Hello Winter!

Well I wasn't really expecting it for a few more weeks yet but autumn has come to a pretty abrupt end in the Moorlands. Winter has well and truly arrived. I knew the snow was falling when I went to bed last night but this morning the view was as green and brown as ever so I thought we'd missed it. Oh silly me, I forget were living down in the hollow so it was a bit of a surprise a mile up the hill out of the village when I hit the white stuff. Yippee!

I get very silly about snow. I absolutely love it and even though I'm now the ripe old age of 33 I still act like a 7 year old when it comes. This morning over the tops it was lying thick as a blanket covering the fields with not a blade of grass to be seen, just how I like it. The views weren't up to much because the fog came too, quite a murky, dreary old day but this is what I really love on a winter's day. I know most people like the bright, sunny, crisp winter days but I'm the opposite and long for snowy days when the sky stays low, heavy with snow-laden clouds and the promise of more to come (like the picture above). Its the type of dark day that makes me want to run home and light the fire, butter up some toast, curl up with a fabulous book in a pair of comfy socks and every now and again stare up at the window to watch the curtain of snowflakes drifting silently to earth.

Ok, admittedly today was more of a pea-souper than misty and romantic and it'll all have melted by the time I head home because it's not that cold, but its has got me feeling really rather festive. It's so soon isn't it? Where did October go and how come we're over halfway through November already ? A slight panic is gripping me which I resent because I love Christmas so much I can't bear the idea of it being tarnished by stress. But I've only got a few presents in my hidey hole and we're having the family over this year but the amount of sorting out to do is a bit of worry. I just have to have everything right for Christmas. Its my favourite time and I look forward all year to getting home feeling so cosy and pretty for the celebrations.

It's exciting having a new place to "do" though so tonight I'll be sitting down with The List and planning my attack (mostly online now I've discovered all the wonderful things my blogging friends create) to get the shopping but done by the end the month so I can concentrate on my favourite bit - decorating! I do enjoy shopping at Christmas but not Christmas shopping if you know what I mean and for once I've properly planned ahead for a fantastic treat. On 1st December I'm heading up to York with my dear friend Lucy for a trip to the St Nicholas Fayre with nothing more on our agenda than lunch, coffee, treasure hunting, mooching around the Minster and Barley Hall and some serious widow shopping. I've always wanted to go and as my proper shopping should all be squirreled away by then I can thoroughly immerse myself in the spirit of it all. Merry Christmas!

Still no housey pictures yet but so I thought I'd share some pics of things gorgeous things I had for my birthday. It was just before we moved so all my beautiful presents were packed straight away. I was so lucky, people were really kind and I had a lovey day pottering about Ashbourne with mum and went out for the most amazing meal I've ever eaten with Eechie and Lucy at Den Engel, the Belgian bar in Leek (sounds mad but its a wonderful continental bar and restaurant) . Still daydreaming about the food now...

Mum and dad bought me this most fantastic hat that I've been day-dreaming about for ages.

A lovely robin mug for my Christmas hot chocolate and a Matthew Rice biscuit tin from my darling hubby who really knows what I like. The boys gave mummy these smashing EB oven gloves and I had and the most beautiful, blue spotty mugs and a jug (perfect for a bunch of spring daffodils) from my wonderful m-in-law who also knows my sort of thing very thing very well.

My lovely sisters came up trumps as ever, Eechie gave me a wonderful Greengate apron and tea towels in this fresh, springy green and Susie sent a Hugh Fearney-Whittingstall (my celebrity crush!) book to add to my collection. People worry about getting things housey things like tea towels and aprons but for me they're perfect. I can spend hours cooing over a jug.

What a lucky spud I am!

Back in the land of blog!

Hurrah - we've moved! And unbelievably it all went really smoothly. This is just a quick post to say thank you so much for all the good wishes I think they must have really helped because we hardly had a hiccup and already the new place feels like home. I'm sorry there are no pictures with this post but we don't get broadband connected for a couple of weeks (groan!) and I can't upload my photos but I've got tons to share.

