The Hundred Acre Wood Crowd

The house situation has not been resolved yet well I suppose it has in the the fact that we have decided not to go ahead with the purchase as we feel it is too big a risk to take having an indemnity insurance against the house incase the ex-owners made a claim on the property and it will also show on the titledeed for the property.

Anyway we have started looking again but the big problem is we really don't seem to have the stomach for it. In other words from someone who used to be the owner of an estate agents who loved property I CANNIE BE BOTHERED.

We are thinking of moving to another rented property(this is an ex-manse it is frozen and the church have no money to upgrade the heating system) something newish with a nice efficient heating system would be nice.

Well anyhoo I think I going to take the Christmas decorations down and thought I better pop photo of the tree for this year and also let everyone see who came to stay with us forever and ever and will make an appearance every Christmas from now on.

THE WHOLE GANG IN THE BOOK BASKET

THE TIGGER & POOH

Seated on Aimees fav chair

Oh Christmas Tree!

For the last 10 years or so I have made my most dearest friend a

crafty gift at Christmas.

I usually give her it around the beginning of December so it can be used to decorate her house.

Poor woman may need a bigger house by the time we are in our 70s.

This is this years effort a doorstop.

Hope to give her it over the next few days as the the snow has put paid to visiting her lately.

The placemat underneath is the ones I have been working on over the last few days.

12 Days of Snow (nearly)

Been snowing on and off here for well over a week now all seemed to be getting back to normal and we wake up this morning to yet more snow.

Anyway kept myself busy.

Also thought I was going to collect the keys for our new house on 25th November

Did I heck...........

The day I was to collect the keys a surprising phone call from the lawyer put paid to the nice cosy thoughts about Christmas garlands, bunting and trees. The short version is because we are buying a repossession property there was a High Court ruling slipped quietly into play the day before which basically allowing the previous owners still to have a claim on the property because the repossession was not carried out properly. We are still no further forward and the snow is not helping as the solicitors acting on behalf of the bank selling the property are based in Aberdeen and the office is closed due to the snow.

Anyhoo I did this Red Stitch Work 12 Days of Christmas garland for the staircase in the new house but have decided since finishing it last week I would put it up in the house we are renting.

I very happy with it.

Two of my favorite things about Christmas. The Twelve Days of Christmas and A Christmas Carol.

I have also made new placemats and a Christmas goodie for my bestest friend.

Will post photo next time as I will hopefully have given it to her by then.

Have also put tree up photos tomorrow in the daylight

Love stitching

Life is a bit hectic here at the moment.

Colin goes away to China on Saturday for 3 weeks.

Un-forseen circumstances mean we are only now about to move house . We get the keys while Colin is away. We plan to move the week after he gets back.

Anyhoo tried to have a relaxing weekend I love hand sewing so enjoyed making the cushion below to add to my Christmas collection. Quite pleased with it. The middle is a Tilda pattern.

Disney Fun

The family spent 5 days in Euro Disney during the half term break. It was the most magical time for all including the adults who out numbered the kids 5 to 2. Watching Aimee's face was brilliant as she saw all the characters that she knows so well come to life in front of her eyes. Here are a few photos

My favourite ladies

Mr Mickey

With the one and only Minnie

Outside Boo's Door

Stitch helping Aimee with her chips

Son in law Graham grandson Murray and Sully

The girls with Mickey in his Cafe

Ashley and Aimee in Adventureland

Aimee loved getting her face painted every day!!!!! This was her favourite

Aimee with Jack she just loves him.

This guy was fab

Mrs Robinson ....... NOT

Colin graduated yesterday that might make me his Mrs Robinson

Bachelor of Arts
(with merit)
in Tertiary Education with Teaching Qualification
(Further Education)

Colin with our girls.
Shelley on the left Ashley on the right

The campus at Stirling University is situated with Wallace Monument as the back drop.
Airthery Castle and the lake you see in the background are within the campus.
Our much loved Ochil Hills also near by.
We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful area.

We had a lovely day followed by a bar-b-que at Ashleys.
Aimee is very proud of her grandad although she's not quite sure what a graduation is.
She just thinks her grandad is great

This is more like it my fun loving family

Class A student

As hubbie is not one to blow his own trumpet I am about to give it a go.......
He got his final essay result from his university course he is jumping up in the air....

