Change is good but so is rest!

I'm quite proud of myself! I actually managed to find time to sit down, gather up my recent photos and put together a proper blog post this week! Some of them are going on 2 weeks old but better late than never. It's been a bit quieter lately. My dad has been on rest for 2 weeks because of foot pain. Policeman's heel to be exact. Very painful! But it's back to the usual full schedule this week, starting with 4am mornings from tomorrow!

 Not sure how but I managed to pack a fair bit of crochet into the last fortnight so I have a few things to share. Even during the heatwave I found myself crocheting away, sitting on the kitchen floor or in the lounge in front of our huge (18 inch) fan, trying to deal with the zillion ideas floating around in my head. Thankfully, I had a lovely coffee milkshake (camp coffee, ice-cream & milk mixed together = YUM!) & some muffins to help me through it. 

The top photo is the little scrap stash project I mentioned here. I plan on adding to it whenever I have any small bits of yarn to use up. I think it's a great idea for all those tiny scraps & will look perfect in the bathroom once it's done. 

The patchwork granny square blanket is a little project I started a few weeks ago. More on that further down. 

I've also been working on colour ideas for a project I planned & bought yarn for at the beginning of the year. I'm having an issue with a few of my choices & that's lead to me making numerous swatches. You know when you really want a certain colour in your project but it just doesn't seem to gel? Yeah, that's the problem I'm having.

And lastly, the red & brown squares. This is an idea that just recently popped into my head & so far I am loving it. I started it yesterday & should be done by Tuesday....hopefully. I'll be sharing it with you next time.

I've not forgotten about my other unfinished projects. My plan is to get some of them done this week but the big one won't be. I won't be meeting my August deadline for it sadly but it will be done before Christmas!

The heatwave really messed with our eating habits. We often have salad dinners (as shown above) but we were having them way more than usual and sometimes we weren't even having that! I also made melktert (milk tart) last weekend because it's such a refreshing pudding. I did mine without the pastry to avoid using the oven. It's always my go to dessert when it's too hot for baking because it's so easy. 

And with the heat came big changes for my wonderful fiance. We decided it was time for him to get a haircut. He's had long hair for a good few years now but it was just getting to be too much. I got the hair clippers out and an hour later he felt happier and refreshed! Look at that pile of hair! I think the new haircut really suits him! ☺

Parcels! Parcels! Parcels! Yes, I took full advantage of the Drops cotton sale! I've got a lot of new yarn to show you. I've been buying it all throughout July because some of it wasn't in stock when I placed the first few orders. I'm just waiting on one more colour before I show you the other lots. I also bought some new clover soft touch hooks to join my collection. They are very tiny & are for the yarn mentioned in this post. These hooks are great & so comfy! I did have some cheaper small ones but they were lacking in the handle department which makes crochet a little uncomfortable. Oh & I also purchased some yarn for a project that I won't be able to show you until after Christmas.

New yarn! This is Drops Muskat (100% Egyptian Mercerized Cotton). The colours are gorgeous & the yarn is lovely. I spent Monday making shadecards for all the different colours (48 in total). I only wish that there was a better yellow. My plan is to keep this yarn for little projects which is why I needed the shadecards.

Charity granny square blanket! I decided to use some (most) of my scrap stash for making a few charity goodies. I volunteer at our local Volunteer Centre and teach crochet on Thursdays as well as helping out with general duties like sales & admin. I've gained a lot from volunteering & wanted to do my bit in giving back. It's nothing special but every little helps. I've got a few more ideas up my sleeve.....we'll see what else I can add! I'd be grateful for some stash busting ideas? ☺

A bag and a potholder perhaps? Firsty the potholder! What do you think? On Thursday, the manager of the charity I volunteer for handed me a loom to try out. We grabbed some scrap yarn from the pile & sat fiddling around with it for a few hours & honestly didn't have a clue! Then I found this video & it all became clear! It's a great little idea don't you think? Easy to make & quick. I've not figured out some of the more complicated ones but I'm keen to give it a go. It's missing the doodah that goes through to tie the bits so I'll have to make one or something but otherwise it's awesome! Apparently you can even make blankets out of them! If anyone has any other info please share! ☺

Ok, the little bag. I was messing about with tiny squares. Didn't know what I was making but then this idea popped into my head. I'm sure it's been done before but I love that I hadn't seen it anywhere! It's also a donation for my local charity. I hope someone likes it enough to buy it.

