Attic24

Five Days in Dorset

Hello one and all....how has your week been? Good I hope. We spent a fabulous time in Dorset, OH we did have fun! I've realised today when I finally sat down to take a look at my photographs that I didn't take nearly as many as usual. But nevertheless, its been lovely for me to have a little play with them and remember the days we spent away.

I'm pushed for time today, and it's taken me an embarrassingly long time to mess around with mosaic-making this morning, so words will be brief....hope you enjoy a little visual summary of our five days away.....oh, and by the way, please do click on any of the images to pop them up and make them bigger.....

Holiday Flowers :: stunning displays outside pubs and tearooms, and natures wild flowers on the beach and riverside.

Holidayish Activity :: beach playing, kite flying, carousel riding, seagull watching, cafe and tearooom visiting, picnicing.

Coastal Appreciation :: driving the coast road between Bridport and Abbotsbury, stopping at this viewpoint to eat icecream and ooooh and aaaah at the view of Chesil Beach and the Fleet. Our destination was St Catherine's Chapel for a wonderful picnic lunch with views that take your breath away.

Dorset Countryside :: in full Summer swing, it was truly beautiful.

Dorset Beaches :: we visited all of our favourite beaches, at various times of day, for paddling, picnicking, tea drinking, strolling, beachcombing and gernerally lazing around.

Carnival Time :: Bridport was in Party Mood at the weekend, with the busy streets all decked out with bunting flags in preparation for the annual carnival. We missed the procession as Little Lady was unwell that day, but we did make it down to West Bay the following night for the "Torchlight Procession". This is where hundreds of people walk the 2 miles from Bridport town to the beach at West bay, carrying wax torches. There are marching bands and much jollity as the procession winds it's way to the sea, with a huge bonfire being lit on the beach when the hundreds of burning torches arrive. Then at 10.30pm, a spectacular firework display from the end of the pier. Memorable and fun.

 

Day to Night :: One of our favourite things to do on a clear evening is to go down to Eype beach to witness the close of day. We take a flask of hot tea, chocolate biscuits and plenty of blankets, and watch as the sky changes from day to night and the first stars appear. Magical.

Hope you enjoyed that little peek at our week...sorry I don't have time to elaborate more. Right now I need to go and attend to the business of making clean all the dirty post-holiday clothes as we are off again tomorrow and have nothing whatsoever to wear.

Yes, tomorrow we are heading off for another week of coastal fun and frolics, up north to our beloved Northumberland this time.....see you when I get back.

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Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Just a very quick little whizz up to the Attic today, to wave at you all and say Byeeeeee.

We are off in a few hours to see my folks in Dorset, the 300 miles of roads are calling us down to the sea.
We have not packed yet mind you, we are very slap dash about holiday preparations in this house.
But all will be fine.
Not sure how the weather is going to be, but we will pack rain coats with sunscreen, wooly jumpers with teeshirts and hope for the best.

Have a lovely time while I am gone, chat amongst yourselves and no mischief, I will be back on Thursday with a pocket full of shells and sea breezes.

See you soon
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ps above card is one of my favourite things, it was sent to me by the lovely Noelle, and is by Cornish artist Alan Furneaux.
I love it....puts me right in the holiday mood!
Toodle-oo!!

Stars and Stitches

It's been a very idle sort of a day here today. Down right lazy in fact. I spent almost the entire morning with the Little People creating with hama/perler beads. Oh we LOVE these little itsy bitsy plastic beads! I know without a shadow of a doubt that if these beads had been invented when I was a child I would have been totally, completely addicted to them.
Little Man sat for hours on end today in front of my laptop, using the perler beads website which has hundreds of design ideas and patterns to follow. He made two dogs, a frog, an electric guitar, a whale, two fish, and a car.
Little Lady and I collaborated on a joint project to makes stars together.
It was a lot of fun, more than perhaps a forty year old should admit to having with this kind of thing. Possibly.

Our house, being Victorian, has a very tall space for a front door, which allows for an extra piece of glass across the top (officially called a Transom, don't you know). Now the previous house owners installed a (rather hideous, in my humble opinion) white plastic front door and transom, with wibbly wobbly leafy glass. I really dislike it, and one of my greatest wishes for Number 24 is for this lovely old house to have a lovely new front door. A beautiful, handmade, painted wooden front door with some beautiful panels of stained glass made to my own design. The transom window is just crying out for coloured stained glass, don't you think? Possibly with the number 24 incorporated...ahhh, it makes me feel quite giddy thinking of the creative possibilities!

