And the sun came out and the waiting is over!

The sun shines in all its glory once again.....

 and parts of waste ground have turned miraculously, practically over night, into patches of green meadows dotted with the colour and ....

the wonder of Mother Nature. 

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The waiting has come to an end !

 As I mentioned in a previous post I am partnered with Sharon at From my front porch  and we are participating in the Cosy Autumn Swap hosted by Blueberry Heart. We've had to wait a little longer than others who swap within the Uk but finally Sharon has received my parcel and I also received Sharon's parcel last Monday. Perhaps you don't know but Sharon lives over there across the seas in Tennessee USA and I live in Spain ,well that's about a 10 to 12 days mailing span...but it has gone well and nothing has been lost in the post.

So...Peeps here you have what I received from Sharon and you can see what I sent to Sharon on her latest post at From my front porch

Glorious Autumn colours .....you can see the swap theme in all these goodies!

 Can you see that photo frame now isn't that super original just right for Halloween :-)

everything intact no breakages....I'm so lucky!

Look at the gorgeous colour of that yarn I am itching to start something with it!

Nobody can doubt this book marker is for me.....personalized...I love personalized goodies!!!

A maple perfumed candle...how about that...it smells so good I told Sharon I could almost eat it!

and finally two new dishcloths in the most perfect colours for my kitchen as the kitchen colours are different shades of terracotta...how did you know Sharon?

What a fantastic hour I had unpacking this parcel and showing everyone and talking about Sharon over there in Tennessee,about my followers,about blogging and blogland. Your ears just must have been burning!!!     

Thank you so much Sharon everything was more than perfect! :-)

a happy and content

Amanda :-)

Shout out and on its way!

Summer leisure is over!

It has been difficult this week for me to find time to post. New courses are starting up and my employers have inundated me with demands such as:
Placement tests,drafts of course syllabus,interview with College language dept Director,evaluation of course material and anything else the organisers of the courses can shove on to the teaching staff for us to do.   The school year has commenced and I also have to help my daughter in the business as she is short staffed and run off her feet.  Very little time to blog......GRR!!!!
I've also been busy busy getting my Autumn swap bits finished which I cannot show you yet as its TOP SECRET for the moment but.....

GLORY BE!!!!   

at last they are now winging their way to the USA as I sent them off to Sharon on From my front porch over there in Tennessee, this morning.

 Now the waiting begins until she receives them and I hear from her!

I would also like to give a couple of shout outs today.
First of all Claire at Thriftwood who is celebrating 100 posts and has a fab giveaway on the go
and then  A load of old Tat   who has posted about tea towels and the dreaded C which has inspired part of my post today.
Now I wish to share with you a few comments about obsession or obsessions. I have been inspired to comment on this from the interesting post that I read this morning at  A load of Old Tat which she has published on her obsession for tea towels. It instantly came to mind my obsession with napkins. Therefore I thought that you would really like to hear about it or not !

I really hate paper napkins I must but MUST use a cotton or linen napkin...I love my napkins...I like to see them clean ,ironed and stored away in rolls...wacky eh?  Now I imagine you are thinking napkins are not something you use too much over there in the UK except Sundays perhaps or at a party or dinner out. Am I wrong? What about elsewhere in the States or Australia?

We never used napkins at home when I was a child except as I mentioned for special occasions so you can imagine my surprise to find napkins on the table at every meal time here when I first came to live in Spain 30 odd years ago. At that time I didn't speak Spanish and we lived for a few months in my in-laws house until we got settled. At EVERY meal time there were these napkins on the table! I just kept thinking why is Mama (that was my mother- in- law) putting them on the table all the time....was it because I was there. I was getting quite fed up with these napkins, it was getting to be a problem so in the end I asked my husband to discretely say to his mother that it wasn't necessary to keep putting the napkins on the table just for me. He automatically turned to his mother and told her and although I didn't understand her reply it sounded quite sharp and she straight away strutted into the dining room to lay the table, banging down those napkins on the table quite forcibly as she murmured to herself. It was obvious she was irritated and I was wondering .......jeez!!!!!.... what did I say wrong!!! My husband then turned to me and said having napkins had nothing to do with me being there,that they always have napkins on the table in Spain and its considered if you cannot have napkins on your table here you are poorer than church mice. He explained that his mother was quite offended that I had thought she was only using her napkins because I was there that she could afford to have napkins to use everyday.
I then had a barney with Sr P because he could have been a bit more tactful and explained all this before speaking to his mother.
She was quite cold to me for a few days but I worked hard to erase that and admired all her napkins constantly and helped her lay the table everyday and then she showed me the drawer of napkins that she had , all in their sets, in rolls ...rolls of gold for her. I must admit I was impressed she had a lovely collection but since then I am not quite sure why but I adore napkins and have my own small collection too.
Oh! yes ......and I use napkins everyday so no one can say I'm down and out and cannot afford to have napkins he! he!
PS: However times have changed somewhat and there are two camps in my house, mine which is using linen or cotton napkins for myself and my husband's which is to use kitchen roll. This suits me fine as I get what I like and I also get less laundry.


