Attic24

Adjusting Just Fine

Thank you all so much for taking the time to write to me this week, your understanding words have been so very much appreciated I can tell you. The post holiday Adjustment is going ok I think, well I feel a little brighter today at any rate.



We took an easy family trip out on Sunday morning, a few miles out of town to one of our favourite places for Fresh Air + Views. It was a very straightforward outing which involved a short drive, a short walk, and a short refreshment stop. Landscape appreciation, coffee and chocolate, deep breathing, laughter and chatter. It was good.



I have been busy this week and I've done a lot of walking. On Tuesday I had a meeting for Yarndale, which involved a gorgeous stroll through the park and up over the hill to the auction mart on the egde of town. The landscape is all of a sudden shaking off it's winter colours and greening up again, and I am very, very happy about that. I got so fed up with the washed out, mucky winter colours. Yarndale things are looking really great I have to say, and we now have over a hundred and twenty exhibitors booked (oh the growing list is sooooo exciting!).

Walking back through the park I was bowled over by the yellow carpet of celandine flowers in the woodland....so pretty.

I noticed that leaf buds are budding too, and it is very reassuring to see that Spring is really starting to peek in. I just wish it would warm up a touch, it is still surprisingly chilly here in my patch.

A little bit of pegging out always lifts my spirits and it's one of my favourite domestic chores (along with making my bed).

Something else that lifted my spirits this week was a gorgeous package of yarn. Well it wasn't so much a package as a huge great big box....there were layers of yarn beneath what you can see above. Yes multiple layers!!! It's almost too exciting for words, honestly, un-belieeeeeev-able. More about that deliciousness coming very soon, I've got lots to show you.

This morning I managed to  finish my latest project and I've got quite a bit of Cotton On left over. Not sure what to do with it yet, but I'm sure something will spring to mind. Will make a little Ta-dah post as soon as I've managed to photograph the article properly. It's a little tricksy to capture on camera as it's something wearable, but I'm working on it. I just had a look at the pictures I took today and my overwhelming thought was that I really badly need a hair cut. Unkempt is the word. Can't have my bad hair upstaging the crochet, that would never do.

Today has been a gentle, quiet, pottering sort of a day and miraculously consisted of six (much needed) child free hours (gosh how I love and appreciate my wonderful in-laws). I spent part of the day pootling in town, part of it pottering at home, and part of it working in the studio. The latter destination was such fun! I made my first tutorial there this afternoon, and even though it was piddling with rain and rather grey outside, the light at my desk was still fantastic.

While I was there, I opened up my cupboard cos I realised yesterday that I forgot to show you it's Mod Podged Liberty inner. Happy happy.

I took this picture about an hour ago, at 8.45 pm, hanging out of the Attic window (the sloping velux at the back). I hope we are in for some Shepherds Delight tomorrow, I would be happy 'bout that.

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Ps....would you like a Yarndale bag featuring our amazing Patchwork Sheep? They are available to buy on the website, £4.50 to UK destinations, and £8 worldwide, with FREE P&P. Perfect for toting about your yarn. Mine has been everywhere with me today xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter/Spring

It is still unbelievably wintry here in my patch. It remains very cold, only just above freezing, and jeez there is still snow sitting on the hills. I keep looking out at the view and willing it to start greening up a little, to look at least a smidge as if Spring is round the corner.

On Sunday the air was all of a sudden very slightly warmer. Still grey and wintry looking, but just about possible to shed an outer layer and stride out without shivering. After some tremendous effort, all five of us made it out the door on Sunday morning, all at the same time, to go and do the same thing together. Increasingly hard to make this happen these days, as the Little People have their own social agenda and tend to dig their heels in re Family Outings. I was glad I dug my own heels in on Sunday and forced The Walk, for it was a good one. We walked up a steep grassy field to take in the view. Always a good thing to get up high and remember where you live. There's the Attic Window look....fourth one down! You see it? That's home!

After the steep, grassy up hill climb, there is a steep, grassy downhill run, then a stile, then a track into the woods.

