If at first you don't succeed.

I was trying to be clever yesterday and post a link to some photos unfortunately that didn't work so will put the photos on instead.

I'll take you on a tour of my garden area, tea and biscuits provided free of charge.

My garden, my refuge, my small but comfy summerhouse and of course little poser Georgi. The chiminea is still under cover.



My vintage Royal Albert ornamental teapot and a magazine or two


One of my samplers and ornamental bird cage with perfumed candle & lights in, it looks really nice when lit, saving the environment too they're battery operated. The light on the back wall is solar and bright.



More magazines to peruse with a snugly vintage eiderdown if it turns chilly.


Another book or two and another snugly eiderdown, room for two, anyone want to join me?


Cd corner the player is under the table, we will paint the tables and corner shelf when we have more time later. I have the curtains ready just waiting for Mr B to have time to put the rails up, I'll share that in another post. I don't need to make them my lovely DIL Philly made them. I'll be making some cushion covers hopefully next week, I have the inserts and fabric ready and waiting.



Secluded eating corner, awaiting new chairs. We're bringing the two spare ones from the caravan they're more comfy.


Oh to swing and dream, soooo comfy, the quilted rug is necessary when little doglets decide to jump up and snooze.


My Bay tree, bistro table and lamp, again, solar. Sadly one of the globes was accidentally broken so I've ordered a replacement.




I've wanted a Japanese acre for years and love the deep coloured display, along with this my Lavender shrub and pot chrysanthemums make up this corner. That's my big man Nemo in the back ground.


From the steps, the little shed in the corner is for storage, I don't go there just incase little scurrying visitors are in residence.


Another from the steps


Looking into the house


Not a large garden but it's ours and we love it, the fence is 6' my neighbour has conifers the other side and asked if we minded her letting them grow higher, no it gives us more privacy.

So there you have it our little haven from the bustle of life.






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Isn't it nice to see some sunshine?

The links aren't working will try again ! It's been a beautiful day here in sunny Derbyshire, I awoke this morning to an unusual quietness around the house, it's usually a hive of baking and cooking by Mr B. On coming downstairs the back door was open and the contents of my grooming room were on the pavers in front of the steps.

I need to explain a little here first, I have an awful and some may say pathetic phobia about mice and their larger kin, rats. When we had the new kitchen installed and my bedroom made over we stored quite a bit of the bedroom stuff in the grooming room, these items weren't put back for a while so I wasn't able to get in there for quite some time.

To my horror when I did I noticed there was evidence of visitors, not the pleasant kind, those with 4 legs and an obscene tail the only good thing about it was they were the smaller variety! That was it, I refused to go in, childish you may think, I don't mind spiders, moths, bees etc. Luckily all bedroom contents were in large plastic storage tubs inpenetrable (sp?) from the outside by scurrying things. Everything was thoroughly washed although unnecessary, however the lidless tubs holding my grooming tools etc didn't go unscathed. The blooming monsters had been in them!!

Then this morning there was Mr B very kindly extracting the contents and scrubbing everything down for me. With the contents out it was possible to see they had not made a home in there by nesting but were literally visiting or being nosey, they must have been rather peeved at me because no food was kept in there and thankfully they didn't punish me by chewing anything.

Bless him he really went to town with the disinfecting and scrubbing, I couldn't thank him enough for what he'd done. Now the only items in there need to be and I can see all areas so am happy to go back inside and keep my munchkins tidy. Their treats box is in there now but has a strong lid, if you'd like to see the results please click on the link below.


A lovely visitor to my blog has emailed and asked if I could please share photos of my garden, this link is below if you should wish to also see. I love my garden now, it has served as a refuge from the constant ringing phone, a place I can either sit quietly or listen to classical music or catch up on my audio books with my ipod. We're very lucky in having neighbours who are out at work all day so it's nice and quite. Our garden area isn't massive but we're happy with it. It was rather large when we first moved in but we used one side of it to have a large garage built. Having the dogs mean't any grassed area would be ruined, I have 6 girls and grass doesn't fair well.

