive antelopes (out of the skip)



and a very chunky 70's festive rhino - k loves this - also from the skip

a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS

ps. Diane could I pretty please have up load lessons my photos are rubbish and liney.

LND CONT

On the morning of our second day we stopped here for breakfast.

The Ace Cafe London

It really is.

Just a short walk from the Travel Lodge and on the way to the tube at Stonebridge Park.  By the way the Travel Lodge was an extortinate £19 for four of us.  BARGAIN. 

Part of the counter filled with alsorts of interesting stuff.

K browsing at the bikes (inside).

Nice tank

Sausage and Egg butties and tea good start to the day.

From here we went into China Town at the girl's request.  They love all the little shops selling all the various bits and bobs.  They also know of a shop selling American sweets, Pop Tarts, Koolaid and Nerds.  We had a lovely stroll around made a few purchases and did a bit of window shopping.  The cakes were amazing in the Bakeries.

Strawberry Froggy Monster Cake anyone.  I would be delighted to receive this in my stocking.

Lilac Lovely - ah Belle used to say garlic for lilac when she was little just remebered.

Snowy Merry Christmas Cake simply marvelous.

Straight from China Town to John Lewis it was my turn to browse the haby dept.  It was good but I was so overwhelmed by the choice I didnt buy anything.  Never mind I enjoyed the looking.

The giant toadstools were amazing. 

Look at the detail on the underside.  Lots of different beige/white/cream quilting fabrics.  I would have loved to bring one home.

After JL we trooped off to our favourite shop Liberty.  We all split up to look around our favourite places then we had a mooch around Carnaby Street before making our way home. 

A great time was had by all.

A Mothers Love

I bought these today.  The ladies in the CS thought I was quite mad.  I could tell.  They looked at me and smirked but not in a rude way.  I told them I loved a spindly tree.  The spindlier the better.  One lady said 'it will show off the baubles won't it'.  It most certainly does.  They also told me the gentleman who brought them in said they were over 60 years old.  I bet they could tell a tale or two, don't you.  When I brought them into the house the girl's declared they were trees only a mother could love.  Well this mother loves them - do you?

Look at it's spindly glory some of the branches are so puny they can't take the weight of even a teeny tiny bauble.  I had to rob some of the baubles from the other trees. (Yep I have a few). Good excuse to buy some more!

This one is even spindlier and someone has given it a light frosting of emulsion.  This is on my kitchen window bottom with just two glass birds and a plastic star on it.  Beautiful.

Oh Christmas Tree how skinny are your branches!

Oh I got this today too - it's plastic and quite tacky and was 10p

Merry Kitschmas.

Will continue with LND I just couldn't wait to post these. 

Washers beeping gotta go - oh how exciting is my life!

LND

K, myself and the girls have been to London for two days. Gosh we packed a lot into those two days.  Firstly we had a quick mooch around Oxford Street.  Surprisingly it wasn't too busy.  We grabbed a few little bargains for stocking fillers and then headed off to the National Gallery.  A little while ago K had booked tickets for us to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition.  I really didn't know what to expect and for myself I was a little disappointed.  It was busy with a queue around the Gallery to see the sketches.  It was also hot and quite dark.  As I am not an art critic and as I really didn't know much about the exhibition I was surprised by how few of the paintings were actually by 'The Man' but apparently he didn't start that many paintings and finished even fewer.  The sketches however were amazing.  Betty had the same opinion as me but luckily Nellie, Belle and K thought it fab.  Oh well it takes all sorts.  We stopped for a bite to eat in the Cafe in the Gallery which is reasonable and tasty.  A whistle stop walk down Brick Lane and Spittlefields then it was time for us Girlies to go to the Palladium to see the Wizard of Oz and K to shoot off to Hammersmith to see the Crisis at Christmas concert. 

The Palladium, Argyle Street, London

I haven't been to a Show in London for years and for the girl's it was their first time.  We were not disappointed the show was fabulous with amazing special effects and the cutest Toto ever.  He/she was the star of the show.  Now as I said it is a long time since I went to the Theatre in London and I know times have changed ie. you don't have to put on your posh clothes.  What did surprise me was the number of people eating sarnis etc.  One chap was even eating his Burger King in a Theatre oh my goodness what happened to a bag of Revills, Malteasers or Wine Gums. We dined in style at Maccie D's whilst waiting for K to accompany us back to our Hotel 'read Travel Lodge'.  Will post later the rest of out trip as I have so much to do and really need to go do it.  TTFN 

Away in a Manager

Away in a manger

 No crib for a bed,. 

A black and white doggy lay down his sweet head, 

The bones in the bright sky looked down where he lay

the black and white doggy asleep in the basket -

 i know that bit doesn't work

Dylan was delighted with the vintage moses basket I bought in the Charity Shop for £3.99.  It took me a while to decide if I should buy it or not, do I need it - no, do I have any babies in the family - no, could I use it for storage - yes.  I never thought of Dylan but as you can see he has made himself most comfortable in the basket so I think you can safely say he now has a new crib.

