Reflection ~

A little while ago my daughter paid me the sweetest compliment.
She told me that I make everything magical for my family, not just at Christmas but throughout the year.
I thought a lot about what she had said and the real meaning of magic became clear to me.
It isn't the waving of a wand as in all the best fairytales, much as I love a good story. Nor is it the weaving of spells, the burning of candles, the pointed hats, swirling cloaks, stripey socks (and I can assure you that I have done all of this and I own a gorgeous velvet cloak and several wands).
But the Craft I have been practising for as long as I can remember is the one of creativity. The fact that what I enjoy doing gives me as much pleasure as the recipient of my efforts is a delightful bonus.
I do admit that the simplest things please me, things which may seem trivial or inconsequential to others. A tattered little bear and an egg made of plastic which has seen much better days bought from an antiques centre last week for the total sum of £1.00. I am fortunate enough to have inherited the mooching gene from my dad. Rummaging through boxes of stuff for a hidden gem or two, zooming in on the often overlooked things. Since I entered the world of blogging and Flickr I have realised that there are many, many people out there that share the same interests as myself. That understand and 'get' what I do - that take the time to visit, leave appreciative comments and maybe leave with a smile.

I tend not to make new year resolutions but inevitably I do reflect on the year just past and 2008 for me has been a year of great change.

Last January, I walked out on a job which I had held for over nine years and although I miss the money I have never felt more content in my life.

I have my own little craft room which my husband decorated for me and I love spending time in there. My sweet dog usually manages to squeeze himself into the tiniest space behind my chair when I am busy, keeping me company. Ah, such bliss!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is not meant to be a self - congratulatory post but one of thankfulness.

I like to think that my path has been to 'Add sparkle to a simple life'.

I look forward to the coming year and the challenges that I know are ahead but at this moment in time I feel rich beyond my wildest dreams.

Until next time,

Take care and please visit again.

Sandi x

A Thank You and a Meme

First of all I want to say a huge thank you to a lovely blogger friend Kitty.

She has honoured me with five awards recently and I have saved them all for this post. The first two awards are for fellow bloggers who make your day in one way or another.

This one is in recognition of the fact that our blogging friends have a huge impact on our lives.

This is for crafting bloggers who provide so much inspiration to others.

Finally, this is for bloggers who write about their much loved pets.

To anyone who visits this blog AND leaves a comment then I pass the first three awards on to you with pleasure and gratitude. If you blog about your crafts and/or your pets then consider yourself awarded the final two.

Now onto a recent meme passed on to me by Ellen.

All about Four.

Four jobs I have had in my life.

1) Mmm, very first job, aged sixteen years. Trainee florist. I naively imagined it was going to be a gentle, creative job. How WRONG can a girl be. Very hard work and as a trainee lots and lots and I mean lots of cleaning. I didn't mind hard work but felt like I wasn't handling many flowers other than clearing out the stinking vases when the blooms were past their best. Stuck it out for six months then left.

2) Insurance clerk. I loved this job and only left after getting married and needing to work at a different place to my husband (which is where we met). It was during this five years that I learned an awful lot about human nature. Trust me, whilst dealing with recently bereaved clients who usually arrived straight from the Registry of Deaths clutching death certificates and insurance polices, I learned that there were good, bad and downright ugly natured people. Somehow the promise of possible riches to be made from someone's death brought out a very nasty streak in certain people. I witnessed two sisters almost coming to blows over the disputed ownership of their poor deceased relatives insurance polices. My diplomacy skills were honed during this period and have never left me.

3) Ledger clerk for Royal Doulton, the large pottery manufacturer. Very,very boring and repetitive work but the pay was reasonable. Left there when the company moved premises to the other side of the city. It was too far to travel by public transport so the hunt was on for another job.

4) Accounts clerk for a large department store. I lasted six weeks before finally quitting this one. I LOATHED the aged spinster who ran the office with a rod of iron. I have to say the feeling was probably mutual. I went back into insurance after this and have since had various jobs.

You may notice a pattern of clerical jobs during my working career. Strange really, because my first love has always been creativity.

Four shows I DVR/VCR.

I don't record anything at all now but in the past have recorded:-

1) The darling buds of may, but I now own the complete series on DVD.

2) Jonathon Creek - love it.

3) Midsommer Murders.

4) Nigella Bites, but again I own this on DVD.

Four places I have been.

Let me start off by saying that I have never been out of the UK.

1) All around Wales - I love the infinite variety of landscape in this beautiful Principality. The history, coastline, castles, rolling hills, wildlife. I could go on waxing lyrical, suffice to say I have visited lots of times. As I live very near to the Welsh border it is possible to go just for the day.

2) Derbyshire, a ruggedly beautiful county. The Peak District National Park, miles of unspoilt countryside to explore.

