Time to have a break.........

I spent the last week thinking about how busy we are lately, how little free time & family time we have at the moment and how a few things desperately need to change! When I started my blog at the beginning of the year, I hadn't realised how hectic things would get! We haven't even had time to go for those walks I love so much!

With my to-do list growing longer, my current WIPs increasing, my dad's crazy work schedule, our September schedule looking chaotic, my fiancé's health up & down and our need for a healthier lifestyle gradually growing, I've decided to take a brief break from blogging until (hopefully) October. We've had a bit of bad luck thrown our way recently which hasn't helped much but I am remaining positive!

I've learnt something this year that has given me a different outlook on life! We should always try to find the positive in the negative. Try to find something everyday to feel positive about no matter how rough that day might be! Even if it's something small like cooking a yummy dinner! Negativity is so draining! I spent a lot of my life being negative. I've always been a pessimist but this year I am working hard to be an optimist! Ok, that's as insightful as I'm going to get!

So, with a bit of luck I'll be back with plenty to share by October! Cat's included! 

Hopefully you won't miss me too much! ☺

But for now, take care lovelies! I'll leave you with this photo taken on my dad's birthday, December 2012 at one of my favourite places....The Mumbles Pier! 

♥

PS: My Oupa (grandad) turned 80 on the 29th of August! The best part of my week was getting to speak to him & my Ouma (grandma) for the first time in ages! ♥♥♥

A Bank Holiday Post

It's a Bank Holiday Monday here & I've been up since 6am. My poor dad still has to work so it's only fair that I get up early to welcome him home with a hot cup of coffee & some breakfast. It helps that I'm a big fan of early mornings! My dad is pretty awesome. He was at work till 6am, came home, had some tea & breakfast, had a few hours sleep & then got up and went to the shops to get a few odds & ends and surprised us with a teatime treat! 

I've been crocheting like crazy lately. I've only got till the end of September to get my 2 large crochet projects done & then I'll need to start preparing things for the Arts & Crafts Fayre. The 2 large WIPs are my dad's camo blanket & a gift (also a blanket) which I can't say too much about at the moment. Both are coming along nicely but they are certainly chewing up my time!

Two of our lovely cats have developed a habit lately of waking us up as early as possible! Soetie (the black fluffy one) and Tabby (it's in the name really) have decided that anytime after 5am is perfect for a bit of attention! I disagree slightly...7am would be better at weekends if you don't mind! I managed to squeeze in a photo of Bella, Socks (being crazy & playful as usual) & Munchkin. Bella put a big smile on my face this week when I saw her climbing onto the chair & getting ready for a nap. I've finally managed to get her to sleep on the chair with the blanket rather than on the cold floor! Yay! The cats are great at letting you know that it's getting colder. They hog all the blankets & Munchkin starts looking for humans to snuggle up to! 

☺

And lastly...I have been doing plenty of baking lately. Well, I say baking but it's more like experimenting. See, there is nothing nicer than a hot pudding/cake/cookie etc in winter with a lovely hot coffee or cappuccino so I've been experimenting with all these microwave recipes out there. I have one chocolate cake one that is my all time favourite! It's not eggy, spongy or rubbery! It's perfectly chocolately, like a giant brownie in a mug! I'll try to remember to post it sometime! I found a lemon one that I've not tried yet and I've tried loads of cookie ones but none have been successful! Got any to recommend?
While I was experimenting with cakes & cookies, my dad mentioned that he'd rather have something savoury. So off I went to the kitchen to bake some spicey cheese muffins! That was lunch! Yesterday, I made pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast! We don't have them too often because the maple syrup is pretty pricey!
I'm getting back into my baking & cooking again. I think it's because it's cooled down a bit!
☺

Ok, that's it from me this week. Short & sweet! It's been a hectic & very unlucky week (I might share that story with you one day) to start with but we've all kept that smile on our faces hoping that September will be a better month! Take care all & hope you have a lovely week!
See you next week!
♥

PS: If you have any issues viewing my blog please let me know. I've changed a few things & will be fiddling with it over the next few days!

Birthdays, family & fun times!

I'd like to start this blog post by wishing my fiancé a Belated Happy Birthday on my blog! I didn't get round to posting on the day because we were so busy. It was a lovely day & I've got plenty to share! This was the 10th birthday (of his) that we've spent together! He means the absolute world to me ♥

I'm playing catch-up with everything at the moment! I've finally caught up on the washing (sort of) and cleaning (though I keep finding more things that need to be done) but everything else is way behind schedule. I'm a bit snowed under at the moment! I'm behind on all my crochet projects and still have to start putting some ideas together for the Arts & Crafts Fair. Too much time spent procrastinating and not enough time spent crocheting & organising! I keep getting distracted & finding other things to do. Yesterday I decided to bake some almond cupcakes even though I knew I had a full schedule! Priorities! Priorities! Priorities! I need to focus!
☺
We've also had my fiance's parents visiting so I've not had much time to do my usual blog post & am a week behind but I will try to keep this post short & catch you up on everything we've been up to.
PS: That's the woodpecker that keeps visiting us!

