Wednesday 31 December 2014

Just a quickie

Just dropping in to wish all my readers, lurkers, commenters and followers a very Happy and Healthy New Year. Be kind to yourselves and treat others how you would wish to be treated.

We are having a quiet one. The kids are off out to various parties. Mum, Looney brother and his lovely lady are coming here for pulled pork and brownies and I shall probably spend the latter hours of 2014 stressing that my remaining teen is being the sensible lad he usually is.

Much love from Peapods xxx

Tuesday 30 December 2014

A Simple Woman's Daybook December Edition

Hello lovelies,

I'm linking to Simple Woman's Day Book for one last time in 2014.
I love blogging but my life just isn't that exciting to provide me with blogging fodder on a daily basis and I'm sure that you lovely people don't really  want to know what I had for dinner each night or how many times I've been to the loo in a day!!  (And if you do then don't admit to it!).  I therefore use the Day book entries to provide useful blogging prompts.  There are many others taking part and here's the link if you would like to check them out too
http:://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.co.uk/
Outside my window:-   it's dark and the skies are very clear. There are some patches of the garden which haven't thawed all day and remain white with frost.  Brr quite frankly!

I am thinking:- how glad I am that the cat is now being tolerated by the hooligan hound so much so that Charlie cat walks underneath him and steals his biscuits!  I never thought I'd see the day.


I am thankful:- for friends.  I had a lovely cosy catch up over toast and coffee this morning with Madam P and a barking mad hilariously non-sensical text convo with S this evening.  You can't beat it!

I am wearing:- a big super fluffy cardigan, a black tunic dress, black leggings and mad socks.  I am the height of fashion don't you know. (The height of fashion looks like a fluffy oversized black bird with bright pink feet just in case you were wondering.  What can I say? Vivienne Westwood designed me)

I am creating:- hmm let's see. A ripple blanket, (about a month old) another ripple blanket, (about a year old) a Celtic Christmas cross stitch (approximately 8 years old), a wildlife cross stitch (about a year old), a friendship journal (started about four months ago), several canvasses (anything from six months onwards), nappy cake and a nappy owl (3 months old and now smelling of damp shed so I can't do anything with them), several unfinished pages in an art journal (nearly ten months old), a bag (about two months old and still on the sewing machine), a granny square blanket (about three years old) and yes,  I have outed myself as a serial unfinisher of works in progress.  One is suitably shame faced.  A bit.  Maybe.

I am going:- to try harder!!!

I am wondering:- what new project I can try in the new year.  Cough.

I am reading:-  Harry Potter and the philosophers stone; Frankenstein;
The return of the hippy by David Luddington and Free Country by George Mahood.

I am hoping:- for a peaceful, healthy and happy New Year for all of us.

I am learning:- that perhaps I shouldn't try to do more than one thing at a time.  Particularly as I have the attention span of ..... oooh pretty lights...erm, what was I saying again?

Around the house:- the last vestiges of the festive period remain. It will soon be time to pack another Xmas away with its memories until next year.

In the kitchen:- remains of the home made lasagne we had for tea, and an orange blossom candle burning in the window.

I am pondering:- what flavour ice cream I should attempt to make tomorrow. I have a new Xmas nifty gifty gadget!

A favourite quote:- "all that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost, the old that is strong shall not wither, deep roots are not hurt by frost"  Tolkien.

One of my favourite things:- at the moment my Kindle Fire. I love it!!

A few plans for this week:- having the famaloonies around tomorrow for pulled pork cobs and home made ice cream.

A peek into my day.  Charlie cat loves his new bed although methinks he could have done with a slightly larger model.



Love love!!

















Monday 29 December 2014

Random Shopping

Hello lovely bloglies. Thanks for visiting me and a big hello to my new followers. **waves a mince pie**

Feeling a little stir crazy today we decided to venture into town to see what they were giving away.  Not a lot, it seemed. I'm sure the shops buy in a load of tat to make up their sales stock.

I did, however, come home with the most random bag of shopping ever.