Anyhow, I decided on a whim to hang our perler bead stars up at the transom window with invisible thread, and every time I've walked into the hallway and seen them there today, I've experienced a rush of pleasure. Ok, so it's not quite stained glass, but I like the effect rather a lot.

It struck me how closely the beady stars resembled the colours/patterns in my crochet work. How my instinctive use of colour repeats itself through all my creativity, whether it be fabric, yarn or plastic.
See my Big Chair there? Photo taken today, and I have to say, another pleaure rush there too.
I was asked a little while ago about this little needlepoint cushion of mine (so sorry I forget who exactly asked to see it more closely, but I hope you know who you are)...I didn't make it, although it is handmade. It was given to me by my mother in law who bought it for £1 from a car boot sale knowing I would love it.
And I do, very much.
Want to take a closer look?

So simple, just little repeating squares of colour worked in tent stitch (don't I sound knowledgable haha!)

It's been a great many years since I did needlepoint (I remember as a child, I was given a small kit for a birthday present once) and I suddenly have a real strong yearning to try it again, to see if it's something I might enjoy to sit quietly and work on in idle moments when I do not feel like crocheting (gasp!).

I had a little pootle about on the internet today, trying to find some modern/contemporary needlepoint kits/designs, but it seemed there was not a lot to be found. Most of what is available is quite stuffy and old fashioned in my opinion. I did find this rather nice website called Jolly Red which is bright and cheerful and the designs appeal to me. I like this one and this one...but am seriously wondering about designing my own and buying the wool and holey fabricky stuff to do it my way.

Attic24-stylie needlepoint.

Now there's a delicious thought.

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PS if any of you know of any good books/websites/blogs/sources of inspiration for needlepoint, please do let me know? Ta muchly xxx

Edited to add :: Oh oh oh...look what I found here and here ... Cripes, I really have the excitable heebie-jeebies for this new craft, not good just before bedtime, i feel all twitchy! If there was a craft shop open right now selling needplepoint supplies, I would be there in my pyjamas!!

Little Squares

 

I've spent a lot of hours at the local park during this past week. And I mean a LOT. The Little People have insisted on it. It's their favourite place to be, and on a sunny afternoon it's hard to argue against it, because in truth it's no hardship for me these days. Quite enjoyable in fact.

This summer, with the LP now aged 5 and 6 (almost 7), they have reached a very satisfactory level of parky-independence. They can tackle all the play equipment now without needing me to lift, push, help or supervise much. So I no longer sit and watch them closely, no longer wait to spring off my seat at the first sign of difficulty, no longer spend my time pushing swings or catching bodies as they fly off the end of the slide. In fact, I no longer sit in the playground enclosure at all :: rather I choose to spread a blanket out on the grass just outside the perimeter fence. Near enough to see and hear and keep my beady eye on goings on, but far enough to discourage my participation. Being on The Other Side of The Fence has proven very satisfactory indeed.

These photographs were taken on Saturday afternoon, when we were at the park for most the afternoon. I spread my knitted blanket out on the grass and settled down to read my magazine and eat strawberries in the afternoon sun.

There were little breaks in my solitude when the Little People came to flop on the blanket next to me for a breather and a cold drink. A little bit of creative buttercup and daisy chain making.  But on the whole, I was left to my own devices. And oh I did enjoy it!

Of course, it doesn't take all afternoon to read a magazine.

Yes, there was plenty of time for some hooky goings on in the park on Saturday afternoon.

I do love taking my crochet al fresco. Love that when I am outside working on a particular project, that the memories of my surroundings sort of get woven in to the stitches. So that this Little Squares cushion cover will remind me of warm August summer afternoons at the park, of eating strawberries and listening to the sounds of children playing. It will forever be a Summer Park cushion.

I continued the outdoor theme a little closer to home on Sunday, sitting in my small back yard and working at my outdoor table. Surrounded by my flowers the same colours as my yarn.

I have really, really enjoyed making these Little Squares. Such fun to play with the colours in this way, and a great use of the extra left over yarn after the completion of BB. I think the technical term for this project would be a "Stash Buster".

Yeah, al-fresco-stash-busting!!!

Love that!

So I finally finished all 81 Little Squares on Monday evening. 

Was SOOOOOooooo glad that they were joined-on-the-go and therefore were not all sitting in a teetering pile waiting to be joined. SO very glad of that.

