Lunch on the River Cam

My other half goes down to kent on a regular basis

to spend time with his Dad and family

but I haven't been able to see them 

 for several months.

Cambridge is about half way between us so we made arrangements

to meet there for lunch.

The Restaurant we had booked was overlooking

the River Cam, which seemed very high and was right

next to the weir.

There was a canoe race going on and the weir has to be 

negotiated by running around carrying the canoe

which was very entertaining to watch.

As we had a lot of catching up to do so we didn't

do much exploring around the city

but did as least  we did see some  Punts moored.

Luckily for the men they weren't open as 

I rather fancy being taken down the river in one.

I would have to have a parasol and pretty 

summer dress on 

of course.

We had such a great time we have agreed 

we will have to do it again soon.

Hope you had a good weekend.

Gillxx

January Scavenger Hunt

A huge welcome to all my new followers,

it's been great taking part in' Grow your own blog'

although for me it was all about reading so many

different blogs from all over the world.

Ones that maybe under normal circumstances I wouldn't have come across

and to see the work of so many talented people.

Anyway, welcome one and all

AND

Hoorah!

I'm back on track with the Scavenger Hunt

which is run by the wonderful Green Thumb at Made With Love.

So here is this months selection.

1. Colour

This is some of dyed cotton samples

I came away from a recent course on fabric dying.

2.  1 O'Clock

This is the time I start my patchwork class.

3. Crowd

I'm afraid I had to go back to boxing day for this photo

as there aren't many crowds around here in January.

4. Looking Down

This one was taken while walking the dogs on

a rare day when we had some blue sky. It's

looking down from the old railway bridge to the river 

and marsh.

5. Fruit

Some Rosehips taken the same day.

6.Corner

This is the corner of Chalet/ Beach Hut

along the coast in Suffolk.

7.Stamp

I love this stamp, I found it in New Zealand and now it

sits in my print tray along with some of my other treasures.

I think it would have been used in an old printing press.

8. Roof

This is back to one of our National Trust Houses.

Felbrigg Hall has a fantastic old Dove cote 

and this is the roof.  You can see all the holes

for the doves to go into.

9. Hats

Meet my eldest daughter who loves trying on hats.

10.Natural

Some Fungi found in the local woods.

No idea what kind they are and when I tried to look them

up in a book there where so many that look alike.

If anyone can tell me I would love to know.

11. J is for….

 Janome . My beloved sewing machine.

12. Measurement

I have been trying to find one of the local old mile

stones for this one and I know we have quite a few around here

but do you think I can find one--I'll probably see one tomorrow.

Anyway I went into the post office today to post my latest swap

parcel( which I forgot to photograph) 

and saw this which measures your post.

So that's it for this month, time to find out what 

Februarys list is.

I'm off to Cambridge for lunch on Sunday and I'll

try to remember my camera .

Hope you have a great weekend.

Gillxx

Grow Your Own Blog

To all my regular followers it's lovely to have you back,

and to all those that are taking part in 

Grow Your Own Blog

WELCOME.

I'm Gill a.k.a. Dosie Rosie

 This blog is all about my trials, triumphs and travels

as I embrace the freedom of having to take early retirement

and having all my children move out to start their own homes.

Writing my Blog and making so many good friends

through doing that has made what could have been a 

challenging time so much easier and fun.

I will try not to make this a long post because if your blog hopping

you won't want to spend hours at each one.

I just thought I would tell you something about Dosie Rosie.

I live close to the Beautiful North Norfolk coast,

which for those of you outside the U.K  that is the bump that sticks 

out into the North Sea about half way up the UK.

I love taking photos and have a new camera

 so get ready for some arty shots,---

 when I work out how to use it 

properly!
I also do a  photographic scavenger hunt every month
which is organised by
Green Thumb at `made with Love.

I love my garden but am certainly no expert.

I just like to see lots of colour and get a great buzz

when I see something I put in as a seed growing and flowering.

I tend to leave the veggies to my other half and I do the fruit and flowers.

I like odd or quirky things and have collections of all sorts of 

vintage bits which sit around me either in the garden

or my craft room.