It's a lovely, simple circular walk (well technically it is lollipop shaped), providing greenery, gentle exercise and fresh air. The greenery was a bit thin where the trees are concerned, but look.......

...the banks of wild garlic have started to sprout fresh, vibrant greenery! Yippeeee!! That surely must mean that we have entered early spring!

I think we walked for about two hours. It was slow going due to Little B only having Little Legs, but he walked the whole way round with enthusiasm and happiness radiating out of him. He is such a sweet outdoor boy.

The relative warmth of Sunday was short lived, and the past couple of days have seen us back to shivery cold. The heating is permanently on and we are wishing we hadn't run out of coal and logs. The blankets are still in full swing, hot water bottles still warming the beds at night. Hasn't this been the longest winter?

I am glad for my colourful, cosy home, as despite the current messiness it is a warm, happy place to be when the weather is cold. I'm still going with the Spring bulbs indoors, I love having them on the mantel. My lovely mother-in-law bought me this latest pot of hyacinths on Saturday and I'm looking forward to the pink flowers and heady scent.

I have been adopting my usual slapdash method of parenting this week with the Little People being home from school, particularly with foodie stuff. We tend to graze in the holidays, although after all the indulgence of Easter last week, I am making a conscious effort to provide healthy grazing fodder for us all. No more chocolate, crisps or sugar laden bakery products for a while....I've replaced them with a large selection of fruit, wholemeal bagels for toasting, and hummus with crudités and breadsticks.

I've been having a bit of en egg fest of the healthier variety this week too and treated myself to these pale blue beauties. They are an extravagance really (£1.99 for six eggs), but oh they are wonderful. They are made by very clever chickens called Old Cotswold Legbars, and I adore the soft colours of the shells.

Inside, the yolks are a magnificent orange colour and taste divine. The past few days I've been up early with Little B for tea and toast, then making myself a brunch around 11.30. Poached eggs on toasted wholemeal bagel. Deeeeelish. If this has picture has made you long for a poached egg, you can read more about my poaching exploits here.

I've had plenty of hooky time these past few days as the Little Peeps have been very good playing amongst themselves. As is usual for us in school holidays, we've had small hoards of visiting children in and out all day, and I just count the pairs of shoes in the hallway to see how many are in (total of 8 yesterday, although not all at the same time). I'm finishing up a new project which I started whilst on holiday, and it's giving me a huge amount of pleasure and satisfaction. I managed to work out the mathematics for the design yesterday by drawing it all out on paper, so there will be a new pattern to offer you very soon....I hope you're going to like it. Yellow tulips too this week, they look lovely in my button jug.

Haha....I had to include this picture, kind of a visual confession! I found half a bottle of sloe gin in the cupboard left over from Christmas, and for some obscure reason yesterday (around 4pm) I just fancied myself a wee tipple. It felt incredibly naughty.....drinking gin in the afternoon with a house full of children, what irresponsible behaviour?!!! But oh my, it was absolutely wonderful. I only had that one weeny glass and I sipped it slowly over the space of about 45mins while I did a bit of crochet before cooking dinner. I had this blissful warm glow afterwards, I felt like I was radiating warmth. Which was pretty good considering how cold it is at the moment. Never mind layering up with clothing, just crack open the gin bottle! Eh-hem. Well, it was just a one-off spontaneous thingy, so don't be worried.

Right then....on that naughty note I will love you and leave you for now, and go make a stack of buttery toast for my hungry children. Back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Wintry Spring

On Friday/Saturday we had two nights and two days of falling snow. SNoW! It hadn't escaped me that we passed by the Spring Equinox on Wednesday, so it seems extra odd that we've been flung so deeply back into winter.

We had an official Snow Day on Friday when many schools in Yorkshire were closed. The downside was that we also had to cancel a planned weekend away at the West coast, boo-hoo! I was madly disappointed yesterday, and stupidly cross with the weather. I mean, it is really a bit pointless saying bad swear words to a pile of snow, but I did it anyway.

