Time out for half term

Good morning everyone, hope you are enjoying the weekend.

Last week I managed to get a couple of days off work as it was half term, I didn't have the whole week off this time as I have so much to do, but I was very grateful to have some time out from the usual hectic schedule.

On Friday afternoon, after a trip to the newly opened Range store in our town (and delighted with my investment of £1.79 for a balloon whisk AND an ice cream scoop - last of the big spenders or what?!!) I decided to go on a very short drive with my DD around a couple of local villages.  We ended up here for a quick look around...

Mount Saint Bernard's Abbey, it is a monastery very local to our town, a very nice quiet place for a wander around, some lovely grounds and a very interesting building as well to visit.  The church is made from local stone, the photos don't really do the colour justice.  I love to look round places of worship, my days of being head of Religious Studies in a 6th Form College must still haunt me!!

Arriving back home I cooked this cornflake tart, my DS#2 had been asking for this as he could remember it from his days of eating school dinners!

It was declared a big success, and all eaten very quickly together with custard.

Yesterday we had visitors, so much cleaning and cooking, but this morning is grey, raining and dull so a bit of crochet by candlelight is in order...

I am loving my blanket challenge this year, each granny square is made of 3 colours from a palette of 5, with 3 different types of double knit yarn to try to replicate the texture of birch bark.  Each square consists of 10 rows, so takes about 45 minutes to do if there are no interruptions (otherwise the longest it has taken is 3 days - don't ask!).  I have made 17 squares so far as I started the project in April.  I was aiming to do 30 squares in total, but I might make a few more to make the blanket a bit larger, will just have to see how it all shapes up after the summer holidays.

Have a lovely Sunday, and if you are in my part of the UK, lets hope the sun will come out later on!

Helenxx

First of February

Hello everyone, I just can't believe we are in February already!  This last month has  gone by in a complete blur, work has been so hectic that some evenings, when finally leaving school to go home, it seems as if my brain has finally given up the ghost and sometimes this has been exactly how I have felt...

Google images

*Kimi, I share your feeling of confusion :-)

However, it is only 2 weeks to go until half term :-) :-) :-) :-) so will just battle on...

So, when lovely thoughtful gifts from lovely thoughtful folk like Taci are delivered all the way from the US you can imagine how gratefully these are received...just look at what she made for me...

A sweet bird made by crocheting pretty fabric, it is beautiful, I am writing a blog post on my tablet for the first time so the photo doesn't really do it justice as the camera isn't a very high spec, but you get the idea.  Taci I love this little bird and love that you made it for me. Thank you so so much!  Bloggers really are the best aren't they?

One thing I found out today though re. The tablet camera is that it does have a wide range of editing settings including one called oil painting, this is what Taci's bird looks like using this setting...

Pretty cool I think! Can see myself using this setting a quite a bit.

Hope you have a lovely relaxing Sunday!

Helenxx

*Kimi Raikkonen

Blanket love

Hello everyone, hope the first full week of 2015 went well for you.  We went back to work, school, college and university this week, boy was it a shock on Monday morning!!  The week went reasonably well, thankfully, and here we are again on Sunday, and I realised I hardly had any time to read blogs, let alone post on mine. 

So I thought it high time I shared some photos of the lap blanket I made my Darling Mum as part of her Christmas gift.

I had to take photos just before gift wrapping it, so no fancy photography tricks I'm afraid!  Here it is on the back of my sofa...

The colours match her sofa and cushions, the yarn was self-patterning chunky weight so worked up nice and quickly...

She was very happy with it...

I am progressing well with my stash buster lap blanket, it has progressed beyond a huge granny square, and is now taking on a more rectangular shape.  It is so good to use all those scraps left from my 2014 challenge blanket.  Hopefully I will complete it in the next two weeks and then I can start my 2015 challenge blanket - some yarn has already been purchased as an in advance birthday treat from me to me!!  My birthday is actually tomorrow.  There has been quite a bit of furtive sneaking around the house this weekend, so don't know what the crew are up to!!

Have a lovely Sunday, hope the sun is shining where you are.

Helenxx

Welcome 2015!

Good morning and Happy New Year!  A whole New Year spread before us - hopefully we can all make the most of it and grab every new opportunity that comes our way.

Yesterday was a lovely day.  First there was some happy pootling about with some crochet in the morning (yes, I was the first to get up again, I love that quiet time before the household wakes up).  I had quite a lot of scraps of yarn left after completing my challenge blanket (which will have it's own post soon) so I am making a lap blanket for me - this is my progress so far...

I will make it as large as I can with the yarn I have left.  The rows are completely random in order as I am going with the smallest scraps to the largest left over to make the most of every bit of yarn.  But I am quite happy with the colour scheme so far.

Then my 3rd eldest son woke up and helped in the kitchen to make some veggie sausage rolls...

I had some puff pastry and home made mincemeat left so had a go at making pinwheel pastries...

These little treats didn't hang around for long because the rest of the brood were woken up by the cooking smells!

Then DH suggested a little trip out to the Peak District in Derbyshire - neither of us had been out of the house since Sunday so we thought we needed a change of scene.  In-between days are the best, enjoying being at home and just having time to "be", but eventually even the best of loungers can start to feel slight cabin fever looming on the horizon!  We love driving up to Derbyshire, sometimes if we just want to get out for a couple of hours we just drive up to Bakewell and back, the route is so scenic and there is always something different to see.  This time, being the festive season, the little villages were all dressed up for Christmas.  We ended up at the Peak Village retail outlet in Rowsley.  This is based on the site of an old railway station, with the old buildings preserved as shops.  The courtyard looked so pretty with all the lights...