So last year we decided to have it all paved with Indian slabs, I got my longed for conservatory, summer house, grooming room and my lovely garden swing. The pics aren't fantastic, I'm not to good with the camera and a great view would have been overhead I suppose but I don't own a chopper lol.

 I have my lovely mediteranian style pots with a Japanese Maple for which I've wanted for years, they also hold my Lavender shrub, Bay tree and pot chrysanthimums. It's easier to keep clean and tidy, the slabs need a rinse down daily but that's not a problem.

I do have lovely solar lights all around in the pots, some of them are along the fence, summer house and along the edges of the paved area. Photos I take of them never come out right. The small shed beside the summerhouse is just for storage and not one I go into just in case lol.I would love extensive grounds with landscaped gardens and sitting areas but I haven't and I'm happy with what I have, it's managable.
I do love Mr B :o)

Here's the link below.

Have a wonderful weekend, we're off to my elder sons tomorrow for a bbq, I love it over there too there's often shows or festivals going on especially with LadyBower Dam being so close.

take care

Our little soldier

Whilst I've been incapacitated on enforced rest Mr B has been occupying himself with swapping cupboards around. Many of you will I'm sure salute this action but the problem is I can never find anything when he's finished lol. He will often move things around in the large larder cupboard but then I have to keep shouting to ask him where he's put things.

Anyway, he decided to rearrange the cupboard under the stairs where we keep stocks of long term storage like a few tinned goods, loo roll, kitchen roll, pasta etc. During his sorting he came across a cardboard box which gave a bit of a 'pot' rattle when he moved it. Carefully looking inside he came across this handsome fellow which we forgot we had.

 He's a cookie jar around 18" high, we knew we had the perfect place for him now. Mr B is a big fan of chocolate, I'm not, the occassional McVities chocolate wholemeal biscuit I enjoy but that's it. However I do dabble in sweets (candy to our US friends) so we have decided to take him to our peaceful holiday get away and give him the honour of guarding our 'stash' We can get quite a few packets of sweets & chocolate bars in there don't you think?  I love his cute little grin. My daughter, SIL & grandson are going down for the weekend but she'd rather not have the responsibility of taking him, she's brilliant at breaking things lol.

Im going to see if I can stand long enough to put the batting and backing fabric on my quilt top, not easy sitting down doing it and I need it to be kept straight.

If I manage it you'll be the first to know :o)

Take care

Peg x

Another change in the weather!

Yesterday, 3 of my Munchkins and I spent our time in the conservatory, me sorting the quilt out and they just watching me. from left to right is Megan my little oldie girl who recently had a stroke. Georgi girl my little flirt and Dooglebug our baby of the outfit who loves everybody whomever they are.
The weather wasn't inviting us to sunbathe and rained all day not a day for sitting on the swing.

It didn't improve any later on either as you can see in these pictures

The lovely pink bucket you can see was purposely left out to measure the amount of rain we'd had and as of yesterday in 2 wks the bucket is 3/4 full! As you can imagine we have not sat at the garden table for any meals recently lol. Thankfully we are better off than some in the UK who have horrendous floods again, it must be heart breaking because some are only just getting over last years floods.

On a lighter note I've finished the quilt top I was sewing, when we spent 10 rainy days in our get away I used the time to get on with it

I took the photo today thinking the rare appearance of the sun may give me a good picture, here's a close up so you can see the blocks and pretty border fabric. It's called Playmates quilt, designed by Pam & Nicky Lintott. The pattern calls for a jelly roll from the French General range but as this is no longer available I used my own yardage of Moda fabrics from the US. 

I have the cotton batting and backing fabric ready to complete it but I'm not able to stand long enough to pin them all together yet. I'm very happy with how it's turned out so far, I'd never made these blocks before, I made mistakes and there was quite a bit of frogging and restitching but it was worth all the work put into it.

The sun has gone back in now and it's rather overcast again, the forecast is more heavy rain yet we have hosepipe bans in force in several areas??

Take care

Peg x

.

A little renovation.