After my tantrum, I packed away my bad feelings and unearthed some gratitude for a warm, cosy stay-at-home day, pottering about with a free agenda. In the early morning I baked lemon drizzle cake and it was completely right for the occasion, lifting my spirits and making the house smell good.

While the cake was baking in the oven, I nipped downstairs to the cellar to finish off my latest Mod Podge extravaganza. I've upped my fabric choice for this project and have been smearing MP all over a load of delicious Liberty tana lawn. Such luxury! Ooooooo, there is going to be a terrific ta-dah share very soon when I show you the piece of furniture that I've been working on and tell you the great story behind it.

It's so very nearly Easter isn't it? It's kind of crept up on me a little bit (Silly snow, I blame you for this, I keep thinking it's February), but I am glad it's soon. I stocked up on Eastery essentials yesterday, much to the Little People's delight. We all adore these little sugar coated blobs of chocolate, and I couldn't contemplate an Easter time without them. I shall be making chocolate crispy nests this week too, and getting out the box of Easter decorations.

I think I've pretty much finished making all the components for my Easter Wreath now too, although I might still need a few more leaves.

I pinned everything in place a few days ago, and it's looking pretty spectacular. Looking forward to showing you :o)

Little B is fighting off a very snotty cold and has not wanted to go out at all these past few days. The Little People have been playing out for short periods, sledging and snowman building up and down the length of our back cobbled street. But even they seem tired of the snow now,and I think we all just want a bit of the warmth and freedom that Springtime brings. Still, there have been some lovely moments here, with lots of snuggling and blanketeering (my two boys in the above photo, snuggled in the big chair together this morning).

Some lovely playtime too. This rather messy mess was the aftermath of the Regents Café (named by Little Lady) which opened at number 24 this morning. J and I were force fed plastic ice creams, then given plastic beans on toast followed by cups of "cappycheeeeno's" (Little B knows his café lingo)

It was decided that Regents Café would benefit enormously from real food to supplement all the plastic, so I provided the requested items (minus the mini eggs which I am ridiculously protective about), and we all sat down for  a morning snack. Picture this :: all five of us sat around the table eating rather weird food combos (tomatoes and marshmallows?) from the above platter on little dinky plastic plates. Fun!

I've been in quite a bit of pain today actually, as I had a nasty, icy slip-slide down my neighbours steps last night. It was soooo treacherously icy underfoot and I crashed down very heavily, bruising my thigh quite badly. I swear it was nothing whatsoever to do with the volume of Chardonnay, it was the ice, Ok? Anyhow....in the late morning after the umpteenth time of shouting at Little B "MIND MY LEG!!", J took pity on me and persuaded the Little People to all go and hang out with him upstairs (they gamed), leaving me in peace and quiet downstairs. I was grateful. I made coffee and cosied myself up on the sofa to read Winter Story (Brambly Hedge) which was wonderful. Oh those illustrations are incredible!

In fact J has been rather fabby today (he is not big on sympathy usually) and got the dinner all sorted (recipe from this great book ). So throughout the day there has been the waft of delicious cooking around the place, flooding me with relief at not having to bother doing or thinking about that particular job with my leg screaming at me.

This afternoon, I lit the fire and resumed my position on the sofa. I exchanged Brambly Hedge for my crochet basket and indulged in a little bit of pleasurable hooky action.

I made a little Easter something, and I'll share more of that with you tomorrow. It was fun to be lead by the hand through someone else's tutorial for a change I have to say, and the pattern was beautifully written.

I am off to bed very soon, my hot water bottle is already under the covers warming it all up for me and I suddenly feel more than ready to be right there with my head on those roses. But before I go, I just want to say a little something about my precious blog, Attic24. I just want to thank you all so, so much for your wonderful enthusiasm on my last post (the studio story). Thank you for being so happy for me! However, I have to say it did surprise me that there were a few comments asking whether my blog would be changing as a result of the studio, or if it would become second best now that the studio has appeared. I promise you faithfully that the answer is no to those things. I am mega excited about having a new workspace to play in and all that it promises for the future, but I am still a full time stay-at-home Mum remember. So Attic24 will remain pretty much the same as it always has been :: a homey, cosy sort of place to visit, a place for me to chitter chatter to you all about life on the home front.

