Attic24

Friday Blurble

Ahhhh Friday again, how whizzy and wonderful this week has been!

I love my Friday morning potterings around town when I visit local shops and the market to stock up on produce for the weekend. I'll try and photograph the fruit/veg stall one day to show you, it's really quite visually lovely with all the beautiful, colourful fresh produce on display. Today I bought a couple punnets of English strawberries, I love how they come in a variety of shapes and sizes (unlike the supermarket ones) and are deliciously ripe and sweet. They really do need to be eaten pretty much straight away whilst still a little warm from the sun. Little B and I shared a whole punnet on our way home from playgroup today, sat in the shade of a weeping willow beside the canal. The strawberries hardly touched the sides, they tasted incredible.

Also in my bag today was a bundle of English Asparagus which I am really looking forward to smooshing up tomorrow. My love affair with this seasonal vegetable has not let up over the years (I laugh to myself when I recall this post), and I continue to think rather passionate thoughts about devouring these gorgeous spears.

When I came home from the market this morning, I unloaded my bags, put a fresh coffee on to brew, then ran up to the attic eaves to rootle around in my rather large box of Home Textiles. I was after a table cloth, a dash of summer colour to throw over the brown wooden outdoor table. A big improvement, but the table was missing a little floral something. I pondered over it a while, then decided on a sudden impulse to walk up to the park and gather some cow parsley. I remembered that a few of you suggested enjoying it outside instead of bringing it inside, so that's exactly what I did. The sight of it on my table has made me so happy today, I've loved being able to sit and gaze at it as I've sat eating, drinking and hooking.

I had a little play with hook and yarn this afternoon, trying out a few ideas from my new book.

The above sample is a variation of the "terraces" pattern on page 79, although I had to do it my own way. Sorry Jan Eaton but your pattern was really difficult to read and I just couldn't do it your way. My way worked out pretty good though, and I've got an idea for using it to make a small square cushion cover. It's a fabulous colour-play pattern, I'm quite excited by the idea of playing with it on a larger scale.

4.30pm now, and we are in that sweet lull that comes after the school run and before meal-making time. A friend called by to enjoy a little bit of Friday Afternoon Yummies. This tends to happen most Friday's, a spontaneous gathering of friends and neighbours, lots of children coming and going, a few nibbles and a glass of something delicious and chilled. My current Friday Afternoon tipple of choice is Demi Sec Cava. Oh it really does hit the spot rather nicely. Those bubbles! That fruitiness! Divine. So funny, I just had a look on the supermarket website for more information on this drink, and discovered the "tasting notes" for it.....Fruity nose due to the varietal blend and the short bottle ageing. Harmonious on the palate with apple and hints of toast. Very well balanced, good freshness and pleasant acidity level. Who knew all this could be applied to my drink????? Apples and TOAST??? Hahahaha, gosh I laughed out loud when I read that. I so wish my memory was good enough to recall those sentences, I would really love to be able to say all that just to hear the uppity words tumble out of my mouth.

Ahh, this is my back yard wall. Little B, bored with chasing woodlice, practicing a spot of photography. That kid, how very much I love his company. We've had a sweet, happy, toddling kind of a day together, he is quite wonderful to hang out with.

Now then.....before I toddle off and snuggle up with J on the sofa, I would like to mention three things.....

Thing Number 1 :: Janet Bell. Do you know of this lovely lady?? She is an artist with incredible talent, and moreover she is a super-nice lady you know. That's a print of hers up there on my bathroom wall, I absolutely love love love Janet's work, it makes my heart flip over and wibble with excitement. Janet's blog was the very first blog I ever encountered, so you can thank her for opening the door into Blogland for me. Did I say she was a super-lovely lady? I did? Go see for yourself, bob on over to her blog and say hello...she is peeking back through her own door after taking a baby-break and I'm sure she'd be thrilled to welcome you in.

Thing number 2 :: a wacky crochet tie, isn't it marvellous? Not my creation though, no, this was made by a good friend of mine. You may remember me chatting about this particular friend when I showed you her inspirational blanket?? Well this tie was made for her son to wear at school as part of a fund raising effort for the amazing charity Oxfam. Tomorrow some  of my lovely hooky friends will be taking part in an extraordinary walk to raise money for Oxfam. It'll be an incredible achievement and I am so in awe of them for taking up this challenge. They'll be walking a mind blowing 100km over 30 hours (yikes!), I can hardly get my head around it actually. I promised I would pass on their details in case any of you would like to donate to Oxfam via the Hooky Ladies of Yorkshire. The link to their team page is here.

And finally, Thing Number 3 :: the Sun Is Still Shining here and the sky is a most gorgeous shade of cloudless blue!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipppeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a fabulous weekend, enjoy every precious little minute of it ♥

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May Rose Wreath :: Ta-dah!

Hello, and welcome to a very pretty little flowery-stripy Ta-dah!

This has been such a fun project, I've been feeling really ridiculously happy these past few weeks as I've worked away on it bit by bit. As you may remember, I started making the roses in early May, and the whole wreath making thing just seemed to naturally happen once the flowers started blooming. I guess I've had some sort of rose-smothered wreath idea sitting prettily in my head for a long time now, and May seemed like a good month to finally make it happen.

The base for the wreath is a 22cm polystyrene ring which I bought last year from a very good Ebay Seller (see here). There are quite a few different sizes available, also half-rings which have a flattened back for hanging against the wall.