A few years ago I saw and fell in love with this quilt on ebay, I loved it on site. I finally had the winning bid and was so happy when I received it. At first I was a little disappointed that the back was bulky, there was no batting just a rather thick blanket albeit it new.



This is the blanket,


Due to being ill and not able to machine or physically walk about I decided to take off the backing and finish it properly. Once I'd removed the blanket the back was a bit of a shock







As you can see each square instead of being cut to size had the edges folded over anywhere between 1- 2" with masses of threads needing cutting off. It looked a mess, but you know I felt really annoyed with myself for being so picky. The reason for this was that on closer inspection the lady who pieced it had hand stitched each square. The stitches were so tiny evidently taking many hours to stitch the squares securely together.

I've cut the excess fabric off each square and when I put the batting, the backing fabric and binding on I will have the luxury of using my machine, this lady evidently didn't. I think the old adage of not judging a book by its cover is a lesson I learnt this week. I still love it and knowing the work she put in will make me appreciate it even more.

Just a little mention of the weather we're having, if it continues to rain much longer I think we'll all be developing webbed feet :0).

Enjoy your week and please take time to pop over to some of the blogs who's buttons are on my sidebar you'll be in for a treat!

Take care

Peg x



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Making changes

We decided to come down to our little get away for a few days. We both love it here and have had the company of the sun for the past 2 days, the temperature drops in the evening but we don't care there's heating and when we feel like being snugly we have gorgeous chenille throws & beautiful crocheted blankets. Plus of course my little munchkin doglets, they're perfect hottie bottles. :o)

We're making a few changes inside this time, I love terracotta but the curtains seem to look 'flat' so I've decided to change them from this colour

to this colour

I wanted to lift the colour a little so I chose these lovely Latte curtains. Two of the lounge windows are only 3' wide so I bought one pair and made a pr from each curtain. They also needed 10" off the bottom but that won't be wasted because I've earmarked it to cover the pelmet, yes I know pelmets are so last season but I like them and think they finish a window off.  I slip stitched the lining back onto the curtains and have one window dressed with them. Two other windows are over 4' each and the big one is 90" x 42".

When we first bought our get away the windows had plain net curtains, not very inspiring and I'm not a fan of nets so couldn't wait to get rid of them. I chose Ivory slat blinds to compliment the Latte coloured curtains and Mr B put the first one up for me today so with the new curtains they look great, well to me they do. I need to sort the tie backs and the pelmet tomorrow I'll post a pic when they're finished. I'm hoping to do another pair tomorrow. I brought some quilting with me but haven't had the chance to do any yet but I'll leave this project here so it'll get a little more done next time hopefully.

On a none busy note the dogs and I have had a lovely time today I took them 2 at a time on a good walk. I can't walk to far and it does aggravate my back so I use my scooter. It's nice and flat here and the dogs are very proficient at walking to the side of me to avoid the wheels. Megan's the cheekiest bless her she thinks it's her princess carriage and rides between my feet! Just like this, she surveys her little kingdom, thankfully she doesn't do the queenly wave :o)

Well that's all for now take care, keep smiling and thank you for visiting.


Peg x

Anyone for tennis?

Lol not really, I'd be flat on my face, although I did used to enjoy playing. I just wanted an excuse to show off my lovely Cath Kidson style pumps. They are so pretty and really comfy, if I remember right they were under £10 from Windsors shoe store. My daughter is miffed because we don't share the same shoe size lol.

Thanks to Sue who introduced me to me Blogpress I can now post photos from my iPad. If I've made it work of course! I hope I've done the link correct if I have click on Sues' name and it will take you to her lovely blog.

Just wanted to test the photo insert again if I may. This is Nunu and I having a one to one chat just after tea one night at the van. She's a lovely girl who is slightly shy of strangers but will love you forever if you're one of her favourite people. I adore this little girl she's like a gazelle when out off lead, she doesn't run but leaps.




