A festive round-up

Hi hi! Happy new year!

I feel great today.  Really happy, relaxed and calm.  I do not have a hangover, for I was in bed reading at 8:30pm last night (yeah, dudes, rock n roll).  As a result, I was up bright and early this morning, pottering and faffing in my craft room.  I am now writing this whilst drinking chocolate Baileys and watching The Sound of Music.  I could not be any happier!

Matching my yarn to my dress, natch.

I was incredibly busy in the run up to Christmas and, as we were hosting Christmas lunch (for 8 adults) for the first time ever, I was getting stressed.  I usually love December.  It feels like such a slow month and I adore the building anticipation as you get closer to Christmas Day.  This year, December flew by.   Time seemed to ramp up a gear from our weekend at Cowslip and I didn't leave the fast lane.  Until Monday evening: 30th December.  I wrapped up in a red tartan wool throw then we lit the fire and watched the Downton Abbey Christmas special.  It was lovely.  I was in that snuggly state of being half asleep but awake enough to register what was happening with the Crawleys.   It was the first time that Andrew and I had properly snuggled up in front of the telly on our own over since way before Christmas; we needed the time to recharge.

I made quite a few gifts for friends and family this year, including lots of lavender hearts, tissue cases and peppermint bark.  The tissue case tutorial was found on the two brown birds blog and is, frankly, genius.

I also made a festive lap blanket for my mother in law. (snorting at the expression 'festive lap blanket' - sounds so pompous.)

I used a layer cake from Moda (a Winters Lane) and cut the pieces into 5" squares - still lots left.

Packaged up with a lavender heart, ready to wrap.

Because I was nervous about making the quilt, I left it right until the last minute and produced it almost entirely fuelled by adrenalin.  I chose a piece of red gingham for the backing fabric and, after an impromptu binding lesson in the patchwork shop by the friendly owner there, I was on my own!  I was dreading the binding but it was actually my favourite part in the end.  I was sad when it was finished and am already planning another!  I *may* need to change our dining room table so that I have something big enough on which to lay out some much larger quilts! ;)

I think Ma F liked it; she sent me this photo from her house on Boxing Day.  Phew!

What made the whole process more nerve-wracking is that my MIL is an expert machinist - she has been making shoes in Northamptonshire her whole working life; even teaching at the local college.  She can spot a wonky seam from fifty paces.  With that said, she does at least appreciate the work and effort that goes into making something and I think she liked the finished quilt.  At least, I hope she did.

♥♥♥♥♥

Yesterday, New Year's Eve, was my birthday.  I love birthdays.  (Especially mine - ha!)

Andrew surprised me with a candle-lit birthday cake and champagne before breakfast, then we headed into London to see a West End show, as is our tradition.  This time we went to see The Lion King.  Both Andrew and I had seen it before (with our exes, not together) but we wanted one that Izzie (my 4 year old niece) could come along to, and this seemed to be the only suitable one - Matilda and Charlie were too old for her, according to the parental guidance.  My sis and her husband brought her to join Drew, mum, dad and me.  I loved it.  Loved every minute.  I adore my family and love spending time with them; time together feels even more precious as you get older and I definitely do not take it for granted.  We always have a great time going out with my mum and dad but it was nice that my sis and her  family joined us this year.

We ate steaks and mussels at Cafe Rouge, spending a good two hours chatting, laughing and being kissed by Izzie.  We sneaked in a bit of shopping beforehand at Liberty too (of course).  We were all back at our respective homes by 7:30pm and I can't tell you how much I prefer a NYE involving a bit of shopping, lunch and a matinee performance rather than dolling myself up to go out drinking in the evening.  I've never liked going out in the evenings on NYE; I think because mum and dad used to go out every NYE and leave me to be babysat by my nan.  Nan and I used to eat crisps and sweets (a real treat!) and pull the two armchairs right up to the TV to watch Morecambe & Wise together.  I still like to cosy up at home on New Year's Eve now, 27 years later.

I was given some lovely presents for my birthday including some gorgeous additions to my wardrobe from Cabbages & Roses from Andrew and some beautiful perfume with matching body lotion:

Smells beautiful and has the added benefit of calming and restoring the mind.

I was given my favourite chocolates, too.  Love Rose & Violet creams and the best I have tasted are from Charbonnel & Walker.

The Greengate quilt in the background was a birthday gift from my Grandma.  

Mum and dad gave me a beautiful sparkly Swarovski cuff bracelet, a Swarovski pen and a Lynette Anderson cushion kit - The Orange Tree.  I will crack on with that soon.

The threads above were not for my birthday - mum gave them to me for Christmas, but I'm so delighted by them that I wanted to show you!  I know my blog friends will appreciate them :)

So, a lengthy post and a bit of a Christmas/birthday round-up.  Hope I didn't bore.  Andrew's just fetching me a coffee and a mince pie so I'm going to sit and watch the rest of the Sound of Music and enjoy the last dregs of the first day of the year.

Wishing you all a very, very, happy new year.  Looking forward to spending it with you in cyberspace.

Nicki 

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Goals for 2012

Thank you for the birthday messages!  Was lovely to have them pinging through on my ipad yesterday.  I had the best day.  Mum and Dad joined us and it was so nice to spend the day with them. We had a long wander around Liberty (I didn't know they had such an amazing haberdashery - I could have spent a fortune there) and then made our way to Cafe Rouge for lunch.  The Wizard of Oz was awesome - I really enjoyed it.  Toto was the star of the show in my opinion; such a cutie!  We finished the day with a little rickshaw race along Oxford Street to check out the Christmas lights.

We've taken it easy today and spent most of the day snoozing.  I think I'm coming down with a cold.  Boring!

So, with a brand spanking new year ahead of me I thought I'd make my 2012 goals public.

1.  Bake more.  I'm aiming for a weekly bake, here.  Last year I decided not to bake so often because I thought it was unhelpful to my diet to have such tempting calorific goodies hanging around the place.  As it happens, it made no difference.  It turns out that if I don't bake we have shop-bought treats anyhow, so I may as well dig my pinny out.

2.  Lose my muffin top.  There are three ways that I will achieve this - preferably through exercise as I plan to get fit this year.  I'll diet if I have to but if that doesn't work I'm just going to buy a bigger pair of jeans and get over myself.

3.  Get fit and increase my strength.  By the end of the year I will be able to do at least 10 (proper) press-ups in a row and I'll be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping.  Currently I simply cannot do a proper press-up and get puffed after approximately one minute of jogging.  This goal might be a bit ambitious....



4.  Walk the dog alone.  In the last year I've developed a fear of walking the dog on my own.  Lizzie was pounced on by an over-enthusiastic labrador a few months ago and it frightens me when dogs fight. I've let that put me off walking her on my own but I'm going to man up now and take her during the day whenever I work from home.

5.  Make my health a priority.  My smear test is at least a year overdue and my dentist thinks I might need root canal treatment.  I haven't been back to see him since he said that.

6.  Develop a routine.  A daily routine falls by the wayside when you work from home.  I think that sticking to a routine will help me to achieve more in my week.  No more lunches at 3pm and working at 9pm.  I'm getting strict with myself.

7.  Slow down.  I used to meditate daily and practiced yoga four times a week.  I got so much out of it so I'm going back to my yoga class.



8.  Get creative.  I want to crochet another blanket, some cushions and some jar covers.  I would also like to crochet a cuddly toy for my niece.  I'd like to cover some notebooks and box files with pretty paper or fabric.  I'd also like to get busy with my sewing machine.  There are so many things I want to do!

What are your goals for 2012?  I'd love to know. 

Nicki 

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