The obligatory post about snow...

It would appear that it is "the blogging rules" to have a post about the snow so here is mine!

Living where we live we do tend to get a fair bit of snow if there is any about. The night before last the roads over the tops were closed so we knew it would probably be fairly thick with snow when we woke up and we weren't disappointed!!

I was supposed to be in work yesterday but managed to crash my car into a wall before I'd even got to the end of my road so I abandoned that idea and booked the day off instead! I'm ok, just got a bit of a sore neck but my poor little car has a couple of dints and few scratches. It could have been a lot worse so I'm not complaining!!!

My fiance (!) was also off work so we took a walk along the canal, which seems to have become a bit of a tradition for us when it snows...

If you look carefully, you should be able to see a heart in the snow in the picture below:

There's also a stream that runs alongside the canal. The mill to the right of the picture is now used as studios for artists.

This was the view out the back of our house. Missy was mesmerised by the snow and spent almost the whole day sitting on the window sill watching the snow falling...

Every now and again she would see something that particularly interested her...

And then she would start patting at the windows....

The view from the front was pretty too :)

Again Missy spent a lot of time on this window sill watching the cars try to get up the hill (one got completely stuck at one stage!) and trying to catch snowflakes. Cats are funny little creatures, aren't they? Mollie was completely not bothered by the snow and spent most of the afternoon snoozing by the fire (she's not daft, is she?)

We had some more snow last night but earlier on we had some sleet so the roads are icy and treacherous. I looked out of the curtains this morning to see a car sliding backwards down the hill and decided that I wouldn't be driving today either!

Hope you are enjoying the snow where you are :) If you do have to go out, take care :)

xxx

A Thank you, an award and a tag

Thank you all so much for your lovely well wishes :) Yes, it was a marriage proposal and we are both very excited!!! I will tell you all more about it in my next post as I have a little bit of "bloggy business" to post about first!!!

First up, I have been the very lucky recipient of these two awards from the lovely Rachel the Krafty Girl who makes the most yummy looking cakes and has an eye for a thrifty bargain or two!

I have also been tagged by Pixiedust to post the 4th picture in the 4th folder of my pc so here you go - an incredibly flattering (not) picture of me supping Guinness on mine and Mr P's recent trip to Dublin. 6 euro a pint for this stuff!!! I nearly fell over in shock when the barman told us the price!!!

As I've been away from blogland for a little while, I have lost track of who has already received these awards and tags, so if you are reading this and you have not already received them, consider yourself awarded / tagged!!!

xxx

Mr P asked...

...and I said "Yes!" :-) :-) :-) xxx

Hasta luego!

At the airport now waiting for our flight to Barcelona :-) I'll take lots of pictures and show them you all when I get back :-) Hasta luego (see you later!) xxx

Finally..... some pictures :)

*Gem sneaks guiltily back in*

I know I'm a bad blogger but I have finally got my act together and got some piccies of my thrifted goodies on here so please forgive me!!!

I have been taking some time out this week and have a lot to catch up on. The saga of the tooth continues but the end is in sight and I am finally off the antibiotics (hoorah!)

Ok, on with business. Here is the first of my goodies from last week. Apologies for the naff photos but the light here is terrible :(

This little basket was 50p and is lined with fabric inside.
The floral tin below was also 50p and I love it! The colours are really vibrant in real life and it has a sort of crackled galze effect on it which I think looks really sweet.

This little tapestry was languishing in the bottom of a basket and was just 30p. I couldn't leave it there and plan to turn it into a little sented cushion :)

This shopping basket was £3.00. Mr P says I should use it to go to the farmer's market but I think I might feel a bit daft carrying it around...

Instead I have decided to use for storing my bits and bobs of wool in :) I've been bitten by the crocheting bug and have been obsessed with crocheting flowers recently. Here are some of them below:

This one is one of my favourites:
And I also really like this one too :)

So, I can heave a sigh of relief now I have uploaded my piccies ;)

I'm going to leave you with a picture of my little Mollie snoozing on the back of the sofa. She really is a softy :)

My first ever award - Thank you Mel :) x

I'm so excited today because I have been given my first award by the lovely Mel from Country in the Town :)

Marie Antoinette Award a real person, a real award.

