Attic24

Little Pleasures

Little Pleasure #1 :: splashing out on a punnet of rather expensive out-of-season strawberries ::

Cost :: £2.50 :: utterly delicious and worth every penny ::

Little Pleasure #2 :: treating myself to a new face cloth when I was away at the weekend ::

Cost :: £4.99 :: love, love, love it, as I love pretty much all Pip Studio stuff ::

Little Pleasure #3 :: two bunches of daffodils bought from the market ::

Cost :: £2 :: the tightly closed buds are now opening and the colour is glorious ::

Little Pleasure #4 :: finding this thrifty top in Oxfam on Friday ::

Cost :: £3.95 :: the colours of these stripes make me deliriously happy ::

::

When I first started reading blogs almost four years ago, it was more often than not the small details of other people's lives that I found endlessly fascinating. I just could not get enough of it. I found the simple snapshots of ordinary days and ordinary things incredibly intriguing and inspiring to see. The Little Pleasures of life. Something baked, thrifted, purchased, remembered, crafted, found, loved, appreciated.

Observing how other people chose to celebrate, remember and document these small pleasures through their blogs really inspired me at a time when my life felt very adrift and unsettled. It helped me to re-focus, to zoom in and discover enormous happiness in the Little Things of my own everyday life. That level of appreciation firmly stuck with me and now I cannot imagine living my life any other way. 

A few strawberries, a bunch of inexpensive seasonal blooms, a pretty little bit of fabric (with pom-pom trim!) and a thrifted garment. This week's Little Pleasures, and I feel so lucky to have them!! Yes, I am one happy Mumma!!

Wishing you a week full to the brim of happiness and delight!

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Picnics and Pretty-things

 

The first day of September today, and our Summer holidays are officially at an end :: back to school tomorrow for the Little People. The past few days have been really lovely here, both the weather and the little things that we've done as a family to round up the holidays. The change of season is very noticeable now, the shortening length of the days, the slight chill in the air, the incredible light. I took the above photo this morning, gazing out of the attic window into the sunrise at 6.43am, it really honestly took my breath away for a moment. And do you know what?? I just had a quick trip back into my September archives from last year and had a little chuckle to myself at the total sameyness of my life year on year....look at my attic view on 1st September 2009, and note the time, teehee!!

We've been making the most of being out in the countryside these past few days as we are being blessed with the most glorious late summer weather here in my patch. Yesterday we decided on a last minute jolly to Bolton Abbey for a late picnic lunch. The landscape is looking glorious, the distant hills turning purple with the heather already.

The early afternoon sunlight was magical, and the air was warm as we walked.

This river beach was our picnic destination, and the Little People were very excited at the prospect of river paddling and tree climbing to accompany their lunch.

Isn't the beach amazing? It's proper sand, just as you would find at a seaside beach, only instead of the sea, we have the river and the view of the old Abbey. Oh, and a lovely grassy bank to sit on beneath the shade of a big tree. It was blissful.

 

This morning we had the toe curling business of buying new school shoes, so we weren't organised enough to go anywhere for lunch. But as the weather seemed almost too good to be true, we decided to head out mid afternoon with a picnic dinner instead. We drove right up into the Dales to a favourite picnic spot of ours :: beside the river in Hubberholme (you can read more about this place here)

 

It was glorious. We spread out a blanket on that warm flat rock up above there and lazed about for a while, enjoying the heat of the sun on our faces and the sound of the babbling water. Well that's to say that J and I did, oh and Little B too, we three are very good at lazing. The LP, as you well know, do not sit or laze about. Good heavens, how silly to think that they might! No, they run, leap, paddle, throw stones, build dams, construct twiggy sailing rafts, chase ducks.

 

All that riverside activity made us hungry and we ended up eating quite early. We generally picnic very simply :: fresh crusty bread, goats cheese, cherry tomatoes, apples. A punnet of sweet strawberries and some left over birthday cake (Little Man turned 8 on Monday), washed down with apple juice/tea. It was absolutely wonderful.

 

The above photo was taken today at 5pm as I was drinking a mug of tea and nibbling cake. Oh, and indulging in a little bit of riverside hooky....

 

...yes, I did manage to make four little flowers, gosh how industrious!

 

Travelling back down the dale on our way home, J suddenly swung the car into a lay-by and declared that he wished to go fishing. We were at a little spot by the river that he remembered from his own childhood where he knew for a fact that it was exceptionally good to catch bullheads. And as we happened to have the fishing nets in the car, that was it :: he and the Little People leapt out and went forth to trap fish. Little B and I stayed in the car to do a little bit of dribbling/chewing/babbling and some crochet, which I was more than happy with. We had the car doors open, and I sat looking at this wall for ages...such beauty and craftmanship and history in these old dry stone walls, I had to take a picture to show you. Love love love them I do!

Hanging above the dry stone wall were these tree branches laden with berries...I do believe that Autumn is peeking around the corner isn't it?

And talking of Autumn, it's the season for my absolute most favouritist flowers from the market ....yaaayyyy it's DAHLIA time!!!!!!!!!!

I bought myself two bunches from the market at the weekend, I was hugely excited to see them looking all exuberant and showy in their pavement buckets just the same as last year. Oh my heart was going bump-bumpety-bump carrying these beauties home!

