Thanks for all the lovely comments and congratulatory wishes on my last post - I agree with all of your comments, a very nice way to start the new year.
I'm having a slow blogging start to 2009. This last week I have felt a bit bleugh - not really sick, but not feeling well either - somewhere in between. I don't think there is a name for this limbo state is there? Sick+Well=Sill perhaps? Under the weather is probably a better description. Speaking of weather it has been mighty chilly here, when I left work on Tuesday evening it was -3 brrrrr. I don't mind the cold so much really - I like to see frost lined branches on trees and feel the crispy grass crunching under my boots. Last night we had a freezing fog - everything looked totally eerie and creepy, it's amazing how certain weather can just make thinks look so different. I had to take a picture:
We took our Christmas decorations down on twelfth night as per the tradition. No matter how many times we go through this, I am still surprised every year at how bare things look without decorations, and I almost feel the need to have something new to put in place of the decorations. Are you feeling bare without your decorations? Would you like something nice to fill that big empty void the decorations have left? Yes you say? great, you've come to the right place.
I've been in only 2 shops since Christmas to look at the sale items - I can't bear fighting with crazy ladies in clothes shops grabbing at all the bargains, so I went to Habitat where it was nice and calm. Last year Habitat commissioned
Telegramme to design a range of home wares, some of which appeared in the sale.
I picked out a couple of cotton tea towels with great prints, and because they were in the sale, I picked up a couple more to give away to my bloggy buddies.
If you would like this small gift from me to you, then please just drop me a comment in this post, anytime before Tuesday 13th Jan, I'll pick the winner at random.
I'm not sure what I'll do with mine as yet. The cotton is very good quality though - oh the possibilities!
Stevie had her first snow experience
Stevie caught the snow flakes in her mouth and ate them!
Mr Monda made a miniature snowman
Lots of nice things about today:
to this:
I felt a change was needed - I've also made a few small changes to the rest of the blog too - an early spring clean if you will.
Can I also take this opportunity to say 'goodbye January' and 'hello February'. Nothing against you really per say really January, but your February neighbour is just much more my cup of tea.
Have you spotted a theme here?
I do like the soft brushed cottons which I have used to make this little kitty (it's still unfinished btw - paws and tail need to be sewn on) but it is much more difficult to hand sew compared to my fabric of choice - felted jumpers.
this kitty wip is the fruit of last weekends labour. It has moved on since this pic, and I'm quite excited about the resulting work that has arisen - no pics yet though, light doesn't permit sadly. I'm waiting for my new camera to arrive - so will experiment and take some pics of my kitties later this week.
I have mine delivered to work twice a week on a Tuesday and a Thursday (they get delivered by royal mail with your daily post), and these little boxes do a lot to cheer me up, as well as filling me up with healthy foods to graze on. My first box arrived this week and contained fresh pineapple slices, lemon salted almonds and a mix called 'aye carumba' which is cajun spiced seeds with goji berries and apricots. Take a look at the graze website - you can basically tell them what you would like to have delivered in your box by rating various foods, you can also tell them what you don't want too (I said no to everything with Chilli's in). I have no idea what will come in my box tomorrow but having a little pressie to yourself twice a week is great fun. The team behind Graze are concious of the environment too - all the packaging used is recycled, and the inks used in printing are vegetable based. At the moment, you can get a half price trial box for just £1.49. Try it, I bet you'll like it!
and how can you feel blue when you see this? 
This is a handmade bear which was a christmas gift from Mr Monda.
(based on this recipe - I just used muffin cases instead on loaf tins) because I had 3 bananas in the fruit bowl which were very over ripe. I might have thrown these away if I hadn't watched Victorian farm earlier in the week.
We took our Christmas decorations down on twelfth night as per the tradition. No matter how many times we go through this, I am still surprised every year at how bare things look without decorations, and I almost feel the need to have something new to put in place of the decorations. Are you feeling bare without your decorations? Would you like something nice to fill that big empty void the decorations have left? Yes you say? great, you've come to the right place.
I picked out a couple of cotton tea towels with great prints, and because they were in the sale, I picked up a couple more to give away to my bloggy buddies.
I'm not sure this ring will stand the test of time however, so I have been checking some designs by Chris Parry, as I really like his work.
I also wanted to share something I found out today. On Christmas Eve and on Boxing Day, if you live in the UK or have access to channel 4 TV you can watch 'lost and found'. This marvellous book by one of my fave illustrators, Oliver Jeffers, has been made into a short film.
Christmas is speeding here at a rate of knots. I still have presents to make and I'm rapidly running out of time - not to mention the wrapping of said presents. eeek.
