Friday 15 November 2019

Friday Chat Day

Hello friends

There's extra waffle this week, pop the kettle on!
Friday again, they come around so quickly, we are definitely hurtling
towards Christmas!
It's time for those Christmas TV ads and I absolutely love the
John Lewis one with the little dragon.
If you haven't seen it click on the image below.


I hope you have had a good week so far. 
Mine has been a mix of things - some work, some crochet,
some festive planning, some birdhouse planning and a trip to the vets!

Crochet - I'll be uploading some more photos and details to my Yarn tab
later today and over the weekend in case you fancy checking those out.

Christmas planning - a new garland is on my to-do list to match
my change of colour decorations this year.
(The boys are still very disapproving of this decision!)
Each year I have this red garland which is festooned with 
pinecones, berries, baubles, holly and more.


I love it but the it's just not rose gold so I've been shopping.
I thought I would share my garland-make with you
as I go leading up to Christmas.
I'm keeping the price as low as possible by shopping around.
The baubles are from Asda, pinecones from Wilkos,
bells from Poundland, braid and ribbon from Amazon. 


I then discovered these in Poundland - Garland Ties.
They are just wired strips of foliage, I never knew they existed.


I set out the braid and calculated how may foliage strips,
no exact measuring, that would take too long!


I cut each one in half and twisted them around.


Admittedly it looks pretty bare and odd right now but plenty more
items will be added.  I'll be keeping you posted.

Birdhouse planning

Many of you will know that my lovely Dad makes birdhouses.
He had a little break but he is back at it and now has
an Instagram account here and an Etsy shop!
It's called Made by Brian and here's one that has just been listed.
Lots more in the pipeline, he's covered head to toe in sawdust lately!


It was of course Remembrance Sunday, I shared this a year or two
ago, a little bit of family history. 


This is a letter written home from my Great Uncle Walter,
also known as Sapper Walter Woodward No.14539513
He wrote this letter home to his Mum whilst on active service,
28 June 1945.  We don't know for sure where he was when he wrote this
but he does state seven thousand miles from good old England.


Impressive handwriting but for ease I have typed a transcript of the letter below.



My Dear Mother.  

Just a few lines hoping this letter will find you all in the best of health
as it leaves me the same at present.  Well Mother the weather is not too bad here 
but we keep on getting showers of rain.  
Well Mum my Dolly told me about Bill having fourteen days,
all I hope he does not come out here,it is not so good out here as people paint it.
Well I expect my brother Len is still in Holland, please remember me to him when you 
write to him.  Well Mother, my mate and I went to town on Wednesday June 27 and
we did have a good feed, what do you think we had? A leg of chicken and two 
eggs for dinner and the same for tea so we did not do so bad did we.
Well how is little Brian getting on? I bet he is just as saucy as ever.
Well Mother, I expect your little garden begins to look nice now.  
Please will you give my love to all at home.
Well Mother, I will be glad when I can come home again and see you all once
more like I used to do.  Nobody knows what it is like to be right away
from home, seven thousand miles from good old England.
All I can say is it is a shame that men like me should come out here 
while there is tens of thousands of young men in England.
Well Mother, do not worry about me as I am OK so now I must say 
good afternoon and God bless you all from your loving Son 
Walter.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


I've read this letter many times, it moves me how the language is fairly formal 
but also there is a true sense of sadness and genuine home sickness.
Some of the references: 
Dolly (Dorothy is his wife) they married and were both together till very old age.
He refers at one point to ' how is little Brian getting on', that's my Dad,
he's all grown up now!

A snippet of history written many years ago by a very young man,
in a strange place wishing he was at home.
Who could possibly know that one day his letter would be shared via technology 
that would be way beyond his wildest imagination.

And finally - a trip to the vets:

This is me explaining to Bella that on Monday she is having five
teeth removed!  It also includes her front ones so she's going to be
a little gummy!


She's over 8 years old now and apparently it is quite common 
with smaller dogs for their teeth to deteriorate.
She's so good natured that she does allow me to clean her teeth
but I guess it just wasn't enough.
I'm not looking forward to dropping her off at the vets 
but needs must and I'm sure she'll feel a lot better afterwards.

So that wraps up another Friday Chat Day,
this weekend I'm hoping to do quite a bit of house admin,
those niggly jobs that have needed doing for months
and adding to my garland.