Right, I hope that's sorted now. I'll see you tomorrow to show you more of today's hooky action. It's pretty damn cute I can tell you.

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Lengthening Days

This is a lovely time of year in England as we near the end of Winter and welcome the very gentle feel of Spring in the air. Today was bright and sunny, with a beautiful light that most definitely looked and felt like Spring rather than Winter. We are on the cusp of changing seasons, and it feels really pretty good.



It's still very chilly here in my my patch mind you. The clear skies have led to freezing cold nights, and despite the sunshine the canal was frozen when we walked to school this morning. It still feels good to be cosied up indoors, although this afternoon I did have a mild thought about spending time planting up my disgracefully dead hanging baskets. The thought was very mild and lasted about 4.5 seconds before I shivered and scurried back inside. Home feels so cosy and lovely, no need to play outside just yet.

My time spent at home with Little B is a pleasure actually. After the mornings activities out and about, we generally have three hours together at home in the afternoons. These hours consist of lunch, followed by some time where we each do our own thing (train track fun for him today and catching up on emails for me), followed by some time spent together (we baked today, a batch of buns, followed by a tray of flapjack). I am still lighting the fire in the late afternoons as like I say, it is still very chilly here.

Oh but the lengthening days are soooooo welcome! I love that we are eating all our meals by natural daylight again, it feels wonderful. Our evening meal is at 5.30 and is always one of the highlights of my day. I enjoy my solo time with my apron on cooking in the kitchen, singing along to the radio. I enjoy setting the table with cutlery and glasses and waiting for J to come home. And I very much enjoy the family time we have each evening with us all eating and chatting around the table together. I made satay noodles for dinner tonight, we ate them out of bowls and they were rather mmm-mmm.

I put my hand in my coat pocket earlier to find a tissue and out came a handful of beach treasure from last week. It made me smile and made me think about holidays. We've been pondering over our holiday plans for this year and so far are still undecided quite what to do and in which order to do what we're not sure about doing. We have a family wedding to go to in the late autumn which we are are thinking about turning into a weeks holiday (the venue is in Kent somewhere, so a long way for us to travel from here for just a few days). Currently we are undecided whether to return to Northumberland again in the summer or to try somewhere completely different. And then of course we have our Connievan trips to think about and plan...oh joy! I'm going to go and visit her at the weekend to see how she has come through the winter. Seems an age since our last Connie-jolly. Can't wait for the next one. Roll on Spring, we are ready ☼

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Two days of Lovely

#1 :: I've loved looking upwards as I've walked around and about the place. It's made me so happy to see the most beautiful blues skies and feel the gentle warmth from the bright winter sunshine.

#2 :: I've loved pottering around my town, visiting friends, the market, the park and local shops.

#3 :: I've loved seeing my two boys slowly recover their energies and appetites, kicking those germs into touch. We've eaten lots of fresh fruit, salad and veggies this week.

#4 :: I've loved watching my Little People at play, both individually and with each other. Some very sweet role-play games have been taking place (we are at home for half term this week), and the pop up tent has been in almost constant use.

#5 :: I've loved seeing my little clump of snowdrops get ready to open their petals as the sun shines down on them.

#6 :: I've loved making (and eating) an incredible new snack/addiction which is thankfully a little healthier than tiffin. These are curly kale crisps which I learnt about on Hannah's lovely blog Homebaked. Half a bag of sliced curly kale with a drizzle of olive oil massaged in and a sprinkling of sea salt. Spread on a baking tray, bake in oven at low temp (150C) for about 25mins until kale is crisp. Utterly delicious.

