Five on Friday - Savouring summer.

Hello and welcome as I join with 'Five on Friday'. As the weather seems to be cooling and the evenings drawing in, I find myself not really wanting to let summer go just yet. My five random summer photos reflect my mood perfectly, summer days with winter preparation.

Summer holidays and carrying on with routine jobs and shopping, are not so easy with teens, that don't really want to be taken out for some 'fresh air and a change of scenery'. These bold, bright and beautiful flowers, complete with a sunflower, were purchased on one such occasion. Chosen with a chorus of 'can we go home now'.

A bit of a polish and more spring cleaning, this time upstairs in my room. I found all these seaside, ocean related ornaments tucked away and neglected behind a calor gas fire. This unused fire place welcomed a sweep out and polish. The birds drop twigs down the chimney and of course dust and cobwebs are never far behind. Having lit the multi- fuel stove a few times this week downstairs in the lounge, it's reminded us to source a double fronted stove to replace it. This will open up and heat into the dining room, which is the coldest room in the house. 

I've neglected Knit and Natter group over the holidays, there have been other things to do. Having teens you're sort of wanted home, but not really needed, strange. This week, I was handed these angels for the town's angel bombing nearer Christmas, shush a secret! I'd asked the ladies a while ago now if they'd like to knit or crochet some for me. There's more in the bag, so lovely that they took the time to do this. I wrote before and left the pattern links here on this post. I took my latest project that is small and portable, socks. I also bought a few more new balls of sock yarn too, well I thought they'd be good for presents.  

Preparing for the barbers and a duck walk at a local beauty spot this afternoon, I made up my duck food recipe. Some children made it for their sponsored walk last summer. People often tell you, 'don't give ducks bread', but they never say what to feed them. As I like things done properly, I thought I'd better find out what to feed them. Here is the official answer, so that's what I went with. This time I didn't have any peas, so mixed up - bird seed, oats, lettuce and sweetcorn.  

The ducks seemed to appreciate their meal and ventured onto the grass to eat. There's a definite pecking order, with the ladies very much in charge. We thought the male ducks looked quite young, their heads not fully sporting the gorgeous green colour that defines them. There were many families enjoying the last of the warm sunny days, playing frisbee and picnicking on the grass too.

I borrowed this DVD from the library and hope to watch it tonight. The original was filmed in 1974 with the characters and events set in the summer of 1929. Here is the Wiki link if you want a trip down memory lane. Teen 2 has seen this already and I remember studying the book with the Open University Children's Literature course. It'll be interesting to see the changes that have been made in this updated version.

I'm off to knit some more of M sock and maybe watch a bit more of the film. I'm not sure if the teens really like it. Maybe if there had been aliens on the island.... If you've seen this new version of Swallows and Amazons, do let me know your thoughts. At the moment we're a bit confused as to why the beginning was made unnecessarily sinister.

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Bank holiday weekend.

Hello, I hope you had a lovely weekend. It was really nice to feel the warm sun on my face as I sat knitting in the garden. Knitting? Yes, I've put my crochet blanket to one side in favour of some sock knitting. A while ago now I bought Christine - Winwick Mum's Super Socks book. I'd stocked up on needles, opting for the short circular and Dpns - needed for the heel. Do check out her blog here for more info.

I will admit to being sceptical about the short 2.5mm - 30cm length. I'd previously tried Dpns on my first pair of socks and knew I'd prefer another method. Next up was 2 circular needles which I thought sounded perfect. With one pair of needles knitting the front / top on the sock and the other the heel / back. I was never happy with the two gappy lines down the length of the socks where you switch needles.

The single circular needle is perfect. It's quick knitting as you're not constantly changing needles and though you use Dpns for the heel, so far it's not been an issue. For the yarn details I'm using see here.

On Saturday afternoon we had our last open home for the church, more Millionaire shortbread, recipe here. It's been good to do, the hosting requires me to make sure I clean the house. It's been nice to chat to people over a cuppa and cake, everyone seems to like cake. We'll probably do this again next year as even the teens liked it. It helped of course that their friends visited too.

So apart from knitting socks and eating cake in a garden warm enough to have me putting on my shorts, there's a few more things that I'm enjoying at the moment.

Should've started. This book is the current read for the bookclub. Though I've watched the film, I've not started it yet. I was pleased that teen 2 found this book entertaining enough for him to want to read it. Though he could read very well before he started school, he's remarkably uninterested in books now. He does have a full bookcase in his room and will often request a book for birthday etc presents. Teen 1 is the book worm of the family and loves to discuss the plot in detail.

