Out with the old...

Oh ages ago, I promised to put a picture of our Christmas tree onto my blog, so here it is... now devoid of all the presents that were nestled beneath it, but still looking pretty all the same. Actually what really amazes about this picture is that the big blanket box that lives in the bay of the window is entirely hidden by the tree. The box is well over 3 feet wide, so you get an idea of how big our tree is (& can imagine the fight I have with it each year to put it up and the dismantle it again).

This lovely specimen of grumpiness is Bella ~ the one who leaves hidden ginger fluff on our hall carpet (see an earlier blog entry). She is usually a charming cat, very sweet natured and friendly. She doesn't look very happy here, but I used the flash on the camera and this was the fourth picture I had taken, so I think she was being blinded by the light!
Anyway...

I can tell that I am back at work today ~ my body is behaving like a bull in a china shop and my brain appears to have gone on holiday.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back on this morning's activities I should have known when the paper got jammed in the printer that gently teasing it out of the slot and then whacking the whole thing with the full force of a mad woman was probably not going to do it much good ~ and it didn't! So Dave is now busy ordering me a new laser printer as I sit amidst the crumbled pieces of my much loved, overworked, undervalued and broken one. Hmm, let's hope this is how we will see out the old year and start the new one with more brain and less brute force.

Here's wishing a happy & peaceful New Year to everyone.

Chat next year, Liz

Where no one has gone before!

Hey guess what I discovered today!
If you spend the whole day sitting in your drawing room on your super comfy sofa with a laptop on your lap top writing html coding for your website and also watch Star Trek the next generation, season 6; all of it, every single episode from beginning to end, you will eventually go mind numb.

Now I am not sure whether it would happen if one just wrote coding all day or if one only watched that much Star Trek, but I suspect that it is the combination of activities that has made my little brain go into shutdown. The total inertia has sent my gluteus maximus to sleep, so in fact I not only have a numb mind but also a numb bum!

The cure to my condition of course, would be to get up and go and take some exercise, get a bit of fresh air and then perhaps have a bath and soak my aches away. However, this would require me to get off my super comfy sofa and find hat, coat, gloves and shoes and do something and I have very seriously got myself into lazy slob mode. So perhaps for today I will just enjoy this state of mind and state of body and see if I can persuade Dave to make me a cuppa...
Chat soon, Liz

Country Quilts

What a nice few days it has been; I have had a good rest and feel refreshed and ready for the new year ahead.

Dave and I have spent a pleasant few hours this week looking through our suppliers catalogues and deciding which products we will stock for spring and summer 2008. I love this selection process, I want so many things and Dave wants others and we go through a lovely elimination process (called she who has the biggest trantrum wins!) until we decide on the particular items we will keep in stock for the next season.

We have decided to offer a wider range of patchwork quilts and quilted accessories. Many of the new designs reflect my love of Amish and traditional American quilts and others because they compliment our existing lines of bedding. They will start to appear on our website over the next couple of months as they arrive with us.

Well it's almost new year and as last new year, I will be starting a diet to help remove what Dave refers to as 'winter stores'. Last year I gave up biscuits and gently monitored what I was eating and without going on one of those faddy diets or being hungry (and therefore grumpy), I lost 4 dress sizes over the first 6 months of the year. Sadly, I took less care of what I shovelled into my mouth in the second half of the year and put some of that weight back on. As I felt so much happier being a little lighter and smaller, I think now is the time to address the results of what Cecily described as 'Oh Mum, you have done a little comfort eating'. If my blog becomes a bit food focussed over the next couple of weeks, you will know why and so please forgive me if my tummy does the talking rather than my brain.

Well it's Saturday teatime, there's no X factor to stare at on the telly and Dave has gone out for the evening with friends to celebrate the impending marriage of one of them. So I plan to curl up on the sofa with Cecily and watch chick-flicks ~ oh joy!

I need a cuppa to strengthen me before we watch the films, chat soon, Liz

BARGAIN HUNTING

Yesterday Cecily and I took my Mum back to her home and we thought that we would 'hit the sales' on our way home.
So off we went to a major store near Gloucester to seek out some bargains ~ we failed. Then we went to a shoe shop for essential shoe shopping ~ we failed. And so with disappointment weighing us down (when it should have been shopping bags!), we made our way to Hereford and popped into Sainsburys to pick up a few bits of food to top up the basics that we had run out of at home.
I got home to find that the postman had delivered some mail order catalogues' sale booklets and I wasted no time in browsing through them in earnest, in the hope that they would offer me bargain and a potential birthday present (it's in a couple of weeks) ~ I failed.
Then I realised that the best place for me to look was a bit closer to home... so this morning I trundled off to work and will be asking Dave to give me the floral rose cotton bag from our shop for my birthday.
Well, I am off to find some supper, chat soon, Liz

Happy Family

Yesterday we went to Bristol to meet up with Alec and his girlfriend, my mummy, my sister and her partner and a couple of family friends and we all had a splendid meal to celebrate the Christmas season together.

