Monday

Good morning, everyone.   This morning is what yesterday morning should have been - cold, frosty and sparkly!  Lovely.

I am such a homebody.  I've had a lovely few days away but it was so lovely to get home again and already 'my' corner looks as if a bomb has hit it with little bits of mouse knitting strewed around, waiting to be assembled!

Yesterday was brilliant - the morning was anyway.  I had an early start but managed to get back to sleep for a while, safe in the knowledge that I had done most of the packing (such as it was) the evening before.
Breakfast was amazing . . . it's funny how much one can tuck away when someone else has prepared it all, isn't it?  Then I loaded up the car and walked through the Abbey Gardens to meet up with Sue from 'My Quiet Life in Suffolk' whose blog I have read and enjoyed for a long time now.  In a way it's a bit like mine as it is full of the simple things that give so much joy, family love and everyday doings although also very different.  I love it and recommend it to you.
We had a good old chat over coffee and when we had to stop I felt there was still loads to say.  I'm looking forward to May now when I will be back in Southwold and, hopefully, we can meet up again.  Thanks for coming, Sue.

Then I set off for Blackthorpe Barn which was a bit of a surprise as it was absolutely packed.  I think I had mentally prepared myself for a small, hidden-away place which was silly, given the evidence of their web site and the glossy leaflets all around the town.
Once I managed to find a parking slot (not easy), I had a great time wandering around, looking at all the decorations for sale (and, I have to confess, buying a few) before returning to the car, setting the sat nav to home and setting off.

And that's where it all fell apart because in Sudbury a tiny part of the A131 was shut off - less than a hundred metres, that's all!  Not knowing the place at all, I relied totally on my sat nav which ended up taking me all the way across to the A12 which I joined just south of Colchester.  At least, once I was on the A12, I knew where I was and I was very thankful for it but, really, I'd have done better to go A14/A12 all the way, especially as Blackthorpe Barn is so close to the A14.
Today I must look on Google Maps and see if I can work out which way I ended up going.  It was pretty much country roads until the A12 anyway.

Once home, I settled in and then did the day's Christmassy things, starting off the Advent candle and hanging up the decorations I bought for my bedroom tree.  Very nice.

Today, life returns to normal.  I have school this afternoon and then tuition, and the Christmassy thing will be candle, calendar and painting the clay decorations which have now dried out properly.
The other main thing is sewing the last two mice up and sorting out any last minute details such as the carol singer's little song book.  Some little bits will need a gentle steam press first.  You shouldn't iron acrylic based yarn as it over-flattens it and takes out all the texture but holding the iron over the piece and giving it a jet of steam works very well.  I pin the bits into shape first to get it just right.  Yes, it's a fiddle-faddle and takes time but it does make a difference to the finished article so it's well worth it, I think.

Today's Christmas music is the classic annunciation carol, The Angel Gabriel.  I've chosen this clip because, although my voice is a disaster nowadays, I still enjoy 'reading' through notation and there's a bit of a joke in the clip as the link below shows.

Have a lovely time on this second day of Advent, wherever you are and whatever you have planned.  xx