Attic24

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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Winter Happy

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Been f-f-f-freeeeeeezing cold here these past few days, roughly -4°C. We've been sitting under a freezing blanket of thick fog which has made the wider landscape disappear completely, and the close-up landscape enchanting.

The low temperature is exhilarating, well I find it that way and I wonder why so many people I've met today have complained about it. Yes I know it kind of makes you feel like your face is falling off, but at the same time it feels so brisk, cleansing and energising! 

I've found myself mesmerised by icy foliage. I just adore to see ice crystals, I find them fascinating and totally beautiful.

I've spent a lot of time these past few days with my eyes wide, wide open, drinking in every little wintry, icy detail.

Somehow we don't get to see icicles very often, they seem so rare and magical. The Little People were suitably wowed when I showed them these beauties on the way to school.

I had an hour to myself this morning whilst Little B was at playgroup, so I spent a portion of it racing around town doing some Christmas shopping. I love this olde-worlde arcade which is always decked out beautifully at Christmas time. It contains some pretty special little shops too......

.....inside this one is completely delicious. I bought some very sweet gifts for friends and family here, ooooo so many lovely, desirable things lay behind that pretty window! Still seem quite a long way from being "done" with gift buying, but I am certainly more on top of things than I usually am.

I came home with icy air in my lungs, rosy cheeks and tingly-cold fingers and spent a little bit of quiet time defrosting myself. I really appreciate these little snippets of me-time in my week, they are short but very sweet indeed. Just me, my thoughts, a good coffee and the tick-tick of my favourite clock. It restores my equilibrium.

I went for a walk today, well actually I should say that We went for a walk, as it was Little B and I. I know it was very, very cold for strolling, but I had a sudden urge to go and see if the waterfall had frozen and Little B was more than happy to oblige. We stepped off the street to follow the path along the canal and under the castle until we reached the waterfall.

Two years ago, this waterfall did indeed freeze completely and you can see some incredible pictures of it on Heather's blog. But today, even though it was f-f-f-freezing, the water was still flowing.

Still, it was a lovely little walk, we really enjoyed it. I love that Little People don't ever seem to question the weather or the temperature, they just enjoy being out and about. And I have to say, I felt exactly the same today. I felt really unexpectedly happy strolling about in this cold, wintry weather.

After my last post (the Giddy one), I am hugely excited to tell you I am almost there with my wreath making exploits. Ohhhhhhh I am love love love love LoViNg it!!!!!! I can't wait to show you!!!!!!

After I pinned everything in place last night, I noticed there were a few gaps that needed filling. So today I made some little be-ribboned flowers.

They turned out really well with their dotty button centres and little ribbon tails (pattern for the flowers can be found here). Well the whole wreath is looking rather lush I have to say. Really it is. I will have a glorious Ta-dah post for you very soon.....ooo honestly, a huge shiver of excitement travelled down my spine just then, hahahaaa!!! I've got the Giddy Shivers!

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Playtime

Returning back to routine today, J went back to work, the Little Peeps went back to school and the Kidlett and I went off to sing and bash drums at Musical Tots. It was good. I do enjoy routine, more than I like to admit.

This afternoon, I had a little time to myself :: Mummy Playtime. I had a good smooch with my new soft embroidery threads, purchased yesterday so that I may continue my obsession with making Mini Bunting.

Do you like the colours? I had J and the LP waiting for me in the car, so I picked these out in about 30 second flat. Yanked them off their hooks, pooled them together in my hands, rushed to the till, paid for them, made a little small talk with the shop lady whom I taught to crochet a few years ago, and ran out the door. J still managed to raise his eyebrows, honestly, I swear I must've only been about five minutes.

I chose quite a few pinky colours as I've an idea to crochet some mini roses. Think sweet mini  bunting flags interspersed with mini crochet roses. Ooooooooooooooooooh!!

Something else caught my eye this afternoon during Playtime too. This envelope that arrived a few weeks ago all the way from Malaysia, sitting patiently on my desk, waiting for my Full Attention.

Want to see the Malaysian contents?

Ok.....

It's a sticker set. Found and purchased on Etsy when I was having a little gush over all things Washi Tape.

Just a minute though...lets just nip over to the sofa and make sure Little B is still sweetly in the land of nod............

........ahh yes, sleeping soundly, snoring gently and making little grunty animal noises. Too cute for words.

