Some things don't change :o)

You may well remember the photo below from a post earlier this month. Emily loved dressing Wallace up when she was younger and .... she hasn't changed much ;o). Today she decided he needed his coat on because it was cold outside - even though Wallace was inside (where we had the heating on at the time)

Wallace doesn't look too impressed, does he!

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Today I have taken a break from sewing, baking, ironing, etc. I've read my magazines, caught up on blogs and looked at new ones. However, I also made my first digital layout!!! The layout came from Jools Gauger who made some available for people doing Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class. I am a beginner when it comes to adding layers etc. Recently I've been trying my hand at new things when a tutorial shows up on a blog and I'm slowly starting to learn a bit more. Like most things however, once you start you want to learn a bit more ... and a bit more .... ;o)

My first attempt. I used digital papers which I think came from Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand free class. I just added some photos from last Christmas and I'll leave it at that for now. You never know, you may just see a few more pages on the blog soon.

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Have a relaxing weekend

xx

Could this be ..

the makings of a Christmas journal???

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I had a rummage through my stash today and found some Christmas papers that could do with being used up. The idea of a Christmas journal still appeals, so .... could this be the makings of a Christmas Journal for 2009? I'm ever hopeful!

xx

Christmas is coming ...

Yesterday's post didn't happen 1) because I didn't really have much to write and 2) because I wanted to get the binding attached to the quilt ready for me to finish the hand sewing today. By the time I'd finished I was ready for bed! I also thought you are probably getting fed up seeing photos of my sewing ;o)

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Today, there is a definite smell of Christmas in our house :o). I decided to make homemade mincemeat - which should then, hopefully, lead to homemade mince pies in December. I picked up a few ingredients after dropping Claire at work and got stuck in as soon as I got home. I've never made my own mincemeat before but had heard it tastes much nicer than shop bought. Following the recipe in the Rachel Allen, Bake cookery book was really straight forward. Rachel's recipe books tend to be the ones I go to when I want to try something new because I've never been disappointed with any of the recipes yet.

I know it doesn't look particularly wonderful but it smelt delicious! I had been keeping used jars and cleaning them out with some home baking/cooking in mind. I was glad I had a few ready to steralise as the mixture filled six assorted jars. I see it also says the mincemeat can be kept for a year.

I thought it might be a good idea to label them so I remember when the mincemeat was made. Now I need to be patient and let it sit for at least a couple of weeks before using it.

xx

Not much to say

Not much to report today. Mondays are when I take Mum to Sainsbury's and we do our weekly grocery shop followed by a coffee and chat in Starbucks :). That part is fine, it's when I get home and then have to unpack it all that I don't like it. When you think about it, first you walk around choosing everything and putting it in your trolley. You get to the checkout and you take it all out your trolley again to go through the checkout. And guess what, you then have to put it all in shopping bags to take home. You unload it from the trolley into the car, from the car into the house and then you have to unpack the bags again! Wow, that's a lot of packing and unpacking!!!

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I was ready to take Cloud for a walk after all of that, I needed the fresh air to blow the cobwebs away and to relax a bit. The weather has still been very breezy so I made sure to put on a waterproof, fleece lined jacket. I felt lovely and warm and could enjoy the wind in my face and even the rain we got on our way round.

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This afternoon I started another task on my To Do List. I wrote out my Christmas Card List - I thought I had probably made enough cards to cover everyone; haha, way off the mark. I have the same number of cards to make again plus a few! How did I get to have about 80 cards to send out??? Do I know that many people ;o). I even made a start on writing the cards too - I've decided if I write a few each day it won't seem such a huge task and I think it may just work!

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I had sent an email to Karen today to tell her I like her Christmas Journals and I am inspired by the fact that this year will be her 4th year of making one. I have thought about this a few times but tend to feel overwhelmed when it comes to making the album up in advance - I like to know what photos and journaling I'm working with when I make layouts. This year I think I'm going to give it a go, I'll get the papers together and see how I get on. If it works out I've no doubt you'll see some photos of the layouts during December. Wish me luck!!

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Considering I didn't have much to say, I haven't done too badly ;o). As you will see in the photo below (because I like to have one in each post) I'm now in my pyjamas and I am ready to have an early night. I'm hoping to do more sewing tomorrow as well as the ironing and more card writing. Let's see how much I actually do!

xx