So, that's the start of my charity stash busting collection! 

Bella's got the best bed in the world! I've had my scrap stash in the lounge most of the week and no cat can resist sleeping on a bed made of yarn! It must be super comfy! She certainly looks happy. I don't think I even need to tell you that Moe's already been in there! He can't resist balls of yarn! He loves peddling & snuggling up to them. 

My little burrowing Moe man has been at it again. I had our blanket on the floor, ready to be thrown in the washing machine and then he decided that it was the perfect opportunity to burrow & snuggle. Believe it or not but this was on the hottest day of the heatwave! The hottest day & he decides to snuggle in a HUGE blanket!

That's the blogging done for the week, the house cleaned and my dad's doing dinner so I think I'll go put my feet up for a bit. I won't be doing much crochet today as I've strained my neck. I have a bad habit of leaning my neck to the one side when I crochet and I'm paying for it now!

Hope you are all well & that your weeks have been enjoyable! Best wishes for the week ahead! Hopefully I'll be doing my regular blog post on Sunday so hope to see you again then! Thanks for visiting.

Take care!

♥

In the midst of a heatwave.....

I'm currently sitting in our lounge, listening to a favourite band of mine called Ours (the lead singer has the most incredible voice) and sipping a refreshing cup of tea. 

It's been so hot lately! Too hot to eat, too hot to clean, too hot to sleep, too hot to move and too hot to be anywhere near the laptop! Our fans have been going nearly all day, everyday for over a week. I'm used to much hotter temperatures (being from Africa) but this is a different type of heat. I think the high humidity is the problem. I've been up everyday at 4am and have absolutely loved it because it's the only time it's cool!

So, my blog has been a bit neglected lately & this little boy is one reason why. Two weeks ago we noticed that his behavior had gotten worse. He already has issues (we think his previous owners abused him) but it suddenly got to the point where it was unbearable. Something wasn't right and we knew that a trip to the vets was needed. 

Poor little boy had an infection in his mouth due to some very bad teeth. He was given 2 injections and some antibiotics. The vet told us to come back near the end of the week to see what the next step would be. Have you ever tried to give a cat medicine? It's almost impossible! 

By the Friday of that week the infection had cleared up and so the vet took him in to have some teeth removed. You can see the two spots where they shaved him to attach all the special equipment needed to monitor different things.

That Friday was dreadful! I hate sitting around, waiting for the vets to ring. I just wanted him home.

Over a week later and he is a very happy boy! Tabby no longer has bad breathe and no yucky teeth!

His behavior has improved (he still has his issues) and he is starting to relax. We're a bit broke but he's better & that's all that's important!

My special boy ♥

I've been doing a fair bit of crochet & finally finished sewing in the ends for the second lot of solid squares, bringing the total to 231 (only 544 to go!). The ends are taking me a bit longer than normal as I'm dividing each end into 2 and then weaving them in opposite directions. (I don't trust squares!)

I've messed up a bit but I don't know if it's going to affect the blanket yet. I changed from an aluminium hook to my clover soft touch which has resulted in slightly different sized squares! Grrr! Not happy but fingers crossed!

I started working on a little scrap stash project on my volunteering day. I got the idea from the lovely Sarah London and it can be found here. It might become a sort of curtain at some stage. It's easy & so fun! The best part is that it doesn't use up much yarn so all those tiny scraps are perfect for it!

Curtains! Yes, we finally have some decent curtains in our lounge! When we moved in we had a week to sort our selves out so we had to buy the cheapest curtains we could find. These windows are so large that it's not always easy to get the right size (and I know nothing about these things) so we were stuck with horrible brown ones. The kittens pretty much destroyed them (as you can see from the above photo of Vinnie clawing and hanging from the curtain).

So, last weekend (after nearly 6 years) I went hunting on Argos and found some lovely (and cheap) curtains. 

They are thin but perfect for summer! They brighten up the room and make me smile every time I see them! So far the cats have left them alone! I'm still on the hunt for winter curtains!