I really adore the combination of flowers with colourful stripes, I think it's such a jolly happy partnership. My wreath was always going to be stripy, no plain one-colour nonsense for me.

These stripes were really quick to work up as each row is only 28 stitches wide. I worked the stitches in Half Treble Crochet [this is Half Double Crochet for US peeps], using a 3.5mm hook and lots of scraps of dk yarn. Some of the yarn is baby cashmerino, some of it is Rico Essentials Merino. It was brilliant fun putting the colours together at random, varying the number of rows for each stripe to give it even more of a mixed up feel. Not sure how many rows I did, I think it was eighty-something. I just kept checking the length of it around the circumference of the wreath until it seemed long enough.

Re the measurements, when I made the foundation chain, I tried to make sure it was going to be a nice snug fit around the polystyrene ring. The same thing applied to the finished length. Remember that crochet stretches and a nice snug fit gives a better finish than a loose baggy one.

Yiippeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! Aren't these colourful stripes so beautifully joyful? They really do make my heart beat faster. Love love love them.

The first stage of making up the wreath base is to oversew the two ends of the stripy length together. Use a matching coloured length of yarn and stitch through the back loops only with a darning needle. You do this from the wrong side so that when you turn it over to the right side....

....the join/stitches are pretty much invisible (I've joined between the bright green and the red, can you see?)

The second stage is to stitch the ring of crochet together around the polystyrene form. The seam/join will run around the back of the ring so it won't be visible once the ring is hung up on the wall/door. I simply worked my way around making a small stitch into the end of each crochet row.

It's handy having the stripes as a guide cos you can use them to keep the rows lined up accurately with each other.

See how it begins to come together? At first it feels as if it's not going to work out, there seems almost too much crochet and not enough space for it to fit. But somehow it does all come together. The crochet rows stretch themselves out a little around the outer edge, and ruffle in a little around the inner edge.

Because you won't actually see the back when the wreath is hanging, you don't have to worry too much about producing a neat join. It can be messy as you like, so long as it does the job and holds it all together.

Oooooo-la-la!!!!!

I was so very, very thrilled when the wreath was finally all stitched up and I couldn't wait to hang it up so I could stand back and take a good look. I ran upstairs and hung it on the bathroom wall, oh it really turned out great! So pleased! I loved the stripes so much I almost considered leaving it like this and not bothering with the roses after all.

But lots of the roses and leaves were already made, and I did really want to bring my May Rose Wreath into reality. It simply had to happen.

You may remember me telling you last week that I decided to add in a few teeny tiny flowers with my roses? They turned out so sweetly in yellow and blue, but the greenery was missing. So I came up with that funny little three-pronged leafy thing that you can see above there, to sit behind the flower.

Look.......................

......good eh? It means that the teeny tiny flowers get their greenery without a lot of fiddly hooking and messing about. The pattern for the Triple Leaf is very easy, as follows ::

Chain 4, join with a slip stitch to form a ring.

Chain 2, then work 2dc into ring.

Chain 4, then beginning in 2nd chain from hook work 1dc, 2tr, 1dc. Sl st in the same stitch as the last dc to finish the little leaf shape.

*Work 3dc into the ring

Chain 4, then beginning in 2nd chain from hook work 1dc, 2tr, 1dc. Sl st in the same stitch as the last dc to finish the little leaf shape*

Repeat between ** once more until three little leaf shapes have been made. Sl st into the top of the initial ch2 to close. Fasten off.

I also made some really weeny little flowers that I'm calling "Micro Flowers". It's hard to show you the scale of them, but they measure just 2cm across. Easy to do, as follows ::

Chain 5, then make a sl st into the first chain.

*Chain 4, then make a sl st into the very first chain*

Repeat between ** three more times until you have five chain-loop petals. Fasten off.

Just to explain, after each ch-4, you always go back to the very first chain to make your sl st, so in other words, that very first chain will become like a central ring.

I then used contrasting yarn to make some embroidery stitches in the centre just to add a little bit of detail.

Putting all my flowers and leaves together and arranging them in a pleasing way was actually the hardest part of the whole project. I fussed and faffed with them over many days, uncertain how exactly to go about it. I wanted it to be just right. This was always going to be an exuberant kind of a wreath, but at the same time I did want it to look pretty and not too ridiculous. I also realised that as I liked the stripes soooo much, I didn't want them to completely disappear under the flowers. As I say, it was quite tricky getting it right.

I decided to pin the flowers in place at first so that I could get the placement right before stitching them on. It was so easy to pin straight into the polystyrene, sooo easy, so much easier than sewing them on.............

Yeah, you guessed it, I was hit with a brilliant light bulb moment and thought....why bother stitching when I can just use PINS???!! Genius! I found the above pin wheels for £1 each in a local shop, and they were perfect for the job. You can find them on good ol' Ebay here.

I then simply chose a coloured head to match whichever flower or leaf I was pinning in place, and it was all done in a jiffy.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to showing you this finished project of mine.

It's so full of happiness and sunshine and fun.

And I already love it so so so much.

Wanna see?

Ok.................................................................................................

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you like? Do you see how brilliantly the pin thing worked out? Do you love how beautifully the flowers sit with the stripes? How joyful it all is?

There are thirty seven components in total. As follows ::

2 double roses

9 single roses

12 single leaves

4 teeny tiny flowers

4 triple leaves

6 micro flowers

And they all came together in a horseshoe of sweet lovliness.