3) London, the capital city. So much to see and do, so little time. I confess it has been a long time since I went but one of the most memorable sights for me was to go and look at the Crown Jewels. So fabulous they seemed almost unreal. If you wanted to get a really close look at them you were not allowed to stand still, but had to keep on moving! To see all the landmarks that I had only ever watched on the tv was interesting, but the volume and speed of the traffic was daunting to say the least.

4) Warwickshire. My favourite Aunt, Uncle and cousins lived in various parts of this county over the years. My uncle was a Policeman and his job entailed regular moves. The place where they finally settled was a very pretty village and the times I spent there as a child were magical. Many a school holiday was enjoyed with my cousins and I cherish the memories of those times.

Four favourite foods.

1) Curry.

2) Pasta.

3) Roast chicken.

4) Steak in red wine sauce.

Phew.............Now you know what a quiet life I have lead and long may it continue to be so!!!!!!!. I have never been nor wanted to be a globe trotter, the thought of flying terrifies me anyway. I grew up in a city but always felt that I was a country girl at heart. I blame this on the fact that my parents were left a little 'shack' in the most beautiful spot imaginable. I call it a shack although to my dad's aunt it was home. Very rustic, extremely basic but it was heaven to me. Set in a field with just three more similar dwellings, all nestled into the sloping field where cows quietly grazed. I have to admit that those cows scared me though. The view was stunning, the door didn't need to be locked at night and the silence was wonderful. I was at that time an only child, happy in my own company and loved nothing better than to sit on my swing in the garden and stare up into the branches of a huge tree, daydreaming. By the time my sister came along I was ten years old and sadly the shack was no more. I often think how fortunate that I was able to enjoy the times spent there but sis never had that experience. It instilled in me a deep love for peace, quiet and solitude.

Now I am meant to pass this meme on to four more people. I know that they are not everyone's cup of tea so all I will say is if you wish to partake, feel free to do so.

One final thing I want to say whilst I am on a roll. Thank you to all of you lovely people who take the time to visit my blog. I am always so thrilled when I receive comments. It amazes me that anyone is interested in my life. I do this for my own pleasure really, I enjoy it so much and couldn't imagine life without blogging now. So thank you and I wish you goodnight.

Sweet Dreams.

Until next time,

Hugs,

Sandi x

Our Pearl Wedding

30 years today.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A Fairy Gift

O.K. I don't know how all of you lovely ladies manage to do sooo many posts on your blogs!!!! I really never seem to have enough time and I have to say that just lately my blogging has been rather desultory. So I have decided to metaphorically shake myself down and really put some effort into this. I am not a seasoned enough blogger to remember to take my camera with me on days out etc so have missed some lovely photo opportunities the last few weeks. I am, however, in the process of getting another camera, as at the moment I borrow my sons.

I am determined to carry on with this blog but my house is usually in a state of disarray to say the least and is not always very photogenic.

So, on to the purpose of my post. The fairies above are an example of my favourite creative activity and I would like to offer one of them as a gift. After all, I have managed 30 posts. So, if you would like one of my unique little lovelies, please leave me a comment. I am going to give you plenty of time so I am setting a deadline of the 20th September, purely because that is the date of my sons birthday. I will select a name at random and send you a fairy in your favourite colour, specially made for you.

I love reading blogs and try to leave comments on as many as possible, but it is a very time consuming, pleasurable activity so I appreciate it is the same for everyone else.

The upside of discovering the blogging world for me has been that I buy very few magazines now and watch very little television. So thank you to all of you who take the time to share your lives with us and long may you continue to do so. I now have to get back to the reality of my shambolic home and do a little housework. Take care everyone, have a great week-end whatever you are doing. I will be back soon.

