Rain and Fog...

this morning... and a 'warm' 5 degrees celcius...





start to an experiment with fabric paint...

Boxing Day

A beautiful boxingday sunrise which I missed by about ten minutes.... Still..a beautiful new, if very frosty day.



Frost on the roads..



and a curious Rafael looking down onto the beach... what is he looking at?



aha.. the seagulls flying up from their morning breakfast on the sands, disturbed by early dog walkers!

Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas everyone !



I am wishing for all a wonderful and peaceful time.

Blustery icecold winds....

sweeping up the waves....



battering the harbour wall...



and do you see those two people standing there? and that van driving along the wall?



rather them than me!!

Inside the fire is roaring and if I don't have to go out (which I will,on a station pickup...) I will stay in!! Brrrrr....... (no snow though, just windchill. yuk too..)

All good things come to an end...

Time for Maria to leave.. a last look at Ramsgate Harbour..



Last warming hot chocolate at the cafe before leaving on the bus...



Maria's mum Dee has been lobbying for a photo of the two of us... here you are Dolores! (although I don't like having my photo taken! much happier behind the camera:-)



Yum, yum, yum, yum.... (Maria's had marshmallows hidden under all that cream too!!)



I think she was enjoying that... don't you??



Come back soon Maria!

and Sunday.....

Maria accompanied me on my morning walk, which was very nice! Snow was still lying on the ground, lots of ice too and freezing temperatures....



Wintry scenes in the park with dogwalkers look great though.



And Rafael had a ball snuffling in the snow on top of the cliffs!



We walked over the cliffs to Broadstairs..



Maria in front of Viking Bay;



Viking Bay all under the snow still!



We took the path at the bottom of the cliffs to go back home,



Again, Rafael running around happy as Larry!



Icy waters lapping at the foot of the cliffs.. no swimming today! (brrr....)



Someone eloquently informed us of today's conditions.. So if you hadn't got the picture yet.. here is the summary!!

Saturday......

All was well in the morning..... a beautiful sunrise...



and a clear day.



A snowstorm drifted in from the sea, but stayed offshore..



it tried to snow ... but after a few flakes... that was it!!



So... as Maria, who is staying with me at the moment, really wanted to see Dover Castle, off we went to Dover! Where we met an almost empty (but open)castle, with enthousiastic guides everywhere who were glad to see a living soul!!




It was VERY cold however, so wrapping up was the order of the day.... (Maria is in there somewhere!)



The King's bed with real grey squirrel fur, looked very inviting...



Then.... REAL snow started to fall with a vengeance and we hurried home...



"Where's the road gone?" situation a one point...



but we never really were in any danger (do not worry Dee!!) and made it home absolutely fine!

What a difference...

I was going to say 'what a difference a day makes' and compare this morning to yesterday.. but in fact, you could say what a difference 5 minutes makes!!

Sun this morning on a (below zero temperature) glorious beach..



turning into a bit of a cloud deck over sea..



bye bye sun...



That's the seaside for you! rapidly changing weather...

Christmas Carols at Canterbury

Last night I attended a beautiful carol service at Canterbury Cathedral. The Crypt Choir was outstanding as always and the service beautiful.

From 2010-12-10

Outside a life size stable (and tree too but I didn't get a half decent pic of that)

From 2010-12-10

waiting for the services to start in this magnificent interior



You must all excuse me for the standard of the photos. I did not have a camera with me so tried to take some snaps on my phone.. My poor old phone (which needed renewing over a year ago now) couldn't take the strain and the battery died after these!

Which was ever such a pity, not only was the service lovely, it was breathtaking standing in the dark in this amazing cathedral with all the candles lit, the choir singing with heavenly voices and the organ playing... I would have loved to shoot a tiny bit of video to let you taste the atmosphere, but alas..

The organ was magnificent (you might or might not know I am a particular organ fan) and when it was time to leave, the organ burst into Widor's Toccata (symphony no5)which I just LOVE! Funnily enough I heard it in the car a couple of days ago on radio 3 during a long drive. Ever tried to turn up the sound in the car with that piece? amazing!!! And now the carol service ended with it too. What a treat!!!



Listen to this, then imagine this on the big organ in the Cathedral... A-MA-ZING....

Email not working!

Thanks everyone who made a comment or emailed me. For some odd reason my hotmail account will not let me reply or start a new message although the mail seems to be getting to the inbox ok..

It might be just a glitch and correct itself automatically, so please be patient whilst I wait for things to go back to normal and I will reply then!

Thanks!

Echino!! and the Quick Christmas Bee

Yesterday I had some great mail. The 4 Fat Eights I won on Fat Quarterly Blog by one of my favourite designers Echino! Thanks so much Brioni and the FQ peeps!! Love the fabric!!!



Earlier this year I joined a couple of friends in a Quick Christmas Bee. There are five of us in all with the idea to have a Christmas quilt ready before Christmas. Maria was first and sent out a lovely advent calendar, pattern available free on the web (for personal use) by Elizabeth Hartman on her blog 'Oh Fransson'.

I was last (hence finishing a bit late....) and thought it was a great idea, so with help of my four lovely friends, I have now finished the calendar too.



Another finish, another tick off my list! Time to start thinking about making my card and present list!

Christmas Tree Festival

From 3 - 12 December, a Christmas Tree Festival is being held in Ramsgate's St George's Church. A number of organisations in town are decorating their own individual tree and the trees are there to admire for all who come along during this period.

This beautiful church is lit up with the lights of all the different trees;



The festival announced outside;



The local Quilt Guild, Thanet and District Quilters also have a tree, here in the process of being decked by Angela, a committee member.



The local historical society has made sure that important historical figures are represented;



And this is the one the children from the Sunday School have made all by themselves, isn't it lovely?



Last but not least the local Health Food Shop's tree.. How stylish!! It makes me think of Narnia and the Icequeen, or Hans Andersen's Snow Queen, but in a good way! I think it is truly lovely.

Snow stopped - slowly thawing - gloomy...

update; just been out and even though the snow is disappearing... it's WELL below freezing!! my hands turned red and froze solid in no time... watch out for black-ice!