Sooooo sweet, I just really love it. I decided straight away to hang it on the door that opens into our main living/dining room.

When I was hanging the wreath up, I noticed that I still have that little piece of paper stuck on the door that says "this house is Best". It's been there for four and a half years now, since that's how long we've lived at number 24. I love how this house is evolving and growing as my family evolves and grows, yet so much still remains the same.

Thank you as always for sharing this sweet, flower filled journey with me. I do so appreciate your company along the way xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps I'm already thinking about a Christmas wreath :: stripes layered with holly leaves, berries, stars and maybe a few large layered Irish Rose type flowers.....

 

 

 

 

 

Perky

Oh what a difference the weather makes, we have been basking in some beautifully warm, glorious sunshine the past few days and it has made everything seem so happy! I was trying to think what the opposite of Droopy might be (ie the title of my last wet post full of misery) and Perky was the first word that sprang to mind. How happy I am to declare my current perkiness!

Yesterday and today has seen us spend a lot of time outdoors doing perfectly perky May things, and it's been such a relief to let go of all the weather-induced resentment. We've been eating outdoors, picnicking with friends in the park (that's my new little picnic lunch bag there, I am quite smitten with it), and generally just spending time sitting around soaking up the sun rays. I kind of felt like my internal battery had run flat and I was desperate for a bit of solar power to recharge and feel energised again.

Last night at eight o'clock, I strolled up the back streets on my way to Tracy's house. The light on the hills was so pretty, they were lit with a sweet rosy glow that made my heart squeeze. I thought to myself ::  ahhhh this is more like it! This is precisely what May Evenings should look and feel like! Pheww. I'm so glad May has sorted itself out a bit, I was feeling proper cross with it last week.

I usually meet in the local pub on a Monday night with a lovely group of yarny-minded friends, but occasionally circumstances mean that it's easier to transfer the location to one of our houses. Yesterday we met at Tracy's house, which we are always mighty pleased about cos Tracy's house is rather gorgeous and special. Plus she makes her own homemade garlicky hummus for us all to tuck in to, not to mention great slabs of homemade cake. I had the delicious experience of drinking Pimms whilst eating almond slice and hooking up roses, it was a rather unexpectedly lovely combination.

The banter was happy, the munchies were super and the hooky time was great too. It was a lovely, relaxed, sociable and productive evening.

I came downstairs with Little B this morning at about 6.30am, and as I walked in to the living room I was completely bowled over by the light. My house is currently in a huge, disgraceful mess (been a tad lazy of late with the ol' Home Blessing stuff), but the sun made it all look so lovely. Even the piles of plastic toys looked good bathed in golden light.

I treated myself to a bunch of flowers today to celebrate the return of the sun. A really gorgeous, vibrant bunch of Scented Stocks with their incredible sweetly spiced scent. They are sitting on my dining table and I can smell them now. So beautiful.

My plantlets have really put on a growth spurt in the past two days, and it made me realise that it's almost Pot Time. I usually wait till early June before sorting out my back yard pots and planting them up with annuals, and I can't wait to get going with it this year. Need to visit my lovely Plant Man and get my usual haul of geraniums and lobelia (my favourite summer pot combo).

When we returned home from toddler group at lunch time today, the temperature had really soared. We were in the mid 20's I would say, oh it was such a treat! Little B and I ate our lunch together outside, then I got busy with providing some sunshiney outdoor entertainment for him in the form of an underbed storage box filled with warm water. What fun! He stripped his clothes off and leapt in, it was such a joy to watch him play. He was in a complete frenzy of excitement at one point, squealing and splashing and frolicking around, I sat and watched him and laughed out loud at his antics. Sweet boy.

I've really enjoyed the past couple days (can you tell?), it has been so warm and blissful on the domestic front. All rather ordinary I guess, but satisfying and very happy nevertheless.

I'll have a Ring o' Roses blooming for you tomorrow, don't think that's been forgotten. Looking forward to a bit of pretty Ta-dahing, see you then............

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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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Friday Feel-good

I'm obsessing over a number of things at the moment, one being the amount of water that keeps falling from the sky, another being roses. Re the water thing...it's been so-so-so-so-so-so wet here this week, wet like you wouldn't believe. The little babbling beck that runs through our town swelled into a raging torrent and burst it's banks. Local roads have flooded. And closer to home, my (leaking) bay window roof has been pouring a steady stream of water into the living room. I've been collecting it in the washing up bowl, which in turn has become a makeshift paddling pool for Little B. Sometimes he's taken his socks off first, but mostly he's been climbing into it fully clothed. It's not been an easy week on the mothering front.

It's been a wellie wearing week for sure. Yesterday Little B and I splashed into town to go to knit and natter at the café. Actually, despite the rather dismal feeling of my coat being totally inadequate and not actually keeping me dry, we had fun. I deliberately took myself down to Little B's level mentally and emotionally and attempted to experience the walk in the way that he was doing. Puddles (lots of them), lets jump and splash! Rain pouring down (and soaking us to the skin), lets feel the joy! Gutters leaking (and pouring showers of water on top of our heads), lets laugh and find it funny! It worked to a point and much to my surprise I did rather enjoy the whole wet experience. After getting so soaked, it also made it doubly delicious to spend the morning drying out in the warm, fragrant café amongst yarny friends, drinking hot milky coffee and eating toasted fruit bread. I even crocheted half a rose.