And look! The main hot spot in our house has finally been sorted! I had some spare time so spent a day sorting everything out. The top photo is the before and the bottom is the after. I'm feeling very happy with myself right now!

And we finally have some blinds up in the kitchen! The heat in the kitchen has been unbearable lately. The sun shines right in your face from about 4pm onwards which is lovely in winter but not right now.My lovey dad decided it was enough so he put them up today and boy does it make a difference! The kitchen began to cool down immediately.

Some cat photos to share with you! They've been so hot this week but there are water bowls everywhere for them and plenty of coolish spots. Boxes are a favourite! It's not even safe for the older cats to go out right now as cats can get sunstroke (Socks has had it once before). Friday was slightly cooler and so Tabby & Socks had a brief run around. The kittens weren't happy about being shut off from the kitchen as you can tell by the paw! It appeared under the door ☺

My last thing to share with you is the crows that have decided we are their main food source! Everyday, starting at 5am you can hear them making a racket & see them waiting for food. We don't mind feeding them as they are keeping the garden fairly clean by eating everything in sight! They also have plenty of young and it's been so enjoyable to watch them feed the babies. I've learnt a fair bit about crows in the past month.

Well that was a long update but it's been a while! I've got plenty on this week (including a very important meeting tomorrow that is all part of me "finding the positive in the negative") but I really want to share some of the books I've read recently with you. I know this is more about crochet but I love reading so it obviously has to have a place on my blog. So I'll leave you with one last thing.......

My current read "The Bronze Horseman" by Paullina Simons is probably the best book I've ever read & I doubt there will ever be another one like it so it's great that it's a trilogy! I don't even know how to describe this book or how it makes me feel & how amazing it is! It's the greatest love story ever written & I want to recommend the hell out of it! If you see it, buy it! It's long but every one of those pages is worth it! Oh but have a bar of chocolate handy because you are going to need it!

Ok, that's it from me! I'm off to relax & read! Hope you are all well. Take care and I wish you all the best for the week ahead!

♥

PS: Seriously, if you are looking for a great read, buy that book! You won't regret it! ☺

Catching up time!

Hello all! The last few weeks have been pretty hectic for us. Sadly my blog has suffered a little bit but today I'm going to catch you up on everything that I've been up to.

First, there was Father's Day! I usually try to get my dad something but this year I decided to be different. I cooked him dinner. My first curry (his awesome recipe though). He had to work Saturday night so it was nice for him to come home to his favourite meal after a tough night. 

Sunday morning I cooked up a big breakfast of tomato, onion, scrambled eggs & bacon and then later in the day I made a Lemon cake (in the microwave) with lemon syrup drizzled over the top. It was a lovely relaxed Sunday and I think he enjoyed the rest. I've also finally got him drinking & enjoying green tea ☺ very good for you!

I made a bag a little over a week ago. I found this page on facebook and she has some awesome patterns. My favourite has been the cluster stitch bag. I saw an alternative version that someone had made. A larger version of the cluster stitch bag but using the handles from this bag. It's so easy to make. I went digging through my scrap stash, found a few nice colours and started making a bag! 

The double strands make it a lot stronger than most bags. It works up really fast & took about 2 days. I loved making it and plan on doing a few more. This one I decided to give to a lovely friend of mine. She's always helping us out and never asks for anything in return so I gave it to her as a thank you.

We've been finding it really hard to think of things to eat for dinner lately. I don't if it's the warm weather or the busy weeks but no one is overly fussed about eating. It's all about quick meals and one of the best ones is gnocchi with chicken, onion and a lovely cheese sauce. It was rather yummy! Today my dad is cooking a pork roast so I'm looking forward to a bit a crackling!

I've been doing a lot of shopping lately. I spotted these colourful plant holders. They were so cheap and the colours were so nice I just had to buy them! I don't know what I'm going to do with them. They might look great somewhere amongst my craft supplies once I sort them out! Their has also been a lot of new yarn coming into the house. I will tell you all about that next week when I take you on a tour of my yarn stash! I've got one last delivery arriving on Monday (hopefully).