Here are the Rules for the Award:

1. Please put the logo on your blog
2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them

Without further ado I would like to nominate these lovely ladies. Their blogs always brighten my day whenever I pop in there :)

1. Faerie Nuff
2. Vintage Tea
3. A Thrifty Mrs
4. Melmel
5. Mary Poppins
6. Linden Grove
7. Sharie's View to the Hill

I will be back later today with some pics of my thrifting from Sunday (yes Sharie, I did take the rather big hint you left me!!!) so I'll see you then :)

xxx

Thrifting

This morning I got up early and went to a flea market in one of the little towns near to where I live. It's the same place I got the Christmas decorations I showed you a few weeks back and I always find lots of goodies whenever I go there. I'm pleased to say that the flea market didn't disappoint and I came home with the following pretty things:

• a double sized candlewick bedspread (I love these!)
• a wicker shopping basket
• a little piece of tapestry that someone had done
• a pretty tin with flowers on
• a small basket that I'm going to use in my craft room

If I get my act together I'll try and get some photos up on here later tonight :)

xxx

Thank you :)

Thank you for all your kind wishes and sympathy about my dental troubles. I know I've been a bit whingy recently so it has meant a lot that you have taken the time to sympathise and wish me better :) I'm feeling a bit better today and am starting to feel a lot more like myself :) The antibiotics have kicked in and the painkillers I have got are keeping me reasonably pain free :) I'll be back at the dentist on Thursday for my stitches out so fingers crossed I shan't have too much trouble after that. The dentist said I can expect to hear from the hospital in about 3 to 4 weeks so I'll just have to see what they say about the bits of roots in my jaw bone.

Whilst I've not been feeling well I have been reading an absolutely fantastic book that I saw mentioned on http://teawithwillow.blogspot.com/. It's called "Magus of Stonewylde" and it's the first book in a series by Kit Berry. Thank you Tea With Willow, I really enjoyed this book :)

It is not the sort of book I would normally read but when I read the glowing 5 star reviews for it on Amazon I thought I would give it a go and I'm really glad I did because it is an excellent book. It's about a young girl called Sylvie who has been ill for most of her life. Her and her mother are invited to go and stay at Stonewylde, which is a secret alternative community in Dorset who follow a pagan way of life, focusing on nature and the seasons of the year. I don't really want to say too much about the plot because I wouldn't give it justice, but here is a link to the book on amazon and if you scroll down you will be able to read more about it as well as lots of reviews from other readers:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magus-Stonewylde-Book-1/dp/095514390X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231596869&sr=8-1

I also finished watching the first disc of the Cranford series and it's now ready to be posted back to lovefilm so I can get the next disc. I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one. I might be a little bit sad but I really liked the fact that Cranford is meant to be 12 miles from Manchester as the little town where I live is also 12 miles from Manchester (although in the opposite direction). Cranford was based on Knutsford, which is a place I've never been to despite it being fairly close to where I live. I've heard there are lots of lovely shops there so maybe a visit there will be in order....

xxx

The whole tooth...

Excuse my corny title - the painkillers must be getting to me!

Thank you for all your lovely messages. I'm sorry I haven't been to visit your blogs this week but I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on!

I was back at the dentist today whilst he attempted to do my root canal again. After 20 minutes of drilling and poking around he told me that he couldn't get to the root because it was calcified (whatever that means!) so he said he would have to take it out, which I was ok about because it's right at the back of my mouth and at least if it's out I'll have no more problems (or so I thought). Anyway to cut a long (and painful story) short, the tooth couldn't be extracted normally so he had to do a surgical extraction. I now have 4 stitches in my gum, another lot of antibiotics and enough painkillers to tranquilise an elephant. My face is all puffed out and swollen and it's starting to bruise too :( Good job I don't have any big plans for this weekend because I look a right sight!

To top it all off, I've had to be referred to the dental hospital because the two roots of my tooth are still embedded in my gum - they are stuck in my jawbone and I'll need an operation to get them out :( :( :( The one good thing is that because I've had the tooth out it's costing me a lot less than I thought it would!

