THE SUN HAS DEFINITELY GOT HIS HAT ON, BUT STILL NEEDS TO WEAR A WOOLLY JUMPER

Hello everyone

It's a beautiful sunny day here in Christmas Pie - how about where you are?  I hope you didn't have any problems from Katie?  She was in a pretty bad mood around here - internal doors were rattling, but as with all bad weather, our cats didn't move a whisker!  The bottom of our garden flooded, but it does that frequently - apart from wheelie bins falling over, everything stayed in place.

My most recent A Fair to Remember event was on 19 March; bitterly cold weather, an empty town centre and rugby on the television meant numbers were not as good as hoped for, but we kept on smiling and had a big pre-Easter warm welcome for our visitors.  Photographs of the beautiful work that was on sale can be found here on the A Fair to Remember Facebook page.  Our next event is on 7 May and many of the stallhodlers who took part in the March event will be there too as well as lots of lovely new makers/sellers.

Earlier this month we went to Gozo for a week - the weather wasn't great all of the time, but we did have a couple of days when the temperature hit 22c.  It was fairly quiet where we stayed (Xlendi), particularly in the evenings but as we had planned a lazy and loungey holiday, we didn't mind the peace and quiet.  We had a fantastic view from our balcony:

A gorgeous sunny day-time view

A lovely night-time sun-setting view

The local 'stray' cats wander in and out of the restaurant and are well fed.  This fellow, we named him George, jumped onto my lap and settled down for a long snooze.  The majority of cats we met had been tipped, neutered and returned, so there is clearly a good network of cat carers in Malta and Gozo.

I like Gozo very much and feel I could happily live there - a long way to travel back for my craft fairs though, so perhaps have to think about moving there some time in the future.

I went to the Squirrel in Hurtmore last week for lunch with a couple of friends (Lesley and Dawn), apparently it has just been re-decorated and it does look good - very country-cottage style.  Good food and a great host too.  After pottery on Thursday met up with another friend (Linda) in the Watts Gallery coffee shop - gorgeous cake: one was beetroot and pumpkin seeds.  Very tasty.

This month has been spent catching up with friends, work and the million and one other things that seem to keep falling off of my mental To-Do list.  My To-Do list is a bit like a revolving door, just keeps returning to me expecting to be moved.

It's back-to-work time, so have a good weekend everyone.  Sadly not a four-day one this time around, but another Bank Holiday is on its way.

Jill

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FEW DAYS (AND MILES) CAN MAKE

Hi everyone

We arrived back in the UK from Malta on Thursday, having spent 12 gorgeous sun-filled days there.  As someone who is super-glued to their computer (in this case my iPad) I did my regular weekly blog while away, occasionally checked emails, and kept up-to-date with the UK weather.  As we all know, being in business means our address is all over the Internet, so I tend to not mention online that I am away until I am back home.  Better to be safe than sorry.

We had a lovely time, the weather was really great and every night we had to have the windows open as it was so warm.  To the Maltese people this is their winter, to us it felt like early summer and as you can imagine the prospect of coming back to snow was a little daunting.  The Maltese people are lovely, very friendly and helpful, but once behind the wheel of a car...............

As we took off from Malta to come home the pilot advised that the temperate was -5 at Gatwick and on arrival it had risen to the heady heat of -2!  As we drove home it got foggier, colder and generally more gloomy looking.  Getting up on Friday morning to a considerable amount of snow was a bit of a shock and it didn't stop snowing all day long (in fact it has been snowing all day today as well).  Such a shock as we were getting acclimatised to warm weather and in fact it was very mild when we left the UK.  It was lovely to get back to our furry gang-of-three though.

Here are the before and after photographs (well not quite, but I am sure you get the idea):

The view from our balcony the day before we flew home

The view from our kitchen door the day after we flew home

We were able to do lots of sight-seeing while there and one of the first amazing sights was this Christmas tree:

Mdina is home to famous glass-makers in Malta and as we arrived just before the end of the Christmas decoration period, we were lucky to see this glass-bauble Christmas tree in Valletta.  All of the baubles were handmade and the tree was over 12 ft high.  It was beautiful and the photograph doesn't do it justice.

I love fish and shellfish so being on an island meant my habit could be fed with an amazing variety of tastes.    In fact I was able to enjoy a different fish-dish every day.  Fishing seems to be a very popular activity in Malta, not always just as a hobby - we were convinced that restaurant owners were out every day catching their day's 'dish of the day'.  One day we went to Marsascala and sat watching the fishermen preparing their boats.  The man in the photograph above rowed out to his fishing boat, prepared his nets and got everything ready for a fishing trip later in the day and then rowed back to have his lunch.

