Post Christmas.

As is usual with me, the aftermath comes first.
DS Jonny is ashore for Christmas, here he is contemplating all the dishes that need doing! EEK! It was great to have him here, I feel like I don't see him so much any more. I miss him a lot.
I even miss all the ructions he causes with his brother and the wails of 'MMUUUuuuUUUM!' as something kicks off.

Victoria Beckham, or Posh Spice as she is sometimes known, called in for a whiff of vino!! LOL DD Kay got her hair chopped off last week. She'd hate me if I said it made her look like VB!!

The beautiful pink tulips are from Mum, she was here for her second Christmas and seemed to enjoy herself. She did manage to take off before the camera appeared though. Hunney is reading one of his gifts.

Here's how the table looked before we all sat down. The turkey crown is in the oven and posh spice is helping me to clean up as I go.

If you remember I had Christmas late, on Saturday in fact because I had to work early shifts on both Christmas day and boxing day. It just made sense to book holidays on the weekend.

Hunney and I opened our stockings on Christmas day. (The kids were with their Dad, so no clash, no groans because they had two Christmas dinners, or someone didn't keep an eye out and stop them from eating ALL the chocolate.........)

Then on Saturday when we all got together we opened our mountain of gifts. I have to say I was spoiled!

Hunney was in charge of the camera and those pictures he remembered to take are blurred! LOL I'll take some more and show them another day.

Well like Christmas, I'll be working over New Year, but to be honest I'm not that bothered, I've had my special time. New Year will be a quiet night in with who ever is here.

Best wishes to you all for 2009.

Gratitude's

1) Celebrations with my loved ones.

2) People who know me well.

3) A happy and peaceful Yuletide.

4) A bad year is over

5) The count down to NZ begins!

A Manx Greeting.

Nollick Ghennal

as

Blein Vie Noa.

Which in the Manx Gaelic means

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year.

Gratitude's

1) Your friendship.

2) Your generosity

3) Your support.

A busy day.

I can't sleep so I thought I should get on and give you a full on post with loads of pictures.
I may have a cold, but I was go, go, go yesterday and got loads done.
First up I finished my Little stitchery into a wonky wall hanging. It wasn't actually meant to be wonky, but that's how it turned out!
I love it anyway and have it hanging in the living room.
While I was in the mood for finishing things, I took the rose stitchery and turned it into a pocket for the front of the first of the blue gingham bags.

I've lined the bag with plain Navy blue and added another pocket to the inside. I plan to fill this bag with all manner of goodies for my card making colleague. Already it contains some fancy cut scissors, a few bits of coloured tissue paper and some paper ribbon. I'll add old Christmas cards and gift tags, twiddly bits of Christmas crackers and any other bits and bobs I think she may be able to use in her card making.

During my sewing, Moya arrived, with everyone but Hubby! Lauren wanted to bake, so they had a Blueberry Muffin mix with them.

How many cooks does it take to bake a muffin? Four apparently.
Look at Lauren watching them rise.

The only person aware of the camera was Jo, on the left above. Moyas DS Brandan is in the other room watching TV, wisely staying out of the way. He was not impressed, 5 girls and him!!

I wasn't allowed to taste a muffin! LOL Uncle Hunney got one though, he said it was lovely.

In between all my sewing and my visitors I got out and did a little shopping, it was a mild day and I enjoyed the fresh air.

Here we have one fully laden tree all lit up. I have actually added more gifts here since I took this photo.

DS Joe keeps poking about to see what is for him. He is very confused, having asked for a fishing rod, but the only long thin gift he can see says 'To Mum, love from Lou and Hunney' LOL The rod is there, but it's well buried! Hunney keeps on asking me what the big white gift at the back is. There is no tag on that one.......

After our drive in the fog on Sunday, Hunney and I called into Moyas home, I had the camera, so took the opportunity to get a few pictures.

When Moya and her Hunney got married, they sneaked off and had their ceremony inside the arctic circle in an ice chapel. So a traditional wedding sampler was not really the right thing, she wouldn't let me stitch a picture of her wearing snow gear, so we hunted high and low, then Moya spotted this and asked me to cross stitch it for her.

I was going to add the date and their names, but she specifically asked me not to. It now hangs in their dining room. It's called Nordic Angel.

Here's the reason I was in the dining room, I was sent in to look at Laurens tree. WOW!! That's PINK!

It has Disney princesses and various ornaments that the children have made to decorate it. Lauren I have to say is the princess of pink, except she won't eat it, no pink icing or pink puddings for that princess. LOL

Moya cross stitched this advent calendar a few years ago. If I remember rightly it actually took two Christmases to finish. No she didn't get greedy and eat all the chocolates, she says her DH only filled half the pockets.

And last but not least, her beautiful green and silver tree.

I have no plans for today, beyond making a BIG pan of chilli and I have to call at the butchers to collect my turkey and a big lump of beef.

