Crocheting with Colour

I love to surround myself with colour!

When I was a teenager I made this blanket for myself and it kept me warm during long nights studying at university when we had power cuts - those were the days!

When I was clearing my parent’s house ready to sell it last year, I came across my blanket and brought it home with me. My eldest son had ‘flu and wrapped himself up in it and then wanted one of his own so I took up my crochet hook and made another one:

I tried to make it ‘boy’ colours but my colour palette is so varied I hated making the blanket dull - I hope it’s not too girlish - anyway my son seems to like it, he says it’s a work of the heart.

Then of course I had to make a blanket for my youngest son which is still not finished. I had to make it different but not too different.

What do you think?

See you soon.

xx

Hot Weather - Lemonade Recipe

We have hot weather at long last in the UK -  definitely lemonade weather. I came across a wonderfully easy recipe a few years back. You will need a blender.

Ingredients

1 Lemon

Sugar to taste

Water to taste

Lots of ice cubes.

Method

Cut up the lemon leaving the skin on and put in the blender.

Add about a tablespoon of sugar (to begin with)

Add three cupfuls of water (to begin with)

Add a large handful of ice cubes.

Blend and sieve the mixture and taste.

If the lemonade is not to your liking put the liquid back in the blender and add more sugar or water and blend.

You can adapt this recipe by removing the skin of the lemon if you wish.

Serve in tall glasses with slices of apple and sprigs of mint.

Enjoy

xx

Garden Pirate

I have a pirate in my garden - all she needs is an eye-patch. Without fail when I am sitting in my deckchair she will sit at my feet and when I get up she will take my place and then look at me disdainfully when I want my seat back.

When I open a can of tuna, no matter if she is nowhere to be seen, by the time the can is open she is at my feet.

Her latest requests involve me opening the door for her to go into the garden as she finds it too much trouble to use the cat-flap!

Pebbles is now 5 years old.

See you soon.

xx

House Reflections

Sadly this is not the bathroom in my house. I came across this photo some time ago when I was surfing the web and I kept the image as I wanted to copy some of the details and apply it to my living space. Unfortunately I cannot remember where I got the original image (so I apologise if this is your image and I have used it on this site without permission).

Do you ever think…. ‘I would really like a room, window, trinket like that’…?

So what appeals to me about this particular bathroom ? I love the curtains and the towel rack; the mirror above the bath is such a wonderful piece and the whole ambience of the room gives a feeling of relaxation.

My bathroom meanwhile is about half the size, barely room to swing a cat - not Pebbles, but the view from from my window is lovely as it overlooks my back garden and I can see the birds in the trees when I’m in the bath.

One day when I get around to it I will redecorate and have a room like this.

See you soon.

xx

Garden Jewels

Daisies are such unimposing flowers. Their simplicity gives them a place amongst my favourite flowers. When did you last make a daisy chain?

This is the daisy pendant I have in stock at the moment. Isn’t it wonderful? The best representation of a daisy I have seen.

My Forget-me-Nots came originally from my grandmother’s garden in Yorkshire back in 1962. The seeds from the garden were sown in my mother’s garden and seeds from her plants were then sown in my garden several years ago. Some think they are weeds but I love the blue gemstone flowers’ ethereal beauty as they seem to float on delicate stems.

Not quite a Forget-Me-Not but as near as I can get. This delicate pendant is blue topaz.

I don’t know the name of this flower but I’ve always called it ‘Star of Bethlehem’. It is one of the first flowers to appear in clumps under my trees in Spring.

And finally the jewel-like quality of apple blossom not only attracts me but the delicate fragrance makes them a haven for honey bees.

The nearest I can get to the delicate blossom flowers is the Rainbow Mystic Topaz.

Enjoy xx

Doing nothing

Those of you who know me will know how difficult it is for me to remain still for long - things need doing, places to go, people to see - so having had a major operation last week I have to do virtually nothing except sit or lie still.

I have worked on my computer for two full days and I then re-acquainted myself with my favourite film ‘You’ve Got Mail’. There’s something about the music and the mis-en-scene which gives this story a quaint feeling, that life will always turn out well no matter what.