The dahlias are sold as very long tall stems tied up with brown string, but really I prefer to have them much shorter when I get them home. I like to chop a lot of the leafy stem off and bunch the flowers altogether in a jug of some sorts.

Dahlias just have to be put into a jug, there's no other way.

They are simply not vase flowers in my humble opinion.

It has to be a jug.

Something pretty and bold.

Something like this perhaps???

 

Ahhhhhh-HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes, The Button Jug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I finally got the delightful Button Jug that I have been lusting over for months on end (remember me mentioning it in this post back in April?), I am so happy! I spotted it in the shop window of Fuego in Lyme Regis last week and that was it, I just knew it had to come home with me. I simply could not walk past and leave it behind. Wonderful, super-duper, heart-skippy stuff for sure.

A few dahlia blooms made it upstairs to my bathroom windowsill too, they make me smile every time I nip in there.

Something else in my bathroom too look............

 

....there on top of my bathroom cabinet........

 

......thats my new Cath Kidston washbag that I bought in York the other week, plus two beeeautiful soaps that came home from Dorset along with the button jug. I can't tell you how wonderful the soaps smell, in particular the rosy one. I keep yanking them down and inhaling them, but can't yet bring myself to open them cos the packaging is so damn pretty.

Both the jug and the soaps are made by the same Irish company Avoca, which I am quite in love with.

Just one more thing to show you, well two things actually, that were part of my little itsy-bit of Retail Therapy...two pretty little melamine spoons. For stirring my morning coffee in a very pretty way.

Ahhh spoons and jugs and soaps, such Deliverers of Pleasure! I do love my new purchases very much indeed.

And on that happy note, I shall say night-night, it's all gone dark and I am nearly ready for the rosy pillows.

Will be back again soon with a quirky little TRP Ta-dah. Hope you hadn't forgotten about them, the Toilet Roll People?? They are waiting patiently for their moment.

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Getting Ready

I worked my way through five whole loads of laundry yesterday. I felt like I did not stop all day. Not sure how it happened but I just I got waaayy behind with it all last week, and my laundry basket was completely overflowing. But it's all done now, well thats to say it's all clean and dry and is now sitting in a huge mountainous pile waiting to be sorted and put away. Oh, and some will be packed into a bag this morning ready for our five day jolly-holiday to the coast *squeeeeeeeeaaaaal*

I spent a little time yesterday packing up a small box with Connievan Kit ready to take with us :: things we had forgotten on the last trip, things we discovered would be Very Useful for Connievan to have and some new purchases too (I got my new pink polkadot kettle a few days ago yippeee!)

Can I show you a few recent bits n bobs that I'm very excited about?? These are a few little things I picked up on Saturday when I took a happy jaunt to a vintage fair. A vintage First Aid tin found it's way to me and I am so happy to have it. It's perfect for Connievan, don't you think?

I also couldn't resist these french inspired tins, they're reproduction ones so are all nice and shiny clean inside.

But my bestest and most heart-skippy find was these little vintage painted coat hangers. Do you know, when I first saw them I really honestly thought my heart would come flying out of my mouth, I was sooo beside myself with falling in complete love with them.

Aren't they adorable?? I LOVE the truly vintage colours, the way they are worn and a little paint chipped, and the fact that one of them has a little name written on the back. So sweet. And only 50p each, I nearly passed out with happiness when they became mine-all-mine for £2.50.

They'll be perfect to hang in Connievans wardrobe cupboard, I'm planning on crocheting some little flowers and hearts (stuffed with lavender) to hang on them, and every time I think of this Pending Project I get to feeling sooo giddy! Such fun!

This delightful heart was not a Vintage Purchase, but a gift for Connievan. How wonderful it is to have friends who are brimful of kindness and thoughtfulness and do such sweet things like buying our caravan a present, wrapping it in brown paper and string and posting it through the letterbox. I just love that I can take this heart with me today and hang it up and feel at home-sweet-home, yet be on holiday at the same time. Perfect.

Have a wonderful week everyone, see you when we get back :o)

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Wooly Happiness

Ahhhhhhh what a HApPy Morning I've had! I've been at my favourite cafe in town for my weekly "knit and natter" session, and oh I'm sooooo glad to have these precious mornings back in my week again. It generally becomes too hard for the majority of us to meet during the school holidays due to our Little People, so we didn't get together over the summer holidays at all. But now that school has started again, the weekly cappuccino+crochet mornings are back :: yyyaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!! I've soo missed it.
I added a few more deliciously bright stripes to my growing baby blanket, sipped my chocolately frothy coffee, nattered and rippled the morning away and found myself almost squeeeealing with the pleasure of it all.
Delicious.

I took the above photo when I came home at lunch time :: I'd dumped my bags down in the hallway before making a hasty dash upstairs for the loo, crikey I nearly peed my pants, I was that desperate. When I came back down, the sight of my three bags there at the bottom of the stairs made me stop and smile, they looked so....well HaPpY! Yes, Happy Bags, thats what they are.

