Gosh what a change in the weather and a catch up

I went into hospital on Friday wearing a sleeveless cotton top and cotton summer skirt, the sun was shining it was warm and all's well with the world. When I went on to the ward after my op the sound of torrential rain met my ears. This part of the hospital backs onto vast, beautiful open countryside plus the inevitable golf course but visibility was down to a few yards. The rain didn't stop until Saturday morning and then it was dark and overcast. What's happened to the wonderful summer days we've enjoyed, I suppose it had to end sometime.
I was more than happy to be home hospital isn't my favourite place.

A while ago whilst at our bolt hole I started a new quilt, I'd cut and sewn the blocks a few months before.



When I laid them out together I decided I'd cut them again and sew into different patterns so this is what I had after the cut and sew.


Rather than sash the blocks I decided to sew them together and introduce borders.
I managed to get a pretty decent photo in the sun room, I've added borders and there's just one more border to add before sandwiching and quilting. I don't know if it shows up but the first border around the blocks is a beautiful cream with tiny deep pink dots. The fabric is so soft, I'll be working on this again when I've got the go ahead from the hospital.



I've not been slacking on the crochet front, I've been enjoying youtube tutorials, blog tutorials on both crochet and quilting, here are a few of the items I've been working on.
My large Granny sq blanket is coming along nicely I've just started the soft sage green row. The colours are more vibrant than my pictures show.



A cushion front made up of granny sq's, needs blocking.



A few blocks for another pink and white blanket



A variety of blocks recently made including Maybelle flower, hexies and 2 hearts, tutorials hereAnnette's blog



Also in thie middle is the start of another cushion front.
Finally 2 of my knitted dish clothes, I loved working with this cotton its so soft. I managed to get some balls in different colours but they're at the van so I can't use them until I'm able to go back.



Purchase wise a set of 15 x 10" sq's in gorgeous ditsy prints and a 2" strip jelly roll from a lovely seller on ebay.


I've always wanted to have a go and use flying geese in a quilt so bought this from Creative Grids, fast service every time.


Not being able to do much over the weekend I've thoroughly enjoyed myself catching up with my blog list. My goodness its been a pleasure beautiful items being created, I haven't fully caught up yet on them all.
I get side tracked, I read a catch up, go to post a comment then pop over to the blogs of a couple or so of fellow comment leavers. There are some fabulously talented people out there in blog land.

Take care and thank you for visiting

Peg xx

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Just a few things...warning photo heavy post

I haven't been idly sitting around not bothering with posting there have been some changes in my life that has knocked me for six as we British say.

However I have managed over the past few weeks to be creative with my quilting and crochet efforts. Due to ill health although I'm still a director of our rescue I will not be responsible for any day to day running of the rescue. One of the other directors and 4 staff members are now running it and I know it is in very capable hands. These ladies are dedicated to working to make our rescue what it should be, now we know for certain that ALL funds coming into the rescue are used for the dogs care, vet bills are being caught up with. They're working hard to raise funds, organise having stalls at fund raising events and auctions. I trust them all completely and know all dogs coming into the rescue's care will be well looked after whilst waiting for his/her new home.
My contribution will be making items for sale and auction whenever I can, I recently made the following which has now been posted off to be auctioned or sold. All proceeds will go to the rescue.

My Lush Greenery quilt, named because of the line of fabric used, I pieced to my own design and quilted it with Stitch in the ditch stitching. It is the first time I've done this and enjoyed it so much. It's backed with a lime green cotton and the batting is Homespun anti allergy.

The quilt started with a jelly roll called Lush Greenery, strips sewn together with a white 2.5" strip in the middle.

Add a plain green border, a rosebud border and delightful dark pink spot on cream binding, wash and air dry on a beautiful sunny day.

I also made 2 throw cushions to match backed with the same fabric as the quilt binding.

These are the two crochet blankets I crocheted to help raise funds for the rescue.

My first crochet blanket I called this one Pastel with a hint of Bold crocheted from various colours of wool.

My second one which I called Fizz bomb, it is crocheted from the same variegated wool throughout and goes from white through to the deepest strawberry fizz.

On the subject of crochet I have also learnt how to do the Maybelle crochet flower square. You'll find the pattern on Annette's delightful blog here her instructions are very easy to follow, she has given the pattern for the flower and the instructions to make it into a square plus her blog is a pleasure to visit.

