Pretty Granny Squares

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Hurray! I’ve finally managed to fit in some time to do a little bit of hooky stuff.

I’ve been playing around with crochet for a while now, having pretty much taught myself from various books, online clips and tutorials. As you may have seen if you’ve visited my facebook page, I can make things (I’ve mostly been experimenting with flowers & hairbands which have got progressively neater), but I’m very definitely still in the beginner stage. Or so I thought…

I decided I’d had enough of faffing about, and, whilst I’ve already got plenty of half finished projects on the go at the minute, I wanted to add a ‘proper’ crochet project into the mix. Something I can work on over time and that will produce a lovely useable item at the end.

Originally linked from The Knitting Shed

I’d seen this image on Pinterest and realised it came from a book I already have in my extensive craft library – Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench - BUT, when I went to look for the pattern it was under the skill heading ‘enthusiast’ near the back of the book i.e. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY! Oh pooh.

‘Ah well,’ I thought, ‘I’m enthusiastic, I’m going to give it a go.’ (Whilst simultaneously thinking ‘Sod it, this could become hideously demoralising!!’) I like a challenge me.
Guess what, though? I CAN do it! and I’m REALLY enjoying it. Here’s my first two little flower squares…
Not bad for a beginner methinks (although perhaps the book sets the projects higher so I can feel better?)

Anyway, watch this space for updates on my mission to create something lovely.

Thanks for joining me at this hooky beginning ♥

(PS If you’re a beginner or experienced crochet-er, I highly recommend Nicki Trench’s book – it has some lovely projects and actually, I tell a lie; aside from flowers & hairbands, in the early days I did make a caffetiere cosy for my Dad from this book - it’s got wonky edges but I liked it because I made it. Told you I liked a challenge x)

In Photo – A Family Visit

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We had a visit to my Mum’s last weekend, including a drop in to visit my brother & his partner’s new house. I’m very chuffed on their behalf – it’s a perfic home for them. We took my Grandma too. That’s four generations in one place – I’m always pretty impressed with this.

I decided to try to record as much as possible in photos – a sort of ‘a day in the life’ if you will, but I couldn’t resist adding a little commentry…

Boo – “Wake Up!!”
Us – “Urnngghfff”

Rush Rush. Out. Drive. Arrive! Take a tour. Ooo and Aah over house with a cuppa. Boo meets Little dog (new bestie!) and Big dog (bit bouncy), and bumps head on kitchen island – Bro attempts retrospective child proofing by selotaping oven glove over corner – Bless!

Nice little walk to church ruin. Family group shot wasn’t planned to be in height order but I’m chuckling to myself noticing it now! Lovely to see Bro & the Bear bonding :0) Back for Lunch (during which the boys made me laugh whilst drinking and I proceeded to elegantly snort liquid out of my nose. Hurriedly left the room in fits of giggles to come back to a very red faced, teary eyed giggling family – glad I can be such a source of amusement! Topic of conversation – the pronouncement of ‘Woburn’ (Woo or Woe?). Led to such comments as ‘How WOO-d’ and ‘oh yes, Terry WOO-gan’ – yes, we know – it’s a family thing!)
Aunty S provides the entertainment while we put our feet up…literally – excellent child care service here (once baby proofed!). Boys compare size of phones (why?!) Big Dog disappears  through back hedge and leads Bro on a merry six mile chase in the middle of G’ma’s tour of the garden. Garden tour suspended. Puffed out Bro and Aunty S return with unabashed Big dog.  Friends due and recovery time needed for the young couple. Goodbyes and home. Happy *sigh* over a lovely day.
Sunday – Lovely lazy day. Made Egg & Bacon cups for brunch. Visited Bluebell Wood (further post to come), good deeds done rescuing mud stuck drivers, ice-cream for the Bear, and stopped by the canal for a bit of boat watching. Mum made awesome Tartiflette (reminiscing over Ski holiday), then we packed up and headed back to the currently not-so sunny South-Coast. Bigger happy *sigh* over a lovely weekend. I miss my Mum everyday. Thank goodness for weekends like these.

