Happy Henlow Adventures

We know I’ve started a little Christmas cross-stitch this year sewing a robin but when I was going through my cross-stitch bag over the weekend I found a few other cross-stitches that I’ve done in previous years but haven’t managed to do anything with. I was in a big crafty mood over the weekend but also had a finishing attitude going on. It’s such a shame to have spent all the time and effort on these to just have them left in a drawer - something needed to be done with them I decided. I found a couple of packs of cards blanks that I had and set about cutting the cross-stitches down to size so they would fit in the frames. With some of them I also had to cut an extra sheet of card as backing to the cross-stitch as they weren’t triple fold cards. These top 3 I found difficult to get in the frames - they came in a kit but as I’d sewn them the fabric had obviously twisted slightly in the sewing frame. They’re not perfect as although I tried to twist them back it didn’t work perfec

Last weekend we had a long one with an extra day off on Monday. The plan was to do very little - stay in the house and do things we want to do but don’t often manage to find the time to do. I didn’t want to do any boring stuff although we had a bit of tidying and cleaning to do on Saturday morning. I also managed to sleep for a lot of the morning too! Once the boring stuff was all done I wanted to start doing some Christmas crafts. I really enjoyed having a bit of a play with my sewing machine the other weekend and wanted to carry on using it and try to make some pretty and fun stuff for Christmas. I started a few things but they’re not all finished yet so I thought I’d update you with this one that was incredibly easy to do and actually got finished in only about an hour or so. I got the idea and pattern from  Days Filled With Joy  although this is me - I couldn’t just follow it completely could I?! In the pattern the idea is to make tubes of fabric with ribbons attached around

The latest jigsaw was one called That’s Life. It’s a farm scene. I began with the edge and the obvious bits that joined to it (as well as the hunting out the rest of the red pieces). I then continued with the rest of the pieces that seemed to fit into what I already had. Because there was so much detail in this picture it was good to be able to pick through the pieces and work out what should be where. I didn’t even lay the pieces out at all until I got to the point above. Then I lay out the remaining pieces on one of the small boards that I have with the puzzle board that I use. I thought I was done...soo close but there was one piece missing! It was a brand new puzzle when I got it, sealed and everything so there can’t be any missing. Found it! It had gone under the sofa. Good puzzle to do with the amount of detail in it. Not a brand or anything that I have heard of but as this one was a gift from my colleague at work I think I will keep it - the box is a sensible size

Last night I said to the hubby that I was going to take my cross-stitch out with me today - I had a training course with work that I was over the other side of the city doing so I wanted to take this with me to amuse myself if I arrived early and after the event as the plan is to meet him for dinner tonight. I don’t have a small sewing bag to take out with me so I could only think of using a small food bag to put it in to keep it clean in my handbag. I went out to my exercise class and came back to find that he had made me a present. It’s this little sleeve made out of leather It fits my sewing scissors in perfectly and has stopped them piercing through the bag I’m using to take my sewing around with me today Sewing on the move has been very enjoyable - I managed a little bit before the course started this morning as I was early to arrive and I’m now sat in the Ikea cafe with my free cup of tea doing some more while waiting for the hubby to come and meet me to take me out f

This morning’s sunrise was so beautiful, I just wanted to park up somewhere pretty and watch it. Instead I had to go to work and struggled to find anywhere to even stop to take a photo of it but this is the view from the office window when I got in this morning. Tonight’s sunset was almost as impressive- very pink - but I didn’t manage to find anywhere to get a picture of that before it had gone tonight. Hope you’ve all had a beautiful day! The smallest things sometimes can just put us in the right (or wrong) mood for the rest of the day. This certainly made me feel better this morning.

