Seasonal interest

Well in the end we had about four inches of snow at my house in Northamptonshire last Sunday.  It felt really Christmas-y and we went out for a family walk in the snow in the afternoon.  So unusual for the south, DS had never seen so much snow.The roads were a disaster so DH worked from home Monday and Tuesday but as the trains kept running, I had to make the arduous trek from home to station/station to work (two miles) on untreated pavements, and then do the reverse in the evenings, trying not to fall.  When I finally arrived at work on Monday I felt like I should be walking in to a resounding cheer and applause for my achievement, but of course nobody cared - they all live locally and had just driven in without much problem because Leicestershire seems to clear its roads more thoroughly.



After some rain on Wednesday the snow has almost disappeared, although we were in Oxford this weekend and there were still some traces plus some large lumpy remnants of snowmen on many lawns.  This year DH and I decided to have a weekend in Oxford instead of giving each other gifts.  We booked B&B in Wadham college, a picturesque medieval college centrally located, which lets out student rooms out of term time.  This was the view of the front quad from our window.

Wadham was founded in 1609 and we had breakfast today in the wonderful great hall with its hammer-beam ceiling, and also visited the impressive chapel and strolled around the grounds.  So much fun to feel like an insider, we'd driven past Wadham many times but this is the first time we'd been inside.

We had a lovely time in Oxford despite some cold rainy weather.  The Christmas market was on and we enjoyed a gourmet marshmallow and bought some more Christmas decorations.  I also fell in love with this handbag shaped like a dollshouse and treated myself, merry christmas to me  :)

On the drive there we stopped in to the big antiques centre in Brackley for a wander around.  We didn't buy any antiques but I did find a whole shelf of lace books, probably someone's former library.  I bought four as they were only a few pounds each.  The foreign book is particularly interesting because I was given a lace picture some years ago by an older friend before she passed, it was made by her cousin in Australia. And there is the picture on the cover of this book! So the cousin must have somehow acquired this middle-european book in Australia and made a picture which then travelled to England and ended up with me. Small world. I always get the picture out at Christmas and it makes me think of my friend.

Today we took the tour of the Bodleian Library, primarily because it also visited the Radcliffe Camera.  We've been walking and driving past the Radcliffe for years because it's near DS's college but never got to go inside because it's restricted to students. So we were excited to finally see the interior with the magnificent domed ceiling above the upper reading room.  We also enjoyed Duke Humphrey's library which was filmed as the Hogwarts library in the Harry Potter films, I think perhaps we might watch those again over Christmas.

After a flurry of decorating early in the week, we are now ready for Christmas.  Due to the quilt frame in the dining room, the tree has had to in the hall this year so the size was restricted otherwise we wouldn't get the front door open.  The cat is enjoying having it there tremendously and I generally find a bauble on the floor every morning.

I'm enjoying opening a door on my Opal Sock Wool Advent calendar every morning and revealing another cute little ball of yarny goodness. Not sure what I'll make with them but there are lots of projects on Ravelry.

On my day off, I took a break from quilting and sewed a Christmas scene using the foundation piecing technique and a pattern from a long-ago issue of Quilter's Newsletter magazine.  I was going to make it into a card for the m-i-l but I came across one of the mini easels I bought from The Works earlier in the year. These come complete with canvas so I stapled the fabric over the canvas then glued the greeting onto the back. It makes an unusual 'card' which she will be able to display as a decoration!

I've been persevering with my Latvian mitten.  This is the third attempt.  The second attempt had to be ripped out again because I just find stranding with four colours in a row so difficult, and it once again became very tight and lumpy.  This time I am really making an effort to keep the strands loose and it's going better.  The downside is uneven stitching but at least the mitten isn't drawing in too much.

I'm hoping to do lots of crafts over Christmas.  I've got to work this week but I'm off between Christmas and New Year so looking forward to lots of stitching in various forms.  Hope you are also looking forward to some craft time, and have completed any Christmas makes.