Hello again!

Oh my, what a week... let me try to retrace my days to find some smiles - there have been lots in every little bit of the week.

Mothers' Day, it may seem like a lifetime but it was only a week and a half ago, was a lovely day. I received some gorgeous gifts from my family - the best two were a new fence from the Boy and His Lairdship and a gorgeous 'little box of love' wrapped by the Girl so beautifully. I was also given two huge cards along with lots of cuddles and cups of tea!

Since then we have had such gorgeous weather and it makes my heart shine, really it does. The new fence has started the transformation of our back garden, it is beginning to feel like ours after just seven years :) If we can get it all finished by this summer I shall be so happy, one of my favourite things is to have breakfast in the garden on a warm day. And lunch. And tea. And any other excuse/reason to be outside in any clement weather at all...

Five of the loveliest smiles:

1. My new little box of love
2. My new fence
3. My new very yellow washing up bowl
4. Fresh growth starting to poke from the ground
5. Paint colour charts :D

Cheery smiles, D x

Happy heart, aching feet...

I have so much to tell you about from this weekend and the last couple of days! It has been a time full of joy and love and that is precious beyond all things :D

On Saturday, the Marvellous Mrs M and I went on a coach, no less, to Olympia for the Stitch and Craft show and a very big pop! Having set off at the crack of dawn, well the coach left at eight, we settled in with our crochet projects to travel down to our gorgeous capital city. That's one of the things that I love about coach or train travel, you get to see things from a different perspective - that lovely building over there, the tiny little detail over that doorway, those flowers clinging on to a corner of a building site... Everything seems exciting and I almost become a child again - not that I've ever been that far from my inner child. And when we finally arrived there, oh the loveliness! We started at the top floor - yarn, wool, patterns, needles and, one of my greatest weaknesses, buttons! Mrs M and I looked at all 400+ quilts that had been given for the Olympic countries. Some were beautiful, some were accomplished and some were full of love - the recipients should enjoy them. Then Mrs M and I made a patch for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee quilt by Janice Gunner, should you get to see the finished article look for ours, it's the small floral one with our names on it.

After a picnic lunch on the floor, chairs were rare to say the least, we went down to the ground floor to look at the sewing and stitching stalls. The colours were enticing, not quite as tactile as the wool, but the best bit was meeting Mr X-Stitch and seeing his work and the other subversive cross-stitchers amazing stuff. There was one by Lord Libidan which you had to wear 3D glasses to look at - truly the product of a twisted mind, but soooo clever... Here's a link for you http://lordlibidan.com/2011/12/18/3d-pokemon-choice/#comment-207

Five super smileys for Saturday:

1. A day out with the Marvellous Mrs M
2. Lots of delicious and tempting yarn....
3. New knitting patterns
4. Carrot cake (twice)
5. Meeting inspiring and incredibly talented people

Cheery smiles, D x

Evening all...

Goodness me, how I have missed writing this... For the past week I have been trying to find the conjunction of time and internet access to write my smiles.

So far this week I have chatted with friends, caught up with people that I haven't seen properly for ages, offered to help in the school (and been taken up on that!) and generally let life take me where it will. I haven't had a week like this for so long that I barely know what to do. On Saturday, the Marvellous Mrs M and I are off to Olympia for the Stitch and Craft Show - a gorgeous long pop for the two of us, hurrah!

The Boy, the Girl and His Lairdship are all doing well and being lovely. I'm not sure if that is because of me being at home and able to relax more in myself and with them. I certainly feel much more confident and happier - yes, definitely happier...

Five smiley smiles for the past few days:

1. Sunshine burning through the fog
2. Tidying the Boy's room with him
3. Catching up with long-distance friends
4. Meeting new people
5. Guilty pleasures...

Cheery smiles, D x

Busy, busy, busy...

This glorious sunshine seems to have renewed the Clan's vigour and drive in the gardening department!

Our small but not-so-perfectly formed plot needs work, there is no avoiding this fact - unfortunately, with his Lairdship being away all week, my work and two young and wonderful people to keep us busy, it tends to get pushed to the end of the queue homewise. Not today, oh no... Today his Lairdship and the Boy started taking down the rickety old fence to replace it with a new shorter one... Imagining how it will look when it is finished is very exciting.

