Broom Pole Bird Houses.

Stood in the kitchen, a few weeks ago, I saw a movement outside the kitchen window.  Mr.Cobs was out there and up to something.  Hmmm.  [thinks to self:]  I thought I just saw him . . .   or did I?  Was that a . . . ?  Did I see him just . . .?

When he came into the house I asked him:

“Did you, by any chance, just throw a long bit of wood into the bin?” 

“Yes” came the reply, “the broom pole (handle) has broken, so I was throwing it away.  Why?” 

“Nooooooo!” I said (wide-eyed).  “Oh, please don’t throw it away.  Can you get it back out again?”

“Well yes, course I can,  but why?  What the heck do you want it for?”. 

“Well, …  I don’t actually know right at this moment ….  but I will know.  At some point.  There’s something inside my brain cell which is trying to send me a message.  I know I can use that broken broom pole.  Please save it for me?  In the shed perhaps?  Can you?  Pleeeease??  (I said in my sweetest voice).

So, bless his beautiful heart, he went and rescued the broken broom pole (for folks outside the UK – we here in the United Kingdom tend to refer to the handle of a broom as a broom pole), and put it in his shed.  Last week I finally received the message from HQ (aka: my one remaining brain cell), and the message was ….  Make Bird Houses!

I showed Mr.C a drawing and gave him a rough measurement, with the instructions:  “They don’t have to be perfect, in fact not perfect would be perfect  – but can you just cut 3 bits off the broom pole to *this* size, and once they’re cut, if you can give them to me I’ll draw where I want them cut again so that it will make the slope for the roof. Thank Yooooou!”  [said in a singy songy way with a sweet, smiling face].  And, God bless his wonderful heart, he cut the wood bits for me, gave them to me and . . .  I could tell by the look on his face that he thought (not for the first time) that I was bonkers.

However …  he now loves what I did with those three bits of chopped up broom pole.

Let me share them with you, one by one…

3 Broompole Birdhouses (2) WoodenHouse
Broom Pole Bird Houses.  Showing you the wood stained miniature bird house, with the Red Hot Pokers growing at the base.  This bird house measures just 8.8cm – or 3.5inches.  It’s just stopped raining – and you can see the puddles of rain on the stepping-stones at the base, and rain drops on the roof of the bird house.

Each bird house stands on a ‘slice’ of dried wood, which I then decorated to give it that ‘garden’ feel.

3 Broompole Birdhouses (3) BLUEHouse
Broom Pole Bird Houses.  A side view of the little Blue stained Bird House.  This Bird House stands 9.8cm tall (or 3.85″ inches).  It has Ivy growing up around the pole which the Bird House stands on, and the Ivy then winds its way around the black tiled roof.

Each slice of wood, which the bird houses stand on, is of a slightly different size, so that there was nothing matching about any of them, other than they were tiny bird houses, a little wonky perhaps,  but all of them were stood in a charmed, magical garden,  … somewhere.

3 Broompole Birdhouses (4)) GREENHouse
Broom Pole Bird Houses.  A slightly angled view of all three bird houses so that you can see some of the details of the ‘ground’ on which they stand.

As I look at each of the bird houses I try to decide which one is my favourite, and I’m finding it quite difficult.  Mr.Cobs, however, says his favourite is the wood stained one, with the Red Hot Pokers growing around the base.  Right at this moment, I think my favourite is the Copper Roofed bird house – simply because I love that copper roof.

3 Broompole Birdhouses (5)) COPPER ROOF
Broom Pole Bird Houses.  The Copper Roof Bird House – stands 12.2cm tall.  (which is just  4.80″inches).   This bird house stands right at the edge of a small pond in which three golden coloured fish swim happily.

The Copper Roof Bird House has its own Box Tree in the shape of a ball, stood in a teeny tiny (but real) terracotta pot.  There’s a waterfall – which aerates the water for the fish, and a rock sited within the pond which is for any passing frog to sit on and spend a little time there.  The pond is surrounded by slate stones.

I REALLY enjoyed making these delight filled little Bird Houses.  They were so much fun and yet again …. they’re in my favourite size to work with …  LITTLEHope you like them too!

3 Broompole Birdhouses (6) ALL Houses

So … that’s the crafty bit over and done with so now it’s time for coffee . . . 

Fuzzy Coffee

…  and  …  time for me to make you smile:

These are the jokes folks:

Surely every car is a people carrier?

What’s the difference between a hippo and a Zippo?   One is really heavy, the other is a little lighter.

When Clowns divorce – is there a custardy battle?

I usually meet my daughter at 12:59,  because I like that one-to-one time.

My cat is recovering from a massive stroke. (think about it for a moment …. the penny will drop!)

I have a friend whose name is Fin.  Which means it’s very hard for her to end emails without sounding pretentious. 