He got a 1A

This from the man who throughout his childhood and early adulthood was continually told he would never manage any sort of further education and certainly never university. His parents never gave him any encouragement. Think it is why regardless of whatever hair brained schemes our daughters came home with we always tried to encourage them to follow their dreams. Mind you when your daughter at 18yrs is offered a job at the Halifax Building Society but decides she would rather work in a pub it can push you to the limit. Mind you after 6 months she started work with a local care organisation and has not looked back she will be 30 in September.

So at the end of the month he will graduate as a teacher and me and our girls will be sitting cheering smiling and most certainly with a tear in our eyes and will be so proud of him but hope with all our hearts that he is proud of himself

Magic Moments

Sister & Brother Magic Moments

Magic Moments is the 1st song I sang as a child. It has become a song that has worked its way down the family and was even played at my mums funeral as she had sung it to her grandchildren and great grandaughter.

Anyway tonight I was looking at some photos Ashley had emailed me of the Aimee & Murray and I just thought what Magic Moments these are and I now can't get the song out of my head so it is now being hummed, sung and whistled much to the annoyance of the local cats chorus.

Moving on up

I love houses

Hubbie loves renovation

We down-sized a few years ago so Colin could go to college and university he graduates next month as a teacher of further education. I love the house we live in at the moment but Colin has never settled. Now because this man I have been married to for all these years has never asked me to do anything that he thought would make me unhappy also over the past 18 months or so our lives have changed forever and as my wee grannie used to say marriage is about compromise we are on the move.

We are lovers of traditional property but we have decided that it is time for an easier life and not for every spare bit of cash we have being used to maintain a property. We are buying a more modern house and for some strange reason I love it.

The most exciting bit about it for Aimee is that the house will have stairs.

So in 6 weeks time we will be embarking on the next phase of our lives......... bring it on

Pearly Time

Where does the time go..........

30 years ago today I married the man or should I say boy who would become as they say in the old movies my rock.

Colin was 19 and I was 23 when we married everyone was very sceptical about us making a go of a marriage.

Colin and I went about in the same circle and he played badminton with a friend. A couple that we both knew were getting married and he asked if rather that going on our own that we paired up. The following day I headed off to London for a week to attend a course to do with my work. On my return he was standing waiting on me as I got off the bus big bunch of flowers in his hand and asked me to out that night for a meal. That night he asked me to marry him and as the saying goes the rest is history.....

2 daughters and 2 grandchildren later we celebrate our Pearl Wedding Anniversary

Had a lovely meal with daughter(number 2) son-in-law and grandchildren last night.

Today has been a lazy day ... so far reading and couching

Daughter (number1) and partner coming later for tea as she has been working yesterday and today looking forward to that

Treasure Maps

Since Aimee was born we have always had an Easter Egg Hunt.

Two years ago the 'Grandad' thought it would be good to have a treasure map to help find the eggs.

He draws the house gardens garage etc simply then rips the edge of the paper and stains it with tea to make it look aged.

Often wonder who is the child!!!!!

Picture is of Grandad, Auntie Shelley and Aimee plus the treasure map in hand.

Murrays first Easter was accompanied by the chickenpox poor wee thing

He is such a happy laid-back kind of guy he smiled and laughed the whole day

On the hunt for eggs




Murray and Grandad having fun



Aimee sporting the Hannah Montana sunglasses the Easter Bunny left at Granny and Grandads
Also the bunny ears that could only have been bought by
Auntie Shelley

The Boy

Where does the time go?

It seems no time since Murray was born ....

Look at him now 7 and a half months old

He loves spending time with his sister

Just so cute in his "Hoodie"

Little Bit Of Spring

It seems to have been a long cold, snowy, frosty, wet and windy winter here.

Mind you a bit like everywhere else.

Anyway we have been having some lovely sunny days lately altough it remains bitterly cold.

So here is my little bit of spring on the kitchen window sill

Makes me kinda cosy on the inside

Sewing box

I love stitch craft I also admire everyone who embraces this most wonderful of hobbies.

I taught myself to sew along with the help of my grannies old treadle machine when I was asked to leave the sewing class as Miss Allan thought it best I take more classes in Home Economics even though I loved her class (she thought I was hopeless). Anyway I am a bit of an oldfashioned girl at heart and when I spotted this sewing box in a shop in Crieff it was love at first sight. Just need to decide what goodies to put in it now

I love the glass top that has a wee display of some of the essentials in a sewers life

Clear plastic

Things have been a bit hectic around here for the past 2-3 weeks. Just before that my sewing machine went to Drummonds of Edinburgh to have its first service ( David the shop owner informed me my machine is 10 years old ) As I was busy ma Walby (hubbie) took the machine through and look at what he got me .....a Plexiglass Sewtable. Today is its first outing and it's brilliant.

