sunshine has arrived......................

It's a lovely bright morning and I am abandoning my job list for now and sitting in the garden. I started off just sitting, relaxing and reading this months Simply Crochet magazine, nibbling sumptuous summer berries but my mind kept wandering to my ripple blanket - I really don't like it anymore.

So after taking a deep breath in I started to undo it - I feel so much better now.....................

I still love the cotton and the colours but I will have to think of a new project and make sure I calculate how much yarn I need this time.

have fun in the sun - talk soon x

Nature in the home - a series.....................

Another day pottering about my garden trying to find flower's for Lou's Nature in the home brief - this week it was green. I couldn't find a single green bloom but it really made me concentrate on my lovely greenery, the shape, colour and form of the simple but beautiful leaf.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

talk soon x

yarn along - another blanket?................

I'm joining in with Ginny today, I really missed not being part of last weeks yarn along. I have to confess that the lovely ripple blanket I started two weeks ago (that may turn out to be a cushion) is still sitting on the top of my yarn basket willing me to pick it up and make it in to something useful - but I have sort of gone off it. While I decide what to do with it I picked up some of my favourite Amalfi yarn and started a granny square - it should have been a small one to go with a batch of them I've already made but for some reason I just carried on and on and on - it's growing nicely but I'm not sure what in to.
My crochet projects are all a bit disjointed at the moment I have about 5 different things on the go but that's OK I think and I am really enjoying my granny square. It's very soothing I can do my rows of trebles with little thought and can even watch television without risk of going wrong.


On holiday I read a lot of crime fiction and now that I'm home I've started something different, a true story about  midwifery in the East End of London in the 1950's "Call the Midwife" I enjoyed the television series based on the book so I'm sure the book won't disappoint.

Hope you all have a good day and lets hope the sun comes out soon as we have had non stop rain so far.

talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 21/52

A little late due to my holiday but here is week 21 of my 52 weeks of happy series -  don't forget to pop over to see Jens post...............

1. being part of #Pin it Forward..............

2. my lovely bag of goodies from Linda .................

3. the vibrant textiles and pottery produced in Portugal..................

4. being on holiday with my lovely friend Barbara.........................


another happy week with lots to share - take care and talk soon x

# Pin it Forward UK...................

Today my blog post is all about Pinterest. I was contacted in April by Veronique Conrad, a Community Coordinator at Pinterest. Veronique said she enjoyed visiting my blog and invited me to attend the very first Pinterest meet up in the UK. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the meeting in London but was very excited when Veronique said she would still love to feature my blog and I was asked to take part in the launch of  #Pin it Forward UK- how amazing.......................... 

                                                     

                                                              

Pinterest are introducing a new registration process for UK pinner's. The campaign is similar to the one used when they started up in the US. Bloggers were some of the first people to introduce Pinterest to the world and Pinterest hope the same thing will happen across the UK.

#Pin it Forward wanted to work with bloggers who currently use Pinterest and showcase one of their own favourite boards – my favourite board is "knitting, crochet and my blog" where I pin images from my blog and also images from other people’s blogs – images I love, projects I want to try, or just images I want to remember.

a few of my boards.......................

The launch is running for 30 days and 300 bloggers from the UK have been chosen to share boards and stories about what inspires them about Pinterest. All sorts of bloggers from crafters, home cooks, to globe-trotting writers and more have been chosen - no matter what you’re interested in Pinterest will have inspiring images that will be perfect for you.

I haven't been registered for very long but I have found it a fabulous vehicle for creativity, I love Pinterest for helping me keep my images organised and easy to find. I have boards that I use to separate my different blog post themes, I post weekly on a yarn along link up, 52 weeks of happy link up and many more. I also have a board for special holiday images, for me it works brilliantly. Once you have registered it's very simple to use  - if you see an image you like on a blog, or a website, or anywhere, you just click it and the image is saved onto any board you have set up. If you would like to register with Pinterest click here if you would like to follow my boards click here 

some of my favourite images......................

and just a few more ....................

I am now pleased to introduce Penny who will be featuring a #Pin it Forward post tomorrow. Penny is an artist and designer maker living in rural Norfolk, pop over to her blog here or her fabulous Pinterest boards here 

I did promise a surprise (a few people did guess!) I hope I haven't disappointed you but being chosen to be 1 of 300 UK bloggers was such a wonderful surprise for me I couldn't wait to share it with you. 

Thank you all for visiting my blog, leaving such amazing comments and guess what I hit 100 followers today - what a special day..............

talk soon x

 

back from my trip.................

I'm back from my lovely trip - I have missed my daily chats with you all and can't believe it's more than a week since I last blogged, I am starting to have withdrawal symptoms.

Portugal has been such a lovely relaxing break and I've had lots of fun with my friend Barbara, who is such a fabulous holiday companion. Unfortunately we were a little short on sunshine but luckily not on things to do and the sun did appear for a few days before it was time to fly home.

