Christmas 2026

 

This is a slightly ambitious idea, but.... I'm going to try it anyway!

For some time I have lost my mojo and been quite down, lacking motivation to even do the things I enjoy.  My energy is not what it was and like many others it started after we tried to return to 'normal' after covid.  

I innocently took the jabs believing I was doing the right thing and suffered some of the most awful side-effects....and still caught covid from a client!  At which point I gave up having them, but the damage was done.  Feeling like someone had removed my brain and replaced most of it with cotton wool!!

Apart from that, I enjoyed the lockdowns, going my own quieter pace, spending time with my husband and daughter without school runs, growing our own vegetables,  collecting the eggs from our hens, taking time to cook everything from scratch, daily walks in our beautiful countryside and basically home-schooling our daughter.

It showed us that a slower pace suited us, in fact it was so calming.  We lived without someone elses structure and timing imposed on us, true freedom.  I discovered everyone else's 'normal' was not me!

Anyway, although I came here to retire, I found there were people in need of support and so I began caring for the older people in my local community,  what a privilege and a blessing it has been.  Working one to one or two suits me very well, so well in fact that I invariably stay longer and do more than required on my visits.  I can genuinely love them and look after them.  The beauty of self-employment and not working for an agency. 

But, here I am having lost the thread of housework, a house that really needs some TLC after a flood and the impending Christmas celebration which, for the first time in this house, will be attended by all 3 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, our 17yo daughter who still lives with us (maybe her boyfriend!) and possibly my Father-in-law....with his dog! That's 9 or 10 adults requiring 6 or 7 bedrooms....which we don't have!!

The race is on to declutter, clean, decorate (as in paint not make look pretty...although that too!) and organise space for everyone to relax and enjoy!

Oh...and we hold a Christmas party every year around 18th December!

I need to get some routines and habits in place, I need to find time to do DIY, declutter as we finish painting rooms and refurnish, work, support husband and daughter, eat decent food, get decent rest and organise presents, cards and celebration food.

So.... I thought I would encourage myself by posting my aims and recording my progress and maybe encouraging someone else to achieve.  But more than that, to post daily for myself, my discipline and as if it were someone else posting and telling me what to do!

I've given myself lots to do, that's the perfectionist in me.  But I won't be beating myself up if I don't achieve it all, I shall just be pleased with any progress from where things stand at the moment!

I hope this reaches and encourages someone else out there and we can do this together.  It would be lovely to have company.

First job of the day is sanding beams in the loft, I'm off to put on some grotty clothes and my face mask!  Delightful I assure you!  

Must dash...lots to do!

Toodle-oooo

Nora 

xxx

Before...

 That's it really....a 'Before' photo with the hope that it guilts me into getting started on a decorating project or 2!

We have lived in this house since Oct 2018 and in the first year we were finding our feet and learning what plants were in the garden and which we could move to grow veg plus and endless round of visitors!

We then shut up shop for winter except for Father-in-Laws visit for Christmas and then, of course, the pandemic started!

We could have decorated then I suppose, but the weather was so lovely and for us, life was quite normal because, we live quite a slow, remote life here, but also Missy still had school as she was in that transition year from 6 to 7 that only didn't attend school for about 2 months.

Anyway, we didn't decorate, we cleaned, sorted and really kept on top of the garden.  We thought we might decorate during the winter when we have to be indoors...but that didn't really work out as we tend to get a bit down and our motivation for such things, and in poor light, deserted us!

So here we are back in May 2021 with not a paint splash of decorating done and a house that is perfectly presentable, but starting to need a little TLC.

So that plan this year is to re-vamp the kitchen...we're thinking cream cupboards and woodwork and pale pink walls...yes, hubby suggested that!  So I'm all go with that as I'd been holding back on that suggestion.

So here are the 'before' shots of the kitchen / diner....

 

A little more info on that is.... we quite fancy copper or rose gold accessories and handles, no this doesn't involve a trip to landfill, but instead a can of copper spray paint to transform handles, utensil pots, frames etc.  And we'll also be sanding down and varnishing the floor and taking a look at soft furnishing...mostly from fabric out of my stash or the charity shop....or maybe dyed. 

Next up is mine and Hubby's bedroom, we're going soft cream or pale peach, probably with cream woodwork....we may well go the whole hog with a new carpet, but it depends....if the floorboards are nice, we might go with sanding and varnishing those...we'll have to see...