Lovely Mr P is looking after me and because I'm poorly I've got control of the telly all night :) We've watched all my soaps and now we're going to watch more Cranford :)

Hope you're all having a better day than me :)
xxx

Checking in...

Hi, sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I'm still having a few problems with the tooth :( I was at the dentist on Monday when he did x-rays and told me I needed a root canal treatment and possibly an inlay or a crown. This will set me back almost £200 which is not what I need right after Christmas :( Today I was back at the dentist for treatment 1 (of 4) and although it didn't hurt at the time, it's really hurting now :( The dentist wasn't able to get to all the canals on my tooth so I'm back there again tomorrow for him to have another go. He said if he can't do it tomorrow the tooth will have to come out. I'm not sure what I'd prefer him to do - save the tooth (and risk more infections and pain) or just have it taken out. Sorry for such a negative post but I'm feeling very fed up and just want it all to be sorted.

On a brighter note, we signed up for a free trial of lovefilm and our first lot of dvds arrived this morning :) I think I might watch Cranford in bed tonight so night night x

Giddy :)

I've just booked a night in London in June for me and Mr P. Travelodge are having a massive sale at the moment so we got a room for £19 at the London Tower Bridge :) Really looking forward to it as it's ages since I've been to London when I've not had to go for work. I'll have to start making a list of all the places I want to go to...

Happy New Year!

Hope 2009 is everything you want it to be. I have a really good feeling about this year! :)
xxx

The verdict :(

Well, it looks like I'm going to need my tooth taken out. The emergency dentist took a filling out to treat an infection under the tooth and has put a temporary dressing on it, meaning I can't really eat anything as I can't close my mouth properly to bite. I now need to find a dentist to extract the tooth as it is unlikely that it can be refilled. Easier said than done. We moved here two years ago and since then I have been trying to get registered with a dentist but none of them are taking on patients around here :( I've got two different types of painkillers and some anti-biotics to take so I'm not going to partying tomorrow night...

Better go and find myself a good dvd to watch tomorrow. Any suggestions?

xx

Sleepless night

i'm off to the emergency dentist after being up all night with toothache. Wish me luck! X

Messy christmas!

Hope you all had a fantastic time, we certainly did and i'll be back to tell you all about it after i've finished cleaning the midden that is my craft room! x

O Christmas Tree

Hello :) I've not been around here for a few days because I've not been very well but I'm feeling a bit better so I thought I'd pop on here before I go and brave the crowds at the Trafford Centre (wish me luck!)

Saturday was great fun. I really enjoyed the concert and was surprised at how many songs I knew. I think Mr P was a bit scared when I started singing along but never mind! The first half of the concert was songs from Jason's new album (which are covers of 50s and 60s songs) and the second half was a bit of a "cheese-fest" with songs like Sealed With a Kiss and Nothing Can Divide Us. Great fun :) I did take some pictures and a little video so if I remember I'll try and post a couple of them on here - judging from your comments on my last post there are a few Jason fans out there ;)

The Christmas Markets were absolutely packed. We didn't stay there long because I was feeling a bit shivery and I'm not very good with big crowds of people as I get a bit panicky. We're going to try and get there again before they finish next week but might run out of time! To be honest, I was a bit disappointed by the stalls we did see as it was a load of tat and very expensive. When they first started doing the markets a lot of the items were handmade and were being sold by the original artists but this year it seemed to be the same sort of mass produed items on a lot of the stalls :(

The craft fair we went to was very good and I got a little felted heart brooch and some fabric badges which were very cute. There were a few bits and bobs I would have loved to have got but it was the wrong side of payday!

I'm still doing JYC but am still behind. The pictures on this post are for the day (can't remember which day it was ) that was about Christmas Trees. I'm off all over Christmas and New Year so there will be some serious scrapbooking going on then :)

So here are some of my favourite decorations on our Christmas tree. We go for the "more is more" look here and there are very few branches on our tree that don't have something dangling from them...