#7 :: I've loved putting a few stems of baby narcissus into the old glass bottles on my bathroom windowsill. They completely light up the room and make me smile every time I walk in.

#8 :: I've loved using this bar of handmade soap bought from a local shop. My last soap (wild rose) from the same shop ran out a few weeks ago and so I treated myself to a new one...it smells lush.

#9 :: I've loved browsing through this beautiful book-zine at bedtime. The pages are filled with colour and inspiration, it's quite wonderful. More info here.

#10 :: I've loved getting this book in the post today, I ordered it from Amazon after reading about it in the above mentioned Mollie Makes Home. I think the author (the founder of my fave company Rice DK ) somehow sneaked a peek inside my Creative Mind and made this book especially for me. I'll write more about it soon when I've had chance to read it properly instead of just dribbling all over it.

#11 :: I've loved taking a train journey through the cold, frosty landscape with Little Lady today. We went to The City to shop for clothes (her) and pretty things (me), and had a lovely time out together. She is the sweetest companion, I found I laughed a lot in her company.

#12 :: I've loved bringing these sweet new tins home to the attic, they are of course from Cath Kidston. Destined to go and live very soon in my new work studio. Shall I say that again? Uh-huh...that's right...s-t-u-d-i-o. The most exciting, wondrous developments happening here behind the scenes. Squuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeal! More of that very soon. 

#13 :: I've loved coming home from The City with exhausted achy feet and flopping down on the sofa to drink tea from my new mug. Cath Kidston again, I LOVE this new design called Daisy Rose Check.

#14 :: I've loved (LOvEd-loveD) opening up a surprise parcel today, and finding this incredible piece of handmade fused glass inside. A very generous and beautiful gift from a lovely Attic visitor, Charlotte I can't tell you how much I love this, you have an amazing talent. When are you going to open an online shop? Perleaaaaaaase?! ♥

#15 :: I've loved having a crochet idea, working on it before breakfast (not particularly successfully), pondering on it all morning (whilst shopping in The City), tweaking it in my mind, then coming home and re-working the imagined tweaks. And it worked! I made a little hooky daffodil! I have in my mind to create an Easter Wreath, similar in style to my Christmas one. Think lots of crocheted spring flowers, leaves, pretty ribbons, buttons, feathers, decorated eggs, pom poms (of course) and an Easter bird nestling at the bottom....oh cripes, the giddy shivers are back again :o)

#16 :: I've loved looking forward to going to the coast, yaaayyy! This gorgeous looking building is the youth hostel at Whitby,  and we've booked a family room to stay here tomorrow night...it's right up on the top of the cliff next to Whitby Abbey. I am really, really looking forward to it, we leave tomorrow morning for two days of seaside pootling. Fingers crossed for good weather, well dry weather (without snow, hail or rain) will do nicely.

See you when I get back from beside the North Sea!

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De-cluttering Therapy

Ahhhh that's better! I can highly recommend a bit of De-cluttering therapy, it works wonders for the heart and soul.

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Comfort Seeking

It's been a difficult week on the home front, it always is when there are germs lurking. Poor Little Man (although not so little these days) was knocked off his feet by a virus and spent four days battling it. He is a good ill child mind you, spending the days 100% horizontal in a nest of cushions and blankets on the sofa, very still and quiet. And yet it is surprisingly draining being at home with him in this state, although I'm not quite sure why exactly. Could be the unsettled nights we have both been dealing with, the continuous underlying low grade stress that mothering a poorly child brings. On Friday, Little B was also knocked off his feet, so I had two ill boys jostling for recovery space on the sofa. It was a difficult end to a difficult week.



To deal with the low-grade stress, I found myself in full on comfort-seeking mode. First up fresh flowers. Got to have a jug of fresh flowers on the table when there are germs lurking.



They add comfort and colour, and a reminder that Spring is just around the corner.



The other thing (aside from crochet) that I always, always do when the Little People are ill is bake. It's an instinctive act, something that seems to happen so predictably when illness hits, that it makes me proper laugh at myself. I am a funny thing for sure.