I have lots to tell you about my holiday and have got a sneaky peak to share with you now......................

a little glimpse of my holiday.....................

but my post today is a great big warm thank you to Linda who just before I went on holiday sent me a lovely parcel of goodies.

Linda had won my giveaway and as a thank you to Daisy (my grandaughter) for picking her name out of the hat, she sent Daisy an adorable crochet hedgehog and oodles of other little treats for us to share together.

Hyacinth is adorable - Daisy loves her..................

so many lovely goodies for me too......................

I am going to have so much fun making things with Daisy, we are going to start with the lovely owl mobile kit.

Linda's blog is lovely and full of inspirational crafty ideas, Linda would love you to pop over for a visit and she is celebrating reaching 200 followers with a special giveaway feature.

Please pop by tomorrow as I have something else to tell you - something I have been desperate to tell you for quite a few weeks (if you look carefully at my blog today you might notice a little clue!)

Hope you have a fantastic sunny Sunday - so glad to be back............

Talk soon x

nature in the home.......................

I am loving  Lou's nature in the home posts - I didn't manage to join in last week but did manage to pop over and read all the inspirational posts.

The theme this week is pink so imagine my delight when the wind blew a lovely stem of pink blossom off the tree outside my house - just perfect .................

the blossom is beautiful and has made an adorable floating indoor arrangement.....................

I may not be around much for the next week as I am flying off to Portugal later today - I will try to pop in with some holiday news but not sure I will have have the technology available............

talk soon x

Yarn along - blanket or maybe cushion?

I am joining in with Ginny's yarn along and can't wait to show you my current crochet project. I wanted to make something with my new Drops cotton yarn. I started to make a small blanket and chose a  ripple pattern worked in treble crochets. I have used Lucy's ripple  tutorial which is easy to follow and can be found here. I quickly hit on a problem I hadn't calculated just how much yarn I would need. I had bought ten 50 gram balls of the cotton yarn and thought this would be ample for a small blanket but sadly each ball of yarn only crochets 3 ripples, I have used 5 balls so far and the 15 ripples measure 36cm, the width of the blanket is 54cms.

 

If I use all 10 balls of yarn it will only measure 72 cm by 36 cm which is a bit small for a blanket it will barely cover my knees. So I have decided to fasten off after the first 15 ripples and then crochet another rectangle to make a cushion. I'm not quite sure how it will look yet but I can always undo the crochet and start again.

I've had a busy week and haven't had very much time to read, my novel is feeling a little neglected but when I have had a few spare minutes I have been dipping into this months edition of The Simple Things and I have really enjoyed the article about Annette Nordstrom. Annette is an interior designer and allows us a peek into her beautiful nineteenth century Norwegian farmhouse - it's  just amazing.

Hopefully my project will work out if not I can always buy some more yarn............

Talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 20/52

Linking in again with Jen it's time to share my 52 weeks of happy post - my favourite four happy smiley moments are:-

1. the lovely Nata nominated me for a Liebster Award - thank you so much.................

2. some beautiful new fabric - think I might make a new dress for Lottie.................

3. my passport and euros - I'm getting quite excited about a trip!

4. new sun glasses - I love them.................

I hope you have a good week and lets hope the weather starts improving - yesterday we had sun, rain, strong winds and hail stones - what is happening..................

Thank you for your lovely kind comments and a special thank you to my followers, I can't believe how quickly I've got to 98. I'm thinking of doing something special to celebrate reaching my first hundred followers - I will give it some thought whilst I'm away!

talk soon x

Jake - budding artist...................

Kate and Seb took Jake to the Whitechapel Gallery over the weekend - the Gallery is a touchstone for contemporary art internationally, it plays a central role in London’s cultural landscape.

Jake had lots of fun and was very interested in the exhibits - I wonder if he is going to take after his mum.......................

With beautiful galleries, exhibitions, artist commissions, collection displays, historic archives, education resources, inspiring art courses, dining room and bookshop, the Gallery is open all year round, so there is always something free to see.

I hope to visit the gallery when I'm next in London it looks amazing...................

talk soon x

baking - rather a lot of fairy cakes

After my super quick lemon cake earlier in the week I did a bit of what I call proper baking yesterday. Weeks ago my daughter Vicky mentioned that one of her friends had asked if I could make her 50 little fairy cakes for the 10th May. I said I would and they were going to get back to me with more details - they both forgot. I remembered early on Thursday morning that the cakes were required for Friday - a quick phone call to check I hadn't imagined it all and the order was confirmed. Small cakes with a swirl of vanilla butter cream - not too much and could they be decorated with something red and look pretty! Luckily I had some tiny red hundreds and thousands, small edible pearls and silver cake glitter. I have been stocked up with pretty glittery things since the Cake and Bake Show.

