Spring Makes

My travels this Spring have been few in number, so I have been a crafting busy bee instead.  I love making things and so February and March had me delving into my stash of supplies deciding what I should try. Some of my friends are very kind and save up all kinds of bits and pieces like buttons and ribbons etc. so my stash continues to grow and comes in very useful.  There are many things I love to make and I especially love to try some thing  new, hence my crafting is very diverse.

Ollie the Door Stop

I just loved how Ollie turned out, the colouring especially.  He's not a toy I should add, but a door stop. He will sit by any door and keep it open for you.  Filled with stuffing and children's play sand.  I made 2 of them, one with eyes open and the other has one shut!!!  I'm selling them for £15 each, but if anyone wants them posted, obviously then there is postage on top.

£10 (sold)

£20 (including batteries)

Button Hearts on Canvas

These are so easy to do. You can buy a canvas board from one of the 99p shops.  Staple gun on some material and lace and then stick on the buttons.  

My other one has battery operated lights that have been poked through the pierced canvas and then tied in place at the back.  They both would look lovely on any bedroom wall.

£10

Button Tree on Canvas

Once again on this canvas I painted the branches of the tree using brown alcohol ink and also dabbed on a few green leaves.  Then after placing the buttons on first to get the right position, I glued them in place.  This is so easy to do, you don't have to be a great crafter to do it.  Children would find this very easy too.

Let me know if you try it out, love to hear from you.

I do take orders of any of the above, you get to choose the size or colour etc.  

When I sell anything, 10% of it gets given away to our church's Building Fund.

Sprinter

Sprinter

Living here in the South of England, winter and spring often get muddled up (I've decided).

This year I decided to call it 'Sprinter', a mixture of Spring and Winter.

You may ask why?  Well while the rest of the country seem to have loads of snow, really freezing temperatures and so on, here we had daffodils in bloom in December right through to February where we are now.  The catkins are also out too.  Crazy, but yes it is true.  Nature simply doesn't know what to think and neither do I for that matter.  I guess it's because we live by the sea and the golf stream which comes to us from warmer climes keeps a lot of the snow away, making our seas a little bit warmer and so we are often protected.

It's a shame really, as I do like the snow, well for a while, until the novelty wears off.  Years ago when I was a child, we had more snow than we do now, I guess it is global warming or some such thing.  Whatever the case, we haven't had much of it so far, yes it is cold but there's still a chance.  

Then I woke up the other morning AND LOOK!!!!  At last we had a flurry!!! it lasted all of an hour or so and then it was gone again.

Never mind.  So I've entitled my photo 

'A Moment In Time' - especially as it only lasted a moment! lol

Christmas Craft

Driftwood, Sea Glass, String & Lights

Christmas crafts can come in all shapes and sizes, but this one is one that I particularly liked, made and was very popular, hence I ran out of them.

If you fancy a go, buy a white blank canvas board.

Pick up drift wood and sea glass from the beach.

Stick the driftwood on first with a strong glue.

Once dry, thread a needle with string and sew the drift wood on   to the canvas.

Stick on the glass.

Then make holes in the canvas where you want the lights to poke through.

Tie the wires to the lights at the back of the canvas so they won't stick out too far.

Get some batteries for the lights.

They look great hung in the hall or any where really.

Christmas at the Snookery

CHRISTMAS AT THE SNOOKERY

Christmas at the Snookery continues to change from year to year, as the clan continues to grow.  We had 4 generations altogether again this year which was very special.  

Years ago it was simpler.  My mother in law was German and so we always celebrated it on Christmas Eve as much of Europe do.   It was lovely to think we were enjoying a wonderful meal and opening presents while the rest of the UK were still frantically trying to buy their last bits and pieces.  Then on Christmas Day we went to my parents and celebrated it again the English way.  Looking back to those days we certainly had it good.  As our parents got older, we then carried on the same tradition but hosted it ourselves and my husband has become the cook each year which is wonderful and he does a great job.

Now two of our children are married and have children of their own, which is always a bit of a squeeze in our small lounge, pictured above. No longer able to have the meal on Christmas Eve in the evening, we get together for lunch, which means babies and great grandads can get an early night.  Christmas Day for now is the main celebration day, I guess it will change again in years to come.

Seeing Christmas through the eyes of children is always lovely.  I had a few special moments this year with the grandchildren.  Looking at the Christmas Tree with one of my grandaughters who is only 18 months old was special.  In her own language we had a lovely conversation about the lights and baubles hanging there, completely mesmerised by it all.  A moment with my grandson who decided he would show me his new book and a very special moment seeing our newest grandaughter who is now 6 months old, sitting next to her cousin and looking at a book together.  So glad I have it on video, I can relive it again and again.

Then there were those moments when you realise that putting together a scooter before giving it to your grandson would have been a good idea!!


Now we are in those few days before the celebrations of the New Year begin.  Time for reflection on the past year and anticipation of what the new year may hold.  Good or bad, whatever lies ahead, we know we can be sure that our loving Heavenly Father holds us in His hands, leading and guiding us into a year He has already seen from beginning to end.