Which brings me neatly to the Obsession of Today......................

Ten stems of the most exquisite orange roses, purchased from the market for £2.95.

Oh the pure joy these flowers have provided me with today is almost indescribable. I have fallen completely in love with them.

I snipped the stems short because I really desperately wanted to see them in my red and white spotty jug. They looked a bit lost bobbing about in the jug with no leaves to speak of, so I went out (in the rain) to snip some miscellaneous greenery from the front garden to accompany them. That almost tipped me over the edge then...the glorious orange blooms with the bright leafy green foliage nestling in red with white spots... ooooooooooooooooooohhhh!

Sigh. So completely beautiful. I don't think I've ever bought orange roses before, and I wonder now why ever not? Look what I've been missing all these years!

If you could've seen me here at the table this morning (this was 10.33am), you would've seen a very happy soul indeed. After the gloom of the weather this week, with all the added hassle it has brought to the school run (not to mention the roof/bowl/paddling toddler scenario and the resulting piles of wet clothes all over the place), I really felt in need of some Feel-good.

This was my recipe for todays Friday Feel-good ::

• Some child free time (45 mins while Little B was at playgroup)

• Good coffee (a take-out from the local coffee shop, decanted into my pretty mug)

• Something sweet and calorie laden ( Pain au raisin from the M&S bakery, tut-tut)

• A jug of fresh flowers on the table (smoochy, swoony orange roses of course)

• A little bit of colourful Hooky to work on (woolly stripes)

It worked a treat and the Feel-good was overflowing.

The stripes are coming on a treat too, very jolly indeed. As you know, I'm working on a stripy wreath base for my May Roses, and I am really, really enjoying making them. I'm using the Rico Merino wool I bought recently (see this post for colour info), mixed in with some odd scraps of baby cashmerino. I'm working in htc (half treble crochet) on a 3.5mm hook, so the stripes are coming out quite neat and tight (I don't want the white of the polystyrene wreath to show through when I stretch it over). I'm choosing the colours and stripe width completely at random, and loving it.

While I was working on the stripes and having a play with the roses I'd already made, I had a sudden overwhelming urge to make a sweet blue forget-me-not type flower. So I grabbed some yellow and turquoise blue yarn and set to work using my teeny-tiny flower pattern.

I'm really happy with how it turned out and I think a few of them dotted in amongst the roses will look super-cute. This wreath is going to be quite something when it's finished, I'm so looking forward to bringing it all together.

Ahhhh another adoring gaze at that orange beauty. Amazing how rapidly the petals began to relax and unfurl once they came into the house.

Now then. I have to confess this wickedly extravagant thought that keeps persistently needling away at me. I can't stop thinking of all the other colours of roses that Mr Plant Man had in his pavement buckets today. Yellow, pale pink, magenta, red.......the memory of them is giving me this incredible urge to go and buy a whole armful, one bunch of each colour. I could cram them all into a big jug and enjoy a week of Mulicoloured Floral Magnificence. £14.75 for fifty roses ?? Hmmm, I think I just squashed that delicious pesky thought right back down where it belongs. Ten is quite enough. Orange roses are good. Orange roses are great. Less is more an' all that.

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Back to it

Gosh, such gloomy grey, and cold wet-wet-wet we've been having here this past week, I've really struggled getting back into routine in this awful weather. Nothing worse than coming home after getting wet through and knowing that in 1.5 hours you will need to put on a still wet coat and go out and do it all over again. I've felt like I haven't warmed up all week, have been perpetually cold and damp.

It's not so bad though, I've been making a conscious effort to rise above the gloom and shake off the post holiday blues. I'm almost there with it. I've worked my way diligently through the gazillion loads of laundry that always materialises after a week away, and it's felt remarkably comforting to be busy doing domestic things.

On Friday morning when Little B was happily at playgroup, I put on my apron and whizzed around number 24 with the vacuum cleaner and floral duster. I sang to myself. I picked up and tidied away many, many stray objects, emptied bins, folded laundry and straightened out the sizable textile element of the living room (currently five blankets and a whole gaggle of cushions). And when it was all done I felt relief and happiness flood through me. I am Blessing my Home, doing my job, getting Back To It. And it feels right and good. Hoozah!!

I also made a wondrous discovery on Friday, you will probably laugh at my stupidity actually, giggle at how long it has taken me (many weeks) to work this one out. On Friday mornings after I've dropped Little B at playgroup, I wend my way home across town via the shops and market. Buying groceries, fresh fruit and veg, bread, flowers, toiletries, whatever we are in need of. I always end up struggling with very, very heavy bags, arriving home all hot and sweaty and exhausted. But yesterday, I had a light-bulb moment and I thought :: hang on a minute!! Why struggle carrying hideously heavy bags when I have a set of wheels at my disposal? Why leave Little B's pushchair at playgroup when I can use it to transport the shopping? So now on Friday's, Pushchair will magically become Shopping Trolley, how marvellous!! I did get a great many odd looks pushing a pushchair full of blanket-wrapped food around (I think it was the long french stick in place of the child that did it), but I care not. My arms and back were so thankful!

This weeks floral extravagance from the market comes in the form of three bunches of "cheerfulness" for £3. I can't tell you how much I love love love that these narcissi are really actually called CheeRfUlness (like officially really that's their proper name), how sweet is that?? They smell divine, and looked super-cute wrapped in my ripples as they rode home in the pushchair. Looking (and smelling) pretty good on my table too.