Aside from my wooly ripples this morning, I'm very happy to report that some extra Wooly Happiness came my way today too. On my way home from the cafe I popped in to a couple of the charity/thrift shops, still on the lookout for a suitable wooly jumper to back my two crochet cushion covers (do you remember them from earlier this summer?) I've been looking most weeks as and when I've been in town and had time to spare, but nothing had appeared until today.
In the second shop I went into, I suddenly spotted it :: the Perfect Wooly Jumper.
I can spot a true woolen jumper a mile off, they look totally different from acrylic or cotton garments.

The colour of this one is just perfect for what I want. It's a slightly deeper purply pink than the above photo shows, and looks and feels fabulous. Its originally from the Edinburgh Wool Mill (always a good source of Quality Wooliness), and is a lovely blend of lambswool and angora, with a small 10% nylon added. And best of all, it had been reduced in price, so only cost me £1.60 :o)

Just to remind you, these are the two crocheted covers that I made with the left over Rowan Pure Wool yarn after I'd completed BB.....

...and here they are nestling with the new/old wooly jumper. Don't you think that this jumper looks as if it were just made to be chopped and stitched and turned into Cushiony Goodness? It matches my crochet colours beautifully.

 

And of course now I get to play with my buttons too...oooooh my heart is all fluttery and jumpy at the thought of button-arranging and cushion-making.

I've already made three cushions using recycled jumpers for the backing, and I think it works out really well. So I thought I could use this opportunity to write a tutorial for making up cushions this way, as I've had several requests for this information just lately. Hopefully I'll be able to do it over the next few days ready to share with you next week.

Seems like a good thing to do :: I want you all to enjoy some Wooly-Buttony-HaPpiNeSs!!!

How could you NOT want to give it a go?!!!!!!

:o)

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Edited to add :: the felted pink/purple bag that I use as a handbag (top photo) was made by textile artist Laura Brittain (Laura Brittain Handmade Originals) and is one of my favourite things...I tried to search for her on the internet to give you some more info about her lovely bags but could find nothing, I'm sorry, I did try!

 

Back to School

Ahh Monday morning and here we are stepping into a fresh new school year today, back to our familiar term-time routine. Between you and me, I've been secretly looking forward to this day for a weeny while now, but shhhh I am saying it quietly you understand, not wishing to sound harsh and un-mummy-like. Because as much as I've loved having the Little People at home, as much as I can say hand-on-heart that we've enjoyed a fabulous summer together, I have nevertheless truly missed my solitude during the long 7 week holiday. And quite frankly, by the time this morning rolled around I was more than ready for some quiet, pootling, homely, comforting, me-time.

I'm not 100% at the moment either as I started with a cold on Saturday, so I am feeling extra glad to be home alone with some peace and quiet. Just me by myself, with the honey, lemons and tissues.



I experienced a lovely content, happy little rush of pleasure walking back in the door this morning, putting the kettle on, pottering around the rather untidy rooms, just loving being here really. No demands, no noise, just me with my thoughts and a luxurious six whole hours of me-time stretching ahead.

My fresh flowers this week are these amazing sunflowers, gifted to me at the weekend by my wonderful Mother in law. Just three stems, but oh, what stems!! They're positively glowing in the sunshine streaming in through the bay window this morning and look absolutely beautiful.

I'm enjoying yellow flowers on a smaller scale on my dining table this morning too...five little stems of yellow marguerites picked from the back yard yesterday. Do you see the dinky little glass vase that they're in? That was one of three very modest purchases made during my summer holidays. I was hugely restrained when it came to retail therapy this year, and you may not believe it, but I even managed to visit the Girls Own Store and come out empty handed. Yes, tis true, I swear!
I love this little glass vase, it's solid and heavy and I bought it for a few pounds from a quirky little second hand stall on Bridport market.

My second purchase was a bag of old glass marbles for 80 pence, also from the Saturday market. I absolutely adore marbles, and as child I remember saving up my pocket money to buy them individually from a little gift shop in Bridport.
I've had to fight tooth and nail to keep these marbles from the Little People, who automatically assumed that they'd been bought for them. Much like the Mummy-sweets, these are most definitely Mummy-marbles. Although I do tolerate Little Fingers having the odd little play with my marbles, they have been verbally and clearly labeled as a Decoration-Not-A-Toy. Mean old Mummy that I am.

My third purchase was this delightful coloured glass suncatcher mobile, oh, it was Love At First Sight with this object. I was strolling leisurely down South Street, spotted it hanging in a shop window, went straight into the shop, plucked it off it's hook and had it bagged up and paid for in about two minutes flat. Its the beady glass raindrops that I love most of all, those itsy little bits of coloured glass make me want to cry with happiness.

And talking of happy-enducing things, a little sneaky peak of my current crochet WiP, which I'm hoping to reveal to you in a few days when I've worked some more of it. There is a BIG Story behind this project, and just thinking about it now is giving me butterflies in my tummy.
I can't wait to tell you all.
Its gonna be such FUN to share this with you, I can just tell.
Possibly Thursday, if all goes according to plan.

Right my lovelies, I am off to make myself another mug of hot lemon and honey and snuggle my weary self under a blanket for a while I think, I am wilting a little.
See you tomorrow....