This method of joining does make the squares a little sort of "bunched up" next to each other and so stretching and blocking is essential to pull them back out to shape.

Very satisfying, the process of blocking.

Love doing it.

Love the results.

Wanna see?

Shall we have a sneaky Little Squares ta-dah moment????

Yeah?

Go on then.....take a peek....

 

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

Rather fabulous isn't it, if i DO say so myself, haha!!!

And here is it look, next to the Big Square.

Still needing to find a suitable jumper or two to make the backings for these, so they are not yet in cushiony form.

But I'm enjoying playing with them as they are, draping them around the place and just loving their hooky good looks.

Oh my goodness, I do so adore Granny Squares.

Big time.

They make my heart go flutter-flutter.

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Where i Live

I love living where I live. Love the bustle of the town on market day (will take some pics of the market one day soon to show you), the fact that the town itself is very old and historical, that we have a castle and a canal and a park. And I really love that we also have Woods. The Woods are owned by the Woodland Trust which is a conservation charity. It's beautifully maintained and a Walk in the Woods is often a welcome solution to idle weekend mornings when we fancy a bit of local pottering and a spot of nature.

This is what the Woodland Trust has to say about our Woods ::

"A magical land in the heart of town - that’s one way to describe these Woods, a woodland haven by one of Britain’s best preserved, most popular medieval castles. The wood’s links with the castle date back at least 1,000 years. A canal towpath, following the line of the Castle ramparts and Springs Canal, provides a direct link between the town’s High Street and the woods, following the course of the Beck through a stunning steep-sided valley.

Most of this ancient woodland is dominated by ash but the occasional sycamore, beech, Scots pine, Norway spruce and hornbeam indicate a greater variety in the past. The woods are renowned for their vivid displays of bluebells and wild garlic and sustain five species of bat. Green and greater spotted woodpeckers add their colour, while kingfisher and heron may be seen fishing the waterways."

Doesn't it sound delightful? And it is, oh it is! And yes, we have indeed seen kingfisher and heron and have heard the tap-tap-tap of woodpecker too. Haven't spotted any evidence of the five species of bat yet though.

On Saturday morning we Walked in the Woods.
From our house, it's only about a 5 minute walk to the canal, so very little walking is done on the road.
We walk along the side of the canal for a way, then the pathway branches off and follows the beck around the bottom of the castle grounds.
It winds on through the tall trees, lush and beautiful and green.
I enjoy the play of light and shadow and the fresh woody scent.
On past the pond, further and further until eventually we emerge onto a narrow track.
Bright sunlight after the dappled shade takes us by surprise.
Turn left and follow the track before climbing over a stile into a lush green field with cows grazing.
A slight climb to reach the top of the top of the hill where there is a dry stone wall and a view...............

.....Ahhhhhhh the view!!! It's wide and expansive, hard to capture  on camera the fact that we can see so much from up here. We can see in almost every direction and this view gives us a real perspective of exactly where we live, where we are placed in the midst of this beautiful countryside.

Because if we look straight ahead, we see our town.

And if we cast our eyes to the right of the town centre, we can see our neighbourhood.

And if we look more closely we can see our street.

And if we look more closely still, we can see our house! 

Yes yes yes, thats it look!!! There! Yes, right there!! I know because I can see my Attic window, know that it's painted a different colour to all the other Attic windows on our street. So I know for sure that's Where i Live.

Trying to point something like this out to Little People is extremely difficult. Fingers point, eyes strain, understanding and comprehension is sought. They say they can see it, but I'm not convinced. No matter, because I photograph it and when we get home I make a print. And I put an arrow to show them our house.

The picture below is a zoomed-in view of the picture above....

...and there I am look, see my window?? See the window of Attic24???

Thats Where i Live.

And I love Where i Live.

It's HOME.

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Cranberry and Pecan Tiffin

Cranberry and Pecan Tiffin :: this is one ScRumPtiOuS recipe, and I'm delighted to be passing it on to you all. You're gonna love it. Your family and friends are gonna love it, and they will love you for making it and sharing it.

When it was J's birthday earlier this year, he told me quite matter of factly that he didn't want any presents, and he didn't want cake. No, what he really wanted more than anything else was homemade tiffin. And that is what he got.

