French Knots

Lovely things

I managed to find time while we were away to visit Vintage Home and Garden a wonderful duck egg blue shop full of delights.

Lovely picnic rugs, ribbons,cards, candles and smellies are complemented by vintage fabrics, wooden rulers and a host of temptation calling 'take me home'!

I abandoned the family, well left them to look at the farm shop, and had a lovely mooch. Seeing some of

Snapdragon's  work was like spotting a celebrity! Wonderful applique in such perfect colours. Do call in if you are passing.

I managed to get a couple of crochet cushions made to make the caravan more cosy

Mega grannies, backed with felted jumpers in some cheapo acrylic so it doesn't matter if they get a bit grassy.

Very pleased with them and have started a stripey cushion too, oh yes addicted to my new love!

North Norfolk

The first week of the Whit holidays was wonderful sunshine and as we set off to drive to Norfolk for the second week the sun was blazing down. The caravan was packed with swimsuits, beach things and suntan lotion. So naturally there was a huge thunder storm our first night there and rain on and off for the rest of the week. Till we were packing up to come home and then the sun came out again! We still had a good week exploring, admiring the beach huts at Old Hunstanton, a snip at £18,000!

Expensive but very pretty in a perfect range of colours. The Baby Brother was a bit unsure about the sand, strange squidgy stuff for walking on but fine for eating was his verdict.

We had a picnic and played footie, the children paddled and as it was a bit overcast we had the beach practically to ourselves. Lovely.

Over the course of the week we followed the coast road to several picturesque villages

and harbours, some viewed from the car to avoid the rain and others explored in the drizzle in true 'English on holiday style'.

The charming Stiffkey Stores had a tempting mix of provisions and gifts.

I want to paint my window frames in a soft sage or duck egg blue like so many of the shops and cottages we passed, but first I'll have to replace the remaining horrid plastic windows. We have changed all the window frames at the back of the house to wooden sash style windows so only the side and front to go, including two large bays so it may take some time to save up!

We made it to lunch at Wiveton Farm, sadly not sitting at the jaunty painted tables under the trees, but inside was very jolly too with a juicy colour scheme and covetable tablecloths - I wonder where they came from?

My Little Helper was very impressed with his hot chocolate and my crab sandwich was scrumptious. And the strawberries and cream that came with meringue on top.....mmmmm!

We had cosy evenings in the caravan playing Junior Scrabble,( My Little Helper loves to beat us!) reading and we hooked up the tv to watch Springwatch as it was just down the road from us at Pensthorpe, the children were enthralled by the close up footage of the birds so we decided to visit. It was amazing, so much to see. Despite another wet morning we walked around the nature reserve, The Big Sister spotted a Water Vole in the river and My Little Helper was really impressed by the mushrooms growing in the woods. The gardens are planted with imagination and the variety of birds on the lakes and marshes is amazing. We were pond dipping as the sun broke through in the afternoon and The Baby Brother toddled after ducks squealling with excitment. A perfect family day.

Having the caravan is opening up all sorts of places to us, who would have thought we'd spend Christmas in the snow in Scotland, Easter in the sunshine in Southport, Whit exploring Norfolk and weekends away close to home make wonderful mini holidays. Roll on Cornwall in the summer! 
 

  

Sunny Spring

The garden and allotment are bursting into wonderful spring life, sunny days and rain showers are encouraging everything to grown like mad.

Poppies ready to burst open with vibrant blooms

 
Oh yes, the weeds are romping along too! But very pretty and photogenic!

I've squeezed in a little sewing, recycled jeans become a little birthday present backpack, just right for summer.

And now it's half term so of course it's raining! Hopefully the sun will come out later so we can try out the new play equipement in the park. We are off to North Norfolk soon in the caravan staying on the Sandringham Estate, I'm really looking forward to some relaxing days and tasty BBQs. It's not an area we've been to before so please let me know which villages are the prettiest,which beaches are good for paddling or which shops I should visit with my holiday spends! Amanda Makes says we mustn't miss Wiveton Farm Cafe and having looked at their website I can't wait to visit.