Smilin’  now?   😀

Well that’s me done and dusted.  But what about you?  What have you been getting up to this week?  Had a birthday?  Planning a trip?  Started Christmas shopping?  Crafted something?  Feeling poorly?  Cooked something new and exciting?  Or … has someone been really lovely and/or displayed some kind of kindness towards you?

Do share with me,  and tell me what’s going on in your corner of the world.

In the meantime …  I send you my love and very best wishes.  I hope that life is treating you kindly, and that you know that everyone here cares about you very much.  

Have a truly blessed rest of your day.  Much love from me  ~

Sig coffee copy

 

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Fairy Footprints Card ~ Fairy Cottage Pot ~ Birthday Giveaway Winners!

Thank you so much to all who entered this Birthday Giveaway in my  last post.  I love Giveaways any day of the week or time of the year, but this one was extra special for me because it was my Birthday, and so a chance to have some extra fun with some of my blogging friends.

On offer in this latest Giveaway were two items.  A Fairy Footprints Card, and a Fairy Cottage Pot.  The photographs I shared with you in the post didn’t do either of the items any justice what-so-ever.

The card is something that even I couldn’t stop looking at.  It’s filled with so much magical wonderment and sparkle.  Oh, and I totally forgot to say in my last post:

  • Those fairy footprints weren’t made using a stamp; nor an impress of feet shaped tool;  nor a leather press tool or anything like that.  No footprint  ‘tool’  or  ‘implement’  nor mould of any sort made those footprints.  Cross my heart.  Pinky finger truth.  I truthfully state that NO FOOTPRINT TOOL OF ANY DESCRIPTION MADE THOSE FOOTPRINTS.

The tiny Fairy Cottage Pot looks way prettier in real life too – but because I tried to get close up shots of the Pot, it made it appear bigger and somehow lacking.  Where-as in real life, it’s very much a cute, tiny little thing of charm and sweetness, which makes you smile when holding it between your fingers.

ANYHOO …  you’re here to find out who won, and I’m here to tell you.

All entrants were allotted a number to their name, in the order of entry:

  1. BCParkison
  2. Susieshy
  3. Soozyb2013 (Soozy, sadly, doesn’t have a blog so I can’t link to it)
  4. Samanthamurdoch
  5. Dinosaursdonkeysandms
  6. Invisibly Me
  7. Paula @ Spin a Yarn
  8. Rabbitpatchdiary.com
  9. Chicken Grandma
  10. Nancee56

Because there are two items up for grabs, I explained in my last post:

  • On the day of the Random Number Generator being asked to pick the winners, the FIRST number generated, will be the winner who will get the chance to choose which Fairy related give-a-way they would like to receive.
  • The SECOND number generated will receive the other Fairy give-a-way.

So, with no further ado I’m thrilled to announce that. . . 

The FIRST number chosen, and so is in the position of choosing which Fairy item she would like to choose,  is:

WINNER NO.1 fairy footprints Fairy Cottage Pot Birthday Giveaway

. . .  Number 3 – and this number belongs to  SOOZYB2013

Soozyb   because you don’t have a blog, I’ll try to contact you via the email address which is logged into the system every time you comment.

  • In an effort to be fair and not keep winner #2 waiting for their prize gift:-   If I don’t hear from Soozyb by Friday 10th August, (next Friday) then I shall pass on the choice of item to winner No.2 so that they can choose which gift they’d like, and Soozyb will be in receipt of which ever Fairy item is left,  –  once I get her address to send the item to.

The SECOND winning number chosen by The Random Number Generator is:-

WINNER NO.2 Fairy Footprints and Fairy Cottage Pot Birthday Giveaway

. . .  Number 1 and this number belongs to:  BCParkison!

Who I think we all know as Bev.

Bev . . . As soon as I hear from Soozyb,  I’ll drop you a note and let you know what your Winning Gift is (unless you’d rather have a surprise)  – OR – if I don’t hear from Soozy by next Friday, I’ll drop you a note asking you to choose your Winning Gift from this Giveaway.

Many, many thanks to everyone for joining in.  Giveaways add a little fun to everyday life, and makes days ‘glisten’ just that little bit more  ~  especially when we perhaps need a bit of a glisten.

Thank you also for joining me on this beautiful (if rather too warm) Sunday.  I hope your day passes brightly and that, at the end of it,  you feel contentment wash over you.

A few gremlins may have grizzled into your moments – but that happens to us all, so never feel you’re alone in that.  The trick with these gremlins is to never give them the power over your moods, and don’t allow them to hang around either.  Kick them out.  Open the door and demand they leave.  My dear friends, you have no room in your life for gremlins.  Don’t give them room.

Stay as awesome are you are, and  –  aim for contentmentOnce you have that, everything else will magically fall into place.