Also on the crochet front I have been making chunky baskets, I found the patterns on Liz's blog she makes the most lovely items. This image is of LIZ'S gorgeous large chunky basket. If you look on the sidebar on the right of the page you will see the links to the pattern. Very easy to follow instructions, I am hoping to do one in similar colours because I think it's so striking. Mine are the ones which follow, I do have 2 others that I've made but they're at our bolt hole I'll show those later.

Liz's basket

These are my baskets, this is the smallest one

The larger basket, as you can see they're not small, the balls of wool in mine are 2 x 100gm balls, a 200gram ball and 2  x 50gram balls. The hook you can see poking out is a size 8 hook with a twisted pink/pale blue handle purchased from ebay.

I really enjoyed crocheting them. Please pop on over to Liz's blog it's a delight to visit.

.Tomorrow I'll share my next quilt project, I have photos but not of the stage it's at now, plus I imagine you're fed up of photos by now :o).

Take good care of you, thank you for visiting, 

hugs Peg xx

I am still here

Hello you lovely blogging friends, I'm sorry for the lack of posting, I have so much project wise to share with you. At present its trying to get the time to upload the photos and write but I promise I will try my best this weekend to share all I've been doing.
Enjoy your weekend

Hugs
Peg xx

A bloggy blanket

Hello to all you lovely bloggers out there, for the Brits amongst us, wow aren't we lucky with the weather just now. I'm not a sit outside and tan girl, my skins to fair but Mr B is and is looking as if he's been on holiday abroad. I have so many freckles I've often wondered about joining them up lol. I either sit in the shade or stay indoors sewing. Homes here don't have air conditioning unless of course you're building your own house and have it installed. We bought two air coolers last year, one at home and one in the caravan, needless to say which ever one we're near gets full use plus if its the van we have a large fan going too. The fan in the bedroom is on all night and the door leading from bedroom to shower room is open all night. Despite being on the side that gets all the sun during the day that room stays lovely and cool. It's good for the dogs too if they get to hot they'll go in there to lay on the cool floor.

We got up to a lovely sunny day again, lovely clear blue sky, the only downside is Mr B worries about his plants when we're not here. I'm sure this must have been farm land before as the plants flourish so well. It really is nice walking around the site and looking at the beautiful gardens that receive such loving care from their owners. The ground staff cut the grass and tend to the trees. I'd love to see plants around the bottom of the three small trees we have on our plot, hopefully we'll do that next year.

On to creative matters, recently I came upon a lovely blog who's owner Mum, no not my Mum, was organising a blogging blanket chain, the idea is to volunteer to crochet either one or a few squares add them to the blanket then pass it on to the next volunteer. When its the given size it will be donated to someone who needs it. For full details please click on the link to Mum's blog below, please don't be put off if you're a beginner, its simply a granny square original or for the more advanced something a little different. I've been crocheting for a few years now but just plain blankets, finally mastered the granny square and now I'm doing it correctly I love it.
Mums blog

I received the blanket from Joy, along with a lovely parcel of goodies from her stash, thank you Joy they're great and will be used.



Both the blanket and goodies came wrapped in lovely blue tissue paper, aren't I a very lucky girl :0)

The blanket is beautiful, the colours are so different to what I normally use but despite being crocheted by several people they co-ordinate so well. I added a few lighter squares, some plain granny and 3 different variations I've just learned. These are my squares below, I have so enjoyed being a small part of this bloggy blanket chain and I know you will too.


This is the blanket now my squares are attached, its just waiting for the next person to volunteer, would that be you?





I have been busy on my own things which I will share in another post, I don't want to detract from the blogging blanket.

Take care and enjoy the sunshine, I'll be indoors sewing lol.

Peg xx

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Shhh, I think summer is slowly waking up

Thursday 20th

Well we awoke this morning to beautiful sunshine, its been a lovely day. I didn't sleep well again last night so this afternoon I went for a rest on the bed, 2 hrs later I woke up to the noise of rain hitting the window. It's another 2hrs on and still raining, the dogs happily 'plod' their way through puddles and mud but weren't to happy with the rub down when they got back and the 'no laying on the sofa when you're wet rule' lol. Apparently its going to get better.

