Not your typical snowy scene...

I had to grab my camera while we were snowed in last week to show you photos from our street, while it was unusually quiet in the middle of the day.

Look a little closer...

The rabbits usually live in the field next to the cooperage (those pointy-roofed sheds in the background, whiskey fans!), and that cat is the hardiest domestic animal I've ever known - at the time of taking this photo it was minus 11 degrees C. Plus it's tried to eat my ginger cat twice in the six months since we moved in!

Brrrr

It's cold here! I hope it's warmer where you are... and if not, that you're wrapped up warm with a nice mug of cocoa.

Update

Hopefully that last post was enough reading material to keep you going while I was away! I'm delighted to announce that my little girl, Amelia, arrived safely last Wednesday and we were allowed home on Saturday.

Since then it's been a bit of a whirlwind of activity here at GI towers, with not much crafting but plenty of baby fun. Isn't she lovely?

Really?

I just found this in my husband's study and had to share. Boys, eh?

Getting away from it all

A selection of photos from my weekend in the countryside - would you believe this is all a half hour drive from my flat in Glasgow?

The Coveted magazine and random thoughts on fashion

I'm looking forward to the next issue! Have you read it yet?



One of my big jobs to do that I've been putting off is to have a good sort through my wardrobe so I'm slightly obsessed with fashion/good clothes at the moment. I was even reading Vogue the other day at the hairdressers - their annual 'dash cash' issue is out at the mo, which is about looking good and spending less. A key theme was upcycling so I'll be eyeing up my old clothes to see what I can make...

I was thinking about putting my sewing machine to good use and whipping up one of these patchwork sewing bags from Quilting for Peace, so pretty! Make your own here.

On the to-do list

There are three types of souvenirs I look for when I'm on holiday. My collection of choice is a pencil from a tourist attraction, and I have a little box with about 80 in it.

When there aren't any pencils, I keep my eyes peeled for a squashed penny machine.

And if both options fail me, I go for the sew-on embroidered patch. There's a bit more effort involved in collecting these as they need to be sewn on to my sleeping bag using thread which matches the outer border of each patch just so. Then there's the maintenance, I've been doing this since I was about 7 and some of the older ones are falling off. I'm still catching up from my 30th birthday roadtrip across the southern states of the US. Here are a few from the sewing pile, from my most recent trip...

I'm still on holiday

Won't be long before I'm back, though.

p.s. Deja vu, anyone?

Mmmmm, toast

We don't have a toaster on our (mainly handmade) wedding list, but if we did, I think we'd have picked one of these. They're available from Aria (where I've just been buying some early Christmas presents) and made by Bodum.

I can't decided between the red or the brown...