Getting Ready for Easter

It has been another busy couple of weeks for us but this weekend I have found time to relax and do absolutely nothing, as well as making a few preparations for Easter.

Our Easter tree is looking lovely thanks to my sweet friend Khira in Finland who sent me these gorgeous yellow and cream felt Easter rabbit decorations. They have just finished the tree off nicely.

This morning I was busy making these chocolate cornflake Easter nest cakes to take to work. I made 12 but I don't suppose they will survive much past eleven o'clock when everyone makes their coffee !

It's been a good week for vintage finds:- a sweet little cottage shaped teapot by Sadler and some darling plates as well as some classic children's books (which were only 20p each !).

I'm currently reading The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe and even though I read it when I was small, I can't remember any of it.

It's my birthday on 2nd April and Lovely Hubby told me to get myself something as he didn't know what to buy for me, so I went off this morning in search of Cath Kidston's latest gnome salt and pepper shakers. I found them :) And also got some more pretty teaspoons. Lovely Hubby has strict instructions to wrap them up before my birthday. I will take pictures on the day of opening !

Finally, I had to share these lovely free range eggs with you. We buy them from a farm about 8 miles north of here and often there are double yolkers. Look at the size of these!

It's a lovely short week this week at work - only three days again. Amen to that. I can't believe Easter has rolled around again already.

Have a great week everyone, whatever your plans are.

Fiona x

Mud, Glorious Mud

Me, bundled up under many layers, with Whiskers

Although today was the darkest and coldest of my long weekend off work, we took the girls out to Cod Beck Reservoir at Osmotherley, one of our favourite haunts as the girls love it and it's only a few miles from home.

When we embarked from the car it was very overcast and drizzling. It seemed cold but we assumed that when we got moving we'd soon warm up. We were wrong. It was absolutely freezing ! The wind chill factor must have been several degrees below zero and by the time we had reached the end of our walk our hands were white and numb !

But, the girls had a fantastic time racing through piles of mud and swimming in the reservoir. We struggled to keep Whiskers out of the water despite the freezing temperatures. She's such a water baby :)

Lucy and Whiskers

Whiskers looking wild-eyed, barking

This muddy hidey-hole is one of the girls' favourite places

Interesting how the moss has grown around this tree trunk

A very windswept Whiskers !

Love this picture of Lovely Hubby making a face at Whiskers !!

Lovely Lucy

After our walk we went to one of our favourite pubs to warm up and have some lunch. I had fish and chips and Lovely Hubby had home-made corned beef pie which was made with shortcrust pastry - it looked delicious and made me think I might have a go myself. Normally we make corned beef pie with mash on top.

Back to work tomorrow but it's only three days - how hard can it 

be ?!

Have a great week all x

Spring Has Sprung at Lucy's Cottage

It has been another busy week here at Lucy's Cottage. I don't seem to find time these days to either post on my own blog or read other people's blogs. I do appreciate every comment folks leave on my posts and I do try to always respond although it's sometimes a week or so later - so please bear with me.

Spring has finally sprung at Lucy's Cottage - our crocuses are now out in abundance.

Just across the road in the churchyard the little miniature daffodils are bobbing their heads surrounded by purple crocuses. I'm sure fairies must live here ...

Today I made my first ever Easter tree and I'm really pleased with the results. I made all the little cardboard egg decorations myself. The photo doesn't really do it justice.

This week has been a good one for getting treats in the post. In addition to Marlene's lovely Easter gifts which I blogged about earlier, I also received this gorgeous handmade needle case from a lovely lady called Kerry who can be found on Instagram under the name happyfrecks. She makes some beautiful hand-sewn things and this is the second thing I have ordered from her now.

I also got these lovely goodies from Dotcomgiftshop:-

Aren't the sewing pins beautiful ? And what's not to love about a sausage dog ruler ? I mean really.

I found this beautiful vintage tray in a charity shop in Thirsk one lunchtime for only £1.00.

And I read this wonderful book in one week - 'The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton' by Elizabeth Speller. It was such a page-turner, I couldn't put it down ! 

The blurb on the back says:-

"The first thing Laurence Bartram learns about Easton Hall, a crumbling stately home, is the tale of five-year-old Kitty, who disappeared from her bed thirteen years before. It's now 1924 and while the rest of England is rebuilding itself, the village of Easton Deadall is still haunted by the loss of almost all its men in the war. When a family trip to the British Empire Exhibition takes a sinister turn, Laurence begins to realise that the fate of the house, the men and of Kitty herself may be part of a much longer, darker story of love, betrayal - and violence."

Brilliant - I can strongly recommend it.

I have a lovely long weekend this week as I am off work tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday. I'm hoping to visit my friend Nancy at her care home tomorrow and catch up on some more things at home in the afternoon, including grooming our neighbour's dog :) On Tuesday we are hoping to go out for the day so I might be able to squeeze another blog post in before next weekend. Fingers crossed.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, whatever you have planned.

Fiona x

Easter Gift Exchange with Simple Living Blog

I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Marlene at Simple Living blog for organising the Easter gift exchange and for the generous parcel of gifts she sent my way.

A huge box arrived with our courier and when I opened it I saw this...

Each gift was lovingly wrapped in pretty coloured tissue paper.

Here are all the lovely gifts Marlene sent me:-

There was a beautiful handmade Easter card, a little goodie bag of Easter eggs, some pretty pens and pretty tins for storing bits and bobs (you must have known, I just love tins !), a pretty worktop saver and matching cupcake cases, a scented wardrobe sachet and some lovely soaps, some pink lily bulbs, some jam pot covers, a craft pack for making homemade cards, a notebook and shopping list pad, and finally a little bookmark.

THANK YOU SO MUCH Marlene for your kindness and generosity. I am very grateful to have got to know you a bit through our respective blogs and hope to get to know you better over the coming year.