I never thought I would see the day when a big piece of plastic would give such satisfaction.

Oh and for the record thank you thank you thank you Walby

Off to cut up material and sew it back together again

Mary Jane Gilchrist

As I held her hand my beloved wee grannie passed peacefully from this world on Wednesday.

She was 99yrs young the photo above was taken about 4 years ago.

Born in 1911 the youngest of four children, her mother left her father and the children when my grannie was just 6 weeks old she met her mother only once when she was about 20yrs old. After her mother left she was brought up in various foster homes until she was around 14yrs old when after another failed fostering (she was not a typical child of that time and was seen and heard quite alot) her spinster aunt took her from Liverpool back home with her to Stonehaven and the stable loving relationship that had been missing in her life was established.

She became engaged to a sea captain and one summer came to Alloa to visit friends of the family she was sitting in the bandstand at the local park when my grandad came and asked if she minded if he sat down she said ok and she was smitten when the visit was finished she didn't return to Stonehaven but moved in with my grandad a huge scandle in those days and she didn't marry my grandad until she was 5 months pregnant with my mum and after much pleading from my grandad. They had another 2 children and a loving successful marriage until my grandads death in 1982.

I would like to thank her for

Ringlets in my hair, sticky out party dresses, long flanelette nighties, piggie hot water bottles,treadle sewing machine, teaching me how to knit, cocoa, toast made at the open fire, Hopes the Bakers fruit birthday cakes, my love of Lily of the Valley, Honeysuckle, Cats & Hats.

For her unfailing love kindness and friendship I thank her from the bottom of my heart she was my rock and I will love and miss her always

Strong stuff

My most precious wee grannie isn't too well at the moment. The staff at the nursing home where she lives called me on Wednesday to say she was very poorly and that they were very concerned about her. She had stopped eating and was not taking any fluids at that time. I have spent the majority of my time since then at her bedside. I am not sure if today was a turning point or not but she managed to sit in a chair and sip half a cup of tea. At 99yrs young she still has a will of iron and is made of strong stuff. I am delighted I hope she will stick around for a bit longer as I love her dearly.

Twitching to sew

The Moda Spring Fever charm packs arrived last week and I love them. I plan to make Aimee a lap quilt. She came for tea on Saturday and spent an enjoyable hour or so helping grannie decide where the pieces should be positioned. We then got a piece of white cotton and did it all over again.

'The finished positions'
Bit big for a lap quilt me thinks


Did have plans to start it this week but forgot my sewing machine was leaving today on a servicing visit to Edinburgh and I don't pick it up until Saturday. I now need to find something to fill the hours with............
Browsing the quilting sites on internet sounds good to me
Step away from the credit card........

Kitted Out

I was given a patchwork kit last year as a gift and have finally got around to opening it I had a great time last night chopping and putting it altogether again (hubbie doesn't understand why you would spend so much time cutting up material only to sew it back together again). Anyway this is the top all ready to be basted.

I would love to get it prepared for quilting tonight but we are just about to head out to friends for a bit of supper and a wee drink. Mind you it does leave me something to look forward to at the weekend

P.S

Green is my fav colour the pressie giver knows me quite well me finks

99 and counting

My beloved wee grannie arrived in this world 99 years ago today. She is living in a local nursing home being cared for by a devoted staff who I cannot thank enough for the care and compassion they show my gran even when she is having an 'off' day. She has very limited sight and suffers from dementia and doesn't really know who I am. To her I am 'the the lovely girl with the nice smile'. The nursing home is split into 4 units and some of the residents from the other units came through and we had music, cake and tea which was lovely. I spent a nice afternoon with the woman who throughout my life has been unfailing in her love for me

The following are what I thank my grannie for

Flannel nighties, piggie hot bottles, toast by the open fire, cocoa, rags in my hair to make ringlets, red recordplayer and dancing round the livingroom, sparkly party shoes and sticky out dresses with lots of petticoats, treadle sewing machine and my love of cats

But most of all her love

Love my Grannie