The best are the views, just unbelievable and the first thing I do every morning is gaze out of our huge window across the houses to the rolling hills and distant views of the Churnet Valley. Its glorious. This morning I was greeted with frosted fields, misty hollows and a reddening sky complete with a skein of pink-footed geese heading towards the river meadows. My second favourite thing is the walk to school, a total thrill after driving 30 miles there and back everyday since September. Again there are fab views and I love walking into the old part of the village down the tiny footpath across the fields, past a row of old cottages and the 12thC church. All week Woody and I have found ourselves stopping for a second saying "I can't believe we live here now, can you?"

The house is beginning to get into some sort of shape and I'm getting used to living in a '60s house. Feels a bit odd but it's quirky and a few metres of fabric and some paint will change it hugely. I've already started painting it cream to show off my treasures(couldn't live with the peach/orange dining room for a minute longer!). Yesterday I made a brilliant find in my favourite little shop in Leek. Pretty Chic is a mine of vintage fabrics and beautiful bits and bobs, everything from china to furniture and ornaments so I have to pop in when I'm in town. It's one of those gorgeous shops that when I walk into I want to squeal with joy. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw, the sweetest, glass-fronted, white painted cabinet for sale. It was just meant for me, the day before the owner had reduced it from £60 to £25 and I just had enough spare to afford it. Its living in the garage for now but its new home will be the dining room, lined with pretty paper or fabric, not decided yet, and will be the perfect treasure trove for my rose china and vintage glass.

I'm back at work for the first time in a week today so did a trawl of the Broomhill charity shops in Sheffield and yet again left Oxfam empty handed and a bit annoyed. Too expensive and nothing very nice actually so I have transferred my affections to the Save the Children around the corner which is staffed by the loveliest ladies and I treated myself to a lovely embroidered green cord skirt I saw in M&S last winter and toyed with getting but never did and regretted it, picked up another glass candlestick for the collection and found a lovely crocheted blanket for Archie's' room for just £1. Wish I could pop some pictures on but I promise to be back as soon as BT get a wriggle on and wire us up. Off now to catch up with what everyone has been up too, I feel like I've been on the moon for a week.

Remember, remember...

...the 9th of November - because we'll finally be moving house!

Ok, not quite Bonfire Night but I feel like celebrating. Yippee!! Finally, after tons of pushing we have a date. Failing natural disasters we exchange contracts tomorrow and the move is on for next Friday. Only a week left on the far side of the hills and then we'll be back in the Moorlands, just down the road from mum and dad and m-in-l. Hurrah! So from next weekend we'll be -

• looking out onto rolling fields and hills
• have a garden
• 3 bedrooms instead of 2 and a bit and a conservatory (blimey!)
• living in a lovely village with a 12thC church, community spirit and plenty to do and see.
• only a short walk rather than a long drive from school and be
• just two miles from Leek and its great farmer's market and weekly market, sweet little shops and the wonderful charity shops that I practically live in thesedays.

When I heard yesterday I was hysterical - I was so happy I think Archie thought I'd lost the plot, daft mummy jumping around the kitchen shrieking. All my precious, pretty trinkets are stashed away ready to be unpacked at the other end to make the place feel like home. Its been grim living in boxes and half empty rooms for ages, finally we're on the move!

These are my latest finds and I can't really believe I got them for just £2 each. I won them on ebay and they're the most beautiful vintage embroideries which, from the writing on the back were destined to become tea cosies. They're mounted on firm card and I think look perfect just as they are. Can you believe no-one else bid for them? Not sure where they'll go yet, that's my favourite part about moving, choosing how to put the new place together. They're already packed so these are ebay pics and I've removed the tatty packing tape and they're just lovely. I also picked up a lovely cushion cover in a charity shop last week with beautiful pink and lilac foxgloves and other spring flowers. Not had chance

to take a picture yet but its beautiful and like these the work involved is amazing. I do feel as if I'm cheating someone getting them for so little but I will love them forever.

Not content with wanting to decorate my entire house in Cath Kidston ware, I'd love to dress in her clothes too! I got this beautiful top on ebay from Kelly over at Vintage Lifestyle by coincidence. Its brand new and I'm saving it to wear on Christmas Day. That's one of my little traditions, I always treat myself to a new top or outfit. Nothing too smart as I spend most of it sitting on the carpet playing with the boys or sweltering in the kitchen so it needs to be practical really. Me and my sister Rachel always look for new Christmas clothes, the priority being cosy, comfy and a bit special. I think my new CK top has that written all over it.

