Merry Christmas !

However you choose to celebrate, may you enjoy a  Peaceful & Happy
Christmas !

'Tis the Season!

Time for the last minute shopping, wrapping the last few presents, worrying if everything will fit into the oven and more importantly - be cooked at the same time!  Wondering who's will be the last Christmas card to arrive - always the person you missed off the list and now it's too late to do anything about it !

I wish I was one of those  people who can get everything lined up in time and then forget about things, but its never going to be that way so this Christmas will be the same as all the others - stressful, tiring and totally disorganised, but great fun just the same!

Whichever category your Christmas falls into, may it be peaceful and joyful.  May you keep safe, well and warm and,  however you choose to celebrate, enjoy the day to the full !

It's Official!

No doubt about it, Christmas is just around the corner and there is just no where to hide from it:-)

After all the problems with the weather and my eyes (much better now!) it's been 3 weeks since I've ventured further than a couple of kilometres from home - after all even us 'mature' ladies have no wish to be seen in public looking like the Wicked Witch from the West, which is exactly how I 've looked since this allergy started!

Today however with a little help from some light make-up I managed to look almost human and we took off to Rennes for some Christmas shopping.

Everywhere you look is decorated with baubles and bells, trees and garlands, and it is very difficult to decide which are the best displays, but I just have to show you some photos I took in one of my favourite shops in Rennes -   Cocktail Scandinave .

An Aladdin's cave at the best of times but at Christmas it really comes into its own!

Follow me in through the entrance .....

......and take a peek inside!

 There are colour- themed displays with all sorts of wonderful elves and reindeer , Santas and fairies, not to mention  stockings and garlands galore!

Don't forget you saw it here first!!

Yes !  That's right ! An upside-down Christmas Tree!

There are baskets and boxes for every occasion..........

...and linen.........

 .and we mustn't  forget the soft toys!!

You have to agree that this is a truly magical shop at the most magical time of the year!!

Oh - almost forgot, how do you like the new look  Blog ?

Le Bon, La brute et Le Laid

Or to use the words of  that wonderful 'spaghetti' western starring Clint Eastwood.........

THE GOOD - has to be winning not only a little prize for joining in Sue's  Christmas QuiltaLong, but also finding out this morning that I managed another win on Darlene's  Christmas Quilt Show!  Now this is really a red letter occasion as I have never won a single thing before!!  Many thanks to both Sue and Darlene for taking the time to host  these events!

THE BAD - was waking up Sunday morning feeling not too good and looking in the mirror discovering my eyes had  turned  into narrow slits and my whole face swollen !  I did make it through the day, but in a lot of discomfort I have to say, even after swallowing handfuls of antihistamine tablets.  Yesterday  however it was worse, couldn't stop itching or stand light at all so we called in the Doctor.  Seems like I've got a very severe case of allergic conjunctivitis which, thankfully,  is a lot better today thanks to the meds, although I am still not too happy with bright light.

THE UGLY: - really has to be me looking like Miss Piggy with a bad case of sunburn without the pleasure of seeing the sun!

....or if that doesn't make you smile try this one - one of my treatments is to spray my face with purified cold water and DH  has suggested that I stand in the corner of the room impersonating a rubber plant to do it   - don't you just love them !!

Christmas Quilt A Long

With all the excitement of the wedding, I managed to miss the  Amy's  Fall Bloggers Quilt Festival , which was a bit disappointing as I've taken part in all the other 'shows'.  Not too worry though, I am sure there'll be another one come Spring, and in the meantime I've discovered Sue's  Christmas Quilt A Long.

So - today I am going to spend as much time as possible joining in with everyone.  Not quite sure what I'll  work  on  yet  but,  dust bunnies or not, I'm having some 'me time'.  Don't know if I'm ready to put on the  Christmas CD to sing along too (bit early yet!), but I'm sure it'll be good fun in any case, so why not come along and join in!

Final Countdown!!

Well, here we are!  The final few days before the Big One!! Like probably every household on the planet we are running around trying to get everything finished and sometimes it feels as though we're not achieving anything at all :-)

Last jobs are going to cut some holly and mistletoe and getting the outside tree decorated now the snow has gone !  Yes, it rained during the night and the Winter Wonderland has left us and though it makes things a lot easier getting out and about - it ain't nearly so pretty!!!!

So before things get any more hectic............

                                         
A little something from me to you     http://tinyurl.com/yaj8pul

 

              

              Merry Christmas ! 

Nadolig Llawen   Nedeleg Laounen
Happy Holiday     Joyeux Noel
                                                                    

Christmas Sunshine!

After all the grey and gloomy weather we've been having lately, Christmas has turned out to be cold, but dry & sunny and what more could we have ask for as an extra present ! Brittany is very beautiful in the summertime, but as we found out on Christmas Eve, Winter also has it's own beauty even at - 3C !


Bluest of blue skies

with the sun throwing shadows on the rocks and undergrowth

giving even the bleakest landscape a beauty all of its own !

We were back on the canal bank, just north of Lac de Guerledan , for a walk this time as we thought that the bitterly cold wind , the penalty for all the sunshine, would not be very kind to cyclists !! What we hadn't realised was the section of canal we were walking on was in a valley and very sheltered , an added bonus which meant that I was able to take some amazing photos !

If you look closely at the last photo, and can see a white 'line' , that is actually the vapour trail of an aircraft jetting off to who knows where !