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Tripping to Town

One of the things that I really appreciate about living where I do is the fact that it's less than a ten minute walk from the Attic to the centre of town. I can be sitting at home, dreaming of cream cakes and strawberries, or having run out of toothpaste, and within ten minutes I can be right there in the middle of Main Street fulfilling my dreams and needs. Ok, so it takes a little longer than ten minutes in the school holidays cos the Little People still require a considerable amount of work to get them ready and out the front door, plus they seem to make detours for themselves en route. You know, walls that need to be balanced along, cats that need to be stroked, bits of broken metal that need to be picked up off the pavement and examined, that sort of thing. But it's still a relatively quick walk and quite a pleasant activity to do with the LP in the holidays.

So yesterday, in the late morning, when the rain had stopped raining, I decided on a little Trip to Town.

First stop the chemist, for toothpaste and Miffy tissues.

Second stop the library, to finally take back The Overdue Book. Dear oh dear, has it really been sssoooooo long? Do I really owe That Much??? Crikey.

Third stop the fruit and veg stall on the market. And I have to say it was really interesting visiting the fruit and veg stall with the Little People.

I needed to buy some sort of green vegetable to have with dinner, and a small selection of fruit. So into my bag goes a head of fresh broccoli, 4 big juicy morrocan oranges (J's favourite), and a punet of sweet strawberries. If I had been on my own, then that probably would have been the extent of my purchases, but the Little People have other ideas...

....they are really eyeing up all the fruit, and it does look very tempting and delicious.

Little Lady begs for plums, that she says are her "absolute favourite-ist fruits". Oh, Ok then. So we buy a bag of deep purpley black plums just for Her.

Little Man pleads for fresh apricots. Are you sure? Are you sure you like them? I seem to have memories of him trying a fresh apricot before and spitting it straight back out again. But he insists, and so we buy a bag of plump, soft apricots just for Him.

I start to get a taste for this more spontaneous method of selecting produce, so I too begin to eye up what's on offer, begin to consider various other fruity possibilities. Melon? Too heavy to carry. Dragon fruit? hmm perhaps a little too exotic. Red currants? My eye suddenly catches Little Ladies fingers poking into a punet of red currants and squishing them one by one. Arrggghhh!!!! Quickly whisk her had away and decided against red currants.

oooohh I can't decide, I am parralised by all the choice. My eyes move across the fruit and into the salady bit. Huge pinky red bunches of radishes, ripe tomatoes, and then.....

 

....Peas. Ahhh how about some peas? Seasonal and fresh and possibly local? Yes, why not, I suddenly have a real need for fresh, sweet peas popped out of their green pods and straight into my mouth. So we buy a bag of fresh green peas just for Me.

 

We are done at the fruit and veg stall now as my bag is suddenly very heavy. And the Little People are suddenly declaring themselves to be staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarving hungry. So we make a fourth stop and call in to a local baker to buy some freshly baked hot sausage rolls for an early lunch. I suggest we take them home to eat, but no no no, they are staaaaaaarving and cannot possibly wait, need to eat Right There and Then.

So we cross over the road to the Town Hall where there is a little cobbled square with wooden benches and big tubs planted with bright flowers. All the benches are full so we end up sitting on the Town Hall Steps and enjoying a quick picnic lunch of sausage roll, fresh peas, apricots, plums and strawberries. Quite delicious.

We do happen to have made other purchases from the bakers, eh-hem, it's not all healthy fruit and veg with us you know, where's the fun in that???! But I do manage to persuade the LP to bring the Naughty's home to eat, cos I am quite desperate for a cup of tea with my purchase.....

 

There are gingerbread men for the Little People (essential to pick out their smartie eyes first don't you know)....

 

....and a Sicillian Lemon muffin for Mummy.

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmm, the muffin is delicious. As is the book I borrowed from the library.

 

The book is "Creating Vintage Style" by Lucinda Ganderton. High Grade eye candy indeed. I personally don't really do whole-hearted Vintage Style in my own home, but I know a great many of you in Blogland do love this style. I like small elements of it. For example, I do love old enamelware.

 

And you can never go far wrong with a pretty jug stuffed full of beautiful fresh flowers.

 

Oh and blankety things, yes yes, I do really love the blankety things.

I mean, whats not to love? A Granny Square blanket draped over a bed, why it's the stuff of my dreams!!

Talking of which, what has happened to the Story of BB I hear you ask? When is the Ta-dah post gonna be happening? Did I get more yarn? Is BB finished?

Well no, I have not yet been able to get more yarn :: trips to buy yarn seem altogether more complicated with Little People in tow. But I shall try very hard to go today. BB is currently sitting in a neatly folded pile on the arm of the sofa, waiting patiently for the End-of-The-Edge-of-The-Edge to happen.

Soon my friends, it'll be soon.

And thats a promise.

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Supermarket Retail Therapy

Yesterday, around 11.30am or thereabouts I felt a need, a longing.

A Longing Need for some Retail Therapy.

I consider options. Little local shops requiring on foot jaunting? Nope.

Ok, how about Little Shops further afield that would require a car journey? Nope, that was not it either.

Suddenly it comes to me :: what I want is a dose of Big Shop. Department store? Nah, need to go too far for that and there's not enough time left before the school run.