Temptation

This is not good news for my tight purse strings. Caroline Zoob has only gone and relocated her entire operation to Stoke-on-Trent! Its just down the road from the Moorlands and is where I went to school. The Emma Bridgewater factory shop is already there and I assume CZ is investing in the wonderful, traditional skills of the Potteries which is great news seeing as how the rest of the industry is practically on its knees. All my grandparents worked on the potbanks, my dad's dad was a teapot maker and his wife (my grandma) stuck the handles on. The iconic bottle ovens have all but gone but many of the skills remain. The sad fact is that its so hard for the likes of Doulton, Spode and Wedgewood to compete with cheaper foreign imports and of course how easy it is to pick up some pottery for your kitchen at the supermarket. So when you do buy a special piece its great to know that its supporting a traditional local industry and I'm so pleased CZ and EB are producing their wares in Stoke. Bad news is the factory shops have some great bargains and I just can't resist!

Smoke-on-Trent in my grandparents day.

"It's a fine day if you can see t'other side of the road."

Busy in the sunshine

Two fab weekends in a row, I can hardly believe it. And making it all so much better is that we have Woody at home to enjoy every minute with now, hurrah! Although it was so sad that his Sunday paper closed (and it really was a great read) things really do look, well at least they seem to be, sorting themsleves out. W is now writing an in-depth sports interview each week with some high-profile, regional sporting figures who are all very impressed with what he's written and one, an England cricketer nontheless, has posted his interview on his website. I'm so proud of him. Brilliantly this feature pays exactly what his late-night Saturday work used to but he can do it in much more sociable hours and we get him back for the weekend.

So, we're really making the most of this brilliant weather and spent most of this one outside. On Saturday we drove up to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, somewhere I've always faniced having a look at. It's a lovely town with tons on independent shops (not even a Boots or WHSmith's in sight) and has a lovely bohemian, arty feel. We had a lovely time in the playground and watching the canal boats but didn't hang around for too long as mooching around gorgeous interiors shops isn't quite the boys idea of a grand day out but I did find thirty seconds to bag a treasure I've been hankering after for ages in a charity shop.

Isn't it lovely and will make the perfect home for the Christmas cake I've got plans to decorate. I admit defeat, I'm not even going to tackle making one but hopefully I can manage a bit of icing one from the farm shop. What a cheat!

Its been a brilliant treasure hunting week for me. This lovely tea trio arrived from Niki at Nostalgia at the Stone House, a treat to myself. I can't wait to enjoy a quiet five with tea and cake in the new house, shame my camera really doesn't do it justice though.

More lovely glass; another candlestick for the collection and a beautiful trinket jar, perfect for buttons. Amongst other things I picked up a wonderfully huge, crisp, white damask tablecloth (like one mum has) and a matching napkin for £3.39, a sweet embroidered cloth which I think I'll use on top of a chest of drawers we've been promising ourselves, to display my pretty things on (£1.50) and an embroidered brooch I won on ebay arrived too.

And these lovely hearts arrived from Catherine at Mollycupcakes, lovingly handmade they're going to make very special gift tags for some very special people at Christmas. The lovely snowman peg is already reserved for hanging B's advent calendar and the sweet little robin heart will be on my bedroom mirror I think. Lovely!
Today we stayed closer to home and treated oursleves to a fantastic lunch at The Old Smithy, Beeley on the Chatsworth Estate. Fab food and great atmosphere followed by a lovely walk out of the village which had wonderful surprises. First of all we discovered Chester, a charming goat who we fed some of his vegetable treats that he'd managed to drop the wrong side of the gate. Over the stream and back over the bridge we headed along the lane and discovered the most amazing, shed/bothy/hut which looks like it might be a potter's retreat as there was a clay kiln, oven-type thing. There's a verandah, tin chimney, log pile and benches and would make an the perfect bolt hole for a few days peace and quiet. Oh if only...!
There were a few excitable chickens running around too which delighted the boys. Then we came across the biggest pile of logs (well tree trunks really) that would keep your winter fires in for a decade and we wound our way back to the village swings before a peaceful, sleepy drive home.
A peaceful, lazy weekend, just perfect. I'm a very lucky wife and mummy.Love you boys Xxx

When I win the lottery...

