Showing posts with label christmas stockings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas stockings. Show all posts

Friday, 2 October 2009

Fairy wings, bubble gum melon and cock-eyed optimists!

Happy October everybody! Hope you all had a lovely week? Now, let me ask you all a question! Do you believe in fairies?




The Fairy Godmother from the Wizard of Oz. Picture sourced from the internet.


When I was a child  I believed in fairies (hmmm, maybe I still do!) I mentioned in another post, how I used to lie in bed, with my eyes slightly open, feigning sleep, hoping to fool the little flittery creatures into believing I was asleep. They would think it was safe you see, to fly about my bedroom sprinkling their magic fairy dust, and I would at last see them!
I am afraid to say that too much of my time was spent on otherworldy pre-occupations, so much so, that my report card from school would repeat again and again, that I would do so much better if I would only stop daydreaming quite so much! My little mind was full of magic toadstools, fairies and goblins. Perhaps I read too many Enid Blyton books! Also, I would doodle and draw, so yet again I was carried away from the real world into the world of my imagination.


Now who wouldn't want to go here? Sourced from the internet.

When we lived in Canada the first time, I became a brownie. Like all brownies I had to become a fully fledged one, and attend a becoming a true brownie ceremony. We prepared for weeks for the big night, and we were all told in no uncertain terms that on no condition were we to look, not even peek, behind the curtain up on the stage. Only on the night would we see what was behind the curtain. Well, my imagination set in, I was so excited! Of course, there would be red spotted toadstools, goblins, fairies, magical creatures busily going about their day, fairy godmothers who would give magical powers and gifts. And maybe, oooh, maybe even an enchanted tree!



My little toadstool fairy cross stitch design.

As the day approached I got more and more excited, such wonderful and exciting surprises were being promised from behind that curtain. Who would have believed that behind that boring, ordinary looking curtain there were such delights!  And, weren't they all being so quiet, so good!
The night before the magical day I could hardly sleep at all,  almost beside myself with excitement.
At last the night of the ceremony arrived. Obviously as soon as we new brownies  had made our oaths it would trigger off some kind of magic. We each in turn said the words that had so painstakingly been learnt over the last few weeks, and then it was time for the curtain to be opened. I stood with baited breath. The curtain inched open, bit by bit, I could just make out some shadows in the semi- darkness of the stage, but no sparkly lights or glittery fairy dust yet.  I watched intently. The curtain pulled open some more.......and I saw...........I saw........... an owl.........and what is that? .......a toadstool? yes! ..........No, wait a minute.........What did I see?  ............ A plastic owl leaning precariously to the side, stuck onto a plastic toadstool by a wire! Where was the magic? Where were the fairies?  I felt very disappointed indeed!





  My brother and I, in Canada, taking our uniforms very seriously!


Did my first early disappointment in life change my belief and sense of wonder?  Nah!  Of course not!

 I beleive that as adults we still have a part ( a big part) of the child we were still in us. When I was in hospital and I was vunerable and frightened, I had a dream one night, a beautiful dream. A child from way off in the distance, came skipping towards me, playful and full of energy. I watched her approach, I wondered who this innocent little girl was. Did I know her? She came right up to me smiling and took both my hands in hers and gently pulled me towards her. She told me to go with her and play. As I rose to my feet I wondered once again who was this child, she looked familiar. And then it struck me......it was me! The child that I was, the child who was made of  innocence, belief and trust,  had come to look after me in my hour of need, to comfort me and make me feel better! We ran to the forest of my childhood and played, running free through the trees, happy and safe. It was such a magical dream, and felt so real, just imagine playing with your own child-self!


Yes I know! After last weeks blog, showing me in my sunday best.. this is what I looked like the rest of the time, I loved climbing trees and running free, and usually, when Mum wasn't looking, with no shoes on!

Everytime after that dream , if I was facing something to dread, like a scan or a test, I would go back to the forest in my mind, and daydream again like a child! It really helped me, and it was good to be somewhere beautiful, when you are actually not! That dream has also helped me to remember, that no matter what happens to me in life, that little girl can not be taken away, that there is always that place to go to, untouched by this life, my safe haven.

Anyway, the fact that there was nothing to see behind that curtain, did not put a stop to my beliefs, I still believed with all my heart, that somewhere, somehow I would find  that Magical Kingdom!


This video is just lovely!