Ok, think, think...ahhhhhhh YES! That's it! Some Large Supermarket Retail Therapy. And better still, one that can be beautifully arrived at by train.

  

I check train times :: 12:02 is the next train, perfect. Ten minutes walk along the canal tow path and I am at my local train station. Ahh, feels good to be on the move and I have a perfect little twelve minute journey along the branch line to look forward to. Too short to crochet anything, so I content myself with the view :: twelve minutes of green, green fields whiz in front of my eyes, and suddenly I arrive at my stop.

 

I have journeyed to a nearby town, an unremarkable little town, a tad shabby it has to be said. But no matter, I am not there for a  picturesque stroll, I am there for one thing only :: The Supermarket :: and it happens to be just a few easy minutes walk from the train station. For those of you in the UK who wish to know, it was a Sainsbury's, which I happen to be quite partial to. In fact, I like all of our large English supermarkets, the ones that sell stuff other than food. I like that these days supermarkets always have a "Seasonal" aisle, and I like that you can plot the year by the contents of these shelves :: Christmas-Valentines-Mothers Day-Easter-Summer Activities-Fathers Day-Back to School-Halloween-Christmas. It's the Retail Calender.

So right now, Easter is finished with and we are in the Summer Activities season :: Barbecues, Gardening, Picnics, Outdoor games, all of which I adore.

I spend oooooh a very happy hour or so in the Supermarket, ignoring the food completely, just visiting the aisles that interest me, putting various items into my basket, making a little heap of frivolous, unnecessary things that delight me. And I confess that I find it an enormous amount of fun.

 

1:30pm and I am back at the station, sitting on the red painted bench waiting for my train home again. My shopping bag is bulging with my frivolous, unnecessary purchases.

 

2pm and I am back home again-home again, jiggety jig.

Cor, what a short but sweet little jaunt that was!

I put the kettle on to make a cup of tea and proceed to unpack my bag......

Want to see?

Can you guess?

Colourful stuff?

Why yes, of course!

Ok.

Go on.

Take a peek.........

 

There.....thats my haul, in all it's colourful, frivolous, unnecessary glory!

 

I fell head over heels in love with these fresias. Could not resist. It's a flower I don't often care a great deal for, but WOW the colour of these petals totally knocked my socks off.

 

There were only ten spindly stems in the bunch, but as has become my habit, I spread them around...a single stem on the bathroom windowsill....

 

....and the rest in a small jug beside my bed, plumped out with some greenery from the garden (most of which are actually weeds I think, but hey, who cares?)

 

I had a quick browse down the length of the magazine aisle and selected Period Living magazine :: not one I am used to but it looks lovely, with some gorgeous homes featured and plenty of inspirational pages to linger over (more of that another time).

 

Some new paper napkins from the Seasonal Summer aisle, these dotty lovelies were delightfully called "Caravan Spot Napkin". Makes me love them all the more knowing that!
 

Some new Sarah Smith cloths too, I have a real cute little stash of these growing in the kitchen. I do of course use them as they are intended, but am also cultivating a plan which involves cutting them into triangles and stitching them into outdoor summer bunting, inspired by Emma of Lavenderhouse. Incidentally, Sarah Smith has blog which is well worth checking out for inspiring ideas, and I was delighted to see Attic24 on their blogroll!

 

Ahhhhh just look at that windmill, doesn't the sight of that make your heart flutter just a little? I found it in amongst the Childrens Gardening paraphernalia, and thought it would look lovely in my bathroom....the Little People are most confused by this idea, they keep trying to take it outside, but in the bathroom it is staying.

 

A packet of seeds popped into my basket too, Morning Glory Grandpa Otts. I grew this variety some years ago and the flowers are absolutely stunning, a very intense bluey purple. It says on the packet that the seeds should be planted March/April, but I'm hoping that early May will be OK.

As well as a magazine, a windmill, flowers and cloths, seeds and napkins, I also bought some hair bands for Little Lady, a pair of sparkly earings, a birthday card and a glass lemon squeezer. And after all that spending, I did sit and have a little think about my Retail Therapy experience. I wondered whether to feel guilty or not for indulging myself in this frivolous, unnecessary way? And I decided that No, there is no need for guilt. That as much as you can find free happiness in a view, a sunset, a comfy chair, some snuggly socks, every so often it's OK to go out and buy oneself some happiness. That's my theory anyways. And after all, I spent less than twenty pounds, so hardly a fortune.

By the way, did you notice the crochet hiding behind the windmill and the seeds?

Well when I got back from my outing yesterday I walked into the living room and saw all my squares laid out on the floor like a big rug. I'd forgotten that I'd been playing with them that morning and had left them there after I'd been taking photos.

What do you think????

I'm 2/3 done with this big blanket now, only another 12 more to make (well actually 8, cos four more have been made already and are awaiting the final white round).

I think I am liking it.

I think.

But I am not sure.

I intend to make quite a wide "granny" border around the whole thing once all 36 squares are joined, and I think that'll be the thing that makes an OK blanket look great.

What do you think?

Let me know?