So...there we have it!  I've put it out there and now there is no escaping the fact that I have said it... hoping it motivates me and in a few months I will be able to show you at least ONE room!

Hey-ho and Toodle-ooo!

Nora

xxx

A Restful Weekend...NOT!!

I've had a list of To-Do's for the garden for months (in some cases years!), but bad weather, feeling under the weather and other things becoming more of a priority in the general running of our world has meant the list gets longer not shorter!

THEN...dah-dah-daaah!  This weekends good weather, a helpful Hubs and Teenage son and a more reliable than a pre-school-er Little Lady meant we had quite a team!

Job number 1 was to get the front and back lawns mowed, which now they've had a few goes is becoming easier each time.

Job number 2 was to clean, re-site and refill the sandpit.....Little Lady is extremely happy and who wouldn't be!

As you can see it has already endured a good play by Little Lady and her 2 friends a couple of houses down.

Job number 3 was to buy fence paint and some trellis....more about that when it is complete, but for now I wanted to show you how I made a normal trellis panel like the one on the left into a sloped version that will taper off (the one on the right).  Thrilled with my handy work and The Hubs painting........

The picture doesn't really show it well, but the trellis on the right was painted with Wickes own brand fence paint and the other with Homebase.  The Wickes one was about half the price, applies better and looks thicker, like it will do the job.

Job number 4 was to mend the climbing frame tower floor.  It is a redwood frame bought about 15 years ago from Rainbow Playsystems.  It has done well as it has moved house once and had most of the kids from the street all over it for almost 14 years!

One of the overlooked jobs was to paint this at some point in the last 4-5 years and it has not been done, hence it had gone rotten in places, this floor for one.

I decided that to limp it through another 2 years, deck board would be a good fix, so here we are......

 

Job number 5 was to rub down and paint the whole play-frame, it has been done, top down as far as the picnic table underneath this tower deck, and when we erected it in this garden I made a solid floor for this tower to sit on, so that will also need a rub down and paint.

It was a long, hard 2 days, but being able to sit in the garden on Sunday night and see the results was lovely.

When the trellis is up (after I've given the fence another coat with the better paint!), I'll show you where I'm going with that one.  I've also got a Playhouse to empty, dismantle, mend and reassemble....lucky me!

Watch this lovely green space, I'd appreciate your company along the way.

Until then, happy mowing, hooking, baking, sewing or whatever!

Love

Nora

xxxx

A little bit of DIY!

Brace yourselves....this is not a pretty sight!

 

Me togged up in painting garb ready to do battle with Alex's old, old and Charlie's old room!

 

They have both left us to go to University and Teenage Daughter fancied a change of room (3rd occupant!).  Charlie was happy with that (Bless him).

 

So poor old Mum has to re-decorate again!

 

Unfortunately there is no protection for my specs!

 

 

 

This is the job in hand.......

 

Why did we let the boys choose that dark blue!

 

Never mind, fill some holes, slap some paint around (Crowns Crème de la Rose) and ...............

 

Transformed to a Teenage girls haven....

 

Ta-Dah....................

 

Now to cut down the duvet cover from her double to a single because she still loves it (and no self-respecting young man would want butterflies on his bed!)

 

Next is her bedroom to be transformed for Dan!  He wants burgundy....why dark colours for boys?

 

So that's what I've been up to, that's what has kept me from making and blogging.  Am I forgiven?

 

Thankfully I've washed the paint off and I'm transformed back to my old self...... (but with added sore throat!)

 

 

Off for a nice cup of tea after all that activity!

 

By the way...this is my 100th post!

 

See you soon,

 

Nora

xxxx

 

A new project....

...requires some purchasing...doesn't it?

And the excuse was the Lovely Mother in Law NEEDED a ball of Stylecraft Special Double Knit, there was (and still is!) a great offer over at Deramores.com of 15% off of Stylecraft....so.......not to let a discount pass me by....I, erm, well......I ordered some yarn!

Without further ado (coz I'm too excited to let this go on too long!), here it is....

(VERY dull light again today!)

 

The 2 balls top (green) and top right (lilac) are James C. Brett yarn, left over from a project my Mum made for Tiddly Toes (more of that another time).

