Finishing this and that!

I have NOT been distracted you know ......even with all the excitement of hunky firefighters at my door (ok I'm exaggerating a teeny weeny bit...they were under my window) as related in my last post and what with the irritation of a second fire in our apartment block.
Actually could I just comment on this for a moment .Many of you remarked ,in your always welcome comments ,and rightly so .... how was it possible that the grandparents did not supervise the child adequately.  I have since then gathered a little more information about the situation from those here who know!   It seems the little angel,the grandson, (and he is ...a little fair blue eyed angel; pretty as a picture) loves to touch everything and particularly the hob & oven knobs and dials. The grandfather is in charge of the child while Mum and Grandma are out to work. Now it seems Grandad ( a young Grandad by the way) doesn't check what little angel face has been up to before they leave the flat for their morning stroll. Hence this is the second time he has come back to find his kitchen on fire. Incredible really, you would think he would have learnt the first time!
If it was me once I had that babe strapped in his pushchair I'd be checking every switch and plug in the house before I left.


as I was saying  I haven't been too distracted and have managed to finish the following makes :

This poncho is for my little six month old great niece who lives in Devon. I hope it will be too big for her as it is for autumn.

 The basic pattern isn't mine ...I know it isn't .....I think it was given to me by someone but I have no written pattern anymore. I did it from memory.
 I did design the extras though the neck,the soft trim around the neck and the bow .

It is a stash buster too. I used up some SMC Coats Bravo yarn and added Katia Bombon in white and mauve for the trim and bow. As SMC Coats Bravo yarn is a little harsh for babies´ skin I decided that the super soft Katia Bombon yarn would be ideal for the bits that would be in contact with little E´s skin. Incidentally can I just add Katia Bombon is useless for crochet! It is a total nightmare to use but it is my own fault because it does indicate on the label it is only for knitting.
 I had plans to add a third row to the edging but got so exasperated with it I gave up! I've sent all what I bought to my sister who is a knitter. It is a shame because it is really lovely and soft.

I was asked by a neighbour if I could make her a pincushion jar cover like the one I mentioned in this post here. Now as I tell everyone I do not normally make the same thing twice. Actually I don't think I could do another one anyhow as that first pincushion jar cover was total freeform. I have no pattern and I designed it as I went along. I told her I would do the same for her that is whatever came to mind ..that is freeform.....I don't think she really understood what freeform is though.
Anyhow I made this:

 I call it the Agra pincushion jar cover.    She said she liked it but I got the impression she thinks I'm a bit weird!  It may be weird but that is what came out of me or rather what was transmitted from my thoughts to my crochet hook!

Welcome to my new followers. I would really love to visit your blogs too could you send me the link please because I cannot see it on your profile on the Google friend Connect widget. I have tried to connect to some of you by email but I'm afraid  I can't because it indicates a no-reply email address

My giveaway is still on the go and you are welcome to participate:

Amanda :-)

Time for the Angel!

I've forgotten how to write blog posts!!!!!! Well...nearly!!!

My mind is blank so over the next few days I am going to write short posts to reactivate it...my brain that is!!!
















Here she is folks out in the world again..here she is in all her gloriousness!!!
Ms Christmas Angel was given to me by a friend a few years back....and despite a couple of near fatal incidents (mostly Willie the cats fault) she is still going strong.














I've finally got my tree up with 2 days to go...phew!!!






 Now,before I forget, can I just ask you to check and see if you are on my blog roll here


 Yesterday I discovered that Blogger had repeated its antics of eliminating my blog roll and I had to set it up again.  If you followers and blog-mates find you do not appear there and you should please give me a shout and I'll add you. Thanks :-)

 I have managed to keep crocheting,not as much as I would like but enough to feed my addiction.

You know it being Spain it is lovely during the day here but bitterly cold and frosty 7:00am mornings ....so I thought a crocheted woolly hood for Cookie baby (Grand-daughter) would do nicely as she waits for her bus to get to college.



Best of all she likes it and uses it!!!!











 That is it for now but I'll be back soon with another post  :-)

Keep well

Amanda :-)

The spirit of Christmas

Lost but now it is found

 Big sigh of relief!!    I thought I had lost it!  

I was so happy to find Gracie's snowflake which I couldn't find last year when rapidly setting up my Christmas tree the day before Christmas Eve. This year as I have all the time in the world I was determined to find it.I searched high and low among the boxes and bags which I use for the Christmas decorations and finally I found it scrunched up in a corner of a box. I have washed it and blocked it and it looks as pretty as a picture. Gracie from One Saylor's Log sent this to me in the Snowflake swap we shared back in 2012.   

"I found it Gracie and as you can see from these photos taken today it is there on my tree once again 🌲😁"

Christmas with a few differences.

Understandably every country celebrates Christmas in their own way .In the case of Spain the religious influence is very evident throughout. Spain is traditionally a country of Nativity scenes more than Christmas trees. 

 

The Nativity Scene set up in the town of Villena, Alicante province.

 I have in the past posted about the different customs here but there are a few other customs the Spanish enjoy over Christmas and are very much a part of their culture too.

 

 

 The National Christmas Lottery 

Millions of Spaniards buy a lottery ticket or two,  all eager to try their luck to win the big jackpot, known as El Gordo (which literally means “the fat one”).  If you’re thinking that the Spanish Christmas lottery seems to be a much bigger deal than most other lotteries you’re familiar with, you’re not wrong.One important thing about this lottery and the reason why it is so popular is that it is shared. It becomes very much a family affair, one coupon can be bought per family and each member of the family pays their part of the coupon. Businesses or groups of friends also do the same they buy a cupon which is divided out between all, again each person paying their share. Everyone is glued to the TV on 22nd December to hear who has won the first prize which is "The Fat One"   

 I have just checked my two lottery coupons and we weren't lucky this year but that is the way it goes. Next year we will try our luck again!😁

 

The sweet stuff 

 

Pastelitos de Gloria

 

 

 

Delicious Gloria cakes,full of marzipan.