Thanks ((xx))

Sunday Stuff

I often wonder if there might come a point when I get bored with blogging my life. If you will get bored reading about it too. If you will one day pop in to Attic24 and groan. Think to yourself :: oh no, how boooooooring, not moooore crochet, moooooore baking, mooooooore magazines, how predicable, we've seen it all before, a dozen times or more. Isn't there anything different? Isn't there more to this persons life??

Well maybe that might happen one day. In the distant future. But right now I have to say I really, really, really enjoy my life. And i enjoy that my blog follows my life, and it is therefore honest and reflects my happiness as well as  my current passions, all of which don't alter much from week to week.

I sincerely hope you don't think me too smug for saying this, for declaring my happiness? I hope not, because it is certainly not meant that way. I am not bragging about my life. I am quite simply photographing bits of it and sharing it. Honestly, simply, and exactly as it is. Although of course I do tend to miss out some of the messy bits, the tantrummy bits. And the very private bits.

Why am I saying this to you? Well....because just now I uploaded my photos from my camera to the computer to take a look at the weekend images. Pictures from the past 48 hours which were snapped here and there. And I was delighted to see them. Yes, they are quite predictable. Yes, there are images which are very similar to ones you've already seen. But then that's the nature of my weekends at this point in my life, there exists a great deal of predictability, of repetition. But OH how I LOVE it that way!!!

So today's post is all about my yesterday, the Sunday Stuff. A little morning crochet (pictured above), interspersed with baking cookies, drinking coffee, eating breakfast (a bacon sarnie, sat on the front step in the morning sunshine), some magazine browsing and some Little People supervising (they were outside, up and down the street on scooters/bikes with half a dozen other neighbourhod children).

11am or thereabouts and we decide on the spur of the moment to pack the Little People's bicycles in the boot of the car and drive to a nearby town which has a park with great cycling potential. Unlike our local park (which is beautiful but hilly), this park is flat. It has expanses of flat grass and a neat flat path which circles the perimeter. 

It turns out to be quite a momentous bicycling morning as for the first time we remove the stablisers from Little Lady's bike. It does not go smoothly. There are tears and snot, there is a lot of obstinate, rather frightened protesting. There are wobbles and there are falls. There is minor injury. There is a rather exhausted Mother running around the entire park attempting to maintain her daughter in a vertcal position whilst whizzing along with some furious pedalling. But we do on the odd occasion achieve Balance, and a Little four year old girl pedals on her own when her Mummy secretly takes her hands away. We still have a way to go, still have plenty of practice to do, but it was a great start.

 

After all that emotion and exhaustion we drive up out of the town to a favourite pub we know and love. We were in fact here last weekend too, on the Yes-day. Today we don't sit inside near blazing fires and under ancient beamed ceilings but instead sit in the pub's beer garden with cold drinks and crisps and enjoy the warmth of an early spring afternoon. You can see the pub in the above photograph look, see it's stunning location. It's high high up on Ilkley Moor, and the views are spectacular.

 

After we've had rest and refreshment at the pub we take a walk up over the moor.
 

The landscape is quite bleak in some ways, but there is beauty in the sweeping open spaces.

It's the height that I love about this place. I love that when I am up on this moor top I am so much nearer to the sky. The town of Ilkley looks so tiny and far way down there in the valley, like a model village.

 

There are spectacular rock formations up here on Ilkley Moor, providing great climbing/scrambling opportunities for Little People and heart-in-the-mouth panics for Big People. There are sheer drops all around. It is not all that pleasant at times.

 

We watch gobsmacked as climbers scale the sheer rock faces. And eventually we tire of policing the daredevil antics of Little People who are so unaware of the perils of Sheer Drops.

So we head homewards to number 24 to light the fire and settle down for the late afternoon/evening. A film for the Little People, and some crochet and magazine-strolling for me....

....I began working the reverse of my circular cushion. Round and round in ever widening circles, I am loving it.

 

I often like to multi-task when I am crocheting, and one of my favourite things to do is to browse a magazine at the same time. Well truthfully I cannot read and crochet at the same time, but what I mean is that I like to hook a row, then browse a few pages, hook another row, then browse some more. I like the visual stumulation of doing these two things together, of seeing the yarn against the pages, the stripes against the print (see here, I was doing it then look)

Yesterday I was looking through last months issue of Country Homes (the April issue I think?) as I realised there were bits of it I had missed out the time I first read it. The above page caught my eye...it was a spread about cleaning out your greenhouse. Want a closer look to see what attracted my attention?

OK...look....

That blanket!!!!! OH oh oh!!! I Love it!! I tell you, I can spot a crochet blanket in an instant, they jump out at me, leap off the pages...That colourful stripyness is just so joyful isn't it?!

Oh yes and speaking of joyful, I realised this morning that I had indeed promised to show you a little something today, a little itsy bitsy peek at some new yarn, remember?

Want to see?

Do you?

Really?

Really really?

Oh go on then...have a peek......

Hmmmmmmmmm yes, another bag of scrummy yarn comes home to Attic24.

I blame Lovely C entirely. It's all her fault.

