The Blue 'oeuf' and the kindness of strangers

Not only were we excited by the tiny amount of snow but Violet our little grey hen who has seemed very fidgety lately,was so excited she popped out her first blue egg. Followed the next day by another in the most perfect shade of eau de nil. I much prefer the French word for egg 'oeuf' it at least shows some of the chickens' effort at laying it in the word.."ooooooo-ff"
So now she officially becomes a 'Hen', no longer a chicken.I've been in a jolly mood all week as the dreaded court case was thrown out..helps to show up if you want to accuse someone of something (what idiots) and I've been doing a spot of sewing, had a really nice Christmas and things are looking ok..not fantastic, just ok but that'll do me.

I have to show you something that Faye at Country Chic sent me,this was a really,really nice surprise, it arrived just before Christmas and was my only present on Christmas morning, (apart from some nice smelling deodorant from Harry,very practical..!) so not only did Faye make my day, she certainly cheered Pete up as he was feeling a bit bad that he wasn't able to get me a pressie. The box that arrived was full of lovely things, a copy of The English home, my favourite magazine which I had recently had to cancel my subscription to, a rose scented bar of soap all wrapped up in fabric and ribbons to go in your knicker drawer but far to nice to hide away, posh chocolate and this gorgeous toadstool that Faye sells in her beautiful online shop...'The country chic home'I do like spotty toadstools! Isn't that so very nice of her? What a lovely lady. I sent her a whole heap of good karma in return!
I was dreading this Christmas and it turned out to be one of our better ones, the things we had, we really loved and because there weren't many, we appreciated them far more. George got his Banksy poster, his much hankered over DVDs of some crazy bloke doing crazy things, Harry got his replacement bike helmet so that at least I can sleep at night when I find out he does stunts like this .. Pete got his electric jigsaw (many little jobs involving wood and possibly 'Stanley the dog' shaped cutting planned for him) and I got a pair of the prettiest Cath Kidston red slippers from my mother-in-law (she is just the best mother in law)..already looking well used ..and part pompom-less thanks to one of the cats..pests! As well a few other little Cath Kidston bits and bobs from my sisters which were lovely too.
In fact it made us realise and remember what it's all about really, sometimes it's very easy to get lost in the commercialisation of it all.
This morning I made a couple of London Underground cushions , thanks to a tutorial by this lady in Australia..so easy peasy, infact I cheated and didn't even have to put a zip in as I just made an envelope opening so you just fold it and sew down the two sides.
Thanks for the tutorial Kathryn!I love things like this..making something different out of something run of the mill like a tea towel. I'd like to cover Georges boring drum shades with a map of the underground but I'm not getting very far with the pestering (maybe I should just do it whilst he's at college!)I'm going to make some more cushions for my little shop too, the Kate Forman ones I made for Christmas presents went down really well, so I'm aiming for a few more union jack ones and some flowery ones too..(well that's the plan)
Have a great weekend..and keep warm! x