ITS BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS........

Come on now join in....Everywhere I go........

( Christmas Tree Decoration just added to Folksy)

Well it certainly did late last night when I went to peek out of the bedroom window.......

 I had no idea it had even started, the sky had been so clear....

and come the morning, there had been a bit more...

My retreat looked a bit bleak and tea on the lawn was definitely off.....

they say the snow muffles sound and we found out why....

10.00am on  Saturday morning and the place looks deserted..

but Oh so pretty.....

 and at last evidence of life....running back into the warm as fast as they can go!!!

I do love the snow when it's crisp and fresh, love to hear it crunching beneath my boots, love the freshness in the air....but today the wind chill meant it was bloomin' freezing and so we followed suit and hurried home to warm drinks....shame the mince pies aren't done yet a nice hot one of those would have warmed our hands a treat.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend whatever your weather and I'll be back in the week to tell you about my trips to York and Harrogate.

TTFN

Jenny xx

PLEASE NOTE AS FROM 31 OCTOBER, ENGLAND IS SHUT!!.............

No not really, but more of that in a minute.................

First and very importantly I would like to draw your attention to this Poster ..................( Picture nicked from Elaine's site...but I have told her)....

I think it is so good that we can promote such lovely events, even though like me you may be far away and sadly unable to attend. With so many of our High Streets becoming little more than 'Pound' shops, Estate Agents and though I am not really complaining about these, Charity shops, it is wonderful to know that small groups of enthusiastic people are gathering together talented crafters and suppliers to provide us with the kind of shopping experience we seem to have lost.
This fair brings the collected and collectibles, the hand made and carefully sourced vintage or vintage inspired goodies that so many are now finding really desirable.
So come on ladies if you can get to Pamphill, near Wimbourne Minster in Dorset on Monday 29th November you are in for a real treat. And you will get to meet a few of the lovely ladies that many of you chat to on a regular basis.

AND NOW......to get to the title of this post....

On Sunday, as we do at least twice a month now, we planned a visit to yet another NT property or landmark, within about a 40 mile radius of our home.  Those further away we are gradually getting round on our weekend visits away which we are very fortunate to be able to do about 4 times a year.
Well this Sunday our plan was to go to Keddleston Hall in Derbyshire, but no... the house is closed from 3 November!..
Next we looked at Sudbury Hall,......closed from 31 October.....
Calke Abbey?..........no! closed from 31 October

OK so the grounds of most of them are still open, but it is quite a long way to each of these so we rather wanted to do the whole thing. We know that they need to do maintenance (and dusting) but its a shame they all seem to pick the same time to do it!

But not to be daunted we set off for one of our favourites...Nene Valley Steam Railway intending to catch the train to Ferry Meadows near Peterborough and enjoy a lovely walk around the park....

But you've guessed it........no it wasn't closed....just no trains running!!!

Plan 327......

We eventually drove to Stamford, where we enjoyed a stroll taking in the beautiful Georgian buildings and did a bit of window shopping.  We also discovered that a musical version of  'The Railway Children' is on next Saturday evening, so took down the details to see if we could get tickets. ( I know it's a children's story but I love it, along with 'Goodnight Mr Tom',  it is one of my all time favourites.)

We discovered the most amazing little collectibles shop and.......It was Closed!!!......

.....but we will be back.....

From here we drove to Rutland Water and finished our day with a bracing walk around the lake,

There were even trees with leaves still........................
tho' we didn't expect to find these hiding in them, (the leaves that is not the trees!!)

and finally off to Empingham for a warming meal....and a well earned glass of wine!!

Well it has now taken me 2 hours to upload the photos for this post and quite frankly I am fed up, just as we thought blogger was behaving, here we go again.

So I am now going to take out my frustration on a pair of slippers, for me, .... (oops hope the sewing machine isn't listening or that's another no-no) and wish you all goodnight.

I think I may even resort to a stiff Whisky, (such decadence)!!

TTFN

Jenny xx

SO EXCITED!!

Just a very quick visit.
I am so thrilled my gorgeous son has just created a new banner for my folksy shop.....Just need to sell something now!

www.folksy.com/shops/winnibriggshouse

TTFN

Jenny xx

WHO STOLE THE LEAVES........

Hello my dears ( I sound like that 'old' lady in the childrens TV programme who flies the plane!)

It seems ages since I did a 'proper' post and so much has happened in that time.......

First I can't believe that it was only a week ago that I took these pictures....not very good as they were taken from our car whizzing on our way to Ikea......

And now the trees outside my window are bare!.......

And then only a week ago spent a happy afternoon doing this..........

and now all the bonfires are out and the fireworks done.....

However I'm kind of excited about this picture, not because it is a work of art, or won any competitions, but simply because it is lit with battery operated tea lights from Hobbycraft!  My grandson was thrilled that he was allowed to carry it to the door to show his mummy and daddy, and that it could stay indoors lit!!

I am now trying to get some more to place around the house for Christmas....I have always loved those photographs of stairways lit with candles, but immediately it was followed with gasps of 'how dangerous'. But no more!..... I shall be able to have my dream staircase this year and will show you piccies when we decorate the house.  Obviously they are better in almost darkness, but then real candles don't show that well in the light....but the safety aspect with young children, (and drunk adults) is surely a bonus.