Part of Friday's Home Blessing also involved a clean up of my mantel as I packed away all the Easter decs. I've left the blossom flowers on the twigs, and Miss Fleur could in no way be packed into a shoebox, so it's still looking very pretty and Springlike in here.

Hmmmmmmmm? You've spotted the little vintage dish full of embroidery threads????? Ah yes, those. Well that's the subject of another post entirely, you'll have to wait for the low-down on those balls of gorgeousness.

Cheerfulness and sweet mushroomy goodness has made it's way up into the bedroom as the Home Blessing activity isn't confined to the ground floor. One of the things that I most love about coming home from holiday is that I get to fall in love with my bed all over again. Gosh, I do adore my bedtimes, such simple, pleasurable bliss to enter the land of nod between crisp cotton and plumped up feathers with a bit of hooky goodness thrown over the top.

I baked with Little B on Thursday morning, always a good plan when the weather is yuckity-yuck and the heart is still a little achy. Helping a 2 year old to crack eggs, play with an electric whisk, dollop mixture, then lick out the bowl is a wonderful thing. Add to that the warmth of the oven, the delicious smell of baking that fills the house, the fun of icing and decorating with newly purchased sweet-hearts and the satisfaction of eating a homemade bun with an afternoon cuppa, well, it all adds up to something simple yet marvelous.

What else....oh yeah, my windowsill seedlings really grew a lot whilst I was away, just look at them go! I'm planning on seeing to them tomorrow, they need "potting on" now before they get too leggy and weak. I'm treating myself to one of those small portable greenhousey type things, you know the sort I mean? Like a bit of metal shelving with a clear plastic rain mac that zips up over the top to keep the chill off.

These cute little basil seedlings were given to me by TF (Talented Friend), she has green fingers as well as stitchy ones. These weeny seedlings already smell so lovely and the scent of them instantly transports me to Summertime. I am desperate not to kill them (my fingers are not green), I talk sweet nothings to them daily and do not ever want to report news of their demise to TF. I want to see them grow into strong mature plantlets so that I can proudly talk tomato-mozzarella-basil salad on a warm summers day with TF. Fingers and toes crossed, I'm going to pot them on tomorrow with the rest of my seedlings and settle them into their new greenhousey home.

Something else that I really do want to get back to is my ripple, it's been a tad neglected of late. I sat and worked a few rows this morning, then had a little ponder about the dimensions and where I'm at with it all. I laid it out on top of ripple number one to check on the length and I'd say I've maybe only got ten more colour changes to work through. I feel a bit like I don't want it to end, but at the same time with the weather being still so chilly I'm really looking forward to pressing it into service. It's taking on a delicious weight, quite a substantial blankie this one. I really do adore it.

Well, I think that's about all the news from the home front that I can muster at the moment, thank you as always for bobbing by. I love that you visit and stay a while to chat.

Much love to all, see you again soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

March 2012

Ahh March, you are no longer with us and I miss you! April so far is being completely vile, we're in the grips of an icy storm, the wind is howling and it is s-n-o-w-i-n-g, blasted weather. I look through these deliciously springlike photos and I want it to be March again, March was soooo beautiful. The sky was often blue, and we had warm sunshine for the first time this year. It was quite glorious for much of the time, yes March, you were lovely.

My organiser calendar went all green, sophisticated and Continental for March. Made me think of a carefree time in my past when many moons ago J and I flew to Paris for a romantic March weekend. Searching through my memory banks.......oh cripes.....yeah, waaaay back in my youth....March 1995,  seventeen years ago. Would love to go back sometime.

My ever lovely Ideal Homes calendar had this stunning image for March, it's been a true delight having this next to my desk to gaze at for a month. So beautiful, I find the sight of pink blossom really uplifting and good for the soul.

In my mind I associate blossom with May, as that's when the cherry trees in my neighbourhood flower. But in the past month I've noticed such a lot of early blossom flowering on trees all over the place, and it really is delightful. I don't have much blossom-knowledge so have no idea what sort of trees produce these gorgeous early blooms, but I love them very much. They are more delicate than the flouncy, frilly cherry blooms that come in May, I love their sweet simplicity.

My front patch crocus bloomed their little hearts out through early March, they were such a welcoming sight at the front of the house.

Forsythia sprang into action around here a few weeks ago too, there is lots of it around and about in my neighbourhood. I'm not mad keen on it to be honest (that particular yellow is a bit too shouty and acidic for me), but it's undoubtedly a real sign that Spring is well on the way.

In complete contrast to the indoorsyness of February, March was all about reconnecting with Outside. I love March for that very reason. I love stepping out of stuffy, cooped-up February and breathing in the fresh air of March, it's delicious. Lovely to start pegging out again too, it's a sweet domestic job that always fills me with gladness. Hooray for stripy garments flapping in the breeze!

Outdoor tea breaks also began again last month, oh the joy! I generally stop my outdoor pitstops sometime in October when my hands start turning purple with the cold. It's been lovely having enough warmth in the air to have the kitchen door propped open and a quick breather in the outdoors. In fact, I've really, really enjoyed all the domestic outdoorsyness these past few weeks :: the pegging out, the sunshine tea sipping, the seed planting, and the general feel-good brought on by warm air, blue skies and spring sunshine. I feel really excited about spending more time outdoors as the year progresses, about making my back yard into a haven of floral colour and greenery.

