HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year.

Hope you all had a good Christmas and a safe one too.

We had a very relaxing Christmas day and didnt get up until around 10.00 AM.

We opened our presents and helped Harry open his ( he didnt know what to play with first ha ha )

At around one o clock we went for a good long walk from our new house to Newstead Abbey as it was such a beautiful mild day.

This is the walk that leads you into the grounds of Newstead Abbey.

Not a soul in sight as everyone was probably tucking into their Christmas dinners.

Newstead Abbey is usually very busy , but today we had it almost to ourselves and i was able to take some great photos of the Abbey.

This is the oldest part of the Abbey and I just love the big window and would love to have seen it when it had its stained glass, i bet it was gorgeous.

Here are the three of us by the waterfall.

Harry and i just had to go look through the window behind it.

Where there is water Harry will find it, so Gordon let him have a paddle.

I love this door. It used to open at one time but now it is locked.

One more shot of the Abbey in all its glory.

We got home around three o clock and i started the Christmas dinner.

A Turkey is too big for the two of us, so this year we had a loin of Pork with all the trimmings and it was delicious.

So we had dinner around 6.0.clock and then just relaxed in front of the telly as you do at Christmas.

Boxing day was fun as my Brother and his family came up and stayed over.

We had a great time chatting about old times when we were kids and all the great presents we used to get.

We took them to see the new house and the shop then went for a walk around the Nature Reserve just around the corner.

The rest of the Christmas break has been spent relaxing ( we cant do anything to the house at the moment as there is building stuff in every room ) and we have been into the shop every other day for a few hours to process and post any orders.

Last night we saw in the New Year with Harry and kept him entertained while the fireworks were going off outside.

Gordon decided he wanted to launch a floating candle up into the sky.

So we got it lit and held it until it was ready to float upwards and just as it was going up over the house a big gust of wind blew it into the tree in our front garden. So i had to get a bucket of water to put the flames out.

I dont think we will be lighting any more of those somehow.

Today we have been to the shop and got all the orders processed ready to post on Tuesday.

I have been doing some boxing up in my craft room ready for the move and Gordon has been reading and taking it easy.

The shop will open again on Wednesday and we look forward to seeing you and hearing your Christmas stories.

I am going to have one last Mince pie now with a cuppa.

Happy New Year again.

Love and smiles Rob Gordon and Harry xxx

The Pressy The Party and the Back of the House.

Hello Everyone.

Couldnt post yesterday as i forgot to re charge my camera battery until late and then we had to meet the girls for our Christmas Party Evening and it was a bit late when we got back.

Anyway here is the beautiful present that onr of our lovely customers has made us for our new house.

This is the front of the tag that was attached to the present.

And this was the message written on the back and as you can imagine we were really touched.

And here is the present that Kate had made for our new home isnt it just INCREDIBLE and my photography really doesnt do it justice.

Here is a close up of the bird house so that you can see all the work that has gone into it.

This is a close up of the hand felted bird at the top of the birdhouse.

And here is the hand felted bird at the bottom and notice both have hand stitched beads and feathers attached to their tails they are Fabulous.

Finally this is a pic showing the side view of the bird house so that you can see all the work that has gone into making the tiled roof.

Oh Kate thank you ever so much for this gorgeous house warming gift and we will find a spot for it where it can be admired not just by us but everyone who visits us too.

We are really blown away that you made something so beautiful for us and thank you from the bottom of our hearts xxxxxx.

Last night the girls who work with us in the shop and ourselves went for our annual Christmas meal and we had a great time.

Here is a pic of us all in the festive spirit.

We would like to say a big thank you to Di, Jean, Karen, Michelle and Anthea for all the hard work they do for us, we really couldnt do it all without you.

And i would like to say a really big thank you to them for everything they did for me when Gordon was ill at the beginning of the year I will always be so grateful and you are the best friends anyone could ever have xxxxxx.

Oh i bet you wonder where Harry was while we were out enjoying ourselves.

Harry was with his friend Oliver having a great Christmas Party of their own.

And Finally i bet you wonder if the back of the house got finished before Christmas? Well take a look at these pics i took tonight.