Thanks for joining ♥

The Perfect Boiled Egg

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I’d forgotten just how yummy a perfectly boiled egg is until fairly recently – I’d stopped making them for me ages ago as I always seemed to over cook them so there was no runny yolk for soldier dipping (which I always found incredibly disappointing!), but in bids to find something new the Bear would eat, I took it upon myself to perfect my technique…

♥ Discovery Number One – Keep eggs at room temp. (I used to keep mine in the fridge but I’ve found they work better for boiling and cake making at room temp.)

♥ Discovery Number Two – Punch the top of the egg (with a pin or egg piercer like this)

♥ Discovery Number Three – Use medium-large eggs. And yes, farm fresh really do taste better (quite unbelievably so) and are often cheaper if you can find them locally.

Method

♥ Get the water boiling and put the pierced egg/s into the water with a spoon.
♥ Lower the temp so the water is simmering nicely and set a timer for 5 minutes.
♥ Make your toast whilst the eggs are cooking with lots of butter & cut into soldiers.
♥ Once the timer pings; empty out the boiled water and refill the pan with cold water then remove the eggs and dry. Pop in your egg cup with the soldiers on the side.

YUM! plenty of runny yolk for dipping and a perfect quick lunch done. Even the Bear loves boiled eggs now (I draw a smiley face on hers and we call it Humpty Dumpty!)

Thanks for joining me ♥

Marbled Eggs

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This was a project suggested by Boo’s Aunty A for Easter, but it was so cool and a nice way to use natural materials that I kind of think it could be used any time of year…We used this tutorial by Jo Romero.

You will need:
♥ Raw Eggs – the lighter the shell, the better the effect
♥ Onion Skins – we used brown onions
♥ Food Colouring
♥ Elastic Bands

Onion skins were soaked in boiled water for around 1 minute…

Grandpa’s laccy band collection came in handy…wrap the onion skins around the eggs and secure with elastic bands – it feels abit cack handed but it works…promise

Whilst the eggs were boiled for 8-10 minutes, someone got a little distracted by her favourite furry friends…

The eggs were unwrapped and dipped in food colouring. We used natural food dye from Waitrose but it did need a little experimenting and we ended up using it neat straight onto the eggs to get a good colour. We had very bright finger tips this Easter!

A proud little egg marbler…though I have to say; us grown-ups had just as much fun!

Pretty Pretty Eggs

I loved the effectiveness of this project and even the un-dyed ones were so pretty. Boo was fascinated with them. The egg inside will be edible but must be eaten within a few hours unless refrigerated.

Thanks for joining us ♥

March Madness

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Phew! Where the heck did March go! And how did April get this far already?! I’ve been feeling incredibly guilty in my lack of updating of my blog but I have to admit, it’s just been manic. I quite literally feel like I’ve been on a roller coaster this last month or so, so I thought I’d catch things up a little and try to pick things up a little more regularly…

We had our first ski adventure with the Bear at the end of Feb. (her’s, not our’s), which, overall, was a lovely break away; super sunny weather and good snow, a full week with la famille, excellent grub, tobogganing & even an evening of hundreds of sky lanterns (sooooo beautiful in the starlit snowy sky!) – if you’re a snow bunny, what more could you ask for? but ski-school did NOT go down well with the weenie one! I think I managed to turn it around with a little (thigh achingly KILLER snowploughed!!) run down with Mama, during which “I’m a little teapot” was sung at full belt and lots of “wheeeee I’m skiing!!!” was shouted! Erstwhile I was thinking ‘this might have been a baaaaad idea…this hurts…we’re not even half way yet’!!!! I don’t profess to be an awesome skier, but I’ve not snowploughed since the age of 12 and BOY does it hurt!! We had fun though and the pain was worth it.

Once we’d returned and recovered from the unpacking and washing and getting back into the routines of home, I had a number of missions to complete…

First up was Book Club. We’d been reading ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ which was the second time for me, and I’d mistakenly watched the film part way through to remind myself of it, just in case I didn’t get it finished – such a disappointment – but fortunately, I did manage to get it finished just in the nick of time. Anyway, full review here, but, in addition to the usual nibbles, I was also determined that I wanted to make a book themed cake (why, oh, why do I do these things to myself?!) so I had to squeeze that in around various other things and the fact that the gathering was a mere four days after our return home – presh-sure!