We drove down here last night until Sunday, again gorgeous weather, on route we pass a cafe and toilet area set back from the road. For many years this has been a meeting place for 'bikers', they range from the top range bikes to Harley's and those that have seen better days. There's no trouble, they're there to chat and show off their bikes, all ages, from the young learner to the elderly capable to ride.
It's an amazing sight, Lincolnshire is a very flat rural area famous for its farming, when the weather is good like yesterday our journey is great. You constantly have bikes in your rear view mirror, groups and solo riders, the sound takes us back to when Neil was racing.
Last night there were more bikes there at the cafe than I've ever seen before, there were hundreds, it was like going to a race meeting at the local race track Cadwell Park, all you could see was a huge sea of people and bikes, brilliant! I don't think they'd gathered to discuss crochet or quilting though ;0). The usual conversation is ' what can you get out of her on the straight' her being the bike.

As mentioned in my last post my second blanket is coming on great and a little nearer to completion. Some of you would have it finished in a few days or a week but I can't crochet for long before my hands swell and stiffen even more so its a case of do when you can and don't when you can't. The squares below all have a white border on them now so can be added to the already joined ones.


Friday 21st
I've discovered I can't do any crochet anyway I've left my hooks at home, I can only use these so the blanket won't grow any just yet! Mr B suggested buying another one but I bought these in a set with case on Etsy which cost me a lot less than buying them individually.



Last week I found a tutorial for a Funky Chicken Debbie Shore

Debbie's instructions are great but being tired I sewed up the wrong seam twice! I left it alone, went to bed and tried again the next day, result, yeah please say hello to Maggie.


Maggie is filled with hollow fibre so can be used as a toy or just sitting on my desk. Im going to do some more with rice to be used as doorstops. She didn't want to stay on the machine it disturbed her sleep lol.
Below is a close up of one of the cushions from the dining area.


Mr B has been very busy in the garden we have with the caravan, he planted Lupins last year and my goodness how he was rewarded this year. Everyone who walks past comments on them, the left one is a deep pink the middle one is a gorgeous purple. That one doesn't show up very well on the photo, the far right has a Lupin planted this year so is only about 14" high, I can't remember what colour that one is.





On the left of the picture going down that wall is a Laverita which of course is Pink looks like that will flower this year. Also small perrenials which have flowered and been dead headed. The other border plants aren't flowering yet apart from the beautiful Aquilegias



He found a way to have hanging baskets without drilling into the veranda rails, they and the pots on the patio contain my favourite, Pansies, along with others.






The two faces peeping through the gate is Momma Mia and Poppy, the others were more sensible and stayed in the shade inside.






He's also got Potatoes in tubs on the patio and lettuce, radishes, spring onions, mint and chocolate mint in planters also on the patio. Last night for dinner we had homemade pizza with a side salad with some of his lettuce and radishes. The spring onions aren't up yet, it was delicious, he does make a mean pizza👍in fact he's a great cook.

I'm writing this with blog spot I'm not sure if you are able to click on the photos for a better look.

We had to wait up until just after 2am before the dogs could go for a last wee, it was heavy torrential rain. It's dull today and showers on and off so I'm going to see if I can do some sewing.

Have a good day wherever you are

Hugs
Peg xx




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Location:Lincolnshire

A very kind member

I've been a member of my local Freecycle group for over 5 yrs, in that time I've recycled items we no longer use but were clean and in good condition. I won't offer anything that I wouldn't be happy to accept and use myself.

I've been gifted 2 large dog crates and a medium one, all in new condition, a lot of towels and bedding, used to make dog beds for the rescue. Two different members between them gave me 25 brand new dog beds, one used to own a pet shop and had retired so was down sizing her home, the other used to own a curtain and loose covers business and had quiet a bit of fabric left and contacted me to see if she made beds with it would our rescue and other rescues be able to use them. My goodness yes so ours, a greyhound rescue and another small dog rescue all benefited, like me they were thrilled, she delivered them all here and I transported them to their new 'homes', all together there was about 45 beds.