We had to cover the seating in the van the weather was very stormy and each trip out we were wet through so throws on the sofas was the order of the day! Bless em the little munchkins wanted to be comfy, lol. Want to know how to accommodate 4 Shiddies and 6 Lhasa's in a caravan? Well some at one end...



And 4 at the other :0)



Hopefully this will be successful, we've just enjoyed a typical English Sunday lunch of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and veg. No dessert to full!
It's our wedding anniversary tomorrow, 39 yrs, we've been together 41 yrs and I love him just as much today if not more. I love that we can spend more time together now he's semi retired and can't wait until he leaves altogether. Being able to go to the van whenever we want, I take my stitching and quilting, he takes his camera and the days just drift by.

Enjoy what's left of your day

Peg xx

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Taking time to recharge the batteries.

Hi ladies, I've been a bit absent on the blogging front, whilst away I've mainly been using my ipad and believe me it's no fun using it to write on blogger. You can't add photos through it and things go awry with it, we're back home now and I'm finally able to catch up. I've enjoyed reading through the many blogs I visit, there have been some beautiful creations and I've loved reading about them.
Take a trip over to Hens house share in her Easter celebrations, I love popping in and seeing what she's been creating or what she's up to.

We've been away to the van for 10 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, we went from Thursday to Sunday during which the weather was gorgeous, we were able to sit outside, chill out and enjoy the sun. The dogs loved it and as you can just see on the photos they lapped up the sunshine. Mr B managed to get the borders planted, if they all come up it will look colourful, he also planted up two large pots near the veranda. There are now tiny lights entwined around the balcony rails, post lights along the path and 3 Shepherds lanterns on either side of the patio. They look wonderful at night, it's not warm enough to sit out there in the evening yet but will be soon.

We came home on the Sunday because Neil had some meetings at work but we went back on Monday when he'd finished. Lesley, Andrew and Sam joined us for a few days. They set off in the afternoon so when we got there they had a lovely meal waiting for us. It was lovely to sit down and eat straightaway. 

Not wanting to scare you but this was me at the beginning of the holiday feeling exhausted, not able to sleep and looking like something the cat dragged in!! I was trying to read but when you've got a few little furry ones who like attention you tend to read the same paragraph several times. I promise you as the time went on I did feel more refreshed and looked less scarey lol. Hey if you can't laugh at yourself something's wrong, I do it regularly because I usually get into a muddle. ;o)

When we went back the weather was appalling, like the rest of the country we had horrendous storms. The wind during the night was so loud you'd have thought you were next to a train line. Thankfully no one suffered any damage but I was glad the van is anchored down!

I felt sorry for Sam, he loves to fish and had taken all his fishing tackle down with him so he could fish in the lake, even remembering his licence. Sadly the storms were to strong and taking the dogs had us all wet through and having to change clothes each time, the dogs were dryer than us actually, we don't know how they managed it. Nemo and Dooglebug were most affronted at having to wear coats, if looks could kill lol.

It was fun having them there and it meant we had 10 dogs with us but with 5 of us and 2 dogs each we had walking sussed. They were brilliant bless em and settled down after their walks. Sadly we couldn't take them on the beach, the winds were to strong. Travelling through the streets the day after the worse one we saw how strong it had been peoples gardens and drives were covered in sand and the shops on the front had been close to being flooded by sea water and rain. We all enjoyed it though and had a laugh and celebrated Andrews birthday. Lesley and family left on the Wednesday evening because Andrew was back at work on Thursday, we got up Thursday morning to gorgeous sunshine and warm weather!! we couldn't believe it.

We had a couple of days on our own then on Saturday one of Neil's climbing friends came over with his wife and 22mth old little boy for the day. Thankfully it was lovely sunshine again so we were able to go out onto the beach, it was still windy on there though so we needed to wrap up well. We haven't seen them since Oliver was a few months old and what a delightful little boy he is, he's so cute and amusing. He's very forward for his age and very articulate, he soon had us and the dogs charmed. He thought it very funny when Dooglebug, who had become his buddy for the day, decided to take one of his Bob the builder toys. He was not going to give it up, I had visions of a very expensive op to remove the toy if he chewed and swallowed it! To say he came into rescue as supposedly grumpy and a biter he loved being with Oliver, I did have to open his mouth and take the toy out he wasn't going to give it up otherwise, but he didn't offer to bite once.