A cast iron stags head, a pot of purple hyacinths and a huge leg of lamb (which had been reduced in Aldi to just £5).

Top that!

Yep it's a slow news day here at Peapods!  Hey it was either my shopping report or nothing.  Consider yourselves lucky!!  ;)

See you soon!

Sunday 28 December 2014

My wick-ed obsession.

I was putting away some Yule gifts today and the sight of this little haul made me smile. Anyone would think I have a candle habit!



This little lot should last a couple of weeks at least!

I've been a little more productive today than I have been of late. I set to and spring cleaned my craft shed.  Again!

It's become habit to shove stuff in there when we are blitzing the house and then it never sees the light of day again. At least I can see the desk and floor again. It was becoming a little damp from lack of use so I've left the heater on low for a while to try to dry it out a bit.   I'm hiding the bloody keys too so it can't be used as a dumping ground!

Whilst I was tidying I found so many unfinished projects I was quite ashamed. Perhaps a resolution should be to finish them all before starting anything else in 2015.

Perhaps!


Saturday 27 December 2014

Snow Envy

The anticipated snow forecast for yesterday began around 4pm. It started as sleet, then thickened and became huge flakes, quickly covering the already sodden ground. By 6pm there was a good covering and I was beginning to get excited.  I adore snow. However by 8pm it had disappeared again, washed away by driving, miserable rain.  Boo!

Today I've sat snuggled up in my armchair, reading blogs on my kindle telling of snowmen and wintery walks - I'm so jealous.

Oh well. Winter ain't over yet. Hopefully we will get six foot drifts on the evening of January 4th, I shall be snowed in and will have to stay home from work.

Mother Nature?  Are you listening darling? !

Thursday 25 December 2014

Berry Nice

What else would you do on Xmas morning but thread a cranberry wreath and hang it on the feeding tree for da boidies.

Hmmm??


It looked pretty in the sunshine too!

Hope you have all had a lovely peaceful day.

With Love xxx

Wednesday 24 December 2014

One is not amused...

That'll teach him to drop his fur in my coffee!!


From our house, 
To your house, 
Compliments of the Season, 
Peace, Happiness
and whatever you wish for yourselves
With love,
from Peapods 

xxx

Sunday 21 December 2014

Winter Solstice 2014

Blessings to all visitors to Love from Peapods as we celebrate the return of the light.

I brought home a Yule branch and some Hypericum berries from town today for my little altar and added some ivy and evergreen from the garden. We ate some of the Yule log and lit candles as the light faded and then snuggled down for the afternoon to watch Narnia on the tv.

I still have two and a half days of work left which I could really do without. I just want to be at home now with my family. I hit hibernation mode at this time of the year and being somewhere I don't want to be irritates me!!  Ah well. Needs must when the devil holds your purse strings eh?

Love and light
)O(



Friday 19 December 2014

A day in the life of ...

It's been a rather surreal day today.

Lunchtime saw seven of us sitting around a table in the training room eating a proper Xmas dinner from a polystyrene box, thus:-


 Overheard in a store :-

Who restocked this rail?

I did why?

Cos it looks like Stevie Wonder did it!

Oh.  Well I don't know who you're talking about cos I don't watch telly.


Seeing these:-   why in the name of Noddy Holder would you need a slipper boot with a pocket for your mobile phone?


Battling the ravening hoards at the Merry Hill shopping centre where the dementors live, then sitting in a coffee shop purchasing something from Amazon.  Oh the irony!

Seeing two swans a swimming on the canal this morning, getting excited (me not the swans) then feeling let down because there should of course have been seven swans a swimming at this time of year. 


As an aside, it has become apparent since lunch time that I should only consider sprouts as costume jewellery from here on in. .

Thursday 18 December 2014

Getting into the spirit of things.

It was our departmental outing for Xmas lunch today.  Boss man decreed that we must all wear something festive or be prepared to do a forfeit of  singing a carol.

