Lights up...

Morning all, what was that rain like yesterday? I filled Wilfred's hutch up with lots of straw to keep him dry and the poor doggies would't put a paw outside, I'm  glad we put the lights up on Saturday . This year We've gone for coloured ones instead of all white.

The blur under the tree is a couple of parcels, there's also birds in the tree and a wreath on the wall all brightly lit, I think I'll get coloured lights for inside aswell.

Rachael from "made with love" sent me this little strawberry and it smells of real strawberries, thank you Rachael, I also ordered these goodies from Blueberry Patch....

I love the green dress it comes on a little wire coathanger, and a garland of snowmen., a mother hen and chicks and...

A sign that say's "Saint Nick's choice quality candy canes".

"Penguins"

"Squirrels"

"Chocolate snowmen" 

"The flower shop window" I do love flower shop's they're alway's filled with lots of lovely goodies aswell as plants and flower's.

I took these piccies while shopping in Northallerton last Sunday.

Look at these cheeky little birdies I have on the wall where are they flying off to???

Before I go and do a bit of housework, ironing etc that us ladies have to do while hubbies are at work,  if anyone fancies a wonderful afternoon/evening out, it's the christmas late night shopping day in Boroughbridge this Wednesday 2nd December (yes it realy is December tomorrow girls) There are lots of things going on  all afternoon and evening and if you go don't forget to visit Angel and Rose the best shop ever .....I'll be back tomorrow to let you know what I'm up to....Bye for now ...Lucey xx

Fairies...

Just a quick post before I go off to work and surround myself in all things Christmassy, last night I was flicking through e bay when I found some fairies for sale. When I was little, many moons ago, we had a lovely fairy that sat on top of our tree, she was a little dolly with blinking eyes a beautiful white dress and fine silver tinsel. There on e bay were some fairies like ours and they were going for....£72.....gasp!!!! Our fairy would have cost about 2/11 old money 30p nowadays, So if anybody has one of these little fairies lurking about in the attic please take good care of her, a little heirloom.

Yesterday I come home to find two parcels waiting for me, one was a swap and one a buy, all gorgeous and so well made (piccies to follow) It's my weekend off this week and we're putting our outdoor lights up, usually we have all white ones but this year I've bought coloured ones for a change.

Must dash now  bye  Lucey xx

Present...

I called in at my sisters house for a cuppa after we'd been to Yarm last  Wednesday and she gave me a little package and said "this is for you".

inside were these 3 pieces of gorgeous fabric I sooo love them.

I love those little candy striped awnings, now what can I make out of this one? Maybe a big drawstring bag that I could keep all my balls of wool in do you think??

I might sew a cushion cover for "Sweetpea Cottage" out of this one, that little pink doggie is sooo sweet and would like to live in there He tells me!!!

This fabric has a beautiful blue background, and I set to and stitched this little bag to pin my brooches onto and there's enough left to cover a little notebook that I'll write snippets of information in when I'm reading magazines or bloggs.

The silver brooch on the right says "seasons greetings" on it so it will be going on the collar of my coat from the first of December it was a present from my mam. Before I forget I must tell you last Tuesday 10th Nov I passed a house in the Town that had all the Christmas lights on outside and the tree up inside, and there's a young couple at work also got their tree up...thats  way too early for me  what about you?

Bye for now ...Lucey xx

Yarm...

The weathers turned realy nasty up here in the North East, quite cold and lots and lots of rain but my daughter Rachel wanted to go out today so off we went to Yarm.

It's a lovely little Town about a 25 minute ride away from where we live, all the decorations were up and there was an enormous christmas tree but it didn't have any lights on it.

There are three florists in the High Street one at each end and one in the middle and they were full of realy nice hand tied flowers, topiary trees and lots of bowls of bulbs. They also had lots of bags of dried oranges and cinnamon sticks etc.

Across the road we went into "Yarm Traditional Sweets" where we bought a couple of boxes of sweeties, some chocolate santas and a couple of "treasure chests"  full of chocolate coins. We also bought a dozen sugar mice that I like to buy at christmas time since I saw Catherine Cooksons film  "The Wingless Bird," a young couple go into a sweet shop on Christmas Eve and buy "a dozen sugar mice for the children".

Inside the shop

I saw this cushion with old fashioned scenes on it in Boyes while I was getting some wool and it was only £7.99 when I got home I wished I'd got a couple so I might go back next week.

This shop is called "indigo 11" and there's branches in Malton and Helmsley , I took some piccies inside.

We've got one of these old sledges we bought it a couple of years ago and its only been out once as the snow doesn't last long on the coast.

Lewis and Cooper sells lovely jams and chutneys and it was full of christmas hampers. On the way back we stopped at  Peter Barrats garden centre.

Penguins, bears and snowmen!!!

You can write all your christmas wishes on these little boards.

Alexa loved everything and kept saying "Mummy pretty" she loved the twinkling lights and this moose that played carols...

