Springtime Blessings on the horizon???

 

Hello lovelies...

How are you all this week?

 

Gosh hasn't it flown by so fast...

 

I am soo very pleased today as Blogger has finally sorted itself out

and I can now upload my pics and text properly

without continually converting it from HTML text....

 

Faberooney!!!

 

Well my lovelies what kind of week have you had?

 

It's been very grey and miserable here again....

nothing unusual about this time of year I hear you all say.

BUT...

Have you heard?

 

There are tiny sprinklings of colour inching their way onto

the scene here and there...

New buds are starting to shoot...

 

 

...and soon the wonderful delights of Spring will appear!

 

 

Mother Nature will soon shower us with her gorgeous colour palette and

make our hearts smile again.

 

There is something really special about waking to a day of light and sunny glows

don't you think?

It makes you feel much brighter all over.

 

 

And then to complete the picture our little feathered friends will

soon grace our gardens and sing their songs to us...

 

 

How lovely!

 

I saw some gorgeous snowdrops on my way to work today

which is just perfect for the first day of the month.

 

Springtime is definitely waiting around the corner

to pop by and say hello

Isn't that just so delicious!

 

*******

I've been a busy bee this week with my embrodiery silks

and threads.

 

I've loved working with my little stitches this week

looking out at the garden and watching the wildlife

 

 

I'm still working on my Winter Collage which

was inspired by the snowy blanket that surrounded us last week.

 

 

I'm really enjoying it.

I've added some tea-stained lace today which creates a lovely

subtle texture against the shininess of the lace.

 

 

 

I do promise I will share my pics as soon as I finish!

 

Well I will leave you all to enjoy your evening.

 

Have a lovely weekend my lovelies...

 

 

Tilly

x x x

 

 

 

 

 

Red and yellow and pink and green....

 

Hello my lovelies!

How are you all?

It is so grey here today....you know one of these dreary dull days...

After the brightness of the snowy blanket we were all under last week everything seems very drab and dishevrelled.

 

The garden is looking so sorry for itself, windows are needing a sprightly wash and the remains of the muddy slush haunt some of the paths...

Mother Nature is obviously having an off day.... a little like myself.

By February I often sturggle with this grumpy cold weather and this year is no different. I suffer from Fibromyalgia and Rhuematoid Arthritis.

Two conditions that abhor the cold and damp!

 

Everything hurts including my poor wee hands which are beginning to show signs of my age. A sad fact I have to acknowledge.

Joints are swollen and slightly out of shape I fear the day that they begin to look my Nans' and Mum's...slightly knarled and worn looking....

 

Everyone keeps telling me to rest but it just makes things worse... I need to keep active in order to keep those joints moving.

Today is my day off and I awoke needing some colour and some hand therapy to take my mind off the 'aches and pains'...

So I am indulging in a little embroidery whilst

I still have some light in the daytime...

 

 

Over the past couple of years I've found a real love of

embroidery silks and stitches.

I love being able to wander with the silks and let their path travel

over a variety of fabrics.

I have a huge stash of gorgeous linens and lace that I love to combine with a little crazy patchwork.

It's not everyone's cup of tea but it satisfies my wandering bohemian soul!

 

I'm sure you've all manged to work out by now I don't like to stick to the rules... I don't stay within the boundaries...

and I don't like following instructions...

I love to meamble along the creative paths that lie ahead of me

with any new project.

 

 

 

I often have no idea where my stitches will take me.

If something looks wrong I either stitch over it or cover it with another piece of fabric...it's not the end of the world...

 

 

So I have all my gorgeous silks nestling in my basket just waiting for

me to choose them for a certain stitch or two...

 

I want to make a couple of cushions to use as samplers for my Embroidery Basics Workshops later in the year so I can display as many options as possible to show a little inspiration...
 

When my cushions are finished I will delight in sharing them with you...

Until then I'll while away a few hours with my colour therapy spools and dream of sunnier days!

Enjoy your day my lovelies!

 

Tilly

x x x 

Oooh Sparkly Mother Nature...

 

Hello my lovelies...

How are you all?

 

Little 'ol Tilly Rose is a wee bit chilly to say the least as I'm sure many of you must be too.