I've had bags of wool donated for making coats/jumpers again so much I shared it out. There are some amazing people on the group, some who sadly tried getting goods to sell them on but mostly good. I popped on a couple of weeks ago to see if anyone was needing something I may have and my eyes lit up, someone was offering an overlock machine with instructions. The ad was a couple of days old so I thought it had probably been taken but I replied anyway. A couple of days later I had a reply to say I could have the machine, yeeeeaaahhh. I asked if I could collect the next day because of us going away. She replied and said she was working but was happy to keep it for me, I could have kissed her, but then I thought that may frighten her off lol.

We were gone for 12 days and bless her she kept her word and I picked it up yesterday along with some other goodies she'd popped in the box. I have to be honest I thought it would be an old one and was praying it wouldn't be a large Industrial one or I was sunk. No it's not huge, its great and just right! It evidently has had very little use, is immaculate and came with a Singer book on sewing projects plus quite a few cones of thread. Here's my new toy:

It's a Singer Overlock Ultra-lock with Differential feed.




I have to say I thought her very kind, she could easily have sold it and got quite a bit for it. It will be residing on my sewing table, not my dining table I just wanted to see if it worked and its A OK! it will be a reminder there are still many kind hearted people out there. I hope she's rewarded a hundred fold for her giving.

Creating.

I'm on my second granny square blanket with 40 sq's competed so far, they are 6" pr sq, I've bordered the darker shaded ones with white and the light shaded ones which turned out to have white on the last row with pink. The wool is James Brett Magi-knit Baby DK shade 3067, I've used 3x100gm balls. I've not chosen particular sections of the ball I've just crocheted from the beginning of the ball until the end and I'm really pleased with the effects. Each colour goes from its light shade through to its darkest.





I'm really looking forward to seeing this one put together.


Hugs

Peg xx


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At last I've finished it!

As stated in an earlier post I have finally mastered the crochet Granny square, with help from you tube participants who kindly give their time and expertise. I've been beavering away any time I sat to watch TV or listen to an audio book. The book you can just see on the ipad screen on the left is Hearts of Gold by Catrin Collier, great book and am enjoying listening whilst crocheting.

As you can see I didn't use my brain and work the ends in as I went so had a very tedious time doing it all in one go.

I now have enough squares to make 2 cot blankets and have joined one lot together using this link bobwilson123 . I stayed up until 3am this morning to put the border around it. When we get home I'll  wash it, I've named it 'Pastel with a hint of bold'. I'm really pleased with it, my very first one.

I'll get the other one made up hopefully in the next few days.

You'll probably notice there's been a bit of a change in the van's decor, I've really loved the van since we first saw it but the curtains being deep terracotta and the upholstery tan and brown I felt it needed lightening up. Before:

 Sooo I've recovered the seating in the dining area in a light two tone beige check and made new cushions, the larger sofas at the other side I will cover in a fabric which has a larger check and deeper beige. As you can see Nunu approves
Now:

Below shows the new curtains, I took the pelmet boards down and recovered them in a deep pink chinz lined with curtain lining. On the board top part it the fabric is straight but the bottom half I made with pleats you may be able to click on the photo to enlarge it and you'll see the pleats. I need to line the curtains I have the fabric but wanted to put the curtains up to see the effect. On the right of the photo you can just get a peek at the cushions I made for the other sofas. They have a patchwork center I'll reveal those when I've made the covers for the other sofas. The table on the right trying to get in the picture and chairs are normally in front of this seating not in the middle of the room :o). I'd love to have laminate flooring but Mr B like his carpeting ;o)

We've managed to have 12 days here this time with it being a bank holiday here in the UK I was hoping to get the other sofas finished before we went  home but it may not happen until we come next time. I will share when I get it finished.

I had a text message on Saturday evening from my eldest son his younger daughter Molly had been asked to be a Brolly girl on pole position at the World Super Bikes held at Donnington Park the following day. She was over the moon, he was ecstatic because he & Philly got pit passes to go with her because she's under 18, so they spent Sunday mixing with the stars of the race track as well as both UK & USA actors. They had a great day.

Molly, on the right in Pole Position

A fantastic day!

Oohh surrounded by the paparrazi ;0)

I'm really enjoying myself Nan

How envious I was :o)

I've also bee enjoying catching up on some blogs I've not had chance to read in the past months and have really enjoyed myself. There are some amazing blogs out there.

