DROPS ALPACA BABY BLANKET

Now that it is finished I'm really pleased with this baby blanket. I've made it for one of Kate's friends who's expecting in September. Now she tells me that another friend is expecting, so I need to get my thinking hat on again and get back to the wool shop. 

Meanwhile while I'm thinking I've picked up my crochet hook again and I'm back working on my granny square blanket.

 One of best things about summer is that you can enjoy all the summer goodies. Last Sunday we had our first bbq of the year and this fruity dessert that I had conjured up after seeing a Mary Berry recipe in the Radio Times was divulged by my very hungry family fairly quick until not a berry or crumb was left on the plate!

Another thing about summer sunshine is that it makes you feel that you want to get out and have fun. 

Yesterday as schools were closing for the weekend we collected our grandchildren and set off for the seaside. 

Considering my husband is of the "all things boats" fraternity and we also live a stone's throw from the river we can never seem to judge the right time to arrive at the seaside, when the tide is in. This is despite owning two tide clocks, one upstairs and one downstairs.  

So as we drove over to Mersea Island with two children in the back clutching their fishing nets, it soon became evident and no surprise when we crossed the Stroud to find that the tide was completely and utterly out!

We soon however got stuck in to some serious digging and sand castle design

 and I made use of the fishing nets and created a hopscotch course. This kept us amused for a while, while Michael went off to buy us some dinner.

As the seagulls flew overhead, we dined on fish and salty chips straight from the paper. The girls thought that was great and eat hungrily, probably because they were worried that the seagulls would swoop and pinch their chips.
Then after dinner as the tide was now on the turn my three intrepid explorers set off to find the sea!

They didn't quite get there as they had to turn tail and return to sandier ground. Unfortunately they got a  little muddier than was intended. Their grandad had one of his best pair of shoes on as well, oh dear!

RHS HYDE HALL

A big thank you to RHS Hyde Hall for once again putting on some great activities during the holidays to encourage young children to enjoy their own gardens and the wildlife around them.

I took my grand daughters there on Tuesday, an extremely wet day and we spent a pleasant morning, planting cress in milk bottle tops, painting stones and getting a little mucky turning pine cones into hanging bird feeders filling every crevice with a mixture of lard and bird seed. They also learnt how to take a cutting of Lemon Balm. Hopefully if they remember to water them at home they'll end up with two nice fragrant plants!

A man demonstrated how to make a flower pot out of newspaper and both girls listened intently. When he suggested Nanny might like to lend a hand, the older of the two didn't pay too much attention, she was too busy concentrating. However the younger one stopped rolling up her paper, looked up at him and said quite indignantly, " THIS is not my Nanny, THIS is my Granny!" and then head down she was locked back into concentration mode. 

Poor man! 

After we'd had lunch the rain eased for a little while and we set off in search of the new play tower. Obviously, once we'd found it hidden in the trees we had to get to the very top. This is when I think I actually turn into super gran because although very wet and slightly slippery the three of us climbed up  somehow and made it to the top!

While the girls looked out over the view, I took a few minutes breather and had a very hasty strategy meeting in my head to work out how we were going to get back to ground level. After all, I'm super gran not superman!

I was really hoping to show you the baby blanket I've been knitting which should be finished by now but while my husband is busy doing DIY I can't seem to settle down to knit. By the time I blog next it should be completed and I can show you and tell you what I plan to start next. As always too many ideas for so little time!

CAN I ASK YOU?

Do you ever get the urge to do something at the drop of a hat?

Take me this morning, I came home, having been for a long swim and sat on the settee munching my breakfast and thinking about how I was going to spend my day. Leisurely I thought, a quick food shop, an hour or two in the garden potting up some geraniums and later plenty of knitting.

Well, that was my plan until I had this sudden whim that THE settee, my breakfast seat, would look good on the other side of the lounge. I shot off to get the hoover, duster and my "feather flick", a must for evicting spiders, their webs and inoffensive daddy long legs from their slumbers.

I was like a woman possessed pushing and pulling the blasted settee which would appear to have castors that neither move left or right, backwards or even forwards. Finally I had moved all the other furniture to their final destination and I sat back, relaxed and had a coffee before making one last push to move the settee in place.

Can you guess what happened next?

Well there's obviously a reason why the settee has never made it to that particular area of the lounge before because as I found this morning, basically the gap isn't big enough! 

So how stupid am I?

I did have a good reason to move the settee, I thought how nice it would be if I could sit in the afternoons, doing my knitting and looking out at my lovely garden, through out the summer months. (Sorry, I'm biased, it's my garden, so I can think it's lovely!)

This photo wasn't taken this morning as it's pretty miserable out there today but sometime over the sunny bank holiday weekend.
As for the settee it's still wedged where I left it! I've had another coffee since then and regaled by woeful tale to you all. But now I do have to go back to the lounge to face the consequences of my actions.
As for the geraniums, they're still waiting!!

OUR WEEK IN THE WEST COUNTRY!

 As my husband likes messing about on old wooden boats, for Christmas I bought him a sail on Vigilance a 78foot heritage sailing ketch based in Brixham Devon.

On Sunday morning we set off from Brixham harbour with an overcast sky and a fair wind. It wasn't long before the crew had hoisted the sails, cut the engine and we were off sailing across Torbay and then on over to Berry Head.

The crew were enthusiastic and obviously enjoyed sailing her, even though at some stages of our journey I felt we could have been extras on "Last of the summer wine - at Sea!!" We both took a turn at the helm and not that I'm boasting but I got to go faster than my sailor husband making 7 knots.