Lunch was home-made mushroom soup and the Boy made his first loaf of soda bread to accompany it - very scrumptious it was, too. Supper on our menu was to be enchiladas, thanks to friends for the recipe, discovering I had no onions was a bit of a hitch in the smooth-running of the kitchen. Bumping into the Cheery Ms C, who I hadn't seen for ages, in the shop, was a real delight - it's always good to talk, although dinner was a wee bit later than planned!

Five smiles for the day:

1. A happy Clan
2. Bumping into old friends
3. Soup and soda bread
4. The garden taking shape
5. That tired but good feeling

Cheery smiles, D x

Washing on the line...

What a sunny day! How it lifts the soul and makes the heart sing...

Spring was starting to peek through as I walked the Girl to school this morning, we chatted and giggled and listened to birdsong on our walk. It takes only five minutes to get there but on a good day it can be long enough for the world to seem right...

After hanging out the washing, one of life's greatest pleasures, I spent the day with the Venerables. They really are some of the most wonderful people on the face of this earth - kind, loving and giving, not to mention slightly mad around the edges. This is a phrase used about most members of the Clan - it is a badge of honour. We pottered about and went to the garden centre to get some fresh bedding for the Venerables' back garden; it is a tiny, well-loved place to sit and just be.

Five truly smiley smiles:

1. Leaves pushing their way into the light
2. Just being outside
3. The scent of washing from the line
4. Lunch with the Venerables
5. Birdsong

Cheery smiles, D x

Midweek smiles

Good evening,

I didn't have much of a plan for today, I was happy to go along with whatever life threw into my path. As it happens, I went out with the Marvellous Mrs and Mr M today - car shopping was on the agenda and I was cast in the role of back seat passenger and various others as required. I sat in the back of some very nice cars and threw some spanners in the whole decision-making process along the way. I do like to be helpful where I can!

This, followed by a lovely lunch and a quick whizz around the sewing shop, made for a good day despite the rain. I am so lucky to have such wonderful people around me, it really does make all the difference.

I have discovered that I may not be over my wool addiction just yet - I found the most delicious recycled cotton yarn for a project that I have in mind. It is the most gorgeous soft blue and eminently strokeable!

Five smiley, happy things for today:

1. The Marvellous Ms
2. New yarn - I know, I know...
3. Helping with homework
4. Two clean plates at supper
5. Snuggly cats

Cheery smiles, D x

A life full of song?

Good  morning, I was going to write this a couple of days ago but have trouble connecting to the rest of the world!

I love old films, especially comedies and musicals, and get immense enjoyment from watching them - life seems so much simpler! I sometimes wonder what would happen if I posed questions in song as I went about my daily life - would it be more interesting? would people sing back to me? would life change for the better? I must admit, the Clan and I do have times when we sing to each other instead of talking, not songs but conversations with random tunes and words. That may be too much information for you, but hey, it's who I am!

The Marvellous Mrs M sat with me as I went through some of my wool stash yesterday, it was a good thing to do and I shall now be sharing some with others - perhaps a knitting club at school could be started, I'll look into that this afternoon...

Five smiles:

1. Rediscovering the lovely Nic at Halfpenny Home
2. Clearing some of the stash
3. Norman Wisdom :)
4. Chocolate brazil nuts
5. Pixie Dust wool...

Cheery smiles, D x

Gardening...

I quite enjoy gardening, I enjoy it even more with a gardener. Fortunately, I had the Girl on hand to help out in the evening sunshine yesterday. The pots at the front of our house no longer look quite so forlorn - they now have some cheerful pansies in them and we are waiting for the first shoots of the new bulbs to start twitching through the earth. The anticipation...

His Lairdship came home today, which is always a wonderful thing, and we strolled round to the school together to fetch our Girl home again. She raced full pelt across the playground when she saw His Lairdship and threw herself into his arms, twas a sight to gladden any parent's heart!

Five marvellous, smiley things:

1. Gardening with the Girl
2. Watching father and daughter be reunited
3. Cheery pansies nodding in the garden
4. Chatting for ages on the phone :)
5. Using up the leftovers in the fridge!

Cheery smiles as ever, D x