Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!!

We made it! We celebrated our Ruby (40th) wedding anniversary on 11th December 2008. It was a beautiful, cold but sunny day and we drove to London where we had tea at the Ritz Hotel. It was very nice indeed. Here is the Christmas tree in the foyer, where we were only supposed to take photos. However...after I had had a little word with the manager of the Palm Bay Court (tea area), he did say, whilst he wouldn't be allowed to take photos himself, he would 'turn a blind eye' so to speak if we wanted to take photos ourselves! A very nice man! Well, I had my Sony with me so wasn't going to make it obvious, so my husband took video of us and I am hoping he will be able to take stills from them. Check here for more pics at a later date.

We strolled along to the tube and had a wander in Harrods.
Then, after a little chat with a lady in the 'boudoir', I got info that there was a German market and ice rink in Hyde Park....so off we trotted and it was FAB.

Yes, I know it's hard to tell which one is Santa! LOL.
It was just as well I was full from hot chocolate, chamomile tea, sandwiches, apple and raisin scones with clotted cream and strawberry conserve, little fancy cakes and Christmas cake....as I would have liked one of these....mmm.
That was no tiny pot of nutella ...it was HUGE...probably a 1kilo tub.

Guess who I got to meet....oh, he was soo cute. He let me 'jump' the queue! LOL. I felt like a little girl all over again....and he gave me chocolates!

Part ll tomorrow folks....check in then.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.

Toots for now.

Crazy for Cadbury!

What time is it?........
Why.....it's Cadbury chocolate time! So, go on. Help yourself. There are plenty to go around.....and virtual chocolate is calorie free!! LOL.
Have a nice day everyone. Stay warm.

You'd Better Not Pout!!

My youngest grandchild - Little Miss Ashley has such an expressive face - just like her older sister Eden when she was that age. I took a number of photos of her in the summer this year and this one gave me the idea for a Christmas card.

I used a Basic Grey paper - Blitzen and Tesco had some lovely reindeer ribbon and 12 little wooden reindeer for 99p. I stitched around the photo.

The inside opens to read...

Here is her Christmas present - well one of them. I couldn't resist it. Ohhh...it's sooo cute. I'm not a 'teddy bear' lover but this daddy bear and baby were irresistable. The daddy bear reads the whole story - 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' and the baby interupts with giggles and laughter.
He's already been wrapped and posted to open on Christmas Eve. We won't be seeing Ashley until 27th but I dare say, Daddy and Baby bear will come too!
Have fun with your Christmas preparations. Toots for now.

What a hOOt!

Now that Halloween is behind us, I can concentrate on the next event - Guy Fawkes Night. However, I needed to post this layout after all the fun I had dressing up with Boris!

I visited a house that was FANTASTICally dressed for Halloween and got some cool photos. I made this page for the family as a keepsake.

These are pumpkins from past years as I didn't carve one this year. I hope you all had a Frightfully Spooktacular Halloween.

***HAPPY HALLOWEEN***

I've been looking forward to this day for a while now. It seems like I have been preparing for it for months and all of a sudden it crept up on me! So this is what has been happening in my little corner of the world.

First, let me set the scene....

The morning is crisp cold with a mist lingering round about. The cemetary gates are firmly locked with a warning sign.... Private - KEEP OUT!

In the distance, the mist looks thicker and it appears that there may be a hooded figure walking towards the gate.... no....it's a figure of my imagination!

Meanwhile back at the house....could that be haunted house?

I prepare myself for 'a haunting we will go'! My butler is on hand to give me the help I need! Boris - the new addition to the household, poses with me after helping me up from the cellar to collect my broomstick.

He's such a gentleman!!

He only has eyes for me!

Dontcha just think he looks suave? Then it's off out for the evening. This house was certainly what I call SPOOKTACULAR. It was fantastically dressed for Halloween. As you can see here, I felt right at home!

There was ghoulash on the menu with lots of gravey and cockroach crisps for a side. The purrfect meal. This cackling witch could tell what was going to happen next. Can you?

The smoke was getting thicker - and it wasn't fog...judging from the ashtray, I do believe this chap had a nasty ending.

Moving on through the house, I met with quite a few 'uglies' ...

...and this little pretty. Isn't she cute?

All of a sudden and without a drop of rain, a very loud clap of thunder sounded and a fork of lightening appeared from out of nowhere. It was very strange but very appropriate for the scene.
There it was...a really enjoyable evening and I managed to take some great photos but above all, it wouldn't have been so much fun without our Boris! He was ready and waiting for me on my return with a glass of warm fruit punch.

Gotta fly peeps ....my broomstick is parked on a yellow line!

So it's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from him... until next year anyway.

Halloween Wreath

Here is the Halloween wreath that I told you about yesterday. The idea was in Paper Crafts mag last year. It all began with a trip to the local cemetary!! Yep. You heard right! LOL.

I took lots of photos of different designed tombstones, then I changed them from colour to black and white, softening them a little in Serif and then put them onto black card with a little white paint brushed around the edges.


Take one wreath - I used a cane one. I painted it black, tied black tuille around it and added some webbing.

Next, I painted some wooden clothes pegs.
Attached some black elastic with a spider on the end and added a couple more spiders.

Finally, I attached the photos of the tombstones with the pegs.

VOILA! One Halloween wreath to hang on your door to welcome guests.

Have fun with your Halloween preparations.
Toots for now.

Oh Brother!

It's been a while since I saw my older brother and while he was staying at a caravan site last week with my sil, we went to visit them.

I baked a yummy cake and we sat chatting about our gardening experiences and I got some great tips from an experienced gardener. He used to keep pigs, chickens, quails and other creatures of the farming kind.

I'm enjoying the weather at present. The sun, the rain - that softens the earth on my allotment to make it easier to dig. Even the cold I don't mind. It's the wind and rain together I don't like.

I was looking forward to a day with my friends on Wednesday. One of them has gone to Australia to visit her son, so our Halloween party will not be going ahead until she returns - all being well. Anyway, Boris will still be useful. He hasn't been made redundant!

I'll be posting a Halloween wreath that I made last year, so keep checking in to see it.

Toots for now, keep warm and thank you for stopping by to read my blog.