And That's A Wrap Advent Day 24

Hello friends!

Thank you for sticking with me for 24 consecutive days{with one small blip in the middle} and looking at the advent calendar. I hope you have enjoyed seeing it daily as much I have enjoyed sharing it. After today I probably won't be writing for a little while now, probably the next time I write will be in 10 days or so with the name of the winner of my little giveaway.

So here without further ado we have door number 24 and it is a door so I think we have found where the key belongs at last!  It is very well hidden indeed!

I spent many evenings through November making some simple Christmas cards. I like to make things, but making has become more important than ever now because it's a therapy for my hands and coordination, and although it doesn't eliminate the tremors, the more I can do to keep my brain connecting with whatever it is that makes the commands happen, hopefully the longer I can delay the progression of this horrible disease.   

I used a variety of materials that I had on hand including pre cut shapes, die cut shapes, embossing, and more with everything being hand coloured using mostly alcohol inks with some watercolour, and a few gel pens, and glossy accents. I enjoyed making them so much but I ended up not sending any so as most of them are generic to winter rather than to Christmas they may be going out as Happy Winter cards instead.

 

Well yesterday I became the recipient of one of those wonderful ”pay it forward” gestures. A delivery person came to the door and we were chatting about different things and I just happened to mention to him the difficulties we've been having in this area over eggs.  I thanked him for bringing my parcel up I wished him a happy Christmas and off he went.  a few minutes later there was a top at the door and I opened it and he was back holding out a dozen eggs for me! I offered to pay him and he said no, he'd bought the last box of eggs in the butchers shop, wished me a Merry Christmas and on he went! Needless to say I ended up in floods of tears absolutely choked with his kindness.

On that note of joy, I  wish you all 

A very Happy Christmas

and a

Happy Healthy New Year 2023.

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well, stay warm

Debbie xo

A New Outfit for Himself and Advent Day 23

 hello friends!

It's the penultimate day of the calendar today, and today it's a beautiful owl in flight. I think tomorrow the mystery of the key will be solved, finally!

I've been doing a little knitting in my spare time. Treasure asked for a new jumper and who am I to say no to him? I also knitted him a snood style scarf because he's so tiny it's easier to keep on than a wrap around scarf style.  it's not easy to knit when your hands are shaking and having spasms, and he's a very tiny bear, under 4 inches tall, so I had to work with very fine yarn and needles, but persistence won the day.  I found knitting to be very good therapy for me so I have started knitting a dress for Dulcie bear.

here is treasure modelling for us in front of one of my handmade, hand painted cards.

I also took this screen capture from the Tesco website this morning. Eggs still not in stock, however reading your comments it seems that this is an intermittent problem across the UK varying differently from area to area.

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well and stay warm

Debbie xo

No Eggs for Christmas and Advent Day 22

Hello friends!

The weather is dreich and dreary here today.  The weather forecast describes it as a moderate breeze and light rain. Tomorrow that changes to strong winds and heavy rain, thereafter the following few days are back to a moderate breeze and light rain.  It's not as cold today but temperatures are going to start dropping again after the weekend.

Well it's going to be an interesting Christmas without eggs! Fortunately I've held six back and they're still in date which is good because I need two eggs to make my nut roast for Christmas Day and I will need two more eggs to make a small quiche during the week which leaves me two eggs to have scrambled on bagels for Christmas morning and Boxing Day breakfasts. Really speaking I need at least another half dozen but everywhere is out of them. It is ridiculous and even more stupid than the panic buying over toilet rolls at the start of the pandemic because it's not as if you can store fresh eggs indefinitely is it? Yet people have still been panic buying which is not fair on the rest of us when there is a known supply issue probably due to the avian flu.

Here is today's door and picture. Only two more doors to open now.

 

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well, stay warm

Debbie xo

Winter Solstice and Advent Day 21

Hello friends!

Just a very quick dipping in and out today with the advent calendar. I think we're all very busy right now, even those of us such as myself who haven't got very much to do are caught up in those last minute jobs before Christmas Day. 

Today being the 21st of December is also the Winter Solstice. For those of you who celebrate and mark the day, I wish you happy solstice! From tomorrow onwards the days will thankfully start to get longer, although we won't notice it for a month or so the fact that it is happening remains in my heart with hope for the future.

