The Past Year...........

......Okay, so a little yearly summery.....

Wowzer....what a year 2011 has been....and not in a particularly great way either. To be honest, I am SOOOOOOOOO glad to see the back of it. Tonight, I will be shaking off the coat that is 2011 and putting it firmly in the bin. I shall then be putting on a brand spanking new one with the hopes that it won't get as battered as the last one in the coming year. I really do hope that 2012 brings a little bit of brightness and hope with it. I am sure many of you reading this will be nodding your head to the last statement too!

It has been a difficult one for so many this past year, for a whole variety of reasons. It seemed natural disasters seemed to strike the world left, right and centre in the beginning months. Complete and utter devastation for many. To watch the news was difficult, so to imagine what it was like to be right there in the midst of it was horrendous. Tsunami's, flash floods, land slides, earthquakes, tornados. The precious Earth seems to have been battered from all sides this year.

War, violence and riots too.........so much pain.

And just to add to it all (as if that wasn't enough already), the global economic recession that we all seem to be caught up in at the moment has hit so many very hard and made it such a tough year. The loss of loved ones, young or old............it all seems to take it's toll.

I'm sure that if you've not been directly hit by any of these things, then you know a friend or family member who has.

If I think back on what this year has been like for me, I would say mainly worry. Family ill health has been a major worry this year for me. Ill health with several family members has taken its toll on us all...and as many regular readers will know, several months ago we lost a very dear young family member to Cancer, which completely devastated us all.

Now, this year has not been fab, and quite possibly, overall, really pants.......but......I don't want it all to be all doom and gloom. For every dark grey cloud in the sky, there is always sunshine behind it trying to get through! I have had a year of crafting and making things, that brought pure sunshine into my life. I have the priviledge of having some absolutely wonderful people in my life who are there for me whenever I need them......and, I have had a year with 4 males who have brought laughter to my heart and made me glad I am who I am. 

........ so as I kiss my Bears each night, I am thankful that I have them in this world. They make my life, all so worth while and make the lights inside me burn incredibly brightly. ♥

So, I hope that 2012 shines a little bit brighter for us all.

I wish each and every one of you

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!


xxx

Christmas Wishes.......

❇❄❊❈❅✴❄❇✳❄❊❈❅✴❄❇✳❄❊❈❅✴❄❇✳❄❊❈❅✴❄❇✳❄❊❈

THE VERY BEST

❅✳❄❇❅ Christmas Wishes ❅✳❄❇❅ 

To each and every one of you

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Vanessa

xxx

Baby it's cold outside..........

Hot drinks............and being snuggled by the fire......x

My Kind of Sight..........

A late afternoon walk...........

There's always a beautiful sight to be seen in a day.....and today, for me, this was it.

This Planet is such a wonderful thing, and it never ceases to amaze me.

xxx

What is this telling me.....?

Okay........so before I begin.......I will apologise in advance. Whilst nearly all blog posts in blogland are all full of cosy festive cheer at this moment in time.....this post is not!

.....................

I thought I would take a few moments to write on today's post. My posts have been a bit sparse these past couple of weeks. This post was meant to be just a picture. I have been around, but just feeling...well.....feeling rubbish actually. I have succumbed to another flippin' cold. I am not sure I have ever sneezed as much as I have done this past week. So forgive me, if I wallow a bit. Again, maybe it's this time of year, maybe just because I dread it so much. I am definitely not powering on full steam. Baby Bear has been suffering too this week, so lots of snuggle time has been called for.

I admit defeat.

I have tried to keep up with school matters. It bugs me actually that everything seems to be crammed in in these final 4 weeks of school. With three different schools, I have been bombarded with letters (when I actually go searching for screwed up bits in school bags), texts and emails. I cannot keep up with it all. Am I in the minority with this? Everyone I know seems to positively thrive on it all. It drives me mad. So much crammed in to so little time. 

 I am not doing well in the mummy stakes as my eldest pointed out to me last night. Super Mummy.....I AM NOT. Crummy Mummy....well, I think I might just take first prize at the moment.

