Let's get together . . .

 Anyone fancy a little get-together ?  

Something to look forward to in the Spring ?

In this wonderful crafty blogland of ours, we get to chat about and share little snippets of each other's lives, loves & pretty makes - cultivating and growing some lovely friendships along the way. 

 And don't you sometimes read a fellow blogger's post and think how much fun it would be to just meet up, have a natter, a cuppa (and cake, of course . . .) and craft the afternoon away, because you just know you'd enjoy it ?  

Well, I've had the privilege of doing just that - and it was oh-so-much fun.

The lovely Jane who blogs over at Plain Jane, organized our last bloggy meet-up, and over a BYO picnic lunch at beautiful Shugborough (which you can read about HERE  if you like), it was decided that the historic town of Stratford-upon-Avon should be the ideal venue for our next get-together.  

  Here on this Great British island of ours, it's pretty easy to get around and no place is really that far from any other - and Stratford is pretty much in the middle.  Easy to get to by road or rail (the train station is literally a 5 minute walk from the town centre)

And if you're coming from a little further afield, bring a friend or your loved ones and make a weekend of it.  There's lots to do in Stratford and if you'd like some ideas on what to do and where to stay, I'm happy to oblige - or pop over here to the Visit Stratford website.

So consider this your invitation . . .

Nothing fancy, just a fun, informal get-together of crafty bloggy peeps on

Saturday, 11th April 2015

in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire 

- right in the middle of this green & pleasant land.

If you'd like to come along, or you think you'd love to join us but would like more details about where / what / when / trains, planes & automobiles, 

then please leave me a comment on this post or drop me an email:  gillymakes(at)gmail(dot)com

Once we know you're interested, I'll let you know the finer details like time & place, etc etc.

And if you're still not sure, have a little read about our previous bloggy get-togethers here and here. 

We would so love you to join us for a fun crafternoon tea . . .

Ooh, and seeing as we're right there, we'll definitely arrange a little visit here too:

 

Looking forward to getting together . . .

Happy weekending,

'til next time

xoxo

It's tea time . . .

 

Blue skies & bright warm sunshine,

lovely friends,

delicious little sandwiches,

an array of yummy scrummy cream scones,  gooey profiteroles
& 

homemade elderflower cordial,

and an impromptu crochet workshop,

in a beautiful garden.

Can you think of a lovelier way to spend a day ?

 Oh, and there were chickens . . .

Linking up today with Chantille Fleur for Tea Party Tuesday.

'til next time,

xoxo

Tea Party Tuesday, on Wednesday . . . etc etc

 I won't bore you again with the fact that the painters are STILL here - in fairness, they are doing great work but why, oh why does it have to take sooo long? 

So instead today I thought I'd share a mish-mash of some happy things . . .

 a surprise beautiful bouquet from a most precious BFF 

a gorgeous little gift in the mail from a new bloggy friend who had a giveaway

(have you met Robin yet? Do pop over & say hello. . .)

homemade waffles with bacon & maple syrup for breakfast, 

and delicious chocolate cake for tea

a wee bit of sewing 

and tea with friends at the new little shoppe in our village

 Linking up with the lovely Chantille Fleur for Tea Party Tuesday . . .

better late than never ;-)

'til next time,

xoxo

It's not (always) about the book . . .

I love my Book Club

 - we're a diverse little group, united by our enjoyment of books {and cake }, and linked in friendship by a variety of circumstances that brought us all together. 

One fine day, H & Sh, who work together, decided to start a Book Club and set about doing just that.

 V used to work with them too, and so did L.  

H & I volunteer together, and Sa used to live next door to H.

Su used to live up the road from H and down the road from me. 

V & Su have been friends for lots of years. 

  K & I met at a Pilates class, and her lovely dogs Ruby & Molly are Ben & Jerry's mum & granny respectively. 
K & Sh are practically neighbours, and 

K's & V's hubbies also belong to same rugby club. 

So that's it - 

got it ??!

Right, so you see - we're all bonded in one way or another, and when we get together once a month, ostensibly to discuss the current book on our reading list, we always enjoy a good old natter as well.

 Oh, and did I mention we like cake ? 

So there is always something yummy on the agenda too and our last meeting was no exception.

 Delicious homemade scones, sweet fresh strawberries and a dollop of Devonshire clotted cream, went very nicely-thank-you with a jug of Pimms.  

 

 And there you have it - a Tea Party sans tea . . .
oh and we did have a short discussion about the book too.
: - )

Linking up with the lovely Sarah at Chantille Fleur
for



 . . . so pop the kettle on, put your feet up, and tuck in.

Happy Tuesday all,
xoxo

'tis Tea Party Tuesday . . .

. . . so I'm linking up with the lovely Sarah Jane over at Chantille Fleur.**

A little while ago, I entered my Carrot Cupcakes recipe in the Chantille Fleur Cupcake Cookoff (what a fab idea, don't you think? Pop over here to find out more about it - and maybe if we encourage her enough, Sarah will make it an annual event) 

and, 

much to my immense surprise and delight, 

I won 

: - )

(truly delighted face and happy dancing)

If you'd like to try these or any of the other "award-winning" cupcakes - you can find the links to the recipes here.

Thanks Sarah, for organizing this fun event - congrats to the other winners too, and of course, thanks to my friend Brigitte's mum who happily shared her oh-so-delicious carrot cake recipe with me many, many moons ago : -)

Right-o,  back to today . . .

It's another fabulously hot summery day here, so my friend Heather & I took ourselves off to Stratford-upon-Avon for a wee mooch around this pretty town.

William Shakespeare's old house . . .

