Gifts

We were all very lucky this year. And in the best way as we had a lovely family Christmas and we remembered those gone but we had each other and well I felt so so so much better than last year.

1. Such beautiful and unexpected homemade Fair Isle scarfs for the kiddos- the skill in these wee scarfs almost makes me weep- How Amazing.
2. Classic Espresso pot- works real good and the classic shape is so pleasing to look at.
3. Donna Wilson Mog egg cup, egg cosy and lovely wee plate.

Such lovely gifts. Jo xxxx

PS NEW YEAR here getting near!!

Holm Buy

We spent a few days after Christmas at my folks in Perth. When the wee  one went for a late morning sleep my Mum urged D and I to head down town for an hour or so- have a mooch, get a coffee just the two of us. We also had to pop into a wee old fashioned leather shop to pick up a diary insert for the lovely Italian Leather diary cover I bought D a few years ago. Its very rare that they have it in for Christmas and they tell us he is in a tiny minority of folk who still use paper diaries! That can't be true can it....

Anyway a Charity shop was on my radar and be still my beating heart, like literally it was pumping hard- there in the window was an orange enamel Catherin Holm bowl- pristine and £2 (pictured above in Mum's kitchen). This to me is just about the Holy Grail of charity shop buys. I mean sure I could buy one off eBay or etsy for £40 but well I don't really need it. I know they are a bit of a hackneyed modernist cliche these days but man there is a reason why they are popular. The Lotus pattern is just so pleasing to the eye. I will NEVER sell this, I LOVE it. I know enough of the shouting text, get real Jo, oh and the mug (s) - yes there were two and well they just jumped in my bag. Like I need more mugs- like a hole in the head I do.....

So some more pics of lovely things loved ones gave us in due course. The kids are asleep cup of tea and bed for me. xxxxx

Happy Days

A wee peek- my boy never stood still enough for a picture and Neep, well she NEVER stopped! Despite the first year without David's Dad we had a lovely Christmas. The kiddos, the cooking well they make the day happen and it was all very special. You focus on the future and well in this house at least its very definitely Orange! jxxxx

Merry Christmas

Hayy Christmas to everyone- and here is to a happy, healthy, creative 2012!

A wee bit of warmth!

One of the great things about blogging is connecting and reading about how other people live across the world. It is a big world out there and sometimes its easy to forget that in the midst of domestic chores, work, kids and everything else that life throws at us. A blog I check in regularly with is One Claire Day- Claire lives in North Queensland- somewhere I have actually been and I love her blog about her life, her family and she has awesome style. Looking back through her posts yesterday I saw this fab blanket that she scored at the thrift shop- I love it so much, through I think we need it a bit more here at the moment.....brrrrrr. xx

Christmas Tuesday

Well we are getting close and all is good here. Trees are up- and almost down again ( Neve pulls all the decs off!). Finally finished the new garland- man it was harder than it looks... How James managed it with three kiddos I don't know. Hope you are all having a great Christmas prep time too. xxxx

Angel Chimes

These are lovely aren't they and I think I love the reproduction packaging faithful to the original boxes as much as the contents. We have some as a secret Christmas present so can't wait to see them in action.

Till Tuesday

A wee bit of snow is FINE- anymore and I will not be happy.Well really in Scotland its not just the snow, its the fluctuating temperatures. The black ice from the freezing temps is the worst.

So on Tuesday this week we kept warm, played in the snow a tiny bit. This was Nevie's first time walking in snow, she loved it! We started some Christmas decorating with beautiful twisted beech cut offs from my friend. The Oh Joy pipe cleaner words are to be covered in yarn and added to a garland inspired by James from Bleubird Vintage. Thank you James!

Very, VERY stormy here in Glasgow today, so battening down the hatches and gin and tonic in hand! xx

Shopping, shopping, shopping

Small details from some gifts I have bought- well the ring was a present to me.........

I am trying as much as possible to avoid the mad dash Christmas shopping and keep things as thoughtful as we can.

Lots of good things for this weeks Tuesday to be posted soon. xx

Gone, Gone Gone

I have always been the same- I see something then I am fixated on it and must have it. This is how it is with these toadstool and wee hanging parcel deccies from IKEA. Hung on a lovely branch, you get it they would be really lush. But they are gone, yes gone, gone, gone.....

Snowy Monday

Woke to snow this morning- Finn LOVED it and is as high as a kite! David and I felt our hearts sink a wee bit- lots of snow clearing and just the 'hassle' factor it poses.

Popped round to a friends house for some lovely branches to use for decorations- curled birch and they are beautiful. I will post some pictures in a bit.

Off today for some Christmas prep and a dentist visit- Yay and not yay all in the one day! x

Till Tuesday

The wee one LOVES bears and nearly was off with this one- an early morning trip to our local garden centre for some craft supplies (yes they sell Everything!).