Hugs,

Sandi xx

Rainy day blues and auction surprises

I haven't done a post for a few days now for a number of reasons. I have been questioning my reasons for starting this blog and have paused for a while to mull it over. I must confess that I am probably the only person in the entire world who had heard of "blogging" but never really knew much more than that they are online diaries. I stumbled upon my first blog in March this year purely by chance and I was just blown away by the sheer diversity and gorgeousness of so many of them. I set up my own blog account only so that I could leave a comment on a blog that I was really taken with. Interior magazines suddenly seemed stale and unoriginal compared to the real homes featured on blogs. I pondered a while before starting my own. I am by my own admission a self contained, rather private person but felt that blogging about my life online was somehow anonymous yet intimate. Oh dear, I am going on rather aren't I. Anyway, this past few days I have been wondering why I am so concerned about whether anyone out there is actually reading my blog. I do get some lovely comments and it is very nice to know that some people get pleasure from my posts but I do confess to getting easily disillusioned with anything that I undertake. I doubt my abilities constantly, compare myself unfavourably with others and generally care much too much about what others think of me. Now I have had a few days away from my blog I feel much better and raring to go again. I started this for me, I get a kick out of seeing my photo's and for a real technophobe I feel a huge sense of achievement.So this little Miffy is sent from this temporarily "miffed" blogger to anyone who reads this. On a more upbeat note, this item below is my next project and one of the reasons I have been a bit down. You know the scenario I'm sure. You buy a pine dresser to house all of your lovely china and a few years down the line that orangy pine starts to look really awful, so very 70's. So, I had great plans to give this a revamp. Took everything off it,
a marathon task in itself and intended to start painting it. But yesterday we had an almighty storm, thunder, lightning and a power cut thrown in and it hasn't stopped raining since. I wanted to paint outdoors as I really hate the smell of paint but my plans have been delayed. Gnashing of teeth. So back to work looms for me with not as much done as I would have liked. I did however go to an auction on Wednesday evening and came back with a lot more than I bargained for. I needed a few of those little tea plates so bid on a box which contained an assortment of things including lots of pretty floral tea plates. When my husband paid for them and went to collect them there was also in the lot three more boxes of stuff. I am now steadily washing a whole stash of pretty tea cups, saucers, plates, dishes and goodness knows what else. I will post some photo's when it is all lovely and clean. I think I know which newly painted dresser they will go on. Question is, what to do with the stuff that I have just taken off the dresser? My husband thinks we should get another dresser.
Incidentally, the little Miffy rabbit was among the stuff in one of the boxes. She still has the original label attatched to her. Ahhhh!!Enough now of my rambling, I feel I have said much too much, but hey, this is my blog, I'm doing this for me. Must keep reminding myself of that. And if it does give the odd visitor some pleasure then I am glad.
More than glad, I am thrilled when I get kind comments. Until the next time then, sorry if I have bored you rigid, but I will be back to posting some pretty pictures. Have a great week-end. xxx

P.S. This was taken last Christmas so is a little unseasonal, but if QVC can have Christmas in July, why not me?

Eight Random Facts

I have been tagged for the first time by Sophie from Sophie Honeysuckle's English Decor to give eight random facts about myself. The cards shown below link to one of the facts.

This card is special, it is from my son for my 50th Birthday. I have a lot of poppy images. I adore them as they are a memorium for my sweet collie dog Poppy who I lost when she was only 5 years old. A fragile and short-lived beauty.

One of my favourite 3D cards. From my mum & dad for my 40th Birthday.

A hand-made card from my aunt for my 50th Birthday. Even more special when something is so personal.

One of my favourite authors, I am reading this at the moment for the umpteenth time.

Here goes with the facts.

1. I have always loved to read. Started off with Enid Blyton, Mills & Boon in my early teens (cringe), Agatha Christie (love anything of hers). I just love Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, all of the Miss Read country stories and too many more to mention. The walls could come tumbling down around my ears but if I have my nose stuck in a good book, I wouldn't even notice.

2. I absolutely HATE egg white. Ever since I was a child I have never been able to eat the stuff. It makes me heave. Love egg yolk, can eat scrambled egg because it's mixed in, but a BOILED EGG yuuuuk.

3. I guess I have always been a hoarder. I have in my loft a huge box of greetings cards from the 1st 25 years of my life. Come to think of it they go back even further because I also have the congrats on the birth etc.. which were sent to my mum and dad when moi arrived. The 2nd 25 years worth are stored in a huge, bulging folder and I have stacks of them in drawers under our bed. Er... does that make me a bit strange or what? I just can't bear to throw them out, and of course I have the ones belonging to my husband and children too. Oh dear.....

4. I drink tea by the pot, and am never satisfied until I have had every last drop. I'm ruthless when it comes to tea. Pity the person who tries to beat me to the last cup left. I don't like sugar in tea but I have to have it in coffee, otherwise I just can't drink it.

5. If I am going to eat a snack it is more likely to be something savoury rather than sweet. I do like nice choccies though but only occasionally.

6. I HATE clothes shopping. What is it about changing room mirrors that make me look huuuuge? I always come home with a complex and a depression so keep my clothes buying trips to a minimum. I do like clothes, especially vintage stuff but always stick to black for work.

7. I really, really don't like sport. I have been married for 30 years to a football crazy man who watches Match of the Day religiously and I still don't understand the rules. I just couldn't care less. Yawn.

8. A few years ago I had an operation on my right foot to have the big toe straightened and was meant to have the left one done to match.. Wasn't allowed to have them both done together for practical reasons. I was so traumatized by the whole experience I never had the second op. I foolishly chose to have local anasthetic so that I could return home on the same day but hearing all that was going on in that theatre just freaked me out. So now I have odd feet! Might pluck up the courage one day to get it done.

Right, that's about it for me. Hope I don't come across as weird, after all we all have our little quirks. I haven't been blogging for long enough to be able to find more people to tag that haven't been already, so excuse me for that. Now then, I think I'll go and put the kettle on and make a lovely pot of tea.

Bye for now.

Sandi x