It really was great fun and I'd recommend it if you're ever in Brixham.

 The weather forecast for Monday was fairly good so we decided to go to the lost gardens of Heligan. What a beautiful place to visit. Whilst we were not able to see yet the wonderful colours of their summer planting, the rhodendrons, bluebells and the sight and smell of wild garlic were wonderful. I have to say that if the rhodendron in my garden grows any way near the size of the enormous rhodendrons at Heligan we'll need a much bigger garden.

 Polperro was our base for the week, a lovely coastal village and we stayed in a great little cottage near the harbour. We chose there because we'd spent a couple of weeks close by about 22 years ago when our children were young. We recalled that most days then we spent our time driving over to the north coast because Kate and especially Robert enjoyed running and body boarding through the surf!  But most of our evenings were spent wandering the tiny streets of Polperro before returning up a very steep hill to our holiday bungalow.

On this holiday we were amazed that we were able to visit many places that we didn't know even existed and one day in particular we really enjoyed. Parking above Polruan we walked down a steepish hill through the picturesque village to the harbour where we found a delightful little cafe before setting off on the little foot ferry to Fowey. There we meandered through the narrow streets checking out the shops and eateries. A cruise ship was moored in the harbour and we watched the tenders bringing the passengers to and fro while we sat and and had a lunchtime drink. We enjoyed a walking picnic lunching on a warm Cornish pasty,( I know bad for cholesterol but sorry it did taste sooo good!) Then later, with our shopping done we returned to Polruan, back into the cafe for a cuppa before taking a stroll along part of Hall Walk. The views, the whole day were just stunning!

 Towards the end of our week the weather was superb so we got out walking as much as we could. The coastal path between Polperro and Looe was very scenic but rugged in parts and we weren't expecting the sun to be as strong. After our 3 hour walk we descended into Looe looking rather lobsterish in colour!

 The next day we slathered ourselves in sun cream and went back to Polruan to complete the whole of the Hall Walk. We set off for the Bodinnick car ferry in blazing sunshine, however  not far into our walk big grey clouds loomed and we had some rain and hail! Thankfully it didn't last long. The ferry took us across to Fowey and we found a nice place to have a well deserved cream tea. The route continued through the town  until we reached the Polruan passenger ferry which took us back to where we started.

We had a really relaxing week in Cornwall. We took so many photos and here are just a couple more  for you to enjoy with us!

TAKING A BREAK!

Although the baby blanket is not far off from completion, I fancied a change and as spring is in the air, I thought I would knit myself a bright scarf.

I popped into my local wool shop "Pins & Needles" and found this yarn which is double knit so not as fine as I wanted BUT I liked the mixture of colours and after all you never know whether we're going to have cold evenings or not, regardless of which season we're in.

The yarn is " Knitcol" and I found the pattern on Ravelry. It was a very easy pattern to follow and knitted up really quickly.

With the leftovers I crocheted myself an iPhone case. Not brilliant, usable but a prototype, more could follow.

I hope you've had a great weekend and you've managed to enjoy some sunshine!

A PERFECT WEEKEND!

It's incredible to believe that in the past two weeks we've experienced it all, snow, frost, chilly winds, rain and spring/summer sunshine with even some warmth coming from that sun!

We've just had a busy weekend which also  included a little DIY around the house by my husband. 

On Saturday we headed off up to London to spend the evening at the Royal Albert Hall. We left home when it was sunny and arrived at our destination over 3 hours later in the rain. (Yet another weather change and an abundance of traffic problems!! We do live in Essex, so it's not a great distance to travel.) 

Our friend was 60 yesterday and he had always wanted to go to the Royal Albert Hall so, we were in London to celebrate and after a pre theatre meal went to The Mountbatten Festival of Music which featured the Massed Bands of her Majesty's Royal Marines. We really enjoyed the evening, the band played such a variety of music, they were brilliant!

Yesterday, we were again with our friends as our family joined up with their family and their friends for a surprise birthday buffet lunch. The sun shone brightly as we spent a very relaxing afternoon nattering the hours away.

When we got home it was still such a lovely evening that we decided to finish our perfect weekend with a walk around the sea wall. Over the weekend I had read a post on a blog I follow and really enjoy I live, I love, I craft, I am me and she had taken some brilliant photos of shadows. Well, after the dreariest winter weather ever I had genuinely forgotten all about making shadows.

 So on our walk last night when these two very long legged people shone out at me, I had to take a photo. Mind you I did nearly fall of the wall trying to take it!

The "Keep off the Wall" sign is obviously there for a reason!

As for my knitting exploits, nothing accomplished over the weekend. I am making progress with the baby blanket but sometimes when I pick up the needles that song about 1 step forward, 2 steps back springs to mind. The yarn is so soft, Drops Alpaca and I have to be careful not to wear black when I'm knitting as I tend to look more like the alpaca after I've completed a few rows. When its finished it'll be fine once it's had a good shake out in the garden.

Have a good week!

EASTER

This Easter brought snow flurries, chilly winds and bright sunny spells.

We spent our four days at home doing some DIY plus a little gardening, tidying the garage and washing the cars.

We caught up with our family and  they surprised us with some lovely homemade gifts!

Kate decorated an egg box and filled it with chocolate.

Charlotte and Jessica with their mummy's help made  hot cross buns and baby lamb cakes.

Our Easter was perfect.

I hope yours was too!