Chickens, Crochet, Creating and Cow Parsley

Hi guys :) 

 Have you had a nice week?

Mine has been mixed, I started it fighting with the washing line, as it was so ridiculously windy!!!

I kept getting slapped in the face! haha :)

Trying to make a break for it!

I went on a bus trip with some of the knit and natter group to a place called Royal Quays Outlet centre, i didn't have a penny to spend but it was enjoyable all the same, a lovely friend treated me to a few Latte's.

I felt awfully sick on the bus though :( I'm not great on buses, i get travel sick very quickly!

I finished my friends' shawl, terrible photo, i know, but i'd already given it to her before i noticed this picture was rubbish, haha :) 

We have oodles of cow parsley growing next to our back fence, so I've been going a bit wild! I have about 3 jam jars full in the living room

I found a very pretty teapot for £1.50!

And a little drying rack for 50p! When my herbs grow i'm going to use it to hang herbs from to dry :)

I attempted to make a tea cozy for the teapot - A disaster!

Can you tell what it is supposed to be? :D 

I sketched a chicken to hang on the hallway door

I attempted more embroidery, this time handkerchiefs.

The top right is The Bearded Wonders' (My hubby)with the ugly little penguin (he's obsessed) it is truly terrible but he wanted a penguin so that is what i made! He says it is cute but i don't believe a word he says.

The top left pink and bottom white are mine. The flowers aren't my work (i flaming wish!) i just added the monogram

Another that is mine, i'm starting to wish i had done a better S now, I'll probably change it eventually

The pictures look pretty weird, but the only way i could get the embroidery to show up properly was to scan them!

I bought leeks on Monday. They have sat under the counter until today when i remembered i wanted to make leek and potato soup. I went to chop them and discovered that they had gone brown on the inside! Yuck! :( So i improvised and made mixed veg soup and added a handful of rice to bulk it out instead.

I also attempted Irish soda bread.... but (in my usual fashion) i hadn't read the recipe right and added a WHOLE TABLESPOON of baking soda! Yuck yuck yuck! One (small, thankfully) taste and it went straight in the bin! 

Never again!

I hope that you will read this and take lesson from it- always read the recipe! Twice! Haha :D 

Lucky and Lovely Views

 Hi guys :)

What a fantastic week! I have been incredibly lucky to have such good friends, my knit and natter group gifted me a knitting machine! It came complete with a wool winder, punch cards (which create pretty patterns) and a pattern book, to use when i eventually figure it out lol!

They also had a spare microwave at the community centre where it is held so they very kindly gave me that too, as ours is broken and we have limited means of cooking as we don't have a big cooker, if you remember they actually gave me a mini cooker within my second week of attending!

 Aren't they a lovely bunch? :) 

I am trying to think of ways to repay their kindness, maybe volunteering a few days a week? 

I spent  very enjoyable afternoon making "Yarn Cakes"

And a very odd looking sock! I must get round to making the other one, but i do hate having to make two of something! But for some reason i ALWAYS want to make socks! 

I just don't like making two!

 Not a great thing when making socks as they do work better in pairs.

Another reason to feel lucky is this little sweetie, he lives down the road from me and always pops  his head over the wall to see if i have any treats for him :)

And the divine view below, which i get to see almost every day :)

The Kindness of Strangers and a Tad-ah moment

Hi guys :) Have you had a good week? Mine's been super busy!!

This is the face of Marie when i'm baking and not paying enough attention to her! ;) Isn't she looking so grown up now?

I've been a busy bee in the kitchen, We have a new shop opened in the village  and they were selling 200g punnets of strawberries for 79p! So, as usual when i get fruit, i made jam!

Look at that lovely rich colour! 

Sure, it only made 1 jar, but that's enough for me and The Bearded Wonder! 

I also canned my very first batch of apple pie filling, doesn't it look nice? 

I made the usual batch of scones...and a big ta dah moment! 