Heaps of love and squidges, from me in my corner, to you in yours.  ~

Sig coffee copy

 

“Happy Birthday to me, happy Birthday to me…” (well that’s a Give-a-way isn’t it!)

Did I give-a-way that it’s my Birthday today?  [gasp!  I did?  Well shame on me.  Fancy advertising that you’re a year old than your original 7.5 years older.  Well..  I’m now 7.5 years old and well ….  it’s very strange, but I feel the exact same age as I did yesterday.  Bonus!

Talking of bonus’ . . . I come bearing a celebration of my special day, and, as we all know, a Birthday is a day associated with love and a small gift … or two.  So I’m here doing a Give-a-way to celebrate, open to all my followers.  However, not just one give-a-way,  but TWO!  My Birthday is on the 2nd so I thought that it being a 2, we should have a double Give-a-way.

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

What’s on offer…

Fairy Footprints and a Cottage Pot
Fairy Footprints on a little card,  and a Fairy Cottage Pot.  Each one of these Fairy goodies is included in this Birthday Giveaway!

 

On offer is what you see in the photograph above.

  • One person can win the Fairy Footprints card, –
  • and  –  another person can win the Cottage Pot.

 

As you might be able to see in the 2nd of the two photos (just above here) – the Cottage Pot is, in total only just over 2″(two) inches tall.

It’s a micro-sized (real) terracotta pot, in which a tiny Fairy built her home.  Now left behind,  after she found her mate and began a family – and I was lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time, with my ‘finding eyes’ working so well that I found it!

The tiny little terracotta pot itself measures just three-quarters of an inch!

Fairy Footprints on a card Giveaway

The Fairy Footprints card . . . well there’s quite a magical story behind that.

I rolled out two sorts of different clay and left it on my desk for just a matter of moments while I went and washed my hands. 

When I came back . . . there were Fairy Footprints all over both of the clays!  From very small to big (‘big’ for a Fairy), but all of them were just breathtaking.  I didn’t want to destroy the clay (obviously) but couldn’t leave it all in a ‘slab’ – as that would have been too difficult to store carefully.  So … I carefully cut the footprints out and set them aside for them to dry.  (Hoping that nothing happened to them, nor that the footprints would disappear!)

I coloured the clay so that the footprints showed up clearly…  and decided that I just couldn’t keep them for myself, and had to share.  So I attached one to a little card – (just 11.6cm square, – or roughly 4.5″ inches) and here I am doing a Give-a-way in order to share and celebrate my Birthday.

Now then …. here’s the important bit so pin back your lug holes (ears). . . 

The Give-a-way is open only to followers of the Cobweborium Emporium.

  • In order to enter your name for one of these Give-a-ways you MUST  make a comment on this post, and BEGIN YOUR COMMENT WITH THE WORD:  GIVEAWAY.  This is really important because seeing that word right at the beginning of a comment is my way of instantly finding all the people who want to be included.  If it’s not at the start of your comment, then on the day when I’m counting up how many people want to be in with a chance of winning, I just might miss anyone who has put the word in the middle or the end etc.  So please begin your comment with that one word: Giveaway. (thank you!)
  • On the day of the Random Number Generator being asked to pick the winners, the FIRST number generated, will be the winner who will get the chance to choose which Fairy related give-a-way they would like to receive.
  • The SECOND number generated will receive the other Fairy give-a-way.

And that’s all there is to it. 🙂

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

But I repeat … this Give-a-way is open only to followers of The Cobweborium Emporium.  This is simply because it makes it fair.

Followers aren’t simply ‘followers’.  These people (and you all know who you are) are wonderful friends who make blogging such a total joy to me.

All that’s left to say is …  don’t forget: GIVEAWAY as your first word  –

But you don’t have to want to be included for a Giveaway,  to comment.

If your comment doesn’t include the magic word, then I will know you don’t feel the need to have another ‘thing’ to care for!  Just come and have a chat in that case.  (You know I love to chat with you! lol.)

Wishing you a bright, blessed Thursday.  May your day be filled with peace and contentment.  Thank you so much for coming and sharing a coffee moment with me. 

Much love ~ 

Sig coffee copy

 

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

GIVEAWAY ~ ‘Home Under the Dome’ ~ WINNER

Thank you all so much for joining in the fun of the GIVEAWAY for the Home Under the Dome, which I shared with you in the last blog post

Home Under the Dome - Giveaway 9

I closed the Giveaway today, and then collected all the names.  Each name was allocated a number based upon the order in which they entered their name into the GIVEAWAY.

These are the names, along with their allocated numbers: (where possible, I’ve added each name as a link to their own blog, so that you can go and visit them and perhaps make a new friend!)

  1. Watching the Daisies
  2. BC Parkison
  3. Crafty Boutique by  Tam
  4. Invisibly Me
  5. Susie Shy45
  6. Gillyflower
  7. Soozyb2013
  8. Barbara Lindsey
  9. Chicken Grandma
  10. The Artisan Duck
  11. Mrs.Craft.