I'm risking another dose of crochet finger! Grannies are so quick and easy to do I couldn't resist creating some squishy cushions for the caravan and next I want to try Attic 24s Granny Stripes. I bought some cheapo acrylic yarn in some wonderful colours and will be able to granny along to my hearts content. Hopefully it will grow as quickly as my weeds! 

May weddings

It was our 22nd wedding anniversay a couple of weeks ago and it was also the day some friends chose to get married. We left Mr FKs Mum looking after the children and headed off for a night away at the wedding. It was at a lovely country church, nestling in the village in the sunshine. Their first hymn was  Morning has Broken which we had sung 22 years earlier almost to the minute. I had a lump in my throat thinking of our day and the innocent optimism with which we started married life. We spent the day enjoying good company, champagne and the wonderful countryside surround the marquee where the recpetion was held and the evening dancing, drinking seabreezes and nibbling minatue portions of fish and chips which were served just as we were feeling peckish. The perfect way to celebrate our anniversary.

Look at my latest jumble find, I was planning to cut it up but love it's Germolene colour and woolly snuggliness so I think it's got a reprieve from the scissors.

Look at this little fellow, we went to our local museum and spotted him watching over the display of Mummies. I think he would make a cute softie with his quirky face and ferocious eyebrows! Yes I do still make things from time to time despite this blog becoming a wafflefest about family life with never a stitch  sewn or knitted! I've just started a new crochet project, risking the little finger pain again, to make some granny  goodness. As the sun is shining I'll take some pictures to show you.....

Catching up

The last few weeks have been busy, nothing major, just general five-person-family-busy.

The Baby Brother celebrated his first birthday in style with not one but two birthday parties, the sun just about shone and it didn't rain on our bbq, the bunting fluttered and The Baby Brother blew out the candles on a fantastic cake made by his Big Sister. She baked some light as air victoria sponges in my Gram's lovely old cake tin, covered them with jam, wedged them together with oozing butter cream then decorated it with icing wrapped parcels.

He now toddles round, at that sweet stage where they are just getting their balance and list gently from side to side, grinning proudly as he wobbles over to his goal - usually something he shouldn't be playing with!

I've managed to get a few peaceful hours on the allotment, it might not look much but I've done loads of digging! There is a strange heap at the front of the plot where some manure was dropped off years ago. It is full of twine and strangely lumps of clay! My Little Helper was 'helping' with the digging last weekend and decided he would set up a shop selling the string and clay - bless! So if you need some'wild clay' or orange string at only 10p a piece you know who to ask!

I'm hoping to press on with clearing this heap over the weekend so I can plant my flower seeds and have a little cutting garden. Happily my strawberries have survived the winter and the onion sets are doing well. You can just see them on the left of this picture in front of the heap of carpet.

My Little Helper played football in his Beavers tournament, the team really enjoyed themselves, but not as much as Mr FK who was the coach cheering them on from the sidelines and encouraging them to watch the ball rather than chat to each other!

I've been enjoying the  365 project, taking a photo a day and haven't missed a day yet. It helps with noticing what goes on around me so I don't just get lost in the daily rush of packed lunches, errands, what's for tea and must get the washing on the line. I've discovered that I want a 50mm lens but can't fit one to my camera, so will just have to learn more about what I can do with it to get around the problem.

I have noticed that I tend to take pictures around my home and garden as I feel a bit embarrassed to be seen taking photos while out and about, I'm not sure why but taking a picture in the local park or at the shops seems to imply I'm an oddball - hmm could be some truth in that!

