Posy

Heaven

Here I am in the only place I want to be right now - with my new crochet project in my lap. I found an old American crochet book in the library with a beautiful (afghan? Is that an American word for blanket?) on the front cover and I was hooked! (Pun intended!)

Now, the extent of my crochet history is a coat hanger cover, so this was going to be a challenge. A challenge I was ready for as I have had a huge yearning to knit or crochet something recently. It has taken a couple of nights to suss it out (the US books call each stitch a different name) but it has been quite straight forward and now I'm flying...well slowly flapping. Only 2 problems. The first is finding the same colour yarn.

I think the beauty of the blanket is the ice cream colours and I have tried faithfully to copy them. They aren't quite the same but they will do.

Second problem...I don't want to move from the sofa so the laundry, housework and general chores are all stacking up! I even took a little while to go to sleep last night, so went back downstairs and brought my crochet to bed! How on earth will I drag myself to work tomorrow? Last week I even crocheted at school break time and lunch time and gave furtive glances to it sitting in my bag every time I walked by it in the class room! Mmm.. maybe a crochet lesson is in order..

P.S For Angela and for anyone else that is interested the ISBN is:0-696-02307-5

P.P.S My slippers were a present (thanks Hazie) about a year ago..sorry! I think they were from New Look but I'll keep my eyes open for a pair.

Two things

Just 2 photographs of 2 things that made me happy at the weekend. Of course I could have chosen more as it was a very good weekend, but it's not everyday I see Alfie and Posy in such a unusual pose. Then I happened to look out of the window too, and my eyes caught something white against the red (yes, you read right..red) Devon soil. It was my first Snowdrop!

Truly a welcome sight.

Found!

Yes I know, I know...have you spotted it too? 3.5 metres of my favourite discontinued Cath Kidston's Rose Bouquet (with a blue background) found in a tiny, ( & I mean tiny 3x3 m) remnant shop in Totnes. I exclaimed in delight and snatched it up as fast as lightening saying to the owner, "This is Cath Kidston!!"

"Oh, I did wonder but there wasn't any name on it." She smiled at my delight as I paid my £13.00 and left with a cheery, "You have made my day, thank you!" To all of you not in the know, like my mother and husband, Cath K fabric usually starts at approx £30 per metre!

It had already turned out to be a good finding day as I found a stash of old Country Livings, a copy of my all time favourite book, a vintage, sequined evening bag, and various small rose patterned dishes that I use for the cats' food, and a couple of rose patterned dinner plates. A bit later on I came across the small fold up table, which is in the photo, complete with Cath K oilcloth, which only needs a lick of gloss paint to complete it's transformation. Didn't I do well?

One not so good thing was that even though I carried my enormous camera around all day, the rain, greyness, & road works prevented me from taking any pictures. Sorry. They would have been bad anyway I can assure you!

I have decided this year to take more pictures and do more posts of life in Devon & England. Today, is a beautiful, cold & sunny day so a walk with the camera (hopefully)  will happen this afternoon. Enjoy yours where ever you may be.

Knitted Flowers

My book arrived yesterday and I'm really pleased with it. Yay, I love being pleased with books I've chosen from Amazon as it is a risk I find hard to take when you can't flick through it before you buy and you just have to read reviews and look at the cover!

I have another Nicky Epstein book and it didn't really inspire me so I took a gamble on this one and it paid off! It has 5 chapters headed; stitch pattern flowers, petal constructed flowers, cord flowers, felted stitch pattern flowers and felted cut flowers. The flowers are knitted with a wide variety of yarns but it is the felted ones that appeal to me most.

These felted roses are my favourite. Apparently you knit a square, then felt the wool, and then cut out the roses from a template and sew them together. Easy. I like that.

The book has 2 ISBN numbers: 10:1-931543-88-7 and 13:978-1-931543-88-0. 

I'm off treasure hunting (and yarn hunting) in Totnes. I'll take my camera so you can join me too..

Moo!