This recipe is my own. I had never made Tiffin before J's birthday request, although I had eaten it. I have a faded memory of eating the most delicious, scrumptious cranberry and pecan tiffin someplace, somewhen, somewhere that I can't quite recall. But I remember how completely I loved it, and how that combination of the slightly sharp cranberries with the sweetness of the chocolate and the crunch of the biscuit was just divine. Heavenly.
I searched the internet for a cranberry-pecan-tiffin recipe and could find none. But there are a gazillion recipes out there for Tiffin (often known as Refrigerator Cake), and I found they all varied wildly in both the ingredients and the quantities. So I ended up kind of combining several different bits of various recipes to make my own version, based on that elusive memory of the original one I tasted in some unknown cafe in some forgotten place.

So to make this wickedly, heavenly recipe, you will need ::

200g digestive biscuits
100g dried cranberries
50g roughly chopped pecan nuts
200g good chocolate (I use half and half dark/milk)
200g unsalted butter (it HAS to be unsalted and it CANNOT be margarine)
2tbs golden syrup (or corn syrup in the US)

This is a very child friendly recipe, and it's also a no-bake recipe. It can also be a very messy recipe if you have Small Helpers.

Put the biscuits into a bowl and smash to bits. Use whatever implement you fancy...rolling pin, wooden spoon, your child. We started out with a wooden spoon, then went in with Little Lady's hands toward the end to break the crumbs up more finely.

You don't want to end up with dust mind you, so go steady with the pounding. The biscuit should be a mix of very fine crumbs and slightly larger bits too, as pictured above.

Assemble your cranberries, and roughly chop your pecan nuts.

 

Add the fruit and nuts to the smashed biscuit and mix well.

In a separate heatproof bowl, put the chocolate, butter and syrup and heat gently until melted. I used the microwave, heating for about 30-45 seconds at a time, then stirring, then heating a little more, then stirring until there is a lovely, luscious bowl of brown melty smooth deliciousness.

Ahhhhh the smell......it takes all my will power not to stick my face right in the bowl and slurp.

Now add the biscuit/fruit/nut mix to the melted chocolate/butter/syrup mix and stir well.

Pour into a lined tin (I used an 8inch/20cm square brownie tin, lined with baking parchment).

Then put the tray into the fridge and leave to cool/set...takes at least an hour, and this is by far the hardest bit of the whole tiffin-making experience, especially if you are doing it with Little People.

You can distract Little Minds for a good while by allowing them to clean the bowl out with their bare hands. Be warned, it will be Messy.

But once the bowl has been cleaned, the Pestering will begin.

Is it ready yet?

Can we check?

Is it ready now?

Can I go look?

I lost track of the number of times Little Lady went to the fridge to see if the chocolate had set, but there were a lot of little finger prints all over the surface of our tiffin.

No matter...it did eventually set of course....

....and it did eventually get eaten with mmmmmm's of appreciation. Words cannot describe how delicious this stuff is.

And Oh. My. Goodness. Just looking at these photos this morning is making me want to rush out the house this very instant to go buy the ingredients to make this again. Really. I'm seriously thinking to myself :: right, its 9am, the supermarket is open, if I put my coat on over my pyjamas and go right now this very minute, I could be eating cranberry and pecan tiffin with my (late) morning coffee.

Oh yeah.

See ya.....I'm off.............

Edited to add :: a note about digestive biscuits...I realise now, a very English ingredient. According to Wikipedia, in the US you can substitute with Graham Crackers, if this makes any sense??!!

T*h*a*n*k*Y*o*u

Afternoon my Lovelies!!
A quick posting from the Attic today as I'm feeling a little bit droopy. Don't be alarmed, I'm not unwell, not sad either (far from it), just very low in energy is all.

But I could not let the day pass without popping in to send you my heartfelt love for all your fabulously generous and enthusiastic BB comments. Last I looked there were a hundred and seventy comments on yesterdays post...wow, that really is a LOT of World Wide crochet-love!!!!!! You are such sweethearts, and I feel quite overwhelmed and emotional to tell the truth.
Thank you all, so very very much.

I also want to quickly update you on the Dorset Cereals Little Blog Awards, you may remember me mentioning it a short while ago?
Well thanks to you all, I did indeed win the award for July, with a staggering 750+ votes. I was amazed, truly I was :: so many of you taking the trouble to do that for me, it makes me want to cry with gratitude.
Thank you all, so very very much.