The hotel we stayed in was next door to a restaurant that we first visited over 30 years ago - it is called the Gillieru Restaurant and we were so pleased to find that it was just as good this time around as all those years ago.  It is renowned for its fish dishes so for me it was the place to dine at.  Lucky for us they had a resident cat - I can't do without my cat fix and (sorry Milly) it was a tabby cat and we named him George.  We didn't find out his real name, he was often referred to as 'the cat', but we felt George suited him:

The last time we went to Malta we didn't make it to Gozo, and promised ourselves that this time we would.  We did and were so surprised at how different it is.  Gozo is very different to Malta and to quote a tour guide's leaflet that we read after our visit it 'is very picturesque and has its own unique identify'.  It is a beautiful island, very quiet and peaceful, lovely houses and gardens, with well cared for properties and stunning views from many of the bays.  This photograph is taken from a bay looking out to the island of Comino - another island in the group.

Here are a few more photographs of places we visited in Malta:

However, it wasn't all sunshine.  On Tuesday of our second week we had a massive thunder storm, hailstones, the lot!  Incredible.  As it didn't look like being over quickly, we decided to go to the cinema and chose The Hobbit in 3D - what was really great was that we were the only ones in the cinema.  A picture show just for us - how wonderful.  We did get the chance to take a photograph of this impressive rainbow from our hotel room window though - I think you can just about see on the right hand side its reflection.

Now it is back to normal, although while I have been away I have been doing a little work on my workshops.  Checking newsletter and poster content, which has been carried out by my partner-in-crime (Linda the cake-maker who is managing the refreshments for each workshop).  Now it is time to hit the ground running: make up packs for the workshops, manage the bookings, plus I have orders for birthday cards and Easter cards I also and need to get on with making some cards for Valentine's Day.  In addition to this I have my tax return to finalise and hand over the Mr Tax Man - I always feel relieved when that has been completed.

Thank you everyone  for your responses to my questions in my last blog post. They were very helpful and I have decided I am going to have a display of cards; as suggested it may help people to see what they can make and I will also have tools and some materials for sale, for example scissors, tweezers, card, etc.  

I received a copy of the first issue of a new magazine called Homemade with love; its the first issue and I haven't yet had a chance to look through it properly, but will do so and feedback on it in my blog post next week.  Has anyone else come across this magazine?  

It's a crafting magazine which seems to have a variety of topics and makes, and this brings me neatly to reminding everyone to visit this week's Handmade Monday bloggers.  As always I am looking forward to reading about the adventures and makes of everyone taking part.

Down to earth now with a bump - no I haven't fallen over in the snow.  Just need to get back to work.  I will be back next weekend with my main post and Milly will be posting her diary on Wednesday of this week.  I hope to start my Friday Guest Blog Spot soon and if you would like to join in, please do get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.

Have a good week everyone, take care in the snow and keep warm.

Jill

THE HOLIDAY IS OVER

Hi everyone

We have been on holiday in Malta for the last week and the weather has been glorious.  The temperature during the day around 22 degrees and about 16 - 18 degrees at night.  Hard to believe it is November - being a typical Brit we went prepared for cold weather, but did have the common sense to pack summer clothes - just in case, and thank goodness we did.  The fleeces and long-sleeved tops returned home unworn and leaving them at home would have made our luggage so much lighter.  Our apartment was in Valletta, seconds from the harbour and the views were amazing.  I haven't had a chance to make a card for Handmade Monday, but thought I would post some of the pics I took in Malta.  

The view from the balcony

Our apartment is in the centre of this picture, on the second floor

Parking in the town of Valletta is almost impossible, and definitely impossibly expensive.  The best way to get into town is to walk - from our apartment it was uphill all the way, about 60 steps - much better on the way down.  However, the picture above shows another road into Valletta and climbing this one was definitely not on my list of 'must do's.

 We took a harbour cruise whilst away, and access to the leaving point was by ferry.  On the return ferry I was able to take this shot of the sunset.

Lots of gorgeous boats and yachts are moored in the Grand Harbour of Valletta - we saw one that had three stories!

Another view of boats, but slightly smaller ones this time.

As you know Malta was awarded the George Cross in recognition of the Maltese peoples bravery.  The above picture is of the plaque outside of Valletta's 'Buckingham Palace'.

We haven't been to Malta for many, many years and although so much has changed one thing has remained the same: the lovely people.  They are friendly, helpful and go out of their way to make visitors feel welcome.  We had a great week, so many beautiful buildings in Malta and I took a lot of photographs which I am planning to use in my card-making.

Have a great week everyone and don't forget to check out the other blogs on Handmade Monday   

Jill