Yes they managed to do it and the weather here has been horrid all day with wind heavy rain and sleet, but they were determined to do it and weathered the storm Thank You Guys.

This is a view from inside of the back reception room looking towards the new windows.

And this is a view from the kitchen looking along the extension into the back reception room.

So the back of the house is almost finished. Theres some electric and plumbing things to put into the new ceiling and then the insulation will be done before it all gets plastered.

We will be going in and doing some painting over the holidays in the other rooms and then the kitchen and bathroom will all be installed next month.

I think we will be moving in between the end of February or the beginning of March and we are all starting to get really excited.

Well thats our news up to now and i have a some more Christmas cards to finish as there are still a few we have to deliver tomorrow and then we can have a breather.

I will try and get on before Christmas day if i have time if not We wish you all a Safe and Happy Christmas.

Love and Smiles Rob Gordon and Barnie ( who keeps sniffing at all his presents under the tree ) xxxxxx

...

Snow and Scotland and Panda's Oh My

Hello everyone.

On Sunday we travelled up to Scotland to see Gordon's Mom and Family and exchange presents and have a little mini pre Christmas get together.

Although it has been a tad cold down in our neck of the woods we have seen no snow at all, so imagine our surprise that as we were driving through the peak District ( we were about 30 miles into our journey ) we drove into a real winter wonderland with snow everywhere, we had to stop as little Harry absolutely loves snow and we played in the White stuff with him for almost half an hour. Here are a few pics to let you see just how snowy it was.

Gordon and Harry in the snow.

A Winter Wonderland.

We never saw any more snow until we reached Gordons Moms house where to Harrys surprise and happiness the back garden was Snow heaven so he played there until bedtime.

Monday

It was a very wet and rainy day today and the snow had all but disappeared which was a bit of a disappointment to harry so Gordon his mom and i decided to go to the Art Gallery in Glasgow for a few hours.

It is a fabulous Museum with lots of Art Nouveau and Deco displays which we all loved.

This was my favourite.

I may do a Rubber Stamp based on this embossed bronze as i think it is so beautiful.

The other thing that caught our attention was a modern art piece suspended from the roof of the gallery showing lots of plaster cast heads. Heres a pic.

We all loved this and although it was quite spooky you just had to keep looking.

That evening we took Gordons mom out for a Christmas meal and she liked the place that much she is going to take her friends there soon.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we took Gordons nephew to Edinburgh Zoo to see the Pandas that have just arrived there.

Oh wow we had to wait in a queue to get to see them but it was worth the wait as they had just woken up when we got to see them.

They are here for ten years and the Zoo has done a really good job with their enclosure.

You don't get bored waiting in line either as you can watch the penguins swimming underwater through a hugh glass viewing area.

These were the best photos of the Pandas that i took.

This is the Male Panda Tian Tian, he had been sleeping and had just woken up.

This is the female Panda Yangguang and i was lucky enough to be right at the front of the glass partition when she decided to come down and take a closer look at me.

Just at that moment my cameras batteries ran out so i was really happy i got that snap.

After the Zoo we went into Edinburgh to have a quick look at the Christmas Market.

Over the Christmas Holidays i am going to update my Flickr Photos and you will be able to see a lot more pics of our trip to Scotland there and loads more things too.

We all had a Fish Supper tonight at Gordon's Moms house and Harry had a grilled square sausage for a treat.

Today we said our goodbyes and came back down to England and we couldn't resist having a look at how things are progressing at the new house.

Oh WOWEEEEEE i can't wait to show you how the back is looking and wish i had re charged my camera but you will be amazed at how much has been done in the time we have beeen away

and i will put pics up soon.

Tomorrow i will be showing you the wonderful New House present that one of our customers have made us before we go on our annual staff Christmas Night Out which is always fun.

Thanks for dropping by and see you all tomorrow.

Love and smiles.

