Blogmas day 5, a wreath and Advent calendars

Morning, everyone.  Yesterday was the day I started to feel better.   Three cheers.  OK, so the cough is a bit of a nuisance but it's not a big problem and it's so nice to feel a bit more energetic again.

I didn't do very much really.  I read, knitted, watched telly and generally felt extremely idle until the evening when I went off to the annual Wreath Workshop, run by Victoria and Hazel (I had both their sons in my year one class a lo-o-ong time ago).

And it was lovely.

Here's the outcome - I will take a better photo when it is properly light but I wanted one for here so took this when I got home.  Apologies for the arm holding the camera.

 I remembered the cushions and the owly ones are on the sofa looking very judgemental, bless them.

Beth made these for me ages ago - and for a number of other people too - they proved very popular indeed.

So many memories in all this decor!

Today's Advent of Change says:

Today you have contributed towards a period pack and mini hygiene kit for a young girl living on the streets of Nepal, giving her dignity and safety each month.

Isn't that wonderful?  Not the least bit heroic or dramatic, just essential and practical and utterly necessary.

The charity is Toycox which I have never heard of before but I think I will look into this one a bit more.

https://toybox.org.uk/

Today's M&S calendar reveals another hair product.  Again, I will definitely use this conditioner next time I wash my hair.  It doesn't have to be left in for ages like the first one and it might do my hair some good, you never know!

Today's puzzle.  This picture looks so, so familiar.  Was it in a very old Ladybird book from my childhood?

I did a Google search and it didn't come up although several others of the same style did, mostly from vintage wooden puzzles.  Maybe that's why it has that familiar look about it.

I've just noticed the corner but isn't quite in - ooops.

The other day, I finished the fingerless mitts/wrist warmers with a bow and bell.  The bows, actually, were on crackers that we pulled last Saturday on Christmas Tree Day - waste not, want not - and the bells were out of the pack I got when I did the crochet bauble workshop.

Now I can wear them at SW group on Friday!

Today Chris is either coming round or we are having an online chat.  I'm feeling much better but she may wish to keep her distance for a few more days.  She will let me know.

And then I have a friend round for lunch - soup from the freezer to which I will add more bits and bobs of vegetable so I must remember to get it out to start defrosting as soon as I have sent this.

In between the chat and the lunch, I will give downstairs a bit of a tidy up.  All this extra decor is lovely but things can start to look cluttered very quickly if I don't keep on top of it.

Sadly, I found I couldn't make sense of the scarf pattern.  It was a freebie but even so . . . it just doesn't make sense to me.  I'll give it another go later and see if I can decipher it better.  I honestly think there is a mistake early on so it gives me a bit of a clue.  

I'll let you know.

I may have a bit of a decision to make in the next few days.  On Sunday, I am booked for a coach trip to Rochester to the Christmas Market and Dickensian Festival.  However, we are forecast a bad storm coming, worse than Storm Bert (which wasn't so bad round here really) and there is no way I want to be stuck in a coach going round the M25 in very high winds or stuck in a market in the pouring rain.  The market may be cancelled, of course - they cancelled out turning on the Christmas lights here because of the Storm Bert forecast the other weekend.
Anyway, I'm not worrying and, if it comes to it, I just won't go.  It's not the end of the world, just a bit of a shame and the loss of the trip money, but there's always next year . . .

Day Five Advent Music:

I had to choose this one today - an extremely slushy version of White Christmas, sung by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.

And here's the original, from Holiday Inn.

Enjoy.