Floral colour has ben happening in abundance inside too, just look! Every Friday I stop by the market after picking up Little B from playgroup and treat myself to a modest bunch of fresh flowers. The tulips and narcissi that fill the pavement buckets at this time of year are brilliant, and represent great value for money. I can get quite a few bunches now for just a few ££, enough for me to fill a small jug for the table, pop four into my bathroom windowsill bottles, and have a few in a jar beside my bed. The roses above came from a surprise Mothers day bouquet. I don't wish to sound ungrateful, but I confess I am not a fan of commercial "mixed bouquets". If I am on the recieving end of one (not often), I tend to split them up, chop the stems short and arrange them into various small jugs instead of one over-the-top vase. Much more my style.

My photo album for March was full to bursting with pictures you know, it seemed like a very full-to-bursting kind of a month. When I'm putting my monthly round up posts together I like to try and capture the general feel of the months activities :: it was hard for March as there was so much! Lovely looking back and remembering the various outings we made :: local strolls, simple jaunts and proper full blown outings, it's been liberating to stretch our horizons beyond our four walls again.

Mind you, March also saw me get to grips with the Four Walls a bit, and I am so happy the Shelves of Doom were finally banished. It remains a highpoint of my year so far, truly it does. And that surprises me a bit, but it's true. I think it was as much about the way I was able to mentally and emotionally pull myself together to tackle this task as it was about the end results. A real Personal Achievement for a rather slovenly procrastinator. I really did it, didn't I? Still wearing ridiculous proud smile over that one, although my two crates are still there waiting, as is the pile of 51 books destined for the charity shop, so can't be too smug.

I had a hair chop in March, it was long overdue as I'd not been since the Blooming Flower cushion photos. That's eight months. I've got more grey hairs now, but I'm remaining true to my natural colour which is still pretty good. It feels lovely to have air on my neck again, I was looking quite shaggy and unkempt with my raggedy grown-out shoulder length do.

Hooky wise, not a lot to report for March, it was a quiet month on the hooky front. I kind of lost the will a little, I just didn't seem to want to do it for a while. I worked a little on my ripple through last month, but not a lot. I've got many, many ideas brewing for new projects though, it's quite tangled again up in my Creative Mind. I'll keep you posted.

So how's the Attic view been in March? Terrific, that's how. The light levels have risen dramatically, especially with the arrival of British Summer Time a few weeks ago, and I am so, so thankful for the extra daylight in my life again. Yeah, the view has been light-filled and lovely, take a look.................

I especially love that last photo, it was taken on 27 March at 18:20 after a day of the most glorious sunshine. I love the golden glow of the landscape at that time of day, I remember it made me want to rush out and frolic around in it (which I actually did, I took myself out for an early evening walk to watch the sun set and the moon rise, it was beautiful)

March was altogether a beautiful month. It was light and bright and upbeat, both indoors and outdoors. In March it became Springtime, and I was so ready for that change of season, was so over the winter.

Do you ever think of the year in terms of fractions? I do. I keep thinking wow, we are one quarter the way into the year now. Can't quite believe we're in the second quarter of the year already, but as this is my most favouritist quarter of all (April-May-June), I am more than happy with the progress. Bring it on, I'm ready to give it my all.

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Edit to add :: A Question.......do you think I go on too much? Should I make my posts shorter/less wordy? Interested to hear what you think as I never give much thought to my posts in terms of how they read, I just write what I feel like writing regardless. ♥ oh that's ok then, thanks so much for the feedback and reassurance...will carry on with my ramblin' ways. Not sure I could do any different anyways?! ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gently

Monday morning, 10:27am. J is at work, but I am home with the three Lil Peeps at the start of our Easter holidays. We are all still in our pyjamas and I'm pretty much hoping it'll stay that way all day long. Don't intend to get dressed today, nope, will stay pyjama-clad for the whole of it. Haven't got much food in, but shopping doesn't fit very well with wearing pyjamas so we shall make do with what's in. I'm thinking a creamy, comforting risotto (some ham and slightly shrivelled button mushrooms have been located in the fridge, and I always have arborio rice in the cupboard). In fact, I might just dish it up into bowls and we'll eat it picnic style around the fire. It's blimmin freeeezing here today, people keep telling me that snow is forecast for goodness sake. Blankets and woolly socks and pyjamas and bowls of hot comfort food around the fire sounds delightful, doesn't it? We'll just have to ignore the fact that it's April and pretend Spring hasn't supposed to've started yet.

We have nothing planned for this week. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. I'm hoping for happy children who entertain themselves and require very little attention from me (so far so good). I'm thinking if I just make sure to provide food at all the right times, then they might just be good enough to look after themselves. Maybe we won't get dressed all week.

Sounds a bit lack-lustre I know, but hey, I've been poorly. Like reeeeeally crappity-crap poorly in bed all day yesterday. Some sort of bug crept in and laid me low, the bug also crept into Little B as he spent the whole of yesterday throwing up. Sometimes we managed to get it into his little blue bucket, but a lot of it landed on bed, sofa, floor, and me. Today Little B is bright as a button and ravenously hungry. Me, not so much. I am loads better than yesterday, but not at all hungry (excepting for strawberries with sugar on) and still feeling wiped out. I think my legs are now made of stone, they are soooo heavy and tired.

