Hello my friends. Trust this finds you well, and not in a state of whirling frenzy. Less than a week to Christmas, presents wrapped, cards written and posted, menus planned, most shopping bought, would all be the ideal! So, no time to waste..

My desk is now tidy, the decoration boxes from two weeks ago are all put away in the attic until January, the dining table has been in full and proper use. My “workdesk” this past fortnight has varied position – so here goes!

Workdesk 1 – the dining table – “en fete” for our Housegroup Christmas dinner

Workdesk 2 – the jigsaw board – for when nothing interesting is on TV but I want a rest!

Having finished the snowy scene I decided a different, fun picture was necessary for any dedicated housegroup jigsaw fan! They had a good go at it, too – with one couple staying nearly an hour after everyone else had gone home! Of course, the biggest problem with buying jigsaws from a charity shop, second hand, is that you don’t know if all the pieces are there!

Workdesk 3 – the bedroom mirror – Finished the cardigan I had knitted some weeks back and can now model!

Back to the jigsaw board and a completely different image. A few days off for a change, just relaxing – wonderful!

Workdesk 4 – the settee – and a sweater to be knitted

So folks, that’s me 5 days before Christmas. Basically I’m all done apart from a few vegetables to buy and prepare on the day – I have two guests with me for Christmas dinner, folk from church who would otherwise be on their own, then, on Wednesday 27th I’m off for our family Christmas – both girls, their hubbies, all five grandies and me! I have a 200 mile drive, but it will be well worth the journey.

I’ll be missing next week as I shall need to be on the road just after 7am – I’d like to arrive in the daylight – so I’m going to take this opportunity to wish you a really blessed Christmas season. May you know and experience the love and joy our Father God so desires for each one of us. I’ll be around visiting folk at some point… got to do the shopping for the last step inside of 2017!

Take care my friends. God bless.

Margaret

Hello my friends. Yes, I have been AWOL for the past two weeks – had time with my family, driving to Nottingham where both girls and the grandies were all assembled; had a day, on my own, in the Lake District – the last thing on my to-do-by-myself list following John’s death; done the after service refreshments of tea, coffee and fancy biscuits for a friend’s wedding; led worship… and yes, you’ve spotted the HUGE gap – no crafting at all!

So, my desk…

Awful, isn’t it? Everything just piled up – bits left over from the craft stall – which, incidentally, was most disappointing, as I only took £26 in two days! On the floor are the Christmas boxes which need to go back into the attic. That involves major furniture removal, so I don’t do it until I am sure I have finished with all the bits! You can see the lintel to the attic door right at the top of the picture. I took the picture at about 4pm on Tuesday afternoon, and you can see the sheep in the field opposite. No snow quite this close to the beach yet – but it was visible on the nearest mountains a couple of days ago, so it’s getting closer.

Just to confound and increase the chaos….

Yes, I have taken over John’s art space as well as my own… and it’s no neater in there! The cards are all ones I made for John over the years, which he kept on show – and I haven’t the heart yet to take them down and store them elsewhere.

But, I haven’t been totally idle (haha!). I finished a blanket for Uganda – and forgot to photograph it. Finished a cardigan for myself – and haven’t photographed that yet, either! Then I set to and wrote almost all of my cards, wrote my regular Christmas letter, and wrapped all the presents – I go away this weekend to the Midlands and the South East to deliver most of them so needed to get them ready for my trip! Then it will be back home to enjoy the products of my hard work…

… the house, decorated and en-fete for Christmas!

So nothing quite like my usual crafty-ness, but plenty going on here. Today I have been busy cooking – made myself a giant beef stew and put the rest down in the freezer for future days, and made lots of cream of mushroom soup ready for our Housegroup Christmas meal next Wednesday. That, too, is now in the freezer, having cooled nicely!

So that’s me, here in a cold and wild North Wales. Very thankful on really windy days for a lovely warm place to be. I trust you are snug and warm as winter sets in here in the Northern hemisphere.

Take care my friends. I will get round to visit you – but it may not be an early visit!!! Really need to tidy the place up before I go away!

God bless.

Margaret