I am so excited about these I can't believe it has taken me nearly a week to post about them! I have been desperate to show you all, but there has always been something to stop me...you know migraines, poor light, low batteries, no time, work, blog problems etc - you get the picture?  Well, I certainly do as these are 100 tiny cards cropped from my photos at Flickr and are from Moo. Ooh I just love them so much! I was a little uncertain as to the overall quality when I ordered them but was/am thrilled with them. So much so - I don't want to give them away! But I will, I promise.

It was difficult to get a good photo of them but here is a small selection. I can see me putting another order in soon. You can choose to have something printed on the back too so they're even more personal and versatile.

On the crafting front I have a urge to knit and crochet and I wondered if anyone could recommend  any books. I've just ordered a knitted flower book from Amazon and will show you that when it arrives..meanwhile I hankering for something quick and easy and that is not clothing (I've got too many unfinished cardigans in the cupboard!) Umm, I fancy a bear or rabbit..any ideas?

P.S. Found on the Moo site and sums it all up...

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.

Goethe.

Help!

I am having terrible trouble with my blog! Anth came to read it this afternoon and found that the formatting had gone haywire...I have tried to put it right but it doesn't seem to be working. Can anyone tell me if they can see the same as me (only 2 columns and dots everywhere) when you are visiting here? Can anyone help me? Hope so..

Just what the doctor ordered!

I've just spent the last 2 and a half days in bed with a bad migraine. I don't know whether to be happy or sad that the 2 days were my days off...happy I think as I am not too good at taking time off school. But at lunch time today I decided it might help things if I were upright so went downstairs. I saw some mail pushed through our letterbox and discovered a package for me! My friend Crystal, from Florida had sent me a copy of Romantic Homes. It was carefully tied up with red ric-rac (my favourite) and a jewel button.

And hey, guess what...after a quiet afternoon in front of the fire with that wonderful magazine, I'm feeling a lot better! Thank you Crystal, it was just what I needed...

Ni & Don

You must excuse another family tribute (but aren't they the best sort?) but I have been seriously lapse in my duties in not introducing you to 2 V.I.P's. Now one of the reasons for starting my blog was for our family in New Zealand to keep up to date with our goings on, as I am a poor letter writer. Needless to say that Anth's parents, Ngaire and Don, have never read my blog as they have no access to a computer. This greatly saddens me as I know they would love to see and read what I have written and it would go some way to help them feel a little closer to their youngest son and their 3 grandchildren. So I have decided to print some posts and I have put together a folder ready to post.

It was while I was putting these things together that I thought that I hadn't really mentioned them, though we hold all our NZ family close to our hearts. So I am going to remedy this and tell you a bit about them. The picture was taken in 1992 when they visited us in the summer.

Ngaire (pronounced Ni-ree) has had 4 children and my Anth was the last. She is a lady of many talents including story telling, cooking, bridge, organ playing, flower arranging, croquet, crochet, crosswords and shoo-ing the neighbour's pet ram out of her house! She has always been a wonderful letter writer and unfortunately we have spent longer writing to each other from the other side of the world, than seeing each other. I have kept most of her letters but the one that moved me most was the Christmas card we received 3 weeks ago telling the children how proud she & Don were of them and how she wished she was able to 'know' them properly and watch them do their hobbies. My tears were spilling over by the time I had finished reading it.. It has always been hard not having half of the family near us. We have had visits and we all went over to NZ in 2002 but it would have enriched our lives even more to have been able to share the joy (& pain!) with extra family nearby. But we have never felt too far away and I was hoping that my blog might bridge the gap a little.

Don is always giggling. He is devoted to Ngaire and they are about to celebrate their 59th wedding anniversary - tomorrow infact! He is a kind and gentle man (a true gentleman) a fantastic gardener and is very wise on most subjects, but I still have the power to shock him with my humour! The children think he is hilarious because he is a bit deaf and once Alice asked him for a drink and he said, "A guinea pig?" We still laugh regularly at that one! He also falls asleep in the afternoon which gave them a chance to put dolls, silly hats and teddys on his head and then photograph him....umm thinking about it, they are probably pleased we live half a world away!

I think one of my best 'Don' moments was when I last saw him in 2002. It was the morning of our departure back to the UK and he lined the 3 children up in age order and made them face him. he then kissed each one tenderly and then made them salute him. He then pressed a rose he had grown and picked from his garden, into my hand as we said goodbye.

