Tuesday 9 January 2018

Candles, Books and Bells











“For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives
 that may be lived, for fiction, biography, 
and history offer an inexhaustible
 number of lives in many parts of the world,
 in all periods of time.” 
 
 Louis L'Amour








Christmas is once again been and gone and is packed away again for another 10 months.  The house
can look so bare and January can be such a bleak month both inside and out but here we try and keep the warm cosy spirit going.  As you all know by now I still have some fairy lights that stay out all the year and it would not be the same without them.  On our mantel piece in the lounge we have lights across the fireplace and they have crystals and bells hanging on them as well, which when the lights are on the light dances of the crystals and the warmth sometimes makes the bells jingle slightly.

Candles are a must this time of year for bringing beautiful warm light to corners of the rooms and throw in a few scented ones and the Winter cosiness stays in this home.  It makes me happy and glad to be in and sitting by the fire or indeed here in my sewing room.  The shepherd hooks in our garden have lanterns that hang from them and with fairy lights in each one the dark days are lit up by twelve of them.  The birds have got used to them and the robin and Mrs Muddy beak all do sit on them and bask in the warmth of them when they glow on dark days.

Having had a little Christmas break I am now glad to be back and can not wait to get creating again.  I bought some wonderful things at Christmas vintage fairs back in October through to beginning of December and I have only just had time to look through it all once again and doodle down some ideas that have come to me ...... sitting by the fire hand stitching is a joy and one that I have missed with all the madness that is Christmas.  Also I succumbed to the awful virus and from Boxing day on wards and have been very unwell.  I have been left with a very bad cough indeed so much so my ribs hurt with it but I am lucky that I do not have to go out to work and able to sit and drink warm drinks to soothe my throat and head and although this cough lingers with a little bit of the cold left, I do not feel so poorly now and am very ready to slowly start creating again.

I have missed the feel of the beautiful fabrics and the needle gliding through the layers of history they contain.  So this week is my toe in the water and getting ready to start in earnest.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break and that Santa was kind to you all.

I had my usual bale of books from my husband and oh my he has surpassed himself it really is a beauty and in one of them someone has created a picture from fabric that is like one of my designs, it is strange that us creative types all have similar ideas yet they are different, it makes me smile that out there are others who sit design and stitch and our thought patterns mingle on occasions ....

Sat in a cosy chair with a quilt over me and the fire going, plus a hot water bottle I have sat contented with my book bale and read happily over the last week.  We actually took down our decorations before New Year inside our house, they had been up since the beginning of December and as I love to declutter my mind of all things not creative and sink in the world of words ... it has been sheer and utter bliss. After Christmas it has been lovely to relax and read and rest.

Also this Christmas I had asked for lots of calligraphy inks and different pens and nibs because I have had an idea I am keen to get working on and now I have the tools to play with.  I have for many years now enjoyed calligraphy and I am hoping to incorporate it into some of my stitching and also do some different things with it as well for magazine work and possible sell some ( to be decided)....

I still have some bits to find homes for and I am going re organise my desk today before starting to gather bits to stitch, I have a few project baskets and of course I have my Winter Star quilt to start stitching a few bits of an evening, I say quilt because that is what the pattern is for but I am doing a small version for a wall hanging for this years Christmas and next years Winters months. The pattern is easy to scale down as I really just want a smaller winter start and leave the rest.

My trusty and beautiful Imperial typewriter has some work to do as well and so by clearing my desk and making it different I can just bring to it whatever I want or need to be working on .. Laptop, sewing machine, typewriter or indeed calligraphy writing and I have designed it in my head.  There is only one problem with that I can envisage and that is it is probably bigger in my head than my desk actually is so there may be some re juggling going on and few choice sighs later ...

I had boxes of gorgeous inks and the bottles inside are so gorgeous and there are reds, blues, oranges, black, sepia, greens and yellows in fact I have two of each colour and I have 14 colours!  some beautiful glass calligraphy pens that light dances off and different pens and nibs ... I can not wait to get going later in the week  Also some incredible vintage fabrics I picked up that have to be stitched so my New Year has started here at Homespun HQ.

Missed talking to you all and I hope you have missed my ramblings.  Any books or sewing things you had for Christmas and would like to share with us all ? then feel free to comment and tell us about them.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will be back here on Thursday so until then ....

Happy Stitching! XX









6 comments:

  1. I have succumbed too. I cough and everything hurts! I am off to hibernate under the blanket and watch film(s)

    Julie xxxxxxxx

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    Replies
    1. Hi Julie
      Oh so sorry to hear this, you poor thing! Warm drinks and feet up.. as you say under a blanket.
      Beecham flu tablets helped me ...
      Take Care

      Sarah xxxcxx

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  2. Happy new year to you. I see you are another lucky girl to have all three uppercase books. Aren’t they fabulous. I’m afraid books are my weakness.
    Never mind dry January it should be bookfree January for me, I’ve bought another one already and it’s going not the 9th Jan. No willpower haha
    LYNN xx

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    Replies
    1. Ha! Lynn!
      Well there are so many books! .. it’s hard to resist and like me, keep telling yourself it’s good for the brain !

      Sarah xxx

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  3. Sorry you have been so poorly. Looking forward to seeing new creations. X

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Dawn! I will live but boy it’s been a bad flu bug!
      Sarah xxxx

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