On our way through the Brecon Beacons we saw some of the most stunning scenery (it's always beautful, yesterday it had a special something too). The frost and ice was clinging to hillsides and covering all the trees, foliage and cobwebs. The valleys were full of mist and fog and the sun shone from it's relatively low place in the sky over the top of the mist given it a golden glow ~ jolly pretty!

It was lovely to see all the family and it was a really nice start to our Christmas celebrations. Mum has come home with me for a couple of days, so this year will be extra special as I don't remember Mum being at our home for Christmas before. She has brought with her enough extra treats to feed an army (hooray!), so in between carols and presents I think we will be adding inches to our waistlines.

Tomorrow is my friend Lynda's birthday. Unbeknown to her, I have sent her a little birthday present, which has been sneaked into her home by her daughter whilst Lynda was away on holiday last week. I hope she manages to have a some birthday spoiling whilst also preparing the Christmas meal for her family.

Well not much to say today, I still have lots of last minute preparations to make ~ I wish everyone a Happy & Peaceful Christmas.
Chat soon, Liz

No Comment!

I know that it is almost Christmas and that everyone is busy with preparations, but I haven't received any comments from anyone for a few days now ~ mostly I don't publish the comments, but I do read every one and often reply to them privately.

So, this evening's request is, that if you get a minute or two, please let me know that you read my blog occasionally, because although I really enjoy writing it, I love receiving your comments even more.

Oh incidentally, this a is a picture of Shard, she is Dave's sneaky cat and is not for sale (although if she behaves badly once more...).

Chat soon, Liz

Fully Furnished

Gosh I'm excited! Now we are nicely settled into our new work place, we are planning ahead for 2008 and will be able to extend the range of furniture that we can stock. I have selected half a dozen ranges of furniture ~ I have seen the items at our suppliers and tested some of the pieces at home, so I know that I like the quality of these items too.
This picture shows a range of kitchen furniture made in ash. It has a really sturdy feel to it and the colour of the wood adds a warmth to the room.
The Valbonne range of French style furniture draws from the styles of King Louis XIV - XVI and is really heavily distressed, giving it an aged appearance. This range is made from mahogany from managed forests which are part of regeneration programmes (with some mdf panels where additional strength is needed).
Our move towards furniture is in addition to our usual stock of pretty accessories which we will continue to find and offer for sale; now we have larger storage facilities we can deal with larger items of furniture!

Things at home have been pleasantly quiet, we have continued to make inroads into the 'pre-Christmas tidy-up' and our house is very definitely starting to look more and more like the home we remembered it to be. I even managed to get lots of food shopping completed yesterday and last night we sat down to a splendid beef stew and jacket potatoes.
Actually we were mentally sampling the stew for a good two hours before we ate as the aromas of herbs and seasoning filled the house so much that the air was almost tasty ~ yummy hot food on a cold winter evening!

It was so cold yesterday that I had a hot and soaky bath fairly early in the evening and then snuggled up on the sofa with lots of layers on and my favourite Durham quilt ~ sadly it has seen better days and is threadbare and see-through in some places, but it does have a wonderfully cosy soft feel to it. Much to their surprise, the cats, whom I usually only allow to sit next to me, were invited onto my lap to act as living hotwater bottles and they were jolly efficient at their assigned task. Now I know why Dave tolerates them sitting on him each evening.

I still haven't geared myself up fully for Christmas yet but no doubt by the time I have fought my way around a couple of shops over the weekend, I will get there. It's a funny feeling ~ I have gift-wrapped dozens of parcels for people and sent them out to recipients. Every time I do this, I visualise how pleased I would be to receive the enclosed item or the look on the faces of my family if they were opening the parcels. It is quite a satisfying job to do, but at the same time, I feel like I have done Christmas several times over in the last month.

Well, I've finished the cup of tea I was having whilst I wrote today's blog and I had better get back to work. Chat soon, Liz

Eggs, bread and jelly.