I then asked Mr.Google for it’s Random Number Generator, which it duly gave me, and I asked the RNG to pick the winning number from and including No.1 –  up to and including No. 11.  I clicked the ‘Generate‘ button,  and it chose . . . 

Home Under the Dome - WINNER 22nd July 2018 - Winner is Watching the Daisies

NUMBER 1 (ONE)!

So the WINNER OF OUR Home Under the Dome is   [drumroll]. . . 

Watching the Daisies  ~

 

Daisies, I’m thrilled to be posting the Home Under the Dome to you.  All I now need is your snail mail address so that I can post it.

I think you and I have emailed each other once before, so I’ll have a search through my emails to see if I can find your email address, and once found, I’ll drop you a note so that you can send me your snail mail address.

Many, many thanks to everyone for joining in.  Giveaways make life just a bit more fun, and shines a bright spot in days.

There will be another Giveaway very soon …. but I won’t tell you when, or what for, or why.  So keep watching … you really won’t have to wait too long.  😉

And tomorrow …. there is a blog post heading your way – (if I can get the darn photographs taken), – which I think will not only make you smile, but possibly even make you laugh out loud, and maybe even squirm and squiggle just a little.  😀   *Cobs – tsk tsk,  that’s enough.  Don’t give it all away!!*

But, for today, this glorious Sunday which has been gifted to us all  . . .  May your day be peace filled, touched with joy, and sprinkled with happy.  May you leave any troubles outside the door until tomorrow, and may love fill your home and heart.

And …  stay as awesome as I think of you as being.  Because you truly, really are.

Much love and many squidges, from me in my corner to you in yours.Sig coffee copy

 

Home under the Dome 3 ~ MEGA DOMES!

What’s that saying  ~  “Go BIGGER or go home!”?   We’ll we’re doing both here!

Although …  not going so big that you could see a ‘Home Under the Dome’ from Space.  I might be calling them ‘Mega Domes’ – but they’re still tiny. Small enough to put in your pocket.

Take a look at the measurements…  (the purple rule is in centimetres, but I’ve done the conversion into inches to help) . . .

Mega Domes and Regular Dome measurements. 2

The Home Under the Dome in the centre (above) is the regular sized dome that you’ve seen me make before.  (you’ll  find information about this little Dome later).

Mega Domes pair 2

The Mega Dome on the right hand side of the above photo contains something very special,  because it holds a ‘Fairy Kiss’, and, of course, a Fairy Home[under the Dome] along with some Fairy Mushrooms and a few other tiny fairy thingsThe Dome on the left hand side of the above photograph contains a Fairy Wish Tree as well as not one, but TWO Fairy Homes, and a bundle of Fairy Mushrooms.  Let’s take a look at that one first, shall we?

Fairy Wish Tree Mega Dome 4

The tree really does have a tree trunk – but try as I might I couldn’t get it to properly show up in photographs.  The trunk is made from a piece of branch which fell from the humongous protected Pine Trees which are in my garden to the rear of Cobweb Cottage.

Fairy Wish Tree Mega Dome 5

There are two Fairy Homes, and an assortment of Fairy Mushrooms – all freshly collected from Freckled Mushroom Wood ~ which can be found near to where I live – but is only known and shown to those who truly believe and enter with a pure heart.  If you look very closely towards the top of the tree, you will see the tiniest of Fairy Bluebirds, sitting happily in the tree. Can you also spot the really tiny multi coloured, sparkly butterflies?

Fairy Wish Tree Mega Dome 4

What you can’t see in the photos above, is that the Fairy Wishing Tree was collected when there was a low breeze, and so it is held in suspension, or ‘frozen in time’, and bends slightly,  and the foliage still looks exactly as it did when the low breeze blew it – all blown and sort of ‘leaning’ in the same direction.  It looks like there is a gentle wind blowing inside the Dome. Magical!

The other Mega Dome – well that’s a special dome and possibly my favourite.  It contains a Fairy Kiss, which holds a Fairy Home and some Magical Freckled Mushroom.

It has flowers, and some teeny tiny buttons which the Fairies had collected and were using as stepping-stones up to their house.  Knowing that the Fairies wouldn’t mind, I gathered up just two of the minuscule buttons and added them to the base of the silver Thimble Kiss.

Fairy Kiss Mega Dome 7

The Fairy Kiss is the Thimble you see holding the Fairy home and mushrooms.

Do you remember in the story of Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up, (written by Scottish novelist J.M.Barrie), who interacts with Fairies, Mermaids and Pirates (‘think’ Captain Hook!). Wendy Darling and Peter Pan became friends and wants to give Peter a kiss – which Peter thinks is the thimble which Wendy is holding, so holds out his hand to receive it.