The bell bauble was from Tesco and the snowman came from the church fair a couple of weeks ago:
More Tesco decorations. They had a big half price sale on them a couple of weeks ago and I went a bit nuts!
This one is an iris folded bell that I made a couple of years ago:

This bell came from a flea market at the Civic Centre in Uppermill last year. There were loads of baubles with it which decorate our mini tree on the dresser.
I'm going through a bit of an obsession with owls at the moment and this little guy is very sweet!

And finally, Missy snoozing on "her" chair. I thought cats were supposed to be elegant but neither of mine are when they're sleeping. Mollie's even worse. She lies legs akimbo showing everything. Naughty girl ;)

I took all these pictures on my new phone (I'm still working out all the features on it) and uploaded them directly onto Blogger before coming in on the computer to edit the post and add my writing. It makes it so much easier than having to dig out the lead from the camera and resize pictures etc before posting them. I love technology sometimes!

OK, enough from me, I'm off to finish my Christmas shopping and find a dress for my Christmas do. See you tomorrow

xx

What we're up to today...

Not that you're all waiting on the edge of your seat to find out! lol ;)

Well, for once Mr P is off today so we are going to take a trip into Manchester. First of all we are going to go to a craft fair at Whitworth Art Gallery on Oxford Road. It's on today from 10-4 and tomorrow 10-2 (I think, but I'll check when I'm there today) and hopefully I might be able to pick up a few pretties :)

Next we are off to the Christmas Market to drink some gluwein and scoff chocolate pancakes and maybe pick up some Christmas presents :)

Finally we are going to see Jason Donovan at a concert at the Apollo. I won some tickets on Century Radio a couple of weeks ago and tonight is the night of the concert. My sister (yes the same one I've blogged about before) thinks we are "deeply sad" but I really don't care. It should be good fun, it's something we wouldn't have been doing and it's a free night out :) Always a good thing in my opinion :) When I was about 9 I was the biggest Kylie and Jason fan and managed to convince myself I would marry Jason Donovan when I grew up (either him or George Michael, hmmmm, we all know what happened there!) so it will be like going back to my childhood :)

Mr P has been laughing at me because everytime I win tickets for anything in a concert it is always for some strange thing. Last time it was a Queen tribute act!

Hope you all have a good Saturday

xx

Oh just for the nostalgia, here's Too Many Broken Hearts. Come one, sing along, I know you know the words....

Blogging from my phone

Hope this works!

Excited :)

My new mobile has just been delivered and I am rather excited (shallow, I know)! I've been using an ancient Samsung for ages since my last phone broke but now I am in possession of a nice, new, shiny N96 :) I'm off to have a play with it now :)

See you later
x

Simple pleasures :)

A great book and a brew :)

I got this book this week (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson) and started reading it last night. Absolutely fantastic, I can see this becoming one of my favourite books :) I'd heard good things about it but hadn't expected it to be so funny and you can't help really liking the characters. Miss Pettigrew is the sort of friend that every woman should have. She's so unflappable and always knows what to do. I wish I knew a Guinevere Pettigrew! I'd had a bit of a dull and boring day yesterday and this was like reading a sort of fairy tale for grown ups, if that makes sense? It's one of those books that is so sweet and charming, you can't help feeling warm and fuzzy. The perfect antidote to the credit crunch blues :)

We're being a bit naughty here tonight as we are having takeout pizza :) yum yum! We were supposed to be having a relatively healthy homemade pizza but someone (naming no names but for once this culinary disaster wasn't down to your's truly...) forgot to put the kneading paddle in the breadmaker so after 1 1/2 hours there was still no pizza dough! For a one off it's not going to hurt but we are going to be eating a lot more healthier after Christmas :)

Oh and before I forget, thank you all for your lovely comments about my Christmas cards :) It's something I've been doing for a while but it's something I've been a bit self-conscious about because my sister has been less than complimentary about it in the past. She thinks by making my cards I am being "cheap" and "tight", not realising it costs me more in materials and time and effort than it would do to buy a handmade card in the shops. Oh well, you can't win 'em all :)

See you all tomorrow

x