Shop Till You Drop!!!

Managed to spend an enjoyable day with my daughter today,

 visiting the shopping mall at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol.

This is about a 45 minute drive away travelling by the motorway.

The shopping complex is situated over two floors,

which was very festive with an abundance of huge

Christmas decorations with its wealth of lights was stunning.

Very festive.

Enjoyed some good retail therapy,

enabling us to nearly buy all the gifts for our family & friends.

The Festive Mood. . . .

Starting to sort out the Christmas decorations.

The first to be found is the cross- stitch creations.

The centre Christmas Tree was a present for myself  from one of my Niece's a few years ago.

The framed stocking was one my daughter made when she was about 10 years old.

They both come out every year.

I taught both my daughter & my niece how to cross stitch,

so both projects have significant meaning.

The other Christmas stockings are projects that I made.

The fully embroidered stocking is specifically for the tree.

It's quite tiny & it was awkward to make.

There is a series to this but never gone back to make the rest yet. . . .

Most projects have to be quick to make these days.

My niece's Christmas Tree featured again.

 The bear has been used many a time for presants. . .

Countdown

The countdown of Christmas has now begun. . . .

Although, this year, I've not even given it alot of thought yet,

 and I am not as organised as I should be.

But, I now have a week off  from work,

so maybe, I'll get myself sorted. . . .

Over the years, I have preferred to make some of the Christmas decorations.

The Advent Calendar above was made when my daughter was 2 years old.

She is now twenty-two.

The tree shape was made from a corduroy fabric, while the pockets were made from Xmas prints.

The numbers, I worked in Cross Stitch, & then handstitched in place.

Each year, I would put a small gift into each pocket, not always chocolate, maybe a hairslide, etc., although, the 24th number always had a small amount of money.

Needless to say, this became a tradition for our Christmas's.

My daughter may be older, but she still expects to see it hanging somewhere within our home, even if the pockets are left empty now. . . .

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S E A S O N A L   G R E E T I N G ' S    

Garden Colour

Despite all the bad weather of recent weeks,

 which also continued into this weekend,

 some colour, within a variety of catergories,

can be seen in the garden although not in such an abundance now.

The rose blooms are almost gone now,

 and any remaining are showing signs of decay,

 & now colder weather is becoming more apparent,

 flowers of any kind will  soon disappear. . . .

An Umbrella Day !?!

Thoughts immediately go to the Sun Umbrella . . . .

Wouldn't that be great to be soaking up the warmth of the sun . . . .

Decorative  & colourful oriental umbrella's

 make me think of travel to far off places . . . .

Hmm . . . . the thought of Cocktail Umbrella's

 are quite favourable aswell . . . .

But . . . .  Ooh Gosh!!! another wet weekend!

Much needed, an Umbrella for the rain!!! 

Natures Elements, a Coastal Walk

From seedheads, berries, algae, & driftwood . . . .

to pebbles, seaweed & rockpools . . . .

All photo's taken at Kilve, Somerset last Sunday.

Plant Life

The Fatsia evergreen plant  & other plants are producingthese wonderful off shoots,
is it  flower or seed pods?

I really don't know,

 but the effect is exceptional & wonderful . . . .

Sunshine & Showers

Saturday, although the weather was rather mixed,

 I ventured out in the car & ended up

 on the Somerset Levels at Greylake Nature Reserve.

The weather was very changeable, one minute,

 bright blue skys, with spurts of sunshine,

& then the next, the  dark clouds would

descend & showers would prevail. . . .

Evenso, enjoyed the walk around the Nature Reserve,

luckily, not getting too wet. . . .

Managed to see some of

 the starlings flying in their formation,

 but not quick enough to get any sort of photo. . .

But, I'm sure I'll go again!

Blue Skies

Such storms we had on Sunday morning resulting with even flooding in Scotland,

But as the day progressed, the blue skies did roll in. . . .

Such a bright blue & a lovely backdrop for the flowers on this garden shrub

(apologises, another plant I am unable to name!)

Unfortunately,

this was very short lived . . . .

Ooooh. . . . . such horrible weather!

Beautifully Natural

Some of the delights we discovered

 on our latest excursion to

 Slimbridge Wetland area in Gloucester.

Really enjoyed the natural shades

 that were amongst the warmer Autumn colours,

ranging from seed heads,

 grasses, such as Pampas grass,

 to the colourings of ducks/geese feathers.

An abundance of textures to choice from.

The bird hide below blended in

 with its natural setting,

especially as it was

 constructed of all natural materials.

There were plenty of feathers to be found

 on the ground,

 or in amongst the various plant life. . . .

This feather was especially noticeable

 with the rain water just lying in droplets.