That thimble from the story made a huge impression on me as a child and I grew up knowing that in reality, a thimble to humans, was a ‘kiss’ to a Fairy.

When my daughters were old enough to understand and treasure things – one Christmas I gave each of them a special gift from me of a silver bracelet (one each), which I’d had one tiny, real silver thimble hung on each of the bracelets, and when they’d opened their bracelets I shook my arm and showed them that I too had a silver bracelet with a silver thimble on it, and told them that wherever they might be in the world, and if I was ever a long way away from them, they only had to look at their bracelets and would see that they would always have a kiss from me.  They loved their bracelets, and the knowledge that they would always have a kiss.

Now lets deal with that tiny little Home Under the Dome which is in the middle of the two Mega Domes, shall we ?  . . .

Mega Domes plus a giveaway 1

 This regular sized, tiny Home Under the Dome (in the centre of the above photo) is quite a special dome, and it’s up for grabs!

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

Home Under the Dome - Giveaway 8

This tiny little dome is packed to over-flowing with charm and has some very special features.  There are two tiny homes under this dome, both of which speak of the quirkiness and fun of the Fairies who once inhabited the homes – for both are slightly different in that they are wiggly wobbly.  Bending and curving just slightly.   They’re …. different in a special way.

Home Under the Dome - Giveaway 9

It was difficult to show you what I mean in photographs, but you can just about see in the photo above that the tallest of the two houses begins at ground level and then curves backwards and, had it been taller, you would have seen that it’s on it’s way back to curve the other way.  BUT .. if you then look at the smaller of the Fairy homes – that home also curves and in fact matches the curve of the taller house!  How do the Fairies know how to do that?!!!  [gasp!]

There are blue freckled Fairy mushrooms, and also one teeny tiny red freckled mushroom, all growing in the grass.  But … there is something very special that I haven’t included in any Dome before . . . 

Home Under the Dome - Giveaway 10

. . . there – in a ‘held in a moment of time’, is a tiny blue butterfly, which landed on a freckled mushroom, and is captured forever under the Dome.  This special Dome is now the subject of a Giveaway for followers of my blog.

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

If you would like to be the custodian for this Home Under the Dome, and you are a follower, all you need to do is:-

  • In a comment on this blog post, put the word  ‘GIVEAWAY’ right at the beginning of your comment.  Put it before you type any other word – this helps me to find those folk who would like to be included in the chance to be the new Home Under the Dome, guardian.

And that’s it.  That’s all you need to do.

If you can’t find the comments box, then you need to scroll all the way to the top and click on the title of this post (‘A Home under the Dome 3 ~ MEGA DOMES!’) – and that will load the blog page this time with the comments box – which will show up at the bottom of the post.  (You can also read any comments other people have put too!)

Please remember that the Giveaway is only open to followers of The Cobweborium Emporium Blog.

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

Well, crafty wise,  that’s me done and dusted.

However . . . I’ve learned some things this week that I’d like to share  . . .

  1. Don’t trust that the new receptionist at your doctors has actually booked you in to see the doctor you told her you wanted to see, but instead might (accidentally) book you in to see some doctor in the practise you’ve never seen before in your life.  [sigh]
  2. That although your husband/partner normally has the worst memory in the Universe, sometimes they will surprise the heck out of you and know exactly where to find a particular thing, that you know you have, but WHERE THE DICKENS IS IT?!!!
  3. I’ve learned that I haven’t lost my power to bargain with stores and get a better deal than they first offer you.  SOOOO happy, and Mr.C is in awe!  (But I don’t go in for hero-worship so … ahh, no … a little hero-worship is great for the soul – so long as it’s only for a moment).
  4. I’ve finally admitted that my big boy cat, [read ‘small Panther’], Alf Capone, is, quite frankly,  the nosiest cat in the world.  He likes to sit or ‘lounge’  anywhere at the front of our cottage where he can observe every single thing which goes on in the area where we live.  Any neighbour who comes or goes, doesn’t do so without being counted out and counted in again.  Any car which drives past is registered – both in colour, make and model, for future reference by him.  He’s the laziest, nosiest, most beautiful cat with the biggest personality, and he makes everyone laugh.  He’s also the biggest eater.  We’ll go bankrupt with this cat.  He can really put it away!  (But then, he is a huuuge cat – so I guess it’s understandable).
  5. Finally …  I’ve learnt that ‘accidentally’ being booked in to see the wrong doctor actually might be beneficial – so don’t discount seeing someone different when the need arises, for a fresh set of eyes looking at things differently and can sometimes come up with what possibly might be the answer.

I’m sure I’ve learned more than these things, but my one brain cell can only hold so much information, and when there’s too much going in it forces the brain cell to ‘evacuate’  some older things in order to make way for the new stuff.  (But I wish that it would hang onto passwords or at the very least be organised enough to stick post it notes to the inside of my skull!)