Right then, it's safe to carry on with my Playtime, uninterrupted.

Lets open up the packet shall we?

Oooooooooooooooooo-la-la!!!!!  Sweet!!!

Twenty five little playing-card sized sticker sheets, don't you just love little things like this? Takes me right back to my childhood, makes me think I am eight years old again. Such joy to be had with stickers and cutesy stationary products!

Can you see that each sticker sheet is pre cut? There are circles at one end, then the rest is cut into two different width strips.

You know what I'm going to do with the strips don't you?

Uh-huh. Mini paper bunting strings, inspired by this and this. This is as far as I got before Little B woke up, but I am already looking forward to resuming during my Tuesday afternoon Playtime.

Thread. Stickers. Scissors.

Peal, fold, stick, snip, love.

Bliss.

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 Edit to add :: the Etsy seller that I bought the stickers from can be found here. You can also find many more similar items on Etsy though, have a look here if you're interested.

 

New Things

Gosh it's been a rotten week here weather wise. I've found the low light levels quite oppressive at times and even during mid morning when our house is usually filled with light, it's been very gloomy and dull, dull, dull. Our days are very short now too and boy, we are really noticing how soon the twilight is creeping in after our return home from school (the above picture was taken at 4:24pm).

The dull gloom of this past week has been accompanied by continuous low cloud and wet stuff. Damp mist, drizzly rain and full blown thunderstorms have swept through our neighbourhood. But at least I've been able to pull on my brand new wellies and tramp out in style, a big grin on my face as I look down at my feet.

Over the past five years I've worn through (literally) two pairs of pretty floral wellies (you can see my last pair here) but my feelings for them (and I loved them dearly) are nothing in comparison to the way I feel about this current pair. I've developed a huge crush on them. I mean good-golly-gosh, COLOURFUL KNITTED STRIPES, could there ever be a more perfect pair of wellies for me?

Here they are along with Little Lady's new pair, we do cut a dash as we paddle to school along the canal together. Both pairs came from Next, and can be found in the Young Girls {Wellies} department. I can't tell you how much I love that "young girls" footwear often extends to include the size of my "middle age adult" feet.

If you like to scrutinise blog-pics the way I do, you may have already noticed my dotty spotty new watch. I was wearing it when I rediscovered my yarn basket. Did you spot it? This recent and spontaneous purchase came from a little old fashioned jewellers at the bottom of the High Street here in my town. One Monday morning I rushed past the shop window on my way to Musical Tots, caught a glimpse, back tracked, stood and drooled. It captured my heart completely. Two days later when I found I was totally pining for it, I did the only sensible thing and marched straight to the shop to buy it. The sight of it on my wrist makes me soooooooooooooo happy, day after day after day.

Yeah, yeah I know!!! What a terrific lot of self indulgence has been occurring of late!!! Tut tut!!!!! Very unlike me to give into the Wanties with such abandon, but there you have it. New wellies. New watch. And then a new scarf too. What complete extravagance (although I did get the scarf for Half Price). Well, I can offer you no excuses, no real reason either, other than I have felt the need for a few jazzy new accessories to brighten up my rather shabby and worn out charity-shop outfits.

My Autumn mantel is still giving me such a lot of pleasure. The Chinese Lanterns that I bought back in September have dried out completely now, and are still holding their beautiful orange colour remarkably well. I've got some new fairy lights for this mantel too, and I love how they sparkle and glow and make everything look so sweet and pretty.

I'm also thrilled that pots of hyacinths are back in the supermarkets again, yayaaayyy for Seasonal Consistancy! These blue ones are at their peek now (the scent is amazing) and I've already got a pot of pink ones waiting to take over.

Ahhhhhhhh candle lit hooky, how cosy and lovely! This is some Festive Bunting in progress which I'm going to hang in place of my heart bunting on the fireplace for the Festive Season. The idea is to string them up with little bits of crochet holly in between each pennant, and I'm also planning on adding some felt letters to spell out a suitably festive word. My first idea was to use 9 pennants to spell out the word CHRISTMAS. I also thought about possibly doing JOY♥LOVE. I was explaining all this to the curious Little People the other day and they very sweetly offered their own suggestions. PRESENTS! was one such suggestion, followed by CHESTNUTS. Hmmmmm. I told them to maybe try instead to think about feelings instead of objects. Ok, they said. How about EXCITED? Or  AWESOME? Ah well. I think maybe we need to go back to the drawing board....any suggestions???? I've just remembered that YULETIDE was suggested by a friend last night, and I like that a lot.

