Popping in and out again!

Having not managed to get on this laptop to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, I got my finger out and am popping on to wish you all a Happy New Year!

I hope 2011 brings you all joy, creative hearts, fewer hangovers and much cake!!!

With love, cupcakes and biscuits,

 ***** Ali *****

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Help Me!!!

 I have to go shopping for the second time this week.........with a husband who follows me around....children I cannot see for crowds and all because the Royal Mail suck and have forced me to shop in the High Street.  

If I could send them Ghosts of Late Post and Lost Parcels and a very scary one called the Ghost of Christmases Spoiled, I would.  In my world (where obviously I rule and can be utterly ridiculous if I choose) they should be forced to listen to Vogon poetry and have to endure non-stop soaps and reality TV.  Afternoon tea with Derren Brown with minging tea and dry stale chocolate cake whilst wearing braces, set in a hospital waiting room with awful Jeremy Kyle type shows on in the background and moany faced receptionists. Wet pants and a waiter who prods them repeatedly over and over and over and over and over until they beg for forgiveness, plead for their souls and wake up the next morning ordering me the biggest prize turkey from the butcher from a street urchin who happens to be passing. 

If I could I would.

Until them I shake my fist at them and boo like they're baddies in a panto and off I go.....

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What to do when...

...Mr Biscuit is wielding power tools in the kitchen, Biscuits are playing PS3 games and snow is falling (again!).

Eat chocolate and sew!

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"We've gone on holiday by mistake!!!"

Can you guess what happened?

Remember that cottage, our weekend getaway, our country idyll, that cottage that we decided to go in November instead of January in case we got stuck there because of snow.

Will it surprise you then that on Sunday we got snowed in, in that cottage until yesterday [Thursday] when we made our bid for freedom with the help of the local shepherd who indeed 'shepherded' us along the seven miles to civilization and boy did I leap out of the car to hug and kiss him.

I could write long passages telling of the stress, the loss of wages, the feeling of utter isolation, the hunger (I don't think I've ever gone so long without cake - Hubby and Father-in-law had to walk those seven miles into town and those seven miles back to get us food), the lack of radio or television so no idea what was going on in the world, my Biscuits missing the first day of advent and the joy of chocolate that brings, the fear of feeling so helpless and trapped but the worst, by far the worst was seeing snow as an obstacle and prisoner.  I tried to enjoy the bunnies bounding and frolicking about in the snow, the deer over yonder on the hill and the beauty of a snow laden countryside landscape but all of it was tinged with a desperate need to get out and home.  Wishing for rain to wash it all away and the desperation to see the gritter coming up the hill.  I love snow, love snow so it was horrid to feel negative towards it.

We were so lucky the owner of the cottage told us we could stay as long as we needed no charge and to help ourselves to the logs in the shed and the wine in the attic to which I cannot describe our gratitude but boy am I put off going away in the winter again and boy am I never paying attention to weather forecasts.  I don't ever anyways but on this occasion I checked all week, 'light flutterings and sleet' I read.  The locals up there knew it was coming.  How come weather forecasts seem to depend on where you get them?  I looked up the Met Office online for goodness sake!

Luckily the road home was clear all the way and considering how often since Sunday that particular motorway and the forth road bridge was shut, we were blessed with little traffic, sunshine and no snow!

I should be panicking at the time I've lost (homemade Christmas an' all) but I cannot.  What's the point getting stressed over things I can control when I just went through an experience where I had no control except how to react?  Feeling trapped had made me appreciate the freedom to choose I usually have.  It feels like I've been away from my real life for yonks and I'm so glad to be back.  I even spent all day cleaning and didn't complain once [shock!!]

*BIG SIGH*

 The irony is once having 'dug' ourselves out of the snow 'twa hoors awa in th' Glens' we had to dig ourselves into our house.

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A Neverending Saga - it's a matter of perspective!

Ladies, I have managed to pick up another cold.   As I write I am sniffing and blowing and coughing and sighing.  Hubby Biscuit says it's because I got lots of my hair [as in never had my hair this short, ever!] chopped off on Friday and the cold has found it's way in via an exposed neck.  So having never quite making it to 100% well I've taken a wee baby step back again.  I say a baby step as it is all a matter of perspective.  Yes I feel god awful again but so what, Christmas is on it's way and that means I can justify sitting down sewing and knitting all those gifts I have in mind.  

The washing machine has been showing signs of dying the last few weeks and this morning it would not switch on.  It has obviously lost it's battle.  Ah well, I have a large kitchen sink, a bath and arms with which to scrub.  It'll either get mended or be replaced and in the big scheme of things it's no real biggy.  As I say the approach of the ching-ching of jingle bells can ward off pretty much anything even kitchen appliances dying [my gas oven went on the blink a couple of weeks ago too, luckily I have a second electric one].  

So I say Que Sera Sera!