I have been busy sewing again, some orders...though not enough yet!...and none actually from folksy. Have been doing quite a bit of 'secret sewing' for Christmas presents and the Autumn Leaf Craft Swap kindly organised by GiddyStuff

Obviously I can't really show you anything yet but here is a little peek.....

....and finally a very naughty bit of retail therapy... Last winter I was fortunate to pick up an absolute, and I believed never to be repeated, bargain of a beautiful brown winter coat, at our local designer outlet. £299 down to £79!!. A real classic which will last me forever.  Of course being a girl that likes several colourways in her wardrobe, I felt it didn't quite go with everything I possessed and rather fancied a grey. So...with hubbies approval...I withdrew some of my savings and went shopping again......

OK so not quite as good a bargain as the brown, (I had to pay £20 more), but it is super. So warm and I think stylish and a real investment.

I feel now as though I should refuse all Christmas presents as I am so lucky to have such nice things.....but I do like to open a little something on the day.....now where was that diamond ring I saw in that catalogue....only joking. We have limited our spending to £20 each this year, but we can make what we like....so I'd better get back to that machine.

BTW, I see the Christmas fairy has been early and sorted out some of the gremlins in the photo upload....yippeeeeeee!!

Hope you all have a productive and pleasant week...

TTFN

Jenny xx

NEW FOLKSY SHOP

Just a very quick post to say have taken the bullet between my teeth and opened up a Folksy shop. Will take some time to get more things made to sell but thought I would make a start. This site will be for items already made and generally not personalised.  I will be selling those on my website hopefully very soon.  However if anyone wants something custom made they can contact me direct by email, or through Folksy.
Please forgive me for being cheeky and please wish me luck.......

TTFN

Jenny xx

GLOUCESTER, CHELTENHAM AND TEWKSBURY....

You know how it is when you build yourself up to something and then the reality doesn't quite hit the spot....

well our arrival in Gloucester last Saturday was a bit like that...

To start with we were only stopping at a Premier Inn, not a place I had stayed in before...I know I have been a bit spoiled, but I have had to wait until my retirement to sample some of these lovely old hotels....anyway....

I was pleasantly surprised, the room was clean, not over big but adequate, the bed very comfortable and the staff delightful! ....so far so good..

We drove into the city to take our first look around and that was when we were a little disappointed....dusty grubby streets, shops closed...altogether a bit drab and absolutely not what we had pictured....and then we rounded a corner and found ourselves here.....

Gloucester Cathedral, what a stunning building.....and from here things only got better....

stunning architecture.......such a shame that those 'To let' signs are everywhere you visit now !.......

 unfortunately the Tailor wasn't in.....

A little gem ........

and the stunning dockside area where we found our first Antique shop....Its hard to believe looking at that sky that these pictures were taken within minutes of each other!.....

After a short stop for tea and cake we returned to our hotel with instructions on how to find the new shopping area in which there was another Antique Centre.....

On Sunday we found ourselves at Cheltenham Racecourse.....no not to back the gee gees, but to see what bargains we could find at the large car boot sale.....and bargains we did find, including some of the Masons Pink Vista I collect and a couple of pieces of Johnsons Goldendawn. 

We left here to go back into Gloucester only to find yet another CB, but after a brief tour we finally set off to find the second Antique Centre we had been told about.

This was on several floors with units filled with all kinds of treasures. We all found something to our liking here including DH so it was a very successful visit.

.......But the most amazing thing is that back at home on Monday evening I settled down to catch up with all you lovely bloggers when I spotted a post by Jayne at Country Cottage Chic showing some new things she had just put into her shop. One of these was a tin in the shape of an old cotton reel, and I knew it was one which I had picked up and almost bought on Sunday. I commented on Jayne's blog about it and explained that it had lost out to a piece of Johnsons Greydawn, and would you believe that was one of her items as well. talk about small world.

Well if you are in Gloucester and enjoy Antiques and Collectibles you must visit the Gloucester Antiques Centre at the Gloucester Quays, it is well worth a visit!

Well Monday found us heading for home, but we decided to check out Cheltenham and Tewkesbury while in the area and we were quite impressed. Cheltenham reminded me a bit of Bath, mostly the architecture...

and Tewkesbury very similar to Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire..........

only small but filled with tiny Antique shops, cafes and boutiques as well as Tewkesbury Abbey...no photo I am afraid as my camera battery failed, but another place worth a visit.

Well that was a bit of a marathon, if you're still here and not asleep, I am impressed and I apologise for the initial negative vibes about Gloucester and happy to say my first impression on this occasion was wrong.

Off now to read a few chapters before I turn in so.....

TTFN

Jenny xx

A FLEETING GLIMPSE.....

Well I said I would.........

One New Coat........

..terrible pictures as taken in the evening when I was packing to go away for the weekend....

It came away with me and was warm and cosy...so glad I lined it though as not sure I would have liked all the seams showing.  The pattern has no fastening except the attached scarf, but I put one button at the top and this seemed to work OK.

Back tomorrow with the piccies of Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewksbury.

TTFN

Jenny xx