Time Out!

This weekend we took a moment for some time out!  Time away from everything.  To re-group and take stock. Time to relax and catch up.  It has been so hectic here for such a long time that we had forgotten what it is to have a weekend to rattle around in!  So after bacon butties – our standard Saturday lunch! – we went shopping.  Some light retail therapy!  Mr A’s retail therapy is not quite the same as mine.  It isn’t the sort to linger over windows.  To spy the little bargains.  To drool over a beautiful corded coat – although I did do this on Saturday, but  they didn’t have my size! Drat! And double drat!!!!”!  His sort is…. know what I want, where I want to go for it and whizz…….. it is bought!!  It wasn’t quite this quick on Saturday, but it was a very focused shop.  So I shall save my browsing and drooling for a day on my own!  Then it was home for a saladey tea and some light crafting.

In  fact I did quite a lot of crafting this weekend.  Things for the Sun Shine School.  Sorting out and mentally pricing things ready for the next sale. Hooking and knitting while I watched the cars varrrooooming around the race track.  Stuffing and sewing while Nottingham Forest were wrestling with Cardiff.  Want to see?  Well here is just a peek….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two little buzzing bees.  One for each hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three golden glows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four Rainbow babies all snuggled up warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hair bobbles and brooches and matching pins…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So things are moving along just fine…….

And the weather today is glorious so I have had a long walk to town and back.  Snapping away for some artistic shots! …… Ha ha!!  But that is for another day.  A day to play about and mosaic in!    Just a tease….

PS the give away is still there… so just say hello!

 

Flowers and a rainbow.

Flowers can bring lots of messages.  They can say ‘I love you’

and show how much you care.  They can say ‘I’m sorry’

and be a peace offering.  But for whatever message they bring they will always make you smile, especially next to a cheeky duck!!  Can you see his grin?  This little fellow sits in my hall and grins at me when I leave the house, or come in, when I tread wearily up the stairs at bedtime, or skip (ha ha!) down them first thing in the morning!  No matter what, he is always there…grinning!  I bought the flowers a week ago and they are still shining.  I chose them because of this….

Dad painted this picture for Mum and it hung in  their bedroom.  Now it is waiting to go up in mine.  A bouquet of happiness!!  Other flowers have been squeezing into my cupboards too.  Like this…

and this…

Delicate patterns that are pretty, but hopeless for keeping a hot cup of tea hot!!!   Still, little treasures.

I have been continuing the green and white theme with my little Granny flowers.

It is growing, but very slowly because of these other little goodies…

Hair bobbles adapted from Lucy of Attic24’s flower pattern.

Birthday cards for adults and children…

All neatly packaged in their cellophane bags ready for the Sun Shine School fund raise.

The needles have been clinking too…

Rainbow Babies, pattern courtesy of Jean Greenhowe.  I love their little bobble hats…

(sorry about the hand shake!!!)  Then finally my first Christmas card design for this year.  One with a message…

‘Light and life to all he brings.’

Happy crafting!

Catching breath!!

That’s the only thing when you have been away, it is difficult to find the time to catch your breath when there is washing and ironing, cleaning and dusting, sorting and tidying to be done!   It is now a week since we arrived home and I am still washing and ironing, cleaning and dusting, sorting and tidying!!  Trying to make the time to sit and craft has been  - well – impossible!  So what have I been doing in my spare time? LOL!!  Sunday I walked around the garden.  Another area for me to sort and tidy – but no. Look…

The Jacobs Ladder has appeared.  I love the little droplets.

The Piris is just as delicate…

and the white Clematis is full of blossom..

Four pots of green…

a hosta..

strawberries..

a fern and geraniums beginning to grow.

A change of colour..

a pink Hebe and then..

purple Borage and Rosemary too..

And I have no idea what I planted in this pot, but it is very unusual!

The crafting?  Well my 86 year old Mum has been knitting and hooking on my behalf.  A duck..

and two little chicks for my Easter box.

Thank you Mum!

Still playing!

Where did the weekend go?  I was on the go practically the whole time, but there just didn’t seem to be enough time to do all those things I wanted to do!!!  So what did I do? I was in the garden weeding and mowing. Generally soaking up the sun.  Ahh bliss!  We went shopping for some memory cards for my camera and some film for the panoramic shots for my husband’s camera.  Why?  Where are we going?  Well that’s a secret at the moment.  Shall I just say it is a trip of a lifetime!  But I will have room for 1200 pictures!  Wow, now that is a number!

Once back from shopping I found my flower book and crocheted these little darlings.

I thought my tea cosy looked a little boring and needed jazzing up!

A little circle of friendship!  Ring a ring of roses!

I think this has to be my favourite pattern at the moment.  The double trebles are so satisfying to do.  Watching the hook weave in and out, round about the wool. Hmmm, yes!  Then came the sewing.

All the way around the top.

One tea pot nicely dressed.

In between these little flowers I began my design sheets.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy making these research sheets.  Scanning the pictures for patterns and colour.

Looking for the detail, the repeating patterns, the grid lines.

I had also forgotten how time consuming they are to do.

And how out of practice I am at doing them!  My weekend of playing wasn’t quite how I had planned, but I did enjoy myself, and there is lots more playing to do!!

A weekend of play!