Oooooo, can I show you my new Felt Stash, ready and waiting to be cut into Festive Lettering??

Tadah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to the amazing Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate at the weekend, and I found this felt there. I have to tell you this is awesome-exciting felt, it's called Kunin EcoFi and is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles!!! Felt made from PLaStic BoTTleS, how cool is that??!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I also found this string of red glass beads at the show which are destined to become holly berries. I gave up trying to work out how to crochet small berries (the leaves were enough of a struggle) so I'm hoping these beads will do the job nicely. Speaking of holly, I've actually managed to lose all the holly leaves I made last week, I cannot find them anywhere. I'm hoping they've not become part of the Shelves of Doom. I'll try (promise, promise) to hook up some more during this week and get the tutorial made for you. Hooky Holly is incredibly essential at this time of year I'd say.

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Yarn Talk (again)

Helloooo!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm back with some more Yarn Talk folks, it's all hotting up rather beautifully here in the Attic as I'm teetering on the very brink of beginning my new blanket. As you know, I went Jaunting off last week to purchase the blanket yarn. I thought I had it all sussed then. I thought to myself, well now, the Yarn is In The Bag, I'm all set! Just need to spend a few days familiarising myself with the colours (fondling, smooching, arranging, stacking etc etc) then I can get going. Hooky hooky here I come.

But selecting colours for a blanket is quite a Big Deal and even when one has experience in these matters  (and I do think I qualify as reasonably Experienced here) it is still possible to make mistakes. Maybe not big, huge, whopping blunders, but more along the lines of Second Thoughts. Yes I had second thoughts about my colour selection and the more I stacked, arranged, re-arranged and familiarised myself with the colours I'd chosen the more certain I was that I needed to tweak it a little. At least one colour had to go. Possibly two.

And this my friends is where shopping at a Local Yarn Shop is sooooo good. Cos I was able to contact the lovely ladies in the yarn shop and tell them I made a teensy mistake. I was able to ask about a couple of different colours that hadn't been on the shelf at the time of selection. I was able to ask (very nicely) if I could return and have a second go at choosing my colours, make a few swapsies. And they were more than happy to help me out. Which of course meant I needed to make a second Jaunt With Intent, how dreadful. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haahaa!!! Returning to the shop yesterday was even better than the first time. And it enabled me to take a few more pics to share with you too.

This is their entire stock of Baby Cashmerino. The colour range is spectacular. Shall we take a closer look?

Top left corner. Not a huge number of colours here that float my boat, but a few balls came down. The baby pink, the golden yellow, the maroony red.

Top right corner. Ooooo hotting up here, I adore this end of the colour spectrum. Hot reds and oranges, vibrant pinks, pretty purples. They zing and sing and shout out to be included.

Bottom right corner. Blues and greens, this is my familiar territory. Turquoise, teal, aqua, leaf and grass. These are my "soul colours", the colours of the land and sea. Every single thing I make contains a mix of these colours.

Bottom left corner. This section is a bit stormy for me, I don't really tend to do greys or dark school uniform colours. I do like the vivid blue though, and yes that pale minty green is pretty.

So this was the yarn selection that ended up In The Bag.

Fifteen colours in total.

A fair balance between the hot red/orange/pink/purple colours and the cooler greens/blues I'd say.

I'm sure you remember me showing you these balls don't you?

Remember me telling you that one was being changed?

Remember me asking if you thought you could pick out the colour?

Of course you remember.

Here's the answer then.....................................................

Do you see which one is now gone?

I took out the pale baby pink and replaced it with a luscious, rich red.

Scroll up and down, check it out. Pale Pink out. Rich Red in.

Not many of you picked out the pink :: the most popular colours for the chop were the bright orange (too in yer face), the maroony red (too dark) and the mid blue (too similar to the turquoise). But to me, these are all vital colours. The dark adds drama and the bright adds zing. Drama and Zing are both essential elements in my opinion. And the blues, wellll, they are my soul colours after all, so I do tend to go heavy on this colour range. That's just my personal quirk.

I ended up having a big tussle over that unusual rather acidic green (bottom centre), but decided at the last minute to keep it in. Ditto the pale minty green. I also had a really, really good look at the other colours on the shelf and decided to add in a few more...three to be precise.

