Tidy House

That makes a change.

We're putting the house on the market in the new year but decided to use the opportunity of DC and hubby being away for the weekend to get the estate agent round to take photos. On Wednesday the cleaners came and made us all spick and span, then on Thursday hubby & DC toddled off for a long weekend 'oop north'. I spent the rest of the day tidying and stuffing things in cupboards/under beds and plumping cushions and packing away dust collectors and generally prettifying the house. Then on Friday morning the estate agent came round and took photos and in the afternoon we had our first viewing, even though the house isn't officially going on the market until January! Apparently the lady who came round really loves it and wants to bring her parents round next week to give her a second opinion (they are lending her the money, hence their interest.) How wonderful would it be if she decides to buy the house? Mostly because it would mean we won't have to keep it tidy for much longer because, believe me, it's hard work. But it is lovely being in such a tidy, clutter-free house.

The living room

The kitchenThe room where I work and DC plays (would probably be the dining room for anyone who doesn't work from home/need a playroom for a child with too much brightly coloured plastic)Main bedroomNurseryNo photos of the third bedroom because, although tidy, it's not pretty. And no photos of the garden either because it's foggy.

Country Living Christmas Fair

I'm amazed that it's a whole week since hubby & I made our way to wet and windy London for a (separate) day out. We travelled together as far as Baker Street, where hubby alighted from the tube for a visit to the Cabinet War Rooms, while I carried on to Angel and then battled through the rain to the Business Design Centre - luckily not far from the tube station - for the Country Living Christmas Fair.

I was very excited to be here and spent a good few hours perusing the stalls, buying a few bits and bobs and making the most of the free tasters in the food section - I didn't need to buy any lunch!

Would you believe that I forgot to go to the cashpoint before I went in?! My heart nearly stopped when I realised I only had just over £10 in my wallet and could see pretty quickly that it might not go very far. Luckily, most of the stalls were equipped to take credit/debit cards but in the end, I only needed to get my card out once as, although there were lots and lots of stalls selling many, many lovely things I did find that there wasn't much I wanted/hadn't seen before. While there were plenty of hand made, original items there was also a lot of "same same" high street fare - Cath Kidston, Gisela Graham, East of India, Susie Watson, so my hard-earned cash stayed in the bank. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed my time at the fair and would definitely go again. And, I expect you'd like to see what I came home with:

This robin was my first buy - he was on one of the very first stalls I came across (can't remember the name of it though.)I picked this lovely little metal tag on the same stall for just 50p - could be used as a tree decoration or a gift tag. Wish I'd bought more now. Always the way, eh?I thought of DC when I saw these - they combine two of his great loves: tissues and buses. Strange but true.And these fairy cake cases were a small gift for hubby, who is chief baker in the W household and a great lover of all things Christmas.And my last purchase of the day was this lovely heart for just 3.50 - bargain!

More Exciting-ness

Tomorrow I'm off to the Country Living Christmas Fair in old London town. Hubby & I are having a day out together, separately. After we drop DC at nursery we shall catch the train into London together and then go our separate ways, me to do girly shopping and oohing and aahing at pretty things and him to do boy stuff, possibly at Imperial War Museum.

That reminds me, I really must go to the cashpoint...

I wonder if I'll spot any fellow bloggers there? Is anyone else going tomorrow? Say hello if you see me!

Fabulous Autumn Swap!

This week I received my very first swap parcel; looks like I lucked out with my swap partner (Tracy of Mad About Bags), and I feel like I did her a real disservice with the things I sent since only one of them was hand made. Note to self: be a better crafter for next swap.


When the post arrived, I hastily opened the envelope to discover a whole host of gifts wrapped in gorgeous autumnal paper

and accompanied by this sweet handmade card

First out of its wrapping was this lovely woolly brooch which will look absolutely perfect on my brand new black coat:

Next came this giant pincushion which, as you can see from Tracy's note, will be perfect when I finally get my sewing machine set up in what has been designated as my office-cum-craftroom at our new houseNext, an autumnal cross-stitch tutorialAnd finally a notebook which will be very handy for writing down all those things I need to remember!

There was also a lovely book entitled 'The Autumn Garden' which I've forgotten to take a photo of, but which will be very useful for the garden at our new house which is much, much bigger than any other garden we've ever had to cope with!

Didn't I do well?!

Holidays Are Coming

I'm very much looking forward to being able to enjoy my peppermint mocha out of one of these little beauties very soon!

Overexcited

How excited did I get when this little beauty fell with a less-than-graceful thud onto the doormat just now? Very, very, overexcited.

My first Christmas magazine.

(so far.)