 

These are my colours for the throw for my bed............

 

Not sure if that should be with or without the shocking pink....what do you think?  Not sure if that green is quite right either....might swap it for the James C. Brett green (top of the pile in the first pic).  What do you think about swapping?

 

I blame Rebecca. (sorry Rebecca xx)

I've been inspired by this gorgeous photo from her wonderful Hopscotch Lane blog to makeover my bedroom................

 

My OCD brain jolts at the irregularity of the popping red.  However, this photo.........

...seems a little calmer, but I think that my brain is tricking me, because there seems as much red, but it's not hitting me in quite the same way.  Don't know why.  Anyway, those are my inspiration for a change of bedroom decor.

 

We have all Shaker style Walnut bedroom furniture (not solid wood unfortunately), but the grain is nice for fake stuff!  So to keep light and airy and go with the woodland theme that's around (without getting too childish).  I've decided (I think!) on this wallpaper from Laura Ashley...........

 

 

..........it's called Cottonwood, it has a lovely pearlescent sheen.  That's going behind the bed.  On the remaining walls....well, there's another story!

 

I wanted to take a look at eco paints as I get really bed headaches (and sometimes vomiting!) when decorating and had heard that normal paint emits gases into your home for up to five years (is this why I have felt unwell for the last few years?), so read this article.

 

Having followed the links to other sites, I was quite taken aback to discover that Painters and Decorators suffer from high incidences of lung cancer....nice!

 

Do I really want the conventional stuff in my home!?  I'm a bit late coming to this as it's been well know for a couple of decades, but Petro-chemical companies aren't going to let the shaggy dog tell you that now, are they?

 

I've found 2 cracking paints called NaturePaint and earthBorn paint.  One is ready mixed, the other is a powder you mix with water....saves transporting water around!  Although they are more expensive, I think my family and I are worth it.

 

Well after a bit of a break from the blog (I have been keeping up with you guys though), it is nice to be back with a share.

 

I've got some makes and bakes coming soon, so I'll see you again shortly.

 

Nora

xxxx

 

Celebrating our Wedding Anniversary

22nd July is a very Special Day for me & my Hubby as it is our Wedding Anniversary.

This was the delicious breakfast brought up to us by Teenage Daughter....

And there's a sneaky look at the stripey blanket I was working on back here .....it still has a little way to go!

We should have been celebrating with a weekend away this year, that was back in early July, but unfortunately we lost our childcare and so our weekend turned out like this.

We couldn't go away for the weekend of our Anniversary as my very lovely Godfather, Alan, had kindly agreed to help us pave part of the front garden.  The aim was to provide Hubbys Mum (who we call Mammy) a surface that she can negotiate in her wheelchair or with her walking three-wheeler.

It was also going to provide a small area for us to put a bench so that we can sit out in the afternoons and evenings and watch Tiddly Toes play, the bench to be bought for us as an Anniversary present by Hubbys parents!

You might remember back here, we started to clear the garden.

But with all the rain we've had, we couldn't get out to do much more and the soil we disturbed just spawned a multitude of weeds!

BUT, when I returned home at 8.30pm on the Friday night I thought...I'll just do 30mins!

It'll be enough time to dismantle the mobility ramp, lift the slabs underneath and skim the soil off to a more level pitch!

1 hour later I had done more than I thought!  GREAT!

Uncle Alan came at 9am Saturday morning and just finished things off how he wanted them before we started.  We really cracked on and by lunch he had laid all the paving across the front of the house AND constructed a nice wide step!

Look......

After lunch we continued the path down the side of the drive and began the labourious task of 'pointing'....filling in the gaps!

There were two small areas that he cobbled.....here he is at work....

Yesterday was a WonDerFullY sunny day, so, aided by my Fortnightly Crafty Friend, we made up the bench....

And here it is...........

I am exTREEEEMly proud of our joint efforts to achieve this.  It is going to be a fab place to sit (with a glass of something nice!) and watch Tiddly Toes play and the world go by!

That would normally have been my reveal....but I think you will agree that the next snap of it being 'Christened' by Tiddly Toes is worthy of the .....

Ta-DaaaH!..........

Back with some more creativity soon!

Nora xx

A Love Re-Ignited

You know when life gets busy, children pop up.....decorating.....work.....stuff!!!!  And things that you once did become overlooked or even forgotten!!!

