Monday 17 November 2014

Tiddley Pom!

Just a small 'new thing' for this week. I must be one of the last people to discover these little beauties:
Just in case there is anyone out there as technologically behind as I am, these are Pompom makers - and great fun they are too. I have to confess though, that, given the scarcity of instructions on the box, it did take me an embarrassingly long time to work out how to use them! Once I'd cracked it, however, I was away - pompoming (don't you just hate it when people 'verb' nouns?!) for all I was worth. I soon had enough to make a small garland which is suspended beneath E's cabin bed. Foolishly, I forgot to photograph the pompoms before putting them up, and I'm rather reluctant to invade E's privacy by posting pictures of her room without permission (what a lot of Ps in one sentence!), so here is a close up of one of them:
Isn't it cute? I rather expected E to scoff and immediately remove them when she came home from school, but she seems to rather like them. Either that or she's being incredibly polite!
Other happies this week include:
More work on the Garden throw:

Listening to lots of violin practice. Actually, this is a bit of a mixed bag: E takes her Grade 8 exam next week, so whilst I'm loving the pieces, the scales are beginning to grate rather!

Visiting a Christmas Fayre at our local Watermill Theatre. This photo makes me laugh - I see so many beautiful photos in Blogland showing amazing blue skies and just look at ours at the moment - you couldn't even call it grey; it's just nothing!


The theatre showcases some rather nice sculptures. I particularly liked this heron by the river:

.... and the local ducks are rather spoilt with this duck house:

 R and I went for a day trip to Salisbury this weekend (E stayed at home to practise those scales!). I managed to snatch a quick photo of the cathedral as we were stuck in a traffic queue. It actually looks a bit bleak here; it's much prettier close up.

We weren't going into the centre this time though, we were off to the racecourse to visit an antique fair:
We didn't buy anything, but it was quite nice to potter round. Fortunately, there were lots of stalls indoors as the weather wasn't the best but, because of this, there was rather a lot of jewellery etc. which isn't really my thing. I actually prefer the antique fair at our local racecourse - it's all outdoors, so the items tend to be a bit more rugged. I was also a bit too shy to take any photos inside!

As we drove home along the A303, we passed Stonehenge - unfortunately, we couldn't pause while I took a decent photo as the road was too busy, so I had to be content with this rather blurred attempt as we whizzed by!

 More nondescript sky!

One final happy this week that I haven't got a photo of - rereading Laurie Lee's book 'Cider with Rosie'. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy his poetic prose - it's like honey off a spoon.

Wishing you a lovely week and may all your skies be blue ones! Toodle Pip for now. x

4 comments:

  1. Oh my days I got the very same pompom maker set just last week, managed yesterday to make some of the smallest ones to add to a pushchair blanket. They are fun, soooo much quicker than the cardboard circle affair.
    Wonderful Heron and fabulous duck house.
    Hope the weather improves soon, dry and bright would be lovely.
    Helen

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  2. I wouldn't have a clue how to use pompom makers either, I used to make them with cardboard circles as I recall. I love the duck house, very pretty. Salisbury is a wonderful place isn't it, I haven't been for ages, but I do like it there. CJ xx

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  3. I'd often wondered about pompom makers, I'm more used to the traditional cut a piece of card and wrap and cut method I learnt at school, however my sister in law rates her plastic pompom maker and it is a serious of circles inside each other - I have absolutely no idea how to make it work!! (pass me the scissors and card please!)

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  4. I just discovered your blog, and am enjoying looking back at your posts. I too, favour the cardboard method of pom pom making, but have some ancient plastic pom pom makers from the 80s - I wonder if they're the same as modern ones? I love the garden throw - lovely colours! We drive past Salisbury sometimes and occasionally stop there - it's a beautiful place,
    Cathy x

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