All that’s left for me to do now is to wish you a truly wonderful week.  May reality be better than your dreams!

Have a blessed day all.  Sending you heaps of squidges and lots of love ~

Sig coffee copy

Edit: 22nd July 2018:

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 22nd July 2018.

A Home Under the Dome!

When Fairy and Pixie families begin to grow, bigger homes are obviously required.  So they move out of their little cottages and normally the empty little homes will stay empty until another Fairy or Pixie take up residence in the little home.

But sometimes, if they’re very lucky,  a human might come across an empty Fairy home and, providing they’re careful, the human can gently lift the Fairy home from its nesting spot, and carry it home, and keep it safe for ever more.

I bought a whole bundle of these tiny Domes about 9 or so years ago for another ‘tiny’ project that I was doing at the time.  I couldn’t buy just the right amount I needed, as they came as a certain boxed amount (can’t remember how many), so once I’d done the projects I wanted to do, I packed the remaining domes safely in a box and put them away, with the thought that they might come in useful another day.  And, as you can see … they have! 

Add Jpeg Red Under the Dome

It was quite difficult to photograph these as the light bounced off the domes.  Too many lights made white dots on the domes, all over the place.  Not enough light and it wouldn’t allow you to see inside the dome properly.  So I hope that the photos I’ve chosen allow you, dear reader, to see into the Homes under the Domes.

A home Under the Dome Red

Each dome is different from any other, and each dome has its own words or ‘story’ which runs around the base.

Home under the Dome from Freckled Mushrooms Wood

All the homes you see inside each individual dome, all come from ‘Freckled Mushrooms Wood’, and the toadstools which accompany them are all collected at the same time as the teeny tiny houses.

Just Enough Shroom Under the Dome

In some of the domes there are still signs of evidence of Pixie and Fairy dust, which twinkles madly!

This next dome (below) was a special request from my much-loved Grandson, Little Cobs – who put in an order:  “Can me have one?  Put blue mushrooms in my dome Grammy!” . . . and as any decent Grammy would …  I made sure he got his wish …  but … there was a surprise waiting for him today when he came, after school, for his tea.  Not only did he have a Home in a Dome waiting for him, with blue mushrooms inside it . . .  but his Dome also had a Gnome inside it too!

The Blue GNOME UNDER THE DOME

It just looks like 4 blue Freckled Fairy Mushrooms ….  until you turn the dome . . . 

The GNOME UNDER THE DOME

. . .  and then you find that there’s a little Fairy Gnome, snoozing the day away, under his Freckled Mushroom Cap, and all you can see of him is his fabulous Gnome Nose, his wonderful Gnome feet and his little chubby toes!

Gnome Under the Dome Fairy House

And then a further turn of the dome reveals that there, nestled into the Freckled Mushrooms, is a genuine, really real Fairy House.  A ‘Home under the Dome’.

I knew I had to do something with my domes when I came across them a few weeks ago.  I saw them and instantly felt that I’d like to put some ‘Fairy Home’ specimens under them.

If you would like a play with something similar but don’t have the domes, I recommend those little bottles that are available at craft stores and suppliers.  The bottles are way easier to come by than the domes, and they make the most fabulous little ‘Specimen Bottles’.  So sweet, and would be lovely as gifts!

add red Home Under the Dome

Well that’s me done and dusted with regard to Fairies, Pixies, Gnomes and Homes.

I seem to have been trying to keep the all the plates spinning this week.  I’m not overly fond of weeks like that, as they leave me feeling proper drained.  But  I learned an important lesson this week  …  If I change my password on ANY internet site, then I need to write the darn thing down and keep the note until I’ve finally got the new password lodged inside my one and only brain cell! 

Six times I’ve forgotten the new password I’ve made up for one particular website.  SIX TIMES  Each time I forget, the website asks me make a new password, and it has to be one I haven’t used before.  Well quite frankly, I’m getting to the point where I think I’ve used all the words available to my brain – so I’d better not forget this latest one, because if I do, I’ll be well and truly stuffed!  I’ve written it down on a post-it note and stuck it to the side of my shelving unit in the craft room.  Please God, don’t let it fall off the unit!

Thank you so much for coming, having a coffee moment with me, and for sharing the Homes under the Domes.  There’ll be more of these coming – as this is something I’m having lots of harmless fun with.  But …  I have been working on something which I originally bought these domes for all those years ago.  So this will be a crafty re-visit to an oldey but goody.  When I’ve finally taken some photo’s of them, I’ll share those with you too.

In the meantime . . .  I wish you a bright and beautiful Thursday.  If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.  It costs nothing, but it makes the world a whole lot better place to be a part of.