Merry Christmas

ps. not my last post before Christmas but thought I would say it anyway.

Anybody out there know why I keep getting lines across my photo's.  My techno skills are about a 2 out of 10 so any help would be appreciated.



Cakey Bun

At last I have got around to making our christmas cake.  I did cheat a little I bought the Waitrose mix by Delia.  It made up really quickly and easily and smelled devine.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Looks ok.  All wrapped up in a tin now waiting for a bit of alcohol and a layer of marzipan and icing.

It was a little strange making a christmas cake as my Dad always used to make the christmas cakes for all our family so I gave the cake an extra stir for him and actually thought abou him whilst I was making it - think he would have sniffed a bit at the thought of me buying a 'kit' though. 

As well as making the cake yesterday I also did a little dotty angel make.  I selected a few jars from out of my recycle bin, scrubbed them and then wrapped them in lace and doilies.  Few stitches to hold the lace in place and a hand stiched sentiment.  A little red and white bakers twine bow and all placed on a little old book rack.   I am going to attach some greenery when I get around to getting some and a tea light in the bottom Bob's your Uncle as they say. 

TTFN.

 



Chatsworth House

After a very lazy pj day yesterday we all decided to have a little trip over to Chatsworth House.  We all got  suitably wrapped up warm with wellies, gloves, scarfs etc.  When we got there it was pouring it down and it was freezing. 

The Court Yard did look really pretty with trees surrounding the fountain and a choir singing carols in the background.  You can't tell from this photo but it was packed, really packed.  K said he would take the dog for a walk whilst we had a browse around the shops. 

K was suitably wrapped up and Betty was sporting her fetching wellies.

Lots of people sheltering from the rain

My lovely girls

Chatsworth is a lovely place to visit, today it was just a little too cold, wet and crowded - but we had fun, the girls laughed lots, dylan got a walk albeit short, we had a quick scoot around the shops and felt very festive.  Do you know it was £3.50 for a hot chocolate with the works - blimey £17.50 for five drinks, we didn't indulge we called at Tesco on the way home and bought all the ingredients to make our own. 

here they are yummy and with a shot of Bailey's in it too.

Happy Days.

A Big Thank You

Just a quickie for your support on my last post.  Nellie and I have found it very inspiring, moving and funny all at the same time.  I had reported the incident, almost immediately, to the Head of Year and was happy with the outcome.  I have now decided to write a very polite but firm letter to the Head Teacher and Chair of Governors so that our complaint is in writing. 

I will be back tomorrow with some festive sparkle as here at Two Bones Towers it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas - I am in my snowflake fleecy nighty, christmas trees up, lots of sparkle.  Back soon and once again

THANK YOU

FURIOUS

Last night was Nellie's Sixth Form parents evening.  As you may know if you read my blog Nellie does not have an easy time.  She has severe eczema, alopecia and an under active thyroid.  So she has a lot to deal with and deal with it she does.  She has been brave enough to ask me to take her to the wig shop to get her a wig to cover her ever growing bald patches - yes they are big REALLY BIG.  She has been brave enough to agree to see a Counsellor who helps children through their difficulties when they have an illness that is difficult to deal with.  It is working really well and has helped enormously.  She also managed to gain FABULOUS results in her GCSE's although her attendance was really poor.  A*'s, A's and B's.  She has been to her first sleep over at a friends house in years and years - she told her friend she wears a wig, that's a hard thing to do, she also told her that she 'pirates up' with a bandanna when the wig comes off - a hard thing to do - her friend was fab about it and they both had a great night - a normal night for a teenager - the first one in a long long time.  She has now made FRIENDS at school, is more sociable, is taking a pride in her appearance, and is trying hard at school.  So last night I understood when two of her teachers said her absences would make it more difficult for her to achieve but that they understood that she was not 'skiving' that was OK.  We know that it will be harder for her to get to where she wants to be - she works hard and tries her best to catch up and mostly she does catch up.

So when we went to see the last teacher I did expect her to mention her absences what I did not expect her to do was to concentrate on those absences rather than Nellie's achievement.  Not for one minute, did I expect her to say, not verbatim I might add, was 'Obviously Nellie is absent from school for reasons of VANITY, that is with regards to her alopecia'.  I felt like she had hit me in the chest with the biggest hammer ever.  I was speechless for a little while and I then said 'you do know that is not Nellie's hair don't you'.  Really, she said, I didn't know.  I then pointed out that Nellie was not VAIN and that was not why she hadn't been attending.  She said 'well what I meant was it isn't a physical illness is it'.  I will now tell you that this 'teacher' teaches PSYCHOLOGY and is a former nurse.  Maybe teaching isn't for her.  What do you think?  Oh and as we left the room she said - loudly - 'Great Wig' there was a queue of pupils and their parents waiting outside. 

