TARRAGON & THYME

  I always look forward to the Christmas magazines year in and year out and many are saved and recycled for their ideas and recipes for future years.  The ones I have picked up so far are  down below.  I predominantly collect the magazines as over the years they have had some super recipes and indeed ideas for foodie gifts which recipes and ideas I tend to collect.  I think in all fairness each magazine has a lot to give it really at the end of the day comes down to what you are actually looking for.  I prefer a more traditional take on Christmas, but that is not to say I do not appreciate some of the more modern decorations. The two magazines in the bottom right hand corner are from previous years. 1.  Country Living Christmas  Magazine Lovely seasonal visuals in this magazine with some nice easily achievable simple decorations to make yourself which are quite charming.  There are some excellent articles including Emmetts Store in rural Suff...

I was in the front bedroom yesterday, slowly starting to sort things out a little bit, which  am I am slowly inching along with. During this process, I managed to sort a couple of large bags of clothing which will go to the Charity shop today (already gone there were three bags in the end), with a couple of other things we no longer want or need.  I have also kept a couple of OH's shirts back as there is at least a metre of fabric in each shirt, which will come in very useful on the crafting front so they have been put into my fabric stash in readiness to strip down when I get five minutes to spare. There are three shirts and they are in shades of  pale lilac, medium lilac and plum and will fit in with some fabric I have already managed to harvest for my crafting stash.  I am anticipating using the fabric towards a quilt of some sort.  I like to  bring things together gradually when I have a project and like to get all my ingredients, fabrics or crafting st...

  It is that time of year again, when the most is made of harvest or indeed we are starting to gather items together for the Christmas Pantry in my household.   It has been a funny couple of years and our Christmas was very low key last  year which I think may well happen again this year. This house is really too small for entertaining although we do manage to squeeze people in. It is much better to probably get back to a more moderate type of Christmas where we have a go at doing stuff ourselves and celebrating Christmas the way we want to.  That does not stop you setting the scene and making nice things its just that you get a little more selective as to what you do or do not do.  It is also a time of celebrating what you have, rather than moaning about what you do not have. You can always make something out of nothing.  Christmas is for me however, more about family, that is the really important thing.  Christmas is primarily  for children...

  As it has been a cold and then latterly wet autumn day today I did not feel up to much on the household front despite having an awful lot to do.  I was pleased to have my cats back from the Cattery, and they have been very vocal since being back home and catching up for the three and a half weeks I have been missing.  They have been in supervisor mode as well very interested in what I have been up to as well as demanding lots of hugs, strokes and cuddles.  They are super really and I do think an awful lot of them. As it has been horrible I have sort of been researching Christmas ideas. This is something that I tend to do every year at this time.  I ended up on the Hobbycraft site and there are tons of ideas for making stuff on there.  When you think that you have got to the end of the idea section it goes on by adding more projects.  In reality I also know that some of them will not be made this year but that does not stop me keeping a note of the pa...