So....with BB off the hook what's next I hear you ask?
Well I'm continuing to crochet my Little Squares cushion cover (above photo taken whilst hooking at the park this morning).
I'm also planning/designing a couple new things :: a new scarf, and a new shoulder bag, and am very excited about both.
And then I expect blanket #5 will begin in the Autumn, in time for some fireside snuggly-hooky action as the days shorten and the weather cools. Bliss.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing my Tiffin recipe, ready for you to make yourselves a little weekend treat....so hoping to see you then.
Toodle-oo for now...
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BB (Big Blanket), Ta-dah!

 

Hello! OOooooooooooooooooooooooooo so today's the day!!! Yes, tis offically Ta-dah day!!!!!!!

Can you believe that after so much faffing around, I am finally sitting down today to write BB's much awaited Ta-dah post? It's been a while materialising hasn't it, and I am so sorry for keeping you waiting. I've been looking forward to writing this post very much, and I really wanted the photos to be great. For them to do justice to this project that I've worked so hard on for the past seven months. And truthfully, I don't think the photos I've ended up with are that great, but they are passable and I think given the weather conditions at the present time, they're as good as it's gonna get. And besides I simply couldn't wait any damn longer to share this with you all, the heebie jeebies were getting out of hand!

OK, first off, a little bit of the practicalities. I know how much you like the Details, and quite right too. This Big Blanket of mine (known as BB) is made from Rowan Pure Wool DK in 14 shades, as follows ::

The picture above, top row, left to right ::

042 Dahlia

026 Hyacinth

027 Hydrangea

028 Raspberry

025 Tea Rose

041 Scarlet

040 Tangerine

032 Gilt

Bottom row, left to right ::

008 Marine

007 Cypress

006 Pier

019 Avocado

005 Glacier

039 Lavender

If you've been following my blog during this year and keeping up with my comings and goings, you will know allllllllllllllll about this blanket I expect. Because I have been going on (and on and on) about it a great deal, bombarding you with endless images at every stage of it's creation, so it's been hard to miss.

It started here, on January 14th with the Purchase of the Yarn.

Then shortly after came the actual Design process, and the very first blocks being made.

And then followed many, many updates too numerous to mention.

The highs and the lows.

The excitement when it was going well.

And the misery when it was not.

There were also several tutorials written around this blanket too :: my Summer Garden granny square pattern, plus the two joining methods, and finally the scallopy edging.

It has been an absolute pleasure sharing the making of this blanket with you, and even more of a pleasure sharing it's finale today. Actually I am more excited than I am letting on today, I am writing quite calmly I think. Restrained even. But inside, my heart feels fit to burst.

As you know, I've had a devil of a job photographing BB. Its a BIG Blanket for sure, measuring around 6ft square. Last week I did have a go at clearing the floor in my living room and laying it out in an attempt to take a full photograph of it laid flat. It was very hard to get myself up high enough above it to get it all in the frame. It involved balancing on the arms of my big chair, which was quite precarious and wobbly. Ahh the things we do!

But here, without further ado, I present you with BB....................

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

 

To say I am pleased with how it turned out is a serious understatement.

This is the 4th blanket I've made, and honestly it has been the most troublesome (remember those Pesky White borders?). There was quite a time when I really wasn't sure what I thought about this creation of mine. But luckily, after taking a break for a couple months, and dealing with the Pesky White, I fell back in Love again. Pheww. I can't tell you how releived I was to find my enthusiasm return.

Now then, if you'd like to come with me upstairs a moment, I'd like to show you how BB looks when In Residence.

Below is a photo of my bed as it looked before BB arrived..........

 

Cath K rosy pillowcases, and pure white egyptian cotton bedding.

Plain and Simple.

And this is how it looks now.......

 

.....Ta-dah!!!

I am truly, completely, deeply thrilled with it.

  

Words cannot really describe how I feel about BB. How it feels to create something so large that has occupied my thoughts and time for more than half a year. Pride. Love. Joy. Thrills.

Crikey, I do get serious Thrills from being around this blanket!

 

I sneak past the bedroom door and glance in, see it all laid out there and it thrills me.

 

I snuggle under it whenever I can to read, browse, daydream, and it thrills me.

I wrap myself up in it's thousands and thousands of woolly stitches, and think of all the hours I've spent sat with hook and yarn creating those stitches, and it thrills me.

OK, enough of the thrills, lets commence with the Riveting Facts, much as I did when I completed the Ripple and The Hexie.....