Wanting to start. This latest book by Debbie Macomber, my favourite author. that I'm looking forward to starting. I know when I start reading it, it'll be finished in a few days. Macomber doesn't write complicated page turners, but she does write an entertaining feel good novel.

Present read. This Macomber book is part 4 of the cedar Cove series. I'm also reading Agatha Christie's The Clocks on the Kindle, which all seems vaguely familiar and I'm sure I've read it before years ago.

Watching on video. Last weekend we went to a car boot sale and I purchased 10 Agatha Christie's Miss Marple VHS tapes for £3. I handed over my money hoping the video player was still attached to the TV and working. Thankfully all is well and I'm enjoying the nostalgia of watching them again.

Wooden puzzles, I'd pulled these out the cupboard at the weekend, the tower of Hanoi is always popular with visitors. There's some rebuilding to do on one of them.

M surprised me a few weeks ago, bringing me home a covered candle holder. I'd bought the lavender candle last year and normally I'd say I love lavender, but there's something about this particular fragrance. No matter which room I light it in, including open and spacious places, it never fails to bring on a headache. I therefore decided I'd take it outside and light it so at least I could still enjoy the smell in a less confined space. Of course the strong winds of coastal Lincolnshire don't help keep my flame burning. Anyway, hopefully this should do the job nicely.

QT a bit of a fuzzy photo as I was using the zoom setting on the camera. I knew if I'd walked over to him he'd have stood up to see what I wanted.

If anyone has any sock related tips or recommendations on yarns or patterns, please do leave a comment. Thank you. When I've finished this particular pair, I thought I'd knit a few pairs in the WYS yarn. In particular I like the bird variants shown here.

Have a good week
Cathy x

Crochet in the pink

My beautiful pink Orchid flowering again, a birthday present from last summer. It sits in the front porch soaking up the morning sun rays. 

Dahlia flowering in a raised bed, this bed was originally put together ready for growing potatoes. They didn't fair too well so we abandoned the idea, they're next to a hedge that probably takes all the water, leaving any plants very dry. We tried growing potatoes in the border (very wide) on the other side of the garden but the trees drank any water there too.  

Fuchsias growing amongst other plants and weeds in the side border. Their bright jewel like petals provide a burst of colour in the border. 

This prolific flowering cactus sits on the back porch window sill. My Brother has a cutting from this plant too. I've recently de-headed the old flowers, care is needed as the fur can be itchy. I'm not usually a lover of the colour orange, for a very long time now I've avoided the colour but really it is quite beautiful on flowers. 

I've finished my pink chevron crochet scarf, though I ran out of wool with this particular one and joined it into a circle to make a cowl. I originally found the pattern on this blog. Jennifer has made several of these and they do look elegant when they're finished. She made hers as gifts for teachers at the end of the school year, which I think is a lovely idea. I loved the pattern with its steady waves up and down.

I've been crocheting it as I travel around and about in the car (not whilst driving), at youth group, craft circle and hospital appointments. The yarn is pale rose aran by Stylecraft. I chose to make the medium width and have already bought more yarn to make another but I will go up a size in crochet hook and use a 5.5mm for the next one. I have had a comparison with both sizes and the bigger hook size has a noticeable open, lacey look which is more pleasing. If you'd like to crochet your own scarf, the pattern is here.  

The scarf in its entirety, as a cowl, I think it works well joined in a circle. I'm still undecided at this stage as to whether I'll keep it, or pass it on as a present. People in blog land have already been mentioning the Christmas word regards buying and making presents. This got me thinking about making some gifts this year too. With my track record for 'finishing things' being 'still not finished' we'll see.

In keeping with the pink theme to finish, one of my pink RHS rose prints, this was a birthday present one year from M. The other one (not photographed) is Rose Chinensis- shown on the link. The pair of rose prints hang in the dining room. 

QT x

Do leave a comment about what you are making and whether you're making presents for Christmas. Cathy x

Summer at the weekend.

Hello, hope you had a good weekend. Mine was a strange one really. After lots of spring cleaning and making cakes ready for Saturday, I then froze some including the 2 cakes that people kindly donated. This weekend I'm planning on making millionaires shortbread and defrosting the others. The lemon curd cake is an All-in-One cake recipe, see here is really easy. The topping is simple too, made with sifted (crucial for speed) icing sugar combined with 3 or 4 tablespoons of lemon curd.

