miss marie's miscellany

Help for Haiti

I found a great way for all knitters and crocheters to make a donation to the aid effort for Haiti. Head over to Ravelry -  it's free to sign up and is a brilliant resource for all things wooly. There are hundreds of beautiful patterns to choose from, marked with a 'Help for Haiti' widget, which you can download for a few pounds and at least half, and in some cases all of  your money will be donated to a variety of charities who are working over there to help bring aid to the people whose lives have been devastated.  Sounds like a good idea to me........

1st

I thought an advent calendar of posts would be good;  a mixture of favourite older photos and new ones, and some festive thoughts too in the run-up to Christmas.

So I'll start with some sunshine. This is a view across the park near where I live, taken on a winter's afternoon as the sun was setting.

 

Weekend links

 A collection of random links today;  things that I've been reading and looking at in spare moments this weekend.

 

 A funny story about how the composer Elgar was not quite the accomplished trombonist he claimed to be!

I want to decorate the living room.......for the first time in my life, I'm going to paint a room  all-white, so it's bright and fresh.......with this material for curtains?

I've just taken delivery of these trainers, to compliment my winter fitness regime and get me out of my couch potato state. They are so comfortable!

Something for my Christmas list.........or yours , maybe??!

Looking forward to watching my latest DVD rental, The Duchess. I read the Amanda Foreman biography a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it very much;  it will be interesting to see how it translates to film.

If you can't afford those Manolo Blahniks, how about all these shoes instead? 

Hope your weekend was fun!

 

Pleasing things

Leaves on the grass. Next door's cherry tree is shedding its red-brown leaves, and I will rake them up and bag them to make leaf mould, a treat for the garden soil next year.

 

Breakfast berries; my favourites, blackberries and blueberries.

The sun shining in through the window, and the shadows cast by the wisteria outside.

And a TV pleasure! Tonight I'll be watching the final of Masterchef: The Professionals. I'm a Masterchef addict, I love it  in all its guises, be it professional cook, ordinary bloke or celebrity; I really enjoy seeing the good (and bad) food made by the contestants, and I love the colourful, flavoursome and sometimes over-the-top comments from the judges. I don't have a favourite to be the winner, I'm just going to settle down and enjoy whatever happens!