My Sunday Photo

My Sunday Snapshot, Help! Stuck in a Vanilla Swarm

January 24, 2021 by Anne Sweet 3 Comments

Today I’m sitting here watching the snow fall, a vanilla swarm. We’ve had a fair bit this week but today it’s really falling and my eldest has just been out to measure it on the garden chair and it’s 6cm already. Yesterday I was fascinated with the snow that had fallen in the night and took some photos.

photograph of garden fairy lights covered in snow and ice in the vanilla swarm — *snow on the fairy lights in the garden*

Fifty Words for Snow

Kate Bush has an album called Fifty Words for Snow and on it is a track of the same name featuring Stephen Fry. ( I actually love to listen to audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry.) It has some real strange words along some normal ones. I did write a post about it myself three years ago when we had a fair bit of snow. Just like today.

The snow is still falling here and I can see my neighbours child at his bedroom window getting very excited. I hope his mum lets him go out and play in it soon. My kids seem disinterested, but I hope my little man goes out later, I’m trying to convince him.

Trees in Vanilla Swarm

These are the trees at the bottom of my garden taken yesterday morning. On my Instagram stories you can see a short video of the snow falling this morning.

large trees in a snow storm or vanlla swarm — *snow trees*

This morning the sky is pure white and full of snow. I think we are going to have a lot more snow. I’m staying here, snug under my blanket.

Fifty Words For Snow by Kate Bush

1 drifting
2 twisting
3 whiteout
4 blackbird braille
5 Wenceslasaire
6 avalanche
Come on man, you’ve got 44 to go,
come on man, you’ve got 44 to go.
Come on man, you’ve got 44 to go,
come on man, you’ve got 44 to go.
7 swans-a-melting
8 deamondi-pavlova
9 eiderfalls
10 Santanyeroofdikov
11 stellatundra
12 hunter’s dream
13 faloop’njoompoola
14 zebranivem
15 spangladasha
16 albadune
17 hironocrashka
18 hooded-wept
Come on Joe, you’ve got 32 to go,
come on Joe, you’ve got 32 to go.
Come on now, you’ve got 32 to go,
come on now, you’ve got 32 to go.
Don’t you know it’s not just the Eskimo.
Let me hear your 50 words for snow.
19 phlegm de neige
20 mountainsob
21 anklebreaker
22 erase-o-dust
23 shnamistoflopp’n
24 terrablizza
25 whirlissimo
26 vanilla swarm
27 icyskidski
28 robber’s veil
Come on Joe, just 22 to go,
come on Joe, just 22 to go.
Come on Joe, just you and the Eskimos,
Come on now, just 22 to go.
Come on now, just 22 to go,
Let me hear your 50 words for snow.
29 creaky-creaky
30 psychohail
31 whippoccino
32 shimmerglisten
33 Zhivagodamarbletash
34 sorbetdeluge
35 sleetspoot’n
36 melt-o-blast
37 slipperella
38 boomerangablanca
39 groundberry down
40 meringuerpeaks
41 crème-bouffant
42 peDtaH ‘ej chIS qo’
43 deep’nhidden
44 bad for trains
45 shovelcrusted
46 anechoic
47 blown from polar fur
48 vanishing world
49 mistraldespair
50 snow.

Source: LyricFindSongwriters:

Kate Bush 50 Words for Snow lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Can you guess what my favourite one is?

My Sunday Snapshot, Crochet Scarf Gift

January 17, 2021 by Anne Sweet 6 Comments

As you probably know I love to crochet and scarves and blankets are my favourite to make. I recently finished this crochet scarf to gift to my friend. It was for Christmas but as I was unable to see her and her birthday was in January, I sent her the scarf along with some chocolate for her birthday last week. I really hope she likes it as much as I liked making it. I used a lovely blue and green mixed wool and blue tassels.

Crochet Scarf

Blue/multi coloured scarf with blue tassells. — crochet scarf

I really want to make another now to go in my Etsy shop. So far I’m just featuring a few scarves that I have made and a baby blanket, but I will be crocheting like mad now to get some more items in the shop. I’m hoping to do some amigurumi too as that’s quick and easy to make and people love them. I have some pattern ideas too but it’s difficult writing patterns that others can follow. It will give me a purpose, a goal for this year.

Crochet

I mostly feature my crochet on my other blog At Home A Lot, but I have featured a few things I’ve made here too. Including my crochet mandala which I really enjoyed making and will definitely get around to making another soon. And there was my Axolotl which was featured in Simply Crochet magazine. I still have her she’s very cute.

Do you crochet or have any hobbies? Do you have an Etsy shop, let me know in the comments if you do as I feature shops over on At Home A Lot quite frequently, I’m a big Etsy fan and also an affiliate.

Linking up to Rachel for My Sunday Snapshot, click badge to see other photos linked up for this week.

drawn image of canon camera with flowers for My Sunday Snapshot

My Sunday Snapshot – Surprising Garden Snow

January 10, 2021 by Anne Sweet 4 Comments

This week we had snow, and I took a quick picture of my garden. It’s unedited, I just wanted to show the splatter of snow and the section of my garden that I’m desperate to change.

