yarn along - my blanket is taking shape.................

I decided on the colour of my joining yarn and it's a lovely soft grape shade. The grannies looked so lovely stacked in piles that I became a little bit impatient and started to join some of the squares together. I still need to make an awful lot more of the granny squares but I am so pleased with how the blanket looks........................

I've started to think about the gifts I want to make for Christmas as the weeks are flying by so quickly - I have dipped into this adorable book "Baby and Toddler Knits"which I love and I've already pulled together a list of things I want to make.

I will share my list with you soon but do want some of my knits to be surprises - hope you will pop over to visit Ginny and all the other yarn alongers......................

talk soon x

52 weeks of happy 35/52.......................

I'm enjoying another happy week of summer and as usual I am joining in with the lovely Jen and my 4 happies this week are.........

A surprise parcel arrived in the post this week - a hard copy of  "The Happiness Project (Kate also bought me the Kindle version a few weeks ago) and Gretchen's second book "Happier at Home" plus some amazing little fluorescent pens - so that I can mark all the bits I want to look back on  - courtesy of my very kind daughter Kate, I am a very lucky mum................

Baking with Alex - we had such fun...................

More unexpected flowers  - my sister called in with a beautiful bunch of flowers - all for me............they smell wonderful

Another lovely unexpected gift - a sweet little house and thank you card from Elizabeth (I helped with some of the baking for her little boy's christening) I've had this little gift a couple of weeks but today I found a special little space to display it for all to see - I am very spoilt..................

what a perfect week and lots of lovely acts of kindness from my family and friends.

talk soon x

Saltaire......................

Inspired by Jens post a week or so ago I managed to persuade Mr R to take me out for a Sunday drive to Saltaire We set off after breakfast, the weather was lovely, we seemed to take a bit of circuitous route but after a few wrong turns along the way we arrived at Saltaire. We found a car park which was surprisingly free on Sundays, an unexpected bonus and then walked to the Salt Mills. The first floor was a stationary delight and also had lots of art work and exhibits, including quite a scary dentist chair. The next floor is full of wonderful books, magazines, crafty things and lots more. It has a delightful area where you can sit and read and at set times of the day children's story time sessions take place.


Through the sumptuous cafe is the wondrous home selection where I could have lingered all day, my wish list was as long as my arm - everything was exquisite. I bought a few random knick knacks, a lovely felt kit, some David Hockney postcards, cute cake cases, little boxes, salt and pepper pots and two adorable little notebooks.

On the top floor of the Mill is the old spinning room which originally contained 16,380 cap spindles for spinning yarn. Raw alpaca fleece was imported from Peru and in its heyday, Salt Mills produced 30,000 yards or 8 miles of alpaca cloth every day.  In the spinning room was an amazing Cloth and Memory Exhibition which I will come back to another day as it's worthy of its own post - the exhibits were beautiful.

After having a nice coffee in a small nearby Art Gallery and coffee bar we visited the Radstudio (another recommendation from Jen) which is very close to the Mill and full of modern on trend gifts and home ware, like Jen I wanted everything......... I've made a little montage of my favourite things

I bought myself a lovely notebook and a very nice fine liner pen as I want to start to write my list of happiness resolutions and some washi tape because I love it.........................

Saltaire is so pretty, and very close to the Mill is Roberts Park which is a lovely park full of great things for children and adults. We sat in the park with a cold drink and watched some Cricket, then we wandered up past the Mill where we saw some lovely allotments and a very sweet well cared for Railway Station.

we had such a fun day and will definitely come again.

talk soon x

baking with my best boy.....................

It's quite funny calling Alex my best boy, but when he was our only grandson that's what we called him. Alex was the first boy to be born into the family. We are a very female dominated family I have two sisters and three daughters and then we had our first grandson. The trend continued and now I have 5 grandsons and they are all my best boys, of course I have a best girl as well I mustn't forget Daisy May.

Yesterday Alex came to see me I wasn't sure how we would spend our day I thought that maybe we could have a drive out,  but I mentioned baking and he was really keen to make a cake. Alex enjoys cookery programmes and he likes the "Great British Bake Off" which started again on Tuesday. So out came my cookery books, he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to make but the main criteria was it had to contain chocolate.

We decided on a Mary Berry chocolate tray bake, with chocolate icing and lots of chocolate decorations on top.

Alex had great fun and even though it was hard I stood back and let him do everything himself, just offering assistance when he needed it. The scary time was when he was blending the chocolate and water on the cooker hob, it's the first time I have let him use the cooker, but he was very sensible and stirred slowly.

The cake worked a treat and was grandly decorated with more chocolate than you can imagine. Alex was going to leave a slice for his grandad but when it came to the crunch he couldn't bring himself to cut into his cake until his mum had seen it. Grandad is going to call round for some later today - hope Alex remembers to save him a slice.

I think Alex already has the makings of a professional chef as he made full use of his assistant  - I did all the washing up, tidying away and sweeping the floor etc It's amazing how much mess can be generated from making a simple cake.