I added in a beautiful pale aqua, a vibrant leafy green and an interesting slate blue. So now there are eighteen colours in total.

This morning I took lots of yarn infested photos and I'm in the process of writing about it for you. Writing about the colours and my own personal way of selecting and playing with them. Don't be expecting theoretical stuff involving colour wheels though. It's more heart and soul stuff with me.

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Jaunting With Intent

It's not often I get to go off on a Jaunt these days, it's quite rare in fact. I think that's partly due to no longer having a car, and partly cos Little B ever so slightly limits the type and length of jaunting I can do. He is generally pretty adaptable and will happily accompany me wherever I go, but still. He hampers proceedings a little it has to be said.

Do you get what I mean when I refer to a jaunt? It means a proper little pleasure-trip out and about somewhere. A trip that you know is going to bring happiness and enjoyment. Sounds good eh? And that's because it is!

Jaunting in Good Weather is the best. It's not strictly essential to have blue skies and sunshine, but it really does help elevate the happy feelings above the norm.

Jaunting with Good Friends is also the best. Again it's not strictly essential to have company (I love solo jaunting, as in my occasional shopping trips), but having someone to share the experience with does make it extra special.

I love to plan my Jaunts, I love the happy anticipation it creates for days/weeks in advance. Now in my world there are two types of Jaunt :: you can either Jaunt Freely, or you can Jaunt with Intent. I like both kinds. I like the ambling, spontaneous, take-it-as-it-comes kind of a day, but I also really do enjoy having a sense of Purpose, something specific and exciting to give the day a focus.

On Thursday, I was doing the latter and Jaunting with Intent. I had a definite purpose for being in this beautiful town on a beautiful day with a fab friend. And oh I was super-charged with excitement!!

So what was I up to?

What made my feet skip and my heart boom-boom and my face smile broadly?

It has nothing to do with these pictures of Autumnal trees, plants and beautiful Florists displays.

These were merely distractions as we walked to our Ultimate Destination.

We were walking slowly cos we had Little B out of the pushchair and on his Little Feet.

Plod, plod.

Happy feet and big smiles.

Of course. It was a yarn thing. It was a day of Intentional Yarn Shopping.

This is one wall in a most gorgeous and inspirational shop :: Create in Ilkley. I just love love love this little shop. The moment you step through the door you are warmly welcomed and feel at home. I wish I had taken more photos to show you the inspiring displays and to give you a feel for the warmth and vibrancy that resides here. It's marvelous!

I am not a regular visitor here, but I am well known here, so there is always lots of chat and catching up with yarn-related things. Oh I do like a good yarny chitchat! But as super as it is to pass the time of day with chitchat, I was really there first and foremost to purchase yarn. Blanket Yarn no less.

It's been a surprisingly long while since I had a blanket on the go, I finished up the Sweet Flower Granny blanket at the end of January. Since then I've been umming and ahhhing over what to do next blanket wise, chopping and changing my mind a gazillion times. Blocks or rows? Squares or stripes? Something familiar or something new? Which should it be?

Which yarn to use has been debated a gazillion times too. I finally settled on a yarn I know well and absolutely adore :: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. You may remember I used this yarn to make a couple of blankets for Little B :: the Baby Granny and the Baby ZigZag. It's fabulous stuff to work with, the colours are stunning and once it's hooked up it transforms into the most amazing blanket material. Substantial, warm, and oh-so-soft, everything a snuggle-blanket should be.

This was our lunch time location, a small picnic spot half way up Ilkley moor. We sat there in the glorious afternoon sunshine, my friend and I, and ate a delicious picnic lunch interspersed with some serious yarn-fondling.

Yes my friends, the blanket yarn is In The Bag.

The stash. Has. Landed.

Oh happy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After lunch and some seriously giddy yarn appreciation (smoochy smooch), I turned my attention to the surrounding nature.

Such abundance and colour and a serious touch of "Autumn-nosity" (a sweet Heather word that)

The trees were soooo beautiful.

Perfectly Septemberish.

September is a good month to begin hooking a blanket I feel, I can't tell you how hugely excited I am about the prospect. I have really missed not having a big project on the go. Oh the yarn, the yarn, the yarn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is Divine, no other word for it. I can't stop thinking about it.

So I expect you would like to see my divine yarn wouldn't you? Would like to know which colours I've gathered together perhaps? Maybe you might even like to know what sort of blanket I'll be working on too?