... this is the first thing I will buy. How gorgeous - but as we've just had to spend a ridiculous amount on the car (£350 for new tyres and brakes - ouch!) I suppose it will just have to go to the bottom of my list. It's a beautiful thing and would make my constant whingeing about how impossible it is to listen to Radio 5 Live on Medium Wave, disappear overnight - are you listening Woody? Even so, its a whopping amount to spend on a radio (£200) isn't it, however beautiful, even if it is in my most favourite CK pattern but I am a pauper and must accept this.

So I will have to satisfy my cravings with buying other people's Christmas presents from her lovely catalogue and hoping my numbers come up. I'm really trying hard to not spend at the moment but being frugal isn't really in my make -up. I haven't got a lot to spend and I don't really spend much but it would be better if I didn't spend anything at all. I was very good here on Sunday, the Chatsworth House shops. I often lose my head in here when the Christmas stock is in but I bought just one thing this year, a lovely large wire-work heart to slot cards in for display which is just perfect for my collection of vintage christmas cards.

It was a lovely misty autumn day and the trees across the estate look fabulous

in their autumn clothes.

I got a couple of lovely things in the post this week, a pretty embroidered brooch and a vintage candlestick to add to my little collection (pictures over the weekend hopefully). The lovely Jennifer at Buttercup and Roses has started a similar collection which looks just beautiful and is a real inspiration for my teeny version. If only there were flea markets in my neck of the woods! Looking forward to the weekend and fingers crossed we may get a moving date next week -

I'm so bored of waiting!

This Englishwoman's home is her castle

I haven't really blogged about the other side of my life really, the alternative side to my passion for vintage treasures, floral things and cottage gardening - well, here goes.

My heart really lies in the 13th century - honestly it does! As a child my parents took us on lovely holidays to Wales and the West Country and as everyone who grew up here knows, the weather is often pretty rubbish so instead of getting wet and cold on the beach, mum and dad took us to castles and cathedrals and enchanted us with tales of knights and ladies and for me it inspired a live times' fascination with "the olden days".

From stories about the mason who might have built a pillar we were looking at in Exeter cathedral when I was 8, I ended up studying medieval history at university, dabbling in a bit of living history re-enactment to running the 800th anniversary market charter celebrations for Leek earlier this year. The TV programme Robin of Sherwood (and ok i admit the rather lovely Michael Praed and Jason Connery) had a huge influence on me when I was a young teenager and from there I got really interested in 'bad' King John and thesedays I'm gripped by most of the issues during his reign which was only years from 1199 to 1216, which considering there's been eight centuries since then, its a bit odd to know a lot about such a short period of time but anyway, that's me.

For me its an amazing period in our history, full of adventure and daring-do and I think its a shame that so few films or tv programes are made about this time, especially when there seems to be wall-to-wall stuff about the Romans (again!) and the Tudors (oh no, not again!).

Sir Barney guards the keep staircase

As you can imagine, having two small boys I've been just waiting for the day that they get interested in knights and castles so that I can bore them rigid with the intricacies about mail shirts, how castles were built, why when knights fell off their horses they weren't really stuck helpless in the mud and all that caper and - hurrah - Barney has just adopted some of my childrens' castle books and wants to know more. So, this weekend we went to one of my favourite places having promised to take him to a 'proper' castle. (We live close to Peveril Castle in the Peak District which is very dramatic but a bit small for a little boy expecting a whopper.) Richmond in North Yorkshire is wonderful and we've enjoyed a lovely day up there before. I love it not just for the castle but it has a lovely market, gorgeous shops, beautiful river walk and the town is so pretty. I didn't have any joy treasure hunting in the charity shops but got the most lovely Christmas card of Richmond for Woody as he loves it there, but I'll wait to show it on here until Christmas.

View of the semi-circular marketplace from the top of the keep

It was the perfect day, the journey there and back was a breeze and the weather was grey but dry. Barney and I explored the keep and Woody played 'jousting' with the boys on the grass to the sound of much squealing. 'Sir' Barney and 'Sir' Archie are now fully equipped with wooden swords and shields and the castle you'll be pleased to hear is safe from dragons.

I love day trips at this time of year when you can really enjoy the fantastic colours and the atmosphere is magical. Richmond is one of my special places along with Port Isaac and Ludlow and has a very special place in my heart.