I realy loved this box that played the most wonderful music as you browsed around the shop ...but...it was...£200....so I didn't buy it!!!  We did buy a few things today but they're presents and you don't know who's reading this!!!!! 

I nearly forgot about this it looks like a stocking but in fact it's a bell, it says "an old fashioned honeycomb decoration" you remember the type it's  like a concertina that opens out into a bell shape...and only £4. You'll see the pics when I get my decs out. Hope you liked the "Tour of Yarm" with Rachel, Alexa and Me.

Bye for now Lucey xx

Cushion...

When my sister Karen went to heaven my bil gave me quite a lot of her things, one of them was a beautiful old tablecloth, that had a few holes in it and on one corner was embriodered

 the letter G.

So I carefully cut around the "G" and stitched it onto a piece of white cotton and made it into a little pillow. Karen also had this ribbon that she'd had printed with "tis the season" on so I edged the "G" with it and added 4 little mother of pearl buttons on the corners. I am pleased with the way it's turned out and  I've put it on the bed with a couple of initialled cushions from ikea that I already had.

One has got E O on it and the other one M F  I so love initialled cushions especially ones made from old linen like you can buy in Angel and Rose. When I move house I'm having a big bay window with a gorgeous chair covered in  a Kate Forman/Cabbages and Roses fabric with a couple of old cushions strewn on it!!! Well I can dream can't I? I also made some lovely lavender bags with tis the season ribbon on (cant show you the pics as the battery went in the camera but I will do) as I didn't want to waste any of it. We've had the house for sale for about 6 weeks and in that time we've had 6 people view so thats a good start, we've had a couple of offers from a young couple so fingers crossed I'll get that bay window yet!!!! Can't wait to see all your lovely goodies you bought from the vintage and antique fair girl's ...love Lucey xx

Christmas cake

Every year Mr Lucey bakes our christmas cake and when we were in Shepherds purse in Whitby  on the counter was a plate of christmas cake to sample.

It tasted rather yummy so we bought the bake it yourself kit, along with a few extras and yesterday morning Mr L set to...

In no time at all all the ingredients were carefully mixed together in a big bowl with a little drop of sherry, christmas wouldn't be christmas without a drop or two of sherry!!!

The mixture was spooned into a tin and baked slowly in the oven for 5 hours while we took the dogs for a leisurely walk along the country lanes admiring the views as we meandered along.

When we got back the house was filled with the most delicious smell, and the cake was ready to come out of the oven. We were tempted to cut it but,  mouth watering we wrapped it in tin foil where nearer christmas we'll ice the top and put a snowman and a little robin on,  It's probrably cheaper to buy a cake but I think home made ones taste loads better, do you prefer to buy or bake???   Bye for now Lucey xx

Whitby...

We decided to have a day out in Whitby, one of our favourite places, you can see the Abbey in the distance.

There are little cottages lining the street and views of the sea are lovely,  we like to have a wonder along the beach and a paddle in the sea. Further along the beach are wonderful beach hu's full of holidaymakers you can hire them daily but we never seem to get there early enough.

There's some  lovely shops along the cobbled streets, this one sell's  french inspired goodies

This picture is inside Bespoke Country and  there's lots of Emma Bridgewater cups and bowl', nice tins, spools of ribbon, little blackboards and lots  more.

Theres smelly candles dotted about and packets of christmas spice that make the shop smell lovely, and on the floor were lots of rag rugs in the shape of hearts, I love the red and white spotty bowl. In fact just the type of shop you want to take home with you which I nearly did!!!

This is a wonderful shop it has a deli at the front selling lots of breads,  jams ,chutneys and organic foods and at the back the clothes  are noa noa. They stock lavender, rosebuds,  jewellery and soaps just the type of shop I'd like to work in  if I could play dressing up all day!!!. We found a lovely tea room called ....

Marie Antoinette, the girl took us upstairs to a little room at the back that had been someones bedroom in days gone by and it was decorated in a nice shade of green.

Above these pictures was a tiny arched window set in the roof and another window to the side where all you could see were chimney pots on roofs.

It was all sooo cosy, we ordered a pot of tea and cream scones and there was music playing in the background from a hurdy gurdy.

The scones were warm and served with strawberry jam and clotted cream and we had two cups of tea each

Further down was an old fashioned sweet shop with jar's and jars of sweet's filling the shelves, where you bought them by the quarter, (100 grams doesn't sound the same does it)

In the window were these boxes of sweets made up and for sale or you could pick your own they're becoming quite popular now I've seen them in a couple of plac's. Talk about a kid in a sweet shop.... did I mention I have  a very sweet tooth????

By now we were loaded with bags and boxes and  as we made our way back to the car we saw a young lad parking his bike so I took a quick picture as it was so unusual and obviously his pride and joy. ooohhhh I do love a nice day out do you???  see you soon,   Lucey xx