But, as you can see, I got it done, and was pretty chuffed with myself. I used the Victoria Sponge recipe from ‘The Great British Bake-Off’, (I swapped any dairy produce for soya as one of the girls has a little one with dairy intolerance. Worked fine. Just remember to use the unsweetened variety). I used ready to roll icing in white and added some blue food colouring to some to make the waves, & the decorations were made from book pages inspired by various images from Pinterest. You can find out how to make the flower here.

Next up, I’d decided to finally sort through the 2 years worth of Boo’s clothes, toys, shoes & baby stuff, and planned to hold abit of a girl’s night with friends who are either having, or have, little girlies, plus a few other lovely lady friends. Uuuummmm, I hadn’t realised quite how much there was & how long it would take me to sort!!

In between the sorting and trying to stay on top of everything, we had a visit to my cousin’s which had been planned for ages and which I was really looking forward to. We had such a nice day featuring my first visit to Hampton Court – it was a relaxing and welcome break from the declutttering…
Then it was back to it and…anyway, long story short, it all got sorted, I made a pretty awesome chocolate malteser cake (Betty Crocker‘s Devil’s Food Cake & Icing covered with five packs of maltesers – it was goooood!), and a lovely non-alcofrolic cocktail of lemonade, apple and grape juice with blueberries, lemon & mint, making good use of my JME drink up barrel. We had a nice evening nattering, the girl’s each happily got a large bag of suitably sized clothing, I got some funds to top up the Bear’s spring wardrobe following a bit of growth, and I also have some more room in our teeny tiny loft space to refill…

The day after happened to be my birthday, which was pretty chilled out. I was working, but was greeted first thing by the loveliest smiles, cuddles and “Happy Birthday, Mummy!” from the Bear (the first time she’s really ‘got’ other people’s birthdays). I had a lunchtime visit from S & Little Miss, who brought me a delicious cupcake; was gifted the ultimate girlie kitchen dream by D (and no, I don’t usually get such extravagant gifts – he’s feeling guilty about the purchase of windsurfing kit, but hey, who am I to argue?!), plus funds from family to get some of the bits I’d been lusting after from Pinterest; got (& watched immediately following a none too polite ushering out of guests post dinner!) Twilight-Breaking Dawn (looove IT!); and a had a yummy dinner with D,S&T (said ushered out guests – fortunately, they get it :0)!). I felt like a very lucky girlie…

So, next up came Mother’s Day. This one didn’t go quite to plan (which was that I was taking Boo out for the morning so D could get a break and then he was due to take her swimming followed by dinner for all at Pizza Express – the Bear’s fav. – so I got some ‘me’ time too). On the return from our outing though, the Bear was suddenly sick, poor little mite, although she was fortunately completely unfazed by it, so we tucked her up and got DVD’s & Pizza in instead, which actually did work out quite nicely since I got to spend the afternoon snuggling and giggling at ‘Despicable Me’ & ‘Hop’ with the Bear (she doesn’t normally last a whole film, let alone two!). I did seem to end up doing alot of the caring & cleaning up and had to go & get and cook tea though, so I was sulking abit, after all, it was Mother’s Day, but it’s all part of the package I guess! Eventually, D decided to mention that he had sorted a subscription to my beloved ‘Mollie Makes’ magazine for which he got major points although somewhat subtracted by the belated and off-hand delivery of the announcement! I guess you can’t have it all, but I don’t really do that badly do I!
By this point though, I was also starting to feel pretty trashed with so much going on. Boo’s social life has been equally busy with various playdates so MMwM has been sidelined somewhat of late, which I’ve been really missing, Nana was away for a week so I was juggling work and sorting childcare, and the house was becoming such a muddle, abit like my state of mind. Thank goodness for that lovely sunny weather that arrived. Although I was feeling guilty that I’d not blogged for a while and I had serious itchy fingers for crafty stuff, I wanted to get out & make the most of the weather, so we tidied up the garden, spent some time planting out new bits & bobs (including a gorgeous Magnolia – Boo’s birthday present for Mama, and a pink hydrangea, also for my birthday from friends), and had our first BBQ of the year…in March…I would never have believed it!
Shortly after this though, we got the sad, if not unexpected, news that my grandmother was in decline. This was a particularly stressful week for me as, having visited just before our holiday and her being in pretty good spirits all things considered, I was unsure whether or not to visit now. I don’t really want to go into all the reasons behind this right now; another story for another day, but what I will say is massive thanks to CF & CF (they will know who they are), and to my brother, who held my hand in a really rough week and whose words made me strong enough to go. My visit was the day before she died. It was hard and sad, but I’m so glad I went: for me, for her, for my family.