Apart from the bag & the shopping, I've also been testing some colours out for a big project I hope to start before winter (once I finish my dad's massive blanket). I'm testing the colour sequence out on a scarf first, using scraps from my stash. I bought the yarn last year but when I went to catalogue it all, I realised I wasn't happy with some of my choices. My idea has changed & I'll have to buy more for that reason but I want to be sure before I do and so I decided it was best to do the tester scarf. I get a scarf out of it so it's not that bad! My dad's blanket is coming along nicely but I am way behind schedule. They are being stored in these self sealing bags temporarily. I'm also finding that my tension is all over the place with these squares. I just hope it all works out in the end! 133 done 642 to go! Oh & I'm making another scarf. It's for my fiance. It's my own pattern and so far so good. More on that soon!

Cats! The weather is confusing them! It was so hot for a while that they were sleeping on the floor or in any cool spots they could find but the last 2 weeks have had a few chilly days and so they've been seeking out the warm & cozy spots once again. Tabby & Vinnie actually slept next to each other which is extremely strange because usually they are attacking each other. Moe managed to squeeze himself into Munchkin's bed but only briefly because shortly after that he heard my OH coming down and that meant food time! He also decided that my scrap yarn stash would be the perfect place for a nap! 

Tabby, my beautiful boy! I love it when he poses for me because he's such a beautiful cat! This photo is in the collage below but I just thought it deserved to be on it's own too! As naughty as he is (and believe me he is really naughty) I still love him.

These fluffy little monsters have been a little bit spoilt this week. Lots of playtime, plenty of treats & catnip and a new toy! The new toy no longer has its feathers. Vinnie removed them within about 5 minutes! They've all been happy. We've been up at 4am everyday and they've been up with us (more for the treats than anything else). At least they get to go back to bed though!

I had to include this one! It's so funny! This is Moe and his big sister Soetie. He jumped up to see what was on the windowsill and got a slap. The photo makes you feel really sorry for him because he looks all sweet & innocent but believe me he's not. He can be really cute when he wants to but he can also be super naughty! The kittens have definitely taught us just how naughty & adventurous cats can be!

So that was a bit of catching up! It's been really busy but those were the only things really worth mentioning on the blog! I've also been doing a lot of reading. I've got plenty to share about books & things! So far I've read 33 books this year but there have been a few worth mentioning that lead me to an amazing band & a singer called Jimmy Gnecco but I think I'll save that for another time & another post.

One last thing I forgot to mention, I was teaching crochet again this week! A lady stopped in at our volunteer centre wanting to learn and after the 2 hr lesson she was able to make a granny square. She was chuffed with her square & will be back next week! It's all voluntary but still enjoyable for me!

I hope that you've all been well and I wish you all the best for the week ahead! Hope you drop by later in the week for my yarn stash tour! I'll try to make it as colourful as possible!
Thank you for reading my blog and for those that comment, thank you for taking the time! I appreciate it, even a quick glance means the world to me!

Take care!
♥

We all have our limits!

I think I finally reached my limit. After a week of early mornings, days spent constantly on my feet & a week full of cooking, cleaning, crocheting, exercising, reading and everything else, my body has finally told me it's had enough! So this weekend I am planning on seriously relaxing and for that reason I'm going to keep my blog post simple. More photos than writing which I am sure everyone prefers!

So, this week....

I started reading Divergent. It's seriously addictive. I ♥ it & highly recommend it! I feel like I've finally found the book I've been searching for over the past few months!

I crocheted a bit more of the Rainbow rug that I mentioned here & here and a bit more of the Skull shawl that I mentioned here. I'm finishing off old projects (sort of) & starting new ones!

I finished the design for my dad's camouflage style blanket and started making the 775 squares (24 done 751 to go).

We looked after little Moe because he was still unwell. The colitis has stopped for now (we are keeping a close eye on what he eats) but he caught a cold so he's been moping around the house, burrowing under blankets, sneezing & sleeping all week. A few of the others seem to have picked it up as well but all seems well today (hopefully it's all passed).

As tired as we both were, we still went for a walk this week and it was lovely! The best part of the walk was smelling the wild garlic. It's so lovely!

Our regular visitors were busy feeding themselves. We had a dove that kept appearing in the garden & acting a bit odd. We think it was roosting & enjoying the sun!

Once my dad came home from work, the men went to town to do some shopping & I came along for the ride. I sat in the back & did some crochet. It was great to have some chill time!