Damask panel Pinboard with egg pins £39.00
Here's a picture of one of our new items. I love this quirky pinboard so much that I am going to ask Dave for one for Christmas. Oh! he's just lent over my shoulder and read the above and then told me 'they're out of stock' ~ so looks like I won't be getting one for Christmas then, still it's my birthday straight after so you never know! Joking aside, I like accessories like this, useful but a bit different and the little egg shaped pins are so cute.

At home, there have been an abundance of parcels arriving in the post over the last few days, all of them for Cecily or Dave and they have been squirrelled away somewhere out of sight. This is the part of the Christmas preparations that I like the most. The anticipation that the crinkle of wrapping paper invokes in me, turns back time and reminds me of being a small child. I wonder if it will have the same effect in another 35 years time? I certainly hope so!

Mum & I have been planning who will supply what on Christmas Day, some of the things that I really missed since I've been cooking Christmas lunch (because no-one can cook like your mummy can) will now be on our table. Mum's bread sauce is very special and whilst I cook a mean bread sauce, it's not like mum's recipe.

I am preparing a special pudding and mum won't have seen it before on my table as I tend to make it only very occasionally. It's a champagne jelly with primrose flowers suspended in layers in it. I saw the recipe on a telly programme years ago, they were showing foods from different eras and this was one from either Tudor or Victorian times (but I can't remember which). Anyway it looks amazing as the flowers seem to just float within the jelly and it tastes beautiful. Last time I made it (for a dinner party with special friends), I used pink champagne and it was just heavenly.

The kettle's just boiled so I had better go and attend to it, chat soon, Liz

Arrivals and despatches

We have new thermometers at work and to test them today, we have placed one outside the unit and been to check on it every now and then. It didn't managed to show a temperature above 3 degrees all day ~ now that's nippy! Okay, weather moan over for today.

It has been a jolly busy day at work, we have taken several last minute orders to get packaged and sent off with the delivery companies so that they will get to their destinations in time for Christmas. Several customers have called into the shop and the telephone has been ringing frantically most of the day. I love days like this, the time whizzes by without me noticing and all of a sudden it's time to go home and I am still enjoying myself!

I think that there are still a couple more days left before it's too late to send items by courier for a pre-Christmas delivery, so perhaps tomorrow will bring an equally satisfying day.

We had a delivery just before we came home this evening and Dave was reduced to fits of laughter at my methodical approach to this delivery. Dave carried the items off the lorry, I checked them off the delivery note and then proceeded to open the boxes, pull out all the new items and take photographs of them. Dave watched in amazement as I was absorbed in my photography work whilst he trudged up and down the pretty steep slope outside the unit with yet more boxes. My thinking behind this is ~ the boxes are too heavy/bulky for me to lift and carry so I might as well do the things that I can. Still, I made up for my lack of physical output by creating a lovely dinner.

It's almost bedtime for me ~ I've had a bath and Star Trek (TNG) is unfolding in the corner of the room. Our Christmas tree stands fully decorated in the bay window, it smells wonderful. I have put some star anise decorations on it together with lots of little bundles of cinnamon sticks; it's a heady combination and very nice.

Well, it's time for another cuppa, chat soon, Liz

Whining and Dining

Good grief it's bitterly cold again ~ still I am not to be downcast by this today because yesterday we managed to create enough space in the dining room to be able to put our new dining table and chairs in it. The room looks very elegant once more and will give us a lovely place in which to celebrate Christmas. My plan for today was to cut some greenery from the garden to create a table centre display, but it is just too cold to brave the garden with the secetaurs, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Cecily is now home from university for the Christmas break and it is lovely to have her home. I find it comforting to hear her padding around the house, even if she is not spending much time in my company. Since she got home on Saturday night, she has been out each evening and visiting friends during the day. Still at least I know I will have her company on Christmas day itself.

I have decided to buy some of the French cream cutlery to use on Christmas day, it will go very nicely with the cream rose candles I am using for the centrepiece and the rest of the rooms decor. Our crockery here at home is a vintage Laura Ashley set that my mother had when I was a teenager. She gave me a few pieces when I left home and recently I have managed to buy the remaining items to give us a full dinner service (thanks to that well known auction internet site).

