Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - November, 11-20

Hi there everyone 😀

We are just back from the loveliest relaxing week holed up in a cosy holiday cottage, very close to a very swollen river, in Ashford-in-the-Water in The Peak District.

Though we arrived to sandbags at the front and back doors, we had missed the worst of the rain and actually got quite lucky and even saw some sunshine. We got out and about and visited a few new places and got to see Chatsworth for Christmas and the Christmas markets which were a real treat.

We were thrown right back into the swing of things with the first of our Christmas craft fairs the day after we got back and we have a couple more over the course of the next couple of weeks so November and December are shaping up to be just as busy as predicted, so I still have plenty to share with you but ... for now, here's what we've been up to so far ...

Day 11 - A very productive craft day ... it seems to have gone a little crazy with orders over the last week, which is very exciting. I made up a batch of William Morris bookmarks to go with the cards I'd previously made and I love how they've turned out.

Day 12 - A morning at the hair dressers, just chilling whilst getting the Christmas colour done and a big Christmas order all ready and packaged up for the off 😁

Day 13 - Last day of crafting before we head off for our week's holiday. We don't seem to be able to make these beeswax wraps quick enough!

Day 14 - After a morning at school, carrying out Governor duties, I spent the afternoon catching up on blogging ready for while we are away. It was lovely to browse through Isle of Wight holiday photographs of our visit to Brighstone, with glorious sunshine, whilst tucked up inside listening to the rain hitting the windows.

Day 15 - All the crafting orders done and posted, shopping done, cleaning done, packing done ... just one thing left to do before heading off tomorrow and that was to sit down with pizza and chips for our last evening at home for a week.

Day 16 - Lunch at the Chatsworth Garden Centre en route to Ashford-in-the-Water and yes, it tasted every bit as good as it looked 😋

Day 17 - The view from  bedroom window for the next week and yes ... the river is very high!

Day 18 - Today was my 55th birthday and we had one of the loveliest of days. After lots of rain in the area, the weather did us proud and we had a lovely bright, dry day with lots of sunshine. We spent it exploring a few new places ... Padley Gorge, Owler Tor and the Derwent and Howden reservoirs, all of which were just stunning and I have lots of photos to share with you over the coming weeks. This view though ... just near took our breath away. We'd driven as far as the road allowed up past the reservoirs and came to this spot where the water was dead still and the sun was just about to set ... another 10 minutes and all would have been dark ... the reflections were absolutely amazing ... it was the perfect end to one of the loveliest of days 💜💜💜

Day 19 - Apart from the fact that it was dry, the weather couldn't have been more different from yesterday. We woke up to a really heavy frost and the temperature had took a bit of a nose dive. We wrapped up warm for our annual Christmas day out ... this time to Chatsworth. We started with a walk round the gardens, followed by lunch, Christmas markets and a wander round the house, which was all decked out for Christmas around the World. Another lovely day out.

Day 20 - After a couple of very 'full on' days, we slowed it down a bit today with breakfast at the Hassop Station Cafe, followed by a wander round Bakewell for some Christmas shopping and a quick pitstop at the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop. This mug caught my eye in one of the quirky little shops and really made me smile 😀

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