My cottage by the sea and still Felix!

Hello, well, after completing two knitted projects this week, yes two, I have gone back to knitting my own little bit of paradise by the sea.

I posted about this kit here.

My friend also bought this kit and completed her own little cottage long ago and it is so cute! Although she did say that sewing the roses round the door, or in other words, sewing on the beads, was a bit tricky so I'm not looking forward to that bit.

I am still reading The Map of Time by Felix J Palma. This is taking me a looong time, but only because I have been distracted by other events and so I just haven't been reading much recently.

Some nights I have been so tired that by the time I get to bed I don't even bother trying to read, instead I turn the light off immediately,

 and thankfully I am one of those people who can fall asleep within seconds! 

Joining with Ginny's yarn along.

**    Happy knitting    **

xXx

My shawl is nearly there!

Yay,  I've nearly finished my Sirdar Freya shawl. 

I haven't exclusively knitted my shawl this week - I have also added an inch or two to my socks.

As to my book, I'm still reading The Map of Time by Felix J Palma and 

I am about one third of the way through it. 

While I was really excited by this book when I started reading it, it isn't turning out quite as I was expecting and I'm not enjoying it quite so much. But having said that, it's an easy read and a bit different so I'm happy to continue with it.

Joining in again with Ginny's yarn along.

Happy knitting!

xXx

A warm September weekend saw me...

I do love that feeling on a Friday, around 5pm, when you know you have the whole weekend in front of you to look forward to. A whole two and more days of endless possibilities.

And this September has been so beautifully warm that this weekend, my Friday evening saw me....

 

... cutting back our Leylandii tree and discovering lots of footballs underneath. I am not a great 

fan of these hedges but it makes a good barrier between us and our neighbours and stops 

a few balls from going into their garden!

 ... hanging out the washing in the evening knowing that it will dry the next day 

(I've never worked out why I get such pleasure from hanging my washing out late in the day -

 I've even been known to hang it out in the dark!)

 

  ... enjoying a glass of Prosecco and a read of my book - for it to be warm enough to do this sat outside early evening in September is a rare bonus.

 ... watching the sun go down behind the trees at the end of the field.

 ... and Saturday was warm enough for me to wear shorts while watching daughter run 

the first cross country league race of the season.

 ... calling at a garden centre on the way home for a coffee and finding some treasures in their antiques barn including the pliers above that daughter fell in love with.

 ... and the basket I fell in love with,

 

 

... which I decided was ideal for my magazines and knitting. 

I LOVE the shape - tall and rectangular, a little bit unusual.

 

... making the most of the warm weather to catch up on some gardening.

I think I may start again with this overgrown corner. I'm not sure that it is possible to even

 work out what is going on in this corner.

 ... collecting a few things together for younger son's imminent departure to university.

.... this has also meant buying in a few supplies.

 Please note the bottle of bleach - I forgot to buy one for older son when he first went off 

to university and considering that they have en-suite facilities I soon learnt that I had 

made a grave omission, enough said!

I hope you had a good weekend

xXx

Yarning along on a sunny September day

Well thank you to everyone who commented on last week's yarn along post 

- your comments were lovely to read 

but I fear that you may all be expecting something spectacularly stunning to emerge from my yarn and needles and that you might find the end result disappointingly functional. 

I really hope that isn't the case. 

 Anyway, I have made good progress with my shawl during the last week. This is an easy knit, 

just plain old stocking stitch with the odd couple of rows of garter stitch 

thrown in to break up the plainness.

I took these photos in the garden - we are enjoying some beautiful sunny days here in the UK. 

The mornings have been misty and I love driving to work through a particular village where the mist lies low over the fields and at the time I am driving the sun is just poking above the mist, 

a huge orange orb.

And as for my book.... I have just started reading "The Map of Time" by Felix J Palma which, so far, I am enjoying very much but I think it will take me some time to finish as it is a loooong book.

Joining in with Ginny's yarn along. 

Best wishes

xXx

Yarn along: Queen Victoria and "brushed winter cotton"

I work in one of those frustrating offices which is stifling hot in the summer and cold, with chill breezes in the winter. So last year I knitted myself a shawl to keep at work and I LOVE it! It has been so useful, I just throw it over my shoulders when I'm sat at my desk and feeling cool, and throw it off again when I need to leave the office. 

So I then thought I would probably make good use of one at home too - I work at home quite regularly and it's easy to get cold when sat still at a desk working. 

The first shawl I knitted using Sirdar Freya in First Frost 851, a blue colour (as the name suggests!) I do enjoy knitting with this wool  - it is light to knit with, a bit fluffy and very warm. Sirdar describe it thus:

"Freya is Sirdar's beautifully soft, brushed winter cotton. This gorgeous yarn comes in a range of gentle tweedy colours." 

 So when I was in Filey last week and was browsing in a great craft shop there called The Beachcomber, it took me very little time to choose 4 more balls of Sirdar Freya for my next shawl, but this time I chose grey, Gosling 857.

I cast on last night. For my first shawl, I made up a simple pattern and as it resulted in a shawl I was happy with, I am following the same pattern. It is such a quick knit for me too. Perfect!

And as for my book, I am reading "Queen Victoria, her life and times 1819-1861" by 

Cecil Woodham-Smith which I am enjoying very much. 

Joining in once again with Ginny's yarn along. 

xXx

Ahhh......................

That is always the feeling I have when I see the sea..................

Living in the middle of the country means we have to commit to a minimum of a two-hour drive to reach a bit of coast (older son informed me only this week that we lived just 20 miles from the middle of England, although there is some debate about the exact location of the 'true' centre point of England). This is a drawback for someone like me who loves the sea, in all weathers.

This year we hadn't yet made one visit to the sea. We have found that as the children have got older, the holidays where we used to spend a week by the sea perhaps in Cornwall, or Dorset or Northumberland just don't hold quite the same attraction for them anymore but yet a short break to walk along the beach, eat ice creams and spend our coppers on the amusements was acceptable to all. So last week we spent one night at one of our favourite seaside resorts, Filey.

This is how Filey is described: The quaint seaside resort of Filey, positioned on the beautiful Yorkshire Coast, is the perfect place to stay for those looking for a peaceful and relaxing holiday.

Bursting with all the appeal of a traditional Edwardian coastal town, Filey offers a real sense of olde worlde charm. The 5 mile stretch of clean, sandy, award winning beaches are the ideal place to spend your afternoons."

Sounds ideal for us. I posted about a visit daughter and I made to Filey last year here.

On our first day, the weather was better than forecast so we spent several hours on the beach, reading, playing with a bat and ball, drinking tea from a flask,

eating ice creams .............

And I do love to go out for walk in the evening along the sea front,

especially at a time of the evening when normally, if we were at home, we would probably be indoors. 

Even daughter didn't complain about the walk .... ok, I'm kidding, she was on her skateboard, and given a helping-hand uphill by older brother!

Our second day started a bit grey and overcast.

A small purchase at the wool and needlework shop (The Beachcomber) brightened my day. This is such a great shop packed with all sorts of yarny and fabric goodies - and all at a very reasonable price. 

Then, a round of pitch and putt kept us amused for almost 2 hours!

More ice cream followed,

and paddling and sea glass hunting.

 I could spend hours watching the tide coming in.

But eventually, as the late afternoon light hit the cliffs on the north side of the bay, it was time for us to say goodbye to Filey once more.

 

Ahhh................

xXx