I have been looking at my Chatsworth photos and thought I would pick out a few more to show you.  These are of the bases or plinths in the Sculpture Gallery.  Most people were looking at the beautiful figures, but I was on my hands and knees marveling at the way these pieces of stone were put together!!

I bet you can imagine where my thoughts were going!

Quilts, applique, borders!

Repeating patterns, continuous lines, celtic knots!

A whole host of things to make – cards, bookmarks, scarves, broaches, bags, book covers….. the list is endless!  And in lots of different media – knitting, crochet, fabric, tapestry, embroidery, paper!  I have enough for a year to keep me busy at least!  It has rekindled all those design skills I have that have been lying there unused, and I am quite excited!!  Late last night, when I should have been going to bed I printed off several of the images and sat gazing at them.  This is the image that stirred me into thought action!!

Compass points came to mind and also Cathedral Window quilting.  So this is my starting point for a weekend of play!!

All smiles!

We had an extra visitor for the Easter break, who has decided to stay a while – his name is Barnaby.  As you can see he came with his ruck sack and little parka so was well prepared for the inclement weather we had here!

However Barnaby did need an addition to his wardrobe so my Easter weekend was spent knitting and watching films!  First to arrive was a hat while we watched Finding Nemo!

Then came a matching jumper during Big! and Wallace and Grommit’s Wrong Trousers and the Shaun the Sheep one!

Doesn’t he look smart!!  Certainly brings a smile to my face!

Something else brought a smile to my face.  These two little books of wonder!!

Filled to the brim  with beautiful photographs and inspiring reads.  I am savouring every page after a Lent without any magazines!

Then on a very overcast Thursday this made me smile too…

my hanging basket!

Look at their sweet little faces!  Smiling away!  Just the way March’s tea cosy is making me smile.  I know it is late!!

Slab square.

The beautiful weather enticed us into Nottingham yesterday and a trip on the ‘Nottingham Eye’!  Slab Square in the centre of Nottingham is a common meeting place for everyone.  Say ‘I’ll meet you by the lions’ and you know exactly where to go, but at the moment the Square is dominated by the Eye.  A temporary structure which contrasted sharply to the clear blue sky.

Standing with our tickets I couldn’t really believe I had suggested we should go all the way up there!  But as we waited we started to look  up above the shop fronts and the world of architecture appeared.  What beautiful buildings, made ordinary by the run of the mill shop windows.

And as we started to climb our focus shifted.

Look at the amazing turret and pinnacles.

From the top the view was breathtaking, a little on the hazy side, but well worth sitting still and not quaking!!  My photos do not do it justice.  My excuse is the sway of the car caused by the breeze!

Our descent brought the elegant, beautiful Hall into view with its fresco story.

Once down. there was one more shot to take in the Square – the fountains.

And while waiting for the bus an upward view of a patchwork quilt?!

Following a spot of gardening, another set of notelets made for another birthday.

And lastly, this month’s tea cosy!

Buzzzzzzzzzzz!

Shopping!

Yes I have been having a spot of retail therapy!  Always good on a rainy day, but even better when the sun is trying really hard to come out as it was on Monday.  Have you ever thought about the weather conditions affecting the things and colours  you buy?  Hhmmm?!  Well this is what I bought on Monday.

Having been drawn to the wall of colour, I really wanted to buy, but which colourway?  Oh what the heck – one of each ended up in my basket!

I have six great nieces and nephews so I think some little slipper socks will be knitted over the summer for Christmas pressies!  Ooops sorry!  But for now I shall gaze at the colour combinations.

Monday also saw me sneak this little bundle into the basket.  It was all done up with ribbon and cried out ‘buy me!’  Soooo…….

And then on Wednesday in the pouring rain and fog I ventured into Nottingham and bought Kaffe Fassett’s book purely for the colour fix on such a grey day.

So together with a big cutting mat my therapy was complete, but now the itchy fingers have started!

So tomorrow will be spent in the garden, tidying and trimming, and thinking about the projects I can start with my stash.

Oh yes meet…

Well you will when he has gone to his new home!

Phew!!

Celebrations have been in the headlines recently for Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, but there was one other 200 year birthday celebrated this last weekend.  CMJ or The Church’s Ministry among Jewish People.  It was started in London in 1809 by William Wilberforce, (of slavery abolition fame), Charles Simeon and Lord Shaftsbury, to spread the Gospel to the Jewish people and it continues today on a global scale.

So Friday saw us winging our way down to Bath for the first of the large services to celebrate this bicentenary.  And phew! hasn’t it been a busy couple of days.  Bath Abbey is beautiful with spectacular fan vaulting.  Sadly I only had time to take some quick  pictures.  I couldn’t resist the sun rising behind  the Abbey.  We had a lovely view from our bedroom window.

The nave is very light with the high clear windows.  Contrast this to the aisles.

Sadly the sun didn’t shine enough for me to gather the colours from the windows but the tracery was beautiful too.  Imagine quilting lines and patchwork!

So yesterday was a quiet day for catching our breath and doing things crafty!

It is growing!

Wips.

Yesterday was completely different weatherwise to Saturday, cold, dank, and in the evening it snowed again!  So I spent alot of the time on my WIPS.

Remember this cardigan back in the autumn?  Well the end is in sight!  Just one more sleeve to do.

And I started my ripple blanket.  It has quite a light and airy feel to it so will definitely be one for the spring/summer season.