Aside from family, aren’t friends just the best at times like this? The weather was still beautiful (which I found comforting in an odd way, I know we generally feel better in the sunshine, but I felt like the sun was somehow for grandma, particularly with the Dafs looking so pretty (her name)). The Bear and I went for a long walk with S & Little Miss and ended up at the Littlehampton Long Bench which, as the longest bench in Britain is pretty cool. I say walk, but the Bear expertly scooted alot of the way there with a stint in the pushchair towards the end which is not surprising as we walked about 6.5 miles! We love her Micro Scooter.
And there we are. I think this one’s wordy enough so I’ll catch up with Easter another time and leave you with what I did manage to get done on the crafty side, one finished and one in progress…I’m hoping to sell crochet hair slides like this at some point – what do you think?
 Thanks for joining me again ♥

Writer’s Bloc

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Hello lovely Peeps! Long no write for which I heartily apologise…

I’ve been partly struggling with a little ‘writer’s block’, but also, life has been busy busy busy:

Among other things, we’ve had a holiday (ski-ing); a birthday (mine-yippee!); Mother’s Day – aka sick child day :0( – family time (just for us); playdates (Boo’s social life is busier than mine right now!); school visits (investigating possibilites for the Bear); dinners with friends (LOVE), gorgeous weather (so spending plenty of time out in the garden); family visits, work (the day job); trying to stay on top of the housekeeping (thank goodness for our recently acquired ‘dust angel’ – my fabulous friend who has taken on the task of keeping me sane on this front – I LOVE her!); Book Club (my turn to host); sort and sale of 2yrs worth of the weenie one’s wardrobe (why oh why did I hoard all that?!); Easter; immunisations and very much not least, sadly, the passing of my amazing Grandmother.

It’s been a roller coaster month & a half with alot going on & alot of emotions. Some sad, most happy. Altogether, somewhat exhausting. In between all this, I’ve been desperately trying to carve out a little time for stitching & crafting which has been incredibly frustrating (if you remember from this post, this is something that helps enormously when I feel like I’m drowning, but is often the last thing I find time to do), and worrying that I’ve not been blogging (a self imposed additional pressure). So, I’ve been trying to remember this and tone down the pressure I’m applying:
I have a number of draft posts in ‘catch up’, but in the meantime I did feel the need to try to explain myself in some way in between.

So my dear friends, I’m still here, pottering on, and I hope to be back on blogging form very soon. Just in case you’re looking for some blogging inspiration yourself, here’s some great articles on dealing with a blogging rut from Campfire Chic.

Thanks for joining me ♥

 

{this moment} grandma

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Life Beyond © Sue Walkinshaw (adapted for Grandma)

Entering the land of God’s good grace, she feels the warmth upon her face. 
Friends and loved ones gone before, waiting there beyond the door.
With open arms they welcome her here, a ready glass of Champagne Kier.
They look so well and at their best, beauty beholds them now they rest.

She walks across the grass so green, the greenest grass she’s ever seen,
She jumps and skips, bounces on air, it’s almost as though there’s nothing there.
A sky of blue, no cloud in sight, perpetual day, no darkest night.
The bluetits sing, every flower in full bloom, rainbow colours forbidding gloom.

The streams and rivers crystal clear, no rubbish nor decay found here.
The sea is calm and turquoise blue, she longs to test it, wouldn’t you?
The softest sand beneath her feet, a game of boule, what a treat!
The warmest waters gently flow, bathing her from head to toe.

An city of alabaster walls, translucent light illuminates the halls.
Theaters of music and concerts too, magnificent galleries for all to view.
Amazing sights for her to see,  she wanders in, no entrance fee.
Libraries stacked with books galore, history, science, Beatrix Potter & more.

The celestial sun forever shines, a perfect temperature all the time.
Orchards overflow with fruit, exquisite tastes from stem to root.
Raspberries, Rhubarb, no need to store, no bugs, birds or bunnies so there’s plenty more.
This ethereal plain is pure delight, back home with Grandpa, she soars like a kite.

There is nothing here to cause her fear, the lord protects within his sphere.
An infinity of perfect peace, from the toils of earth she is now released.
She has landed on a higher realm, in perfect harmony to forever dwell.
So believe when I tell you dear friends, she does not die, her spirit transcends.

