Droopy

I am so over the wet. So over it. I feel constantly disappointed that my favourite month of the year is simply not doing what it's supposed to do and keeps letting me down. Wahh, it's May and it's supposed to be all warm and and sunny and outdoorsy and it's not being that AT ALL! We get the odd promising day when it all looks and feels glorious (like Wednesday), then back we go to the cold temperatures, the heavy grey skies and the continuous rain. Winter coat and boots back on and a  rather droopy mood sets in.

This week I confess I've been feeling a little down. Everything has felt a bit flat somehow, I suspect very much influenced by the weather. Take Thursday for example. I had planned to keep Thursday free so that I could take Little B on an adventure. I had it all worked out. I was going to pack a picnic lunch and take him on a bus journey to Ilkley, play and have lunch in the park, then go yarn shopping so that I can get back to finishing my ripple. It was going to be such fun, we were going to ride on a bus! But alas I had to cancel it cos I refuse to adventure/picnic in the drizzle. Nope. It just isn't happening.

So an Adventure Day became a Home Day, and I tried hard not to let the droopy wet mood linger.

Even my sweet orange roses have had enough and have gone all droopy look. They've completely, magically echoed my mood these past few days, it's most odd.

When faced with enforced stay-home days and dire weather, I instinctively turn my oven on and prepare to bake. Yesterday I had a go at adapting a Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recipe, with rather good results. I'm on a quest to gather together a handful of wholesome baking recipes which'll provide good snack material for my Littlies, and these are rather brilliant. The original recipe is for "Honey and Peanut Butter Booster Bars", but I did as Hugh suggested and substituted mashed banana for the peanut butter. After trying this out a little while ago and finding them overly sweet, I made a couple of other alterations by eliminating the sugar and honey and replacing with golden syrup and orange juice.

My variation is as follows ::

Put 125g butter, 75g golden syrup and 2 tbs orange juice in a bowl and microwave for 1 min. Stir until butter has melted and everything is combined thoroughly.

Mix in 200g oats, 2 tbs mixed seeds (I used a sunflower and sesame mix) and 150g mixed dried fruit (I used sultanas and chopped apricots). Then mix in 1 mashed up ripe banana.

Spoon into a lined tin so that mixture is about 1/2 inch deep, and sprinkle a few more seeds on top. Bake at 160/gas 3 for about 30mins until just golden. Mark into bars and leave to cool in tin.

I've named the resulting product "Banana Boost Bars" and they are really scrummy, sort of a cross between a chewy flapjack/cereal bar and a slice of moist banana bread. The Little People have given them the thumbs up, but sadly Little B has refused to even try them. He obviously has an idea that they look like flapjack which he doesn't much care for. Never mind eh.

Well it hasn't been a complete wash-out on the home front as we had two rather well timed Amazon deliveries this week. Gosh, I do so adore Internet shopping and home delivery on occasion, what a gift from heaven it can be. The first parcel to arrive was a treat I had ordered for Little B, and honestly it couldn't have come at a better time. I felt like hugging the delivery man, I was so happy when this arrived on my doorstep!

It's a small pop up play tent, and as you can see he immediately made himself very at home in it. We decked it out with cushions and blankets making it all snugly-cosy inside, and it has already been very well used. He is taking his afternoon snooze in the above picture, I love it when little ones stretch themselves out so completely when they are in deep sleep. I spent a good while just sat on the floor beside him, listening to his sweet breathing and  admiring his ultra-long dark eye lashes. Nothing sweeter that a soundly sleeping child.

These three books were in the second parcel that came this week. I think I've mentioned before that I don't own very many crochet books, and the ones that are on my shelf tend to be project based ones. So I thought it was high time I treated myself to some broad ranging reference type books, and these three look to be real  beauties. I've not had chance to give them a thorough going over, but a quick look through them has given me a huge rush of hooky-happiness. I'll be writing a proper review when I've actually had chance to work a few patterns from them, but for now here are the links ::

200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans, by Jan Eaton

Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs, by Edie Eckman

Around the Corner Crochet Borders, by Edie Eckman

If you follow the links through to Amazon you can take a look inside the pages (love that you can do that!). The tremendous amount of hooky knowledge and skill that sits inside these book covers is mind boggling, truly incredible. Makes me realise that what I do with my own hook and yarn is so very basic. Yes, I think you could call me a very Basic Hooker. Elementary. I admit I have no real lofty crochet ambitions, I actually love plodding along in my own simple little colourful world, working on my easy low-brainpower creations. Which reminds me........

