Five on Friday.....treats!!

Hello

We've all seen these blog posts before - a parcel of yarny-goodness arrives which sends 

the  recipient into raptures! I'm happy to admit that I am one of those people, a ball
of yarn makes me very happy!

So, this is a bit of a warning, if you are not into yarn-filled parcels you may wish to 

finish reading now

So....this week I attended a 2-day course in Oxford, and I returned home on Wednesday 

evening to two parcels, yes two parcels. The first was a bit of an extravagant buy. I had 

seen the making bookzine on blogger and instagram posts and thought it looked great

but sadly I couldn't find anywhere in the UK with copies still in stock so I decided to 

buy a copy from the US. It arrived very promptly and beautifully packaged and it 

hasn't disappointed. It's one of those bookzines I can just browse numerous times, 

without even making anything from it! 

Making has some beautiful knitted, cross stitch, needle felting, sewing projects and even

 more...with, as you might expect, some beautiful photography. 

Two of my favourite projects are this cowl

and this cardigan and hat. 

I'll have to make sure that I am a bit quicker off the mark with hitting the 'buy'

 button when making no. 2 is published!

My second parcel was from Meadow Yarn. I have been eyeing this book Toasty volume 2 

by Rachel Coopey for some time offering a selection of gorgeous and fun patterns for hats, 

and the odd scarf and pair of mittens. 

I also bought 2 more skeins of Baa Ram Ewe's Titus yarn - this time shades Aire and Filey. 

And ooo, how lovely my new shades look with my Titus remnants, lots of ideas in my head. 

And looks my holiday knitting might almost be sorted.... but on the other hand there are 

some lovely new Titus shades just launched!

I'm joining in with Amy's Five on Friday - thank you for hosting Amy!

Are you expecting any parcels? It is fun to receive them isn't it? 

Have a good weekend. 

xXx

Five on Friday - garden

Hello

Well my 'Five on Friday' hosted by Amy at Love Made My Home follows a similar theme

 to Amy's, it's all about my garden but somehow mine doesn't feel quite so calm and

 ordered. In fact I originally considered titling this post "Five surprising things in my garden" 

but managed to find some 'neater' photos in the end to balance out this post.

 So here goes. 

One: Balls, all 58!!

Two children love sports, especially football, and our garden is always littered with balls. 

Every so often I have a round-up. I did this last weekend and managed to fill 2 old dustbins 

with 58 balls including table tennis, tennis, golf, soft, hockey, lacrosse and 

of course, footballs! We get through so many footballs we buy them in bulk!

"Doubtless I will find more balls once I get on with the weeding" 

(she says shyly, see photo 3)

Two: Bedding plants in flowerpots!!

"Bedding plants in flower pots? What's so special about that?" you might ask. 

Well, it is quite a few years since I have put flowers in pots, and the reason is because of 

photo 1 above. Yes, balls! With so many balls flying around the garden my bedding plants 

were frequently dead-headed whether they were ready to be dead-headed or not! 

In fact, dead-stalked would probably be a better description. I did point out to daughter 

that I'd planted flowers in pots this year and that I was hoping that as she is now 17 she 

should be a better shot and could thus avoid my pots! Only time will tell, and my 

flowers have the long summer holiday to survive yet when 2 more young people will 

be back home from University and playing ball games in the garden. 

"Take cover plants!"

Three: (weeds)

Yes, I mention that word quietly. 

Life has been pretty busy bringing up children and 

working so the garden has been neglected over the last few years. But both sons are now 

at University, and daughter passed her driving test a few weeks ago and has suddenly 

become very independent, in fact I feel she has grown a whole 12 months in just one day!

So, sadly, we do have more free time and I think I have 

probably done more gardening already this year than I have in the last 5! 

But this bit of garden at the bottom is one part that I have yet to tackle and I have 

decided that I want to start again with it. 

However, I did think the bluebells looked pretty against the ornamental grasses 

(for 'ornamental grasses' read 'weeds'). 

Four: More balls, ball games

Daughter is revising for AS-levels and so spends many hours sat at a desk. This is quite 

challenging when you are someone who likes being active. Every so often we take her

 outside and throw a few balls for her to catch, and as you can see she thoroughly enjoys

 this and literally throws herself into the activity!

Five: Matching the bluebells 

I have just started knitting my next pair of socks, and I think this might be my

 favourite colourway yet: Regia design line Kaffe Fasset "Frost". 

This was one that I was so tempted to buy some months ago and 

eventually gave into the urge and I am so pleased I did - it was definitely the 

right decision. In fact, I'm thinking of purchasing more yarn to knit gloves and a scarf, 

not that I am intending to wear them all at the same time. 

Please head over to Amy's blog. Thank you to Amy for hosting "Five on Friday"

Wishing you a good weekend - and where has the sun gone?? 

xXx

Five on Friday....London

Hello

Once again I'm joining in with Amy's Five on Friday - please do visit her 

blog 'Love Made My Home' if you haven't yet, but I think lots of us know 

Amy and her blog already!  

So my Five on Friday is all about last Friday - the best day of the Easter weekend for us 

in terms of the weather forecast. Planning ahead I decided that Good Friday was the day 

for our planned day trip. It was a one-day break from revision for the young people from 

AS levels and University exams. 

At 7.44 am we boarded a deserted train to London. Once in London we headed for the 

Docklands Light Railway to make our way to Greenwich Park and more specifically to 

the Royal Observatory.

And here we are on the Meridian Line. Arriving at a relatively early hour it was still fairly 

quiet but there were still plenty of shadows. We then visited the Planetarium for a very

 interesting talk on identifying the more common stars and constellations. 

It was my first visit to Greenwich Park. The views from the Observatory over London and 

the Thames were stunning, especially in the spring sun. 

From Greenwich Park we walked to Greenwich village, home of the Cutty Sark.  

There was a great atmosphere in Greenwich, it felt almost like a carnival with the carousel, the food stalls, the pub and cafes around the Cutty Sark. And always that blue sky....

Back on the Docklands Light Railway we caught glimpses of restored docks and 

smart new apartments blocks built into old warehouses yet retaining the dockside old 

cranes for loading boats.  

A visit to London for me is hardly complete without a walk along the Thames.

And we finished the day with a meal at Pizza Express opposite St Paul's Cathedral.

 The sun accentuated the architectural details of the Cathedral. 

PS I'm finishing off with 2 sneaky extras photos:

my glorious pizza...

....and very welcome beer!

Sorry for cheating with 2 extra photos, but a great day with the family!

Have a great weekend

xXx

Five on Friday

Hello,

I'm delighted to be joining in with Amy's Five on Friday. 

I'm keeping this simple. Five photos and a few words.

The sun broke through the early thick fog to reveal a beautiful day. It was just too lovely 

to stay indoors so husband and I ventured out for a walk, heading for the wood at the 

back of our house. 

After trudging along the very mud path which mostly follows the perimeter of the wood we 

headed out towards the university playing fields. The groundsmen were out aerating the 

football pitches. The pitches are always immaculate.

After coffee in the cafe at the business park, we headed home, taking yet another

 photo of these gorgeous daffodils....

 past the water....

and back into the wood, almost home. 

Hope you enjoyed that walk. 

Thank you Amy at love made my home for hosting Five on Friday. 

Please head over to Amy's blog and see more Five on Friday's.  

Best wishes

xXx