French Knots

Got a minute?

Pop over to visit Amanda Makes . She's my crafty and creative friend who I have been nagging about blogging for ages, she's taken the plunge and would love some friendly visitors. She's a knitty, crocheting,sewing, felt loving type just like us so she'll fit right in!

She is the talent behind this amazing quilt

  which she gave The Baby Brother for his Christening, naturally I'm stroking it on a regular basis for him until he's old enough to love it's fantastic colour combinations himself. What more could a boy want from his Godmother?!

This and that

Well thank you for all the good wishes and blog recommendations, lots of new ones to add to my list, which was handy last week as I was taking it easy (backache/sciatica) so I was kept entertained reading and being inspired. So much connects us all around the world and reading through a blog's archives is like finding a really great book about my favorite things.

My Little Helper acted as random number generator and chose the number eight which is Lina so the little parcel will be on it's way when I can waddle down to the post office. 

I thought I'd show you my new spotty slippers ( the plan is I don't need to bother trying to bend to put socks on with slippers to keep my feet cosy instead)

 

Hmm what's the big boulder doing in the way??

Goodness I think I must be growing an elephant, 34 weeks. Thanks to My Little Helper for his photography help!

I've finished the sock yarn jumper, my first knitted garment with seams - socks are easy to finish off but this needed to fit together. I read up on matress stitch but as usual just winged it in the end.

 

A cute little jumper, all I need now is a cute little baby to go in it!

200

Well I've burbled on for 200 posts, who would have thought it. I've really enjoyed blogging and the connections it enables you to make. When I published my first tentative post I never imagined the network of inspiring women across the globe that I was joining, though we are miles apart we all share such similar interests and priorities - family, home, creating, growing, connecting. Thank you to everyone who reads French Knots, I truly appreciate all the comments you leave.

 

(please ignore horrid extractor fan!)  

In time honoured fashion I'm having a giveaway! Remember the tea towels? Well I've now made some jaunty bunting and a little blind for the bathroom and thought they were such jolly colours that I'd include a pack of them in my giveaway. As a packet of tea towels seemed a rather lacklustre way of celebrating I'm also including one of the lovely old tablecloths from my hoard.

 

So just leave me a comment sharing the most inspiring blog that you read and I'll pick a winner on Sunday. I really enjoy Domesticali, Blue Yonder,   Maya Made and the one hundred and eight six other blogs that I subscribe to!

 

Leftover Pie

I have been reading the forums on money saving expert for tips and ideas and have found a thread about finishing off leftovers in the Money Saving Old Style section, which is basically an area of the forum about being thrifty, a bit make do and mend. I've been trying to use food up before it gets past it's best, especially fruit and veg, to cut down on waste. Usually there are a few oddments rolling around in the fridge and pantry, today I had cheese and some french bread that needed using up. Cheese sarnies, while tasty, wouldn't really cut it for dinner.

     

So I grated the cheese, melted it into milk, added a few beaten eggs and poured to over the thinly sliced bread. A sort of savoury bread pudding.Very tasty served with beans, the children wolfed it down!

Has anyone noticed a problem with Typepad comments? They seem to have changed things, not for the better of course. When someone leaves a comment now it often takes me to their profile page which doesn't always have a blog/email contact so it's hard to reply. Having a conversation with you is half the fun,no I don't like change! 

Last to know?

Some people just seem to know about techy things, I'm not one of them. So when I find something I had been wishing for already exists I am disproportionatly happy!

We are on AOL and had been talking about changing to a cheaper option ( it's all about budgeting here these days) but I didn't want to loose my hundreds of favourites - tutorials, shopping sites, recipes, gardening tips etc. Then this week I discovered Delicious, the solution! I saw it as a button on someone's blog and wondered what it was, now I have my own page there and have been saving urls like a demon. I love the way you can tag things so that it makes it easy to find what you are after. And also to nosy at what other people, who like the same stuff as me, have saved too.

   

I have been playing with my new camera, especially with the depth of field, so of course needed to subscribe to a few more blogs to help.Digital Photography School is proving the best so far with really clear explanations of shutter speeds, DoF,ISO and their relationships, I've hardly scratched the surface as there is so much great info, worth a look if you want to move beyond 'Auto'!    

Have a weekend filled with savouring the small details.

Technology!

Ok so the PC has decided it doesn't recognise the camera any more so I can't get at my photos of the new things I've been making, Typepad still doesn't't want me to do links as the button won't work so this is a bit of a boring post before I've even started! And I was going to try and be smart and write a post to be published in a day of two just to see if I could do it. 

A rather windy and soggy half term so far, with just a few hours of sun yesterday afternoon when the children played in the garden making pies from sand, water and grass - how delicious! I took the opportunity to laze in a deckchair and enjoy the warm sunshine. Today though is back to the grey skies and occasional drizzle, ah well.

This lovely bag has been lifting my spirits since receiving it in a swap organised by Rhonda Jean over at Down to Earth ( sorry, still no links today!) from Julia at Blue Apple Farm. It's the perfect size for summer bits and bobs - brolly, gloves...... no I mean sunglasses and suntan lotion, if only! It's my favourite colour combination and has been complimented many times already.  

This is an amazing coat that we saw on a recent visit to the Museum Of Science and Industry, it's made of thistle down and has a wonderful magical appearance which hasn't really photographed very well.

I can only imagine the patience needed to make something so delicate, and certainly not something to try when you have the sneezes!

Hope you are enjoying half term, if you have children, mine are off next week too and we've some plans for a fun week so I'll see you in a while. Hopefully Typepad will be keener on doing links by then!