I made the naughtiest, most indulgent, comforting thing I could think of :: Tiffin. I made it partly for J (it is his absolute favourite, and it was Valentines day), and partly cos I had this extra special need for a mouth full of chocolate. This is a no-bake recipe and utterly divine, the recipe is here.



I also baked a carrot cake which turned out very well indeed, the recipe is here.

This morning (Saturday) I am very happy to report that both my boys are very much better. Still not 100% but oh it is good to see Little Man actually able to use his legs again after a week of The Wobblies, and to see Little B playing and smiling again and not laid low by a rocketing temperature.



I spent some time this morning doing a little Home Blessing. Cleaning and tidying, folding blankets and plumping cushions, picking up a whole mountain of toys, books, clothes and miscellaneous crud from the floors and surfaces. What a job. You should have seen behind the sofa....on second thoughts, maybe not. We found lots of Long Lost Things though (a toy canon ball, a wind up torch, a tape measure, a steering wheel, a bouncy ball, several keyrings, lots of lego bits), so that was a bonus.

I took away my gone-over pots of bulbs from the mantel and replaced them with pots of bright new shoots. Such a pleasurable job! These little yellow pots of narcissi are from the local supermarket and only 50p each, I love having them in the house so much.

My comfort reading has been this delightful book, oh how I LOVE to be inside these pages! This was never a part of my childhood reading (they were written in 1980 when I was twelve) but I so wish it had been. I have a similar feeling about Sylvanian Families, I know I would have loved them so much as a child. This book is one of four seasonal "Brambly Hedge" stories by Jill Barklem, such sweet tales about a community of hedgerow mice, but it is the illustrations that really make the books. The one I've been reading this week is Spring Story and I also have Summer story, both bought second hand. I see on Amazon that you can buy a very lovely little box set which contains all four books, it's called " A Year in Brambly Hedge "..think I might have to invest.

I was sat in the Big Chair earlier with a mug of frothy coffee, having just re-read the Spring Story again. I turned round and looked at the room I was sitting in and was overwhelmed with a sense of relief and gratitude. Home. My boys are on the mend, the floors are clean, I've new green shoots on the mantel, Yellow daffodils on the table and Spring is round the corner. Thank goodness. Thank goodness for Home and all it's little comforts.

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Mini Ripples

I am really loving these colours. And this yarn. The feel of it and the intense colour of it is giving me oodles of pleasure as I work steadily away on the little Red Nose Day doll blankets. People keep asking me what yarn it is :: it's basically a mixture of DK merino's left over from other things (my ripple blanket, and the French Bower Bird project mainly). Some of it is Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino, some is Rico essentials merino, and there are one or two balls of Lang superwash merino.

Yesterday I began making some mini ripples, a second doll blanket for the Comic Relief auction. Did I say how much I'm loving all this yarny colour?

Of course, I probably shouldn't have been sitting at the table for so many hours today getting lost in those mini ripples. The house is a mess and I've had an unwell child to tend to. Pancakes to make. Some huge piles threatening to topple. And yet.....I couldn't help myself. I gave in to the soothing rhythm of the hook and the glory of the colour and all was well. The house is still a mess, the piles are still there. I delegated the pancake making to J, and Little Man is looking a little less peaky after an entire day spent horizontal. All in all, an excellent day where very little got done on the home front, but the mini ripples are looking glorious.

I'm using a variation of the Neat Ripple Pattern to make this doll blanket. I'm working single rows of random colours, and working every row from the right side, so no turning of the work. The other alteration I made was to work in multiples of 10 (as opposed to 14), so that there are only 2 tr's in between the increase and decrease stitches (as opposed to 4). Apologies if this sounds like gobbledegook to those of you who don't ripple, but for those of you who do, I trust you know what I'm on about!

I've just finished the blanket actually, well that's to say I finished the ripply part. Got a tonne of ends to darn in now, and then a small border to crochet. How's that for fast work?

And this is one of my tulips laid down to rest upon my Little Squares. Just because. It had to be done.