and finally can I leave you with this philosophical observation from two of the wisest bods in the woods

 I am a dedicated fan of Winnie the Pooh,may he live for ever!!!

Be good now and if you can't be good be kind!

Amanda :-)

Swap bitten and return of the poncho if it ever left us

Well and truly bitten.....................

 

but there you are ......I enjoyed my first blog swap so much with the Jar of Love that I was hoping another one would get started soon and so it has. I am now participating in the Cosy Autumn Swap hosted by  Blueberry at Blueberry Heart   and do you know what but I have been partnered with Sharon at From my Front Porch... which is wonderful because we are already reciprocal followers.

The rules of the Cosy Autumn swap are as follows:

.... well chocolate and food stuffs are out for a start as Sharon lives in the States and I am not risking the parcel being opened and any edible goodies confiscated.
When I went to visit my daughter in Chicago,when she lived there, I took a couple of boxes of PG Tips and a few things she asked me for that she missed so much and they were all confiscated by a very nice polite man at customs. Grr!!!
So choccies is a No! No!

No problem.........two handmade items are already being finished and are made of this and that and can be used for this and that too....the third one is in progress and will be handy to help in this and that as well....easy peasy!
Have to get my thinking cap on though for the bits and pieces to keep the rest company so I make sure its bits that Sharon will like or I hope will like.

Fun! Fun! and more Fun!

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I'm not doing this one its a pic from google to set the scene

Now PONCHOS:
 Daughter Nº 1 has been badgering me for awhile now about making a poncho for her and a full length poncho at that .......that ponchos are very practical...they are back in fashion....and nice and warm for the winter ...and so on and so on......so finally I said I'd make one for her but she was to decide on the colours she wanted and to buy the yarn.
Fine......things went quiet for a few weeks and then she popped in to see me and handed me this one morning:

 It is called Gedifra Balsini Colori by Coats and comes in 50 g balls.
I thought it was an extremely nice choice so I told her she needed to get at least 10 of these.
You can imagine my thoughts when she said NO that was it, that I'd have to manage with that one ball. It was too expensive to buy anymore,she said. She told me it cost her 7.56 pounds (6.00 Euros) for one 50 g ball. I did suggest she return to the shop to choose something cheaper but no that was the one she wanted. She said she was hoping I could do at least half with that ball and add some black or something to make up...well ......I had to laugh and then tried to explain to her that this one ball would perhaps cover the edging on the poncho and no more! Incidentally my daughter is NOT crochet/knitting/sewing/ apt at all she just likes to wear or have the finished product!
So its been left in my hands to sort it out! 
As it would cost me easily 75pounds for the rest of the yarn I have decided to make up a poncho using the chosen yarn for edging,black main background and some how working in the colours from this Balsini yarn from my own stash of yarn and hope daughter Nº 1 will like it.
At present I cannot say its a project I'm looking forward to doing......I'll let you know how it goes :-)

Hello and welcome to my two new followers Blueberry Heart and Sue Butler.  Many thanks for visiting my blog and for joining too. I'm sorry Sue I'd like to visit your blog but I can't work out which is your blog among the list of blogs on your Blogger profile.

Ahhhh!!!! nearly forgot
they have now been filled:

Natillas......a nice cold cold dessert for a very hot day

Have a great week:

Amanda :-)