French Knots

World Book Night

I hadn't heard of World Book Night  until Colette posted about it and offered a couple of copies of 'A Life Like Other People's' to her readers. I was lucky enough to be drawn from the hat

 
I planned a peaceful time with the book and the lovely chocolate that Colette kindly sent too........ah yes you are right, it seems to be missing from the picture!

There was also a pretty book mark included in the parcel

 
which perfectly describes all the things I like to do best.

Thank you so much for the parcel Colette, the book isn't one I would have picked myself but I'm really enjoying it as it is so thought provoking and I'm also looking forward to sending it on another journey to the next person to read.

Imagine all the thousands of World Book Night books winging their way across the world encouraging people to read and relish books.Brilliant!

So would you like to read this one next? Just leave me a comment and I'll pick a name at random.

Chatty Boy

 
The Baby Brother helped me tidy up a bit in the garden, sadly nothing we could do to improve the boggy mud patch that used to be a lawn.

 
He's going to be two in a few months (!) and is full of energy and interest, if something is there well obviously it's to climb on and jump off. He's full of beans all day and has decided he doesn't want a nap - sadly as I'm not full of beans ( perhaps he has mine) I'd love it if he still had a nap! And those chairs are past their best aren't they!

 
But an afternoon out in the sunshine is to be relished, looking for signs of spring to come - soon please! He is especially keen on words beginning with B boo ( book), bore ( ball), bur ( bird), quite a few burs flew over the garden so there was a lot of excited squealing and unsurprisingly the burs chose not to land in our noisy garden. He also loves to walk down our road pointing out all the cars, 'car!' two steps later 'car!' another couple of steps ' car!', his enthusiasm for the every day is infectious.

Then it was back inside for some boo reading

 

and lots of snuggles. Perfect!

Car Trouble

The week didn't get off to a great start. The Baby Brother and I were driving home when the brakes failed on my car. As I was trying to slow to turn right on a busy main road across the oncoming traffic. Well had the brakes worked I would, of course, have waited for a gap in the traffic.  It was awful,scary and a bit out of body. I then drove the last 2 minutes home at 2 miles an hour, thankfully the road was quiet. Then once I was home the 'what ifs' started - I was due to go to Ikea the following morning on the motorway! Luckily we have a friend who is a mechanic and he came and sorted everything out for me. Ghastly.

 
So a pretty little cup in a perfect shade of blue was just what I needed to get me back on an even keel.

 
And 2 for 99p was a perfect price too.

Have you been watching Big Fat Gypsy Wedding? Come on admit it! The compelling awfulness of it had me hooked. And look what my Sister in Law made

 
Oh yes, she's watching it too!

 

New Bedding

A very long time ago I bought a little wooden cradle from the charity shop which was swathed in awful peach nylon but underneath the cradle was very sweet.

As The Baby Brother enjoys putting his teddies to bed I decided to revamp the cradle for him. With some fab space themed fabric I made a mattress, pillow, sheet and little patchwork quilt. We wrapped it up for Christmas and on Christmas morning I was really looking forward to seeing his reaction.

 
He tore the paper off, shouted 'boat' and climbed in!! Not the reaction I was anticipating but his delight was a joy to see.

 
And Sock Monkey likes it too!

Sunny Interlude

We are knee deep in half term, after a couple of grotty grey days the sun has come out today. Hurrah! So we dashed off to the park to make the most of it, playing football, a go on the swings and on the roundabout blew the cobwebs away. A green gym has been installed over the winter with a dozen different machines to try, some looking rather painful! I tried a gizmo that swings your legs from side to side at the waist which just made me feel seasick! I'll stick to dry land in future.

So The Baby Brother is having a little snooze, My Little Helper has gone to a friend's house to play and The Big Sister is chilling out watching rubbish on tv...I mean Hannah Montana....no I was right first time!

 
Me, I'm admiring the shadows. Lina posted instructions for stiffening doilies, which is so much better than having them in a drawer. These tiny ones are so intricate and twirl in the slightest draft.

