elfie & Me

Fever

Very early this morning I watched the light creep across the bedroom ceiling and the first birds started singing as I lay sleepless with hot pinpricks of fever running through my inert body. In my head I had mentally redecorated the house, designed another few cards and restocked the shop. I lay there listening to the bizarre snatches of early morning radio as Roland hit the snooze button several times more. I really hope I'm not getting this cold and fever that is doing the rounds. I cannot be ill now, 'tis the busy season!!! Dang and blast!

The winner of the Christmas giveaway is Angela aka Toadstoolella! Congratulations to you and your parcel will be on it's way shortly.

The sharp-eyed amongst you will recognise this little creature as the Mushroom Pixie but Toadstoolella was just such a perfect name! Thank you to everyone who shared their elfin names, they were such fun to read.

I'm starting to worry about how ill prepared I am for Christmas. I have a couple of half finished Christmas card designs which I hoped to road test on my ever patient family and friends but as usual time has run away with me . . . "I can't believe it is nearly the end of the year" I said to Roland last night.
"You know what that means, don't you?" he replied. "The years speed up, the older you get."

And for once, I couldn't think of a thing to say.

Come and get them while they're hot!

As promised, I'm doing a Pre-Christmas giveaway this week. The winner will receive a set of 6 Pixieland Christmas cards -that's 3 of each design plus a set of 8 assorted gift tags. All you have to do is reply to this post before midnight on Monday 26th November and tell me your elfin name. Everyone's got one somewhere! I'm usually the "Nice-cup-of-tea-pixie" but yesterday I was definately the Vomit Fairy as Percy was not very well. In true feline fashion, he woke us early on Sunday morning with melodramatic and copious amounts of retching. Here he is looking sorry for himself.

On Friday I went to the Country Living Fair. It was wonderful although very busy. I met my sister and we shopped 'til we dropped while chatting all the way round. Now for "show and Tell"

I bought this lovely pixie brooch which I plan to wear on Chrismas Day from Stephanie at My Sweet Fairy. Stephanie is like a delightful French Fairy herself. Another purchase was this lovely book from Caroline at Twice.

Such gorgeous vintage Fabric. Must think of someting nice to use it for.

A lovely heart- gorgeous vintage flowered fabric again.

Some toadstools for the Christmas tree. (And a few Christmas presents that I won't share in case of family lurkers!)

A Wallpaper thing

I've got a thing for wallpaper. I don't like it everywhere but I love it in small cosy rooms or on stairwells and the inside of cupboards. And designing repeating patterns is kind of relaxing but challenging at the same time.
This wallpaper has been a work in progress for months and at last I'm quite pleased with it. A small thought has been niggling away at the back of my head: shall I send it in to the great Cath Kidston and see what she thinks? Or will she think I'm some kind of stalker and Mr Kipling fetishest . . .

It's been a strange week at Pixieland. Bluebell went missing on Sunday which is really NOT like her. Her life is basket . . . food . . . litter tray . . . basket . . . with maybe a short stroll around the garden on pleasant days. We searched high and low, put notes though people's doors, poked around in bushes with torches but to no avail. Foxes and fireworks were our biggest concern (do foxes kill cats?). Alexei was inconsolable and whilst I was trying to keep a lid on it, I couldn't settle to anything.
On Wednesday while I was sitting at my desk in a desultory manner, I heard Roland exclaim "Bluebell- we thought we'd lost you!!! as he opened the cellar door.
Yes, the cellar door.
Madam Bluebell was down there the whole time.
Despite all 3 of us searching into every cobwebby corner.
Despite Roland fixing his bike down there for 2 hours.
Despite my regular trips down there to get stuff out of the freezer.
She was there all the time and none the worst for wear. Just thirsty and hungry. And as yet I haven't found any evidence of any little presents she may have left us during her exile. (Me thinks it's about time we tidied up down there).
Here she is again, the little minx.

The latter part of the week had me feeling indescribably happy. . . joy was bubbling up out of me and I've been having my one of my super-creative phrases. They don't last long so I have to make the most of them.To celebrate the return of Bluebell I'm going to have a Pre- Christmas give away next week so don't forget to pop back soon. Off to cuddle my beloved girl now. Have a nice weekend.

Delicious Devon

Just look at these cakes. . . aren't they divine? The main problem is, which one to choose . . ."Ok, you can have a piece of mine if I can have a bit of yours. . . What do you mean you're not going to have a cake? You have to . . . I'm not coming all this way without trying the coffee cake . . . Oh no! Alexei's nearly finished that chocolate cake while I've been discussing cake with you . . . can I have just a small taste, please Poppet?"
Our first stop in Devon was to Totnes. Jane told us all the best places to go and when we saw the window of Grey's Tearoom . . .oh joy! We also visited the antique market where I met Jane's lovely friend Amanda (Hello Amanda! I know you "lurk" sometimes) who has the most gorgeous stall called "Shabby Chick". I think this is one of the most useful things about blogging: we can all give each other tips on all the great places to visit and meeting nice people along the way is always lovely!
Much fortified after a large tea, we made our way to one of our favoutite haunts: Lynton in North Devon. Those sweeps of hillside that fall dramatically into the sea (not literally of course!) are amazing.
And, of course, we worry less about Alexei dramatically falling into the sea now he is a bit older. But I still have anxious moments on some of the roads . . .hope those brakes don't fail!!

Spooooooooky!

It's been jolly spooky here in Rochester. Our neighbour's window display must have been the most authentically spooky in the land. Yes, they are REAL skulls.

Luckily, we can count them as our friends.

I spooked Oskar (the Burmese cat) when I painted my face with red face paint. He stared at me in horrified fascination for hours. And I always thought cats only saw in black and white . . .

I'll be back soon with some pictures from our lovely weekend in Devon. How much cake can a family of three eat? (Clue: it was scary too!)