Christmas is Almost Upon Us

 I hope that everyone is feeling full of festive cheer, It's the time of year when I think of all the lovely friends that I have made throughout the years and I try to meet up with as many as I can to exchange Christmas cards and good wishes for Christmas and the year ahead. I have had a very busy month doing just that,  invariably food is very much part of the equation and numerous Christmas lunches have been eaten along with a couple of afternoon teas as well.

Temptation meets us at every turn, chocolates, yummy biscuits, and don't get me started on the mince pies.  I have baked nothing this year because I usually end up eating most of what I have baked, I have have put so much weight on already and it's not even Christmas yet! I'm thinking February will be the month when I give myself a good talking to and will do something about it, I'll need the whole of January to finish off any residual Christmas goodies and psych myself up to cut out the rubbish and do some exercise.

I have done very little in the way of crafting this month but I did manage to make a few little festive crochet bits and pieces.

Little Lavender bags to hold some luscious smelling lavender from a lovely friends garden, she dries it and shares it with us.   I enjoy making these little bags and gifting them to family and friends, I left it a little late this year and didn't make as many as I would have liked.
You can find the patterns for these little bags here and here

Little decorations, I did intend to make lots of these but I found them too fiddly and only managed these, they are super cute though you can find all the patterns here

I really enjoyed making this for my little coffee table.  It's mosaic crochet and you can find the pattern here

At the moment I'm still busy with the sweater I started for myself, I'm hoping that I'll like it enough to wear it once it's finished, and I'm making cute little hats for NHAP  which I will show you once they are done. 

I am displaying my twelve days of Christmas cross stitch that I finished at the beginning of the year..

I haven't managed to complete the Festive Forest  embroidery but I will work on it slowly and it will be ready for sure for next Christmas.

I'm drinking out of this mug that me daughter gifted me cute or what?

I think I'll start a Christmas mug collection. 😊

Wishing you all a very...

A Brave Trip To The Dentist

 It's absolutely freezing here right know, it's the kind of weather where you just want to snuggle up under a warm blanket and stay indoors.  There was no way that I was going to venture outside unless I had to and as for driving my car in these icy conditions that was a definite no. So I had a dilemma because I had an appointment with the dental hygienist at 9am, there was no way that I was going to cancel.

I ventured to the dentist last week, for the first time in three years thanks to my lovely generous sons birthday gift (see previous post) It's amazing how differently they treat you when you are paying for private dental treatment, money certainly talks, you get an appointment almost immediately, more time is taken and each step is explained in detail, I have never had a more thorough dental checkup.

I was lucky, to my surprise I don't need any fillings, however I have two crowns and a bridge that needs replacing, not urgently but in the near future and a hygienist visit was a must.

On the morning in question I wrapped up warm and donned my new winter boots purchased in a sale at the end of the season last year...

and I bravely walked to the Dental Surgery, those boots are amazing I didn't slip on the ice once and when I got going I quite enjoyed the walk.

I was dreading the hygienist visit and I was a little embarrassed that my teeth were in such a state, past trips to the hygienist have been painful and have left my teeth quiveringly sensitive for days afterwards, have you ever had the pressure washer thing blasted into your mouth? the last time I had that my whole mouth was left numb, sore and tingling, my poor old teeth can't stand such an aggressive approach.

I needn't have worried, the hygienist was lovely, she didn't jump back in shock when she saw the state of my teeth but calmly reassured me and got on with the job of ridding my teeth of all the plaque build up and then polishing all the stains away and not a pressure washer in sight (that costs more apparently, but they can keep it haha) I can't say it was particularly pleasant but it's didn't hurt and it was all over in a matter of twenty minutes, I was even presented with toothpaste dental floss samples.

I came out of the dentists into the freezing still early morning air with a sense of great relief and do you know after being cooped up indoors I really didn't want to go straight home so I took the long way....

along the promenade

and then a walk along the beach almost totally deserted...

Those steps were treacherous I clung to the rails as I slowly made my assent, firstly because of the ice and secondly because I'm so out of condition I was breathless before I got even half way up!