Take care

hugs Peg xx

A less stressful life

Hello lovely fellow bloggers, I'm sorry I haven't posted for almost 2 mths, life has taken a new turn for me and mine. My health took another unexpected nose dive pushing me to the decision that I needed to change the way I was living my life.

I've been involved with rescuing dogs for a long time in one way or another but as most know I became one of the directors of the Little Dog Rescue in 2009. We began small taking in small dogs be they pedigree or 100% mongrels the emphasis being on small.

I was taking an enforced break last year due to ill health and had some concerns about some of the goings on by one of the directors. This sadly revealed she was committing fraud, misusing money given for the dogs,  it unearthed the fact she was not the person we loved and respected. It led to a police investigation which despite her saying differently is still open and she hasn't cleared her name.

We were left with 4 remaining directors after hers and other staff members resignations, one of those is Mr B. I just couldn't carry on as things were the work load became to much 24/7 and I had an ultimatum from my consultant. Sooo after talking to the other directors and a staff member who is giving her absolute all to help out it was decided that rather than resign and step down I would remain a director but the everyday running of the rescue would  be taken over by Sam and Clare and we have some excellent staff members who are proving to be worth their weight in gold. I will continue to order and distribute medication and order special diet food for some of our lifetime foster dogs.
I am really grateful for the others allowing me to take this option, I said goodbye to my last foster dog recently, a little Shiddie girl who came in from a home in Ireland. She is blind but this doesn't hinder anything she does. She's been well looked after and loved very much by her previous owners it was ill health that caused them to reluctantly give her up. She has been adopted by one of our lovely staff members and is living the life of Riley with another Shiddie girl the same age and 4 little KCC's girls.

I had a change of medication and with that and the stress being lifted life is taking on a far better route. It now allows me to see more of my family, get back to doing my crafts, enjoy my own dogs, I now don't feel guilty coming to the van leaving others to deal with the constant phone calls, emergencies etc.

I will however be making some goods for the rescue to sell and raise necessary funds, we can assure people now that all monies given to the rescue for the dogs is used for their benefit not ours. All members from the newest to the directors as all volunteers and not paid for their services.

I'm going to end this post now before it gets into an essay and will write another one after it to share some other news.

Keep safe
hugs Peg xx

The weather is glorious here

We've come down to the van until Sunday lunch time, what a palaver last night when we got here. Travelling down I was absolutely perished, northern word for extremely cold! We had Georgi girl with us and bless her she doesn't travel well, that's usually why my lovely daughter has her and Nunu whilst we're here. Said daughter is now working so is unable to have them, it's no trouble when they're all here its just the travelling. We've found giving her a Sturgeron travel pill an hour before travelling and putting a cushion in the footwell at Mr B's feet she's ok. The draw back is we have to have the heater on cool so she doesn't get to hot, hence she is fine, we're perishing cold😊

When we arrived at the van the owners of the site had been having electrical work done over the past few days so a notice was up to say it would go off intermittently whilst the site was checked for safety. The problem was our electric had tripped out, no electricity, the CH is gas but needs electric. Mr B had cleaned the carpet when we left last week. So putting furniture back in place in pitch black tends to result in trapped fingers and knocked shins😄. Eventually we found the outside trip switch and we were up and running it soon warmed through.

The weather today is absolutely gorgeous, a lot warmer and wonderful sunshine to brighten up the day👍 travelling in the dark with alternating rain and snow shower yesterday was a downer but today is a real blessing.

I'm going to be doing some quilting shortlynd ive brought my crochet with me. I've finally found out how to crochet granny squares correctly thanks to 'verypinkknits' fantastic video tutorials check them out on YouTube. Also I can now crochet hexagons thanks to 'bobwilson123 ' she has great tutorials on YouTube also. Thank you ladies for solving a problem I've had for years, badly misshapen sq's with no clue what I was doing wrong!

Because of the arthritis I can't use plain metal hooks so a couple of years ago I invested in a set, complete with case of Clover soft touch hooks. They have an aluminium hook but the handle is soft and very comfortable enabling me to hold the hook better. They're not cheap but at least I can use them.👍



Well I'm off to get started, I hope the weather is great where you are also.

Peg xx



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I feel like a character from Alice in Wonderland!

