Wreath Making Class

I saw a wreath making class advertised by the "Parks and Cemeteries" with  all materials  included for £7.50 so I thought we'd  give it a go. 

It was held in a massive greenhouse and we started off with a talk on green willow and a demonstration by Dorothy who had a put together a few wreaths for us to get ideas from, then it was time to "get making"

We each chose 10 lengths of willow and wove it into a ring, weaving away until we were happy with the shape,

then we added the foliage of which there was plenty to choose from and wired it all together,

adding  fir cones, berries  and  dried orange slices  

we finished them off with wired ribbon bows and had a cuppa and a mince pie before taking some pictures.

These two did very well for a first attempt  

I've hung one on the  bike in the back garden along with some fairy lights and an old railway lantern and the other on the fence,

very festive......

A nice shade of purple...this is the bruise on my leg after my fall last week.....must be more careful!!

Lucey X

Busy Times

With less than two weeks to go till the big day it's been a busy time here in the Lucey household. We've had sickness (me) a fall (me) a  birthday (mr lucey), shopping in York (me)  cupboards cleaned out and goodies squirelled away and the house turned into a Christmas grotto...phew!

I got a  lovely box of  decorations on good old e bay,

 a box from the charity shop for £3 along with some Christmas crackers,

and a bit of help decorating the tree from a little lady,

butter wouldn't melt!!

The stockings are hung,

the candles are lit,

 Cards are  posted and the presents are wrapped up so my "to do" list is getting shorter, I've still  got  oranges ready to be decorated with cloves, oh and a party on Saturday night....it must be Christmas!

Lucey x

Blue Tit Buttons

Chatting away at the knitting group a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I had some lovely fabric that I wanted making into a skirt,

remember this that I got from a fair?

Annie piped up that she was a seamstress and would be happy to do some sewing for me, so after a little chat I said  I liked
 "A line skirts with a pocket on the front and about  knee length" and that is exactly what Annie made me .....what a star she is!!

I added  a sweet "blue tit" button on the pocket

 and stitched a few on the back...just because I love buttons, 

and it goes lovely with my new black shoes.
They're ever so comfy and they come with a spare set of bows so you can "dress them up...or down"

Thanks Annie

Lucey x

Knitting Socks

I've been wanting to learn how to knit socks for a while now so last week at the knitting class I got some needles, pattern and wool and got started.....not as easy as it looks this 4 needle malarky!!

After a whole week of knitting I'd only managed about 3 inches and when I went to the class last night, Viv, out knitting lady, said not only had I dropped a stitch and  got two holes in the sock but I'd been knitting the wrong way round and my sock was inside out!!

So I pulled it out and started again, taking my time and placing pins in the work so I know which is the right way to knit.

Pics to follow. 

Margaret, one of the Ladies there has been knitting socks for years and she very kindly let me take a pic of hers to show you, Margaret has managed to knit nearly two pairs of socks in a week....what a clever bunny she is.

Such lovely heathery colours in this pair and the other pair are golden shades of Autumn, she knits all the nieces  a pair for Christmas, I wouldn't mind being her niece!!

And talking of colours Mr Lucey has been busy painting the front door, before grey....

and after, "Brinjal"

a lovely rich mulberry colour " from Farrow and Ball.  Love this colour and I've planted some pansies in the basket to match, when they show their pretty little faces.

As I type there's heavy rainy/sleet pouring down the windows and I can hear  thunder....just as  predicted by the weather man!!

Keep warm,

Lucey x

I've Been To London To See The Queen

When I told our granddaughter we were going to London she asked me why, and I replied  "to see the Queen" and guess what? we did see the Queen!!

It was just one of those "right time, right place" moments.

As we got to the Palace the roads were closed and there were Police everywhere so I asked the Policewoman what was happening and she replied there was a state visit from "Park Geun-Hye", South Korea President.  We didn't have long to wait, in the picture you can see the bikes lined up to escort The Queen out of Buckingham Palace.

We were all excited and waived to The Queen as she passed us 

How smart do they look with their highly polished boots and impeccable uniforms, some of then were ever so young but very proud to be on duty.

We walked up The Mall to get a better view of The Queen as she returned,  and we heard the band  playing,

 the Policewoman told us she could see the carriages coming down The Mall, although there weren't many people there you could feel the excitement....and then there she was, our very own Queen, sitting in the carriage pulled by 6 fine grey horses,

I don't think I'll ever be that lucky again!!

Love Lucey x

Wedding Anniversary

This is a bit of a "show and tell" post so let's start with a day out in Corbridge  to celebrate our wedding anniversary. 

First stop was the lovely  RE, we visited a few weeks ago and just had to go again as there was so much to see,

love these cakes that were actually candles, I think they're far too nice to light, it was one of those "shall I or not" buys and now I wish I had. (maybe we'll have to visit again!!) 

There were trays of tin mugs,

and  "brown betty" teapots,

assorted glass jelly moulds,

and some lovely pieces of green milk glass. (Should have bought the jug aswell!)

I would have liked a pair of these wooden stockings to make a Christmas display but at £40 each they were a tad too pricey, I think they might have originally been to display socks in a gentleman's outfitters??

My dad was a master butcher and used to have loads of these tickets so I've started to collect them just for old times sake, when dad retired everything was sold off, wish I'd kept loads of things from the shop now!!

We sat on a bench  in the warm sunshine eating our picnic as I hate to spend half the day sitting in crowded cafes waiting for food to arrive when I could be enjoying the scenery,

A few goodies I bought were an "assorted jellies" sign, one of the butchers price tickets, some lovely brown paper table runner, a nice big yellow duster, reindeer fire lighters and some red string for hanging baubles on the Christmas tree....quite an odd assortment but that's RE!

In the Antiques shop next door I saw this lovely old "Wild Woodbines Cigarettes" box  to display my old cigarette packets in which leads me onto" Pickering war weekend" that we attended a couple of weeks ago.

It's a lovely weekend that everybody "enters into the spirit of" getting dressed up in their furs and suits, displaying vintage vehicle, prams and bikes...and this is ours...

Mr Lucey has spent the last year doing it up...

It was a complete wreck when we got it but after many hours of "blood, sweat and nearly tears" it's finally done up "in all it's glory" just like the one my dad would have rode when he was an errand boy, complete with a sign that reads "P. Kinnersley, Family Butcher"....my dad. x

"Lad's 'n dad's!

"mum's 'n son's"

"shopping for groceries"

Lucey x

Kirsty Elson Townhouse

A couple of weeks ago I asked the lovely Kirsty Elson to make me one of her "houses" to hang on the Christmas tree and when I got home from work yesterday the postie had delivered it.

Inside the box was the most lovely  house I ever did see, three stories high with a little red door just perfect for Christmas.

Love, love, love it!!

Kirsty is such a clever sausage she collects driftwood and rusty nails and makes the most gorgeous pieces, pop over and have a look when you have a mo, Kirsty Elson designs.

I called into Morrisons and got these lovely heathers at the weekend to fill the basket on the bike, I love the pinky, purply,  mauvy combination of colours at this time of year,

and I  knit a new bunting  as the other one had faded in the sun, I couldn't decide if I should  give the old bike a fresh coat of paint or leave it as it is.

Rummaging in the drawers I come across a cloth that had a neat little darn in the middle so out come the needle and thread to stitch a few words on it,

"the children were nestled"

"stockings were hung"

"night before Christmas"

I don't think it needs much more than that as it's not a very big cloth....well there might just be a little mouse!!

Lucey xx