I am just about to ask Dave to get our favourite tree decorations down from the loft and put up our tree and spend a pleasant hour or two arranging the pretty baubles, bells and beads on our tree. We don't go in much for 'this year's colour' for tree decorations, preferrring to add to our collection with just one or two special pieces as we find them. The resulting tree has an eclectic mix of decorations, many of which have a special meaning to us.
I treasure the little angel, choirboy and snowman that Alec and I made from FIMO when he was about 6 or 7 years old. I think that the angel has probably lost one of its wings over the years and to be honest, it's hard to tell what they are really supposed to be. They are special to me because we created them together and they remind me of those times. I also have fond memories of my visit to Australia where I bought an exquisite clear glass bauble with a glass Christmas tree inside it (a bit like a ship in a bottle). Dave made me a gold star the first Christmas after we were married... and so it goes on. I will share some pics with you when I have finished my nostalgic trip.

I'm off to find tea and tree, chat soon, Liz

High Tea and all that

It's cold outside, but toasty warm here at home.
When I was young, if we had been out for the afternoon on a cold crisp day like it is today, my father used to make us a special delicacy called 'toast in the green bowl'. In reality this involved a traditional, good old fashioned high tea.
We would sit at our dining room table and have mugs of tea with toast cut into 'soldiers'. My favourite topping for the toast was marmite. We probably had other food as well, but I don't really remember that. To this day a mug of tea and marmite on toast fingers leaves an extra good taste in my mouth and a smile in my heart.

Now I've grown up (that's a relative term obviously), I realise that the green bowl that was so vital to our family high tea was a Denby green pudding dish and that the toast was kept hot in the bowl by Dad putting it in the oven until enough toast for four hungry children had been made. But as a child, it was not the practicalities that made this special, it was the joining together as a family, the anticipation of tastes and aromas and the sense of security in belonging.
My children have a different set of aromas and memories that give them that cosy feeling that I am trying to describe. For Cecily, it is the smell of Ecover floor cleaner and freshly baked scones and bread. For several years, whilst I was going through my 'domestic goddess' phase, I would get up before six and clean the kitchen, wash the floor and then bake bread and scones which the children would have for breakfast. She still associates the smell of floor cleaner with summer mornings.

I've just had tea and marmite toast fingers and am off to clean to kitchen, chat soon, Liz

Fully functioning

School Coat Rack £120.00
Dave is my hero of the hour (the day and the week)! Over the last few weeks, several niggling little problems had arisen with our website and because we were without the internet at the office for almost a month during our move, he was unable to attend to the problems as they arose.

Despite it being a busy time of year and having lots of packing and organising to do, he has still managed to fix all the little errors on the website. What a star he is!

I, of course, played my usual essential role of being helpful whilst he was attending to the website. I pointed out all the little problems, nagged that this or that had not yet been sorted out. Right in the middle of him doing 'brain surgery' on the website, I did my best bit of work for him. I also went to the control panel section of our administration panel and clicked on a few buttons.

Now not being the most technically minded girlie on earth, it did not occur to me that by clicking on buttons and making changes to product descriptions whilst he was doing delicate things with the website nerve centre, I might cause a problem or two. 'Well that's obvious' I hear a cry from the distance, but actually no, it's not! I was using a different computer and in my head that meant what I did would not effect the work Dave was doing. Wrong!

Much later in the day, when Dave had sorted out the dreadful mess I had made of things, we were able to laugh about it, but I do regret having caused him hours of extra work by my over zealous fingerwork on the keyboard. Have I learnt from this experience? Will I do it again? Yes, I have learnt that no matter what problems I create on the website, Dave can fix them and yes, I will probably forget this incident and do it again.... it's why he loves me!

We have the radio on in the background and I am pleased to hear a barrage of Christmassy songs, he have just listened to the Spice Girls (well blocked it out of our minds, but it was on the radio) and now Elvis Costello is warbling 'I don't want to go the Chelsea' ~ very apt for the last but one Saturday before Christmas. Still, that's much nicer than listening to Dave and I humming the songs that we have stuck in our heads at the moment. I keep humming the theme tune to Star Trek and Dave (the old softy) has kept me serenaded most of the week with 'Moon River'. What's the betting that in two days time you will find yourself humming one of these tunes and wondering how they got stuck in your mind?

Well, I need to go and get organised, I am collecting Cecily this afternoon and need to make sure all the orders are despatched before I go.
Chat soon, Liz

Long lasting Gifts

3 Shabby rose gift bags £3.75

Yesterday I needed to do some serious shopping and last night I completed most of it online. Hooray for the internet!

I visited the website of one of my favourite charities and bought 'gift' vouchers for lots of my family. In reality, my family members will receive a card letting them know that I made a donation in their name, but it is presented nicely as 'I bought you a goat' or 'some school meals'. Oxfam have been selling these gift vouchers for a few years now and I think that they are a splended idea.