I love how the old stations were heated with real fires, just look at those chimneys...

The snow was still laying thickly on the ground as you can see, but on the way home the temperature started to rise and rain started to fall.  This morning all the snow has melted away.

Once back home, DH cooked tea (he is an amazing cook!!) whilst I finished working on a little heart for my bestest friend Sue...

I wrote "2015" on the larger of the two buttons in permanent ink...

We always go to Sue's house on New Year's Eve to see in the New Year with her and her family, and I like to make her a New Year gift in the shape of a scented heart as a little "thank you". 

As usual, we had a lovely time, catching up with the gossip news, talking about plans for trips in the new year, nibbling on delicious treats.  When the clock struck twelve, DH cracked opened the alcohol-free bubbly.

Then we watched the firework display from London on the TV, as ever these were amazing...



image courtesy of BBC News

I would love to go to this display one year, it looks so spectacular.

Later today we are going to visit my Darling Mum to have a New Year's Day meal with her, DH and I will prepare it as she is still fairly frail after all her recent illness, but thankfully improving.

Happy New Year!

Helenxx

Festive Makes and Festive Bakes

Hello everyone, well am I enjoying these delightful "in-between" days of the Holidays - these are some of my favourite days of the whole year. 

I thought I would share what I have been up to over the last few weeks with crafting. 

First off, we have my what has become a traditional (and expected!) gift from me, lavender scented hearts...

Each one is slightly different...

I love the wintry fabric I chose for the hearts...

A different fabric, loved this too (the fabric shop had some great selections this year, it was hard to choose which ones to purchase!)

Then there were potholders in festive colours...

Here is everything together...

Now on to edible treats... mincepies with homemade mincemeat...

 

Truffles...

Boxed and wrapped ready to go...together with bags of caramel nuts and peanut butter fudge...

The house smelled like I imagine the shop in Chocolat smelled like!!

I get such a lot of joy from making these simple things for my loved ones, and judging by the response folks enjoy receiving them too.  Yes, it would be easier (and sometimes cheaper!) to buy things from the shops but I do get such a lot of enjoyment making them.

Did you make or receive any handmade gifts this year?

Helenxx

Crochet on the last Saturday in October

The last Saturday in October?  How did that happen so fast?  This last week I have had a few days off from work as it is half term in our part of the UK.  I really did need a break it has to be said.  However, my body clock still insists that I get up early... this morning I lit one of my scented candles when I came downstairs...

it is actually one of the new Yankee Candle Christmas fragrances, Candy Cane Lane, it is fast becoming one of my favourites!

I completed another autumnal cushion this week, this time in deep russet colours...

Here it is nestled against the first cushion I completed this month...



That chair is feeling so cosy now!  I love how the colours match the leather of my chair so well.  However, I am trying to tear myself away from autumn colours for a while to complete another, much bigger project.  Just look at all these off-cuts of yarn...

yep, a lot of sewing in ends going on - hopefully I will have a WIP report soon.  So far, so good.  This will be a very cosy project once finished, and I would like it out of the way before I start on more gift projects.  Crochet is so calming, with all the worry of my Darling Mum being poorly recently it has been such a blessing to be able to relax with some hook and yarn, even if only for a few snatched moments here and there. 

Well, must away, the sun is shining, the household is stirring and errands beckon.  But hopefully I can return to hook and yarn this evening for a couple of hours when everything is done and I can sit and daydream once more.

Have a lovely Saturday, Helenxx

Easy like Sunday morning

Good morning everyone!

Here we are - the last Sunday in September 2014 - how did that arrive so quickly?  I was up bright and early at 6.30 this morning - yes, I know, it's Sunday, but I really prefer to get up early if I can, get on with a few jobs around the house before anyone else is about (quicker that way) then I can sit with a coffee, catch up on blogging, and do a bit of crafting - which, for me at the moment involves crochet, here is a sneak peek of my latest project:

I love the colour of the yarn, but it is a bit of a beast to work with as it often splits.  But, the colour is so wonderful I will persevere!!

Out in the garden, hanging the washing, I couldn't help but stand and stare in wonder at the increasing autumn colour all around...

This year, I have tried to have a few plants around the front door, here is my autumn display:

Mums, I just adore these colours...

Cyclamen, so pretty...

Glimpse of my miniature Japanese Maple, just starting to change colour...

and pansies in my hanging basket, they almost look as if they have little faces...

Just as I was about to go back indoors I spotted this little fellow (look away now if you don't like spiders!!)

He wasn't there last night, so must have been very busy spinning such a perfect web.

Back inside again, I made a cuppa and had a bit of a think about what to make for dessert tonight.  Then, I remembered I had bought this:

Pumpkin Pie it is then!  I love Pumpkin Pie, so spicy and sweet.  To off-set this treat I am going to make a hearty vegetable stew in the slow-cooker, potatoes, sweet potatoes, swede, carrots, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, and lots of herbs and spices.  So the whole house will be smelling quite delicious later on I hope!

And because my jobs will be out of the way early, hopefully I will have time to go out for walk later on.

Have a lovely Sunday, Helenxx