I trust you too have had a good Christmas and may we wish and pray you have a good year ahead too.

Invisible Paths

Invisible Paths

Having been away for a few days and returning home, the first thing I heard as I awoke were the geese flying in for the winter.  To be honest, I had been expecting it to of happened during August, but it has been such a warm and dry summer, September arrived and I still hadn't heard them.  To me they herald in the autumn season, making their entrance known to every one that they have arrived, as they honk and squawk to one another while flying.  They are late this year as its now mid September, nevertheless, I love the sound they make.

Lying in bed last night during one of those sleepless nights when sleep seems far away, I could hear different flocks arriving.  The moon was full and bright, hanging in a cloudless sky, lighting their way through the darkness to "The Haven", a bird sanctuary not too far from here on the coast.  Yet even when it is cloudy and dark, they still know the way to go, shown to them by their parents.

It got me thinking though as I was listening to the geese, about those invisible paths that God has put in place for the animals, fish, birds and ourselves to find.  We can't see them, but they are there none the less.  For nature it is important as it means food or safety through the darker days of winter or to sunnier climes to breed.

For us too, there is an invisible pathway that God has signposted for us to find, a spiritual one.  He has put it there in the hopes of us using our free will to walk it together with Him, after asking Him to forgive us.  I found that pathway many years ago when I was a child, marked with a cross.  It is a cross on which Jesus died for me and taking my place and the death that I really I deserved.  It stands on a small hill and behind set into that hill, you can still see the trail.  It's not always clear as you travel it, but Jesus knows the way and with Him you can't get lost unless you try to go it alone without Him.  The pathway is winding, sometimes difficult, painful, emotional, but so rewarding if we finish the journey with Him and don't give up.  It eventually leads to the heavenly Jerusalem in heaven, where one day we will reign with Him.  I look forward to that day.

"Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew Ch. 7 v. 13.

The days are shorter now and the sun's strength is diminishing, yet it is still warm and sunny enough to don T-shirts and soak up the sun's rays.

I always love walking by the sea.   Despite a long and hot summer, I missed much of it as I was working in London with the drama.  I often look for those shells or pieces of tumbled sea glass that get washed up by the tide, delighted if I find something special like a piece of driftwood, or a glass bottle top smoothed by the timeless rhythm of the waves.

The photos are of the beach just 4 miles from where I live.  Here it is warm, sunny and tranquil with the Isle of Wight in the distance.  I guess the storms and gales will soon begin again, but eventually summer will come round once more and I look forward to it.

It's a Bit of a Hoot!!

It's a Bit of a Hoot!!

July has been rather a busy month, but I have been able to experiment with some old jeans!  Up cycling jeans is the latest craze and there are some excellent pinterest photos of work out there.  This is what I have come up with at the moment.

The owl doorstop on the left now belongs to my daughter, but the one on the right who also dons a jean pocket in the front can be bought for £10 if anyone is interested.  I think there will be other craft items to come in the jean fabric, so I will keep you posted.

Summer Strawberries

Summer Strawberries

There is nothing quite like a glorious English summer's day and going to pick your own strawberries.  It's just heaven!!!  Blue skies, sunshine and no traffic!!! In fact it is so lovely and peaceful that you can even hear the sky larks singing as they fly high over head.  Then there are the children, parents and grandparents excitedly talking while filling their baskets with the delicious fruit and even trying a couple, just to make sure they are up to standard!  I think it is something everyone should try and do.

For me it brings back many memories of fruit picking with my own children and more recently with my grandchildren.  It is so good for them to see where the fruit really comes from instead of just buying it at the supermarket.  It's cheaper too!

Here in Locks Heath, not too far from where I live, strawberries have been grown for many, many years and I think they are the best in the world, very very sweet and completely red right through.

Back in the 18th Century, the common land was divided into plots and sold off to local people.  Strawberries grow well here on the stoney soil, so it was a crop that many people decided to grow.  The early ripening made them desirable in markets every where.  When the Swanwick railway station opened in 1888, large quantities of strawberries were soon being sent all over the country.

The picking season was the busiest time of the year from the end of May to mid July.  Everyone was involved in picking the crops, families, friends and neighbours were all pickers and children were also given time off school to help.  Gypsies and the unemployed were also hired.



Initially the strawberries were transported in large wicker baskets called 'gallons', made by the prisoners in Winchester Prison.  Eventually they were put in a standard sized container called 'chips' made from strips of wood woven in a rectangle shape and stapled together.

In a good season before the second world war, there would be up to 160 trains laid on specially and the queues of wagons could be seen lined up the street at the train station, awaiting their turn to be unloaded and then transported.  As well as trains, anything from bicycles to lorries were used to transport the strawberries to the towns and cities.

I am told that the peak of the strawberry industry was during the 1930s and then it began to slip into decline.  Much of the land was sold off for housing with the demand for development.

Strawberries are still grown in the area in a few of the fields where you can still pick your own and I hope it will continue for the many generations that follow.  There is nothing like a bowl of strawberries, ice cream and of course cream, yum!