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Tulip ♥ Love

The hyacinths on my mantel are in full bloom and are looking very pretty indeed.

They have quite a light fragrance, much more delicate than the blue ones I had last month. But as lovley as they are, I confess I can't help myself from wishing that they were a proper rich, deep pink colour, rather than this very pale pink. I do really like my interior floral accents to be vibrant....

....like these tulips. Ahhh that's better, a good punchy shout of vibrant colour!

Aren't they gorgeous? I bought them from the market on Friday, five stems of happiness. Mr Plant Man had several buckets full of tulips of all different colours, but I instantly fell in love with these fiery coloured ones.

I have always loved tulips, I suspect mainly due to the vast, vivid colour range. They seem so luxurious to me, and yet a small bunch only costs a few pounds at this time of year.

Whilst I was tidying up the considerable mess on the dining table this afternoon and arranging my tulips, I also decided it was high time I sorted out my mantel. It was still bare following the removal of Christmas, and the jug of bare twigs was making me feel a little sad. So I strung up my crochet heart garland, and decorated the twigs with the Teeny Tiny Hearts I made two years ago.

And I put all the sweet little miscellaneous objects back up there that mean so much to me. The mug of feathers, the little tin plaque of Robin Hoods Bay (one of my favourite places in the whole wide world). The little house tin that holds my white angel feather, gorgeous Miss Fleur. The wooden ladybird that was given to me by my grandparents when I was three and has the date 1971 written on the back in biro. The china toucan that was given to me by a family friend when I was in my teens, and has moved through every single house move with me (thirteen in total). The ceramic house number 24 bought in Barcelona.

And there are a couple of new things up here too....do you like the sweet little tin globe I bought a few weeks ago from the local antique shop? It's an old child's one from the 1960's and I just fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I've been looking for a globe for years as for some obscure reason they really appeal to me. But I've never managed to find one that was affordable enough or charming enough, until this one that is.

Next to the globe, you can see my latest purchase which arrived in the post this week. Again, it was love at first sight, for I was deeply smitten as soon as my eyes touched upon it.

Isn't it lovely? It's a handmade mosaic picture made by the very talented Felicity at "Just Mosaics". I actually found it via her Facebook page :: Felicty was showcasing a number of her smaller mosaic pieces, and this was one of them. I really liked the sunflower and the sweet little clump of snowdrops, but it was this vase of tulips which really pulled at my hearts strings.

A few days after I bought this mosaic, I happened by chance to come across this image on the internet................

......WOW!!!!!!!!!!! Breathtaking eh? It shows an aerial view of the Dutch tulip fields, and I was completely mesmerized by it. Wow. wOw!!  I couldn't stop looking at it, and was compelled to go and drink in more images (type "dutch tulips fields" into Google and you will drown in the gloriousness of it all!)

It struck me immediately how Blanket-like these images are.

And it also struck me how very, very, very, very, VERY much I would like to see these fields for myself. Oh my. Can you imagine?! Can you just picture me hyperventilating with excitement and leaping around at the edge of these fields like a deranged colour-mad loon?!

Gosh, yes, that sort of trip would be a dream come true. I am trying unbelievably hard to persuade my family that we need a holiday to the Netherlands sometime in mid April. Failing that, I will be trying very hard to persuade my family that they can do without me for a few days in mid April while I run away to the tulips fields. I'll keep you posted on progress.

Meanwhile, back on the home front, my own creative colour journey continues. I've been working really hard on the Little Squares blanket for the Red Nose day Dolls and late this afternoon I finished. One Hundred and Eight teeny tiny crochet squares all patched and stitched together and turned into the cutest little blanket ever. My friends, it looks a-w-e-s-o-m-e. Really. As soon as I've blocked it out I'll share with you, you're going to swoon!

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More Snow + Yarn

Lots of snow here in Atticland, enough to make it too difficult to get to work and school today.

Waking up to find that lots more had fallen during the night time was predictably exciting....