So I am taking it gently, slowing the pace right down, not expecting too much. Sometimes when you're ill and spending lengthy times in bed drifting in and out of sleep, everything can seem a bit gloomy. I've been trying to think of some highlights of the past week to lighten my mood, remembering how good things essentially are and how rarely I am caught up in illness. For that I am truly thankful. I won something last week, it made me sooooo happy. I won, I won, I won! It arrived in double quick time, beautifully wrapped in pink paper with a stripy bow.

It's an apron that I won, a beautiful handmade spring-flower apron, made by the delightful Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse. It's a joy to wear, and it inspired me to double-bake last week (a batch of iced buns and a tray of chewy fruity flapjack). I've also been wearing it Just Because. Just because I've been at home and pottering and apron-wearing makes me happy.

Something else came in the post last week, something I ordered on Etsy when I was going through a mad-crazy creative mental flurry with myself. I had been thinking of Connievan and how I would love to make her some cushions. Fabric patchworky ones, but not just fabric, no, something more, something kind of ribbony and braidy and ever so slightly over-the-topsy. I adore this type of woven ribbon/braid, it reminds me instantly of my childhood. I had fun searching through Etsy for the right thing and finally I found these all the way across the globe in Thailand. How exotic! I'm thinking strips of patchworked fabrics, with these braids and some ricrac running down the joins, can you picture it? Will keep you posted. Need to find a way to iron/cut/sew without a certain Little B meddling.

 

Something else that made me really unexpectedly happy last week was a comment from a Random Stranger. Not often that someone stops to tell me how great I look in what I'm wearing, in fact, I don't think it has ever happened to me before, not EvEr. But one morning last week when I was pushing Little B up through town, a man stopped me to tell me how much he liked all my bright colours. I had completely forgotten that I had slipped on my red crocs that morning, I looked down  to see what the man was pointing at and was honestly stunned to see them still on my feet. I guess I must've looked quite jolly with my red feet, lime green coat, turquoise bag and pink polka dot scarf. My turquoise bag (from Fat Face) is falling apart a little....I'm trying to come up with a crochet alternative, possibly using my "Spot Square" pattern (pictured in this post, scroll down through the yarn-addiction, it's the 11th picture)

Other little bits of gentle goodness this past week have been the appearance of shoots. I have shoots!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, yes, some of my seeds have begun to sprout, and I am extremely happy about it. Above is the cosmos, but also my colander-calendula has sprouted, as have my morning glory. Now singing sweetly to the nasturtiums as they are not yet showing any signs of sprouting. Cummon nasturtiums, where aaaarrrrrreeeee yooooooooooooooou?!

I planted a passion flower this morning. Went out to put rubbish in the bin and saw the little passion flower I bought last week from the supermarket still all trussed up in it's plastic wrapping. So I busily got to work with a little spade and transplanted it into my big blue glazed pot. I hope it won't mind the cold weather we're having, I have high hopes for this gorgeous, scrambling beauty. Grow little plant, grow.

11.38 now. My gentle pyjama morning was sullied about 38 minutes ago when the Window Man arrived on the doorstep. Jeez, why can I not remember these things??? Had totally forgot he was coming, so I had the hideous embarrassment of trying to talk about Replacement Windows and FENSA law whilst wearing bedwear and bed head. Oh well. At least I had brushed my teeth.

Well......feeling a bit wobbly and heavy behind my eyes again now, so I shall slope off and crawl under a blanket with my two Littlies who are sat watching High School Musical. Gently does it.

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Tuesday Twenty

1. Back yard windmills making me smile

2. Little Nut Tree gently opening it's first leaf of the season

3. Brightly coloured washing line

4. The slant of the afternoon sunbeams

5. Evidence of Little B's outdoor playtime

6. Nap time/Mummy time

7. A little sweet accompaniment to my afternoon cuppa

8. A little hooky accompaniment to my afternoon cuppa

9. The wondrous oh.so.blue colour of the sky

10. The glowing yellow of neighbourhood forsythia

11. The picturesque beauty of my 3pm school run

12. Putting my new/old chair in the front garden for sunshine sitting

13. After school hooky time in the front garden while Little Peeps played out

14. Making lime and honey dressing for a salad

15. The golden light and chimney shadows at 6.30pm

16. An early evening walk up a hill to take in the view

17. The colours of sundown

18. Walking back through the woods

19. The wondrous sliver of moon in the still oh.so.blue sky

20. Plumping up my pillow and smoothing my blanket ready for bed

♥

Twenty pictures that capture the simple beauty and happiness of my Tuesday.

♥

 

 

 

Doing my Job

I have my off days like anyone else, but mostly I have to say I adore my job as a stay-home-mum. It suits me down to the ground and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to do this job, a job I love with all my heart. I'm not a worker really, no not really. By nature I'm far too idle and ditsy and free-floating to be a good employee, I do pretty much hate being told what to do. I like to feel free, I like to feel that (within reason) I can pick and choose what I want to do each day, set my own schedule according to my mood and the weather.

That's not to say that I don't like routine, cos I do. I like to have some basic structure to my days,  and certain things do need to be done each day, and I do need to be in certain places at set times each day. But that all balances out with the deliciousness of being able to free-float in and out and inbetween the must-do's and must-be's. Like I say, it suits me down to the ground.

I'm really enjoying this stage of Motherhood, I like the playgroup/nursery years a great deal more than the baby years I think. We get to have quite a bit of fun, Little B and I, he is terrific company. I'm enjoying the pace of our days and weeks and feel we're finally achieving a good balance between together time and away time, catering for each of our needs pretty well I'd say.