Gosh life has been so busy these past few weeks with the rescue the phone never seems to stop ringing. It's sad so many people having to give up their dogs, we're full so I've been ringing around other rescues to see if they can take the dogs we can't. 5 dogs have managed to get a space.

On a happier note not long now until the site opens up and we can go down to the caravan again. Although its double glazed and central heated I think it would be far to cold during the winter months. All the quilts, pillows, throws and bedding have been washed and ironed and packed away ready to take back to the van. I'm trying something different this year and have invested in some vac seal storage bags so hopefully they won't take up so much room in the cars. I'm having a battle with one bag that has 2 quilts, cushions, and 2 pillows in, it vacs down to a cube. Each time I do it, walk away and come back later its back to normal size! I know the valve is sealed so think there's either a hole or I'm not sealing the opening properly, the others work perfectly.

Stitching wise, I bought a few more Accuquilt dies and am looking forward to cutting out the ones I bought. I have 5 quilt tops ready to sandwich, I still haven't worked up the courage to machine quilt the quilt I finished last year😊 I will do it eventually.

Well it's a quick visit, lunch to get ready and more sorting to do.

Take care and enjoy your day

Peg xx


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Gosh I didn't realise it had even so long!

Goodness me my apologies to all those who pop by, this year has been probably one of the worst up to now. My health hit an all time low and I'm so sad to say there have been some very distressful times concerning our rescue. An investigation has ensued relating to a former director, more can't be said as yet the case is still ongoing and will be carried on into the new year. Very unpleasant times, with her supporters vilifying myself because I brought it to the attention of the authorities. If I hadn't been ill and taking a back seat for a few months I would not have known about it and it would have continued. Her supporters sadly can't be told what the allegations are so think we're being malicious, when it all comes out they'll be very hurt. I know because I was, I respected, trusted and loved her like a sister.
Because of the above the number of dogs we can help has depleted enormously. This time of year we're always very busy as are all rescues but we don't have the finances to fulfil our promise of looking after the ones needing medical treatment. It's been very draining, stressful and still is.

My salvation has been the odd times I can devote to my sewing which has been very spasmodic. I have managed to get a lot of squares cut out with my Go cutter, so much quicker. I do still use a rotary cutter though. I've actually got one of my wip's pieced, sandwiched and ready for me to grow some nerve and machine quilt it.
Here it is waiting or me to get up the nerve:

We've spent as much time as possible at the coast in our holiday hideaway, we've enjoyed it so much and are glad we chose where we did. I wanted to make it as cosy as possible, couldn't get Mr B to go chinz but he does like the new armchair I found on ebay, handmade by a craftsman who has 30 yrs experience behind him. I absolutely love it, it's so comfy, here's a pic for you and it wasn't as expensive as you would imagine. The fabric is Clarke & Clarke Rose on Grey but it is just off white.

In September I changed my car, I need to have a higher one to enable me to get in and out easier. This body isn't as agile as it used to be, we looked around for ages and finally decided on a Vauxhall Antara 4x4. It's great and so comfy to drive and ride in. We chose a black like this one, good job I don't do the cleaning of it I can't reach the top of the car!

I'm not doing much driving at the moment though only if I really have to. I have torn the plantar fascia ligament and its blooming painful. This ligament goes from the bottom of the toes to the back of your heel, due to the damage caused it's inflamed. I have to wear the splint at night plus on and off during the day the splint stretches the ligament helping it to heal. Day time isn't bad, they increased my dosage of the anti inflamatories and pain meds. Night time wearing it in bed is like going to bed with motorbike boots on lol. It does help though, until I take it off. It is very sexy don't you think :0).

As you can see my ever faithful companions like to be near.

Mr B is so getting into the cooking and baking, he's stocked the freezer up, not the bread cobs on top they were bought ones he moved to the top to be used first. There are bread cobs in there that I made. His quiches are really scrumptious, the pastry melts in your mouth. He's not quite mastered making tea cakes but he'll get there.

  Photos of the pizzas he made, cooked one and it was delicious with salad.

Ready for the freezer with sweetcorn, red onion, green peppers, ham & Danish Salami

, 

He likes to keep the larder cupboard stocked and rearranges it occasionally lol.

Sorry it's photo overload just trying to catch up, I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas. We're out for Christmas lunch, we're going to my daughters and really looking forward to it.

Hugs to you all
Peg xx