I started another cross stitch last night, I really didn't feel up to working on my floral trio, so pulled a freebie design off an old magazine and got stuck in. I didn't do much only about an hour. I found it hard to concentrate, having to stop and blow every few minutes. LOL I may do some more of that today. I think I'll add the finished piece to the front of another gingham tote.

I thought I wasn't doing too bad with this head cold, I'm not really ill, not too many aches and pains, just a constant drip!! Until tonight that is, I've spent most of it awake, I gave up and got up at about 4.45 am. Maybe I'll add having a snooze to my list of things to do.

Gratitude's

1) I'll get a morning kiss! :-)
2) Another easy dinner.
3) Another day off.

Merry Christmas.

A little Finish.

Last night I managed to find the few minutes needed to finish off Gail Pans freebie. Don't look too closely at the running stitch! It's my own fault, in an effort to save fabric I copied the design too close to the edge! The hoop wouldn't stay put nicely, and with the tension gone.....
The red fabric you see behind it is what I'll use to finish this off, hopefully today. I'm supposed to go and see Maria, but I'm full of a head cold and have cancelled. Instead I'll stay at home and sneeze!

Yesterday, when I wasn't feeling quite so awful, Hunney and I went for a walk, up through Elfin Glen. The majority of the pictures we took are rather strange, I think the low cloud and being under the trees confused the camera. This one of the waterfall at the entrance to the glen did work though.

And a quick image of the Isle of Man in the fog or Manannan's Cloak.

Another local blogger explains the legend of Manx fog. Read it here.

Gratitude's

1) No work today.

2) An easy dinner.(Veg Broth)

3) Soft cotton hankies!

Too busy to sew.

We've been busy busy busy here, doing lots of Christmas related things, but sadly no sewing.
First off my little chef and I made ginger cookies for his Nana. He did all the work except lifting them out of the oven. I love the stockings.
I had such lovely comments about my tree and ornaments that I thought I could show off some more.
I have a growing collection of glass angels which this year are sitting on top of the stereo in the lounge room where the tree is. Last year and the year before the two smaller ones hung on the tree, but this year they are keeping the big one company.

I adore these and want to add to the collection. The tallest one is this years addition. There are also two others which will not stand, they hang on the tree.

In keeping with my love of bells I made this little ornament from a kit many years ago, there is also a heart shaped piece which I made at the same time.

I mentioned one of my paper ornaments in an earlier post, there is a whole set of them, they look like sheet music and have various folds and decorations. I've had these for about 20 years.

These beautiful beaded baubles I bought two years ago, there is a matching red one. Sadly they are loosing beads all over. I don't know if it is worth trying to rescue them or if one year I will have to retire them.

I have a few of these glass pieces, but this is the only photo that worked out. There is also a little girl angel and a woman angel encased in glass baubles. They are difficult to spot on the tree, but oh so beautiful. I could and would also use them on a blue and silver/white themed tree.

That blue ish package back there is one of my gifts! Hunney put it there yesterday. ;-)
I mentioned some angels who hung on the tree.... This green one holds a candle and she has a red sister who holds a heart. The glass bauble beside her holds feathers, which, if a static charge builds up seem to float in the ball rather than lying on the bottom.

I have two of these pretty little baubles, again I made them from a kit, several years ago. I saw some recently in a charity shop, what a lovely way to raise funds. The fan behind it is more of that sheet music.

Linda commented on my previous post that she liked the little Victorian style ornament which was peeping out behind something else. I only bought these a few years ago, there are five in the set, each one has a cherub on and each is a different shape.

Last but not least, inspired by some rather old and tired decorations at work, I bought myself a bunch of bells, some pretty ribbons and I now have 3 more door hangers which tinkle and jingle when ever we open and close doors. Of course some people make sure they jingle!!

Little chef helped me with these yesterday while his cookies were in the oven.

I did take a picture of the tree with all the gifts under it, but I figure this post has enough pictures already, so I'll keep it in reserve for another day, just in case I don't get to my needle today either.
Last night was my staff night out. We were given a choice of a few different places and the majority voted for an Indian meal. It was really nice and made a change from the usual Christmas fare. As I am on call this week I didn't go on to a bar afterwards, instead my self and the staff members who are on duty this morning came back here to our place and we had coffee and mince pies. It was also a chance to catch up with a colleague who has been off work with and undergoing treatment for cancer. It was good to see him enjoying himself and more like his old self. After Christmas he is to have another ten weeks of treatment, then hopefully an all clear. I had a lovely night.

Gratitude's

1) Health and happiness
2) Happy times with nice people.
3) A good night out and in.

Oh Christmas Tree.

I thought I had taken a picture in the evening showing the lights, but no. I'll have to torment you with that another day.
I told you I like bells right? I have about a dozen bells on the tree,
Two different kinds, but all of them work and make a noise when someone meddles with the tree. LOL

Many of these ornaments I've had for years and others are newer. I tend to do a colour co-ordinated tree, usually in red and gold. I have some Victorian style decorations, the fan shape is a piece of sheet music and has a ribbon and fiddle tied at the bottom. The little furry creature just visible at the bottom of the picture was a gift from my Aussie pen pal, I've had him and another similar one for about 15 years.