We had such a lovely day just chatting about everything, I was helping him bake and Alex was giving me advice about my fantasy football team. I have wanted to join the league for a few years -  so I have taken the plunge and picked myself a team. Alex has set it up so we are in the main Fantasy Football League but also in a private league with just my team and his team. I didn't do very well this week only scored 51 points and the people at the top of the league scored over 200, it's early days though.

I think it's quite cool that I can teach my grandson how to bake and he can teach me the finer details of Fantasy Football and all the transfer deadlines.

talk soon x

PS thank you all so much for your lovely encouraging comments on my last post. As I said yesterday my blog is my simple account of day to day happenings and it's lovely when you pop by. x

why do I blog...........

I read a lot of blogs and have noticed a recurring theme, a number of the bloggers I follow have started to question why they write a blog - are they based on reality or are we painting a perfect picture of life that doesn't really exist. Are we true to ourselves or are we trying to please the people who follow our blogs. When we read blogs do we envy the perfect life portrayed or do we see it for what it really is - which I think is just a tiny snap shot of some of the interesting and fun things that happen. I share the things I’m comfortable with and feel happy to put in print. I don't want to share that my skirts are getting tight, my electricity bill is sky high or I'm having a bad day with my health.

I have reflected on why I write my blog, for me my blog is a great reminder that I do achieve things. Due to ill health I no longer have a busy full time career and some days it's hard to feel that I really accomplish anything of value.  I loved my job and it gave me a great sense of worth, of doing a job well, of seeing positive results, achieving success and receiving feedback. My life now is very different but I am very lucky to have such a loving family, three daughters who I adore and six grandchildren that bring an abundance of joy into my life.

When I was younger and didn't work full time I was a very hands on mum, loved cooking, craft, in fact I dabbled in all sorts, I helped at the children's play school, I listened to children read at Primary school, I even baked for a local shop. As the children grew my career began to take off and by the time the children left home I was working in senior management, working very long hours, in quite a stressful environment. As you can imagine my creative side became dormant.

Since leaving work I’ve been able to rekindle my love of all things creative; I started to knit again, re-learnt how to crochet and even got my sewing machine out. If you follow my blog you will know how much I love cooking, baking and spending lots of time with my grandchildren.

So for me my blog helps me remember and value the things I achieve. It enables me to focus on the positives in my life, the things that make me happy, from the books I’m reading, down to what has been baked in my kitchen. On the surface this is all mundane stuff but it’s nice for me to share it with you and for me to look back on. I have started to take more photos, I am more confident with my computer skills and I challenge myself to try new crafts and more complicated projects. I have time to read other people's blogs which inspire me; Ginny's blog encourages me to think about new yarn projects and books to read. Jens 52 weeks of happy post has helped me reflect and highlight just how many happy smiley things happen every week. I also look at my garden through different eyes, Lou’s Nature in the Home Series, really inspired me.

I'm sorry if this is a bit of a ramble but I wanted to share a little bit more of me and how important my blog has become.


talk soon x

Yarn along - more lovely granny squares..............

I've started my next project and I'm on a bit of a roll my pile of granny squares is growing at a pace. I don't have much time to hook in the day but my evenings seem to be spent snuggled on the sofa with my yarn and hook to hand, TV on and maybe an occasional glass of wine (not every night of course). 

I am making single colour squares and when I have enough I'm going to use the join as you go method to bring them all together into a blanket.  I'm planning to crochet the joining round in a contrasting colour and use the same colour for the border. I have an idea in my head how it will look but can't decide on the joining colour yet. Although I think I have decided on the colours for my granny squares - what do you think......................

My yarn stash is continuing to grow as I couldn't resist a recent style craft offer so my yarn drawers are bursting at the seams. In fact I have had to store a rather large yarn delivery behind the sofa (17 x 100 gram balls are quite difficult to hide/I mean fit in a drawer) I am reconciling this with how much money I will save in the long run, also it makes sense to be well stocked ready for making Christmas gifts doesn't it? 

Mr R finds it hard to understand my passion for yarn but he doesn't seem to mind a cosy blanket although he draws the line at cushions which are frequently moved off the sofa when he sits down.

My reading has been slow I only read novels when I go to bed and recently by the time I've climbed into my bed I have been so weary my light has been switched off straightaway. My plan is to finish the Seamstress this week as I am really enjoying the story, it's very well written and captivating (unless you are exhausted)

Hope you have time to join in with Ginny's yarn along I can't wait to pop over.

Talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 34/52

I'm enjoying another happy week of summer and as usual I am joining in with the lovely Jen and my 4 happies this week are.........

1. taking the little ones for a ride on the miniature railway at Brookside Garden Centre

2. my first ever mandala

3. my cool grandsons happy to wheel buggies to the park

4 my fab giveaway prize  - I love my new cushion

another week full of happy moments

talk soon x

simple pleasures...........................

Another fun few hours with three of my special grandsons Zach, Noah and Jake - they are adorable I'm such a lucky Nana............................

cousins..................

Kate and Seb have returned from Canada and Jake went home yesterday - the house is very quiet and sadly no more peeping into his cot before I go to bed checking he is sleeping soundly and all tucked up...................

talk soon x

I've finished........