This morning Nellie came into my room and said she didn't feel well. She wasn't going to school.  She didn't want to.  She went back to bed.  Problem this morning she has a three hour Philosophy and Ethics exam - a mock but important all the same.  I lay in bed with my heart pounding, my head racing, sinking feeling etc what did I do.  I decided that I would have to be tough, Nellie was in bed crying, she hadn't slept, she did feel awful.  I told her that we couldn't let this teacher spoil what she had achieved.  I told her, I was cross, that she had to get up, she had to do her exam, and she had to go to school.  She did.  I am so proud of her.   Well done Nellie. 

Well my rant is over, I feel better, I am now going to use all this angry energy to clean up the house, then we shall start adding some Christmas sparkle. 

Phew. Thanks for listening!

About Time

I am a bad blogger.

I am overdue with my postings.  I apologise Diane for the very late write up of our great day out.

Last Saturday I went out on a bloggy meet up with Diane from Heart Shaped.  Diane had a vague idea of where we were going but it was a bit of a mystery to her.  She arrived at my house after a little detour.  I have always struggled to tell my left from my right and my instructions were not quite perfect.  Anyhow she arrived bearing gifts for my girl's and lovely gifts they were too.

Pretty flower corsages and hand made ear-rings

Oh and I got a pile of Coast and Cornwall magazines to read at my leisure.

We set off towards Worksop and soon ended up at the workshop of Louise at hopeandelvis.com. 

Mary Jane Baxter, Milliner, Journalist, Book writer (oh thats an author) and teacher of all things fabulous. was at the studio.  We popped in to have a look around, meet Mary Jane, chat to Louise and browse in the shop.  Lovely.  Louise has a facebook page where you can see all the beautiful hats and fascinators people made on the day - if you wish to take a peek.  After this we whizzed to Ollerton to visit Heath's store which sells vast amounts of fabric and wool and all associated niceties.  Next we went to Southwell and we had a lovely stroll around.  We went in all the charity shops, visited Nellie in the Shed, toured the many other shops and then decided that we needed to stop and eat and drink.  Do you know we talked non-stop.  We then jumped in the car and pootled to Reg Taylors Garden Centre for afternoon tea.  It was yummy - as usual.  By this time is was dark so we made our way home.  It was a super day out. 

Sorry about the lack of photos - I didn't take any.  Bad blogger - I was far too busy chatting to get my phone out of my bag. 

Just so you know Diane took some photos so if you pop over you can take a look.  Tell her I sent you.

 

Oh and if anyone is around my area this weekend it is the open weekend at the harleygallery.com, Welbeck, Notts.  All the artists studios are open, there is a craft event, food, drink and lots of festivies.  Come and say hello to Louise (I will be there too).  It is on Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. 



Gallavanting Gadabouts

I'm going out today with Diane.  I'm excited but not dressed yet.  I have dropped hints as to where we are going but not said properly so it's kind of a Mystery Tour.  I'm sure it will be fun.  Will be back at a later date so you can see where we have been and what we have got up to. 

Blogland is fab isn't it.

Better get dressed or Diane will be seeing my in my Bagpuss dressing gown and my granny slippers - no I do not wear curlers.  But there's an idea.

Passion

- no not that kind.  The James C Brett kind. 

When I was in St Ives I popped into the lovely little wool shop down by the sea front.  The House of Bartlett is tucked way down a tiny arcade off Wharf Road.  It really is worth a little trip just to delight in all its glorious wooliness.  Kay is really friendly and was delighteddwhen I popped back to show her my finished item. 

I made the scarf using just two balls of Passion which is a chunky wool with a 70/30 acrylic wool mix.  I was inspired to making it after finding these in a charity shop in Helston.  It only costs £4 per ball too - thats a bargain.

Yeah Rowan Magazines for 99p each.  Yes I did buy all nine and yes I did drool over them all holiday. 

One of the magazines had a floral wrap in it.  I decided just to use one of the floral motifs and make a scarf.  I joined the flowers together as I went along.  The colour changes in the yarn were fabulous and eliminated the need to change colours in each individual flower.  I just carried on making flowers until I had no more twist.  I managed to get 18 flowers in total and each flower is approx 5 inches across so it makes for a good snuggly scarf.

They really were quick to make and once I had made a couple I didn't need to use the pattern any more.

Mildred was not happy to be draped in an old blanket but the scarf really did clash with her 1950's outfit.

I tried an arty shot - do you know scarfs are really hard to photograph.  I did try one of the scarf draped around my neck but my chings (good typo) chins got in the way.  So they were retired to the rubbish bin.

Drapey and cosy and snuggly and soft.  I am pleased with my flowery scarf - can you tell! 

Going now have been on the net a while, checked ebay sales, looked at Facebook, scanned through a few blogs, typed a post what did i do before - not much I say. 

Bye for now.

Have you spotted a few decorations are sneeking into our home.  Its beginning!

Oh yeah must tell you all LSJ proudly phoned me on Sunday to tell me she had completed her Christmas shopping!  Well done!  - do you want to do mine now?  Thought not.