Measures :: 180cm x 180cm
Summer Garden Squares :: 144, arranged in 36 blocks of 4
Time :: have no idea, absolutely loads, over 7 months
Balls :: 44 (rough guess based on weight)
Weight :: 2200g
Cost :: £3.50 per ball = £154, and worth every single penny
Mileage :: 44 balls @ 125m each ball = 5500metres = 3.4 miles of yarn (!)

Photo :: me in my pyjamas, snuggled in bed this morning
Blanket :: gorgeous
Me :: happy.

Ok, one last photo..........

Ahhhhhhhhhhh BB, I do LOVE you so!!!!

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August

Hello, hello. Sorry I'm a little late in getting here this week :: I was away from home all day yesterday, and today I've been feeling a little droopy and my brain has not quite been up to speed for writing. In fact, I don't feel quite my normal self today. I think I am OK, just tired after quite a lot of driving, shopping, tea drinking and gas bagging yesterday when I drove the 40 miles over the hills to visit with some very good friends in my old home town. Ahhh how lovely it was to catch up with one another, how reassuringly familiar and easy it was to chat the day away over tea and cake while our 14 children played together just as they always have done ever since they were babies. It was a wonderful day.

The shopping part of my trip was mainly concentrated on the Little People who were desperately in need of new footwear and new clothes. New colouring books too. But I did treat myself to some lovely new red crocs which were on sale at less than half price. I am quite in love with them, although they do look slightly brash when worn with my pyjamas.

So me and my red crocs went out to inspect the back yard this morning, and after quite a heavy fall of rain during the night everything is still very drippy wet out there. I wanted to show you my passion flower which I planted in this big pot at the end of June. When I bought it, it only reached as high as the kitchen windowsill to the left of the picture there and it has really grown loads in the last month. The flowers are beautiful, and remind me of my childhood :: I remember being totally entranced by these exotic looking flowers as a child. Well to tell the truth, I still am.

I was a little late with turning my calendars this month and only remembered to do it yesterday. So it's August now then, and supposedly we should be wilting in the heat of high summer doing lazy outdoor things. Beachy things by the looks of it. I don't suppose we should be contemplating lighting the fire then.

Look see, even the Bossy calendar is telling me to go to the beach and do summery outdoorsy things.

As it happens, we are home during this week and next, and then we will be seeking beachy outdoor activities as we will be off on our jolly-hollies. We are spending the first part of our holiday fortnight with my folks in Dorset, then for the last week of August we will be back up north to stay in Craster (Northumberland) again. Just like last year, in the same little harbourside house. So yes, I am hoping very much to enjoy some end-of-day moments on the beach, although we'll probably do it with blankets rather than furniture. Bit too tricky to balance furniture on rock pooly rocks.

Todays August view from the Attic :: brightish, grey sky, not summery exactly, but it is dry. No rainfall. And that has to be a good thing.

 

A little bit of a hooky update :: I've finished my 18 inch Granny Square cushion cover...

...and have started on making another one from tiny 2-round squares joined in the go. I am already loving how this is turning out even though I've only done one row (9 squares) so far and still have 8 more rows (72 squares) to go. I've yet to search my local charity/thrift shops for a suitable woolly jumper to back these two cushions, but am hopeful the right one will be hanging there just waiting for me to to turn it from an Unwanted Garment to a homespun Thing of Beauty.

And talking of homespun things of beauty...see my new bedside reading book there? Ahhh I have so badly wanted this book, so badly desired this book for what seems like an age and a half, and now am positively thrilled that a copy is finally mine all mine. My lovely Hubby was ordering some geeky computery things from Amazon last week and decided to treat me to two books from the top of my wish list. This is one of them, the other I shall share with you a little later on when I've got past the sniffing and stroking stage of loving it. I do SO adore getting new books:: very, very high score on the Pleasure-o-meter.

And finally before I go, a little note about BB. I think, possibly, maybe, hopefully, fingers all crossed that i may have finally managed to take some photos to share with you. About half an hour ago, whilst I was writing this post, I noticed a weak, late afternoon sun was shining it's way through the back windows of our house. So I rushed upstairs, did a quick tidy of the bedsides, and took some pictures, click click click. This is the fourth attempt, and I am hoping they are waaaaay better than the other three attempts, which were pants. I hope so. I am fairly badly desperate to do some ta-dah-ing!!!!

So all being well, I'll be seeing you all tomorrow for you-know-what.

(((((squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllll!!!))))

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Edited to add ::

 

6.27pm AUGUST-ish weather OR WHAT????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!