Rob, Gordon and Harry ( who is very tired and wants more snow ) xxxxxx

Its Getting Better and Catchup

Hi everyone.
Well the back of the house is starting to look better and the lovely builders reckon it will be finished just before Christmas.
Heres a couple a pic i took tonight in complete darkness ( as we can only view in the dark because of work ).
.
As you can see we now have the re inforced roof almost complete and the builders
plan to have all of the back done before Christmas.
These lads have worked so hard and the weather here has been against them all the way.
The plumber has been and had a good look at everything and we now have to have all the
gas pipes replaced as they were put in ages ago by the man who built this in 1930, so you can understand that everything needs re-doing,
There are pipes coming out of the walls that in these days would be a big No No but we knew this when we bought the house and know that everything will look a lot better for being sorted out and give us peace of mind.
Back to our own house and its going to be our last Christmas here so after a lot of soul searching we decided to go the whole hog and put the big Christmas tree up.( which we hav'nt done since we lost Barney four years ago).


This is the last Christmas we will have in this house so i have put three trees up and illuminated every window and it feels great and Harry just loves it.
I will close now and will post again on thursday to show you a wonderful new house present that one of our customers made for us. ( be prepared to be amazed ).
Love and smiles Rob Gordon and Harry. xxxxxx

AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN.

Hello Everybody.

Wow has'nt the weather been awful today, hope everyone is OK and did'nt get blown away.

This morning started with Gordon and i going to have a look at how our new kitchen will look when it is finally time to have it all installed.

After a bit of tweeking and changing things around a little we have finally got there and i cant wait now to get cooking in it. We reckon it will be around mid to late January when all that starts.

We had to go to the new house afterwards to make sure the new skip had arrived and see how the builders were getting on. Now before i go any further here is what the back of the house used to look like

Because the extended part of the house was a little dated and the wooden parts were showing signs of age we decided to get it all knocked down and modernised with a re-inforced flat roof

so that we can have a balcony leading from the bedroom upstairs to watch the wildlife in the garden at different times of the day and night (neighbours have seen badgers in the gardens at evening times ) and a nice cuppa in the mornings on nice days.

So this is what greeted us this morning

Everything had gone literally and i must admit i was a little taken back at first.

The builders asked me if i was ok so i must have looked shocked, so for a bit of fun i said with a serious face that i didnt like it and could they put it all back up again as it was. It was their turn to look shocked until i started laughing.

Heres another larger pic of the back of the house.

Just after i took this picture the heavens opened and the winds came blowing in so we all went inside. I will post more pics to let you see how its all progressing over the next few weeks.

Malcolm the joiner has put in more doors and we have a plumber coming in next week to sort out kitchen, bathroom and gas pipes.

So i will close here and see you all for the next installment.

Love and Smiles Rob Gordon and Harry xxxxxx

4 Years Today

Hi Everyone

Not a nice day for us here today as it was 4 years ago our little Barney passed away.

We still Love and miss you and know you still come and see us now and again.

Thank you for all the fun you bought to us.

Love from your two daddys and Harry xxxxxx

Its all slowly Coming Together and Other Adventures

Hello Everyone.

Can i just say before i begin a big thank you to all of you who have left comments and phoned us at the shop to wish us luck and happiness in our new house.

I must admit the last couple of weeks i have been wondering if it will all ever be finished and maybe we will eventually move in around 2030.

Last week we took a break and went up to see Gordons mom and family in Scotland.

I must admit we really needed it and it was great to lie in and just relax Thank You so much mom for letting us get our batteries re-charged and looking after us, Love Ya xxxxxx.

Thanks also to all the girls who took care of the shop and the orders while we were away.

We love you all loads and loads too xxxxxxx

When we got back on Wednesday we were very good and never went to the new house until Thursday evening after work.

OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH what a difference a break makes and how busy all the builders and joiners have been, the place is starting to look fabby.

Here are some before and after pics.

This was the bathroom and toilet we had knocked into one room.

Look at the Avacado Suite and the tiles and the wallpaper.

It takes me right back to the 1970s and Abigails Party.

When we went on Thursday evening it was all starting to come together

and all the back wall is ready to put the new window in next week.

Malcolm our joiner and husband of one of our customers has pulled down the horrible

cupboard which encased the boiler on the left and is going to make us a nicer one.

Before we went to Scotland Malcolm had just started on the stairs area and i told him i would

probably like a little toilet and sink with a storage area if there was room.

Wow i couldnt believe it when i saw what he had done.

