It all went very wrong....

....when I took the tree down, it turned into one huge disaster.

Somehow when I do jobs like this I make more mess than was ever needed and then spend the rest of the day trying to sort it all out. First I took the baubles of, easy. The tree looked really bald and sorry for itself, great, not much to cover the house with then. First really big mistake. As I dashed for the door yelling at my man to get out of the way (he gets a rash if he touches xmas trees - is this true or a ploy? Mmmm) I covered the floor in more green than a tree should be allowed to carry.

Still fairly fine though as only got to sweep and hoover after. Then I got hold of the bucket full of soil, which was very sloppy as I'd been conscientiously watering a dead tree for a couple of weeks. I covered my very ancient and loved white cloths with mud and then staggered towards the door. As I rounded the corner I slipped and did the splits on all the needles, throwing the bucket in the air and landing with my head on the edge of the girls wooden dollies high chair. My head hurt and the floor looked worse than the garden. You know when you do something this stupid all you can think is if I sit here it will all just go away.

Then to make it worse the dog wanted to come in and just kept jumping wildly up and down the french doors. Sort of added to the tension of it all perfectly. What felt like the rest of Sunday later it was all clean again, I sat down to knit and found I had covered every bit of wool and knitting in my basket with needles. So off I went again. Fake trees don't do this to you, but they look all wrong to me, so it's a toss up for next year.

Had something exciting come in the post for bigger bun today. She and her daddy are reading the Famous 5 together. My older cousins passed them on to me and now here they are being read again. In the front cover of Five Have a Wonderful Time there is this piece about joining the club. I looked on ebay and found a badge, hung on until the last minute, bid for it and won it. So here it is and now we're members. It says in the small print "wear the F.F badge and you will know each other at once." So have to see if Enid is telling the truth next time we go out.




I couldn't get into the 5 at all, the boys were too bossy and they seemed too goody goody when I was little. I loved the Find Outers series though. When you read them now they are completely unpolitically correct, but this makes them even funnier as everything they say becomes outrageous.

Also woke up to a bit of snow today. Not much of it, but god it was cold. We went to the local market town for back to school haircuts and jam sandwiches and chips lunch. Ended up going in most shops on the way back to the car to avoid the cold.



One of my christmas presents from my mum was the lovely cook book Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket. Cosied up to read last night. The descriptions make you feel really hungry and wistful, all ready to don your apron and get going. So first up we made fresh and gooey macaroons from as it would happen Five On Finniston Farm. Actually little bun made them and I put the cherries on the top. They were very gooey as promised and Willa little bun's rabbit had the first one. I also have a very happy man as he loves macaroons, so most have already gone. Next up are Mary Poppins Strike-Me-Pink Raspberry Jam Cakes. At the weekend little bun wants to make Bad Harry's Birthday Trifle as she adores reading My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards. I'll let you know how good these all taste.



Before the tree incident I was trying out some new ideas for a sale I am doing on Valentine's Day called Vintage Soul in Southwold, Suffolk. Not much time really to get re-stocked, so I better get busy. It happens 2 or 3 times a year bringing together vintage inspired makers and sellers of vintage and retro homeware. The fabulous ladies who organise it all also run a couple of fleamarkets in the summer and autumn which are great fun. First I finished a teddy beanie for a newborn, modelled here by Sunshine Golly. He might not let me have it back as it's so nippy tonight.



Then I put the finishing touches to some peg bags I have been working on. Most of the fabric here comes from the lovely Donna over at Donna Flower.com.



Tommorow the buns go back to school. Little bun wants to walk and drag the moment out, can't say I blame her. Right off to finish the macaroons.