This and that....

Hello

Well, August Bank Holiday was a bit of a let-down weather-wise wasn't it? I was eagerly looking forward to the odd hour or two sat in a chair in the garden soaking up the sun's rays but instead I spent quite a lot of time either standing under trees to shelter from the rain or quietly getting damp as I stood in drizzle!

Anyway, not one to let the weather deter me from getting the family out, we managed a variety of little trips. So here we go!

Our first outing was on Friday when my daughter and I cycled to our local-ish organic farm for lunch.

 It poured with rain on our way there so we stood sheltering from the rain for about 20 mins listening to music on her iphone. 

But boy! The wait was worth it - scrambled eggs on toast followed by scones, cream and jam!! 

Well, we had earnt it! We had cycled there AND we had the return journey in front of us too,

 so sustenance was needed!

The animals at the farm are adorable. 

Daughter would have happily taken the donkey home with us - he looks like he is smiling!

Saturday arrived, and with it, an afternoon with nothing special planned so we decided to make a visit to Newark-on-Trent, a place I have never visited but have passed through on the train and thought it looked interesting. 

The castle looks quite spectacular overlooking the river, although most of what is left is this façade. We saw two couples having their wedding photos taken here - the castle makes a stunning backdrop. 

Rather annoyingly I'd forgotten to take my camera with me so I took just a few photos on my phone. 

Locks are always so fascinating but sadly there were no boats passing through today. 

In the distance are old mills, evidence that Newark was once a major trading town. 

Prince Rupert stayed in the house above during the English Civil War.

It looks a bit incongruous to see Greggs in such a historical building....

So Sunday arrives, and daughter and I were out fairly early in the morning and we found ourselves without any money but a wish for a cup of tea, so a quick emergency phone call to home and shortly afterwards, two other members of the family met us at the local steam railway. 

A cup of tea was followed by a couple of games of Jenga. 

And just as those games finished, two steam trains arrived.

 

Again I'm using my phone to take photos so the quality isn't great, 

but you can just see the steam train leaving in the middle of the photo below. 

I love the solidness of the station buildings. 

And I think for most of us in the UK, the weather on Monday wasn't the type to attract us out of doors - a shame really when traditionally there are so many outdoor events organised for August Bank Holiday.

However, elder son made good use of his time at home by baking a cake.......

He calls it a giant Oreo. 

And I know he won't mind me saying this 

(considering that it came out of a packet, one he'd been given some time ago) 

it tasted surprisingly good!

I hope you a good weekend!

xXx

A seaside cottage....

Hello,

One of my dreams is to own a little cottage either by the sea or in an isolated location perhaps in the Peak District or on the west coast of Scotland, ideally with stunning views. 

This is just one of my many daydreams! 

So I got very excited recently when I am across a kit on the internet for knitting my own seaside cottage. This kit is sold by 'The Little Knit Kit Company' and what is great news, is that the kit is currently available to purchase in the sale. So it didn't take me to long to decided to order the kit and it arrived about two weeks, and what a delightful package! 

The kit is presented in a brown bag which in turn arrived wrapped in pink tissue paper with cute stickers on the outer packing. 

And inside the brown bag there is wool, needles, pattern, stuffing, felt, sewing thread, buttons and beads - in fact everything you need to complete the cottage!

 Here are some close up photos of how the cottage will look when complete. 

Look at the cute beads, as flowers, around the door - I think this will be trickiest bit of the kit. 

 So it wasn't long after the package arrived before I had the needles out and I started on my cottage.  

 This is the first wall under construction. The kit is easy to complete with knitting in garter stitch  and only simple shaping and sewing up to undertake. 

 Here we are a couple of weeks later with all four walls and the roof knitted, and the 

base is underway. 

 

This is a lovely kit - an enjoyable, easy knitting project.  

And with the Bank Holiday weekend here, it may not be too long before my own little dream cottage is complete!

Have a good weekend

xXx

On Thursday I bought.....

Last week Sue, from sweetpea family, made me smile because she wrote this post explaining how she nipped into John Lewis and ended up buying 40 balls of wool, too many to hide behind the sofa or under the bed!

I'm sure quite a few of us know exactly how Sue is feeling. So I thought I would write a little confession.

On Thursday I bought.......

Yes, this was my little haul from Hobbycraft. 

My nearest store is in the city about 20 miles from where I live but it is also in the city where I work. This could be bad news except for the fact that it is the other side of the city, so temptation is kept at bay - phew! 

But last Thursday I had to visit a different part of our campus on the way home. Now, to be completely honest, the campus I had to visit is only a short distance from where I work and I hardly have to make a detour from my usual route home to go there but because this visit had changed my whole routine ever so slightly AND because it is the school holidays and so I don't have a tight time schedule to stick to, I decided to drive over to the other side of the city and come home via Hobbycraft. Makes complete sense doesn't it?

And what a great little selection I bought - supplies for cross stitch, crochet, sewing and stationery! There, I've made my confession and boy, does it feel good!

(the only downside was that when I got home and showed my goodies to my daughter she said she would like to go - so I guess we'll just have to make a special trip sometime....oh dear, such a shame!!!

Have a good week

xXx

It's good to be back...in the kitchen

My goodness! Did I really just type those words "It's good to be back... in the kitchen"?

I do enjoy cooking, when I have the time, but I'm hoping that many of you can empathize with me when I say most weeks I churn out the same old, dinners - those tried, tested and quick ones that are particularly good when you need to feed members of the family at different times of the evening, dictated by the timing of activities. 