At the grand old age of 95, my grandmother recently passed away. She died peacefully in hospital at the end of March following a stroke just before Christmas and a gradual decline in her overall health. Her memorial celebration was held on Friday and was the perfect send off for an awesome woman. I am incredibly sad that her era has come to an end, but relieved that she will be in peace and with my grandfather again.

Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother, Friend, Family. She is all these things and so, so much more. In our family, she will always be a legend, she will be greatly missed and so fondly remembered.

Here’s to you G’ma. I Love you ♥

Book Club – March 2012

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“Eva never really wanted to be a mother; certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who tried to befriend him. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood and Kevin’s horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her absent husband, Franklyn. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.”

I’ve been delaying this post on Book Club as I had postponed my reading of ‘The Slap’ (mentioned in this post) in order to read ‘Kevin’ and had wanted to write about both, but, forty pages from the end and I’m still not sure about it, so I thought I’d just get on with ‘Kevin’ for now…

This was my second read of ‘Kevin’, having read it some years ago pre-Bear. I found it a really interesting and thought-provoking read the first time and equally so the second, although I find it curious that, after having my own child, I found Eva slightly more irritating at times than I had the first time.

The big question of the book is really whether Kevin was born evil or whether his actions and attitude were an inevitable result of an unaffectionate mother (nature vs nurture). I’m not sure the book really answers this question. The instances Eva documents from his early childhood suggest nature, but in some of the instances later, I got the feeling of the actions being a reaction against her or to get her attention, be it an attempt to shock her, scare her, impress her…I’m not sure. The first time, I definitely felt Kevin was intrinsically evil, but the second, I did occasionally feel that he really just wanted something from Eva, but I’m not sure it’s as simple as the obvious thing; love. I also wondered about Eva’s documentation and interpretations of events in the early days. Did Eva have post-natal depression which disrupted her bonding with Kevin and led to the beginning of the differences between her & Franklin? Maybe. It is suggested so, but not really analysed in the focus of the tale of events that led to “Thursday”.

Another theme was the apportioning of blame. Eva was tried by the Mother of one the victims and also questions her own ‘blame’. There is also the question of Franklin’s part in events: in his refusal to trust or believe in Eva’s sight of who Kevin was, his encouragement of archery, and even down to how Eva felt about Kevin; a child whom she effectively conceived for Franklin (especially in direct comparison to her feelings for Celia and the moment she knew she wanted another child).

So was it nature or nurture and was Eva to blame? I’m not sure there has to be definitive answer either way. I didn’t feel that Eva was to blame, I do wonder though, had she buried her feelings deeper and played the actor to meet Franklin’s real ‘Dad-ness’, would things have been different, or would this have been equally wrong in Kevin’s eyes? Whilst Eva and Franklin both made mistakes, they could have never foreseen what their son would do and in the existing circumstances, I did feel that Kevin, in the end, was to blame-he was intelligent, shrewd and mean and made his own choices. I never felt any sympathy for Kevin, even as a small child.

Interestingly, we had some great conversation about this book, but I neglected to ask (and no-one volunteered to mention) until afterwards, whether they had actually enjoyed/liked ‘Kevin’. In general the answer was yes, although it was not a book most would have chosen themselves. Indeed, I first read it having been told ‘You must!’ numerous times by a friend who had just to stop her telling me I must! I’ve always been glad I did and, although it’s hard work initially, it’s definitely a page turner and you get swept into the events and the story the closer you get to ‘Thursday’, until the dramatic events unfold in full. I would still recommend ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ although I think perhaps part of the impact of the book is the twist that obviously is no shock on the second read, so it has dropped slightly on my personal list of favs.

As a slight aside, I watched the film which I had really been interested to see. I was highly disappointed, although those that have not read the book seemed to enjoy it. I can say little more than that really, although I did feel the actors were well chosen, Kevin and Eva in particular. It lacked some of the little tales that build up the history between Kevin and Eva and felt like a skimmed version.

Our next book is ‘A Tiny Bit Marvellous‘ by Dawn French which sounds like the antithesis to ‘Kevin’ and I’m quite looking forward to it…once I’ve finished ‘The Slap’!

Thanks for joining me ♥