Well you know me.  I don't take orders very easily and apart from that, no Xmas jumper ever made would contain my boobage without giving the effect  of a rather overstuffed sofa.

So I wore these instead.


Sprout earrings. 

No-one is going to tell me that sprouts ain't festive!

Toodles!  

Xx


Monday 15 December 2014

I shouldn't complain really ...

Although I moan and complain about the office politics and the endless meetings ( as in - let's have a meeting to discuss what we said in the last meeting in case we forget about by the time the next meeting occurs), I guess I'm lucky to have very generous employers.  We have just received a very nice bonus thanks very much (although the taxman did a little victory dance too I should imagine), and we also have a choice of a John Lewis hamper or twelve bottles of wine to the value of £100 as a Christmas gift.  Once each month we finish work half an hour early and are treated to a glass of wine or beer and nibbles in our "atrium" which serves as a large meeting place for informal get togethers. With our department having recently moved to a satellite office it was good to see familiar faces and have a catch up.

Today we were treated to hot mulled wine and mince pies whilst a choir formed by work colleagues serenaded us with carols. Now carols leave me cold because of the heavy religiousness of them all. That aside though my goodness the choir was good. They almost raised the roof with their soaring descants. It's very interesting to see your colleagues doing something else other than the job you associate them with.

I let my guard drop for a few minutes and nearly became quite fond of the old place.

Nearly.  But not quite.

I blame the mulled wine.



Sunday 14 December 2014

Day of rest

Yeah right!  Me bloomin' legs am dropping off and I can't stand up straight!

Washing, drying, crumble making (apple and cranberry with oaty crumble if you please), roast beef dinner making, furniture moving, present wrapping, Yule tree erecting and decorating, aged parent entertaining, bed changing, lazy Sunday.  I'd like an extra day to the weekend please. 

Here do be the tree.  

Loves it I do. 






I do hope your Sunday has been productive - but chilled and lazy is superb too!!

    

Saturday 13 December 2014

Winter is coming ...

December Saturdays were meant for snoozing after the savage 6.30am alarm calls of the preceding week.  That was the plan anyway.  I had designated the bedroom a 'Do Not Disturb' zone until at least 9am.  It was still dark when Man got home from work, bringing me gifts of  hot coffee and freezing, ice block feet.  I was warm and drowsy, happy to drift in and out of snoozedom for a good while longer whilst he got his head down for a couple of hours.  I hadn't reckoned with the buzzsaw of his snoring however.  There are some noises I just can't tolerate and that's one of them.  Bless him.  He crawled into bed knackered and zonked out almost immediately, his coffee cooling on the bedside table.  As sleep claimed him, I became wide awake and lay gritting my teeth and pretending to ignore it for a while.  Nope.  I defy anyone to doze when they have the equivalent noise of a jet engine next to them.

I got up (in a bit of a huff if I'm honest), looked outside and saw that Jack Frost had been at work.  I had  plenty to do at home, but had a bit of a 'sod it' moment,  and so donned boots, my fluffy cardi and a scarf (yes I had other clothes on too - I'm not that brave, and neither is the rest of the world at large!!) and, after feeding Charlie Cat and Charlie Chicken, let a deliriously happy Hooligan Hound out into the field.  

Ooh it was so beautiful.  The kind of morning when the clarity of light is diamond sharp and the frost is so heavy it stands up in discernible crystals on leaves and fences. 

The ground was hard, but the watery winter sun had already begun to thaw it in places.  In patches it was slushy.  In another few steps where a shadow fell,  it was crunchy.  Slunchy maybe?

Here's some pics:-






A thawing puddle






I love the way these ivy leaves were edged with frost, like someone had taken a glitter pen to outline them. 


Needless to say my mood had improved when I got home. Another mug of coffee, a trawl through blogland and a browse through my photographs and I was as good as new!  

Can't say the same about my poor old boots though!!

See you soon! xxx

Working from home

I've taken a precious day of annual leave today.  I've really struggled this week with feeling so yuk and I needed the restorative ...