A couple of years ago I bought my brother (who lives in America) a goat for his birthday and this year I have chosen something to go with his goat ~ I can't tell you what I've chosen as I know that he occasionally reads this blog.

So that's the most of my Christmas giving sorted out, just the rest of everything to sort out. Okay, so maybe that's hoping for a bit much, I don't think I can sort out sqabbling politicians or disasters caused by freak weather conditions or even the volume of chewing gum stuck onto the pavements of every street that I walk on, but I could attempt to organise the chaos in my house in readiness for mum's visit and our short break from work.

We don't, afterall, want to spend our Christmas day sitting amongst the debris that is still at home following our move of work to the new unit, nor do we need to be moving bits of computer off the dining room table just to be able to eat our meals. Those things I can address, those things are do-able.

I think I may need to invest in a tumble dryer before Christmas, when our last one broke I thought as it was just Dave and I at home, that we could probably get our clothes dry on the radiators without too much bother and we could... if I was super-dooper organised about all things domestic. My relationship with domesticity has sadly come to an end and I just can't bear the thought of another week with our undies draped across radiators. More to the point, I haven't yet worked out how you dry a duvet cover for a super-king size duvet on a little radiator quickly enough that it doesn't get that dreadful 'I didn't dry quickly enough' smell about it ~ any tips?

Well, it's almost time to start the day's work and Dave is still in the land of nod. I had better go and do and the 'we're supposed to be at work in five minutes' routine with him.

If you want to visit Oxfam's website and have a look at their range of gifts, you can find them at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/Browse.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&category=UWGifts

Chat soon, Liz

Baking and bathing

It has occured to me this morning that there really are only a couple of weeks until Christmas and that whilst everyone around me is busy making preparations, I haven't yet started. My mother is coming to stay with us for a few days over Christmas and whilst she is an absolute whizz in the kitchen, it would be a bit mean to invite her to stay with us and then expect her to do lots of cooking. So I think this evening I will have to make a start on preparing goodies to eat and think about buying gifts for the family.

Dave and I have almost given up buying each other gifts at Christmas; the thing I most value from him is his time and to that end, a few years ago I requested 2 days of his time to create me my dream bathroom. Well inevitably it took longer than the 2 days I had imagined it would, but in the end I had my dream bathroom ~ a room with a bath in it, 2 armchairs and a chest of drawers. It is the sanctuary to which I retreat every night, armed with a cuppa and a book or magazine (It can be seen in photos on the website e.g. the bamboo towel ladder).

Three or four years ago, I was terribly organised and from September to December I spent each evening lovingly creating unique tapestry and petit point cushions for each member of my family. Each cushion took hours and hours to make as there were 14 stitches to each inch of cushion (so 196 stitches a square inch), but I was really pleased with the results and I know that my family members all treasure the cushions they received.
Some years I make a hamper full of home made goodies for my family, like green tomato chutney and apple and ginger wine, but this year I just haven't had the time to be that creative, so will have to think about buying gifts for them.
I asked my mother if there was anything she would like for Christmas and she suggested an ironing board cover .... well how dull is that?

Well, I had better get on with some work, some planning and to go and look in a cupboard or two for some inspiration, chat soon, Liz

Model behaviour

Large Victorian style table top mannequin £45

We have sneaky cats tonight!

I just got up from the sofa to use the littlest room in the house and when I returned I found that Freud (a long haired white and black grumpy cat) had stolen my place.
Having returned him to his rightful position, on Dave's lap, I sat down again to notice Bella (a very round long haired ginger girlie) creeping, no, sneaking her way under the other sofa to get to her favourite place ~ behind the sofa and under the radiator.
Shard, our other beloved moggy is nowhere to been seen. This is never a good situation, usually she is under our feet, on our laps, draped across our shoulders or anywhere that is the most inconvenient at the time. This can only mean one thing; she has gone to find a clean towel in the bathroom to lie down on and make her bed for the night. Hey-ho, another towel that will need washing before it can be used!
Once upon a time, I had a thing about long haired cats and wanted to fill my home with their furry little bodies, okay so I was probably losing my grip on reality at the time and in retrospect, must have been barking mad, but one by one we somehow acquired way too many long haired unloved moggies. Over the years, they have been rehoused or have departed naturally or when they've been poorly, they have taken a final visit to the vet. This has left us with the three that we have now. Each of them is over 10 years old and I guess that in a few years time we could be cat-less.
Whilst I can't imagine our home without a cat, I also can't envisage having a veritable collection of them again. I think that a good rule is not to have more cats that you can carry at any one time ~ unless it's Freud, who can't be carried at any time without loss of blood or possibly limbs of the carrier.
One of the biggest downsides to having long haired cats is the amount of cat hair that can accumulate in the house if I am not vigilent about removing it from, well, every surface. We brush the cats every night (or they riot) but still they manage to leave clumps of fur wherever it will show up nicely. Freud likes to deposit his white fur on our chocolate brown sofa, whilst Shard (who is a dark tortoiseshell) likes to leave dark brown and black fur on our pale carpets (or white towels).
Bella prefers to be even more cunning, she leaves ginger fluff on our beige carpet in the hall. Hers cannot be seen so very well, but as she is extra fluffy, it does clog up the vacuum cleaner extremely well on each and every vacuuming of the hall. I used to try cleaning up Bella fluff by using sticky tape, sticky side out, but she got wise to this tactic and started to shed fur that wouldn't adhere to the sticky tape.
How I love my furry friends!
Well, it's time to make a cup of tea, chat soon, Liz