Last night I started a Christmas cross-stitch. I made a deal with my hubby that we can watch I’m a Celebrity this year but only if we go upstairs before it starts, get it setup and watch it on the laptop in bed, brush teeth at one of the breaks and lights out as soon as it finishes. I need to make sure I try to get enough sleep to feel ok the rest of the week. Last night we went up to watch after dinner and doing my puzzle downstairs but I didn’t feel ready to sit still and just watch. I felt a bit restless so Adam suggested I do a bit of cross-stitch in bed - something small for Xmas. I started this little penguin picture I only got as far as doing about half of the white of the face last night and the beak. I’m enjoying this little project as it’s nice and easy to do in bed feeling lovely and cozy. I look forward to working on it while watching I’m a Celeb for the next few evening. You never know, over the course of the series I might even be able to make a few and turn them i

While looking for the candle making kit last weekend I also found a kit I had for making lip balm. We enjoyed melting down the candle so looked at the lip balm making kit and this seemed fairly similar - melt down the contents of the kit and pour it into pots, leave to set. Simple enough. In went beeswax, almond oil and the butter (cocoa in the first batch & shea in the second) to melt in a jug over a pan of boiling water Once it had all melted you had to test how solid it was by putting a tiny bit from the pot onto a cold tray and seeing what it felt like as it solidified. More oil if it was too solid and more wax if it was too soft. Once it was pretty much ready we added the essential oil which was mint flavoured to the mixture as well and started to pour into little pots. The first few were made with the cocoa butter And the second batch with shea butter. We had to wait for them all to set before putting the lids on and labelling them up. I enjoyed making these

This was the second jigsaw that I borrowed from doing the rounds at work. It’s one of the wasgij ones that I do enjoy doing. I always find them quite exciting as you don’t know what the picture is going to be when you start working on it. This one was a gym scene and you had to work out what the lady on the gym ball can see (essentially looking behind you on the original picture)  As always start with the edge. As long as you remember that what you can see is in reverse on the picture you’re trying to create this isn’t too bad. I did sit sorting the pieces with my childhood teddy’s on my lap though as I was feeling sorry for myself and had a bit of a belly ache. Them and the puzzle soon took my mind off it though. Soon to start filling in the middle. I started with patterns or colours that were easiest to pick out and soon got to this point. I get slightly obsessive about jigsaws once I get started. I had realised by this point that the top edge wasn’t right though - all t

The first of my crafty tasks from the weekend - we had a nice candle with a wooden wick but as with all of these that come in a glass container they tell you not to burn them too far down so this candle has about reached the end of its safe useable life. I had a candle making kit last year I think it was for Christmas and I hadn’t tried using it yet. Obviously it’s designed to make candles from scratch melting down wax and adding your own colours and smells but we thought it could also be a good way of repurposing this candle. We only used the wick from the kit so the wax and colours etc can still be used another time. For this one we melted down the candle by lighting it and allowing the wax to go molten. While that was happening I set up an old jar we used to store spices in with a wick hanging on it ready to have the wax poured in. A little messy when poured over the wick into the jar but the extra wax will hopefully melt off fairly quickly when it’s lit. We left it overni

I just got back from my exercise class and an 11 hour day at work to this - JD honey and some catch up TV in bed. What could be better. Needed today. Hope you’re having a good evening. I still have more to talk to you about from my crafty activities at the weekend - a few more posts will follow shortly

Last weekend we went back up to the Yorkshire Moors again to our favourite little place. The piggies had well and truly gone now - the field felt very empty although the landlord and landlady of the pub have now got a few new chickens to keep the field a little lively still. The weather wasn’t very good again last weekend - there was quite a lot of rain so we didn’t get to do much walking like I wanted to. We did get out in the car on Saturday though and went for a drive out to the Yorkshire cycle hub. It’s got a fantastic little cafe and they do amazing cakes! You don’t have to be into bikes at all to visit although I’m sure it’s a good base to start a bike ride from too. We had a slice of the ginger cake which we shared while we were there with the coffee and got chocolate. I have to say the hot chocolate is lovely - it’s always just the right temperature to drink once you’ve eaten a few of the marshmallows off the top and mixed in the remaining cream. They even put a few mar