Trees

Yesterday was on eof those lovely little family days I would like to package up and keep.
Which is why blogging is so great because it means I can record it all.
G and T stayed home in the morning whilst S and I went to a little Christmas fayre. She made a Father Christmas tree decoration, we bought a Father Christmas figure to stand by our front door and S got to have a little chat with Father Christmas too! He was such a lovely Santa and S was very keen to tell him that she also had a brother called T and he was 10 as she didn't want him forgotten!

Then in the afteroon we all went to another local church to visit their annual Christmas tree festival.
Local groups each choose a Christmas carol and decorate the theme along that theme.
These were a few of our favourite decorations.

The church was also decked out with lots of winter greenery, such a welcoming atmosphere inside and we lit 3 candles, shed a tear or two and left full of a variety of emotions.

Our destination was just along the road to Telegraph Woods. We've never been to these before and will definitely return. As well as the remains of an Iron Age fort, which we didn't discover this time, just past the entrance to the Woods is the remains of an Armada beacon in the form of a perfectly circular bank.

As we walked in S took in the open space and shouted 'I love it here, cpme on T let's run!' Those words gave my heart have a little leap of happiness. S approaches things with such vigour and excitement, it makes me so very happy that we made our family the way we did. Such a different life for them and for us too.

The floor was a carpet of leaves, perfect for running and scrunching through.

'Strike a pose' I said and that's what I got!

No idea if this little pine cone had been placed inside this tree truk or whether it has fallen there, but it caught my eye just the same.

Very obligingly this tree trunk has grown in such a way to frame this view so nicely. Our walk was nearly complete when we reached this gate, which was just as well as by then we were all thinking about cakes and hot chocolate back home.

We emerged from the woods at Hampshire Cricket Club and vowed we would be there at least once next season and hoped the weather would be much warmer!

Treasure

It might not look much, but to me it's priceless.
I made this when I was at playschool which makes it about 38 years old!
My mum's been having a bit of a clear out and wondered if I would like to have it in my home. I leapt at the chance because I do love it so.

Frosty

Looking at the weather forecast for the week there's going to be a few frosty mornings ahead of us.
My latest Christmas decoration purchase (from a charity shop, of course) should be feeling right at home with the freezing temperatures.

Thrifty Thursday

Such colourful crochety cosiness.
A huge new blanket for the dining room sofa.
I found it right at the start of my shift at the charity shop yesterday and it was mine for £1.50.

And nestled on it today I enjoyed a cup of tea from my new susie watson mug. Bought from the Country Living fair last week.

How lucky I am to have such beautiful things in my home.

Roses are yellow

Look what my lovely husband bought home for me tonight.

I'm such a lucky girl.

Colours of November

November has been a bit grey recently.

G had to work today and after bumbling around indoors for a while me, T and S took ourselves off to the park for an hour this afternoon and we found a bit of colour.

Lots of red berries on these trees



and different shades of autumn to be seen on these.

A spot of silly leaf behaviour

I was in need of a bit of a quiet day today as yesterday was a long, busy and very enjoyable one.

I went to the Country Living Christmas fair!!!!!!!

It was my first visit there for about 5 years and it was totally fabulous.

No time to take photos of the wares on offer as it was heaving with people and we were just too busy, but I managed this one as I sat with the bags of purchases whilst my friend went off to collect something she had paid for earlier in the day.

I did also manage to snap a couple of photos of the interior of the Christmas cabin. Many, many treasures on display. I'm in love with the robin.

simple things

One of my favourite shops in Salisbury is the india shop.
Lots of lovely things to browse and buy and they have a fair trade policy which is an added bonus.
I bought a little gift for my mum and it was popped into one of these paper bags made from magazine pages.





This afternoon I unfolded the glued down folds to see how it was done. My brain doesn't work well enough to work it out otherwise despite it being a very simple thing to make!



I'm in love with it's simplicity and quickness and have made 3 torn from pages of a Christmas magazine.

Simple things make me happy.