Where the new door is will be the downstairs loo and then there is a little cupboard just big enough for my vac and cleaning stuff.

( small cupboards = cleaning stuff big cupboards = crafting stuff ) Thanks Malcolm its wonderful. xxxxxx

To the left is where an ugly cupboard used to hide the electric and gas meters ( we still havnt found the water meter ) ????

And look at what Malcolm has done this time it makes such a difference.

I was nearly in tears when i saw just how much had been done and how wonderful everything is starting to look.

Anthea's husband has been busy putting all the radiators in for us and we are meeting them tomorrow to help put the last few in.

Oh look who's that in the picture ha ha yup its harry who really is loving it all and seems to love the little cupboard under the stairs, we couldnt keep him out of there.

These last two pictures are the false wall the builders have had to make so that they can start re building the extended part behind, so now if the bad weather arrives while they are working at least the house will stay dry.

And this is the kitchen with the false room.

That door used to be in the wall to the left of the picture and the builders have done a great re cycling job and used it for the temporary entrance I love it.

Finally heres a pic of something else ive been doing since coming home from Scotland.

Yes i am getting all my Christmas cards made and im late again as usual.

Still im really enjoying just getting my fingers around all the scrummy Christmas papers and dies

and making loads of mess as i go along.

I will try and do a quick video tutorial for them if you like, let me know.

Right ive took enough of your time with me rambling on again.

Thanks for dropping by and do leave a comment if you can.

Love and smiles Rob Gordon and Harry xxxxxxxxxxxx

..

The House Of Wishful Thinking

Hello everyone.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Ten i'll begin.

Just before Gordon took ill this year we decided that the time was right to move house.

This all came about as we had spotted a property just 2 minutes walking distance from the shop and it also had a view of the fields and mill pond from the back garden.

Well we sort of had to let everything go when Gordon took ill and i had to stop all prospetive buyers coming to the house and had the for sale sign taken away and our details left at the estate agents.

To cut a long story short somebody asked to buy our house in June and we put in a bid for the house we wanted.

Alas after the surveyors report the house we wanted needed to much doing to it and we were told to just stay put so everything was stopped .

In August we were driving home and took a wrong turning and noticed a 1930s style house for sale.

It was completely empty so we went and had a look in the window and we liked what we saw.

The back was open so we went and had a look there too.

I fell in love with the garden before i even looked through the back windows.The kitchen was still original in every way and when we went to the bottom of the garden there was a small river running through it we were HOOKED.

The house chose us i am sure of it and we couldnt get it out of our heads.

There was a lot of work involved as our surveyor told us which included having the whole downstairs gutted and damp proofed but apart from that the house was solid and steadfast with great potential.

On the 1st October the house of wishful thinking ( my name for it all the way from the beginning as i didnt think we would ever own it even though we loved it ) was ours and ever since we have been bringing it back to life.

So far we have took it right back to its bare walls, had doors removed and had walls knocked out.

But now each day as we go in we can see it starting to take shape.

We have lived on a really busy main road for all these years with loads of noise and now we are moving into a country village just a 25 minute walk into the grounds of Newstead Abbey (one of our favorite places.

We go to the house every evening after work and on our days off to see how the builders are getting on and doing what we can to help the process along as we know we have to have the main bits done before the bad weather arrives.

There is still a long way to go but we are both really happy and excited and Harry loves it too.

Here are a few pics and i hope you like them.

This was how the kitchen looked and i loved it.

Sadly only the 1930s table and the old clothes airer/pan holder above it remain.

This is how the back reception room looked like but now

the wall on the right near the window has gone and joins onto the kitchen.

The rest was gutted right back to bare walls.

A view of the front garden and countryside over the road.

We are taking the hedge at the top out as you cant see oncoming traffic so it is dangerous and we are going to have a small wooden fence and gate instead.

I cant wait to get cracking on this space.

I want to make a vegetable patch in the island as we get sunshine on both gardens all day.

This is the back porch which is a little sun trap and look

at all those Bramley apples picked straight off the tree.

This will have to be all re pointed and maybe rebuilt next year.

Here is a pic of the back garden a couple of days after getting the keys.

I have already started getting it into shape but im not doing anything else

now until spring as there are lots of bulbs in the garden and i need to see

what and where they are before going further.