Seeing Stars

Did it actually get any warmer today? I don't think so... a friend cheerfully informed me that the someone on the radio predicts it will be minus 12 in some parts of the country tonight (no need ask if that will included Rhayader!).

Now I know that it seems like I grizzle non-stop about the weather, but I find it really hard to concentrate when I am too cold and my little fingers go purple and numb from the cold quite quickly. I have also quietly discovered that there is nothing elegant about a dripping nose!

One answer would be to move to a sunnier (or just warmer) part of the country, however I love Rhayader and it's surround, the endearing idiosyncrasy of so many of it's inhabitants and breathtaking scenery.

Where else could one witness Batman (complete with cape, mask and ears) walking out of a hotel in the middle of the day and not a single member of the public take a second glance? Well, actually any of the villages that I have lived in before (but that's why I chose to live in them).

Anyway, enough of weather talk... here's what we have accomplished today ~

Here are the shop windows completed and ready for everyone to enjoy over the Christmas period. I am really pleased with the overall effect ~ very chic!

This is the giant wreath that I talked about yesterday, it measures about a metre across (over 3 feet if you haven't gone metric yet) and you can see the normal size wreaths that are for sale at the fruit and veg shop to each side of the window.
Here's the huge star that we created last night, again it's almost a metre across and smothered with fresh foliage and faux poinsettia and faux red berries. I'm not sure I like this as much as the wreath, but then I am not much of a fan of red flowers.

You can see the finished displays at Rhayader Fruit and Veg shop until shortly after Christmas day.

Well I am off home to find some warmth, chat soon, Liz

Jingle Bells

Gosh it's cold this evening, so cold that Dave & I have decided to break with our usual state of no alcohol and make a whiskey laced coffee in an attempt to warm ourselves through... and it's working. It does however, mean that there may be dreadful spelling mistakes and total rubbish written on this evening's blog entry. 'Not much change there then', I hear Dave mumble in the background.

Today has been one of those very busy packaging days, but we have managed to get all the orders despatched and then in late afternoon, we went to our good friends shop in Rhayader to help them with their Christmas window displays. Last year we had great fun in creating two window displays, one of a traditional Christmas tree and gifts in a room setting and the other of a fireplace with magnificent foliage display on the mantel piece (see pics above).

This is always such a great challenge because the window space is 5 feet square but only 12 inches deep, so anything put into the window is restricted to being narrow or we have to construct something self-supporting if it is deeper than the window sill.

This year I have made an enormous Christmas wreath for one window, which took several hours yesterday to put together and this evening Dave has made an easel so that it can displayed in the window without collapsing. As I type Dave is busy making the base for a giant star which I will also smother in foliage and faux flowers for the second window. Once they are in place I will take lots of photos and put them on my blog page.

Well it sounds like Dave has made the star base, I need to go and be creative! Chat soon, Liz

I've eaten too much... again!

We've just finished supper and have assumed our Saturday night positions. Dave in the dining room, me and the cats on the sofa with X factor in front of us.

We have spent the day at the shop, now we have the internet on at the unit we have been busy little bees. We have started the much needed maintenance, overhaul and updating of the website and spent most of the day sorting out the photographs on the site.
At some point over the last month, I have managed to corrupt the picture upload programme for the website and lots of the pictures had started to work incorrectly (or not work at all). So Dave and I have been working our way through hundreds of pictures to correct the problems with them and re-upload them to the site.
Okay, so in reality Dave has been sorting it out and I have been offering (not-so) constructive comments and cups of tea at strategic intervals ~but I do make a very good cup of tea. I've been packaging and parceling the orders placed via the website last night and today's orders as they have come in.

