Sock Monkeys

Are the weirdest looking things aren't they? Anyway, I've secretly (ssshhhhh) been making a couple for Miss L and Mr A. They turned out a lot larger than I was expecting, I guess it depends on what socks you use or something ;-) I'm not sure how much I like them, but I think the children will so that's okay.

The black spotty is for Adam and the red with white hearts for Lucy.

Am I the only one who thinks they're scary?

Well, that's the last of the Christmas preparations I think - apart from making up some gift hampers I stupidly decided would be a good idea...

Have a good one! XXXX

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful time.

You're Never Too Old

For Santa!

Thankfully, my little ones are not too old for the annual trip to visit Santa. Awwwwwwwww. Although Adam was desperate to see Santa, you can see he wasn't quite sure how 'cool' it was to have his photo taken with him.



Our Christmas cake is finished!

There was some of this...

and quite a lot of this...

until we had...this!

This is entirely Miss Lucy's own creation from start to finish - I only helped with the heavy, hot or particularly fiddly bits (oh, and the washing up). I think she's done a brilliant job. I'm reliably informed that the snowman that's centre front is Elvis Snowman. He has a rather nice black quiff which you can't see very well and his little fondant microphone is sitting in front of him. It's probably best not to ask who the others are... :-)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Almost Christmas

I feel I can mention the C word now that it's December. Time is marching on and I'm running out of it fast! I've got most of my shopping done, but nothing wrapped and my plans to make all my Christmas cards have been replaced by the purchase of several packs of ready made from Tesco. The children are desperate for the decorations to be brought down from the attic, but Dad is holding firm so far - I think he will weaken by the weekend.

The one thing we do have up is the Advent Calendar - Adam was so excited by the thought of a sweetie in the morning, I thought he would burst with anticipation! So, hopefully this time next week the tree will be up (how I hate putting those bloomin' lights on) and the tinsel draped artistically around my standard lamp ;-) I do love it when I've got all my Christmas 'bits' dotted around the living room and can sit of an evening with just the tree lights, maybe a festive candle or two lit and watch Miracle on 34th Street again and again. Aaaah blissssss. Of course, this isn't likely to happen, but a girl can dream.

My Open University course is going well. It's extremely challenging to say the least - we are heavily into scriptwriting for stage, film, TV and radio at the moment and let's just say, I've developed a new respect for the writers of Dr Who! I've an assessment that's due on the 19th and I'd really like to get that off early so I can concentrate on doing nothing for a week or so and just enjoy all the festive stuff. A couple of the ladies from last years course are also on this one with me - Ros and Rosa - and I have to say that I wouldn't be able to get through it without them, they are a lovely, talented and very supportive pair (have to put that bit in in case they get super famous and invite me to society balls and the like - lol).

No crafting has been done (yet again) and I really need to make a couple of sock monkeys before Santa comes - you can guess the recipients. As for the socks I was knitting for my mum..... socks, what socks?

I'm so envious when I read through all your blogs and you are all busy creating wonderful things. Maybe one day I will have an interesting pic of something to post - keep yer eyes peeled for the sock monkeys!

Catch Up

Since I haven't posted for a bit, here are some catch up photos.

Adam - 'potato mining'. I have to say he is a potato miner extrordinaire.



He's very thorough..



Meccano Master (or should that be Miss?). This was a tricky project.



A new apron from Ikea just begs to be used, don't you think?



Cranberry and white chocolate biscuits - yummmmmm.



And a big success for Lucy this month - she and her team came second at the Big Brain Book Quiz 2008. She was in a team of three from our local library and they were competing against 30+ other teams from Fife. They had a fantastic time and loved the whole experience. Their prizes included a voucher each for £25 to spend at Amazon. Yay! Well done Rosyth Library!

Miss Lucy is the best!! (no, not biased at all...)

Awards!

How exciting - I've received an award from the lovely Alis of Alis Clair, a very talented lady with (obviously) excellent taste! LOL. Thank you very much, Alis.



Now I need to nominate seven other blogs.....hmmmmmm. How can I choose, they are all brilliant. Okay, here goes;

Diane of The Sound of One Hand Knitting
Carol of A Stitch in Time
Sarah of Everything Stops for Tea
Kate of Kate's Quilting
Graeme of Grumblog
Karen of Tea and Cake (and the equally wonderful Pushing Pencil)
Val of Val's Musings

The rules for the nominees are:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

I've also received another award from the lovely Sarah of Everything Stops for Tea, which I should have said thanks for already (sorry, Missus). Thank you Sarah, you luvverly wummin.



The rules are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**

So, I nominate all the other blogs I love. Those I didn't nominate for the previous award; those that are on my list and those that I've neglected to add but do visit. You are all worthy of this and much much more. xxx

Is It That Time Already?

Just when I was happily procrastinating about the need to get some writing done, a parcel was delivered - all the course materials for A363 Advanced Creative Writing. Time to stop talking and sharpen my pencil :-)