On Thursday, she casually mentioned to me that she was taking a trip that afternoon to a shop in a nearby village as they were selling off Debbie Bliss yarn for £2 a ball. Do you remember me posting about a Sale last summer? Well another sale is about to happen in a few weeks time at the same place, which is very exciting indeed. But even more exciting was the fact that Lovely C decided to telephone the shop and ask if we could possibly have a sneaky private rummage through the yarn before it goes on sale. And the shop owners agreed! Yeeee-hawwwww!!!! Wild Horses wouldn't have kept us away.

 

The yarn they had this time was Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. This is a GORGEOUS yarn, quite fine in weight (you would hook on a 3mm or 3.5mm hook) with a slight twist, and oh SOooooo soft!! It usually retails at around £4.35 for a 50g ball, so to find it at £2 a ball was an absolute bargain.

 

I'm not sure how many balls I ended up with...maybe 24 or so?? I was waaay too excited to count numbers. I simply filled a bag. And used my grocery money to pay for it. It all happened very fast, in a bit of a blur.

I got them all out and had a lovely play with them yesterday, had a good look at the colours I ended up with...13 in total, all very spring-like and oh-so-pretty aren't they?? A little more pastely than I would normally choose perhaps, but I love the way they look all together. They remind me of  sweet peas, that alluring combination of pretty softness with the odd deep shade thrown in.

Of course I don't yet have a plan for this yarn.

I am still firmly in the stroking/gazing/playing stage. Oh and sniffing. One thing I do love to do with any new yarn stash is to stick my face right in it and have a good, long snaffley sniff.

Delicious.

xxxxxxx

Weekend :: Inside

My weekend seemed to be one of contrasts. The contrast between warm, cosy inside stuff and cold, snowy outside stuff. Between the bold, bright colours of my home and the muted, whites and greys of the winter landscape. Between quiet time spent walking and picnicking together, and the noisy, brash time spent shopping together.
The contrast delighted me. When I uploaded the photos from the camera this morning, I loved the combination of Inside and Outside, of almost black and white, snow-filled country landscapes and these bright and breezy, colour-filled domestic landscapes.

So today....some colourful pictures from my weekend :: inside.

Above photo, taken Friday night by Little Man.
A picture of me as you will often find me in the evenings :: snuggled in my favourite brush cotton winter jammies, toes cosy, fluffy hot water bottle filled, pondering where to snuggle myself for the evenings crochet session. Bed or sofa? Fireside or duvet comfort? Ripple or granny blanket? Ahh, lifes little dilemmas!

Saturday morning :: sitting like a cat in a little patch of warm sunlight streaming in through the window. It was the most delicious sensation feeling the sun's warmth on my face.

This weeks fresh flowers are humble daffodils :: I love that they are so cheap to buy right now, so that for £2 I can fill jugs and jam jars and old bottles and distribute this yellow cheerfulness all over the house. Waking up to daffodils beside the bed is just wonderful. Ditto having them in the bathroom to gaze upon as I brush my teeth.

A tidied room :: Little lady spilled orange juice all over the sofa during the week. Luckily it has removable, washable cotton covers. So with the sofa all clean I plumped the cushions, cleared the table, straightened the blankets and the room looked unusually spik and span. Needless to say it does not look like that this morning.

Fireside :: we continue to love our open fire. We light it most evenings, and for much of the weekend and it gives such a huge amount of pleasure. Warm, cosy, inviting, relaxing.

Tete a tete :: at their peak now. I have loved watching these grow and bloom. Today I've bought a few more little pots home from the supermarket, ready to replace these ones as they fade.

Cheery :: They light up the room, make my heart sing.

Retail Therapy :: I am passing through that phase again right now, I go through shopping phases every so often until I am cautioned by The Management and kindly asked to stop spending money needlessly. 
Our shopping destination of choice was a very large Boundary Mill store in Lancashire. For those of you not familiar with BM, its a large, out-of-town retail store which sells branded goods at a discount price. The goods are usually end of line, or slight seconds. There are various departments, my favourites being the art department and the bedding department.

Husband and I very rarely go shopping together because it usually doesn't work out amicably. But we are able to get away with going shopping here together because there are many Departments catering for all.
This is our strategy :: we go our separate ways for a while (me to the cards/posters, him to the discount books) then rendez vous at the saucepans. It works for us. We both adore the kitchen department, ditto the arts and crafts. So far so good.

He begins to get antsy when forced into the bedding department though, especially when I start systematically opening all the plastic packets of pillowcases to spread them out and see which ones I like best. I cannot resist these hideously expensive Designers Guild ones (RRP £20 each, reduced to Half Price).
But I am smart enough to recognise the husband-fed-up signs and to then be quick, and to suggest a coffee in the cafe to ease the pain of spending a rather large amount of money on things we don't really need. 

We agree over coffee and an unfeasibly large muffin that we've enjoyed a good shopping trip, because he purchased an inch-thick book on war aircraft and got to fondle knives and stainless steel, and I purchased some pretty CK mugs, more cards for The Inspiration Stash, a beautiful plastic plate and of course the aforementioned Hideosuly Expensive pillowcases.
All in all, a good day.

Tomorrow :: the Outside stuff.
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That London

I was not actually late for the 06:42 train early on Saturday morning, although I confess I did have to run to the station and consequently arrived all hot and out of breath and with just five minutes to spare. No surprises there then.