I love this dahlia, it brings back fond memories of cutting fresh flowers for customers in my parents florist and nursery shop, many years ago. They sold plants, shrubs, tomatoes and cucumber from the greenhouse and bags of soil etc.

My brother brought this cat garden ornament for me. He could probably do with a wash now, he's so old.

Another of my brothers presents. He was holding a green stick, a fishing rod type thing. We used to have a fish pond when living in Hampshire and after a long day at work in the summer months I'd sit by the pond sipping Pimms. Those were the days.

Delicate Gladioli petals, reminding me of candy floss at the seaside.

M is pleased his tomato plants are doing well this year. These ones were small plug plants from Aldi.

Sunday, time to relax in the garden. Armed with some crochet and a cuppa I set about doing a few more rows. It was such a lovely afternoon that I will confess to falling asleep in the garden. The cushions on the garden chairs are filled with tiny pieces of sponge which move about leaving areas without filling, most uncomfortable.

QT, enjoying some peace and quiet in the garden. The robin often shouts at him, making a dreadful racket. The robin is obviously protecting his own but mostly QT isn't interested in the birds. He has caught a few in the past, so he's not totally innocent, bless him.

I meant to post this blog yesterday, it's not been a happy home this weekend in our household. This was all completely out of our control and unfortunately can not be resolved. On a positive note, teen 1 despite the drama, has passed his theory test today. We are of course delighted as this is a requirement before moving onto the practical driving test. I'm particularly pleased as it was a struggle to find exactly where we should be within the complex and we went on quite a detour got lost to go shopping afterwards.

The teens and I visited the cafe in Tesco and had a mocha, hot chocolate and a summer mango crush. Then home to feed QT and cook dinner which was belly pork rashers and some roasted roots. I roasted carrots, red potatoes, onion, parsnips, with courgette and garlic, lemon and lime quarters all seasoned with black pepper and paprika and tossed in oil.

I made it to Craft Circle this week and took my blanket in to do another row or 2. Today I managed some more crochet on my scarf whilst waiting outside the test centre.
I'm off to catch up on some more crochet.

Hope you have a good week, thank you for visiting.
Cx

In the garden

I'm joining with 'Five on Friday' sharing a few pretty flowers from the garden. In no particular order,  some shouty bright flowers or berries. Then an update on what I've been up to this week. 

A delicate beautiful Carnation.

Pinks

Allium - spring onion going to seed. We (M) grew some spring onion bulbs in a raised box border last year. We literally ate the green tops and planted the white bulbs with the roots intact. At the time I was only eating the green part of the spring onion. Whilst following the Fodmap diet, you exclude the food that's classed as 'high fodmap' which includes onion. It did seem strange discarding the white part and cooking only the green part. You do eventually add these foods back into your diet to judge your tolerance level. If you know anyone with IBS this book may help. I've since found I can't tolerate soya, including soy sauce, though that's not a fodmap issue. 

If you know the names any of the plants in this border, please let me know in the comments. I'd be very interested to know as gardening is not my speciality. This border stretches the length of the garden and is positioned under the washing line.

Buddleia plant, also in the same border. There are different shades of these here and here. Both here and at a previous property, we've grown 2 different colours. According to the on-line article in The Telegraph (link above) we should all have at least one Buddleia in our gardens. I quite like the bright pink and the deep purple variety.

Apart from wandering round the garden snapping photos, in a less hectic moment, last night we all went swimming in town, I can't remember the last time I've been swimming. I felt really out of condition and was aware I was swimming close to the bottom of the pool. I did manage to both float and then swim on my back for a half length. Both of these things I've never done before, so an achievement for me. After swimming, we returned home to some salmon fishcakes that I'd made beforehand.

At the moment I'm sitting relaxing in my lounge after lots of cleaning and baking. I've been having a bit of a spring clean, starting in the kitchen, dining room and lounge. The cakes were made for the church open home today. Unfortunately only one couple turned up and they bought a cake with them. Another lady in the village dropped a cake off too. I've put some in the freezer and M has taken some into work tonight. I'm looking forward to getting my crochet out later after all that.

Thank you for reading, have a good week. Please leave a comment and if you've enjoyed the blog, please follow. Cx.

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Books and hooks

Hello everyone. As our family holiday has come to an end and we think about going back to work, like most people I've thought of the good habits which I want to continue. Like setting goals at the beginning of the year, for me, holidays are similar, a chance to pause and remind myself of my goals and resolutions.