It looks kind of bare here in the sunlight, but I assure you it's not. And of course now you can barely see the tree skirt as it is buried in gifts. I'll try to get a recent evening pic in the next couple of days. Maybe I'll also look at getting some more close ups of the ornaments, many are hand made and I have some beautiful glass pieces, hmm, how do I photograph those?

I also have a smaller collection of white, silver and blue ornaments, I'd love to do two trees, one in the dining/living room and one in the sitting room. I'll work on that for next year I think. It's been a while since I did a blue and silver tree, it would be nice to do it again, but there is just not really enough to cover my 5 foot tree. I always use a 'fake' tree, I love the smell of a real tree, but hate the thought of all those millions of trees being cut down every year and then just thrown away. I know some people buy a tree planted in a bucket, I've tried that but they always died. I'll stick to my fake one.

Gratitude's

1) All the prezzies are wrapped and under the tree.

2) A beautiful card from Hunney

3) I slept in til 9am!!

A STITCHY POST!!

Today's pictures are all stitchy! The weather was vile yesterday and it's vile again today, so no walkies for me! I'll have to content myself with running up and down the stairs a few times. Easily arranged if I can get myself in the mood to do laundry!
Enough of that! Where's the stitchy stuff?

A Tilda rose.
I got my nieces crayons out and added a little colour to this little stitchery. It's been whispering to me and I know what it wants to do, so I'll hopefully be getting onto that this weekend.
Stitchery number two, I started this one last night while I cozied up in the study with Hunney, just a little left to do and I'll have another Christmas decoration sorted.

This design was a freebie from Gail Pan Designs. Such a treat, I just had to have a go. I'm going to replace all of the French Knots with tiny red glass seed beads though. It's not cause I can't do French Knots, honest.............

Last time I did get out for a walk I called into a charity shop and found this lovely navy blue gingham duvet cover. It spoke to me, talked volumes it did! It wants to become shopping / grocery bags.

Who am I to destroy the dreams of an old duvet cover?

I got to do more shopping yesterday too. It was my day in the Onchan office. I took myself off up the hill before the downpour started and skipped back with these treasures. Some reds, because I'll need plenty to join in with Red Delicious.

And noodle roll of bright batiks. Yummy.

I also found a bundle of ribbon remnants tied up in a ball, 50p for the bundle, not bad at all.

Well that's me, that's some lovely stitchy news! I'm off to drink the cuppa DD made for me, then I'm going to play with my needles, maybe I'll have the Christmas Stitchery done before Hunney gets in from work.

Gratitude's

1) Four days off work.

2) A lift home from work.

3) The generosity of others.

A quick post.

Yesterdays walk was once again wild and blustery.
I've done my usual and up loaded my pics in the wrong order! Well I wouldn't be Loulee if I didn't! On my way home I noticed that the fire station was stood open. I hadn't heard any sirens, so I'm sure it's just a consequence of the two plumbers vans sat out side! The station is not manned, the guys all come running from their beds or their other jobs when they are paged.
I had crossed the road at the top end of the harbour and looked out onto the Sulby river, away up there the path into Poyll Dooey starts. On the left of the river, the white building is a weather station. Behind it rises Sky hill. On the right bank there are some private homes.

I had walked up from the shore, and called into the drop inn charity shop on the way. More of that next time. The mooragh prom, from whence I had come, is at the end of this road.

I was on the other side of the harbour, the best walks in town are over there.

I had decided to walk out the other of our two break waters.

As I walked I remembered walking here with my Gran, many years ago. There you go, my walk in reverse! LOL

Gotta dash, sorry.

Gratitude's

1) My 'Other job' day

2) A ride to work with Hunney

3) A morning kiss.

Santa is ready to leave.

As the title of the post suggests, Santa is done and ready to leave.
Last night I did a tiny bit more to my Floral Trio.

After I put the final stitches into Santa that is.
Is it just me, or is he wearing Cowboy boots?

The iron work was a part of the kit, I love that, it saves me having to find something. The ribbons and the bell are my own addition though.
That's it, that's the last of the hand made gifts done! There wasn't loads of them anyway, but it still feels good to be finished.
For now I have the little Rose stitchery on the go and also my floral trio. I may see if I can get the clematis done before the end of the year. If I'm enjoying it I may keep going and get the third flower done, it's a hydrangea, looks fiddly, with lots of thread changes. We'll see what comes.
How silly of me to get so worried about seeing Maria only once every two weeks, I've done that a few times anyway for various reasons, so I know I can do it. Am I just being a big toot? Or is it because Dad will be back in the new year and I feel that I may need the same support? What ever, I'm not wanting to dwell on it, I need to get on, look forward, somewhere down that road is the day when I don't need to see maria at all. So I'll focus on now, on friendly people with friendly faces and have a wonderful Christmas with my Hunney and the children and I'll deal with him and the new year, when they get here.

Gratitude's
1) A late shift.
2) Supportive Blog friends.
3) A morning Kiss. ;-x