During our time at the van I managed to finish my 'Playmates' quilt top, I'm undecided whether to put another border around it or just put the batting and backing on. I'm really pleased with it and will post a picture later. I have to keep checking the dogs to make sure they haven't got pins stuck in their coats, I tend to drop the pins when pinning fabric together I did find one in my slipper one evening, thankfully it was stuck on the outer edge so no blood involved.

Now they've delivered the shed we've taken Mr B's bike and one of my scooters down to the van. Lincolnshire is very flat and a big help to those with walking problems. Mr B enjoys going out with his camera and I can go up to the shops or 'walking' the dogs without getting more tired. Friday was another lovely day, I'd taken Megan and Dooglebug to have their claws clipped then left them with Mr B whilst I had a ride up into town, it was lovely not having to look for a parking space and getting some fresh air.

Our lovely time had to come to an end on Monday evening, Mr B was back at work Tuesday and Wednesday. The traffic on the home run was busy in one section but the end bit went fairly quickly. Our eldest son, wife and youngest daughter have gone down from today until Sunday, I'm keeping my fingers crossed the weather stays fine for them. Paul suffers when it's damp and cold, they've taken their dog Teddy Edward, whose seen here chilling at home and getting ready for his holiday lol. Isn't he gorgeous.

Well folks I think that's me done for now, it's time for bed. 

Take care

hugs 

Peg x

A devastating day

We have just turned on the tv and have seen the horrific news of the bus crash carrying children from Belgium. My heart breaks for the parents of the children and the relatives of the adults also killed. 28 Belgiums including 22 of which were children, 12yrs of age who were returning home from a successful skiing trip. As a mother it breaks my heart, please remember to pray for the survivors who are seriously injured. Peg x

I finally did it!

I'm very happy this morning, I have finally managed to upload my own blog header. Not very adventurous I know but to keep it simple I chose a photo of the back wall of my dining room. I love this room, the curtains are similar to the wall hanging, the sun shines through the patio doors making it a lovely, cheery place to be.

I did try a photo collage but couldn't fathom out how to move it from power point to my blog. The next thing I want to tackle is having labels at the top for people to click on to move to another page of my blog I'm trying to understand several things at once. Not a good thing for my brain lol.

Enjoy your day I'll be back when I have more progress done.

hugs Peg x

Hello out there

Please don't give up on me for my lack of posting, I promise I will post in the next few days, I'm having a few blogger type problems which I can't seem to solve :0). I've changed to the new blogger in the hope of it being mostly problem free. I can't add photos when using my iPad which is so annoying! Will see you soon Peg xx

Well worth a visit

Surfing blogs last night I came across a beautiful case designed by the talented ohiomom on her blog I think it's great,I have the larger kindle and will be making one but enlarging it. Why not pop over and have a look you won't be disappointed. I had a lovely time reading through her blog, I particularly like her background with the beautiful autumnal colouring.

sew much with me: Kindle Fire case, finally :)


I've had a chilled day today with the dogs, Mr B rang he's enjoying his holiday and doing the same just chilling out. He faced timed me last night and gave me a grand tour of the house they're staying in it's beautiful!!

Don't forget to pop over.

Peg x

Look what the postman brought me today!

I just had to come back on and post what the lovely postman has delivered today. The Learn to quilt book I bought from Amazon the other day along with one on Machine quilting but that didn't arrive yet.

This one Mr B very kindly bought for me from a book seller who comes to his school

This is from an ebay seller, bought it yesterday and it was here this afternoon!!

And finally this little gadget, my eyes aren't what they used to be and my fingers are swollen a lot so I have difficulty threading the needles, again bought on ebay yesterday, delivered today what more could you ask.


I'm going to eat and then I'm going to have a read and a play :o)

Peg x

It's official, I am cold!!