I still laid in bed at night waiting to peek at the fairies. I still sat each day at school yawning and gazing out of the window daydreaming! That is probably why my brother nicknamed me raccoon features, because of the dark rings under my eyes! Brothers are great.  By the way, I still look like a raccoon!

You see, I guess I have never quite grown up. I did promise myself when I was ten years old that I would never change, I would be like Peter Pan! I stood near to where I lived in Nova Scotia, and I said out loud, from this day on, I will never change!  To a large extent I think I have been faithful to that promise to myself!  I am not by any means a Pollyanna, I know by experience that life is not always a bowl of cherries, but I am a cock-eyed optimist!



I love this song, I have been singing it to myself for years! Hee hee, I think I will try this in the garden!


I have learnt that true magic comes from deep within ourselves. It has been there all the time. There is no need for proof. Although, having said that, I wouldnt half mind seeing a fairy!

“Every time you say you don’t believe in fairies, a fairy dies.” – Peter Pan

Finally, Here is where I am up to this week with my Christmas stocking!



Coming along nicely I think, I hope!  Click on it , if you wish a more detailed view!

Also, have a look at this! Ok, its not a huge yield, but I am pleased!  The melon was gorgeous, it actually tasted like bubble gum! We only managed to grow one, very small  marrow, and before you, think "gosh is that the pumpkin she keeps mentioning?" NO! it is certainly not!  It is a very small squash of some sort! Pumpkin is still waiting in the garden for his big Halloween debut!




Well thats all for another week,  a week that has been a sad one in the news with the earthquake in Sumatra / Samoa.  So so sad. It certainly makes me realise how lucky I am, safe at home, cup of tea in hand and happily sewing away.


I wish you all a lovely weekend and look forward to catching up with all your wonderful posts!

So until next Friday, Listen out for tiny bells, because everytime you hear a bell, a fairy gets it's wings!

Love to you all, Suzie. xxx :)


Friday, 25 September 2009

Pull your Christmas Stockings up and dance your way to Christmas!

Yippeee! It's Friday! I am really looking forward to the weekend, but I have no particular reason, I just do do! Today, despite the fact that I am fast becoming  an old leg of mutton, I feel like a spring lamb chop! Isn't life wonderful, yes full of wonder! Despite feeling somewhat like the tin man in the Wizard of Oz, in need of an oil can to fix my creaking, I have a definite spring in my step.



sourced from the internet


My followers seem to have come back from their trip into cyber space, and everything seems back to normal on the old blog, so, good, good!



sourced from the internet


This week I have been so busy again, thank goodness though, hey? I have been busy with another commission. This time a christmas stocking, requested to be mainly stitchery, in deep pinks, purples and gold.

First I made a pattern




Next I roughly sketched out a drawing.




Then It was very carefully traced onto the fabric (calico) using a high tech method.....taping it to a window!



This is where I am up to so far, sewing away busily! Those gold threads are slippery little blighters!



I was thinking of putting these buttons I have covered with fabric into the design somewhere.





While I was sewing I was thinking of Miz Mollye over at Shezadoosey
I was happily reading her blog (it is great, go and have a look, she is witty, funny and warm and her writing is addictive!) which was about dancing, and how her Mom and Pappy used to dance. I left a comment about my Grandparents, to which she replied...write about them! So......

My Grandparents died quite a few years ago now, but I remember them both with such warmth and love.
Pop was a chemist, a strong, tall and dignified man, who always had something to amuse us children. One of the many wonderful sayings and rhymes he would say was..."It wasn't the cough that carried him off, it was the coffin they carried him off in!" There was another one that I loved him to say, but I won't bore you! It could actually go on for ever, as it is about Antonio who asked to be told a tale, and the tale was about Antonio who asked to be told a tale.....You get the idea! Again, again we would cry! We never tired of his tales and funny remarks!


Nanny and Pop, at somebody's wedding. Hmmm, let me see....Yup it was mine, sadly that one didn't last!




Nanny (sometimes also called No No!) was a truly talented woman, she just seemed good at everything she turned her hand to.... sewing, painting, drawing, baking.... She made the most gorgeous meringues and coffee cake, and her home made bread was to die for! When she sewed clothes, they looked professional, and she even made hats!


Me wearing a dress Nanny made. Yes, I really did have to dress up like this every Sunday. Strangely enough I wasn't too keen on Sundays, can't imagine why!!!