I don't think I have ever seen a body of water as calm as this, not a breath of wind at all and the reflections were amazing !This is just a small selection (!!) , but Blogger is not playing nicely today and will only let me upload one image at a time, and as I don't want to miss today's sunshine..........I'm off (!!), but before I go, I must tell you about our one last surprise - a kingfisher flashing across the water in a burst of glorious colour, too fast for the camera though but so beautiful !!!

Season's Greetings !

Merry Christmas!
Nadolig Llawen!
Joyeux Noel!
Nedeleg Laouen !







...........to all at Christmas Time!!!

Christmas Panic !

All of a sudden (or so it seems!!) Christmas has caught up with us and the whole list of 'last minute jobs' has become NOW !!! All the cards have gone out and gifts for the grandchildren are safe in Santa's workshop with all the others. Menus are being finalised through to New Year just make sure that we don't eat too much :-) and the shopping list for fresh vegetables etc is ready to go !



Our last purchase will be on Christmas Eve for fresh oysters, which have become the 'starter ' to our Christmas dinner since living in Brittany, one Breton custom that DH is very happy to adopt!!! As France provides 95% of all oysters consumed in Europe and 40% of those are gathered on the Brittany coast what else would we eat ! I can't remember how many tonnes are harvested, just that it is a lot!!!



Some news on the quilting front, one Log Cabin lap size quilt finished !





As you can see when the photo was taken there was still some of the binding left to turn (now finished!), but I wanted to get a photo whilst we had a little sunshine . I must have had a premonition about the weather as it has been really grey and miserable ever since ! Don't think there is much chance of snow for us at the moment - and 'dreaming of a grey Christmas' doesn't gel somehow !!! FMQ'd all over in the end, just my own version of stippling, but I am pleased with the result and another UFO off the list !

'Tis The Season....!

I just cannot believe that there are only a few more days left until Christmas - what happened to 2008 ????

It is almost a year since I started blogging (!) and during this time I 've had more visitors than I ever imagined from around the world, made many new friends along the way,been inspired by and learnt from other Bloggers and, as a bonus, had lots of fun as well :-)

So even though it might seem a tad early, I'd like to wish everyone a Very Happy Christmas , and what better way to do it than with this !

I will be back with some quiltie 'stuff' in a day or two (fingers crossed!!) but today I'd like to ensure that as many of my cyber friends as possible enjoy my little surprise !

Christmas Treasure !

My Holiday Booty Swap quilt arrived today from Kathy , and it is another little treasure!

I 'borrowed' the photo off Kathy's blog ( I hope she doesn't mind!) as I've just not had the chance to take one of my own during daylight and now it is dark and anyway, my photos are always squiffy!!! I must tell you that it looks even better in real life and the black stitching around the applique gives its a sort of 3D look - beautiful!!

There were other goodies in the parcel hidden among the pretty polka dot tissue!

Some note paper, a scissors pin, a quilty nail file, a rotary cutter case and an ornament from Luckenbach, Texas - what a haul ! Whilst I've been waiting for my quilt to arrive from ?? I did tell myself that I wouldn't open it until Christmas - I am just so glad that the wrappings weren't all taped down as it gave me the excuse to peep and once I'd seen the quilt - well I just have to have it on show as soon as possible!!!

Thank You again Kathy for this little gem and another big Thank You to Toni for taking the time and the trouble for arranging the swap during what must be the busiest period of the whole year !!

Oops! Just realised I forgot to put something in the photo - there was a quilting magazine also!! Sorry Kathy (!) but that's still in the lounge waiting to be devoured from cover to cover as it is such a luxury to have a new English language quilting mag!!!!

I 've been very lucky to receive such lovely quilts for my first year taking of part in these swaps, and I only hope that my offerings gave as much pleasure to those they were sent to as I 've had being on the receiving end!!!

Freebies

One thing that has never failed to amaze me is the amount of free quilting information, tutorials and patterns that are available on the web - in fact I would go so far as to say that without the internet I don't think I would be quilting today and for me that would be tragic!!!

I depend so much on this wonderful tool to keep in touch with what is happening, provide me with 'on line shopping' facilities for my fabric, helpful explanations when I am floundering and inspiration when I feel brain dead!! That so many talented people are willing to share their gift is amazing, and I am certainly grateful for their generousity! So - having said all that here's a little of my 'Freebie' Christmas sewing !!

A cheeky snowman door hanger from All People Quilt - free bells too as they came from Jo in Tas (go look at her blog to see some great Christmas ornaments!)

A small cushion made from a block at Fat Cat Patterns (some great Freebies here and also the birthplace of Dylan !)

A redwork Santa that I found (but can't remember where - sorry!) and made into a small wallhanging

Lastly, not a freebie really as I found it in this magazine

but as its Christmas related I thought it should be included with this post - my version of Christmas gone Scrappy Country !!

All of these will find their way to one or another of the DGDs (don't think the 2 boys would be very impressed somehow!!) and I just hope they have as much fun receiving them as I did making them !!!

Almost forgot! I've heard from Anjea that my Holiday Booty Quilt Swap parcel has arrived, so I can show it now

She seems to be pleased with it, thankfully! It is always a bit of a worry making something for someone else, and wondering how they will like it ! Don't think I will be taking part in any more for a little while now as I have so much I need to do for myself - unfortunately not all quilting related but things like the dreaded redecorating (!!), such a waste of good sewing time, but getting very necessary - Ah Well!!!!