So, we have been away for 10 days, a great holiday, and arrived back around midnight last night. I had already decided, and promised the family yesterday, that I would make pancakes for lunch - they are always highly appreciated. So here is the batter, all ready to go....

 I'm using a bowl which was once my mum's, I think from about the 1950's. 

I used a similar smaller one for my baking (see later in the post) and I think there was originally an even smaller one but sadly that was smashed.

Umm, I always struggle to get thin but perfectly circular pancakes....

Most often in our house we have syrup with our pancakes

 (no apology for the advertising of Lyle's golden syrup)

 

With the pancakes soon devoured then it's time to bake some currant buns. 

These are a regular bake in our house partly because I can knock a batch together in about 15  minutes, and we often eat them as dessert.

My kitchen scales were my mum's too  and I think they were her mum's before that so they are quite old and I LOVE them, even the chips on the weighing pan. Yes, they are a bit dusted with flour but this is how they always are so I thought I would show you my lovely scales, warts and all!

Gosh, that mixture - colour and texture - looks good!

 

Hang on! Skateboard? 

My daughter was in the kitchen while I was taking these photos and she asked me to take a photo of her new skateboard - she has only had it for 3 weeks, a very belated Christmas present. 

She had no idea what she wanted for Christmas so besides a few small gifts to open we gave her an I.O.U which she exchanged recently for a new skateboard. She has really missed it while we were away and was slightly envious of all those young people we saw on trains with skateboards strapped to their backpacks! Needless to say she has been back out on it today.

So back to the cooking. 

More lovely colours and textures...

 

 oo, notice a sneaky finger heading for my mixture!!

 

Here is the smaller bowl that was once my mum's.

Time to add the currants....

 

And, within two shakes of a lamb's tail, the buns are ready for the oven

 While the buns bake in the oven, I enjoy yet another one of these...... ahhh, nothing quite like a good cup of tea after having been away from home for 10 days

 And then here are the finished results.

Of course, daughter has already pinched one, 

she likes them straight from the oven while they are still warm.

  Oh yes, there are definitely some very good reasons for being home again.

 Wishing you a good start to the week

xXx

Sock wool and travel kettles!

Hello

Last week in Ginny's yarn along I said I was about to start reading The Amateur Gentleman, but actually this never happened. I have come away on holiday with three fifths of my family (eldest son is away doing his own thing in Romania), and strangely for the first few days I couldn't settle to reading any book. In fact I struggled to settle to anything while sat on a train, flitting from reading a book on George Washington (which remains uncompleted), a puzzle book and my knitting. I think my brain just needed a complete rest.

Anyway I am now back reading and my current read is Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith which I am enjoying, a story so far set mainly in Russia in 1953. Before starting this I quickly read Of Mice and Men, always a good read.

As to my knitting, well I'm back to the old portable project of sock knitting. I am now just knitting the heel of the second sock so making some progress.

In typically British fashion, I do enjoy a cup of tea, so even though I have had to pack lightly for this holiday I still managed to find room in my suitcase for my travel kettle which I have now had many years. Of course the kettle doesn't really take up much room because I stuff things in it when travelling, and this time I found my kettle was the perfect receptacle for ....... spare sock wool!

So, what are you reading and yarning this week?

xXx

This week's yarn along

Hello,

Joining in with Ginny's yarn along. I am just about to start reading that tatty old book in my photo.

It has been languishing on my shelf for years. I can't even remember where it came from but it is a book printed in a small old fashioned font, my favourite, so I am looking forward to getting stuck into it. 

As to my yarn work, this week I have crocheted a few more rows on my blanket (after having to pull 6 rows out when I realised I'd used my yarn in the wrong order - argh! So frustrating! It's good to see that the blanket is still growing.

I wonder what you are reading, and what yarn project you are creating this week. 

Enjoy the rest of your week

xXx

We must be artists!

Hello,

I had a fantastic week away recently with my son and while away we visited a couple of art museums. There was an 'interesting' selection of art on display, and with neither me or my son being art experts I'm afraid we were heard to utter several times "how can that be considered art?" Such Philistines!

But there were a couple of pieces of art which caught my attention for different reasons. Firstly, I saw this painting by Thomas Eakins, entitled Mrs Mary Arthur an dated 1900.

And here is the accompanying description of the painting.

It amused me that Mrs Arthur was described as being "absorbed in an old-fashioned manual task". I can't quite decide what that "old-fashioned task" might be. At first I thought she was crocheting but she looks to have a long hook/needle in her hand. Is she maybe tatting? I really don't know, but I was slightly put out that whatever she was doing was considered 'old-fashioned'. I can only hope that the description of the painting was written some years ago and pre-dated the current revival of knitting and crocheting. 

The next piece of art that caught my eye was this. It was hung in the Museum of Modern Art, although I'm afraid I failed to make a note of the artist or the title of the piece. Personally I don't particularly like the piece; I think the colours are drab. 

I'm sorry too that the photo isn't of better quality - by this time I was hurrying after my son who was only really interested now in the most popular pieces of art on display. 

But, the above piece is approximately 5 feet square and comprises strips of material sewn together. My first thought was "it's a quilt!". And sure enough when I read the description it said that the artist was inspired to make this piece after watching his mother sew quilts when he was child.

So, my first thought was "when does a piece of 'craft' become 'art'?

But then I realised that I found the description of this piece very heartening. 

Clearly this suggests that for all of us who knit, crochet, sew etc - each article we make is a piece of art! 

I never considered myself an artist before!

So what will your next piece of art be?

 xXx