It can't all be good...

Hello, 

'An enjoyable few hours spent in Sheffield on a beautifully sunny afternoon, 

all in the company of elder son.'

'A late afternoon, wintery walk up to The Outwoods - when we came out of the woods

 it looked like Christmas lights were on in the town spread before us.' 

As some of you may know, I reduced the number of days I work each week a few 

months ago. 

There have been some unforeseen benefits of this.

1. I drink fewer coffees. 

At work, a mid-morning trip to the coffee shop provided me with a bit of exercise and a bit of a treat too to keep me going through the rest of the day. Sadly, a bag of crisps often accompanied my coffee purchase - not a good thing for either my expanding waistline or rising blood cholesterol!

2. I've cut my wine intake

I have never drunk copious amounts of wine but I did find that a glass or two, several times 

a week was a particularly satisfying way to relax. I'm not proud of this; it is just the way it was. 

I think in celebration my liver is having a party, but obviously an alcohol-free one and 

most probably a slumber party!

 It's having a long-awaited and well-deserved rest from alcohol!! 

It is said that when you reduce your alcohol intake your skin improves, so in a couple 

of weeks time I'm hoping to look 20 years younger! ;-)

3. I've bought fewer magazines

As with the wine, I've never bought many magazines, but again a bit of a treat for me was

to browse the shelves of the newsagent, viewing all the craft and home magazines, 

dreaming of all the projects I would start (and finish!) when I had the time. 

And sometimes feeling that I could justify spending £5 for a magazine as 

"I'd worked hard this week"!

Magazines are pretty extortionate in price now aren't they? 

It's not uncommon for magazines to cost £8 - and I can't help thinking I can buy a 

book for £8!

4. So, as a result of 1, 2 and 3 above, I'M SAVING £££s

So all in all, this is looking very positive. 

But it can't all be good can it?

I am finding it hard to stick to my resolve to cut my spending on yarn. Again, I don't think I'm outrageously extravagant but I do have a few balls sitting in bags waiting to be knitted. 

And at the moment I'm so tempted by more sock yarn! 

And I can't help thinking that I can justify buying a couple of balls because of the 

amount of money I'm saving on coffees and wine! 

Oo, I can't decide between iceburg, frost or delphinium......

(this is 'iceburg' below)

Well, writing this post has distracted me from the wool website for a little while 

(thank you!), I'm now off to tidy the kitchen and then to bed, 

so delaying hitting that 'checkout' button for another day.

I hope you have been enjoying the wintery weather and the 

excuse it brings to snuggle up in front of a fire.

Best wishes

xXx

Worth their weight in gold....

Hello,

Oops, I've been absent from here for a while. 

I feel a bit devoid of words at the moment, I'm not sure why so I will let the photos do most of the talking - with a few words for explanation where necessary. 

Fabulous fungi growing on coconut, found in a packet in one of my kitchen cupboards 

(cough, cough!)

A few of my Christmas makes - a scarf for daughter,bobble hat for son's girlfriend, 

my Osen Christmas stocking.

Son's brass band played at a carol concert at St Matthew's Church in Sheffield. 

This was the only concert that son played that we attended this year. 

Before son went to University we used to attend many band concerts this time of year - we thoroughly enjoyed our one brass band outing this Christmas! 

Only one child is, well, still a child but we continue with the old traditions of pillowcases

 for a few gifts from Santa, newspaper, port, carrots and Santa's muddy footprints. 

Sons enjoying a virtual reality experience - they are on a roller coaster, using an app on their 

mobile phone. I love this sequence of photos while experiencing a 'loop the loop'.

I reduced my work hours 3 months ago, I hardly saw my daughter and as she has only 18 

months left at school we decided it would be better to reduce my income but spend more 

time at home for those last 18 months. I do appreciate that this isn't an option for some and so am grateful that we have the choice. 

One of the benefits of reduced hours means I have more time to bake and this year I made 

a Christmas cake for the first time in several years. M&S have been supplying our 

Christmas cake for the last few years. 

Younger son saw me putting the marzipan on the cake and said "I wanted to ask if 

you had made one this year but didn't like to"! 

Older son saw me icing the cake and said "Oo, homemade cake, so much nicer than shop bought".

Those two comments were worth their weight in gold, and every penny of income lost because of my reduced hours - in years to come I know the boys will remember the Christmas cakes I made - they would never remember "Oh, yes mum used to work 4 days a week"!

Yarny Christmas gifts -

 Cherry Drop and Holly Berry from West Yorkshire Spinners. 

I have plans to knit socks with this yarn. 

And yarn from Jamiesons of Shetland for my baa-ble hat. This is a free knitting pattern

 from Shetland Wool Week 2015. There are lots of finished examples of baa-ble hats 

here on Ravelry.  

What a super label!

Indulgent evenings spent reading craft magazines (more thoughtful gifts from children) and 

wearing my new pyjamas. 

I have wanted to buy snuggly pyjamas for several years but just never actually bought any. 

 I saw a pair reduced to half price just before Christmas and decided this year was my time to buy a pair, and I LOVE them!  

2015 has been a hard year, not so much for me directly but several friends have experienced

 quite difficult bereavements. I don't wish to say more on here. My thoughts have 

been with them over this Christmas period. 

For many, Christmas isn't the happy, jolly time portrayed all around us. 

I do hope that 2016, and the passing of time provides some relief.  

I do hope you all had a super Christmas and I send you all my very best wishes for a 

prosperous 2016!

And as always "Thank you for reading!"

xXx