Thursday is the one day which I leave open without plans. No music groups, no toddler groups, no playgroups, no arrangements. Sometimes my in-laws come across and look after Little B so I can skip with my bag to knit and natter at the cafe. Sometimes I take Little B with me to knit and natter, where I spend much of my time trying to keep him away from the coffee machine which he is obsessed with. But lately, we've just been hanging out together at home on Thursday's, and it's been lovely to enjoy a bit of quiet down time together.

Yesterday though, well yesterday was declared (by me) to be a day for Going Places. The sun was shining and I suddenly thought how grand it would be to walk down to the station and take a train ride. I ran the idea by Little B, and he responded with a great big Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! and an excited kicking of his legs. So down to the station we went to get on a red, shiny train.

Little B had selected suitable reading material for the occasion, and we chatted about various forms of transport for the whole fifteen minute journey. Actually, no that's not true as we did look out the window quite a bit and pointed out things we could see. Sheep and tractors and lorries and the such like.

We journeyed to a nearby town in search of essential clothing supplies for my offspring who will not stop growing. Destination Large Supermarket. We got to ride in a lift. I bought Little B some incredibly dinky-sweet Fireman Sam underpants and new pyjamas with dinosaurs on. New socks and jammies for the Little People too. And one or two wee things for Mummy which snook into the basket, I'll show you those in a bit.

Once all the shopping was done with, we walked the few minutes back to the station and jumped on the train back again. But instead of going all the way back to our home town, we got off a stop early, at the village we visited a month or so ago,  the one with the fabulous play park. What a grand plan that was, Little B was all smiles, and I felt all puffed up and pleased with myself. Doing a Good Job today I thought, what a happy day of Going Places and having fun being Mummy!

Unlike last time we were here which was during the school holidays, today the park was deserted when we arrived. Totally empty and all ours. It was great.

We had the whole run of it, even the giant sandpit which is usually full of kids on busy days.

It was a beautiful day yesterday, still quite chilly, but unmistakably an early Spring sort of a chill and not a late Winter chill.

I was delighted to see some early blossom, it looked so very, very pretty.

And full blown pussy willow too, a sure sign that Spring has most definitely sprung in my patch.

After a good while playing at the park I began to feel peckish, so I persuaded Little B to pause and come have lunch. He was devilishly busy collecting up handfuls of wood chippings and shoving them through a hole in one of the little stone walls, but at the mention of food he came running. We sat at a wooden picnic table in the sunshine and ate some sandwiches, biscuits, bananas and grapes that I'd bought with us. How I love to picnic eat outdoors, I really do love it. So simple and so satisfying. I did have a little bit of picnic envy as a family arrived at the next table and the other Mummy had thought to bring a flask. Damn, I slipped up there, I suddenly felt most desperate for a cup of tea when I spied her pouring smugly from her flask.

The sky was a hazy blue, the sun a sort of pale, watered down version of it's usual bright self. But it was truly blissful to have hazy blue and pale yellow shine down on me as I ate lunch.

It took a lot of persuading to get Little B to leave the park, we were there quite a long time. But eventually I really did kind of Need To Go if you get what I mean (no facilities at the park unfortunately), so I scooped him up (literally) and trotted the few minutes to the little station to wait for the next train back.

I sat on the platform bench and crossed my legs (getting desperate for Facilities), and Little B sat and crossed his legs too. He has new pumps this week look, dinosaur ones, very cute. Already well worn in.

By the time we arrived home, Little B was flat out asleep in his pushchair, worn out from the mornings excitements. I had about an hour and a half before the school run so I quickly chopped and mixed and got the dinner on to slow cook (a curry, this recipe but made with red lentils and mixed peppers. It was delish). Then I set about playing with my new purchases.....

This is what I bought for myself from the Large Supermarket, I just couldn't resist their happy, carefree, colourful charms. They were only £1 each and I felt so giddy putting them through the checkout and stashing them away in my bag. 

I spent a while jigging about in the back yard, clearing away the dead things from some of my big pots so that I could satisfactorily "plant" my windmills. Oh what fun! They look so charming!

I can see them from my kitchen window, spinning round and round in the breeze. I love them.

After all that, I had a weeny window of time left to make myself a brew and sit out in the sunshine a while. I've positioned a chair and cushion right outside my back door for just such occasions as that's where the afternoon sun hits at this time of year.

I sat and thought about our day, and what a good time we'd had together, Little B and I. In fact, our days and weeks are really full of simple pleasure I have to say, we've settled in to a very lovely weekly routine. You may remember I told you he had started going to playgroup two mornings a week? Well the first fortnight was hideous and I felt constantly wrung out with the emotional strain of leaving him when he was crying so much. But then on the 5th day, his lip wobbled considerably, but he Did Not Cry (oh joy!!), and on the 6th day he was subdued but no quivering lips. And by the time we hit the 7th day (which was last week), he positively beamed with happiness when we arrived, waved goodbye to me and ran in to play. Such a humongous relief, I can't tell you.

Right, all this talk about Doing My Job is making me think that right now I should not be sat at my desk chatting to you. Sorry, I do need to go now. Need to scoot off and attend to the business of cleaning. It's Friday morning, Little B is happily at playgroup (yiipeppepeeeeee) and I've got some Home Blessing to do.

See you soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx