Congratulations USA, Welcome to Barack Obama!

Congratulations to Barack Obama on his Inauguration as

44th President of the United States of America !

It is difficult to put aside all the madness in today's world. Unfortunately, wars, poverty, oppression do not go away for the dear folk who are subjected to those hardships.

However, I believe today is a time to celebrate, a time of hope because I feel that the people of USA have chosen the right person to lead them. It is surely not realistic to expect one man, Barack Obama, to be the solution to all things. All the same, there is a sense of optimism in the air, that President Obama is in the right place, he is in a position of power to influence for good, to ensure that justice will prevail. He seems to me to be a person of intellect, clarity of thought, humility, respect and in touch with "real people", as he is a family man, so he is in a good position to identify with the issues of the people he will lead.

I am so glad that, today, the United States of America will be a place of celebration and I wish you all happiness and joy on this historic day!

Brrrrrrr - its very very cold!

Credit: www.virginmedia.com/images/

It really is 'proper' January weather here in UK. Some years we have enjoyed reasonable temperatures in Jan/Feb but this year we are having a real winter, no question. Last night in my home village it registered at minus 12 deg which is as cold as I have known it since moving here 5 years ago. We have had a small amount of snow-fall which, due to the low temperatures, has frozen solid on my drive. The roads remain very clear though. Looking out of the window now, it looks like the temperatures may be starting to creep up because the snow is starting to look a bit more watery. When it gets above freezing, it will seem positively tropical LOL! My garden birds are really making the most of the nut hoppers I have hung on the hedges and in the trees as they are unlikely to find many grubs or other food, so hopefully it will help them survive during this cold snap.

I have been working at home today as I arranged to have my attic/loft insulated with 'lagging' to keep in the warmth. It took about 2 hours for them to complete the job and the difference is amazing - they even covered up my pipes with foam to seal in the warmth and covered the tank so it doesn't freeze. The upstairs rooms are much warmer already and I am hoping it may save money on heating oil if I don't have to have the heating up so high. We'll see, but its warm, that's the main thing.

I am planning to attend Stitch and Craft Show 2009 on Saturday 21st March at Olympia, London. If anyone is going up there, let me know and we can meet up! I will have a WIP photo of my sampler ready at the weekend, as I stitched on Sunday and this lunchtime so it is making good progress.

Take care and most importantly, STAY WARM!!!

Alison xx

Happy New Year 2009

I hope everyone had a wonderful and magical Christmas and are looking forward to whatever the coming year brings! I hope it is a happy, healthy and of course crafty year for you all.

I have included a New Year card that I created yesterday - I received a few cards after the holiday that I had unfortunately been unable to reciprocate, so decided to make about 8 cards to send out, just so people didn't think I had forgotten. To be honest, I felt so ghastly after my 'flu which seemed to just completely drain me of any energy over the Christmas break, so I think I have a bit of an excuse!

Nela, para clarificar un poco, el foto en mi blog mensaje de Navidad no es un conejo, en efecto, sino una ardilla, pero al verificar otra vez, tienes razon sabes, por que parecer ser un conejo jajaja! Lo consigue en Google imagenes. Un abrazo para el ano que viene, que te pasa muy tranquila y con alegria y con mucho coser, desde luego Nela, just to let you know, my photo on the previous blog entry is actually a squirrel rather than a rabbit - I picked it up from Google images - I must admit, when I re-checked it, it did indeed look more like a rabbit :-)) Big hug for the new year, I hope you have a peaceful happy time, with plenty of stitching of course.

Bye for now
Warmest wishes, Alison xx