We are looking forward to the weekend as the Big Sister is in the thick of SATS this week, roll on the last one on Friday. Year 6 have spent weeks revising for them and the school seem to put an awful lot of pressure on 10 and 11 year olds. She went rock climbing with the Guides last week ( photo is on my phone, must learn how to get it off there!) I was so proud of her, whizzing up the wall to the very top. It was in a converted church and was really atmospheric. She's growing up so fast, stretching her wings and learning more about herself. In fact all three of them seem to be growing and learning so much this spring. Special days.xx 

Hot spots

I've been tackling some hot spots around the house, not really spring cleaning but freshening up! You know those corners where a couple of things get put and before you know it there's a whole clutter mountain developed. So gentle tidying, nothing too daunting - not like tackling the children's bedrooms!

The Big Sister helped by building this for me

So there's still shoes at the foot of the stairs but at least they are a bit tidier - a fiver well spent at Argos.

No not sitting in the sun reading CL, research for more spring freshening up ideas!  

All better!

The PC that is, it got a terrible virus and had to go away for a while.Amazing how many more hours there are every day when there's no internet!

 Easter holidays flew by with The Baby Brother taking his first few steps ( not that he's taken any more since!), a few days away enjoying the sun in the caravan, a family bowling tournament won by My Little Helper to his great delight and huge anticipation of the new Dr Who. I thought he did well, eccentric and energetic. The children have watched the first episode 5 times so far so I think they like it too.

We wandered round the park admiring the daffodils

The garden and greenhouse had a spring clean, so much more appealing that spring cleaning the house. But the house needs a good 'do' too as all this wonderful sunshine shows up the grubby corners!

I met a friend for lunch and enjoyed a good catch up and tasty food, The Baby Brother joined us and munched his way through a pile of rice while smiling and 'chatting' to everyone else in the place.

Our seeds are sprouting and the arrival of spring has lifted my spirits, as has a fancy new hair do. I've had the same style forever but now it has more shape and as most of my blonde highlights have gone I get a jolt each time I see myself in the mirror!

We also had a couple of visitors.....mice! Mr FK put some poison down under the settee where little fingers couldn't find it, but little paws did. I walked into the playroom to find The Baby Brother sitting next to...A DEAD MOUSE! Arrggh! After bathing him I sloshed disinfectant around and as I moved the settee....yes...there was another one! We have had them in the shed which I don't really mind, apart from when they chew the deckchairs, but I don't want them in the house.We've tried humane traps in the past, you know where you take a 10 mile car ride to release them far away, but found they ate the bait but didn't get trapped.

Hopefully they'll be enjoying the sunny warm weather and not feel the need to come inside.

Well I've a post or two (more like 400!) in bloglines to read, so I'll pop off now..... 

So shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Elspeth Thompson. . A wonderful writer whose books I found inspiring.

  
I remember reading The Urban Gardener years ago and her infectious enthusiasm was so enjoyable.

Thinking of her husband and daughter and the road that lies ahead for them.

Thrifty finds

Thank you for all the blanket love!

The new ball of wool has arrived so hopefully next week it will be finished, if I can bear the tedium of sewing in all those blummin ends! It took 18 balls of Rowan handknit cotton, plus the extra one. I planned a random pattern, trying to use all the colours evenly but as I have about a quarter of a ball of bright pink left and ran out of the green the planning can't have been that good! I am hugely pleased with the blanket, it is cosy and just the right size for snuggling under on chilly evenings.

Look what I picked up the other day

a lovely old satchel, slightly battered and loved. I can just imagine it bumping along to school on someone's back, reading book inside, Janet and John no doubt!

 

20p each in the charity shop! Wonderful old Ladybird books, such facinating subjects  
 

My Little Helper thinks the swimming book looks interesting and is going to take some of the nature books with him when we go away, to add to his collection in the caravan. He has bird spotting books, trees and sealife guides and enjoys keeping a nature journal of the things he sees. No doubt the lure of the DS will soon take over but for now I am keen to feed his hobby, especially when such super books are only 20p each!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Typical!

A whisper from the end, well about 10 inches,

Very last row of the border, very last row of the blanket.

Pah!

At least the aching little finger will get a rest, but still...Pah!