I'm reminded that I wanted to 'be more' present - specifically less facebook time, to get my craft to-do list done and not just read about 'nice things to do'. To 'do more' as a family - we've made a new start at that this holiday. To eat healthily, it's so easy to reach for a snack when often your body just needs a drink - water anyone?

Still wanting to hold onto summer a bit longer I'm sharing some random holiday cheerfulness with you. The roses were from Morrison's supermarket. I'd acquired a voucher for a free bunch of flowers to the value of £2. There wasn't a lot to choose from, so I had £2 off a bunch. I chose an elegant white bunch of roses which in their simplicity look beautiful. Looking online at their meaning was interesting, as it captured the 'new beginnings' perfectly. If you'd like to know the meaning behind rose colours, see here and then here specifically for white roses.

Incidently I think the blemishes on the roses are a reminder to love your inperfections, something which we seem to be hearing a lot lately in the media.

My library book read, though we didn't go camping this summer, I've been dipping into this book and Kate's blog here which is very interesting. Kate writes from Australia which is in winter, it seems strange at the moment looking at autumnal photographs. She talks about leaving 'electricals' (my phrase) behind and connecting with the family, not just  for holidays.

Yesterday I made the decision to remove facebook from both my phone and tablet. It remains on my laptop and main PC and hopefully will remain that way. The reason I did this was because I wanted to be more present. The amount of time I've wasted on facebook is horrendous. I could've done so many other things.

For now I'm reading my way through the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber, familiar but enjoyable still. This is the third one in the series which further develops the main characters lives whilst introducing new people to enhance the story. I've mentioned before, I like choosing a set of books to read through, during the summer. I'm hoping to get started on the next book for the book club after the weekend, it's called 'A Street Cat Called Bob' by James Bowen. I saw the film which was very good, teen 2 has read it and has started the second one in the series.

On my crochet hook at the moment is the Moorland blanket by attic 24, see here for details if you're interested. It's nearing the end now, up with the blue skies.

Usually if I'm off out somewhere I take this scarf to crochet as it's less bulky. Still in holiday mode on Monday it was the Craft Circle summer meal out which was very nice. Most of us had fish and chips, I had salad and coleslaw with mine, followed by a mocha instead of a pudding, as I had to drive to Lincoln hospital (routine twice a yr) and didn't want to be feeling full.

QT, my fluffy mane-d lion, love him.

Thank you for reading, hope you have a good week. Do leave a comment and if you enjoy it, please follow.

Cathy x

Tarts for 'Five on Friday'.

Happy Friday everyone, I'm joining with Five on Friday today with tarts, shopping, pub lunch and theatre night. 

Using up some pastry from making the chicken pie, teen 2 and I put together some jam tarts. The 'mixed fruit jam' is homemade by Debbie in the village - very nice it is too. The recipe is based on this one.

Holidays wouldn't be complete without buying supplies for 'back to school / college'. I'm not going to gloat as there's still the shoes and few trousers for college to get, but whew! It's good to be better organised than previous years. So with the supplies out the way, we popped into Tesco and picked up another Hairy Dieters cookbook - Fast Food here. I need to look into their breakfast granola cereal. So many cereals contain nuts, pumpkin seeds - (packaged seeds often say may contain soya), stoned fruits, barley or state may contain soya. All are not good for me.

A healthier beverage than too much fruit juice. I'm not keen on squash and preferring to drink water from a glass, I was pleased to see these bottles in Wilkos for taking out and about. I used to take a few slices of lemon to work many years ago. I'd keep adding water to it throughout the morning. A bit too posh really but this one I like. You can cut up whatever fruit you like and off you go. 

Not really sure how the diets going really, keep forgetting to weigh myself. M and I need to lose 5 lb each and generally reduce high refined sugars. Sorry the photo is dark, we were walking back from a lunchtime pub meal with the teens. It was overcast that day, then we rushed round making some Millionaires Shortbread for film night. I know that doesn't 'fit' in the same sentence of diet chat but... 

The dark brown cow / bull? - sorry I'm such a townie, has one horn up but the other pointing down. 

Thursday evening, teen one and I set off for the local theatre to watch his girlfriend in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrel'. We took a detour into town due to the air ambulance dealing with a road traffic accident. The play had a good plot and a twist at the end. We enjoyed an ice-cream in the interval and offered congratulations at the end. A you tube clip offering a flavour of the show here and a film trailer here. 

Thank you for visiting, do leave a comment and if you've enjoyed my blog, do please follow.
Have a good weekend
Cathy x

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