Her house was always interesting, with many curios and bits and bobs. I used to love playing with her buttons which resided  in a very pretty tin! Talking of tins, there was a big one in their kitchen cupboard, and it was crammed full of licorice sticks and chocolate! Now and then their dog Boo Boo, or sometimes Boozie, would sit by the cupboard...hoping!  Outgoing and always busy, she lived a full and happy life!


 This is Nanny's sewing machine,which I am lucky enough to have now in my workroom.




Going to America! Nanny made the little stripey dress that I am wearing at the station with Mum and my brother. Dad was obviously taking the photo!




They were both keen gardeners and grew vegetables, and even had a small orchard. You know the kind of memory that actually comes with one of the senses? Well I have one, it is about their huge long shed, which had a sliding door. I used to pretend I was running along a train track and would slide open the door and jump onto the moving train (very exciting , you know!) and each time you slid the door open you were hit witha gloriously strong smell of stored apples! I can actually smell that every time I remember it!  They used to make home made wine too, they called and labelled it 'Jungle Juice', and my goodness they weren't joking, that stuff could knock your socks off and your wig too, if you were wearing one!




sourced from the internet


Anyway, I better get on to the part I was writing about! I could just go on and on for pages about them both, they were so wonderful! I think I could just go on and on full stop!

They married in the 1920's, and my Aunt has a beautiful photo of their fantastic 1920's wedding. Sadly I haven't!
Not long after they married, Pop opened his chemists shops in Cleveleys, anyone local may remember, Croppers Chemists. It was in those days, a traditional chemists, cabinets with tiny drawers, shelves with medicine bottles in blue and green glass. It stayed like that for a long long time and one of my early memories is of the smell, quite unique!











        sourced from the internet


Of course, later, with that wonderful invention, progress, it was all ripped out and modernised. What a shame! All that character and history, replaced with metal and plastic! The front of the shop which is now plastic upvc and flat, used to have beautiful curved glass windows and intricate woodwork.

Anyway, in those days it WAS beautiful and Nanny and Pop lived over the shop at first, until they could afford a house.
Nanny told me that they used to roll back the carpet upstairs and dance! They loved to dance!  Everytime I go past the shop now, I look up at the upstairs windows and imagine them dancing in the 1920's early 30's, imagining those times, the clothes they would be wearing, the furniture. Oooh, I just love those times, just like all those old movies! Well thats how I imagine it anyway!  Miz mollye says that perhaps her Mom and Pappy and my Nanny and Pop are all up in heaven dancing together! Thats a lovely thought mollye!

 I love the 1920's! The dancing is fantastic!



My only sadness, is that I didn't get as much of them as I would have liked, as a lot of my childhood was spent in Canada, but then I think it made me appreciate them so much more when we came back here. Although they did come over to Canada once to visit.

This is my brother Grahame and I in Canada, My Mum is sat in the car. Best place... Look at that snow!




Pop was more the sensible one, and although Nanny was outwardly dignified and respectable (she was always dressed immaculately), she was a corker, a real character! One of those rare people who stays young in thought and deed, childlike and way before her time in her outlook. Do you know someone like that, no matter how old they get, no matter how wrinkled, they just never ever seem old.  I really admired her!

Nanny died in 1989, aged 81, and Pop in 1995, aged 89. The world could do with more like them! Sadly I never knew my Father's parents, as they had both died before I was born, so I don't really know that much about them, as my Dad didn't really speak of them that much.

I think it is so important to remember our loved ones, it keeps them alive in our hearts. It is funny but I seem to remember them more the longer it is since last seeing them! Memories really are so precious aren't they. Even unpleasant ones are, as those are the oneswhich offer an opportunity to learn. After all life is a series of lessons (Miz mollye's post this week!). You can't have light without dark, joy without sorrow....I just feel  that I want to embrace all of life, good and bad, happy and sad, just as it is,  life.   All of it is equally interesting!

Does anyone remember Rowan and Martin's Laughin? Very, Interesting......!



sourced from the internet

Well...Enough! I can't seem to post without examining everything in great detail. My Dad always used to tell me that I analize everything too much! He said, not only do I look at each side of every coin, but I have to examine the sides as well! Maybe he was right.


Sometimes examining something very closely offers a new perspective!




                                                                                sourced from the internet

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend and following week everybody!

Lots of love to you all, Suzie. xxx :)