In the winter, our 7-year-old Golden Retriever, Billy, likes to snuggle up between hubby and me at about 6 am to warm up.
And every morning when Sam, our 4-year-old Golden, knows hubby is waking up, he starts nudging him in the back with his nose.
Hubby gives him lots of pets, then as soon as he gets out of bed, Sam jumps up for a cuddle with me.
So this is what I wake up to every morning. Arent I lucky?
The other night my daughter introduced her partners kids to a good Aussie favourite, the jaffle. Jaffles are an Aussie icon and as well as being a favourite that can be cooked on preferably a gas stove, it is a must when out camping.
They cooked over a fire pit in the back yard. I believe its called a toastie in other parts of the world, but here it is the good old jaffle.
Cooked in a cast iron jaffle maker, you butter the outside of the bread, put your favourite filling on, put the bread on like a sandwich and put it into the jaffle maker.
Some of the favourite fillings here are ham, cheese and tomato (onion can be added if desired), mince and cheese and my favourite is tinned braised steak and onion.
But really you can put anything you like on them.
Just have to be careful when you take off the heat because the filling is very hot. Many a burnt mouth has happened when taking that first bite!
The kids had fun and loved them so I think there will be many more backyard camping done so they can cook some more.Todays designs are Crystal Roses and would make for a very pretty card when you need a Quick card top by just adding a sentiment.
Each year an event takes place called Young Voices, where over a short period primary schools from all over the country take part in a huge sing a long at various venues nationwide.
Last Friday a number of children from RAF Benson primary schools travelled to Birmingham to take part in one of these huge performances.
My grandson Harry was a participant and my daughter went along as a parent helper. Its a long day as the children have rehearsals in the afternoon and the performance in front of a huge audience in the evening.
The children practice for weeks the chosen songs which range from pop to musicals and more. There are always special guest artists too. One was a vocalist who sang at the Kings coronation the other was a young lady called Connie Talbot.
For those who watch BGT she performed as a 6 year old in front of the judges, she was cute and had missing front teeth, but when she sang she blew everyone away.
Fast forward to 2026 and Connie is now 25, has a single coming out and has an incredible voice. Harry and Kayleigh thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Heather Howes has helped me and taught me so much my journey on craftsuprint.com we got chatting years ago and shared comfort to each other when we both lost our other halves with in about a year of each other, then we drifted apart for a while learning to cope and mange with our new way of life but i always though if i ever get anywhere near where Heather lives i want to go and Meet her, So what a surprise it was last Year when Heather and Mick Came to Swindon so we met up in Royal Wootton Bassett Where my son has his business, it was so lovely to meet her at last but i was so surprised at how tiny she is always pictured her as being much taller.
What a lovely day that was to meet Heather Howes my best Cup friend and we are in contact nearly every day again now which is lovely and earning some money again.
…. Youngest son and my youngest granddaughter (father & daughter! Lol) are both medal winning runners! They both had new running spikes. Last year Olivia persuaded her Dad to buy tiny flat back crystals and they came to our house so I could help with bejewelling her spikes.
This year her dad (my son Paul) decided he was going to have jewels on his spikes too! Ohhh boyyy did we have fun! You wont believe how time consuming and fiddly it is to put them exactly where they wanted them. Several hours later and the spikes were put to dry …. I must admit they really did look good!
Paul will be representing the UK in Poland again soon, he got the silver medal in 2024 …. When he was in the final year of his age group …. This time hell be one of the younger runners!!
My daughter Kellys rescue dog, Cookie, has truly blossomed since becoming part of the family. She is so settled with them. As the weather has gotten colder, Kelly has bought her a coat for walks and a few sweaters for home.
However, while browsing online the other day, she couldnt resist getting Cookie a bright pink hoodie. Judging by the look on her face, I dont think Cookie is very impressed! She does look cute and very cosy though.
Yes Im still baby sitting a house, 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 fish. These photos are them! Theyve become my shadows and follow me everywhere.
Well except the fish but if I go near the tank they are at the front and Ive got instructions to talk to them every day.
I do. The cat gets quite annoyed when Im a bit slow at going and sitting on the lounge to watch a TV show I watch, as she loves cuddling up to me for the afternoon.
So while Im here in 35 degs the family is off frolicking in Shiga Kogan with 113cm (44 inches) of fresh lovely powdered snow.
They are due home tomorrow and it will be a bit of a shock to their system when they walk out of the airport into the humidity and heat.
This babysitting caper is like having kids again.
Feed time, play time, poo patrol, keep the water full for them…..Im loving it. This weeks designs are Valentine Day toppers and a lovely swan design.
