WAAA, ACEO and LDOW

Ok, so if you are a regular reader of mine you should know by now that WAAA is the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal, and just in case you were wondering, here is a receipt from them for my January payment of L19.00 (my pound key wont work!), thats L10.00 from the knitwear sales and L9.00 from Phoenix card sales. Sadly February has been a bit quiet and my donation this month will be a bit less.



Regular buyers and sellers on Folksy will know that ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals, which are miniature works of art in any medium. Not having seen any knitted artworks, I thought I would give it a go, and these are my first two, which will be going on sale in my shop tomorrow.







and if you say that winter is December, January and February, then today is the Last Day Of Winter, thank goodness for that.

Hina Matsuri

Hina Matsuri is an ancient Japanese custom, which you can read about here . Marissa's other grandmother has sent her a small version of the dolls which go on display (it being far too expensive to send a full set by mail) and a dress for her to wear on the day (March 3rd).

Lost my mojo . . .

. . . a couple of weeks ago, and today I decided it was about time I found it again, but now I discover that I dont even know what it is, so I am really puzzled. How do I find something if I dont know what it is? Where do I start to look?
Well, my first stop was the Chambers dictionary, but as its an edition from 1987, it doesn't even contain the word MOJO.
Second stop was Wikipedia, which had so many meanings but none of them seemed appropriate to my situation.
So now I am asking YOU, dear readers. What exactly is my MOJO, and as I dont seem to remember where I lost it, where do I start to look to find it?
Any help would be most appreciated, thanks.

An hour in the garden

I woke this morning with a sore throat, then started sneezing, so spent the morning feeling a bit sorry for myself. This afternoon the sun was shining, so I took myself out into the garden, raked up a few leaves, pulled out a few dead things, and generally pottered about. Signs of spring were all around, and I came in after an hour feeling so much better.

Just a little reminder . . .

. . . that I have opened an account with "Cash for Cartridges" who will take your old printer cartridges (not toner cartridges or Epson and Brother ink cartridges) and will pay money into my account for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal. Please take a look at their website here to make sure they take your particular model, and send it to:
Cash for Cartridges,
Freepost RLZL-EUJG-ZYEL,
13, Main Street, Keyworth, nottingham, NG12 5AA
quoting my reference number R9635, it will cost you nothing but a small amount of your time.

I also donate 10% of all card sales to WAAA, below you can see just a small selection of cards I have for sale, to see the full collection please visit my Phoenix website here



These hats, and another pair, are currently listed for sale on ebay, 50% of proceeds will also go to WAAA, please look for "shallxjoy" on ebay.



These coasters have just been listed in my Zibbet shop, which you can view here. Most of the items in this shop are nearing the end of their listing time, if you see anything you like, try making me an offer, I would rather sell them and give something to the WAAA than have to store them through the summer months.



My folksy shop is currently well stocked, including this yarn, which was listed today, 50% of the sale price of most items (one or two will be only 40%) will go to WAAA, please take a look here.



Thank you.

Hats

My friend Ali, of Magic Making Hands, recently sent me a few (well rather a lot, actually) baby and children's hats that her Mum knitted, for me to sell on behalf of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal. I'll be listing these first few on Ebay later today but if you think you might like to buy them, please contact me - leave a comment below - with an offer (no reasonable offer will be refused).

A soggy day in Devizes . . .

. . . and everything seemed grey and boring, until I saw this blackbird in the garden. These shots were taken from inside the dining room, through the glass, on maximum digital magnification, which I haven't tried before. I'm quite pleased with the results.

A day in Bath

One of the advantages of being slightly older than one used to be is the entitlement to and ownership of a free bus pass, which means one can travel where one wants to (within reason) at no cost - no driving, no parking fees, no worries. Yesterday Rog and I had a day out in Bath, about an hours bus ride away from home. We took advantage of the weather, it being forecast as probably the best day of the week, and we were very lucky, after the early morning mist cleared away it was a bright and sunny day, and almost warm in the sunshine - although still pretty cold in the shade. Bath is a beautiful city and well worth a visit, although it is generally quite busy with tourists, even on a cold February day.
We had a leisurely mooch around the Abbey, the Roman Baths (although we didn't go in as it was a bit pricy), the new shopping centre which was very sympathetically designed and built, and down to the river. By this time it was approaching half past lunch time so we enjoyed a really lovely lunch in a pub called "Sam Wellers" in a back street right near to the centre of town, good traditional pub food, an excellent barman, no TV or fruit machines, no loud music and only the odd few tourists. Another mooch around a few more shops and then back home on the bus.
What a great way to spend a day.

Settling down

Things seem to be settling down nicely in the Joyknitt household now, so I hope to be back to daily blogging before long.
Here, in the mean time, is another picture of smiling Marissa, wearing a little knitted top, made by me, and with a crocheted blanket made by my Mum.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was the anniversary of the day that Rog and I became a couple (or as its called now, an item) 24 years ago. We've had our fair share of ups and downs, good luck and bad, sickness and health, but on the whole its been a good time and I wouldn't change a thing.
We celebrate this date, instead of the one the rest of the world celebrates, as our Valentines Day. He bought me some lovely carnations and let me choose steakwiches which he cooked for tea.
Thanks, my savoury heart (he insists he is not a sweetheart) for a thoroughly enjoyable day.

The stylish blogger award

This award has been given to me by Mama Syder - you can view her blog at thesyders.blogspot.com
Thanks, Mama.
The conditions attached to the award are as follows:
1) Thank the person who awarded it to you, and link back to their blog - check
2) Share seven things about yourself - to follow
3) Share 15 recently discovered blogs that you love - this may take a little time
4) Contact the above mentioned bloggers to tell them about their award - see above.

Seven things about myself, oh gosh. Is that seven interesting things, seven facts, seven statistics? Or what?
Well lets see what we can come up with.
My body is 62 years old (and sometimes feels older), but my brain seems to think I am only about 35.
I am Mum to 4 adult offspring, all male, and Grandmum to 3 little darlings, 2 boys and a baby girl.
I love to bake my own bread, grow my own vegetables, knit, crochet, sew.
I never, ever, wear make-up or colour my hair, what you see is what you get.
I am fairly newly addicted to photography - since moving from urban Surrey to rural Wiltshire and indulging in a slower pace of life.
I spend far too much of my time on my P.C.
I'm quite untidy (although my husband would say thats an understatement).
Well there's seven sentences about me, but lots more than seven facts, so take your pick.

I'll have a think about the 15 bloggers to pass this award on to, and work through them at my own pace - I dont do hurry.

I'm back

Well, in fact, I haven't really been away, just not spending so much time at my P.C. at the moment. I was doing a daily listing on Folksy during January, but I ran out of steam (and decent stock) towards the end of the month. But now its February, I'm not going to attempt a daily listing, as I simply dont have the time, but thought I could probably manage once or twice a week. Here is my listing for today, you can find my Folksy shop (or as one of my friends refers to hers - Floksy shop) by clicking here.
This is a baby blanket, or could be used as a pet blanket, and as usual, part of the sale price (this time 40% as the material cost is a bit higher than usual) will go to the WAAA