I am back! Cosy warm and (almost) well again

You gals are just the best! You have been the sweetest friends through all this, and I can't thank you enough. GROUP HUG, tehehehe !!! So, here is a quick update. The long and short of it is, after 4 weeks of living in an icebox with just a couple of halogen heaters, we now have a new gas boiler installed, since Friday, and I am luxuriating in warmth in all the rooms, woohoo. The Christmas/New Year period is NOT the time for things to go wrong, lol. I am also over the flu and the rotten cold I got straight after, I am just stuck with a very persistent cough, but hey, I am up and about and I even went out shopping one day last week!

And, best of all, my work room is lovely and warm again now, I can sit at the computer ( desk top, I dont have a laptop ) without freezing my bits off, and I even got a little bit of crafting done on the weekend. Wanna see? Lol, tough if you don't, because I am going to show you anyway in a bit. I spent most of my time since Friday looking at all the blog posts I had missed since before Christmas, that was a mammoth task, I can tell ya. I couldn't leave comments on them, I just didn't have the time, but please know that I really thoroughly enjoyed all your beautiful Christmas homes, the gorgeous images you posted over New Year, and all your news. I am almost up to date again now, so should be back to normal as from today.

Crafting, sigh, I really missed my workroom when I couldn't use it, so you can imagine how I felt when I finally got back into it again. On my travels through the blogs, I saw this on my lovely friend Dorthe's blog -

INCHIES!?! Fascinating little things, but I had never really thought about giving them a go. Can I resist a challenge? Lol, not when it sound as fascinating as this one did. One teeny weeny little thing per week sounded immensely doable. A year and 52 inchies later, I should end up with a sweet wall hanging to display somewhere. So I decided to have a go. My very first inchie -


And while I was at it rooting through all the little bits and pieces, I also made a little tag -


What else could I do while the glue bottles were on the desk? Ah yes, I still had to make one more MEMORY/CONCENTRATION game for a little pressie for someone -


The backs of the 2x2 pieces are just stamped


I love this game, we used to play this type of game a lot when the boys were little.


I haven't made a box for it yet, but I am planning to do that today.

I know that we are well past Christmas and all that, but I just have to show you a couple more things. I received the sweetest little package all the way from New Zealand from my dear friend Sarah a few days ago. It had been held up by the rotten weather. It was such a lovely surprise, I had no idea it was being sent. Inside were a couple of Christmas decorations, perfect for our tree in the drawing room, which has been decorated with white and silver ornaments for the last 25 years or so.

This gorgeous little bird became part of the flock already at home on the branches -


And this beautiful snowflake fits in perfectly as well -


A gorgeous white Christmas card -


A doily in the loveliest shade of blue, perfect for the blue bedroom in our cottage in France -


And this fabulous fabric cottage! Isn't it just gorgeous?


That is almost it, but there is one more rather important thing I want to do, and that is to welcome all the new followers who have joined me here over the last few weeks. I hope that my long absence hasn't put you off already, lol. Let me give you a big welcome hug, and I hope you enjoy popping in every now and then.

I am off to think about the box for the Concentration game. Have a great day wherever you are,
toodlepip xxx