I telephoned both the children today; Cecily is at her digs in Bath and Alec tells me that he is at Butlins! He never ceases to amaze me, he went to a music festival with a friend to celebrate her birthday and somehow has ended up by a swimming pool at Butlins ~ oh to be young again.

The shop has been quiet for the last couple of days, so if you are local or are in the area, it would lovely if you called in to say hello. The shop is open again on Tuesday morning at 10.
Chat later, Liz

All systems GO!

Set of 3 Chocolate Scented Candles £6.75

I am writing today's blog entry from our new unit, which can only mean one thing ~ our internet connection is now working! Hooray!

I am so excited I don't know how to express myself. Still that has never stopped me before, so why let it worry me now? This jolly good news now means that our new premises are well and truly fully functional, no more running back and forth to our home to check on emails, print off paperwork etc. It can all be done from our new office, which will make things run more smoothly and my little legs will be less tired at the end of each working day. For Dave it means that he can finally do all the website maintenance that has been overdue for the last three weeks and we can get back to a new normal.

Well, chat later, Liz

It's now later and I am at home once more. Dave and I ate a very nice supper; I won't tell you what we had in case you judge it's calorific and cholesterol values, suffice to say we both enjoyed it immensely.

Dave has wandered into the dining room from where I can hear the sounds of a serious and ferocious battle being fought and I have been chatting to friends on the telephone. I often wonder if my friends can also hear the computerised gunfire when they are on the phone to me. It must sound like we live in a war-torn environment rather than a sleepy market town nestled in the the mountains of Wales!

Today has been a satisfying day ~ Dave found my little earpiece telephone which I lost at work last week. For me this is a vital piece of equipment because it allows me to walk around the unit and talk to customers (or family and friends) whilst leaving both hands free to pack items, sort out stock or type if I am taking orders or payments over the phone. The day we opened the shop I put it down somewhere and hadn't seen it since. He found it in the 'After Eight' mint tin that I use to store curtain hooks and fittings ~ of course, where else would a girl put her telephone?

Couple the finding of my phone with the internet being put back on and it was like one of those days where you discover an unopened bar of chocolate at the bottom of your handbag and then find to your greatest delight that it hasn't gone furry or fuzzy and is perfectly fine to eat (so then, pretty close to my idea of a perfect treat).

Ooh the battle seems to be over and Dave is heading for the kitchen, I think I will go and smile nicely at him and see if a cup of tea appears.

Chat soon, Liz

Directions to our Shop

We have received a couple of telephone calls telling us that you can't find us, so here are directions.

The Enterprise Park is opposite the Fire Station on East Street in Rhayader.

Take the turning opposite the Fire Station (you will see CARAD on each side of this turning) and follow the road down a short hill (about 25 metres), the road then bears round to the left, follow this to the end of the cul de sac (not even 100 metres) and Pretty Practicals is on the left hand side of the cul de sac at Unit 4.

The building itself doesn't give anything away about the contents and unfortunately we are still waiting for our signs to arrive, but often there is a red 4 x 4 parked outside it.

The doorway into the building is at the end (and for some unknown reason) and is hidden by our bin storage area! Not great planning by the architect I know....

If you are stuck in finding the building, please don't hesitate to ring us for directions.

Short nights, long days

Hmm... despite the fact that we are rapidly heading towards the shortest day (and thus the longest night), my bodyclock seems to be having a mind of its own this week! Having settled into bed last night at around half past midnight, I was wide awake by twenty past four ~ how rubbish is that?

Now as far as I can see, there are few options open to a girl when she can't sleep. I could have made a warm milky drink, gone back to bed and tried to get to sleep (which I didn't do) or my preferred option; harrass Dave by waking him up and making him share the boredom of the small hours with me (which I also didn't do) or to do what I actually did ~ stare mindlessly at old episodes of Star Trek, which is usually enough to send me into an instant stupor, if not coma, and to catch up on some paperwork, which also always has a mind numbing effect on me. Did these two activities make me sleepy? Well... it's before eight in the morning and I writing my blog again, so I guess not!

What so often happens when I wake at stupid o'clock is that I notice all the things in the house that need to be sorted out, mended, cleaned or tidied; none of which I can do in the middle of the night because of the noise involved in these activities, out of respect for the neighbours who share our adjoining wall and for Dave who might as well get a good night's sleep even if I'm not.