Of course you would!

Only I'm not quite ready to reveal it just yet. Soz. You see, it turns out I made a small mistake with my colour choices, and one of the colours simply isn't right and needs to be changed for another. Oddly enough, it was Little Man who spotted it. He totally amazes me with his instinct for colour as he is not particularly arty. Yet he has an amazing feel for what works and what doesn't and it's the most interesting experience asking for his advice. Sweet boy, he really is.

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April 2011

When I was out in the park gathering twigs for my hooky hearts a little while ago, I ended up with a few too many. Rather than sling them out, I popped them into little water filled glass bottles/jars and dotted them about the house on windowsills. Slowly over the past few weeks, the buds have begun to open and unfurl and I have been amazed. Truly. How wonderful Nature is, its ace!!! The above twig is in the bathroom and is a cherry....ooooooo there are buds, there are buds!! And soon enough there may even be blossom!! My very own Bathroom Blossom!!!!

These twigs are on my kitchen windowsill, the leaf buds were tight shut when I first put them there, but now they are in full flow and it's like having a mini tree growing indoors. The green of fresh new leaves is sooooooooooooo beautiful, it's wonderfully vibrant and I love it. I'm so glad that here in my patch we are well and truly into the Spring season now, I adore this time of year.

April, April, I could blow you a thousand kisses just for being you!! Isn't the above picture so impossibly pretty? Its from the Ideal Home calendar, beautifully inspiring as ever. I think I will copy this sweet idea and pop some blooms into egg shells this Easter. I've got quite a few egg cups about the place, I'll try and round them up in preparation.

This is the April page on my Laura Ashley calendar, reminding us that Easter time will be coming soon and I for one Cannot Wait. I love Easter. Love decorating for it and celebrating it, but best of all I love that every Easter we jaunt down to visit my folks by the sea. I've missed the sea so much, I'm craving it. I'm writing this and in my head I'm reciting bits of that Sea Poem, you know the one..."I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied..." Yeah, I feel it a-calling for sure. No, not going to deny it either. Take me to it.

I purchased Eggs last week, of the mini speckled chocolate variety, nom-nom I have a huge weakness for these little things. It's marvelous to have a glass jar of these loitering about the place to provide a welcome chocolate hit when the need arises. It's been quite a frequent need this week, I always crave chocolate when the stress levels rise :: by stress I mean the low-grade variety caused by Small People with Very High Temperatures. Little B is coming through a very horrid cold/virussy thing combined with cutting his pre-molars, ouch. He has been utterly miserable, poor mite. Chocolate eggs have been entirely necessary (for me, not him).

Talking of Little B....I am happy to announce that he is now a fully fledged Toddler, complete with the most cutesome little buckle-up boy shoes. He took his first tentative toddling steps about three weeks ago and it has been absolutely joyful for all concerned. We've not walked far outside yet, just up and down our street a bit, with some daily pottering about in the back yard. I've taught him how to handle a sweeping brush and how to stack flower pots and how to pass me pegs as I hang out the laundry, so it's all good. We like pottering outside together, I foresee much of that going on this Spring.

A couple new purchases for April, I do like to treat myself to a wee Supermarket Sweep every so often. I bought a new mug which is almost my Ultimate Favourite Colour of All Time but not quite. It's a bit more duck-egg than Tiffany, but it's spotty and fresh and spring-like and I like it. I also bought some more paper napkins (darn-it I forgot to photo them, they are printed like red n white gingham check, very pretty)....

.....and new light Spring/Summer cotton rosie jammies. I fell in love with these as soon as I saw them, and the love affair has grown ten-fold since I made them mine and brought them home. They make me so happy!! I put them on whenever I can get away with it (erm, yup, have 'em on right now) and they instantly make me feel relaxed and dreamy and content. I have to tell you that wearing them whilst crocheting is almost off the scale of my personal pleasure-o-meter. Seriously.

I don't think I'm writing this April post very well, it's not very Aprilish really is it? I do apologise. How about a bit of an Attic view then??

Taken on 1st April as is my little ritual, it was a bright and blustery day if I remember rightly.

Scuddy clouds, a little threat of rain that didn't come to much. Perfectly right for April I'd say.

