Twinkle

When I saw these comics at a vintage sale I just had to buy them.

I remember reading Twinkle when I was a little girl, I loved all the characters in it but my very favourite was Nancy The Little Nurse. She worked at the Dollies Hospital where broken toys are mended with her grandad who is the dolly doctor, Mr Jingle. I even had a little dress up outfit like Nancy's.

Polly's Magic Painbox. Polly could paint a picture and it would come to life, very exciting.

Witch Winkle created havoc wherever she went, but it always turned out well in the end.

So many old favourites.

I used to love these cut out dolls. I'd cut out the clothes for them and then sit and dress them in different outfits for hours.

These three comics were dated 1977 and 1978, I would have been eight or nine when they were published. Did you have a favourite comic as a child?

Eyemouth

I know my holiday posts have gone on a bit this year, it's over two months ago since we were away, but I promise this is my last one.

Eleanor and I had never been to Scotland before so whilst we were in Northumberland, we decided that we'd cross the border. We didn't go very far in to Scotland, just about eight miles north of Berwick upon Tweed to Eyemouth. Eyemouth is a small town with many features of a traditional fishing village. The reason we chose to visit this place is that someone had left a comment in the visitor's book back at the cottage saying that they'd seen seals here. We thought we'd take a look ourselves and we weren't disappointed.

There's a van in the harbour which sells seafood, they sell fish here to feed to the seals too. You can borrow a pole which has a clip on the end to attach the fish to, it's easier to lower the fish to the seals this way.

The seals attract quite a crowd at times, they must be well fed during the summer season as many people were wanting to have a turn at feeding them.

They had to be quick though, seagulls are opportunists and are so quick at grabbing the fish before the seals get chance.

As soon as they realised the seals were being fed, they were circling overhead.

Many were successful at getting the fish before the seals did.

I think seals are really cute but they can be quite vicious.

As well as the harbour, Eyemouth has a lovely beach.

It's quite small but it wasn't very busy when we were there. We had plenty of room to set up camp.

We spent a few different days here when the sun was shining. We had lots of dull days on our holiday so we made the most of the sunshine.

There's nothing more relaxing that sitting on a beach on a sunny day watching all the comings and goings. There were lots of boats sailing in and out of the harbour.

This cormorant was doing a bit of fishing in the sea, he'd bob right underneath the water before resurfacing in a totally different place.

Archie enjoyed himself too, rolling around in smelly seaweed, one of his favourite activities.

I think he enjoyed the holiday as much as we did.

It was a change holidaying further north this year rather than heading south. As you've seen from my posts, we visited many different places but I feel we only touched the surface. I'd like to go back again some time in the future but we're considering a holiday down south again next year, perhaps we'll venture north again the year after.

Barter Books

I'm aware I haven't yet finished telling you about our summer holiday, it seems ages ago now, just two posts left so I'll get on with it.

I'd have loved to have visited Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden whilst staying in Northumberland but having Archie with us once again restricted our plans, dogs aren't allowed in either. We did have a look around the town though and managed to tick off one place on my list, Barter Books.

This second hand bookshop is a book lovers paradise. Located in part of an old Victorian railway station, Barter Books has been called 'The British Library of secondhand bookshops' by New Statesman magazine. It hasn't lost its link with trains having a model railway running around part of the shop high above heads.

The building is impressive, it holds many thousands of books as well as having many extra features: The Station Buffet , open fires in winter, a children's room containing toys and lots of comfy seating where you can sit to browse the books you're interested in. There are lots of glass cases lining the walls which house many interesting antiquarian books. I loved reading all the poetry which was dotted around.

I was like a kid in a sweetshop, so many books all under one roof. I'm always overwhelmed when faced with such a large choice but I did manage a small purchase, one of the books from the Amanda Prowse No Greater Love series, Christmas For One. I haven't read it yet.

So what did we do with Archie whilst we were inside this wonderful bookshop? Well for once, I'm pleased to report that I've found somewhere dog friendly. He didn't create havoc, he didn't destroy anything, he didn't leave any puddles, in fact he behaved much better than some of the people I saw there.