 

Roscon de Reyes

The traditional sweet roll with little gifts inside eaten on the Night of the three Kings...Twelfth Night.

and

Turron (nougat) famous the world over. I even saw it for sale in Brisbane when I was visiting my sister in Australia.

 

Sr P absolutely loves it and always buys for Christmas.

 

Main dish

It  has to be of course the traditional "Cocido" main meal chicken soup which is served on Christmas Day.   I posted about this dish way back in 2014. You can see the recipe for it here.  

 

 

 Ms Christmas Angel:

 She continues to be with us. She was sent to me by a friend in the UK about 10 years ago. You can read more about her here in this post I wrote in 2015. She does look a little worn after all this time so I have cleaned her up cut off some of the straggles and added a new sparkling halo (I cut if off an old Christmas card ages ago and kept it thinking it would come in use ...and it has!) 

 

The Christmas spirit 

 

                 Merry Christmas                

wishing you all peace,health and happiness.

 

 

and at the same time I am posting this very christmassy photograph of Minehead, my home town in England. 

Church steps up to St.Michael's Church,Minehead,Somerset,England

FABULOUS VOICES!!

 

            Amanda :-)

 

Plans never go as planned!

I am back to my frenetic lifestyle again and as you can see it has been over a month since I posted last.  The last hastily written post does not count!
I have to be thankful that offers of work have come in earlier than usual and I have been out giving classes since the beginning of September.
Plans never go as planned and that is a fact!!!   I am sure you will agree!
My holiday in August came to an abrupt end at the end of the first week in August.  I won't go into the reason why.... all to do with family and having to lend a hand which stretched into the first few days of September.  I had also planned to pop down to Benidorm for a day to meet Linda from Linda's Craft Corner  and have a natter over a coffee that was disrupted too thanks to my car breaking down again. That was a big disappointment for me! I was finally going to be able to meet one of my blogfriends here in Spain!!!   Soo annoying!!!
It is hell when I don't have the car as I have in-company courses situated on industrial estates out of the way, in the back of beyond which are not on regular bus routes. Well it was mended and now it has broken down again and mended again but I feel it is time to consider buying a new car . I don't want to but I just can't put up with this stress of trying to get to work.

Enough grousing!!!!

First of all let me tell you I won a giveaway at the beginning of September from Leah on Faith's Craftsbox blog .
Very sorry Leah I didn't post about this lovely giveaway until now!!!  Time is my enemy!!

 Lots of wonderful goodies!!  I am dying to get hold of that book!  A little bit of everything  ...so love these craft giveaways!!!   Thanks Leah!!!


At least I have still been able to crochet and I have finally finished the stool cover I have been making since August. I was so fed up of the drab colours in my hallway that I dived into my cotton stash and got cracking.  A pure stash buster!!!

 The grotty stool!!   Before!!

After!

Can you see the dangly bit ....it is a crystal angel and I have four . I would really like to put some more dangly bits on each side but I can't find anything similar to these angels. If anyone sells these type of dangly bits please contact me so I can place an order.

Just to finish up I'd like to send you these two photos I have been holding on to to show you . They were taken by Mary Bradley at the beach here in Alicante. This is during the first week in September when there were some pretty horrendous storms.

Impressive right????

 I'll vouch for this .......the sky was this dark!!!!

Welcome to a new follower!!!   Debbie at  Fairy Bluebell's craft adventure blog

Keep well now!!!

Amanda xxx

Lurking

It sounds rather ominous, doesn't it?    Lurking I mean!

Well I seem to be a fully fledged lurker now. Why?  Well I am still a presence in blogland but as a lurker...bopping from blog to blog,reading lots but rarely posting. 
It is the same old chant.. no time!!!
 At this moment I am waiting to receive a return call from the organiser of a course being held in the Chamber of Commerce here starting next week. Why is it when they say I'll call you back in a minute the minute stretches to 30 minutes!!!  GRR!!!   My time is valuable!!   I know it sounds rather like a cliche but unfortunately we live in a society where time is predominant! The influence of time in my life is so marked that I organise my working day to the minute and when I get this useless waiting around it upsets me!!  
Pretty awful isn't it?  I know I am not alone!  I am sure many out there know what I mean. Sometimes I wish I could do a Gauguin and leg it to the South Pacific to live.

OK!! on second thoughts not so useless waste of time as I am able to write up this post...la..di..da!!!

What has been going on since I last posted which was the end of December......so long!
Here in the city and the province: Cold...snow...storms...cold and snow more or less in that order. As always no snow in the city but getting to the mountain towns has been difficult.  It has been very cold unusually so.  When I say unusually cold I mean so cold I dug out my gloves which I haven't worn since I went to home to the UK in November 1999.

Castalla,in the mountains

Snow angel

This is one of my students who sent this photo to me last weekend. That was also taken in the mountains. 
 Today it is all about the wind which is really fierce.

I've been crocheting of course practically nothing will stop me doing that.  I have made a massive shawl which I can't see myself wearing very much because it is rather heavy. I started it during the cold spell and thought I needed something really warm.  I still have to block it so no photo as yet.

Keep well

Amanda :-)