On Thursday afternoon I baked 50 little cakes for Vicky's friend, an extra 34 for the freezer and 4 sponge sandwich cakes also for the freezer - to be turned into birthday cakes for Finn and Noah next week.

On Friday morning I decorated the 50 cakes which were being collected by Vicky at 10am  - I started icing not much after 7am  - but luckily they turned out OK phew what a busy morning................

plain sponge cakes and buns for the freezer - and decorated ones for Vicky .......

I did have to taste one to make sure they were up to scratch - then all packed into cake boxes ready for collection.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, fingers crossed the sun shines it's been so wet, cold and dreary here...............

talk soon x

lovely new yarn..........................

Last week I was reading one of my favourite crochet blogs - Attic 24 and  Lucy was experimenting with a lovely new Drops yarn called Paris, which you can buy here. I was very tempted to order some of this yummy yarn and start a new blanket - have I told you I love blankets?

Not surprisingly a lovely parcel arrived yesterday............................... I couldn't resist!

I'm so pleased with the pastel colours and the yarn feels lovely. It's an aran weight, 100% cotton and great value at £1.80 for a 50gm ball. I've now got to decide on my blanket design and what stitch to use - can't wait........................

Talk soon x 

My creative space - a very quick and easy cake............

In my Christmas stocking from Kate was a very fancy cake mix - lemon poppy seed cake. It's been in my cupboard ever since - in fact I had forgotten all about it. Earlier in the week the cupboard was bare of even a crumb of cake and then I remembered my mix and within a few minutes I had prepared a very quick and easy cake.

It was super easy, I just had to add 3 eggs and butter and then into the oven - the result was a really lovely moist lemon cake topped with lemony icing.

I tried to get a photo of the cake before it was cut into but I'm afraid Mr R had grabbed a slice before I had time to take a snap. If you want to find out more about the mixes the website is here

yarn along - all finished

I am joining Ginny with my weekly yarn along post but for a change I thought I would show you what I've just finished .................

I finished my three hat commissions yesterday, two hats with headbands and one with a little scarflett - I am very pleased how they have turned out.

Reading wise I'm still working my way through the Redeemer by Jo Nesbo.................

Hope you all have a fun week with your crochet hooks and knitting needles - I think I'm going to make another bunny!

talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 19/52

Linking in again with Jen it's time to share my 52 weeks of happy post with you - my favourite four happy smiley moments are:-

1. after school snacks in the garden...............

2.blossom on my plum tree - it didn't flower last year

3. the fun you can have with a bucket................

4. my new book - Bunty Annual 1979 - the year that Kate was born............

hope you all have a lovely sunny happy week

talk soon x

monthly mosaic - April.....................

I've been thinking about starting a monthly post looking at the things I had been up to the previous month - I've seen lots of lovely mosaics in blogland.

So here goes my first month in pictures.....................

April was busy - lots of sewing, knitting, crochet, baking, washi taping, a give away, a birthday, a trip out, flower arranging, letter writing and more - what a lovely crafty month


talk soon x

baby hats - so pretty in pink........................

I'm still busy with my baby hat commissions and not a rabbit insight - although a parcel of lovely felt arrived yesterday from here.

My collection of bonnet's and head band's is growing and they are ready to be sewn together but I am waiting until all three sets are finished, then I will spend an afternoon blocking and stitching. I decided to do a pink and white striped hat, it reminds me of candy canes - I'm quite pleased with how it looks and I've just tried a new crochet flower in two pink tones which works well.

happy Sunday - talk soon x

a day with Alex..............

Friday was a special day spent with my eldest grandson - it was a school in-service day and Alex had asked if he could spend the day with me.

We started off with an early breakfast and then Alex wanted to go shopping - he has a favourite bargain store that he likes to visit. The shopping trip was productive we bought quite a lot of party bag goodies and prizes in preparation for Finn and Noah's birthday party. We returned home with bags full of party stuff and a few extra things for Alex.

Then it was time for lunch, Grandad came home from work to join us and also managed to fit in an hour of football at the local park. Mid afternoon Grandad returned to the office and we went to Costa - coffee for me and a hot chocolate for Alex - now he is ten this is a super cool grown up thing to do................

After our hot drinks we walked over to Hobbycraft which is a veritable Aladdin's cave, after much thought we decided to try our hand at décopatch - Alex chose a little treasure box and a letter "A" and I decided on a heart as my first project.

Then back to the car and a quick drive home to start our décopatch................

We had such a fun afternoon and we were both really pleased with our first décopatch projects. I think it could become quite addictive and I have promised Alex that we will buy more shapes to cover soon.

I think I have to blame Ladybird Diaries for my new love of décopatch as I have wanted to have a go ever since I saw her beautiful pink flowery chair - have a quick peep here.

I hope you have a lovely long weekend and with luck the sun will shine.

talk soon x