Nonnie

Some cute presents

I just had to show you all a couple of very cute presents I received at Christmas. These were from my Sister and Brother-in-law and I just love them. I'm not sure if they're trying to say something about my organisational skills as the item above and below is a card box. It has month by month sections inside where you write a note of Birthdays and Anniversaries and file the cards ready to be sent! Very organised!

Not only do I absolutely love the box with all it's sweet little houses around the outside but I also love the idea of being so organised and it definitely fits well with the goals I'm setting myself this year. I'm never any good at keeping to a list of resolutions so I'm following Cherry's suggestion instead. I'm just setting myself a couple of words for the year which are going to to see me through the year, hopefully in a better way to last year. My words are Positivity and Organisation. I'm feeling extremely positive this week, now I've just got to get organised. Filling this card box will be a start!

As well as this box and the DVD of 'Miss Potter' which is the loveliest film, my Sis also made me a couple of lovely presents. She very cleverly produced some absolutely delicious Thai Jelly for which she made the sweetest little cover. Isn't it gorgeous?

Along with the Jelly was another package with the label 'Nigella Rules!' and inside I found a lovely jar filled with milk and white chocolate chips, just ready and waiting to make a batch of Nigella chocolate chip cookies. I may not quite have Nigellas store cupboard but my ever growing collection of lovely jars filled with ingredients makes me feel very organised in the kitchen.

So I'm going into 2008 with my two words firmly in my mind. Hopefully I can stick to them and make this year a great one!

A Very Happy Christmas!

I'm going to take a little blogging break over the next week and a half to really relax and enjoy the Christmas and New Year holiday with all my family.

I just wanted to say a very very Happy Christmas and a happy and wonderful 2008 to all my lovely blogging friends. This year has had it's ups and it's downs but my life has been all the richer for this lovely, caring and supportive blogging community. I've loved reading all about your lives and I am more grateful than I could ever really put into words, for all the love and kindness that came my way from so so many of you at the end of the summer. I'm looking forward to 2008 with excitement. I just know it's going to be a good one.

Lots of love to you all. Have a fantastic Christmas. Looking forward to seeing you all again at the beginning of January. Nonnie xxxx

Winter walks and Christmassy scenes

My day at my Sisters ended up as three days at my Sisters! Well it was just too tempting when there was the offer of dinner and a glass or two of wine on Friday night. I just had to stop over. And then Saturday there was the temptation of a walk accross the common and into the woods to find pretty branches to decorate. It was bitterly cold but very beautiful.

Of course we had to go past the field to see the horses. Hamish loves the horses. They were obviously having a lovely day as when we got to the gate they were running round and round as if they were in a race.

So then I had to help with the decorating and my Brother-in-law said 'well you may as well have dinner again tonight Nonnie'. So what could I do but accept. Actually I think they were pleased for the extra pair of hands because poor little Hamish was sick so there was a lot of clearing up to be done as well as trying to keep him happy and decorate for Christmas.

It was lovely to have such an unplanned weekend though. Of course I didn't get quite as much done in my own home as planned but there was nothing of too much urgency. I asked my Sis if she would mind me sharing pictures of some of her decorations with you as they looked so pretty. As she is a regular lurker on many blogs she said she wouldn't mind at all. These are the branches collected from the common decorated with lots of lovely silver and white and pretty little lights.

And sitting next to the branches the cutest little house lit from within by tea lights.

This week I'm on a mission. Suddenly I realise that I have quite a few jobs left to finish before the weekend. I've written a list and I know that every lunch time this week I'll be dashing along the Kings Road grabbing last minute bits and bobs and every evening will be spent in a flurry of wrapping paper and baking of Nigella sweetie treats. I'm sure I'll get it all done! x

The Tree!

Finally pictures of the tree. It's been kind of a hectic week so finding time to show the pictures has been difficult. Thanks for all the lovely comments on my Sitting Room. It is my favourite room in the house at the moment.

You might spot the glass of sloe gin on the table under the twigs! I've been enjoying a glass most nights this week!

Tomorrow I have a day off work to spend Christmas shopping with my Sister. We're heading into Marlow which is a lovely place to shop, especially just before Christmas. My Brother-in-Law is looking after dear little Hamish so we'll be able to really take our time. But I'll look forward to spending some time with my lovely Nephew when we get back home. I had a chat on the phone with him today. Can hardly believe he is only just two! He was telling me that he was going to the Mum's and Toddlers play group to play with playdough and that Nana and Gramps(my Mum and Dad) were taking him to John Lewis this afternoon. Unbelievably for a two year old he loves going there! I think it's the lure of the great toy department and the lemon drizzle cake and juice that he always gets with Mum. Plus at the moment he is very impressed with the Christmas lights and tree that adorn the shop. He finished the conversation saying "Have a lovely day Aunty Nonnie". Oh he's a little lamb!!

