A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT!

Along came July and with it a hive of activity. 

Michael's canoe took it's first trip out on the water and I think, though it needs a few tweaks here and there, it rowed well. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours he spent building it in the garage but they were hours well spent.

July is always a busy time here for birthdays, our son and our two grand daughters all celebrate in this month.

Jessica is a strawberry - holic so I made this cake for her. She loved it as I knew she would, it was packed full of strawberries.

Charlotte on the other hand designed her own cake and gave me clear instructions of what she wanted.

Not the prettiest of cakes but they were gobbled up soon enough!

We had a lovely weekend away in Shropshire and on the Saturday visited Powis Castle. Shropshire is certainly a beautiful county and one that I would definitely like to explore some more.

The resident peacock showed off his feathers

 and the peahen, her young.

I can't recall ever seeing baby peachicks before. I used to work for a lady once who had peafowl in her garden. She used to leave filet steak out for the foxes every night in the hope that if she fed them well, the foxes would leave her peacocks and hens alone. I'm not sure how successful that actually was but I do think we had some pretty fat and well fed foxes in the area.

There has been some progress with my knitted projects. The 10 stitch blanket has been put away for a while but I've made one sock for Alfred and the other is on the needle.  To be honest I'm just playing around with oddments of wool from my stash, I'm not really sure at the end of day if he's going to love a pair of green socks.

A lovely lady from my knit stitch and natter group gave me a few balls of aran wool on our last meet before breaking for summer. I really wanted to get on and make something with it to show her in September so I'm knitting this sleeveless sweater for Alfred.

July saw us enjoying our family, our garden and the great outdoors. Being able to sit outside in the evenings and have our dinner is a most welcome treat.

Summer is upon us at last, let's make the most if it and enjoy!

I JUST CALLED TO SAY........!

Having grandchildren is the most wonderful thing and when we were expecting the first of our grandchildren nearly nine year ago I had visions of being fussed upon as we all aged and spending lovely times together as their Gran.

However as soon as Charlotte was born, I became Granny and though I wasn't too sure that I liked it, over the years I've grown to love it.

I can't believe how grown up she is becoming and I'm always amused when she rings me up for a chat.

So on Friday evening, just days away from my birthday, the phone rang and on answering I heard,

"Hello Granny, it's Charlotte, can you tell me how old you're going to be on your birthday."

"Quite old," I answered and told her my age.

"That's what I thought," she said. Just a couple of seconds passed before she said, " the other reason I'm phoning is to say that I love you and to wish you a very happy birthday!"

We carried on chatting about her school day and the design she is currently making with her hama beads.

Finally the words, "bye Granny" came and she was gone in a flash but that little conversation made my evening.

My birthday came and with it an horrendous cold that I'd been fending off for the last couple of weeks. Plenty of knitting and crochet took place as I stayed put in the chair with my feet up.
No birthday celebrations for me but the family did pop in bearing gifts and I just had to show you these few, because to me they are simply the best!

The reason for my phone call became obvious when I opened this coaster made of hama beads by Charlotte.

Now, when I lift my first mug of tea in the morning I will be reminded, (just incase I'd managed to forget) that I am 57.

These 2 little trinket boxes contained,

a ring, from Charlotte, that fitted perfectly

and a ring, from Jessica that didn't quite.

I love them both, though!

Also, as Hawthorn Spellweaver is having a February heartathon, I thought I would join in today with this design on my new scarf.

Charlotte & Jessica created this lovely sheet of birthday wishes.
My son in law, affectionally known as Pete Pete by the children thought he'd be witty and say that I'm only three years off of being 60. But I must point out when I see him next that for as long as I have my coaster, I will remain, 57!

My birthday has gone, yet my cold is still here, I feel that my head is being held in a vice and there are lead weights hanging from my teeth!
Is anyone else suffering like this or is it my age?

Enjoy your week everyone!

SUMMER BIRTHDAYS, SUMMER COLOURS!

Firstly I'd like to thank Hawthorn for nominating me for a Liebster Award this week. This is still w.i.p. but I'm hoping to spend some time on it this afternoon while I'm sitting outside in the shade.

Our family have had a busy week, my son Robert celebrated his birthday on Monday and today is my grand daughter Charlotte's 8th birthday.

So a very happy sunny birthday to them!

I made this indulgent strawberry, cream and chocolate cake for Rob's birthday.

I used Lurpak from their new baking range, for the first time, recommended by my friend Diane and it turned out to be an exceedingly good, delicious cake.

I've knitted a few rows here and there this week and have now nearly finished this scarf which I was making for my daughter Kate but when I showed it to her on Monday ......... well, you know that look?

As it goes, I really like it, so she won't be getting it!

What could be better, on the hottest day of the year so far, I thought, than share some summer colours from my garden.

Enjoy!