Sending much love and plenty of squidges, from me in my corner, to you in yours.  Have a blessed day my friends  ~  

Coffee Sig

 

Things I learned this Week . . .

Happy Friday!  …  and welcome to Cobs Lessons of Life.  A snapshot of a week spent being taught certain lessons which we all run into from time to time – but I’m sharing my lessons with you so that you learn in a fun way, . . .  and have a laugh at my predicaments.  or even go away after reading this post feeling so much wiser and far more clever than you started out!

Regular readers may remember that last week I told you my tale of woe about having absolutely no electricity in my craft room.  All the electrics went pop on Wednesday of last week and despite Mr. Cobs efforts, the electricity was no more.

Thankfully, my Super Hero:  Electric Man,  came Friday morning last week and managed to locate the problem, sort it out, and the magic which is electricity was restored!

But I still haven’t told you what caused the loss of electricity in my craft room yet.

I bet that you couldn’t ever guess what caused all the electricity to suddenly disappear in my craft room – not even if I gave you two weeks to come up with your best guess.  But .. let’s give this a moment, and let you have one stab at what you think it might have been.

Go on…  I’ll give you chance to make just one guess.  Just one.  Make it outrageous.  See if you can guess.

Now let’s see how many of your were right ….

What caused my entire craft room to be plunged into the bleak dark ages of no electricity was … A WEB SITE.  Yes, you really did read that correctly.  Maybe I should be more specific so that you can picture how this loss of electricity occurred ….  I lost all the electricity in my craft room simply because of a particular type of web site,  more commonly known as . . .  a spider’s web.

Yes, honestly truthfully.  Honest to Dog.  Cross my heart and all that stuff.

A spider had crawled into an electric socket and decided that he would make his home there.  He’d spun himself a rather intricate web (my Super Hero Electric Man told me it was really quite pretty one).  And it was this web which shorted out all of my electricity!

Can you believe it?  No me neither.  If this was anyone but my Super Hero (aka Chris) , I would have given them a shifty look which told them that I didn’t believe them.  But Electric Man is brilliant.  He doesn’t tell me tall tales.  He also told me that it was something that he’d actually seen before!  Along with he told me, slugs and snails which had crawled into sockets, and wiped out the power!  And there was I thinking being a Super Hero was a glamorous job!

What else did I learn this week .

  • That I miss the funny people who were around (well-known folks of TV and Stand Up comedians on tours in theatres etc) in the 80’s  and 90’s  – such as Pam Ayres, Mike Harding,  Brian Connolly,  Robin Williams, Steve Martin, John Candy, Mel Brooks, Bob Newhart.  Do I miss them … or is it that I miss the  whole era when comedy wasn’t filled with filth, filthy words, and downright disagreeable subjects – all of which todays comedians seem to earn a fortune from injecting into their acts.  I don’t understand it and can’t understand why people find it funny.

I also learned that …

  • Harry Potter’s house is valued at £475,000 ($615,000)  (The house where he lived with his uncle and aunt).

and . . .

  • That I really like this blog and LOVE blogging.  I’ve ‘met’ so many really lovely people because of this blog;  and I’ve also learned tons by reading other blogs.  Yes .. blogging, for me at least, is an experience I’ve found to be truly wonderful.

also . . .

  •   More than 200 UK drivers are at least 100 years old.

and …

  • The best coffee can be found in our cottage, at 4pm every single day,  especially after a tough day, a painful day, a miserable day, or just any ol’ day …  and it’s made by Mr. C,  – just to make me feel human again.  ( what can I say? The guy’s brilliant.  I got a good one.)

Oh ... and this one made my eyes stretch to the size of saucers:

  • The ad executive behind the Nike slogan  “Just do it”  got the idea from the final words of condemned murderer Gary Gilmore.  Ohhh, this made me feel like I didn’t want to ever buy Nike again.  What a way to get a slogan!

And finally … I’ve learned that if I don’t get enough sleep, the sleep I do get is peppered with the strangest dreams, which ‘feel’  like it’s real and that the *things* actually really have happened.   I need to get more sleep.

So … that’s what I’ve learned this week.  Now it’s over to you.  What lessons has life taught you this week?  Not to spend so much money?  That you won’t die if you eat some treat or other?  That she was right …. Your Mother DOES know best?    Or something else?  Do share it with us all.  We won’t judge and we won’t laugh … unless you want us to, and then we’ll howl with laughter so loud that you’ll hear us!

In the meantime …  may I wish you a totally Fabulous Friday.  A very special Saturday, and an easy, peaceful, gentle, and sunny Sunday.

Be careful out there.  There are nuts on the road and there might even be one in your car too!  