I'm a responsible dog owner so it saddens me when I'm declined entry to some places because I have a dog on a lead beside me. I can understand not being allowed in buildings but many people, adults as well as children, behave much worse than Archie does in a garden. A big thumbs up to Barter Books for being dog friendly.

This is just a short post about my own visit but there's so much more to Barter Books including its history, the station, special books and Keep Calm, Barter Books is the home of the original 'Keep Calm and Carry On' poster. Do take a look at the Barter Books website.

Yarndale 2015

I wasn't sure I'd be able to make Yarndale this year, my weekends have been so busy just lately and to top it off, Mick had a bit of a crisis at work on the Friday and thought he might have to go in on the Saturday, but it all worked out in the end and we did manage to get there.

We arrived earlier than we had last year and there was definitely a different feel about the place. It was absolutely packed and everyone was jostling to get the best vantage points, there was a lot of pushing and shoving going on. We decided that we'd wander round looking at whatever we could get close to before following the same path again looking at what we'd missed the first time round. As the day wore on, I'm pleased to say that everything calmed down and there was that happy feel that I'd experienced last year.

I think the thing which hits you most at Yarndale is the colour, it's absolutely everywhere as you might expect when yarn's involved.

I was looking forward to seeing all the crochet Flowers for Memories which people from all around the world had sent to raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society. They didn't disappoint, there was a rainbow themed display containing over 5000 flowers which had been sent from twenty two countries and they raised £1811.80 for this very deserving charity.

The mandalas, which were last year's Yarndale project were displayed at eye level this year rather than hung up high. You really got to see all the work which had been put in to them.

A project I'd taken part in this year was the Yarndale Sock Line. Earlier this year I took part in a sockalong which Christine over at Winwick Mum blog was organising. After this sockalong, Christine came up with the idea of asking people to send handmade socks so that she could make a line of sock bunting at Yarndale. After the festival, these socks were to be gifted to people in need who may be thankful for a cosy pair of handmade socks. I thought it was a great idea and sent off my pair of socks and here they are in situ. It's not a very good photo but they're the ones on the left on this first stretch of bunting.

I had every intention of having a word with Christine whilst I was there, she was selling and signing copies of her Super Socks book, however, she was busy chatting away to other people when I visited the Knit and Natter Lounge and she'd disappeared when I went back, I think she may have gone for some lunch.

The auction mart where Yarndale's held is usually filled with animals and the weekend of the festival was no exception, well, perhaps not filled but there were animals there.

This gorgeous little sheep was called Viola and she was the most friendly little thing. She loved being stroked and having her head scratched, I could have taken her home with me. Not sure what Archie would have thought to that idea though.

I didn't take too many photos, I was too busy oohing and aahing at all the lovely things to be seen.

Would you like to see what I bought? I'm sure you would. Not a huge haul by some standards but more than I bought last year.

I bought a couple of balls of Drops Lima. Mick bought me Edward's Menagerie book for Christmas last year and I haven't had a go at anything from it yet. He bought me some Toft Alpaca yarn but I want to have a go with something cheaper first so this yarn ticks the boxes.

Manos Silk Blend Fino, 70% merino 30% silk, it's silky soft.

Exmoor Sock Yarn. Made with 85% Exmoor Blueface and 15% nylon for extra strength.

I saw these cute ornaments last year and regretted not buying one so I rectified that this time.

I have to admit that I don't actually use many buttons but I can't resist buying them. I also bought some new felting needles for Eleanor as her needle snapped half way through a project. She can get on and finish it now.

I may have also bought a Christmas present but I can't show you that at the moment or tell you who it's for. Yarndale's a great place to pick up gifts.

I had a really wonderful day out and came home, once again, filled with inspiration. The date's in the diary for next year but once again, I'm not sure if I'll make it. I missed the first Yarndale two years ago because it was the weekend we were moving Daniel in to his university accommodation. Eleanor will hopefully be going to university next year so we'll just have to see if her moving date clashes with Yarndale or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't.

A Winter Project

I posted about the Spice Of Life Crochet Along that I'm taking part in a couple of weeks ago so I thought I'd show you where I've got up to so far.