At this stage I needed a coffee and had planned to have a coffee in the lovely coffee shop at the top of those steps but unfortunately it was closed so I crossed over the road and made my way through the woods...

I didn't take many photo's because I had to take my gloves off to take a photo and it was far too cold. 

I then settled at home with a nice cuppa coffee but not before I looking in the mirror at my sparkly clean teeth, they look almost white again and there's not a stain in sight.😊

I've Been Busy

 Thank you so much for all the lovely comments about my kitchen and bathroom, I have to say I am loving them both I can't quite believe the transformation I keep stroking my kitchen cupboards and opening the doors and then watching them close all by themselves, I gaze down at my new flooring and give a sigh of contentment.  As for the new shower in my bathroom it's causing problems I'm afraid because once I get under it I really don't want to get out and energy prices being what they are that is not a good thing haha.

Once the mess was cleared and thing's settled down I had to get over the 70th birthday, thank you for all your birthday wishes😘😘 I did have lovely day and week, I was quite spoilt it has to be said and got some lovely gifts....

This is one of the gifts my lovely daughter got me to use for my embroidery and it has been used many times already, it makes it much easier having two hands free.

My eldest son and DIL gifted those lovely flowers still looking fresh after two weeks and the terracotta rug you can see on the floor, I have to be very careful what I say around my kids, I did mention that I needed a new rug for the conservatory and so they got me one haha.  

I was complaining to my youngest son about not being able to find a NHS dentist and on the morning of my birthday he said I have put a bit of something in your bank account Mother so you can go and get some private dental work done 😲 I really couldn't believe it, as a consequence I have a dental appointment tomorrow and at last I can get some much needed treatment, it's over three years since I was able to visit a dentist.  I am very lucky I know there are so many who can't afford private dental care and are in agony because of dental problems. 

My brother has MS but was able to make this lovely barrow for me it has pride of place outside my front door

I could go on I got some fabulous gifts from family and friends alike and I would like to thank them all for their generosity. 

So What am I up to? 

 I am still working away at the Festive Forrest CAL although I 'm way behind and the CAL is finished already. I wasn't able to keep up because of the disheaval in the house and we don't have much natural light at this time of year so I find it difficult to see to sew the tiny details. I aim to finish it in time for Christmas, fingers crossed that I'll succeed.

Now while I was wading through my cluttered home a new CAL was being released and I was dying to take part, it was impossible at that time and so just as soon as I was able I bought the yarn and I started to make the Whoopa cardigan, by then the CAL was finished and I was able to see all the lovely Whoopa's that had been made.  

The Whoopa CAL was a ten day CAL hosted by Tinna Thórudóttir Thorvaldsdóttir. Tinna has a video tutorial for each day which made it super simple and very quick it took me ten days and look.....

She has introduced us to slouchy blocking which gives the cardigan a lovely drape. I think mine grew five inches after blocking.

I love this stitch it looks like knitted rib, I have used it before as you can see here

I used James Brett Masquerade Chunky and it only took six 100 gram balls to make it I have a feeling that I will be making more.

Another thing I have finished is this

This was an experiment for me, I used Rico Essentials Crochet Cotton which is a 2ply. I Lined the back to enclose the ends and it's the perfect size for a pot holder. I tried this because I'm toying with the idea of making one of the mosaic blanket patterns into a wall hanging, it would be far too large and bulky if I used anything other than the 2ply which I have used here. Cotton yarn doesn't have that much give and you have to be more careful to ensure that your stitches are neat and even but it hasn't put me off so watch this space.

You can find the pattern for this cute penguin here

At the moment I am working on this can you guess what the picture is going to be...

and this is the start of a simple sweater for me..

Time will tell if it ever gets completed.

I hope that you are all well and enjoying your Christmas preparations, I have have done nothing so far and am still looking for some small gifts to hook up for my friends, talk about leaving things to tha last minute.  I have come across these cute decorations here but I have a feeling that they will be super fiddly, although I do like those teeny sweaters, we shall see.

Have a great Sunday 😘😘

Linking with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday

Hand Made Monday