Ballet cardigans and shooting shoots........

Cupani Sweetpea.

During the past week we have had all weather from snow, hail, sleet, rain, sunshine and blue skies.The over riding common denominator has been the bitter cold winds, not the weather for happy gardening.
Last month I planted up my first trays of seeds in my greenhouse, and now each morning so as not to scare them, I tip toe out to the green house to see if any have dared to break through and shoot...... this morning my impatience was rewarded, one Sapphire blue Cornflower and one Cupani Sweet pea.
I am not anticipating huge numbers of seedlings, many of the seeds being used this year are up to ten years old, so each shoot will be a little miracle in its own right.
I have been hoarding seeds for many years, waiting to have somewhere to sew them, then at Christmas these seed were added to by my friend Leslie who  passed on a carrier bag of seeds that her mum didn't have time/room/energy to plant herself, so I now have many old seeds to play with.

Bio Dome, Eden Project.

Tea shop.

Hubby and I decided to go and visit the Eden Project , we have never been before , but thought we would take advantage of our geographic proximity and see what they had going on. Even in the Tropical dome it was not bikini weather, but we did have an enjoyable time, loved the Owls and Hawks who were also visiting and had a lovely cuppa in their teashop. We look forward to going again very soon.




Ballet Cardigan back,knitted in 'Bizarre'.

There is nothing like a bit of evening knitting for keeping the hands warm , I decided to get started on something cheerful for the summer. I am knitting myself a ballet cardigan, they are so versatile, I have opted for a tweed wool in shades of pink and red called 'Bizarre'.......quite apt I think.

Catching up and moving on.......

Archie.

Archie cutting some shapes on the beach.

The children surfing.

My birthday tree seat.

My new garden work bench!.

One of the eleven fruit trees I planted last Autumn in the backgarden.

Daisy Project.

Daphine and the frog prince.

 We now live alot closer to the 'Daisy project' and look froward to spending alot more time there this year.
Daphine and the frog prince, Daphine enjoys reading to the Prince in the afternoon sun. A beautiful gift for our new garden from dear work colleagues.




I can not believe a year has passed since my last blog, so much has happened in the last twelve months, our lives have been completely transformed, for the better.
The children are also enjoying our move to the Cornish coast, Archie is now walking and eating sands and our dogs are loving their beach walks.
I look forward to sharing all the new projects I now have on the go, till then keep smiling........

Tea and time wait for no woman............

I guess one of the few things we can rely upon, is that the kettle will eventually boil and tea will be made.Several months ago now a good friend introduced me to 'green tea' from the chinese supermarket, it took several cups to convince me that was the way to go, but have since become an addict, it certainly seems to aid a clearer head and gentler on the tummy.

At the end of the year I took up a new post at a College in Devon, I am slowly settling in....as we get older change seems to take longer to adjust to or maybe I am just becoming slower, the staff are lovely and during the week I lodge near by.

My room has already become a supersized bookshelf/sewing basket, I have found the local 'button' shop, a fabric and trimmings establishment and of course numerous charity shops with plenty of books for me to peruse for ideas,reading material and of course fun.

legs and knicker legs!



long tall Sally.



I have decided to start on my christmas knitting whilst the evenings are still dark and chilly, and have chosen to start with some long tall Sally's for the girls, the first one is well on her way to completion, she will of course require some features, hair ,clothes and stuffing.

waiting for features.

Perry

Perry and Oscar.

Back at home life has been moving on a pace too, the decorating is now up to date, the garden is being prepared for spring and we have a new resident. His name is Perry and he is a young Westie/ Cairn terrier cross, he has settled in very quickly and even grumpy old Oscar does not seem to mind him.

the family shark!

Archie is sitting up unassisted and rocking in the 'I'm about to crawl at any moment' position, he also has five teeth now, my daughter reliably informs me that he nearly bit a junk out of her leg, but the limb has been salvaged, I think maybe as mum is so far away...she may have embroidered the truth,..........her mothers daughter...sewing !

Hat rooms, crochet and card making........

The 'hat and shoe room'.

So finally all the windows are in , the blinds tinkered with and rehung and the curtains met a similar fate and now we can close the door on that chapter. My now 'spare' bedroom has again become my hat and shoe room, which gives them a little more space and me somewhere to go and ooh and ahh, perfect stress relief. Now looking at the picture I can see it was more about the new window than the room contents !, the pink lampshade is now hung , the hat boxes are stacked under the stairs to the left and the shoes are on the right. I am leaving the bubble wrap on the furniture as both the desk and chair are painted, the chair also having a new pink check seat which I did some time ago, thus keeping them protected and saves me dusting them in the meantime, they can remain ready packed for next summers move.

Light weight summer blanket.

Too much wool to be a mobile project.

My current crochet project is a small light weight blanket, perfect for keeping off the chill on a summers evening when its still to perfect to come in side, I am using lots of odd balls left over from previous projects,plus a few which  have been found in the 'sale' basket and would have felt far too sad to have left them behind unwanted, thus making it a bargain blanket. I am in no hurry for this one, so pick it up as and when, have plenty of time between now and next summer.