Snow stopped Play! …. Or to be more accurate - it stopped everything outside! lol. The first real snow (as in not just a sprinkling!) arrived in the East Midlands last weekend.
Im a bit of a coward about driving in such conditions - sooo I Stayed at home and observed it from the warmth and comfort of our house! lol.
To be fair the snow wasnt as bad as in the 1970s when we really got deep snow … one year it was really deep and we built a huge snowman and almost a small igloo in the garden! lol
Here is my latest sewing make: a mini camera bag. I love the mushroom fabric, and I enjoyed picking out colours from it for the rest of the bag. This was a tricky project, as it has binding on the inside. Thats new to me, but thats how we learn.
I started it before Christmas on my trusty domestic machine, then, after a little festive break, I finished it on my new semi-industrial machine, which was a bit intimidating.
But I did it, and now Im looking forward to making my next bag from scratch on my new machine.
Christmas feels like a distant holiday now as we go into the second week of new year. We dont really see anyone over Christmas. Our oldest daughter who lives nearby brought us our Christmas dinner.
Fast forward to the 30th and our youngest guest daughter who lives in Oxfordshire ventured up for the day with her hubby and Alfie and Harry.
We had t physically seen them for a year although she does phone three times a week, sends lots of photos so we pretty much know what goes on.
It was wonderful to see them and we had good food, played games and more.
Then they left to go and visit our eldest daughter and family for a couple of hours. So we have a rare picture of our children, son in laws and four of our five grandchildren. The other two being Jack and Evie. Our other granddaughter Darcey lives in Leeds so we didnt see her. It was a lovely day for everyone.
Well this week Im babysitting a house, 2 dogs, a cat and 2 fish while family is off enjoying the cold in Japan!
I will be here for 10 days and I made sure I wouldnt be bored and brought my computer with me so I am still able to stay in touch with the world.
Doggys are getting on in age now, and pretty easy to look after. Fish easy. The cat is gorgeous. Shes 21 years old and just wants cuddles.
I am her servant at meal times…..she lets me know with her cry when shes hungry but I have to stand and watch her eat because the dogs also like cat food!
So while they are over there all rugged up in their coats and beanies and gloves, Im here with the air con cranked up.
This weeks designs is a pretty perfume design and some crosses suitable for Easter and those that dont want eggs
…. Was my Great Grandson, Noahs, second Christmas…. But the 1st Christmas he got to join in the fun with! Ohhh boyyyy did he love it! We all went to my daughters so he was on home ground (as his mum (my 2nd oldest granddaughter) and dad all live there.
He sooo loved it … and that was before he got to open his very, very large pile of presents!!
It was really magical seeing his eyes sparkle with all the fun he was having … it really made us all feel very Christmassy!
Lol
Our Christmas was celebrated on Christmas Eve for family. This being due to parents having their kids who then had to go to the other parent on Christmas Day.
First of, we had a lovely lunch at my sons place with his wife, son and his sister and her partner and kids.
Thought it might have had to quickly be moved indoors when a storm rolled through as we were about to sit down.
But it passed quickly and lunch was served about 15 minutes later than planned.
Then it was a quick trip home to get changed and head down to hubbys sons place. Our granddaughter who lives with us took us down and we managed to get through the evening/night with no further storms although they had put warnings out for severe storms.
It was a hectic but wonderful day and come Christmas Day it was a quiet day at home with just the grand daughter and her partner.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones. This weeks designs have a journaling feel with several sentiments given to place in the middle
I hope everyone who celebrates it had a lovely Christmas. We enjoyed a wonderful couple of days with our family. On New Years Eve, we went out for a nice meal, followed by some fun at the amusements on the pier.
My daughter and I tried out a dance-off game machine, which was a lot of fun, though quite challenging! My husband even joined in on an arcade game; I think hes now considering getting a game console for home—lol!
To wrap up the year, I wanted to share a picture of the last Post Box Topper of 2025.
Its a brilliant knitted Paddington Bear with the words Happy New Year around his feet.
No sure if I told you all about my new opportunity. I have always loved arty stuff from making clothes to knitting with my Nan and then I got into cardmaking and designing cards.
A few years after I got interested in Jewellery making too.I came by jewellerymakerTV by accident when channel hopping on TV.
Once I watched it I was hooked. Ive had a bit of a sad year, I lost Mum earlier in the year then in July my Son qualified as a teacher and moved to Dubai, whilst I am very proud, I miss him.
Anyway at a lose end and with my Son pushing me I done a screen test and interview for Jewellery Maker and have been their newest Guest Designer.