 
Thank goodness the sun came out to play.

365

 

Even though I enjoyed my 365 project last year I was glad to finish it on December 31st. Some days it was hard to remember to take a picture and I ended up with a shot I wasn't really happy with, often because I was busy with the children, house, life - you know how it is! But looking through my flickr set I'm so glad I pushed myself to do it, little snippets of life recorded to treasure.

 
 Can you see my cowl? I had a few balls of a lovely chunky powder blue just begging to be made into a snuggly cowl for chilly days. Though it looks like it has a wierd white bit it the photo!

 
Humm that to do list hasn't been updated in a while!

 
If you are thinking of doing a 365 Project I'd say go for it, it encourages you to get to know your camera better, to notice life around you in the hurly burly of family life and creates a special record of a year.

 

Go on, you know you want to!

 

Annie everywhere

After seeing quite a few bloggers commenting how brilliant the Annie Sloan paint is I ordered a pot of Versailles and got busy with the paint brush. The Baby Brother needed some storage for his clothes so add a super cupboard rescued from Emmaus the wonderful second hand emporium to the new tin of paint and ...ta da!

 
 
It went on really well, no rubbing down, no undercoat needed and just one coat. Perfect quick project.

Look at the lovely shadows too

 
A bit of winter sun to lift the spirits, and those sweet,tiny bootees ( a gift from a very talented lady) did they ever fit his feet?!  

Then I was on a mission, the shelves in the hall were next to meet the paint brush.

 

Don't sit still too long round here or you'll get painted too! 

Lets see

.....what have I been doing?? Do you ever feel that the more days that pass since your last post, the harder it is to write one?  Of course I have written several very witty ones in my head!

Thank you for your get well wishes, I'm much better now but it seemed to take ages to shake it off, perhaps as you don't really get time to be ill or recuperate with three children. So I feel like January has slipped through my fingers and my usual 'clean slate what shall I plan for the year' approach has missed it's boat.

 
So what was the excitement I mentioned in my last post? Well I have been asked to run some workshops at a lovely local ceramics cafe, I'm excited and a bit scared! A bit woo hoo and a bit aaarrgghh too!When you have been at home for a while it is hard to be brave and sometimes I can't believe I ever did the job I used to - it gives me the cold sweats just thinking about it!

So I shall be presenting a 2 hour Learn to Knit session and a 2 hour Granny Square workshop too. The wool mountain above is for the Grannies, lots of cheerful colours to inspire my ladies and I'm going to teach the new knitters how to make some simple ribbed hand warmers with this

 
 Quite a few bloggers have been choosing words for the year, something that resonates with them and their hopes for the year ahead. Mine would be 'try' or 'dare' I think, whilst to people who know me (in real life) I seem chatty, confident and together the changes that have taken place in the four years that I've been at home  make me feel like hibernating at home, safe, cosy and unthreatening. So I'm going to say 'yes' to things this year and dare to give them a try, be more impulsive and have some fun.

And if something I try doesn't work out......well at least I had a go.............and there's always wine!

Sewing and Sneezing

 
This is one of my favourite gifts that I made this year for Christmas presents, a strip patchwork scarf. I sewed and snipped and sewed some more, linen tea towels and trousers backed with some checked brushed cotton that I picked up somewhere along the way.

 

It's been a rather subdued year so far for me, the cold I had at the beginning of January developed into a horrid fluey thing with a congested head, aching joints and a hacking cough. So nothing much has been done, bit of a pain really as my head is full of ideas and I have an exciting opportunity to get ready for. Never mind there is always next week. The Baby Brother is a bit under the weather too so we have spent our time under a quilt on the settee looking at his favourite books.

 
This is another bit of pre Christmas sewing, a friend asked me to make a Scottie Dog cushion for her daughter, I'm not very good at drawing but think it turned out ok.

 Right another Lemsip for me I think..................... 

When your fridge is full of festive food

 
...............you have to improvise!!

 

Happy New Year, I hope 2011 is happy and healthy for you all.xx