I turned up at school with Baby Bear a couple of weeks ago, to find he was the only one in school uniform. What did I miss? I thought I had written every bit of information down as I had received it.  Obviously I had missed something. Well.....him being in Reception and being a boy, he didn't care, so, I tried not to worry about it too much....I just made a mental note to try harder, be better, and, try to forget the looks that you see on other mums faces. You know, the inward thinking of 'well...there's always one'....or is it....'good to see someone else gets it wrong'.

Last week, as I dropped Middle Bear off at his school, I notice that he too was the only one in school uniform. OH GOOD GRIEF.....I DID IT AGAIN WITH A DIFFERENT KID. What on earth is going on?! Seriously, what am I missing? Hummmmm, you know with him, I actually had it written down and had alert reminders twice on my phone to remind me not to forget. There were several bangs of my head on the steering wheel with the mild repetition of me chanting 'you muppet' to myself. Well, there is no hope for me I conclude. 

These, along with forgotten cake bakes, late raffle prizes, forgotten coffee mornings, missing a disco, getting the wrong date for a school Christmas dinner, forgetting ingredients for Home Economics, and, walking out the door twice and realising I haven't made packed lunches.

So.....what with these seemingly endless colds I am getting and just about hanging on in there in the mummy dept.....

.......i'm thinking this should be tell me something....right?

I think I have been running on reserves for quite a while, and i'm now getting strong hints that I am almost to the end of those. I take on too much. I don't say no because I hate to disappoint. This year seems to have been one long worry in one way or another. I think I have just got to the point where my body is saying enough is enough and that something has to give. I have spent a long year worrying about everyone else, that I forgot to worry about me. I need to build up my immunity a bit and get more organised. Being bombarded from every angle in this busy month has probably just pushed me to breaking point. 

So.....I have stopped all WIP's. They will be put away and stored until after the new year, that way I won't be tempted. I have told family their birthday presents may be a few days late. My posts, will be sparse, if at all over the next few weeks. I apologise for not visiting and leaving comments, or popping by and saying hello to new faces here in my little world. I will do.....just let me catch up with myself and feel a little better within, then when i'm functioning on full power, i'll be right back to where I was. I do read and appreciate all the comments posted. I appreciate that you take time out of your busy days to say a word or two and I thank you for whole heartedly for it......i'm just sorry I can't reply to you all personally.

.....................

The pictures in this post are of my last WIP to be finished off.  Not Christmassy in the slightest!

I made it a couple of months ago, I just had to sew in the ends....and there were so many of them, it just sat there staring at me. I never seemed to have the energy to tackle it.

But, tackle it I did last weekend whilst sniffling on the sofa and feeling sorry for myself. So finishing it cheered me up!

I like it.....I like it a lot. I do have some matching wrist warmers done in a different style but in the same colours (so not too twee), but I haven't sewn them up and am putting them away until January.  For now, the scarf will make do.

So..............I hope that you are all well, Keeping warm if the days are chilly, or basking in the bright sunshine if the days are warm. I will be back with a good long chatter before long.......

Take care all

XXX

Time to start........

...making these again...

yum yum

xxx

I have been featured......

.....on the very lovely

blog here

.....as a guest blogger on Emma's....

✵✻✴Share Your Sparkle✴✻✵

So pop on over if you fancy having a nosey at my favourite sparkle and say 'hi' to the very lovely Emma!

xxx

....Like Bread and Butter........

...........I have noticed that there is a theme with me.....

...and i'm guessing with many of you too.....

...that with many a yarny, hooky, crafty shot...

....there just so happens to be a drink of some kind.....

...and possibly a foody treat of some kind too....

...they just seem to go together...

...don't you think?...

...like bread and butter...

...I guess I must think so...

...as looking through my archive pics, there seem many a familiar picture!

well why not....craft and cuppa...it has to be!

xxx

November Catch Up........

....in pictures......xxx