Cross stitch and card making.

Birthday cards for a mum and a dad.

Last night was stitch and bitch, roughly once  a week we try and get together and sew, knit , cross stitch etc in company, it is a very informal arrangement, and numbers can vary a great deal as there is no set night [due to my work commitments], last night was less about sewing and more about card making...something I only do for christmas.

Card potential

Excellent gift tags.

More card decorations.

So last night I set about my card preparation for christmas, those that will not make good cards I make into gift tags, I cut them down to an image I can reuse and decorate, I have several mini drawers of ribbons,peel offs, lift offs and glitter, stage one complete.............christmas is coming ........

More windows , blinds and the end of an era...no more babies

This weekend I arrived home from work on my youngest's 18th birthday, it truely only seems moments ago since he was born, of course I know it isnt, him having outgrown me by more than a foot in the last seven years.
I do of course miss his smallness, the hand that was pushed inside mine when he was unsure, the rip roar chuckles that would eminate from deep down in his belly when he was amused, the huge smile and soft blonde hair, the months of being dinosaurs, the trees we sacrificed to keep him in drawing paper and all the walking , climbing and rock searching that being outdoors always involved.

Baby storage.

New friends.

Bo !

And now I look upto him to see a fine , handsome young man starting his journey into adulthood, it has been a pleasure, I hope he will find me intresting enough to keep me in his loop as makes his way further out into the world , but for now I am happy he is doing so well with his A'levels and hope they will help open doors in the direction he would like to take next.

It was a large cake , with many candles !.

No birthday celebration is complete without a cake with candles and of course jelly and ice cream, it was good to have all the children here, although its nothing like when they were small, I love to hear them all laughing and ribbing each other as only siblings do.

Removing the old glass.

Sawing through and removing the old frame.

New window in.

 Sunday was taken up with getting the last of the new bedroom windows in before the weather really starts to take a turn for the worst.Last weekend we had two strapping younger men to help us, this weekend the workforce consisted of my husband and I. I must say ably terrified by the strong winds....although himself did keep assuring me that the glass was not going to fall out, but my stress levels reached 'peak', and although our goals were completed, I am in no hurry to tackle upstairs windows again anytime soon.

Then came the fun part today, getting everything back where it belongs , hanging the blinds and curtains  and just finishing off. A few small outstanding jobs to do, which hopefully will be completed on these couple of days off, then I must get down to starting on my christmas presents and the house will have to wait for a while .

Windows in, recycling blinds, book buys and life.........

Bejewelled,sparkles and hearts.

In full splendor.

It would seem that this break from work has all been about windows and window dressings, for and against, new or recycle?.

The first day and a half were spent clearing the walls so the men could get
 to the windows to be able to remove them !, once I had decided what would still be required between now and when we do eventually move and what could be boxed and stored the job became alot easier.


I have decided to keep the curtains in the main bedroom as they were , they are uninique, the colours scheme has not changed, so I have just washed and pressed them so that they can be rehung

Paint splattered.

Old pillow case which matches new curtains.

 The spare room blind
which had been splattered
in paint by my over zealous
husband.

Removing the damage.

Cutting up the pillowcase.

Once all the damage had been removed, I was able to add some new fabric  [well new to the blind ...a recycled pillowcase] and choose some lace from my drawer as a trim.


When cut to size , pinned and pressed, I managed to machine without removing from the roller, not something I would recommend if you dont have a large work table , but was just about doable in my circumstances.

 Once all the sewing was complete and the roller
undone and rerolled I have been able to put the
blind to one side ready for rehanging.

Trim selection.

Completed blind.

Next was what to do with the blinds, as I work nights and sleep days it is essential that I have a blackout blind at the window, like my curtains, I have decided to press and rehang....they are still like new and to be honest despite cupboards and baskets full of fabric I dont have anything I would rather have at the window at this time.
 So now curtains and blinds are are complete and ready for rehanging, but that will not be happening until I am absolutely sure there will not be any men with either paint brushes or sealent guns in the facinity, once I am positive photos will follow.

On my various trips up to the town to buy new DIY tools etc, I found time to run into my local bookstore  to see if there were any pay day publications that I would be hard pressed to do without...so this months selection are :

The Thrifty Forager.

Lots of ideas and recipes.

Studio Life.

A sinister turn of emotion.

And "Studio Life" Jack Vettriano. Some of his work I love , I think that some of his more popular peices are so romantic, with perhaps a slightly sinister twist, others are 'real' , but perhaps a little to 'true' for my taste, these days I need to be surrounded by happy thoughts, butterflies, sunshine, bunnies etc etc  I have lived enough 'real' life , I dont need to be looking at it for pleasure, I guess thats why I gave up with television and definately dont watch any soap operas.

Dance me to the end of love.

There is nothing like the gift of fresh flowers to lift the spirits or in this case as a small tahnk you like fresh flowers. A gorgeous posy which I added to from the garden, summer in a jug.

Summer in a jug, with scent .