Remember that door without any numbers on it? Well I've scoured and scoured the calendar for door 21 and I cannot find it anywhere, so I can only assume that somehow this is an error in the printing and this is door 21.

Maybe not the best painting or representation of a stoat but I have to say stoats {and weasels, not forgetting pole cats}, are my favourite British wild animals, so I'm thrilled to see it on today's calendar.

Only a few more days left on the calendar now so

Until next time

Stay warm, stay safe, stay well

Solstice Blessings

Debbie xo poo

Abysmal Christmas Television and Advent Day 20.

Hello friends!

Our weather is all over the place now. as you know we've had days and days of biting cold weather followed by gale force winds and torrential rain yesterday, and today is much calmer and surprisingly much warmer.  it is what it is there's nothing much we can do about it is there?

I have studied the Christmas Radio Times in length yesterday afternoon and all I can say is I am deeply disappointed with the programming on offer on Freeview, and what I suppose we would now call the terrestrial channels, as in not paid for by subscription. Time was when the Radio Times was a source of excitement as we eagerly awaited its arrival so we could plan our television viewing around the excellent films that would be on. I think on Christmas Day this year the two highlighted films for terrestrial viewers are “It's A Wonderful Life” and “Love Actually”. now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy both of these films immensely, however, they have been on repeatedly over the last month so I'm finding nothing special to look forward to and seeing these on Christmas Day.  There doesn't seem to be a blockbuster movie for terrestrial viewers on any of the terrestrial channels.  Very very disappointing indeed.  There are a few specials for different shows and I am looking forward very much to The Detectorists Christmas special, Which I think is going to be a real treat.  I'm also looking forward to the Call the Midwife special.  However, I'm not sure what is going on as I have scoured the pages for news on a Doctor Who Christmas special and can find nothing, very disappointing indeed.

I'm beginning to think to have something decent to watch that appeals to me I'm going to have to rent some movies from Amazon. I don't have prime or anything like that so I'll have to figure it out. I have two movies that I would really like to watch, Jurassic Park Dominion and Downtown Abbey a New Era.  It Will be a new era for me too if I'm going to be discovering how to watch these movies on my laptop!

Rant over!

Well this morning I actually went for a very short walk, only a few 100 yards but a walk nevertheless.  baby steps and all that so I hope in time I'll be able to cover more ground and take longer walks daily which will be better for my health, both mental and physical, my weight, and general overall well-being.  I didn't take my camera it's surprising how heavy it seems to be these days but again I'm sure in time I'll be able to start taking that with me too.

Here are today's advent photos.

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well

Debbie xo

Advent Catch up and Mary Poppins

Hello friends!

Our weather is abysmal.  Torrential rain and 60mph winds. 

sorry for the gaps in posting the calendar, I'm afraid I'm not very well at the moment, my energy levels have absolutely plummeted and even the thought of editing the wording for the blog just drains me.

I apologise for what happened in the last blog. I inadvertently shared a piece of text that I was working on for a future blog and some of you have already seen it and commented on it. This is what happens when you're dictating into Word then doing copy and paste and my tremors often mean I make quite a few mistakes and as you will have noticed a photo got shared twice as well. Such is the life of someone with this dreadful disease.  As I am discovering it's a lot more than just tremors in my hands.

I'm doing three days today 17, 18 and 19. also I think I might have mentioned I found a surplus door without a number on it. That is the first photograph. I will open it on the 25th. I wonder if it has anything to do with the key?

A dear friend has bought me a copy of the Radio Times Christmas edition which this year is now a phenomenal £5.25. It is getting absurd in price now, however Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without this ongoing tradition! I haven't read it yet I have the delights of discovering what poor programming we're going to have this year to come.  Unfortunately the free channels don't have very good programming these days everything new and good seems to be on Netflix and Amazon prime and other similar paid for services. I simply cannot afford them.  I was very pleased though yesterday evening to see the 3rd and final series of Philip Pullman's “His Dark Materials” has commenced on BBC One Sunday evenings. I enjoyed the books immensely although I would argue that they are not what I would consider to be children’s books. The subject is quite dark and quite deep. Then again, during The Culture Show: The Secret Life of Mary Poppins, about P.L. Travers yesterday afternoon the brilliant Victoria Coren Mitchell stated that all good children's books have a dark side to them, including fairy tales.  I highly recommend you watch it if you like Mary Poppins.