I know, I know more things- but how could I resist the lovely Nicky's shop Raggle Taggle Hawker and her Black Friday sale. I admired these egg cups for a while and I also got the sweet butterfly mug to add to my collection. Its nice to find Nicky's shop as it is so my thing. Please check it out again if you haven't before. x

Well we had a great Ikea trip in the afternoon- great because N can walk now and toddling about in the kids play area in the cafe meant I could enjoy a cuppa sitting down for a second!

A good friend of mine hosted a fab dinner a few weeks ago- her sweet friend cooked an AMAZING meal and the table was set with the lovely table runner pictured. I really wanted it for our Christmas table- so a red theme abounds. xx

1. Now you see her.

2. And offski!

3. New Egg Cups.

4. Lovely new Mug.

5. Christmas Table Stuff.

Holiday Acceleration

This was me almost a year ago- I look happy but if you look closely maybe a bit overwhelmed., well a lot overwhelmed.... It had been a hard run up to the holidays. New baby (a very beautiful one), long recovery from the birth, feeling down, stuck in for weeks due to the weather. The weather, wow, it was harsh for us here. Minus 14 may be nothing to some of you overseas but the kids and I found it hard going. I am a bit more prepared this year, with the right gear, and a little bit of a better place in my head. I have been a bit anxious though, Christmas trees on sale today actually made me tearfully scared, but I pulled myself together and I have plans, lots of plans with the kids, for my family. We will have beautiful family Christmas.

Till Tuesday

Wow I really am almost getting a little regular posting thing going here with these Tuesdays- and thank you Aimee for my title that just jumped out my head and onto the keyboard..... Its nice when things just happen without premeditation. I spend a lot of my life praying for things, wishing for things, worrying about things- somehow this blog has just become, and that makes me happy.

Quiet morning, while Neve had her nap I tidied, drank tea and then lay down for half an hour (we had been awake since 5am....) just relishing the quiet, the calm and a wee bit of sunshine coming in the window.

Afternoon was a Library trip, with eye watering fines for me (I kept that Lisa Stickley sewing book toooo long), quick charity shop trip- two nice bowls- my green and blue! An afternoon of painting, cooking and general larking about. That baby loves Gaga- leaping about as only a toddling toddler can do!

Till the next one, bye bye xx

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby

Corny title but its Finn's favourite song and very apt as this weekend we celebrated my folks 40th wedding anniversary- the Ruby one!

They stayed at Cameron House and we spent the day with them and my brother and sister in law. It was a lovely day, very chilled. Though my dad did make a wee speech. The top picture was snapped by Finn and I LOVE it as its just captured my Dad perfectly. I think he was talking about falling in love with my Mum's big brown eyes here- we were all welling up!

There was cake, wine, play and a nice November walk. I am lucky with my family, very lucky.

We ended the weekend on Sunday, just the four of us, a quiet day today to recharge, we made cake and veggie stew (Finn on the mushroom chopping- a failsafe for kids to help, blunt knife, nothing can go wrong!). Bring on the week, we are ready for it. Jxxxx

Candlelight

I pick up single sugar bowls, mainly Meakin and Johnson Bros and they make great tea light holders. You can pick them up for under a pound. Good for dips also. I lit some last night as it had been a long day.....

Poppies

Elizabeth Prince makes these. Lovely. Bit late for Poppy day, sorry, but I wanted to post anyway. Find them here.

Party Cakes!

No not made by me but by my super talented friend for her sons fourth birthday. The cupcakes are so clever- I was quite taken by their wee faces! The dragon cake gets my vote too as its colours are so pretty- you can't see in this pic but he was dusted in glitter! We had a lovely time at the party on Sunday. xxxx

House Gig- Calamateur

Now I am rarely in touch with the current zeitgeist these days but on Friday night I might just have been.
Well thanks to my friend Nic anyway. She organised a house gig with Andrew Howie aka Calamateur. It was amazing and my pictures in no way do the event justice. Nic's house is beautiful and I tried to capture that with a few pictures. What I couldn't manage to capture though was the warm, red, fairy light and firelight lit room that the gig was held in. It was so so special and if you could bottle that atmosphere you would have the reason why house gigs are so 'now' and so popular. For me its the unique feeling of being in someones home, comfortable and warm, coupled with the excitement of live music, and how 'close' you get to the musician. And aren't we always told staying in is the new going out!

Andrew's music was 'gorgeous' to quote Nic- my personal favourite his cover of 'Jesus is for Losers' (think about it). You can check out Andrew here and if you are lucky enough to get the chance to go to a house gig jump at it. Funny enough though telling my Dad about it tonight (he is a bit of a musician) he said 'what's new about that we were doing that in the 60's folk scene'- So Nic if you are looking for more musicians he is available- and you may get some more Johnny Cash covers to boot! xx