...and prompted an early morning family outing to the park.

Hooray for a Snow Day!

We are really lucky to live within five minutes walk of this (usually green) open space. It's lovely in all seasons, but most especially in sunny high summer (we often pack up our dinner and eat al fresco here) and snowy mid winter.

The wide open grass is backed by a band of woodland, and the trees looked really beautiful wearing their dusting of white.

There were many, many families here yesterday enjoying some snow fun, but today it was quiet and peaceful.

I wonder if you remember me writing about snow at the beginning of last year? I was remembering it myself this morning, smiling as I recalled how much Little B detested the snow last year, how much he cried, how he refused to allow any part of his body to touch the dreaded stuff. Oh so so so different this year, a complete turn about! He absolutely loved it today. Adored it. Big smiles and huge excitement as we gave him his first proper downhill sledge run (with me on the back, shouting wheeeeeeeee!!!!)

We had such a lot of sledging fun, the Little People in their usual full-throttle fashion, me a little more reluctantly. I only gave it a go this year by way of providing weight and reassurance behind Little B, but I truly had a blast! I had forgotten the thrill of it, the way it makes you involuntarily laugh out loud.

With J's help, we rolled a huuuuuuge snowball down the hill and made a big fat snowman. The nose was made by Little B, the eyes and mouth by Little Man, and the ears by me. He stood over five feet tall and looked rather comical.

The Little People soon decided he was lonely and hastily made him a Little Brother, who developed a rather interesting nobbly-bobbly skin condition courtesy of Little B.

We played in the snow all morning, returning home when our clothes were wet through and our fingers were numb and the snow had begun to fall heavily again.

Walking in to our warm, cosy house was like being given a huge big hug. We stripped off our wet things and got changed straight back into our pyjamas. Well actually the Little People are all wearing "onesies" these days, it's like having a gang of furry animals in the house (see here, here and here to get an idea what my brood look like!)

I spent a little bit of time straightening out the sofa's, re-folding blankets and plumping up cushions. When nobody was looking I had a private little conversation with my three cashmere blankets, telling them how much I love them and how good it is to have them living here. I really cannot imagine a life without handmade blankets, it gives me tremendous pleasure to see them and use them every day.

I made  J and I a gorgeous little mug of milky coffee each (uh-huh, still completely in love with my Nespresso machine ), and we finished off the last of the weekend's Lemon Drizzle cake.

Midday I lit the fire and we all settled down for a quiet afternoon of nothing much.

For me, nothing-much-time usually means crochet time. No surprises there then.

I finished making the squares of my granny patchwork blanket over the weekend, there are 144 of them. I'm now A Hooker On The Edge (and I LoVeD writing that!!) Ahhhh, I'm really looking forward to finishing this blanket so I can spread it out to show you as it's a particularly photogenic blanket. I love that it's also just a teeny bit odd due to being a bit thrown together and essentially made up of left overs. 

After recently working with the luxury of expensive cashmerino yarn, I thought it might feel a little bit second-best returning to work with a budget acrylic. But happy to say, this is really not the case :: this Stylecraft Special Dk is really an amazing yarn for the price. It is happy and jolly and soft and easy and makes remarkable warm, snugly, gorgeous blankets.

This is the display of Stylecraft in my friend Jo's shop, which is appropriately called "Just Unwind". Fifty Six shades of gorgeously plump, 100g balls of colour. Doesn't it look beautiful? Jo takes great care arranging her shelves so that there is a huge amount of visual pleasure when you walk into her shop. It literally makes me sigh with happiness.

I took the above photo on Friday when I made a flying visit to Just Unwind to carry out a bit of retail therapy. I was on a mission to select two completely new colour collections specifically designed for blanket making...oh what a job! Taxing and glorious in equal measures! I am incredibly excited about this venture, and I have to confess I think I've done good. The colour packs I've put together are really, really beautiful and harmonious and will make terrific blankets. I won't be able to show them to you for a while, but I promise you they will be worth the wait.

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