genialgemsandothergabblings

Well Hello again! As many of you know we lost mum in November and since then there have been so many things to sort out that the blog has had to take a back seat but I wanted to post these photos as they are so seasonal and will help me wish you all a Merry Christmas! With the snow coming down this morning while I was in The V.I.P charity shop in Longton at work{ yes I have started as a volunteer there a few days a week] it all suddenly looked really festive and Christmas looked  that little bit closer! I am really enjoying it there and meeting new people, so if you are that way pop in and see if you can bag a bargain as some really nice stuff  comes in daily! Sonia and I had a great day out a couple of weeks back, in Lliverpool and I found the little Cath Kidston owl in John Lewis whilst there, I can hardly bear the thought of sticking pins in him as it is so cute! On Wednesday we went to a carol concert at Haigh Hall with Sonia and Nige which was also lovely and so was ...

Just thought I would share these photos of our cat Ollie who was so so happy that I put the fire on when  I got back from the shops this afternoon . It was a nice sunny morning and then suddenly all change and it went gloomy and chilly and breezy! Still these kind of days can make you get on with some  jobs you have been putting off for a while and that's  what I did, I cleared the study! Yesterday  while out shopping I found the cutest little Christmas decorations ,the little deer and trees you see in the pictures above . Best of all they were only 99p a packet and they are the only additions to my stock of decorations that I intend to make this year, as I have enough! I usually love this time of year, the preparation leading up to the festivities but with mum lying so ill and increasingly frail I fear that this Christmas will see us going through the motions and thats about all . On Tuesday night we were just about to leave to go across ...

 Winter visitors at Martin Mere  Well Halloween was quite a success with loads of kids big and small coming round for treats and they all looked great in some super scary costumes.  Peter nearly frightened some poor girls to death by opening the door and roaring at the top of his voice, obviously he's definitely into Halloween!  Martin Mere otters  Knitted halloween scaries for lucy!  Halloween fun with Lucy  Lucy's doll even had her outfit especially made! However the highlight was having my special friend little Lucy and her mum round for the afternoon and she loved all the little bits that I made for her. The day  before halloween we visited Martin Mere nr Ormskirk  to see how many swans had flown in ready for the winter and we were greeted with a lovely sight of many swans with their young families enjoying the mere. Also while we  were  there we were lucky enough to see the otters in their pen having a wonderful time play...

I often wonder when I am reading the wonderful  diaries of this extraordinary woman whether she got her last wish , which was that she could have her ashes sprinkled over her beloved Coniston lake. She didn't seem to think this would happen if she died before her husband as he  would not like it, she says in her war time diary. I hope that she was granted that wish but she actually did die a year or so before him and they were no longer  in their home either as they had become unable to manage through ill health and had moved by then to a Darby and Joan home [ a care home of sorts]. Without Coniston  to soothe her in the terrible years of the war and after when there were constant shortages and the demands and ill health of her husband , she may have gone under. It was only a short car ride away  and often they would stop at her old Aunts in Spark bridge to have tea and a chat. Coniston remains a favourite place for me as it was here that we came o...

In a corner of the little back bedroom that I used as my room, at my Grandmother's house at Wigan stood a solid white painted bookcase which was home to her very small collection of books. She said that Grandad Hill had made it long ago after the war when furniture was hard to come by. It's nothing special to look at but it is so well made it will outlast me  I'm sure! When she died  I gave it a home here in the summerhouse but when we were in Scarborough not long ago I saw one in a lovely craft shop being used to display some beautiful things and it got me thinking that I could put mine to much better use. So now all the lovely bits and pieces that I buy on my travels and all my craft and sewing and knitting books have a lovely new home up on our landing. It makes me think of that lovely shop whenever I see it! I think maybe I am a frustrated craft shop owner. I can feel a change in the weather, a distinct coolness, a first sign of  autumn and...

I love Scarborough with the wide sweeping bay, the castle set high on the cliff top looking down over the town,the little streets with interesting shops and the lights at night that give it such a lovely holiday atmosphere. We spent a lovely weekend break at the Grand Hotel , which although not as it was in its glorious heyday at the end of the 1800's, is still a nice place to stay and soak up a little bit of that late Victorian  style. Sun rise over the harbour The Sun coming up over Scarborough harbour Here Lies Ann Bronte The Grand Hotel Reception hall Anne Bronte's  grave is on the hillside up nr the castle, she died here in a boarding house which was sited where the Grand Hotel now sits. She loved Scarborough , especially walking along the sands.  I can see why she would ,after the gloom and drabness of her home town of Haworth it must have seemed like paradise to her.

Myerscough College summer garden, marigolds and lavender. Well it has been a little while since   last blogged so lets have a catch up shall we? Well last week I spent a lovely day with Pat ,Joanne and Lucy at Cobble Hey Gardens, up near the Forest of Bowland.  It was gorgeous and a perfect summer day with blue skies and sunshine the whole time we were there. Lucy skipped ,ran and danced along the gardens and enjoyed seeing all the animals, especially the new born piglets. We then finished off our day with lovely cake and drinks at the tearooms there and of course came away laden with jars of local jam and pickles and a few  little bits for Lucy. The piglets at Cobble Hey... just so cute! He looks like a Figurehead but he is actually standing on the bank!Taken at Garstang on boat trip. It has been pretty wet lately and the frogs in my garden were hopping all over the place in the rain. Canal scene on the Lancaster canal The yellow poppies have been lovely in the gard...

Carol Klein was there giving a talk . Old roses A cute little group What a great day out we had on saturday up at Holker Hall nr Cartmel in the lakes. The sun shone making it lovely for all who visited . The place was buzzing but you  never felt crowded or harrassed like some similar events we have attended. I had fun looking at the Alpacas they are just so cute and looked really funny with their recently trimmed coats. The flowers and plants on display were really stunning and the Spanish horse display was a treat to sit and watch while sitting on bales of hay eating hot Cornish pasties! A lovely display