One of the most disheartening things about a lack of sleep is the cumulative effect it has on my sense of humour. By this afternoon, my usual sweet wit and sensitivity will have become like a venomous snake (Dave might say that there is never much sign of sweet wit and sensitivity, but he's my husband and therefore subject to more 'wit' than most) and this evening any trace of good humour will have evaporated altogether. This then poses the next dilema...

Do I have an early night and risk having had enough sleep by four in the morning again or do I hang on in there this evening and go to bed at my usual time, but be in such a rotten mood all evening that I don't want to even be in my own company?

I know! I will turn to the best cure in the world for lack of sleep/grumpy girl syndrome; chocolate.

Okay, well that's me sorted for the day then, chat soon, Liz

P.S. As at 6 pm, it has taken one large ham and mustard roll, one Fry's Turkish Delight, one Twix, and three mince pies to get through the day... I am sure I will be able to do better tonight!

Hotting up for Christmas

French Oval Valbonne Chair £195.00
Valbonne Bergere Tub Chair with rattan £229.00

Phew! what a busy day it has been. We have managed to pack all the orders that have been placed on the website over the weekend and booked them with the couriers and Parcelforce for delivery over the next two days.

Christmas shopping is very definitely reflected in the orders we have received, we have packaged so many pretty accessories and gifts and lots of them are going to secret locations so that partners don't see what is arriving in the post.

The shop reopens tomorrow for the week; it will be interesting to see how many visitors we will have over the next few days as word spreads around that the shop is there and open for business.

Well, not much else to say this evening, I am going to have a fairly early night in the hope that I am bright and breezy tomorrow.

Chat soon, Liz.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

I have had a lovely, gentle and peaceful day. After a much needed long sleep I woke to hear the wind beating the rain against the bedroom window, making the last few minutes in bed feel even more cosy and comforting.

Most of this morning was spent preparing pictures and wording for new items for the website, then after Dave had finally crawled out of bed, we had a leisurely cuppa together and then went out for a roast lunch at one of the local pubs. I guess we could now almost be considered regulars for lunch at the pub. We don't drink alcohol and rarely go to a pub in the evenings for social events, but we do like to go out for Sunday lunch when we get the chance.

This afternoon seems to have disappeared with more editing of photographs, cups of tea and chatting with friends and family on the telephone. I have also been watching some breathtakingly beautiful images on the telly in a couple of wildlife and natural history programmes, whilst Dave has been in the dining room shooting at things on a computer game.

We have really enjoyed our day off and this evening we plan to curl up on the sofa and watch Cranford.

Must be time for a fresh cuppa, chat soon, Liz

Chic Shop

It's happened. We have finally opened the shop and had our first few customers through the door ~ hooray!

Both Dave and I are exhausted this evening, but also filled with a sense of pride and satisfaction. I know I have said it before, but I am so proud of Dave's unerring commitment and hard work over the last month.

My 'little' brother rang me today to say hi and congrats and all that, which was really sweet of him. He lives in America and it was early morning for him when he rang. I have promised to send him some pics of the shop and told him to look at my blog for more photos and to catch up with our latest news; hence there being so many pics again today.

The picture above is of our collection of Venetian style mirrored furniture and accessories ~ the tri-fold scene weighs so much that Dave and I struggled to get it out of its packaging. I think that it is beautiful and it's a beautiful quality too.

The middle photo was taken from the back of the shop looking towards the counter (you can just see my back as I was busy pricing things and didn't realise that Dave was taking the photo). It shows really clearly how we have managed to create a shop space within an industrial building.

The day bed has lots of quilts tied in bundles and the central unit carries lots of bits and pieces including our collection of own label toiletries and candles in a tin.

I plan to light a different scented candle each day so that the shop is filled with lovely fragrances. I have hung some of our lavender spice scented hearts around the shop too ~ yummy!

The last picture was taken, again by Dave, standing in the corridor on the way into the shop and shows my latest favourite piece in the shop.

The pink chest of drawers arrived with us only yesterday. I have been awaiting their arrival since the start of September so I'm very pleased that they arrived in time for the shop opening. I have teamed this scrumptiously shabby chic piece of furniture a cream feather trimmed lamp and a bust of Mark Anthony (with this Month's Period Living magazine open at the page that features our bust).
Well, it's Saturday night, time for me to spend an hour switching off the brain and staring at X Factor.

The shop re-opens on Tuesday morning at 10...
Chat soon, Liz