It is -3 here with freezing fog haunting the horizon and has a real icy chill in the air about it.

It's been like it since the weekend...

 

Sunday evening I went to bed after a lovely relaxing day all in a quiver and continually peeping through the crack in the curtains to see what would happen...

Will it, won't it?

Mother Nature had been threatening to cover us with a snuggly blanket of snow all weekend.

 

I was teaching on Monday morning so secretly hoped it would so I could enjoy a Snow Day

 like the rest of the world even though at my age sledging is a definite no no...

I was so excited...just like a child at Christmas!

When I awoke...oh my.....

it was snowy gorgeousness with a capital G!
She hadn't let me down.

Fluffy like a marshmallow, crunchy but soft and beautifully sparkly!
White sparkles lay everywhere...in every nook and cranny.
Delicious and icy fluffiness!

 

For five minutes I was transported back to being a child again, skidding along on the ice without a care in the world...throwing snowballs at my friends or passing cars, drippy soggy woollen gloves dangling off the ends of my cold fingers, soggy socks....

But then .....reality hit home and I had to think about digging out my little car to go to work, scrape off the oodles of ice covering my windscreen etc
you know...all the bring stuff we have to do as adults.

My school was one of the few that had decided to remain open and I was presenting a puppet workshop so needed to appear!

Pants!

 

*****

Today is a different day indeed.
It is my day off so I am lucky to sit and watch all the sparkly snow glisten in my garden...a completely different story.

I can simply relax and enjoy....

So today I am able to lose myself for a few minutes here and there staring at all the wonderful textures that are emerging as the snow is slowly melting in my garden...

 

It's like a magical world... just like Narnia!
(Can you guess that is one of my favourite childhood stories...)

I still have some little remains of my handmade Christmas deccies that nestle on my kitchen window

as I couldn't bear to pack them all away

 and against the back drop of the snowy blanket they do make me smile...

 

This is one of my Christmas wreaths.

The photo is terribly dull because of the light but it really sits beautifully against the snow-white...

 

I also have reminders of sunnier days of my window sill to make me smile as I pass by...

This lovely jar of honey returned home with me last summer when we visited Port Isaac
in Cornwall...

It now houses the odd bunch of bay leaves that I pick from my herb garden now and again
but just reading the label makes me smile...
I love the colour of the sunny label don't you?
 

Ahhhh...happy memories!

 

 

I am sorry that my photos are so very dull.

I could joosh them up but in a way I feel that would be unfair to Mother Nature.

She may be a little dull and grey at the moment just like the rest of us at times.

We can't always sparkle.

 

Today she is trying her very best to do so...

snowy crystals shine all around me

so I will be true to my support for her.

 

Stay safe and warm my lovelies...

I'm off to do a little more crocheting and make myself a gorgeous hot choc.

 

Fancy joining me?

 

 

 

Tilly

x x x

Snuggly Snowy Loveliness...

 

Hello lovelies!

 

How are you all?

Has your day been full of fluffy snowflakes?

Marshmallowy snowy loveliness?

 

I'm not a lover of the snow if I'm honest.

The cold seeps into my bones and makes me feel so achy ( a sign of getting old I guess!) but Snowy loveliness has it's advantages...

Today I have loved being such a lazy bean just pootling along....

Doing a little of this and a little of that...
you know the way you do when you are having one of those slow days...

 

It doesn't sound much does it really?

But for me it has been such a real treat!

 

Normally I work on a Saturday teaching a workshop of some kind but due to the snow I have been lucky enough to spend the day just pootling along.

Such a joy!

What is a girl to do on such a day?

Mmmmm.. let me think...

Well to start with, loads of these have been on the agenda!

 

With the light so very dull it looks so lovely with all the lamps and fairy lights on in the house at this time of year but I do struggle to do any kind of intricate work like hand sewing.

 

I love embroidery and embellishing my projects but get so frustrated when I can't see the true colours of threads or often see shadows of stitches that put me off my stride...so I decided today would have to be a day for my other passion...

crochet

 

I have so many works in progress all stashed away in lovely baskets or bags waiting for a few hours for moi to indulge, but today I knew what my project was to be...