I was thinking to myself not so long ago that last month I passed my Blogiversary :: Three Years of Attic24. Three years!! I've written over 500 posts in that time you know. It's quite something to be now into my fourth year of calendar pages/attic views. Lots to look back on. Last year I found it too difficult to write these kinds of posts on time, but previous years I love that all that seasonal pondering is archived. You can read all my "Calendar posts" by clicking on the Calendar word in my category cloud thingy over there to the left. You don't have to. But sometimes I do just that and meander back through the months and seasons, I find it quite soothing and therapeutic.

Pffffffffffffffffffffff...running out of steam.....needing to go to bed shortly, it's been a tough day. Before I go, I want to tease you a little.....show you a snippet of something I worked on last week.......

A pretty little Spring time project, I think you're going to like it. More coming soon.

Been lovely to have you visit, thank you so much for dropping by to listen to my April chatter. I'm off in my rosy pyjamas to the Land of Nod now, I like it there.....see you soon for some hooky floral springtime goodness! ♥

Edited to add :: for those of you in the UK, the rosy pyjamas are from Tesco x

 

Childish Things

I've been enjoying a spot of Mail Order shopping. You know how it is. You get an idea in your head that there's a little something you simply must search for. You go to Ebay. You search. You find. You watch. You get way too over excited. You bid. You wait and watch some more. Bid again. Wait and watch. Mounting excitement. More waiting and watching. And then YES yesssssssssss!!! You win the bid!!!! Punch the air! Run to friends house and tell her you won the bid! It's too exciting for words!!!!!

Bet you cannot WAIT to see what I bought, what got me so over excited. Shall I tell you? The post title perhaps gives it away. Yes my lovelies, I bought Children.

Do you wish to see my new Mail Order Children?

Here they are then.................

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww five girls, aren't they adorable??

They are of cousre Playmobil, and I have a slight obsession going on over all things Playmobil. Specifically the Female variety of Playmobil actually, oh and animals too. I'm not too fussed over the Manly Playmobil, no, it's the sweet little pretty little feminine toys that really melt my heart.

I just lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove these girls!!

I bought them from a cute ebay seller called "Littlebricks", they sell little bits of lego and Playmobil in case you ever have need of such things.

Aren't they just delightful?

Yes. Well. It didn't end there. I carried on searching, couldn't help myself. Kept looking. Kept finding. The Little People became involved in my searching activities and they got caught up in my Playmobil obsession. I got egged on from the sidelines, I had to be very strong and very selective cos we could have spent rather a lot of money on all manner of Playmobil items. I had to turn down the Veterinary Surgery. Ditto the Farm Set. But I simply could not let go of The Playmobil Lady And Little Girl With Bike. I went through days of watching/waiting/bidding anxiety. Placed my winning bid with a mere twenty five seconds to spare. And this is what became mine for a mere £3.21..............

Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!! The cutest little collection of coloured plastic that you ever did see became mine! The basket of veggies!!! the sweet bunch of flowers! The market bag contaning a bottle and a fish!! And a scruffy little Playmobil dog! Too much. I just love them too much. I fear I am very abnormal. I am a child trapped inside a grown up body.

So, I now own my very own Playmobil, and much as I had to instruct the LP about the Mummy Marbles, I had to lay down the same law about the Mummy Plastic People. Only it did NOT sink in. The Playmobil lasted on my mantel for less than a day, then mysteriously went walk about. Little Lady of course................

............she whisked the girls/lady/dog up to her bedroom and introduced them to the world of caravanning. And I didn't have the heart to whisk them back again because it all looked so good.

Here we can see inside the caravan, isn't it super? The food is mainly from her collection of Sylvanian Family toys (the bread courtesy of the Watermilll Bakery), and the little wooden table and chairs actually belonged to me, they were part of a dolls house set that I had more than 30 years ago.

Sweeet, sweet, sweet.

The teeny tiny cutlery in the basket there also miraculously survived from my childhood dolls house, which is quite incredible really. The food is a mixture of Playmobil and Sylvanian.

This caravan was top of Little Lady's wish list for Christmas 2009 and has been fabulous, providing endless hours of imaginative play.

Talking of caravans, we went to visit Connievan at the weekend to check that she had come through the winter with no mishaps. There is a small issue with the water heater and a broken door handle, but other than that she is fine and dandy. I took down all the curtains and brought them home ready for a bit of a revamp in the near future. I am incredibly excited about ordering fabric and trim and getting busy with some serious prettifying.

My world maybe childish and abnormal, but boy am I happy in it ♥

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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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