Minion! So my wonderful fiancé spotted this pattern a few weeks ago when I was browsing the internet & decided he'd love one for his birthday! Fast forward to a week & a bit ago...there was me sat at the laptop, crochet hook in hand, putting together this nightmare of a project. The tutorial is excellent and probably the best I've seen but I've never done much amigurumi so this was hard work for me! This was 3 days worth of hard work. I was up at 6am everyday and not getting to bed till 3am & was having to squeeze minion time in whenever I could. The things we do for the people we love! ♥ Never again! (I say that now but he'll probably have me making something else before the end of the year!). We watched Despicable Me 1 & 2 recently & they're just awesome! Absolutely enjoyed every minute!

I baked a cake or two! I don't really do cakes. They never come out right and I'm no good at icing them. My lovely man wanted me to bake him a chocolate cake so I gave it a go. It was just a basic (easy peasy) chocolate cake recipe. I even lined the tins this time which is something I've never done! More on the cake further down......

Please excuse the lack of a shirt...it was early in the morning & this is the only photo I have of him with the Minion! He finally got to meet his Minion! I think he likes him. They'll get along just fine. It was all smiles on his birthday. He was very spoilt and it was a very enjoyable day. Look at that lovely smile ♥ says it all really!

My dad has been on leave for the last week & my fiancé's parents arrived the Thursday just before to spend the week with us. His parents treated us to lunch at his favourite eating place...Taybarns! We all had a great time! Lots of laughs & too much to eat! Unlimited cappuccinos (my kind of heaven)! The weather was lovely. I got everyone to pose for our traditional photo on the bicycle stands. We've been doing this over the past few years and it's really interesting to look back at.
My dad made a lovely roast dinner for us the following day & a delicious Trifle. I think we definitely overindulged but it was thoroughly enjoyed!

And the end result of the cake! I decided to keep them as two separate cakes. We ate one the day before with some ice-cream & chocolate sauce and we ate the other one on his birthday. The icing is just chocolate cream cheese but it did the job! His dad helped me decorate it. It's not perfect but it was made with love & that makes it special! ♥
Delicious with a bit of cream! The birthday boy loved it.

Of course the cats always find their way onto my blog! Our little furbabies aren't the most sociable creatures. They spent most of their time hiding, shouting at our visitors or sleeping. As far as they're concerned, they rule the house! They can be pretty demanding at times. Tabby got some outdoors time so he was happy. Everyone else was content to stay indoors!

On their last day with us (an hour before their train was due) we were treated to a snack at our favourite cafe...NRG. Nothing compares to this awesome cafe! My fiancé's mother is as much a fan of this cafe as I am! I had a Cafe Creme Brulee, she had a Baileys Latte, my dad had a Espresso Macchiato & my OH had a delicious strawberry milkshake! Of course we had to have a treat to go with it! Strawberry tarts & caramel shortbreads! Yum, yum, yummy! This is the same place we went to for my birthday meal earlier in the year.
We took a slow walk to the station & then said our goodbyes. We had a lovely week with them. It'll be a year now before his mom visits again but we'll be seeing his dad again in October!
☺

Now that our visitors have gone home, life must slowly go back to normal. Easier said than done! We've managed to get a fair bit done though. We bought some lampshades and my dad put them up yesterday. They add a lovely bit of colour to each room. I finally got round to ordering some new bedding that will be here on Tuesday & winter curtains. Normal routines shall resume tomorrow morning, starting with a 4am start! Now if I only I could catch up with my crochet!

I think that's everything! I hope you've enjoyed my little catch-up with you & hope you are all well. I'm off to catch-up on some of my favourite blogs! Wishing you all the best for the week ahead. Hopefully I will see you back here next Sunday!
Take care!
♥

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! ☺

Think of this as a placeholder!

I'm running behind on things today. It's been a full week & weekend. Actually, so far, it's been a full & hectic month and I've spent most of it feeling extremely overwhelmed! I'm hoping that things will slow down in July because August is going to be crazy! In fact, it's quite possible that the next 6 months are going to be crazy and possibly not in a good way but I will try my hardest to stay positive because negativity drains energy and I'm going to need all the energy I can get and also because I promised to keep this blog light & happy and I plan on sticking to that! ☺

I had planned on doing two posts this week. One about some books that I think are worth mentioning and another about my yarn stash and although everything is prepared, it's not in anyway ready to be posted! I'm trying to get the house into order and it's getting there slowly. If you remember, it was on my to-do list and it's on its way to being complete (almost). So hopefully, I'll have plenty to post this week and by next weekend normal blog posting should resume!

For now I shall leave you with this photo taken last year on our way back from Brecon. Isn't it a stunning view?

I'm off to put my feet up, crochet and watch some t.v. for a change with my lovely fiance and father!

 I hope you are all well and wish you all the best for the week ahead.

Take care

♥

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!
♥

Happy Father's Day!

It's father's day today so I've been busy spoiling my dad because, well, he deserves it! I wanted to share the card I made for him with you all because he's so amazing and I just want the whole world to know! I'm lucky to have such a wonderful dad.

I also want to say a Happy Father's Day to all the other amazing dads out there! 

I shall do my regular blogpost later this week! I've got a few goodies to share with you but have to wait for them to arrive first! 

Take care lovelies!

x