I admit I am finding it easy to be philosophical as this Friday we are off here...

Auldallan Cottage

 (click for more of a looksee, even a virtual tour if you are curious)

...set in a simply beautiful landscape...

this image and above from cottages4you

...for a couple of nights and it will do me the world of good.  A bit of relaxation before December brings it's usual full steam ahead activity.  A break way from home to take some deep breaths [I hope my nose will allow this] and to look at the stars without the pollution of street lights.  We have holidayed there once before a couple of January's ago and I was stunned by the night sky.  

It'll be difficult not to arrive home feeling rejuvenated and refreshed on Sunday.

It's either the thought of this cottage or there being something to that old adage -  'get a haircut, take a load of your mind'.  Either way I am glad I'm taking it all on the chin.

X

Nearly Headless Nick...sorry I mean Nearly Wordless Wednesday!

Thank goodness my dining table is a big fella!

Sure I would love to take part in the actual Wordless Wednesday but who am I kidding, not gonna happen, no way, no how!

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The 52 Marvellous Makes Madness Challenge - Weeks 13 to 16!

I think I [finally] am feeling better now, my head seems to have cleared  a lot and am sleeping better so [again, finally] got my finger out with catching up posting about my t52mmmc challenge.

First up Week 13 - bumble bee scarf! 

 A Christmas gift for a friend to honour his much treasured sweater of the same stripes which was worn all the time, two decades ago.  Wear and age caused it's death as can happen with well loved clothes made of wool.  This was also the bugger that caused the wrist incident, I used acrylic wool on bamboo needles and it was hell.  Punishment for not using pure wool and the opposite of the scarf I knitted at the same time for myself with Rowan Big Wool made of 100% merino which was a dream to knit.  Last year I knitted one similar to this in black/white stripes and didn't have any trouble, different yarn brand, different experience.  Acrylic does have it's place and is great for crocheting blankets for my Biscuits to wrap themselves up in playing caterpillars and the like.

Week 14 - a week of birthdays!

Coffee and Walnut Cake* (which I've always detested until I tried this one!) for Mr Biscuit.  Birthday biscuits* which I have made every year of my Biscuits' lives (they say they expect them till I'm too old or too incapacitated to make them and I am NOT allowed to try anything fancy like filled in icing, it has to be messy and covered in sweets, glitter etc or else.  Suited me fine this year as my sprained wrist meant I struggled and this too is the reason for Youngest Biscuit's birthday cake* not being made in the shape of anything needing rolled icing but in the shape of a child's mud pie, worms and all.

I also baked pretty pink cupcakes for a dear friend but with organizing her birthday meal, I forgot to take photos before they were taken away or indeed scoffed for pudding.  

A very busy week indeed especially in a bandage and always during school holidays.

* from Cupcakes from a Primrose Bakery.

* from Nigella's Domestic Goddess.

* easy chocolate cake (x2) from Nigella's Feast.

Week 15 - granny square cushion front!

Making new cushions for the sofa.  This is the cover that I needed to fix the mistake in if you remember.  Wishing I had pressed it for the photo, ever the perfectionist!

Week 16 - empire biscuits! 

I think some would call these german biscuits but they've always been empire to us.  I always make plenty of dough when I am making birthday biscuits so I can freeze batches and these biscuits are the main reason why.  I got away with love hearts in a house of males as we all agreed they were the best shape out of the haribo box, almost went for the fried egg.  Scrummy!!

That's all for now.  Still loving this challenge!

I shall leave you with a couple of caterpillars I managed to photograph one day...

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Seeing black and feeling blue!

I'm fed up!

I'm fed up with feeling fed up!

Week three and I'm still poorly and it's starting to eat into me now.  Really starting to get me down, not sleeping well, no energy and so, so tired.  As Hubby Biscuit always says "I'm keeping it till it gets better" and I am looking after myself but impatience, hormones and a general lack of understanding as to why this b*****d cold will not go away are draining me.  

I'm feeling blue, finding it hard to see the positive thus seeing black and feeling affected by the rain and the lack of sun.

One of the reasons, if not the reason I started this blog was the idea of pulling my thoughts out of me and feeling the catharsis that brings.  I wrote a journal for years.  Books and books filled with ink;  my thoughts, feelings, ideas, my history and yet it stopped, stopped when the weight of motherhood caused such repetition I didn't want to listen to myself anymore.  

It was no longer cathartic discussing my life, life simply was what it was.  

After staring reading blogs I started to see blogging could open that door again so I tentatively began. I felt more freedom in my life and found a platform so here I am using that platform, putting it out there that I feel pants and saying (writing) that out loud and pulling it out of me helps just a little. Helps enough to motivate me enough to keep going and do the things I need to do today.  

Helps enough to know putting The Smiths on my ipod will put me over the edge so I won't be doing that then!

Ooh and my Doctor Who DVD may come today!  See, a positive thought! 

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