French Knots

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!

Friday Smiles

(Ok I'm going to be quick as Tyepad has already eaten one post - which was of course far more entertaining than usual! And goodness knows what all the new buttons do...I'm sure once I've checked them out it'll be great but at the moment the main problem is I can't do any links...thanks Typepad! And the jumping around the paragraphs when spellchecking?! What? Did they not test this upgrade? Grr!)

My Little Helper is keen to be out in the garden at the moment taking care of the peas and beans we planted and waging war on the slugs and snails. 'Take my picture for the blog Mummy'  - not a sentence you'd have heard a child say a few years ago!

We giggled every time we got in the lift while we were away

It was one of those without a door so you could watch the wall, ceilings and floors go past but be careful you don't squash your head with your suitcase!

I'm also still smiling from this morning when The Big Sister came down with an itchy eye and was worried she was getting 'jungleitus'! Bless. I love it when they come up with new words for things, which I them immediately adopt instead of the proper words, just hope it doesn't stop the children making themselves understood in later life!

Life's little pleasures. I'm going to have some delicious ripe, luscious strawberries now and watch the RHS programme that I recorded last night, small things to brighten a grey day.

Hope you have a wonderful long weekend!

Stockholm

Wonderful! Ok so I was missing the children by day two, we had a brilliant time! It got off to a great start when we saw The Hairy Bikers at the airport, I enjoy watching their programs, their enthusiasm and love of food really comes across.

Stockholm has wonderful buildings, painted in muted colours

lots of tall, thin buildings clustered together in the old town.

The amazing Vasa Museum with the breathtaking ship towering above you out of the gloom

Royal Jewels with diamonds the size of broad beans!

The chilly Baltic wind blowing off the sea and over the many bridges

The pelican crossings with their loud tick tock getting faster and faster

The ferry strike which meant we couldn't island hop as we'd hoped

The grocers shop at Skansen that smells just like Popsie's shed

Moose burgers and beer at £6 a glass. Lots of apartments with lamps in the window to welcome you home

and getting home to lots of cuddles from the children. Perfect!

Friday

What a glorious week, typical that after a grey and wet Bank Holiday weekend the week turns into a scorcher! We went to the May Day Steam again on Monday

more than a little mud, no sitting in the sun watching the traction engines in the parade ground this year as it was too wet for them to move

but we enjoyed the sights and the smells before squelching home to rinse off the mud - My Little Helper's jeans have been through the wash twice and are still not clean!

Never mind, it's Friday again and hopefully the nice weather will last and we can have a weekend of paddling pools, lazing in the sunshine. Well probably not too much lazing for me as Mr FK is away on a work piss up conference for the next two nights and will no doubt be a little worse for wear when he makes it home on Sunday! I've risked planting the peas and beans so will need to stand guard over them to stop the slugs and snails tucking in and I'd like to get some weeding done too. Other than that I think the deckchairs need an airing, which means I need to get them out in the sun for a few hours and should probably have a snooze on them just to make sure the cushions are still comfy.

I was the lucky winner of a draw that Florence held recently

The Big Sister thought it was some new fabric for patchwork and I have to agree that they are much to nice for washing dishes with, well perhaps Champagne flutes but certainly nothing too mucky! Thanks Florence, the little sparklers were a sweet surprise too.

Thank you all for you Anniversary wishes, we had a good day and are planning to make the most of our child free trip to Stockholm next week.....but I'll probably be missing them both by day three!

Have a chilled out weekend!

Happy Anniversary

May 7th 1988

Goodness weren't we young!

I find it hard to believe we have been married for 20 years, so many days, seasons and years. So many happy memories, some hard times and struggles that we have tackled together and somehow here we still are.Through effort, luck, stubbornness...and love. A couple, a family. We could never have guessed what lay ahead as we stood in the sunshine by the old tree in the Churchyard surrounded by our friends and family, full of dreams and possibilities.

Happy Anniversary, with my love. x

Big socks, little socks

It's definitely an addiction!

No sooner is one pair finished ( not for me this time, a gift for a friend - hence them not being modelled on my chunky calves as I don't want to stretch them!) than another is on the needles

These little ones were so quick to do, but blummin fiddly. I could do with some mini dpns I think, wonder if they are available? Not that I should go looking anywhere,Helen at  Angharad mentioned that she had found a great offer on sock yarn at Get Knitted and before you could say knitting needle I'd ordered 5 more balls of sock yarn! Whoops.... but it was on offer so really I'm saving money and will be able to make a start on some Christmas presents early!

I can't believe it's the first of May, the year is whizzing by so quickly and some days I'd be hard pushed to say what I'd been busy with all day. I wish the weather would perk up, unlike the rest of the country we had a grey and wet weekend and it's still pretty cold. I want to move into flip flops and lazy afternoons in the garden pottering in the warm sunshine. At least the garden is beginning to come to life, our seeds are getting rather leggy on the window sill but I don't want to loose them to a late frost.

But the hoards are gathering ready to munch their was through our veggies and salad again 

I think some sort of slug slayer will have to go on the shopping list.......right off to squeeze in another row or two......