I'm the one who usually has the doors or window open, Mr B is the one hugging the radiator. However, despite the sun streaming into the conservatory it is flipping cold here. Now I know -6 isn't cold to some of our over the seas fellow bloggers but it is for jolly old England LOL.

Despite the sun blazing which makes for a beautiful day the roads, pathways and generally under foot is treacherous. I will not be stepping over the threshold today. I had really bad falls in the snow the past 2 yrs and as Mr B is off on his jollies climbing there's no one to pick me up.

We had 8" of snow forecast, that hasn't materialised, yet. Mr B set off around 6.30am with some of his climbing friends for their annual Glen Coe reunion. I text him about 8am to say I was up and hoped his journey wasn't to risky, he rang me about 30mins later to say all was fine it was a bit over cast but not to bad. 10 mins later I get another call to say they'd broken down on the motorway, M62 which is notorious for accidents and bad driving! They had rung the AA and were waiting on the hard shoulder, not a good thing in this weather. Worrying time followed, thankfully about 40 mins later he called to say the AA chap had fixed it, a new coil installed and they were off on their merry way again. His climbing holidays are getting less frequent now he's getting older, I know he will not take any risks and if he's not happy to climb whilst away he'll just enjoy the company of around 15 of his climbing/walking friends. One takes his lovely partner Ross who is one very brave lady, I would not want to share a cottage with 13-15 men for a week LOL.

It's good news on the caravan front, the veranda was completed a couple of weeks ago but when we went down to have a look it was in the wrong place! The workmanship of it was faultless, we're very pleased but would like to be able to access it without knocking a wall down.

As you can see in the first photo, it's great but not accessible so we asked them to move it 3.5ft to the right so we a) could get to it and b) because clipping the door on to the veranda would give us more space.

Here in the second it's been moved the requested length to the right and we're happy with it. It means I am not risking falling down steep steps and the doglets get to sit outside with us without escaping into the grounds. Very happy, the site opens again March 15th my daughter, her two boys, one of Sams friends, me plus 4 doglets will be going down to enjoy a break.

On the creative front I don't have any progress shots of my stitching but I do have a photo of something I created oven wise, this is our new baby

And here are some of the first things I baked with it, the cheese biscuits cooling at the side of the range were made by Mr B.

I'm going to give up now because I'm having problems with the spacing and it's driving me crazy! I'm off to stroll through a few more blogs then get on with the quilt I'm cutting out.

Enjoy your weekend

Peg x

A relaxing day

We've had a relaxing day today it's been a very busy week, I've not been to well still but needed to bath & clip my dogs, the thought of doing them all was I have to be honest looking like a huge chore I could do without. However my daughter came to the rescue and helped, I took the dogs to her house she bathed and we trimmed and groomed together including her 2 Lhasa girls as well. It's taken all week but they're all looking great and smelling sweet. This little man joined our family late last year, he came as Dudley but we call him Dooglebug. He's not 2 until next year and is a great little chap who gets on really well with all our others and follows his big brother Nemo around. This photo is him at Christmas watching his favourite buddy, grandson James look for a dvd to watch!

The stitching photo is of my progress of the second stitching of Angel of Spring. I'm stitching it for my framing lady but it's been on hold for quite some time due to not being able to stitch with all the dust and muck we've had around. I'm hoping to make some real headway with it soon.

I love visiting other blogs to see what other stitching are focusing on at the moment. Oh boy there are some wonderful projects being stitched.
I have quite a few projects in the pipeline that I want to get finished this year. There are 4 quilts need backing and finishing, xstitch projects need finishing and I have new curtains to make for the caravan and the summer house. Well it's getting late and I suppose I ought to try and get some sleep.

Enjoy what is left of your weekend

hugs Peg x

How bitterness destroys

In the past few years I have met some wonderful people through blogging. I've shared their ups & downs. Loaned a shoulder when they needed to lean and have had the same support given back to me 10 fold and I thank you all for that.

