Hope your week went well and your enjoying the start of the weekend. I was very excited Wednesday evening when I returned home from work :) There was a package waiting for me :) All the way from Canada :) I never received mail from Canada before and mail this nice. I got the camera out ready to take photographs of the contents, but so predictable the batteries were dead. So do you want to see my gorgeous gifts from my dear blogger friend Laurie Anne from Rebel Blossom.

My happy mail consists of a beautiful needle case which I really needed as I have already lost two needles on the armchair. I was in a panic that someone would get them stuck into them! That would not be good. It is so pretty pink and purple with an adorable cupcake on it. And inside I got needles, it is all handcrafted and even has a Rebel Blossom tag which is really cool!

I also received two handmade cards which are really well crafted and perfect looking, they are so nice I will have difficulty ever giving them to anyone :)

And then on top of that I got the cutest drawstring bag- cream and pink with two hearts sewn onto it :) It is so pretty, I am going to hang it on the side of my bed post and put my fluffy bed socks into it :) I sound like an old woman!

Thank you so much Laurie Anne. I will have to post Laurie Anne her Happy Mail this week. To be honest I really didn't know what to send so I was waiting to see what kind of contents to send and I'm afraid I don't have any handcrafted items. My needlework and crafting is not very good but one thing I can say is that it is unique :)

So a massive thank you to Laurie Anne from Rebel Blossom for her very thoughful happy mail :)
You should visit her blog, it is full of lovely crafts, cooking and lots of life stories :)

Hello my dear blog friend and followers

I had news this week that my Country Heritage Blog  has been longlisted in the Best Art and Culture Blog(sponsored by Poetry Ireland)  category of the Irish Blog Awards 2010. I don't know who nominated my blog as it is the blog that I update the least. I had never heard of the Irish Blog Awards until about a month ago. I'm very grateful to get longlisted and thanks to all my blog friends which ever of my blogs you visit :-)

My friend sent me this wonderful image of a wee baby elephant which he saw on a newspaper website. I thought it was so cute. I couldn't find the link for it. It makes me happy every time I look at it. Hope it makes you smile and brightens up your evening :-)

And this is where my love of elephants started when I was just a baby

I got this wee elephant teddy from my parents and I have it ever since :-) Don't laugh now! Yes I'm sad I even have a photograph of it for you, its all tattered and torn but I have it so long I have become attached to it, it will be 27 this year!

Yes notice the new trunk.

And how worn it is... and totally thread bare!

It's the weekend again and it's very cold here in Ireland. I went shopping today for some work clothes and picked up two nice pairs of trousers for £13 which were reduced from over £40 :) I love a bargain, they are just plain black ones though. So apart from that I am just doing a few things around the house and will cook soon. I did a tiny bit of crafting and almost have my wee cushions finished. I just have to finish sewing the hole where I inserted the stuffing. Take a look at them, they aren't near perfect but I like them, my favourite one is the blue one with the stripes as I used Cath Kidston ribbon. The material I used were from old tshirts and the ribbon came on other things mostly on tops, you know them ribbons they use to hang the clothes on the hangers. I used a button on one of them and lovely diamonds on the other ones- they are actually ear rings :-) It's beginning to snow here at home and it's really really cold but I'm lovely and warm here at the fire! What have you been up to today?

Slightly lob sided but unique all the same :-)

You can see where I need to sew this one up

And this is my favourite one :-)

Hello everyone,

How is all in blogland this week? What has everyone being up to? My first week of work went really well and I really enjoy it :-) I have to go shopping tomorrow to get some work clothes. I might also get around to a bit of crafting. The evenings are getting longer and I'm looking forward to longer days now. I will try and catch up with you all over the weekend. I havent taken any photographs this week but I will tomorrow, until then here are a few more photographs of my walk from last week :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentone's Day and weekend, I really enjoyed my weekend and yesterday I got to spend time with my amazing boyfriend. This year we said we would not buy any presents for each other as we don't need anything and we wanted to save our money. He brought me out for a delicious meal  in a very posh restaurant which I am not use to :)

I started work yesterday, had induction and it went well :) Thank you all fo your well wishes, I will appreciate them :)

On another note remember I told you I got this glass jar free with rice

Well in the end I decided to use it for my bits & bobs

What have you been up to? Here a few photographs I took on a walk in the woods, Spring is setting and the sun is beginning to shine

To celebrate Valentine's Day with you my blogger friends here are some images of love from around my home! It's surprising when you stop and take a look around all the Love you'll find. Hope you enjoy them

This is an image from the free Prima Calendar which is just above my workspace.

Ceramic Love Letters which I bought in Next last year, they sit on a chest of drawers in my bedroom

An old card from my mother to my father when they were going out.

Wee cupid/angel on my dressing table

Love stories from my bookshelf

A Saint Valentine's Day 1984 thimble from my thimble collection

First Kiss Image from a picture in the hallway

Last years Valentine's Card from my lovely boyfriend  :-)

A lovely teddy my boyfriend bought me :-)

Heart cushions from my bed, would you believe I actually made the one at the front when I was in school. And I still haven't finished the ones I started a month ago yet!

Another cute teddy I call J that I got from my boyfriend :-)

A Poster image from my walk in wardrobe!

And to celebrate Saint Valentine's Day this year I decorated my workspace a little, have a look

Hope you have a 

Happy Valentine's Day

In January while thinking about Valentine's Day I posted about what Love is... So for Valentine's I have decided to update you all and let you know what love means to my blog friends who commented...

So here we go...

Love is.....
a burning thing, it makes a fiery ring. Bound by a wild desire, I fell into a ring of fire... {Glenda started off singing to us}

Love is.....
the most moving force in God's plan {Glenda}

Love is.....
like a violin. The music may stop now and then,but the strings remain forever {Bellaboo}

Love is.....
Growing old together {Tracey}

Love is.....
alot of things!but love of a child means so much more!- more precious {A Mermaid's Purse}

Love is.....
always seeing the beautiful things in life....however small they may seem {Tilly Rose}

 
Love is.....
giving away as many smiles and hugs as you can to those who bring joy into your life... {Tilly Rose}

 
Love is.....
being there in good times and in bad. It is having the humility to say you're sorry. It is compassion and empathy {Cozy Little House}

 
Love is.....
the most precious...and it is not a given, I have to work on it....Love to show it and share it {Frenchy chick}

 
Love is.....
something shared between two or more people who really care about each other and would do anything for that one person {Odette}

 
And for me Love is.....
the little things we do for each other

and
Love is.....
always & forever :)

 
What does Love mean to the rest of you???