The crochet along is running for a number of weeks and new parts of the pattern are released on Sandra's Cherry Heart blog each Tuesday. I've decided that I'm not going to rush just to keep up and that I'm going to crochet along in my own time. So far, I've managed to complete the part of the pattern which was released two weeks ago, I've got last weeks part printed out ready to go and there's another part which has been released today which I've yet to print.

I'm using Rico Classic Baby DK, a yarn I've never worked with before, in the colourway which Sandra suggested. I'd have never put some of these colours together myself but I'm loving the way in which they're working out. I'm also impressed with the yarn, it's 50% polyamide and 50% acrylic and it's beautifully soft and so easy to work with. I love the way in which it drapes too, I think this will become more noticeable as the blanket grows.

I'm joining in with Jennifer's Winter Project Link Party over on her Thistlebear blog. Do pop over and take a look what it's all about, and how about joining in with the fun? I'm sure many of you have projects on the go for winter.

If you've joined in with the swap I'm organising and haven't yet contacted your partner, can you please do so as soon as possible. You can find a list of who you've been partnered with in my Twelve Days Of Christmas Swap Partners post. It would also be very helpful for me if you can let me know when you've done this so that I can keep track of what's what.

Twelve Days Of Christmas Swap Partners

I know I said I'd post a list of swap partners tomorrow but I didn't realise I had another university open day to attend with Eleanor. I won't be around much tomorrow so I'm posting the list today.

Once you've seen who you've been paired with, can you please make contact with your swap partner either by email or by commenting on their blog. You will need to exchange addresses but please make sure this is done by email, I don't like seeing people's personal details posted on blogs. It would also be helpful if you could leave me a comment letting me know that you've made contact with your partners.

There's been a really good response, twenty six people including myself are joining in which means there'll be thirteen swaps taking place. Here's a list of your partners:-

Fat Dormouse Getting Thinner - Pam from A New Life in Wales

Gilly from Gilly Makes...HQ - Jo from Angel Jem's City Cottage

Mitzi from Lazy Days & Sunday's at Willow Cottage - Rebecca from Writing, Fatshion, Me

Ellie from Feltabulous - Sally A from Crafty Northerner

Kimberley from Creative Chaos - Alison from Life at Sylvan House

Jo from A Whole Plot of Love - Susan from Granny Smith's Quilting

Hazel from World of Joy - Alcea Rosea 31

Jo from Through The Keyhole - Simple Living

Clicky Needles - Maria from Dotty's Daughter

Amy from Love Made My Home - Debbie from Fairy Bluebell's Craft Adventure

Cheryl from My Little Piece of England - Michelle from The Diet Starts Tomorrow..

Marlene from Poppy Patchwork - Frugally Challenged

Eleanor from Stitches and Seeds - Janet from MacQue


You've now got until the beginning of December to get your gifts together. They should be things you'd be happy to receive yourself and you may choose to make some of the gifts if you so wish.

I'm sure you'll have no trouble choosing gifts for your swap partner but you can have a look at The Twelve Days Of Christmas post I wrote back in January which shows the gifts I received from Lisa last year if you get stuck. Some people may enjoy receiving things such as books, stationery, crafting supplies, ornaments, smellies, jewellery, candles, edibles and if your partner lives in a different country from yourself, they may enjoy receiving things they wouldn't be able to get in their own country. That's just a few ideas for you.

Each gift should cost a maximum of £2, it's not about the cost, it's about gifting things which your partner will like.

Your parcel should contain twelve gifts wrapped individually so that your swap partner is able to open one on each of the twelve days of Christmas, and should be posted by the 5th of December 2015. Those who are swapping with partners from other countries should check the last posting dates to ensure their parcel will arrive in time for Christmas.

Only one gift should be opened per day starting on the 25th December 2015 through to the 5th January 2016.

It would be a nice idea to show the gifts you received on your blog in January.


If anyone is unsure about anything or has any problems, don't hesitate to get in touch. You can find my email address on my sidebar under the Contact Me section. Above all, have fun with this swap, afterall, that's what it's all about.