How sad it is when someone seeks to destroy the happiness of others, well this is for one such person, may you find enough peace to get on with your own life, bitterness never built anything it destroys with a passion. May this person find peace in their life, your lies can't hurt me because the truth always outs in the end.

Getting back to normality, things on the dog rescue front are as busy as ever, we like all other rescues world wide are expecting our numbers to increase over the few weeks as puppies are bought for Christmas and the older dogs pushed out. More foster dogs have come through my home since I last posted. Each one has been a joy to have here,all have found loving homes. One in particular, Alfred, a blind, abused and elderly Shiddie boy has moved on but to a permanent foster home. He stole all our hearts with his wonderful character, everyone who meets him falls in love with him. Kelly his permanent foster Mum runs her own business designing and making designer knitted dog coats. She, her family and her dogs have taken Alfred into their hearts and he is thriving, his hair has now grown back and he's doing well. Kelly's children, dogs, cats and chickens all accepted him as if he'd always been there, thank you Kelly.

Don't you think his coat is great another beautiful one made by Kelly. Apart from a fantastic foster home the vet Kelly uses specialises in eye disease. He most probably will have to have his eye removed at a later date but his life will be as comfortable as it is possible to make it.

On the renovation front things are progressing gradually, now Neil has taken flexi retirement he has more time to do the things needing doing. The garden was a big job, the summer house is still waiting for curtains, my fault! but we've enjoyed many happy hours in it this summer. I'm just sorry there's no heating down there or I'd be sat in there lol.

The other summer house which Neil turned into a dog room was being used as storage but is being emptied gradually. We're waiting for the chaps to come back to build the steps up to the conservatory, it's decorated, floor down and the chap is coming to measure for blinds. It's so light and airy, brilliant place to sit for my first cuppa of the day.

I have a new 4 legged baby, no not a furry one it's my new Dhlongi range cooker, I love it!! The kitchen is finished I'm so pleased with the workmenship, the builders were great and even made me a cupboard where the designer had placed a block off. They said it was wasted storage space so turned it into a cupboard, lovely men they were ;o).

I got up this morning to the smell of baking, Neil had got up early so was baking cheese biscuits mmm. I have been able to get back to baking my own bread which I enjoy. Son in law Andrew helped Neil lay the kitchen and conservatory floor.

Decorating the living room is next, we both love creams and browns so it will have muted colours on the wall. My stitched samplers line most walls but I found a beautiful shabby chic mirror for over the small fire we have so that will be hung later. The bedrooms have been decorated, mine is finished but the front room is still waiting for the curtain rail to be put up and the laminate floor laid.

The next big job is the bathroom, thankfully you can get a b/room suite under £500 from Wickes, B&Q and Homebase so it'll just be having it installed and the tiling. Downstairs cloakroom needs painting so not a big job. We're trying to get it all sorted because we want to be able to go off to our bolt hole at the coast and not worry about jobs needing doing at home.

We have always wanted a holiday home, we couldn't afford a bricks and mortar one so decided to look at static caravans. We didn't want to travel far so opted for the Lincolnshire coast, we found a lovely site which has owner only vans on it, there's a wine bar but nothing else. The grounds are immaculate and the whole site is kept clean and tidy. It has a beautiful fishing lake for those who like fishing, this is situated just behind our van.

We love it, it only takes a couple of hours to get there, the dogs love having the run of the beach although I think we'll have to find a dog friendly one in the summer. We spent quite a bit of time there in the few weeks from buying it to the season finishing November 13th. We're having a balcony built just outside the door so the dogs can sit outside without taking themselves for a walk ;o). There's also a large patio for us to put seating and a bbq on in the summer.

It's so nice to have somewhere to go to get away, we're really looking forward to spending time down there this year. The other beauty of it is our 'kids' and grandchildren will be able to enjoy it too.

I've managed to catch up on some of my favourite blogs there are so many talented ladies out there in blogger land. Margaret is one of these viewing her blog is always a pleasure she does the most amazing projects, so beautiful. Please take a moment to visit her blog you won't be disappointed I promise you.

Take care and I hope 2012 is good to you all

Hugs Peg xx