I decided on a cushion................

 

I am totally loving join as you go granny squares and I'm very pleased with my first granny square cushion. The colour choices are very random, most of the yarn was over from the blanket and bunting I made for Pam's birthday present. Stylecraft DK seems to go on for ever and is lovely to work with. Next I'm going to make a blanket but I am going to crochet solid colour squares rather than changing my yarn after every round. I think I will plan my colour choices better as well.

I have also experimented with a lovely flower mandela that I saw on Linda's lovely blog and the pattern has been kindly translated into English here -

what do you think - I love it............................

talk soon x

My lovely cushion has arrived..........

I recently entered a giveaway on Mademoiselle Poirot's blog and I have been lucky enough to win an adorable deer and stag cushion. My cushion arrived yesterday (thank you so much Carole) - it's so beautiful and looks perfect on my sofa. The illustrations on the fabric are exquisite. It's not the sort of cushion I would have thought to buy myself but looking at it snuggled with my other cushions it just fits in so perfectly.

I hope you like my lovely cushion - but before I go I need to apologise for not continuing with my Crafty Friday theme. I have had such a busy fun week with Jake that I haven't really had time to make up another kit. I have relaxed with my crochet in the evening as Jake snuggles down early, but somehow that seems different to actually starting a craft project which would  involve more thought and planning. 

Maybe Crafty Fridays can start again in the autumn, I have decided to take a little break as the next few weeks continue to be hectic with the school holidays and then I'm off to London for a few days.

Hope you are well and thank you again for following my blog and leaving me such lovely comments.
Talk soon x

yarn along - join as you go granny squares......................

I love making granny squares but always feel my joining lets me down, a few weeks ago I found Irene's blog and admired her beautiful blanket that was joined so neatly. I asked Irene what method she used and she kindly got back to me with the details. Irene joins as she goes along and follows the tutorial on Attic 24 and advised me to print out the instructions and sit quietly without any distractions and have a go. I did and I've got it, it was tricky at first and does sound complicated but now I've got the knack I love it.

I have started my squares and am busily joining them, so far I am making either a cushion or maybe a blanket, I haven't decided.

I still have a few books on the go but last night inspired by all my baking I have revisited the lovely cookery book What Katie Ate - it's such a scrumptious book and the illustrations are good enough to eat........................

If you have time do pop over to see all of the wonderful yarn along posts on Ginny's blog here..................

talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - week 33/52

I'm enjoying another happy week of summer and as usual I am joining in with the lovely Jen and my 4 happies this week are.........

1. Laura's lovely rainbow lunch party.......................

2. Jake playing with his baby and having a snack......................

3. the lovely smell of baking cooling........................

4. being buried in the sand.............................

another fab week

talk soon x

day at the beach..................

We spent a lovely day at the beach last week with Alex, Finn and Daisy - we need a bigger car as it would be even better if we could take all the grandchildren out for the day.........................

I'm not quite sure about this montage I have just been having some fun with picmonkey and different light effects................

talk soon x

family fun and a spot of baking................

I've had a lovely but busy weekend, Kate and Seb travelled up from London and now they have gone to a close friends wedding in Canada, so I have a special little visitor for the week. It's lovely to have the opportunity to spend time with Jake as we all miss him. Laura and Vicky only live a few miles away so I am lucky to be able to see my other five grandchildren at least once or twice a week. Jake has had great fun playing with his cousins and being thoroughly spoilt by his Grandparents and Great Nana and Great Grandma.

In between having a houseful of visitors and also visiting relatives I have spent a few hours in the kitchen doing a spot of baking. I managed to make a birthday cake for my mum and a birthday cake for my friend Barbara's grandson, as well as a spot of home baking for Mr R. I always have a list of recipes I want to try as blogland is full of inspiration and temptation.

The two recipes on the top of my list were a lime and coconut cake recipe shared by Ladybird Diaries and some yummy blueberry muffins shared by Beedeebabee. Both recipes are very straight forward and worked out well.

I love to see my cooling trays full of baking......................

Happy Birthday Mum...................

I hope Isaac had a lovely day...................

lime and coconut cake....................

this cake is so yummy.......................

I've never made blueberry muffins before these were really light and fluffy.................

and a few mini cupcakes for Jake..........................

Lots of my baking has been shared which is always nice and Mr R is happy with a well stocked cake tin.

It's now bath time and bedtime story time for Jake so I had better say goodbye.......................

talk soon x

yummy cake ........................

It took a lot of thinking about but I think Jake enjoyed his cupcake.............................

talk soon x

Crafty Friday # 5..................................

It's that time of the week again, are you ready for week 5 of my Crafty Friday show and tell. I have decided to make another little bird  -  pieces cut out and stitching begins ..............................

The kit recommended bondaweb to attach the blue spotty fabric but I had to make do with stitching it on - hope it doesn't fray.

 All done..................

Just found the blue ric rac braid I forgot to put it around the bottom of the bird.....................

My collection is growing.........................