Frogs and roses

Spring is in the air. Outside our bedroom window at night can be heard the soft croak, croak, croak of some busy little frogs

 They are a bit shy, but Naomi my oldest daughter managed to catch a few of them on camera earlier this morning.

 As a result of their activity, we now have quite a bit of frog spawn in the pond.

What usually happens now is we get a cold spell and it all freezes!

On a completely different topic, just look at these beautiful roses I was sent as a thankyou for doing some wedding invitations for a friend.

 They are absolutely gorgeous. Just look at that amazing spiral !

 (Captured on camera by Naomi.)

It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht!

I wanted to share a couple of photos from last week. They were taken at around 11pm. There was snow on the ground, the moon was out and it was so bright it looked almost like the daytime. 

It was crisp, serene and beautiful, and if it hadn't been so slippy on the road, I would have loved to have gone for a walk in it. Gorgeous. I wish I could bottle the atmosphere for you and post it to you.


As the Scottish saying goes...


"It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht the nicht." 


("It's a beautiful, bright moonlit night tonight")

December is here!

Winter has brought us it's first snow. It's been like this for about 3 days  although there is a sign of a thaw today. The little birdies have been very thankful for the nuts we've put out for them. (Well, they didn't leave me a note or anything, but they do look thankful!)


My parents have been visiting since Sunday, so there has not been much crafting going on in the last few days, but I am spending today tidying up and getting ready to get back to business. 

oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

On Monday it was the first time it has been warm enough in a LONG time! 

So we headed for Chanonry beach.

 We all enjoyed a paddle. And my girls had great fun making cool shadows.

I love my little girls hat. It is from the 1940s.  It belonged to my mother when she was little and I am sure I must have worn it too. It is still in perfect condition and is completely reversible. I should try to make a pattern from it and make a few more.

Naomi took some cool pictures. You might want to check out her latest blog.

I really like these photos she took...

The big melt

Drip, drip, drip. That is the sound I hear right now. We have been above freezing for two whole days now, and slowly, slowly, the winter wonderland that has been with us for the last three weeks or more, is melting away. Slowly being the operative word! This was a view from my bedroom window when the sun was trying to burn through the Highland mist. I love that kind of ethereal light.

The red kite who hovers over my garden daily paused for a while atop a sunny tree one crisp wintry morning.

The Jolly Jam Jar Project 2010

I hope you have been enjoying your winter holidays. We certainly have. I don't think I have ever seen such beautiful icicles around here. Perfect weather for long evenings by the fire.The vista from my kitchen is fringed with icicles !

Anyhoo...I dropped by to tell you about my Jolly Jam Jar project 2010. I hope to bring you a little creative inspiration - a Jam Jar upcycling tutorial every month. ( I say jam jar, but there may be a honey jar, or pesto jar in the project too.) So watch this space...

It's going to be fun!

Snow snow snow

There has been quite a bit of snow here the last couple of days. The kids have had a happy time making igloos and snowmen. My husband had a snow day from school, but had to go back in today, (after digging the car out!) The main roads seem fine now, but we were kind of hoping that we would be snowed in for a few days!

It's the best snow we've seen here for some time. It might not seem much if you live somewhere a little colder, but we're impressed.

One of the things I love about this time of year is when we start candlemaking again.

It's my husband's craft really, but he very graciously lets me play too. He made the blue candle and I hand dipped the pillars. These are for a friend, but we will get around to selling some once we get going again. (For me, part of the fun is packaging them!)

A fleeting visit

We've actually been having some lovely sunshine this spring. So much so there have been moments I could have believed it was summer except for the lack of leaves on the trees. Still, the buds are bursting and all is looking beautiful, and that is my excuse for not being a bountiful blogger! That and all the spring cleaning I have been doing. So, I apologise for the lack of posts. Hopefully I shall get on with some creative projects soon!

Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Frosty !

I don't think I've ever seen such lovely frost!

This is the road to our house.

Freezing fog everywhere.

It's a good day to sit next to a roaring fire!

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays.

Morning light and munchkins.

This was around 8:30am

That is frost not snow.

It's the view from my kitchen window.

I wish I could capture how beautiful it was.

The photo isn't as good as the real thing.

My mum made a little pullover for my munchkin.

I sewed a little felt cat on it this morning.

Gabsy chose the colour.

on a cold and frosty afternoon...

My husband took these pictures last Saturday afternoon.

Such beauty everywhere.

Even thought the flowers are gone,

the seedheads remain, and they look stunning.

And today, it is snowing again, and

somebody is desperate to go outside!

Early Snow

I don't remember the last time it snowed this early.

This is what it looks like out the bedroom window.

We are blessed to have a whole birch forest at the

back of the house. The trees haven't even shed

all their leaves yet, but I think

the snow will speed the process.

I think I'm going to work on some writing today.

The aliens have landed!

Rod took a picture of this fascinating cloud the other night.

It was amazingly saucer like. No little green men though!

I thought I'd stick it up here for you to see as I haven't

made anything visual in the last week or so.

I've been busy recording some of my kids songs.

My good friend Leo has some recording equipment

for a limited time only, and I'm making the most of

the opportunity.