Now we get to my passion.

I wonder if that's an over used word but crafting

is something I spend so much time thinking about

that I think it is appropriate. 

I don't sell anything I make, certainly not
 at the moment but maybe in the future.

For me it is purely for the fun of creating.

I have tried my hand at everything from

Stonecarving to felting, From fabric Dying 

to spinning wool and enjoy them all,

 but I always come back to 

my stitching.

So that is me
and this is my give away.

 I love these packs as it lets your imagination run riot.

So just leave a comment and make sure I can contact you 

by e-mail and it is open to everyone whether a follower or not.

The draw, like all the others will be on the 15th of February.

Good Luck and Best Wishes.

Gillxxx

Old Friends and A New Toy

I have had a page on Facebook,

 under my real name not Dosie Rosie, for several years now.

My daughters set it up for me as

 It was the easiest way for me to keep in touch with my children

while they were travelling around the world.

I was more likely to get a message on Facebook from Asia

or South America than I was a phone

call and  if any of them even used Facebook 

I at least knew they were alright.

Now the children have settled down and certainly

 over the last 12 months, it has taken on 

a very different roll for both my husband and me.

When we moved from London over 20 years ago

we left behind lots of old friends and work colleagues

which, certainly for the first couple of years, I found very hard.

Then I found a group on facebook

which was affiliated to our old work and 

have found many old friends that I lost contact with 

many many years ago.

What is even stranger is that when you compare notes

you find so many coincidences and places when

we might have been in the same place at the same time.

Holidays taken just down the road from us, attending the same 

concert or in one case, also moving to Norfolk and living not far away.

We will be meeting up soon I hope.

So one of those faces I have seen and said to my husband

"they look familiar",  might indeed have been someone I went to school with

or worked with many years ago 

as it turns out it really is a small world.

  However,

seeing some of the old photos that people have put on

the site have caused great hilarity .

The new Toy? 

well I got a new camera for Christmas and the photos are

some of the pictures I have taken while trying to

get the hang of it.

Hope to see you on the 25th for my 

 Grow Your Own Blog post.

Gillxx

Drum Roll Please

Bit dramatic I know but this is what was in the parcel

I showed you in my last post.

My friend has recently learnt to crochet so 

I made her needle roll with a set of hooks.

I added a couple of pockets at the end

for scissors and tape measure which close with velcro.

Two little stitch markers finish it off.

So mystery revealed it's out to lunch with my Daughter

so enjoy the rest of your week.

Gillxx

French Labels

It's my friends birthday this week and I've made her a present

which, as she hasn't opened it yet, I will have to wait for another day.

The problem was as she was coming over for coffee I had to wrap it quickly.

and I had no wrapping paper or even

brown paper left after Christmas and no time to buy any.

What I have got is loads of old french magazines so decided to 

use one of these to

make a paper bag,  which l really liked the look of.

Now I just needed a label  to complete the look.

So I raided my drawers and found

some luggage labels which was a bit boring and didn't quite

go with the look.

Back to the magazine and pick a picture.

Pick a luggage label and take off the string.

Stick it to the back of the magazine and smooth down

so no creases or bubbles

Cut it out with a sharp craft knife and 

re -attach the string

 and voila--as the french say.

I got a bit carried away.

 But my friend was thrilled with her present, lets hope she likes the 

contents as much.

Enjoy your day, I'm off to Lowestoft for Sunday lunch.

See you soon.

Gillxx

Blog Hopping

Would you believe  I have come down with a cold so soon in

the New Year , so I am curled up on the sofa with

some hot lemon and doing a bit of blog hopping.

I like to do this sometimes as you find some great new blogs

to have a browse through and todays one is called

"2 bags Full" and she has come up with this great idea

of having an online blog party.

 For us blog hoppers I think it's a fantastic way of 

finding new blogs to read and to get new followers to your own blog.

So watch this space on the 25th when I will be writing a special post

especially for the party.

Gill x

P.S. Sorry folks I should have said click on the 
Grow your blog button in my side bar for the link.