....my May Rose Wreath should be finished this weekend. Yay for colourful simplicity!

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Comments

[Truly Myrtle]

I know what you mean about the weather. My moods seem very linked to what is happening about the window. I've decided to do a sun dance in the form of sewing and am half way through a very bright summer skirt. Let's hope it works!
I LOVE parcels in the mail too - especially crafty books! Enjoy :)

[Linda]

Ah Lucy I know just how you feel about the weather. I'm feeling down because of it too I have a lovely garden all droopy and crying because of the rain, the only thing that's flourishing is the dandelions lol your banana boost bars look yummy you shouldn't tempt me like this, I have no little one's to help me eat them and you can't let them go to waste can you lol. You will love those books I haven't got the crochet borders yet but the other two will draw you back again and again. As for your creations they are something to be proud of, we enjoy making them because they are easy to do but turn out very special, I can see the flower wreath is going to be a case in point, have a lovely weekend Lucy xx

[Alice]

Your wreath is coming along so well, it looks like it will be beautiful when it's finished. I'm tired of the rainy weather as well, but I think I would be more frustrated if it was nice and sunny because I have to be inside revising all the time. I always want to be outside and make the most of it when the nice weather comes, so maybe it's a good thing for me that it's rainy and dreary. It won't be long until the warm weather will arrive though, I'm sure and we can all go about our adventures and picnics as much as we want. Alice :)

[Brenda]

Oh Lucy, so sorry to hear the weather has been letting you down, when my kids were little and the weather was yuk we would head to the local library. I don"t know if you have a good one near by but ours in Australia have story time and different activities for littilies and you get to go home with a pile of lovely books! Hang in there it will me warm and sunny soon! xxBrenda

[Kirsten]

The books you bought are the best that are out there when it comes to crochet! They are so colourfull and full of ideas, I'm going to love the ideas that you'll probably get while reading them ;)

[RainStorm]

There might be a bonus to a rubbish April/May - the weather might actually be nice in the summer holidays! Every year, I swelter in a classroom full of children (who'd rather be out in the sun anyway), and by the time the school's finished all the nice weather's gone. Maybe this year I'll get to enjoy the sunshine! (wishful thinking)

The baking looks yummy :) I can't stand peanut butter - is mashed banana a standard recipe replacement, or does it only work in this one?! Thanks for sharing x

[Bonnie]

I hope the weather gets a bit better for you. I know what you mean about not being able to get out! Here we are just going into winter, so we have a long three months of rain and "droopy" days ahead of us! Busy crocheting up a storm to get the granny blanket for my bed finished. http://pinterest.com/pin/153263193539175737/

I still haven't heard from you if you got the PDF I emailed to you with all the muffing recipes?
Hope so, if not, just email me again and I will re send.

[Melissa Graham]

Lucy,

I'm so sorry your May is disappointing you. I feel the same. Here in Arkansas it was 89F degrees yesterday. The weather man says we are having August weather in May. We also had a very warm April. Not many April showers to bring May flowers around here. Our grass is beginning to look like it does at the end of Summer. UGH!! Maybe I can box up some of the warm and dry and you can box up some of the cool and damp and we will send it to each other.

Love your pictures especially the one of Little B in the tent. We have one of those and it has always been one of my son's favorite place too.
Hope you have a warm sunny week next week.

[Lynn Dudley-Taylor]

Your wreath looks like a colourful, stripy iced ring doughut!! Maybe I have baking on the brain as I made apple and sultana scones this morning in tribute to your muffins of the other day. They turned out scrumdidiliumptious! Just off to do a few more hooks and twists of my ripple blanket....and expecting a yarn order on monday of the rest of the colours, yippee!! Lx

[zenitude (formerly woolyknitsnbits)]

I enjoy reading your blog and seeing your project because of the wonderful happy colours you choose to crochet with.
Hope the sunshine finds you soon!

[Faith]

I think most people wouldn't call you a basic crocheter, and count you in among their top inspirational hookers, so therefore young lady, I insist that you are not elementary but inspirational.

