Tuesday 3rd December - Doves and Crows

  Mentioning no names... but we're watching a disaster movie Celebrity Bake-off and I'm suddenly remembering my Grandmother talking to us when we were little and our voices became too loud and shrill.

'Talk like the doves, "roo-coo, roo-coo", ' she would say, 'not like the crows, "CAW! CAW! CAW!" ' 

Was that what her mother would say to her, in the late 1890s, when she was tiny?

Christmas is happening here, step by step. I wrapped up some presents, so that the pile of brown cardboard boxes on the sitting room floor are now a lovely pile of Christmas gifts. Much more attractive to look at.

I've rescued the Christmas wreath from the shed, ready to be 'titivated' with some fresh ribbon and tinsel for outside the front door.

Another Advent calendar has gone up on the wall! This is one I made years ago in two parts; a pocket calendar filled with baubles next to an appliqué Christmas Tree. The baubles hang from gold buttons on the tree. BB looks after this one.

Otherwise various crafty activities have been slotted in around errands and unavoidable admin. 

We had a quick rummage around the cupboards in the dining room and various bits of china, the forks for the fondue set (I think the actual fondue set went a while ago) and some wedding presents (!) all went to the British Heart charity shop. They might be welcome as potential Christmas gifts.

Daily drawing; did you know that a crowd, or flock, or herd of butterflies is known as a kaleidoscope of butterflies?  I kearned that tonight! Today's page was of a whole load of fairly splodge watercolour butterfly shapes to draw on. So I let my pen do what it wanted.

And today's Corinne Lapierre element;

        

I've a feeling that I could be looking at a tree with a hole in it; I'm very curious to know who or what will go inside.

That's a sort of needle and pin holder and thread keeper from a piece of felt (from another project). I just folded it double,  so that I can Tuck leftover lengths of thread inside.