Well, sweet Ni and Don, it is us who salutes you both. We love you and miss you... always x

The Dresser

Photograph # 98!

It is one of life's mysteries and something I can't understand why, but I cannot seem to take a photograph of our dresser that actually seems to capture it's true spirit. "True spirit," I hear you exclaim, "she has definitely lost the plot!" But try as I might, the picture doesn't seem to be of our dresser but an impostor. It looks much smaller in the picture and it loses the magical aura (gosh, listen to me now..auras of dressers!) that seems to surround it.

It could be because the poor thing is used to display broken china as most of the plates have suffered under the hands of Anth (usually 1 glass or plate per week) and have been carefully glued and then put on display. But I wont talk about that...hummm. It has also been a number of colours - it started off that vile,hideous orange pine, then went cream (I think my favourite) then green but in matt, then green but in eggshell,then half a coat of cream, now a slightly different green, in wonderful gloss. It is where I keep my sewing machine, jugs (I have plenty) and other assorted pieces of china. It is lovely to look at and if I am sewing, even in the middle of the day, I will put the lights on and gaze on it awhile. Incidently, no sewing was done in the last 2 days, I just couldn't see past the housework. Grr. And the worst thing about that, is that the house looks no different today, than it did on Thursday! Can you hear me stamping my foot?!

Anyway, I will still keep trying with the photographs and until I get it right you will have to make do with these pictures!

Holly is not just for Christmas!

The tree may be down but I am still holding on. I can't bear to put my (ahem ..fake) cheery holly away so I ignore the 'Jane, you've forgotten to put the holly in the attic' comments. Well, I want to get my moneys worth..this fake holly was very expensive and holly isn't just used solely for Christmas. Is it!?

Today is the first day that everyone is back at school (yee ha) and I have set it aside for some sewing. Well, that's if I get time as there is a mountain of washing, cleaning and thank you letters to do etc and my conscience is pricking. But hey, this quiet time wont last for long and there are always chores to do and besides I do have a lot of radio programmes to catch up on. Right, sewing it is. That is if I can find the table under the ironing!

Happy New Year!

Hummmph. It's over and I'm feeling blue. Everyone is feeling sleepy and slow and I feel strange. I have just waved my father off on the train and in one way I'm glad to get the house back to normal (well, normal might be pushing it!) but I feel empty now that Christmas is gone. This is a normal (there's that word again) feeling for me in January and I now come to expect this and try to give myself something to look forward to, but it still takes me a few weeks to come around.

I have plenty of reading matter to inspire me! My present from Anth this year were some books. I have been buying them over the last 3 months and squirreling them away.

The photo is blurry and that is one New Years Resolution I am going to keep, to learn a bit more about my camera and editing. I was given The Seasonal Home by Kristin Perers. I think this is my favourite book of the lot. I bought an old copy and the photos are lovely. Next is The Handcrafted Wedding by Sarah Lugg. No, I'm not getting re-married - I saw an article in an old copy of Country Living (Aug 03) and I fell in love with Sarah's work. Exquisite details. This book is again an old one but it is fairly easy to get yourself a copy if you want one. Next is Shabby Chic's Sumptuous Settings by Rachel Ashwell, I don't think it is as nice as her other books, picture wise, but I haven't spent much time reading it yet. Next up, is Country Livings Floral Interiors by Judy Spours. Again another old book. Lovely. Last up is Cheap Chic by Emily Chambers. My 3rd favourite of the lot, I seem to be heading this way in how I want to decorate our home.

I think one of my favourite gifts was this box file from GreenGate given to me by my mother.

It is just right for keeping my smaller pictures in ready to stick them in my current inspiration book.

Thank you for all your good wishes over the Christmas holiday. I've been doing my blog for nearly a year now (end of this month) and it has been such a pleasure to 'meet' new friends. I love the fact that you take time to comment and show an interest in my mundane life - I never really thought that would touch me as it has and I hold my blog community close to my heart. Thank you. Thank you for reading and for joining me in my journey through 2006 - hey do you fancy sticking around for 2007?

Hope so..