I started this snuggly blanket of snowy loveliness

before Christmas and ran out of time to finish it.

I so love blankets don't you?

Especially crocheted ones!

They remind me of childhood days snuggled under trying to keep

my toes warm watching my breath float past in the air early in the mornings...

we didn't have central heating until I was a teenager so we were quite used

to popping round friend's houses and sitting in cold bedrooms listening to records

or playing a game or two snuggled under blankets!

Any kind of blanket is a winner for me... Snuggly lap covers to keep those knees warm during the cold spells or something to snuggle into when you are watching a movie...

I think every home should have a cupboard full of them!

 

Fleece blankets that seem to be all the rage right now do keep you warm

but they don't have the same appeal as a handmade blanket for me.

 

I love looking at the stitches..all indiviually made with love,

I love the myriad of all the colours and patterns and delight in delving into the snuggly rainbows that await on sofas or chairs

for me when I need warming up!

 

During the day I have managed to make a small stash of gorgeous grannies to accompany my large granny that I had already started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It didn't take long to gain a small collection of snowy loveliness.

 

Pure bliss for little 'ol me...a little music from my Christmas pressie,

a little crochet, a delicious milky hot choc, a little more crochet...

 

I think you get the picture!

 

 

I still have many more squares of fluffiness to do but think it won't take me so long with all this white snowiness still hanging around outside!

 

My photo's are not very colourful I'm afraid as the light is so poor but I hope

it gives you an idea of how my blanket of snowy loveliness will look.

 

Everytime I snuggle under this little beauty I will think of my lazy days of snowy loveliness!

 

I do hope you are managing to keep warm with your loved ones...

Enjoy your snowy loveliness as I'm sure it will disappear soon
and enjoy the moments that make you happy!

 

Tilly

x x x

Springtime sunniness...

 

 

Hello everyone...

How are you all today?

I can't believe it is the middle of January already!
Where has time gone?
 

So far this year has been kind to little 'ol Tilly Rose...

I've had so many 'To Do Lists' for so long that haven't seemed to see the light of day but having taken some time off from my workshop I have manged to tackle soooo much

.... crochet projects that have been stashed away in fabric bags sitting next to my sofa for 'when I have time...'

 

...organised craft bits and bobs into their new homes...

 

.... finishing cutting up patchwork pieces for my many projects...

Gosh. I am so surprised!

I'm feeling much more like my old self again which is simply wonderful.

The only thing putting a small dampner on my days is this dreary season.

I am suffering from this horribly grey time of year and longing for some lighter days...
Today has been an icing sugar day of a slight snowfall but generally it has been
a miserabley grumbly grey.

 

The gloom and doom of winter begins to get to me every year by the middle of January, early February. It is damp and miserable, often cold and dreary and very grey, grey, grey!
Everywhere seems to be so dark for most of the day also.
No nice natural light can escape!
 

 As part of my Fibromyalgia I suffer from a severe deficiency of Vit D and although I do take a supplement it isn't the same as a blast of cheery sunshine.

 

I'm ready for the cheerful blooms of cherry blossom or the sunniness of the buttery daffs to bob their heads and say hello as I pass on by....

 

 

I am longing for the moment when I wander down my garden path again

and can be greeted by the little beauties who hide among the cracks...

... or pick a posy of colour to place by my bedside to remind me of
sunnier days to come...

 

How about you my lovelies?

Does winter affect you in any way?

 

Mother Nature is a huge inspiration for me when it comes to my designs.

I love to include her beauty in my work....

but I have to say I prefer her warmer days to her coldness.

 

So I can't wait for the happier, rosier days when it is a little brighter to go out with my little camera again.

It sounds silly but I want to enjoy putting my washing on the line and watch it dry happily in the breeze...

I want to walk past my lavender and brush my hand over the top to smell the beautiful aromas...

But most of all I want to feel energised and refreshed when I open the curtains in the morning instead of the dreary, fed up feeling that greets me instead!

Don't get me wrong hunnies, I still feel a happy bunny inside myself.

I think it is always important to smile however you may feel!

I hope you have a lovely day.

Thanks so much for dropping by and saying hello...

 

 

Tilly

x x x