Squidges from me in my corner to you in yours …

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A Home, made for Tweety Pie

About 12’ish’ years ago I made myself a paper mache bird house for the corner of my bedroom. I painted it; crackle glazed the roof; hand painted vines around it; sealed it and then I wrapped a length of Ivy around it and secured it in place.   I never got to hang that bird house because when my mother saw it, she loved it so much that she claimed it for her own bedroom!

So … I made another one.  That one ‘walked’  too – this time to a friend.   I made another, and kept it.  But word had got out and by the time I’d finished … I must have ended up making around 20 or so of these darling bird houses. I even made myself a couple more one for my conservatory and another for my living room – it hid the CCTV camera inside it!.

Then three years ago I moved home  (down-sized)  and decided that I would only bring one of those little bird houses with me. So I gave two away and chose the Geranium one I’d made, to keep ….. in fact … this one ….

Cobwebs Birdhouse 1

Yes … that’s the one.  Hanging on my door, right there.   People who have come to my cottage where I live now, and seen it, have always commented and admired it,  – but one person – … my fabulous parcel delivery lady –  (who has become a friend) –  said she really liked it and was trying to work out how I’d made it.  Here’s a close up …

Close up 2

… now –  to be brutally honest … it’s a little tired looking now.  I mean to say … it’s actually about twelve years old and has gone through many things in its little life, so it’s not as ‘freshly made’ and perky looking as it used to be – but I love it.  I love it hanging on my front door during the early summer days, welcoming people as they arrive. (The front door is under cover and very well protected – & doesn’t get any rain on it – so I knew it would be pretty safe hanging there.)

After my parcel lady had said she liked it, I said,  to Mr. Cobs,  that I thought I still had “a bird house waiting for painting, ‘somewhere’ – but goodness knows where!”  (I still have boxes in my loft that I haven’t unpacked from the house move  3 whole years ago!!!    Please don’t judge me. – I never said I was brilliant or anything near it!).

After some searching, the wonderful Mr. Cobs found it!  (give that man a medal, I hear you cry!).   I decided that I’d make my parcel lady a bird house as a surprise.  I got to work and, for the first time ever, I made a Roses bird house.  But ... I couldn’t find a little bird for the perch.  I searched…  I checked out florists, craft supplies … everything I could think of, but no luck.  So I decided to use the only thing I had – a little resin bird, in a gentle pinky colour, to match the roses.  I gave the bird house to her a couple or so weeks ago, and thought that now the surprise was ‘out of the bag’, I could share it with you.

So, dear reader, I present to you …. The Roses Bird House for Tweety Pie  (well, no, not quite.  It was for my parcel lady to be precise – but you know what I mean! lol).

the front 3

Left side 4
the left hand side

In the photo directly above,  you can see the crackle glazed roof, and the little hanging loop over to the left, at the back (top) of the roof.  However – if you make a loop of wire, for something to be hung on the wall etc – try to make sure that you ‘cushion’ the wire against something – (I used a leaf on this bird house) – so that the wire doesn’t damage any painted surface or wallpaper you have on the wall.

Right Side 5
the right hand side

It was such a delight to do a ‘blast from the past’ crafty make again.  It was as if time had rewound itself and I magically found myself back in time, twelve to fourteen years ago – and crafting in ways I’d forgotten I used to do.  It was a really sweet, memorable time in my craft room, and I absolutely loved it.  Memories of my mother;   old friends who my heart misses;  our girls when they were younger;   teachers at the school where I used to help out;  people I’ve known but have now sadly passed on;  others who I’ve lost touched with – like ships that pass in the night.   So many memories, and all so precious to my heart.   It kind of almost felt like a friend who I hadn’t seen for years and years,  had suddenly visited me out of the blue,  and we’d sat together going over old times, laughing together, remembering together.   Awww,  just wonderful!  ❤  

I hope you like the bird house as much as I do.  I was kind of sad to give it away.  It had bought back such wonderful memories as I crafted with it and it had left me all warm and snuggly inside.  But … it was for my lovely parcel lady – so I knew it was going to a great home.

Have you crafted with paper mache at all?  Would you like to?  You don’t have to actually make the paper mache item – there are hundreds of ready-made paper mache things which can be bought pretty cheaply at hobby stores.  You get to use your imagination to decorate them and go mad with paint effects, papers, adornments, twiddly bits and crafty  joy!  If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a ‘go’.  You never know … you might just find out that you love it.  Oh … and if you have little ones on school summer holiday/break – this is something they’ll love to do!  Paint, papers, glue … even coloured magazine pages would be great to stick to the ‘object’ using PVA glue.

Feature photo A

Thank you so much for coming to spend a few minutes with me.   I’m totally thrilled that you do.  Please feel free to leave comments.  I love hearing from you.

Oh,  before I go … Since this post is about a Home for Tweety Pie, I really should bring him in on the post:

Tweety

How very  true!  {smiles}

Have a truly blessed rest of your day ~

Cobs siggy sml

 

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