Another favourite is the legendary ‘Pride and Prejudice’ - the BBC one. There’s nothing like a spoonful of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and a dollop of Mr Darcy to brighten the afternoon.

I came across ‘The Holiday’ amongst these DVD treasures. I think I have a love/hate relationship with this film as sometimes the characters are annoying but I skip to the ‘nice’ bits. You might like it.

Incidently and purely by chance I’m listening to the ‘You’ve Got Mail’ CD as I’m writing this - so I’m definitely in the zone.

See you soon I hope!

xx

At Long Last!

After having the worse winter for about 25 years at long last the flowers are coming into bloom, the birds are singing and the bumble bees are humming.

I haven’t written my blog for ages because I had so much spam mail  - as a result  I decided to leave it a few weeks. I will now see what happens. If you are reading this and want to send me spam mail - please don’t because it will only be binned.

Anyway back to Spring - yesterday I saw a sparrow carrying some white fluff in it’s beak so they are obviously building nests. The crocuses are a picture as are the primroses and snowdrops. Here’s hoping for a decent summer.

Enjoy the photos.

See you soon.

xx

Red Red Robin

With the huge amount of snow that fell on us last week the birds in my garden were desperate for food. I sat down with a cup of coffee (actually several cups) and watched the birds over a period of about 2 hours as I did my paperwork. It was fascinating to see how many different birds visited.   I counted twenty- one varieties of birds altogether. Here’s the list:

• Thrush
• Blackbird
• Starling
• Blue Tit
• Coal Tit
• Great Tit
• Long tailed Tit
• Chaffinch
• Dunnock
• Robin
• House Sparrow
• Tree Sparrow
• Wren
• Jay
• Nuthatch
• Collared Dove
• Wood Pigeon
• Gold Crest
• Bull Finch
• Chaffinch
• Greenfinch

Unfortunately I was not able to take photos of all of them, so I will just show you Rufus - the Robin.

I was feeding them sunflower kernels, peanuts, niger seeds and a wildbird seed mixture. As well as the birds I have, today, watched my local squirrel taking the peanuts and burying them under the apple tree.

Wherever you are please remember to feed the birds  - it is as fascinating as having an aviary in the garden.

See you soon.

xx

Party Feedback

Thank you for all your feedback about parties and stock. We have slept on these ideas and developed them. Party hosts will now receive a free gift PLUS a £10 gift voucher for use at future events. The host will also receive a £20 discount PLUS £5 discount for every party booked on the night. (Some hostesses have been receiving up to £70 discount!). For your guests there will be bottles of Bucks Fizz and a party bag to take home with them PLUS they will receive up to 40% discount on some items if they book a party on the night. In addition hostesses, who have already had a party, will be receiving a more expensive free gift at their next party.

Following your feedback we also now have in stock some more expensive jewellery items for that special occasion or person. The stock is always changing so if you see an item you like, it may not be there next time! However we can provide a personal gift shopping service if there is that special something, you have always wanted, we can usually find it for you. AND if you want a personal shopping experience we can also provide that at a time to suit you -  so you can decide on items at your leisure.

It has been brilliant working with and for so many lovely people this first year and I hope to see some of you before Christmas. If you don’t manage to see me then do have a Happy Christmas and a brilliant start to the New Year.

xx

A Tom and Jerry Moment

I must tell you about the Tom and Jerry moment we had - unfortunately no photos to prove it so you’ll have to take my word for it!

We spotted one of the wood mice, in our garden, about to make it’s way up a slender branch towards the peanuts left out for the birds. The mouse was having difficulty holding on as it was raining and the branch was swaying in the wind. Pebbles, our cat, spotted the mouse, pushed her way between our legs and leapt up the tree. She clung on for as long as she could, but the bough was just too unstable and was bending under her weight. As she slipped off the mouse was launched into space - reaching a height of about 10 feet before it landed safely and disappeared under the shed before Pebbles could catch it. Tom and Jerry in real life!

See you soon.

xx