I baked some bread and a chocolate cake. The chocolate cake was the simplest recipe ever. It's 240g of chocolate spread mixed with 4 eggs (whisked until they triple in size) and then baked in the oven for 30mins. It makes a flat cake but so yummy! My dad treated us to steaks (a luxury that we don't have very often) tonight & they were so lush! We had chocolate cake & ice-cream for dessert.

And lastly, we went outside for a little bit to enjoy the sun. Tabby disappears every time but the girls (Socks & Bella) just sunbathe in the garden so I get to photograph them. It was fun but we didn't stay out long as it was a bit too warm for them.

Ok, so that was my week. I've been getting up at 4am everyday (including Saturday) because my poor dad has been on the early shift & I've been making breakfast etc. So right now we are all exhausted and ready to get a good nights sleep & looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday! He's worked nearly 2 weeks without a weekend. He's pretty amazing but he seriously needs a break!

Take care all & best wishes for the week ahead!
♥

Scrappy Rainbow Ripple!

I started this back in February. Do you remember? At last! It's finished! Done! Complete! As I got near the finish line I encountered a few tiny issues. One was straightening the ripple top & bottom and the other was the border. I ran out of yarn! I honestly didn't expect that to happen seeing as how it's meant to be a ripple from 'scraps' but somehow even scrap projects always seem to result in the purchase of more yarn!

I honestly didn't know how this would turn out. I always keep stocked up on all Stylecraft Special DK yarn so I had a great selection of colours available. There were a lot of leftovers from previous projects but this was also about using colours I'd never tried before.

There were only 3 or 4 colours that I'd never used. Pale Rose, Pomegranate, Denim and Raspberry (I've used it once but never liked it). All the others are frequently in my stash. I also went for a different & maybe slightly unusual colour sequence and because of the inter-locking it worked. The border is pretty basic but it works nicely. I used a 3.5mm hook because I wanted the stitches to be tighter and my tension tends to be very loose.

Moe (who has had his eye on it since I started the ripple) didn't take long to claim it! He's very happy with his blanket. As mentioned in my previous post, he has been a little unwell and this week he's had a bit of a cold so the blanket has brought him a lot of comfort. He loves to snuggle into any/all of the crochet blankets (we have at least 8 out in various places regularly).

He wasn't overly happy about sharing it with Tabby (who has also had his eye on it)! There was a bit of a slapping match. Even though there are so many blankets in the house, a recently finished one is always the most popular. Even his brother, Vinnie, has tried the blanket out a few times!

We were so lucky to have a beautiful sunny day when I photographed the blanket. The sun added so much warmth to every photo which made me so happy. It's not a very big blanket. It's about 1.7m long and 1m wide but it's perfect for it's new home.

And here it is, in it's new home! It really adds so much colour, warmth & happiness to the lounge and to the chair that it will be covering. My rainbow granny square is on the sofa opposite it & together I know they'll bring me so much joy in winter! I've not listed all the colours I used but if anyone would like me to just let me know. ☺

Hope you've enjoyed my colourful post! I'll be posting my regular, weekly blog post tomorrow so hopefully I'll see you back here then!

Thank you for reading!
♥

*The pattern I used for my scrappy rainbow ripple can be found on the lovely Attic24 blog.

Life, always keeping us on our toes!

This little boy hasn't been very well this week. Yes, poor Moe had a (very expensive but he's worth it) trip to the vets on Tuesday. He gave us a rather nasty fright when we woke up and so our morning started with a mad panic. We were rushing around trying to sort out a cage and find out if the vet was even open (thank goodness it was). I'll spare you the gory details and just tell you that he is ok now. He's back to his usual naughty self. He has colitis (he's always had some issues) so we'll have to be careful what he eats in future otherwise it will be another expensive trip. ♥

These are a few things that made me happy this week. 