On that note I shall sign off today, so 

Until next time

Stay well, stay safe, stay warm

Debbie xo

 

 

 

The Seasons, Garden Birds, Advent Day 16

Hello friends!

I think it's warming up a little bit, but it's still too cold in the cottage without the heat. Maybe if I didn't have underlying health issues I wouldn't be so concerned about not turning the heat on but I have to err on the side of caution these days. I have been told shopping in town is an absolute nightmare, that is apparently if you can find a parking space to begin with. It seems the traffic is backed up all around town with everyone vying for a space. I've also been told they're digging up the road on the Cross Square again. It isn't that long since they've finished putting the road back together after one problem they had there when workmen dug through the pipes!

Having said it's warming up a little bit, it's cold enough for me to have seen the first Red Wings in the garden this morning, I've also had a fieldfare, and the thrush has returned.  these aren't the best photos I was taking them with very shaky hands through windows that need washing!

Here is today's calendar

I think I have shared a glimpse of today's book with you before It is simply entitled The Seasons and is by Louis Lawrence. I think the whole appearance of the presentation and the quirky handwriting is very evocative of Edith Holden and books of that ilk from the 1980s, don't you?

With Christmas Eve just a week away now I'm almost hesitant to ask you all Are you ready for Christmas? I am far from it but I don't think I'll be doing very much this year. It's so much easier when I keep things simple. That way I can enjoy the day without going overboard I'm just doing what I care to do. Most of my food is already in the house and this morning the Christmas edition of the Radio Times made an appearance in my hallway!

Until next time

Stay well, stay safe, stay warm

Debbie xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

overnight the sky was black, black as any black hello friendsyou've ever seen, the moon rose, small and bright, shining in stark contrast to the dark surrounding it. Pinpoints of silver shimmered in the net of night sky that swayed across the heavens. By morning, a pale and watery yellow sun pushing as hard as it could through the night slowly turn the black into grey. The cold seeped through my Uggs and oozed around my toes like molasses seeping through cracks and crevices of stone. I stared across the awakening land as the grey pushed back and colours slowly returned to the land. Twinkling lights glittered across my view  as the village started to come to life once more.

 

 

The Country Flowers of a Victorian Lady and Advent Day 15

Hello friends! 

My goodness I think we should collectively start singing Baby it's Cold Outside don't you? My living room at 7:30 this morning was 13.2 degrees Celsius. Yesterday it took until the evening to reach 18 degrees Celsius so I'm jolly thankful I know all about layering my clothing to keep warm. This morning it seems to be coming up to 18 degrees much more quickly we might make it by midday I can't believe how inferior this heating system is. And before anyone asks, British Gas has been out to check it several times and say there's nothing wrong, my radiators are fine, they don't need bleeding and are very hot to the touch from both top to bottom. The only thing I can assume is that it's just jolly cold weather.

Last week I treated myself to a new combination microwave oven. It was on sale in my local independent retailers where I get all my appliances from. I haven't used microwave in some years now, so it's taking some getting used to I can tell you and this morning is the first day since I've had it that I've actually had porridge that hasn't boiled over and made a mess to clean up! I've noticed there are some quite interesting recipes in the booklet so later on I'm going to try the microwave gingerbread as it's seasonal and I do like gingerbread and I happen to have all the ingredients in the house. I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow or Saturday.

This morning while looking for door Number 15 on the calendar I notice there seems to be an extra door without a number on it. I have checked all the doors numerically and everything is present, as it should be, so I'm wondering if this extra door has anything to do with that mysterious key? It's getting more tricksy now to take photographs that are clear as the already opened doors are starting to get in the way.

The book I'm sharing with you today is quite charming and exquisite, and called The Country Flowers of a Victorian Lady.  I will quote from the introduction of the book

In 1977 Edith Holden was a worldwide publishing sensation and it was thought that this naturalists collection of paintings, musings and poetic extracts was a discovery, the quality of which would never be matched

Recently, however, an exquisite volume of Victorian flower paintings has come to light in Denmark, the treasured heirloom of the descendants of Fanny Robinson, a talented amateur artist who is known to have been painting in Norfolk in the 1840s

Her Book of Memory as she called it combines evocative poetry including extracts from Keats and Shakespeare with fine illumination and, most startling of all, exquisite watercolour studies that are both highly botanically accurate and a perfect example of high Victorian style of floral illustration

Until next time

Stay well, stay safe, stay warm

Debbie xo