The sun will come out again, of that I'm sure and we'll all appreciate it more for it's absence recently. Have a sunny Sunday!

[Deco Cat]

The wreath is coming along beautifully, I am looking forward to seeing it when it is finished. I adore crochet books and I am slowly building up quite a stash of them. Hopefully the weather will pick up soon!

[debbie @ happy little cottage]

Wish I could send some you some of this morning's glorious sunshine!!
Can't wait for the wreath ta-dah!!! And remember, easy=finished!! Sometimes we make hobbies to complicated, and then never finish anything (well maybe that's just me) !! Happy weekend xoxo Debbie

[grannytaughtmetocrochet]

Aww your poor roses.

Funnily enough I had the same happen to a rose and just saved it.

Deep cool boiled water in a vase, take a goof two inches off the roses at a slanted angle and watch them pick up.

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[Carole]

OOOO Lucy i can`t wait to see your summer roses ring. I am absolutely rose obsessed atm i keep buying another colour of yarn and crocheting another rose they are really stacking up. It`s soooo exciting.
Love Carole from Rossendale xxxx

[Julie]

Shame you didn't get our adventure day, I dolovethe pop up tent though, endless fun for the little people with that. Hope you have a nice weekend.

[Joyce Stewart]

I'm so with you about the weather...over here in N.Ireland we've only had 2 separate days of any kind of heat....not enough....cold, dull and wet and you couldn't trust it for 5 mins. I was just saying to my DH that it is light until almost 10 pm here and we've not had the good of it really as it is too cold to be out and about...so it seems the longest day could be here before we know it and the days will start to shorten...augh, hows that for being pessimistic? Sorry.
As for the roses..perhaps these have naturally come to the end of their useful life but when you bring roses home put some boiling water in a heatproof container of some sort (pyrex is best) - cut a little off each stem and submerge the ends to approximately a count of 10 or so and watch the air bubbles come out of them...this is the secret to roses lasting longer...get the air out of the stems first.
We do hope that we can get some sun on our faces soon....gardens have not even been planted yet but over here it is sometimes June anyway before the frost really goes but in this climate who knows?

[Lizzie]

This weather is making me feel flat and blargh too - fingers crossed that June will be magnificent (well, i can hope..)! As usual though the sight of all your gorgeous colourful projects and lovely baking has lifted the gloom a little for me - thank you. Have a lovely weekend.

[Lynne Gill]

Looks like there are many of us suffering from WRM - Weather Related Miseries! Just opening one eye on a grey-day can plunge your mood right down into your boots. No idea how to remedy this - self medicate with a dose of St John's Wort? Emigrate? (though the weather seems to be all over the place, all over the place, these days!)

If thwarted I find throwing myself into something textiley helps, but it has to be something ready to go , I;m not good at coming up with brill ideas when the miseries hit.

Ah, that photo is gorgeous of the little one in his sleepy-den. You're right, sleeping babies are beautiful, yu'd never guess the mischief they get up to when they're lying there slumbering.
Well, let's hope this grim-grey weather means a good summer ahead. (Oh dear, I think I said that last year and the year before.......)

[Susan]

We've had warm, sunny weather here in Seattle and you would think I would have gotten a lot done, but no! I only baked twice and still haven't sewn the apron for my blog. Need to place catch up and these bars look wonderfully healthy and should give me the energy I need. <3

[Sarah Youde]

You will love Around the Corner Crocher borders, I couldn't do a blanket without it, it's amazing!

[Angela]

My moods are also very weather sensitive. Wishing you some sunny outside to go along with your sunny inside :)

[J]

Most definitely you are not an elementary crocheter!!! Because of you and your tutorials, I almost believe that I too might can crochet!!!! You are much more inspirational than any book I have seen out there, but I do agree those books look really interesting and will hopefully give you even more inspiration!!! Please continue to write the very understandable tutorials for your minions, of which I am one!!! Thanks for all that you do!!!!

[Kelly Clark]

Just recently purchased these three books myself. Have already used them to make two blankets. I love these books. You can be so creative when you use them.

[Gail]

Miserable, isn't it!? This morning it was so dark when I got up here down in West Yorkshire, that I decided to light both the fire and some candles before my daughter got up! ;) Had to tootle off to the coal shop to buy some more smokeless to keep it going. Fingers crossed we'll get some halcyon May weather soon... xx