Take care friends, hope you have a lovely weekend,
a good week and look forward to you stopping by next Friday.

18 comments:

CraftyCoffey said...

Lots iof news-the letter was lovely to read but quite sad.
Poor Bella but as you say-she needs the teeth removed.
The garland will look lovely and you can always go back to Red next year!

Michele

margaret driscoll said...

Hello Christine
I hope Bella is OK?
I really like the garland now such a lovely colour!
Its nice to have a gossip on a Friday I will miss it!
My Boiler decided to give up, so I had 36hrs no hot water or heat, I even washed in cold water like when I was younger but without the coalfire,British Gas came turned it on and it went 1st time, chap said it must have been an airlock or something so freezing cold for nothing Brr!
It was the 13th though even it was a Wednesday, (LOL )
Glad everything is ok !
Take Care
Love Marg

Lesley said...

That's a great letter from the past, sad yet hopeful too. Thanks for sharing. I am from those parts (Vauxhall). I hope Bella will feel much better after her troublesome teeth are removed.
Love,
Lesley

Linby said...

wow that is a great letter, thanks for transcribing it. Good to know little Brian turned out ok lol!
Poor Bella - hope she is ok.

hazel young said...

Love the advert thanks for sharing. Love your garland and looking forward to seeing your new one completed. Your dad is such a talented man, I hope you will keep us informed when more items are added to his shop. I remember this letter from when you shared it before, it's such a treasured item to have. Hoping Bella is feeling better after the vets. Take care and have a great weekend xx Hazel

Anonymous said...

I love these Friday posts! I am in US and loved the John Lewis ad, I had to go to you tube ad watch more. So lovely. What a beautiful letter you posted, you are lucky to have some of that history. Hope Bella will do well at the vet. My sister has 2 cats that have no teeth at all and they do wonderful with eating. So best to you!
Thank you again, til next friday

Anne Owens said...

What a lovely vlog, that letter so heartfelt, I hope Bella is ok after her operation. Love Anne Owens x

karenlotty said...

Your uncle’s letter really moved me too All I know about my family during the war is my great grandad was one of the war horse soldiers My MIL lost a brother in WW2 and my mum was 9 years old when WW2 started and my grandad was a fire warden
I have a lovely photograph of my great grandad in his uniform standing next to an aspidistra plant You know the typical pose I mean
I hope Bella is Ok
I love your dad’s birdhouse and your garland looks interesting I can’t wait to see the finished item

Patricia Howarth said...

Hi Christine, Awww poor Bella, she will be feeling a bit 'sorry for herself' when she has had her 'op', she will need lots of 'fussing' from Mum.
Your Dad's birdhouses look stunning.
Enjoy your weekend, and take care.
Lots of love from Patricia xx

Littlelamb said...

Thank you for another interesting post. Your dad’s bird house looks lovely. Much different to the ones you usually see. Thank you for showing your Uncles letter. I remember reading this before. I found Gary Linekers programme My Granddad’s War interesting partly because my dad was also in Italy at that time and was In the assault on Monte Cassino in fact he was Reported Missing could be Killed. He and some fellow soldiers were found buried in rubble. He recovered but in later life had ‘flashbacks’ about it. Poor Bella. Hope she has recovered ok. Have a good weekend and look forward to reading your post next week.

kittyedavies47@gmail.com said...

Hi Christine.
Thank you for your chat.
Your garland looks to be coming on nicely, lovely colour.
You are a very talented family, so lovely.
I hope Bella is all well now.
Take care and have lots of fun Kitty.

Chris said...

Hi Christine
Poor Bella, I do hope all went well at the vet and she is recovering ok.
I’m sure your garland will be lovely when finished and it is a really subtle shade of pink, I think Mitchell and Elliott will secretly love it.
I remember reading your letter when you previously shared it, such a precious piece of family history.
Love your Dad’s Bird House, it’s such a lovely design.
Enjoy your weekend.
Chris xx

Christine said...

Smashing post again. Love the birdhouse.
Thanks for the tip about the wreath ties....will be lovely not to have to use drawing pins!!!!

Christine said...

Smashing post again. Love the birdhouse.
Thanks for the tip about the wreath ties....will be lovely not to have to use drawing pins!!!!

Margie said...

Great chatty post Christine! That Christmas advert is my favourite too! Thanks for adding the link to the poncho pattern on your Yarn page - I'd love to try that. Hope Bella is OK after the dental treatment. x

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