1. Blue skies! We had a few of them for a change. It was lovely and when it started to rain towards the end of the week, it was actually more relaxing than annoying. I love the smell of rain, especially after a week of warm weather.
2. The jewelry type thing on the right is an angel. I was given it last week by a lovely lady that stopped in where I volunteer. She said that all of life's heroes need an angel to watch over them. I was having a tough day & it really made me smile. ♥
3. I found some leaves in our garden in the shape of hearts. They are from our little rose bush that was grown from the stem of a shop bought rose that was given to me by my fiance a few years ago. We get about 2 or 3 roses a year from it. I'm keeping a close eye on it!
4. And lastly...I sneakily took a photo of my fiance. He was having some much needed rest. It's been a tough week (more so for my dad who worked two 14hr shifts with only 5hrs of sleep in between) but we've struggled through & there have been many happy moments to help. Our weeks are busy and sometimes it feels like our weekends are even busier. We're trying to find the balance but it's an uphill battle.

Drops Extra Fine Merino

Say hello to my new yarn stash! I couldn't resist. My order even arrived with a free gift from the lovely people at Wool Warehouse. I've been buying yarn from them for nearly a year now & they've never let me down. I honestly can't recommend them enough! I've had a lovely stash of DROPS Paris for a few years (bought when the label was black) but never used it because at the time it wasn't easy to purchase in the UK so I was waiting for the right project. I love DROPS yarn. They have a lovely range of yarns and at a decent price so I was overjoyed when I realised that my favourite shop (Wool Warehouse) were selling it. I've had my eye on the DROPS Extra Fine Merino for a long time so when it went on sale I knew I was going to purchase some as soon as I'd saved up enough money. I ordered one of every colour late Wednesday night, order arrived Friday afternoon, checked to see how they go together & then quickly ordered a second lot (with a few extras that I'll photograph next week) which arrived Saturday morning! See how fast they are? It's all going to be used to make a warm, snugly winter blanket.

(The blur on the left is Moe about to burrow into the blanket while I'm trying to photograph it)

The rainbow scrappy ripple is finally done! It would've been finished on Thursday if I hadn't run out of yarn halfway through the border. Thank goodness Wool Warehouse are so reliable otherwise I'd still be sitting here with an unfinished ripple! The colour I needed arrived with my DROPS order on Saturday morning. Isn't it funny how we almost always end up buying new yarn when making something from leftover scraps? 

I had planned on doing a separate post for the ripple earlier in the week but hit a few road blocks along the way (straightening a ripple is not easy & running out of yarn is not helpful either) so now it's going to have to be sometime this week. Maybe Monday?

Have you seen the neck warmer pattern over at Attic24? I've been itching to try it! Sunday was a lovely relaxed day so I sat down and gave it a go. It really is an easy pattern and keeps you lovely and warm but I think I'll put it away till winter. I'm planning to make another one with chunky yarn, using a different pattern I found. It can also be used as a hood. I will provide a link to the pattern when I post about it.

Friday was the best day of this week. I baked, relaxed, read a bit, had a cappuccino & started a new project. I am totally in love with this pattern at the moment! It's very popular right now & has been tempting me for a while. I found some King Cole Riot yarn in my stash and decided that this would be the perfect project for it!

At first it seemed really hard & I've never made anything like this before so a bit scary but once I got going it was easy! If I can do it, anyone can! I think I'll be spending my week working on this. Not sure how I'm going to block it but I'll figure that out when I get to that stage!

The birds are still very busy in our garden! Currently we have crows, the occasional ring-necked dove & a magpie visiting us. There are a few little birds as well but I can't remember what they're called. They've been enjoying bits of bread & seeded crackers. Can you see how close they are? I got some great photos this week. They sit right on the shed roof which is outside the kitchen window. The magpie likes to taunt me. He/she will sit on the shed roof and just stare so I'll grab my camera and as I go to take a photo, it flies off! If it had happened once I'd think it just got scared by movement but this happens regularly! Cheeky bird!

Moe & Vinnie....members of Bird Watchers Anonymous! Moe spends most of the day talking to them and Vinnie just watches. Can you see the photo of Vinnie scowling? I'm not sure why he was in such a bad mood! It couldn't possible be because of my camera ;) 

I'm not to sure why Moe's tongue is out....maybe he was thinking about having bird for dinner?

And because they all need their 5 minutes of fame...here is a collage of all of them & what they've been up to this week! The only one I didn't get a photo of this week was Bella so I'll have to make up for it next time.

So, this has been a very long blog post but thank you for reading (or just looking at the photos). I hope you've had a lovely week and I wish you all the best for the week ahead. Please stop by again in the week to see my Scrappy Rainbow Ripple post!

Take care

♥