I made bread rolls!!! Ta daaahh!!! Now, everyone who  knows me knows that i have had..um... issues with baking bread, i just couldn't get it right! It either turned out like a brick, went doughy in the middle and black on the outside, or was completely inedible.

So after months of scouring the internet for that elusive easy bread recipe, i found one in an old cookbook at the back of my drawer! 

Ta-dah! Yum! They were super easy and super soft and scrummy! So we scoffed two each with some homemade leek and potato soup and slathered in butter :)

The kindness of strangers. Isn't that a lovely sentence? Well, I got to say it twice this week! 

First, last Sunday i got the most AMAZING gift of a vintage Jones hand-crank sewing machine off freecycle. It came complete with needles,bobbins,feet, original receipts, including one with a King George VI stamp! 

The second was this lovely dining table and chairs, which has taken up residence in my "sewing room" haha, too grand a title for a room with barely anything in it!

 I also found a fun little fabric with sheep on it and made a wee pin cushion 

How has your week been? Have you had any nice surprises?

Sewing Up A Storm

 Hi guys! :) 

What a busy week! I have been sewing up a storm! I am determined to have an almost fully handmade wardrobe, that's what its all been about this week!

I finally added some legs to my mannequin, using a pair of old shorts! Ignore the ugly look of her so far, she isn't finished as i ran out of tape! haha.

 I'm going to make a cover for her eventually too, as soon as i get a decent stretchy fabric

I upcycled an old jumper and turned it into a skirt :)

I took the sleeves and made yet another set of slippers (I'm obsessed)

I made another skirt out of an old sheet (i know, i know, it desperately needs ironed)

And finally, i made myself a pair of pyjama shorts! They are far from perfect, and some of the stitching is terrible, so ignore it, but i love them! I didn't have enough material at first, but i added two lace panels on the sides so they fit comfortably :)

I've been baking a lot this week too, making lots of pies for the freezer and ginger snaps and scones! yum!

Marie doing her best meerkat impression, she has grown so much! We have had her 3 weeks today! Already!

Woohoo! A sunbeam! 

She has finally discovered the outside world, and now happily sits for hours watching the birdies :)

I'm off to make some more ginger snaps as they have mysteriously disappeared ;) 

*Wanders off, whistling innocently*

Drawing, painting and a new addition

Hi guys! :)
Have you had a nice weekend?
We have been in our new home almost 3 weeks now!How it has flown!
I have alot of pictures to spam you with! haha :)

We woke up to snow on Friday!

I sketched

I practiced my hand lettering (On the wall!haha)

 Added some sunshine to the kitchen

Re-arranged the living room (I can't wait to get a carpet! Such cold feet!)

I created some flower bunting and knotted bunting

We got a new member of the family! Say hello to Marie! :)

It is very tiring looking this adorable!

New House (phew!)

Hi guys! :)

Well, we are finally here (actually we moved in last week but it took a week for the internet to get up and running,but i digress.) The house is amazing! so much space, and lots of little storage cupboards :). We had a bit of a kerfuffle in the first few days, as we had to wait for various engineers to come and turn on the gas and electricity, but we are pretty much settled in now.  

I've gone a bit photo mad on this post, but i have so much to show you!

The first one is a lovely new sofa that we got off a neighbour, she brought it round after i answered her post on freecycle, and it came as a flat pack! She also helped put it together bless her! :) (excuse the mountain of cushions; another vice of mine!haha)

the second is a funky new sewing bag i made for my crochet to be stored in (when i finally stopped sewing the seams inside out!)

The third are two beautiful horses i met on the way home from the shops

Fourth is my patchwork wall, made from wallpaper samples, they are stuck with double sided sticky tape at the moment, until i can get some wallpaper paste. It is unfinished until i can persuade the hubby to put up the rest for me as i can't reach, and have nothing to stand on!

My amazing Seaside wall, i shall be adding more as i go on.

Another horse we met on the way to the nearest town :)

And finally, a stunning newborn lamb and his mum, also on the way to town :)

Phew, that's me done for now!