This final picture below is of a gorgeous little berry heart that I received from Joanna of Higgletypigglety. I ordered one of her lovely prints recently as a Christmas present and she popped this and a lovely card in the parcel too. What makes it particularly special is that she made it from berries collected close to Chichester Harbour which is a place that I am very fond of and which she and I often talk about. I really love it and it looks so sweet hanging on the sitting room door.

Now I'm off for dinner at my Managers house who had left our company today. He lives close to the office but has given us all strict instructions not to arrive before 7.15 as he needs time to prepare! All I need now is a bit of a makeup touch-up and I'll be ready to go!

xxx

Before the tree

I'm really stretching out the build up to the tree pictures aren't I? The light in the Sitting Room was so cosy on Saturday though and it was all looking so tidy and lovely that I had to take a few 'before the tree' pictures. I'm really loving my little Sitting Room now that I've got it just as I want it.

I decided to put some of my unsold cushions on the sofa to add a splash more colour. There's a major red, white and blue theme going on in here now and even the Christmas decorations coordinate with everything else. I actually decided that apart from the tree itself, I'd quite like to keep everything as it is in the new year, meaning keeping up the twigs and decorations and the bunting below. Or maybe that's a bit silly. Perhaps I'll just keep the bunting and mix some daffodils or tulips in with the twigs on the 6th January. I always love that, don't you? Going to buy some spring flowers as soon as the tree comes down. Makes it seem a little more bearable. But I shouldn't be talking about that yet, Christmas is still two weeks away. Two weeks today!

Last night I got all my remaining parcels of orders wrapped up and ready to go. So those of you who ordered cards and decorations should have them in time for Christmas. I even finished all my Christmas cards and parcelled up the one present I have to post away. Very organised! And feeling a little bit virtuous!! I think I deserve a night of doing nothing but watching TV and sipping sloe gin this evening! I'll probably need that after braving the post office queue at lunchtime.

Did anyone see Nigella last night. Gosh, I'm sad that series has come to an end. Going to have to get the book. I'm absolutely dreaming of the chocolate and pistachio fudge she made last night! I was even thinking about it on the bus this morning. Some of that is definitely going to get made at the weekend.

I hope wherever you are today it's as perfect as here in London. Very cold and crisp with stunning blue sky and sunshine. Really lifts the spirits after the gloom of the last few days. Have a lovely day and I'll see you again tomorrow. x

Starting to decorate.

This weekend I had a lovely calm and relaxing time at home. It felt like the first in weeks. The flat was a bit of a tip so I concentrated on getting it sorted and starting to get the Christmassy feel going. I had planned on getting my tree on Saturday but woke to heavy rain so not idea for carrying a Christmas tree down the street! So instead I braved the weather to go to the garden shop in the middle of Kew to at least reserve and pay for the tree. I was determined I was going to get the size I wanted this year after ending up with one which was far too big last year due to being determined to be traditional and leave it to the last minute. So I ordered the tree and went home to get some other Christmassy things out.

I still had the lovely twigs left that I took to the fair last week and a few of my felt decorations so I decided to set these up with some of my red boxes and a cute little wooden tree I've had for a few years.

The little table I've put it on is normally my sewing table but as I'm not planning on doing a whole lot of sewing for the next few weeks I thought I turn it into a display table. If I get the urge to sew I can always use the kitchen table.

I added a couple of tealight holders for a bit of candle light under the twigs.

What with all the tidying it's starting to look rather festive. Yesterday I picked up the tree. It's looking really cute. Pictures of that and my now very cosy looking sitting room later in the week. x

Todays Inspirations

Some Christmassy images that are inspiring me today. All from Creating Your Perfect Christmas by Antonia Swinson.

Christmas Bargain

Further to my last post and the distasterous fair, I have decided to offer my Christmas cards and decorations at a special price to people who I hope will appreciate them - all of you! So for this week, I am offering any card or felt decoration at £1 each plus £1 postage and packing to anywhere (yes, even Australia, Canada or Timbuktu!) in the World. Just drop me an email or leave me a comment stating what you would like from the list below. With the decorations, the colour of the ribbon may vary slightly but the felt will be the colour you choose.