 We meandered around all our favourite shops (lots of sales on at the moment), popped into Gifts & Forget-Me-Nots to say hello to Dawn and see all the pretty things there, then up the road to the lovely  Sew Me Something Emporium for a natter with Jules & Sarah, 

 stopped for lunch at the fab The Fourteas - which is filled with memorabilia from 1940s England,

Hmmm, no rationing going on here then . . .

'tis a bit hot for a great coat and tin hat today !

 and afternoon tea at Henley Street Tearooms.

All in all, a really good day . . . 

Hope you've had a good one - and if you're in the mood for tea, do pop over  & link up with Chantille Fleur's Tea Party Tuesdays too.

xoxo

**In today's post, there's a little "interview" with yours truly . . . part of my prize in the Cupcake Cook Off.  Tee hee - I've never really given an interview before . . . how fun  : - )

 

Anyone for tea ?

What a lovely weekend was had here . . . 

blues skies and sunshine galore, 

walks in the woods, 

a spot of gardening, 

a {much-needed} bath for the two most-adorable-pups-in-the-world,

 the first braai {barbecue} of the summer . . .

and

a tea party with some lovely fellow crafty bloggy friends :-)

A little while ago, having discovered that the peeps behind a few of the lovely blogs I read are fellow Midlanders, I put up a post {here} with the suggestion of a wee get-together. 

This was met with a very positive and enthusiastic response, so arrangements were made and on Saturday afternoon we congregated for tea chez moi.

Isn't it funny sometimes how within mere minutes of meeting, strangers feel like friends you've known for ages ?

 There were two Mels and two Sarahs and one Gilly, so remembering names was easy ;-)

And so, the afternoon whiled away as we nattered and ate and drank and laughed and shared, and enjoyed getting to know each other a wee bit more.

1 Gilly, 2 Mels and 2 Sarahs !

Let me tell you, that is one talented group of ladies - do pop over for a wee peek at their blogs and follow along with their crafty adventures. 

To Mel {The Patchwork Robin}, Mel {Mellie Moo Crochet}, Sarah {Sarah's Pigeonhole} and Sarah {The Faerie Factory} - thanks for coming for tea - and for all the fabulous little gifts you brought - it was so lovely to meet you all.  Just a truly delightful way to spend an afternoon.

Life sometimes gets in the way of tea parties, so for those who had hoped to, but weren't able to join us this time, the good news is: there will be plans afoot for another. 

Watch this space . . .

Hope you had a good weekend too,

xoxo

Pretty prints . . .

Last week Jen from Two + Two stopped by to say hello,  and that's how I discovered her fabulous Etsy shop filled with oh-so-lovely prints.

I just couldn't resist popping this one in my basket . . .

And a mere day or so later, it arrived - beautifully mounted and ready just to pop into a frame and hang up on our kitchen wall. 

Very conveniently,  Jen's prints fit just perfectly into the Ikea Ribba frames, and I just happened to have a spare one waiting to be filled  ; - )

Isn't it lovely ?

 Do pop over and see Jen -  her prints are fab {I'm in the process of deciding which one I want next}.

Linking up with Sarah at Chantille Fleur  for Tea Party Tuesday, and hopping around to see who's serving what for tea today. 

Join me for a wee cuppa ?

Have a happy day,

xoxo

Time for tea?

The lovely Sarah Jane at Chantille Fleur has declared today (and every 2nd Tuesday in the month) as Tea Party Tuesday - what a fabulous idea, don't you think ?

http://chantillefleur.blogspot.co.uk/

I am a huge lover of all things tea . . . morning tea, afternoon tea . .  in fact a wee cuppa goes down well any time of the day.  My favourite is Earl Grey.  That will always be my go-to tea, but I'm equally fond of  Mint.  Both of which are always so refreshing.  Ah, yes, there's really not an awful lot that a cup of tea can't help.

And of course, the upside to all this, is that one should always have something yummy along with it.

I haven't done any baking yet this week (although I am the official "Bringer of Cake" for my book club on Thursday, so I will need to get the tin filled before then), so I thought instead, I'd share some of the yummy recent bakes from my family & friends . . .

My gorgeous goddaughter, Robyn-Anne LOVES to bake but as she lives far away (in South Africa), I don't get to taste all the yumminess she creates. But her mama knows how much I love seeing everything she makes, so she thoughtfully sends me lots of pics:

 

So here's Robs making a batch of the doughnut muffins that I posted about a little while ago, and her interpretation of the ginger reindeer biscuits.

Robs & her mama are coming to visit us in March (soooo exciting, I can't wait) so I'm looking forward to we girls donning our pinnies and doing some baking together.

Next up is the birthday cake that my lovely cuzzie, Carole,  made for her man's recent birthday.  No prizes for guessing what his favourite pastime is ; - )

Doesn't it look great ? Apparently, it tasted delicious too - but yet again, I didn't get to try it as they live up north in bonnie Scotland.  Closer than South Africa, but still just that wee bit too far away to pop in for tea & birthday cake.

Sigh . . . can you see the pattern developing here ?

Ah, but wait . . .

At last . . . this one I did enjoy the pleasure of a chunk slice (or maybe even two) AND with a cup of Earl Grey to accompany it.  My lovely sis (yes, the very same one that made this scrumptious cake too), who very conveniently lives just over an hour away, baked this delicious and oh-so-chocolatey yule log for dessert on Christmas day.  Yay (happy dance)

Do pop over to Chantille Fleur and have a little hop around all the other tea parties, and maybe even join in if you'd like.

Me ? I'm off to put the kettle on for a wee cuppa . . . **

Back tomorrow, hopefully with an update on my a.l.m.o.s.t finished chunky charcoal jumper.

'Til then,

xoxo

**And then head off to my Pilates class . . . lest you think I just sit around drinking tea all day ; - )