I was excited, oh I was soooo excited to be going on this trip. It's a very long time since I had company on a trip such as this one, as usually I am very happy to go shopping alone. I had wondered how it would be to have company on the journey and also once there. I could not imagine it, yet I was surprisingly  thrilled to have it. There's something about a shared trip that magnifies the whole experience, and my friend Lovely C turned out to be the perfect travel and shopping companion. For a start off, she was very organised, and packed her bag with chocolate and energy bars and bananas. She also made sure to remind me to bring crochet. And a map.

So our train journey down from North to South was a delightful few hours of crochet, nattering, coffee drinking and route-planning. It was kind of like our weekly Knit and Natter but on-the-move. So yes, we had it all worked out :: I had been given a marvelous ready-made plan by the lovely Hen, who coincidentally had made a very similar trip to That London recently. Her kind of shops are my kind of shops and if you hop across to her blog, you can read a remarkably similar London Tale over there. 

First stop for us was Liberty's :: straight up to the third floor for the yarn and haberdashery. I realised immediately from this very first shop that we would be Shopping with Intent. That the pace for the day would be Fast and Furious. Lovely C is a seriously pacey shopper :: she gathered reels of ribbon to purchase while I was still catching my breath from the three flights of stairs. But that was fine by me, I can Speed-Shop, oh yes indeedy.

Next stop, as recommended by Hen, was a shop inside a beautiful trendy arcade to the side of Carnaby Street. All The Fun of the Fair is a quirky little shop packed with yarn and vintage trims and all manner of hand made goodies. The knitted cakes and cacti were especially charming I thought.

As we were on our way out, we had to go past this cake shop :: the cupcakes in the window are what you would most certainly call Eye candy, and I couldn't resist taking a photograph to share with you....

After the delights of the arcade, we walked (very fast) back up Oxford Street :: desitnation Marylebone High Street. More specifically, VV rouleaux (ribbon heaven), Divertimenti (fantastic kitcheny shop with an amazing cafe at the back where we stopped to have a delicious lunch), Brora (cashmere), Emma Bridegwater (pottery and kichenalia) and finally the one and only Cath Kidston. Oh, it was such fun! So many beautiful things to stroke and ooh and ahh at! Shop after shop of inspirational and desirable gorgeousness! In and out we went, the pace was indeed well, yes Pacey!

At the top end of Marylebone High Street is a small tree lined square which often has an outdoor market taking place within. Last time I was there, it was a farmers market with produce jauntily set out under breezy striped awnings. This time it was a vintage inspired market with a banner telling us it was called the "Cabbages and Frocks" market. Lots of vintagey clothes and jewellery, and then joy of joys a stall selling these....

...aren't these simply THE most beautiful cupcakes you have ever ever seen? Oh, I was absolutely in love with these edible creations, which are the work of the marvelous Peggy.

They so reminded me of this...

It was late afternoon by now, but we reckoned we still had time to whizz across town to Islington to make a much dreamed-of visit to Loop.

This was my first visit to this well known yarn shop and it was pure joy. In every possible way. It's hard to describe, but this small shop, down a quiet side street, had such an amazing vibe, and was quite incredibly visually and creatively uplifting and inspiring. There was lots of yarn (naturally enough for a yarn shop), but amongst all the wooly goodness there were also lots of quirky and beautiful little displays of creative, hand made items. These included a number of exquisite creations made by Julie Arkell, who conducts workshops at the Loop shop. It was just wonderful :: from floor to ceiling, from front to back, wonderful. The owner of Loop is Susan Cropper, who's beautiful crochet book I have, and if you'd like to know more about this lovely lady, there's a very good interview with her here.

And so our lovely day was drawing to a close and it was time to head back to Kings Cross to await our train homewards.

Sat on the train, journeying North, and I buy a cup of tea from the refreshment trolley as it comes through our carriage. Tea to drink with this.....

.......my very own delicious, beautiful, charming Peggy cupcake. It was sweet torture eating those gorgeous sugar flowers. the cupcake was as delicious as it was pretty. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm and oh-so-good. Just like the day itself.

Lovely C and I chat about the day, about our various purchases, about what we had loved, about what had inspired us. We sit and quietly crochet, and we both find ourselves beginning to yawn. Sooo tired. But wasn't it such a good day? Yes, such a good day. I am longing for bed....

....and when I finally get there, with my head in the roses and my feet under the ripples, I am blissfully happy and so glad to be home. Such a good day, but so good to be home and into my bed.

So......wanna see my goodies?

I didn't buy a lot.

I was very restrained.

But what I did buy is scrumptious.

Yeah, really yummy.

You know, the usual Attic24 delights .

The things that make my own little world go round....

:: balls of yarn ::

:: woven trim ::

:: a turquoise kitchen spoon ::

:: and multi coloured teaspoons ::

:: cotton tea towels and the lastest CK catalogue ::

:: a candle holder and a pretty pouch ::

:: buttons (well ok, it's actually a sheet of buttony wrapping paper) ::

:: the time to sit and make 24 circle flowers ::

Oh yes, it was such a good day, and I thank you so much for sharing it with me.

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