At the bottom of the garden are some steps that lead to a small river.

It is full of wildlife including Ducks,Kingfishers, Brown Trout and our very own

Moor Hen who i have christened Hilda.

In the garden so far we have seen a male Pheasent, a family of Partridges, a Heron, a Spotted Woodpecker and the most friendly Robin who isnt one bit scared of harry.

We know its going to take some time to get it all as we like it but the main thing is we are going to love it here and are so very happy.

We are going to open up the house now for the men with the radiators and finish stripping the upstairs rooms ready for painting.

Will post more pics when i have a minute and i hope i havnt bored you to tears with my ramblings.

Please leave a comment as i love to read them.

Love and Smiles Rob Gordon and Harry xxxxxx

Back Online Yippeeeeeee with a Massive Catch Up

Hi Everyone.

I know i was supposed to post 2 weeks ago but im afraid our modem thing died while we were at the N.E.C.

The Sky man came and changed it last Saturday and it worked for literally 10 minutes after he left and died again.

Hes been again today and has done loads of geeky things and fingers crossed it will work at least until i have got this blog post up and running.

Anyway the N.E.C was fabulous as usual and heres a pic of us on the Thursday just before they opened the doors.

Karen Me Gordon and Michelle

It was great meeting old customers and new and although we were so busy we still had time to chat and have fun.

While i helped Gordon on the till and re stocking Karen demonstrated the new Sizzix Vintaj machine and all of the Vintaj jewellery products and folders that go with it, while Michelle demonstrated the different Scor-Pal boards.

We had sold out of all of those products by the end of the show which made us all really happy.

On Thursday and Friday evening i met up with some old pals from my younger days in Birmingham.

Thursday evening i met Karen who had to come without Roz and Kath this timeas they were working but we had a good old chin wag and catch up. It was great seeing you Kaz and cant wait for you all to come and see us next year.

Friday evening was very emotional for me as i met up with Lorna who was my closest female friend in Brum. She was on holiday with me back in 1993 when i first met Gordon and i hadnt seen her for 16 years. Not only that she bought along another old buddy Chris which was such a wonderful surprise. Lorna and Chris its been too long and we have to stay in contact now and again cant wait for you to come and see us next year.

Heres a couple of photos of us.

Myself Chris Lorna and Gordon

Lorna and I = Double Trouble

Now then i bet you are wondering what was so important that i had to come home on the Saturday of the N.E.C.

We have been waiting for the main part of our new products to be delivered and they will be available in January, so i had to be home for the delivery.

Oh woweee i couldnt resist opening one of the boxes and when i did i had to go straight up to my craft room and play.

So for the next 2 months the girls and i will be busy making samples for the launch of these products on Ideal World Create and Craft Channel in January.

Just before we went to the N.E.C, Harry had his last haircut for the year so here is a before and after shot of him.

Harry Before his haircut.

Harry after his haircut.

Honestly everything is happening all at once here and Gordon and i are up to our arm pits with another big project that hopefully will be ready for February. It started on the first day of October and is sort of taking over our lives at the moment ( but more of that tomorrow ).

Heres a little clue of what is taking most of our time up .

If you can guess what we are doing do leave a comment and all will be revealed tomorrow.

So i have caught up a little now and will be back tomorrow.

Love and smiles Rob Gordon and Harry. xxxxxxxxx

See You At The NEC

Hi all.

Just a quick blog while Gordon is at the shop getting more stock to take back with us to the NEC tonight.

We have spent all day setting up and the stand looks fabby.

Gordon, Karen,Michelle and myself will be there tomorrow ( our stand is number E 17 ) with some wonderful new demonstrations and some great new products to show you.

I am there for the first two days and then the lovely Sandra takes over from me for the weekend.

WHY am i coming home on Saturday ?????

I will let you all know on Sunday and you will know then why i havn't been blogging much for the last few months.

Tomorrow night and Friday night i am having reunions with friends i havnt seen for 15 years and will put some pics up for you to see.

Right i will get all our clothes and toiletries ready to go and if you are at the NEC this week please stop by and say hello.

Love and smiles Rob Gord and Harry xxx