Well.......I've always loved quilts...they're very homey.  Once had a passion for making them and then life took over and I forgot!

Got into Pinterest and found myself drawn to quilts....so have a whole board dedicated to Quilty Delicious-ness!

Then I got chatting to Nicky (who I see every week but I hadn't realised she was a CraftSister like me!).....she showed me a lovely quilt and a gorgeous little pouch....

Do you like?  Lovely isn't it?  So very beautiful and clever...

So I carried on looking at quilts and I love this one.....

...called The Orange Quilt by the very talented (and unlike me!....colour-literate...) Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew, one of my favourite blogs (check it out...it's amazing!)

That's when I discovered a box....full of fabric that was YEARS old!  Older, in fact, than my Teenage Daughter.

That was when I shared UFOs with you....and this very badly lit photograph....

....I had a thought of this becoming a quilt based on The Orange Quilt.

I then had a lovely visit to my CraftSister Nicky which she blogged about here.  What an inspiring day looking at Nicky's quilts, learning how to make pouches and cuddling her latest acquisition.....

...this B-E-A-Utiful cushion made for her by Helen of Archie the Wonder Dog blog, you can read about their swap here.

So.....for a couple of evenings, I've tucked myself away and.......

...well let me show you .....

I found this......

.....my first ever attempt at patchwork....made about 15 years ago for my Eldest Son (who will be 21 in October!)...I had COMPLETELY forgotten about it....and probably wouldn't have remembered I had made it....but I had signed it!

Then I discovered a half done apology for an attempt at patchwork!  Probably started at around the same time as the last one....yes 15 years!! 

I hadn't forgotten about this one because it kept coming back to haunt me!! Reminding me that I hadn't finished it!!  And I don't like not finishing (hence I hadn't had the heart to just dump it!!)

It had a patched top attached to wadding and a backing by eight buttons!!!!  I'd obviously got that far and then not known what to do!!!

So armed with my new info from Nicky (and a good deal of Close Up Examination of her quilts)......I decided to try a couple of rows of BIG stitch quilting...... and then trim the wadding and the backing and simply turn them in and stitched (did you call this bagging Nicky?)

Well......anyway, it turned out like this.....

Ta-Dah.............!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter is WELL impressed....and I have to say - now that it is finished I'm quite chuffed too! 

AND surprised that it didn't take much effort to finish.... AND a passing moment of slight irritation to think that I had left it all this time and done nothing when it WAS fairly easy and effortless to achieve and feel so good about!!

Moving on.......I found a cushion cover that had been given to me to finish (see.....I get all these waifs and just don't have the heart to dump them!!!)

It's not my thing but I looked at it in a whole new light and thought.........why don't I just run round it a few times to machine quilt it and see what happens!!

So I did....(it had arrived with wadding and backing attached and another piece of fabric which I have made into an envelope back)....and here it is......

Phew!!!

We're nearly there!

Next up.....a pouch!!

Teenage Daughter chose some fabric a while ago to make herself a Something...the Something never material-ised (excuse the pun!) so armed with a bit of plain fabric (onto which I appliqued her initial using some of her Something fabric, like this.....)

 

(Sorry about the shadow on the photo...and the muck....she had started using it before I could get a photo....not too annoyed as I'm pleased she LOVES it.)

....and a white zip,  I followed Nicky's pouch instructions and........

..........Ta-Dah........!!!! 

And here's the inside all nicely sewn onto the zip!   Now that's clever Nicky....THANKS!

My other activity over the last 2 days of gorgeous sunshine has been to change the garage door!!  (Yes Mrs DIY took up the kindness of our neighbours in giving us their old garage door which was in better condition than ours and swapped them....looks lovely now.)

This spurred on a bit of Gardening Activity with Teenage Daughter as we cleared the front step and pots of weeds, swept the drive, cleaned out the garage and began weeding the front garden!

It continued today (but I can't do anymore as our Gardening Bin is full!) and once the bin is emptied tomorrow (and subject to more sunshine).....it WILL be continued VERY soon.

Hubby decided to wash the small car today......look at his little helper........

Aaahhhh!  Thank you Lovely Girls....xx

Well that's all from this 'ere neck o' the woods....see you soon....

N xx