I always love the way the snow looks in the garden, especially in the trees at the back. They are not my trees, they actually line the canal. In the summer, Boo was sitting on the trampoline and she said that looking into the trees made her feel like she was at the edge of a forest. That’s how I feel too when I look at them, even though I know that they don’t go very far and soon reach the edge of the canal.

It’s been a long time since I walked along the canal with the kids. We used to be able to walk back from their primary school and feed the ducks on the way home. Sadly, to get home there are big steps. I can find the ramps but they wouldn’t take me home. This is an old photo from 2014.

Snow in the Garden

Back to the garden. I’ve realised it needs a lot of work. We no longer need the swings or slide, and perhaps the trampoline can go too. Although they do still use it, so maybe I could just move it. We need a new net though and I had difficulty last summer finding one that would fit. Why did I get a dome trampoline?

I’d love to get rid of a lot of the grass, maybe have a little astro turf put down instead. I would love a green house or some raised beds so I can grow stuff and tend to it in my wheelchair. I can go over grass now in my chair, but it would be nice if it was a smoother ride…and nicer if I didn’t have to rely on people to cut the grass for me. I do want some flowers and colour though. So far my pot plants haven’t faired well. I have a new patio set, although we were missing a part so it’s not all put together. When it is it will be nice to create a place to sit outside. Our patio is quite small though, so maybe we could extent it.

We have a shed, but Graham uses it to smoke in. He’s not allowed to smoke in the house. It gets very cold in there but I’ve let him have heaters in the past and he’s nearly caused a fire on two occasions so I’ve banned them now. It’s just too risky. It would be nice to make his shed more cosy though. Maybe some insulation? I think it needs a coat of paint too.

It’s funny how a quick photo of the snow in the garden has sent my thoughts into overdrive. Maybe if I start planning and saving now we can have the kind of garden I want by the time the weather changes?

Have you had snow this week?

Linking up to Rachel for her Sunday Snapshot linky.

My Sunday Snapshot – Christmas Cake

January 3, 2021 by Anne Sweet 11 Comments

Nothing says Happy New Year like Christmas cake right? Ok, maybe everyone has got out of Christmas mode now, decorations are being removed, trees taken down, Christmas has left the building… Not quite. Today I will take down the decorations and the tree will come down on the 5th January as always. In the meantime we still have quite a few Christmas treats left including the Christmas cake which we only made a start on last night. We still have mince pies (Best Before 4th Jan) and chocolates (I know, unbelievable) We even have cheese and alcohol to get through.

Christmas Cake

I usually make a Christmas cake. I start in October and keep it in a tin feeding it with alcohol each week. I then decorate it the week before Christmas. This cake was bought from Sainsburys. It cost about the same but was half the size. And, even though it contained alcohol, well, my cake tastes better. (Even if I do say so myself.)

Welcome 2021

Just so you know I’m not still stuck in Christmas mode ….ok maybe give me this last day, I’m in hospital tomorrow… here is a photo of something I treated myself to this year. A 2021 Dairy Diary.

Front cover of 2021 Diary with flowers and butterflies.

I was gifted my first Dairy Diary by a friend in 1988, just before my first born child arrived. I bought one myself for the next eleven years. I still have every one. I went on to online diary keeping in 2004 and started Raisie Bay in 2011 which has been where I have kept most memories. I’ve tried keeping journals but, apart from the baby ones, I’ve not had much success. So, I’ve gone back to a traditional, fill in each day, diary. And isn’t it a pretty one. I couldn’t resist the butterflies.

Happy New Year! Let’s hold this one with great hope.

Linking up with Rachel for My Sunday Snapshot.

My Sunday Snapshot badge from Rachel Swirl

My Sunday Snapshot – Stars

December 27, 2020 by Anne Sweet 6 Comments

I have many stars in my life, Stars in the sky, Star my warrior child and my little Boo, who was the star on our Christmas Tree this year.

Young Carer Star

Boo was given this star because she is considered a young carer. It is difficult for a child who lives with another child with extra needs and Boo has two siblings who demand more attention. Not only that but she feels a duty in looking after me. I’ve noticed that as she has moved into the teenage years that she tends to ‘switch off’ a lot and just hide away doing her own thing. Like I would once hide away in a book, she watches videos on her tablet. She is a little star though.

Stars

Star, chose her blog name when she was five. I think it was because she liked looking at stars in the sky but it turned out to be really fitting when she had to endure a couple of years of operations and halo wearing.

I also like to think of those that have passed on become stars in the sky. When I was young I’d watch to see if I could see my Dad who left way too soon (to avoid the rush*) Then my nan passed away in 1996 just after her 86th birthday. Mum left us on Christmas Day 2008 and my younger brother a week later. We go to visit on Christmas Eve.

Photo shows a grave with lots of flowers and wreaths mostly in red and green.

*“DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”
Terry Pratchett – Good Omens

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