1. SORRY, CHRISTMAS TREES ALL SOLD

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3. SORRY, RED HEARTS ALL SOLD

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5.

6.

7.

8.

The Fair

Well I'm back and hopefully will be into my old routine again now everything has calmed down a little. I have had a really crazy week or two as work has been ridiculously busy and on top of that I was trying to prepare for the Bath fair.

The above picture is not of the fair, but is the branches and decorations I took to the fair which are now installed in my sitting room for a little splash of Christmas in the build up to putting my tree up. I don't have any pictures of how the branches looked on the stall, nor of the stall itself. I forgot to take pictures at the start of the fair and quite frankly I was too depressed by the end.

I've been wondering all weekend how I was going to write about the fair and in the end I decided to do as Jane did and be totally honest with you all. In a word, it was a disaster. Far from it being the success I hoped it would be I came out at the end of the day with a fairly significant loss. If I tell you I didn't even take enough to cover the cost of my petrol from London to Bath and back you'll hopefully get the picture. I have no idea what went wrong really. The fair was extremely busy, but despite the fact that my stand was the only one that looked really designed and attractive, rather than a jumble, I sold just a handful of Christmas decorations and cards and nothing else. I had comments that things looked pretty and lovely. My items were picked up and admired but just not bought. I'm not going to sit here and rubbish my fellow crafters but I will say that I was really surprised at what did sell. I had two particularly depressing moments. One was the two ladies who were admiring my decorations, picking them up, ooing and aarrring over them and in general making me think I was about to make a good sale. Then they turned to me and explained that one of them worked with children and they thought my decorations were and excellent idea for something to make with the children. As they were felt the children would find it easy to do something similar! The second moment came when I very smart, expensively dressed woman also spent ages looking at the decorations, picking them up and examining them in detail. She asked me the cost(£1.50 each) and I thought great she's definitely going to buy a few, only for her to say I'll have one please! I'm sorry, I know I should be grateful and perhaps her appearence actually didn't match her budget but really it was just the final straw.

Sorry dear bloggers, I hate to be so moany and depressing. I'm just so disappointed that this fair was such a disaster. I'd kind of told myself that if I couldn't sell well in the centre of Bath, the first weekend of December then I may as well give up on Nonnie Home. I'm not sure I am going to give up but I definitely need to do some serious re-evaluation in the new year. For now, I'll giving some of my cushions as Christmas presents and I'll be back with a post a little later to offer all of you my cards and decorations at a seriously bargain price. Do check back later on.

From now on I promise positive blogging. After the card and decoration offer, all future posts until at least the new year will not be about Nonnie Home. They will be about my life again, and my Christmas preparations, including pictures of trees, decorations and Christmassy food. And in general all things jolly and Christmassy.

Thank you for reading to the bottom of this very moany post. Moan over. Bring on Christmas! xxxx

An Award!

After over a year writing this blog I have finally got an award! Sorry, that sounds like I'm complaining that I've never had one doesn't it? Anyway, my new friend Michele his given me The Spirit of Christmas Award for encouraging her to start her blog. Michele and I met a few weeks ago at the Chipping Norton Fair where we had stalls next to each other. Michele makes the most gorgeous collages (can I call them that Michele?) and cards and at the time of doing the fair she was wondering about starting a blog. Of course I totally encouraged her and within the next week she was up and running. Do go and vistit her. Her blog is really lovely. Thanks so much for the award Michele.

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I think I'm supposed to pass this award on to five more people but I just can't do it. I've spent half the morning trying to decide who I should pass it on to and I just can't narrow it down to five. I can't even narrow it down to ten! Over the past few months I have received so much kindness from so many people that it seems unfair to pick just five. The amount of emails and even little gifts that arrived to cheer me up I don't think I could say thank you properly. You've all got me through it and I really feel I'm coming through to the other side, feeling so much stronger and more positive. You all deserve an award!

Well it's Friday again! I always love the sense of anticipation on a Friday. Just knowing that the whole weekend lies ahead. I'm off to the Cotswolds for bonfire celebrations in Mum and Dads village. They have a really big event and Mum and Dad get really involved in the organisation. I've volunteered myself this year too so I understand I'm helping Mum on the hot dog stall! My Sis, Brother-in-Law and little Hamish are coming along too. It will be Hamish's first bonfire night as he was too young to appreciate it this year but they're hoping he'll enjoy it this year. I'm really looking forward to a weekend in the Cotswolds, especially if the sun keeps shining as it is now.

I've just popped another cushion in the shop and there will be Christmas decorations going in on Monday. Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you all next week. xxx