Real food at last!!

So, after 4 weeks of having no sink or cooker; having to use a microwave and wash up in the sink in the downstairs loo; we finally have a KITCHEN!!

How very very exciting!!!!

Here are some before and after pictures again (I quite like looking at them myself to see how it's changed)...

Do you like it? Just needs another coat of paint and a few tiles behind the sink and cooker and then it's done!

Two Shoes, New Shoes, Bright Shiny Pink Shoes!

My little helper finally has a pair of shoes that fit her dinky feet! She's been walking since Easter and only now have we managed to find a pair of shoes that fit - just. She was measured as a 1.5 and the lovely ladies in our little shoe shop went through all the size 2s (that's the smallest you can get) and eventually came up with these:

They're by a Spanish company, so slightly quirky, but I love them!! I couldn't have chosen a better pair myself! (Although, I have to say, I was so desperate for her to have something that fitted that I really wouldn't have minded what colour they were!!)

Here are a few more pictures of her enjoying them (and the sunshine)

New House

Well I now feel pleased enough with the lounge and dining room/snug to be able to show you a few before and after shots!!

To give you a bit of background...

...my husband and I have been renting for the last few years and moved to a bigger (still rented) house in our town last year - meaning to stay for a few years, or at least until my little helper is school age. However, my lovely in laws offered us the money to put a deposit on a house that would be big enough to get us a good mortgage.

So in March we started looking casually (not really wanting to move until the summer holidays) and by 28th May we had completed and moved in!!!!!

So a few weeks later, here are some before and after shots!

The Lounge...

The Dining Room...

Excuse the mess on the table in the dining room (we've just been putting up lights for the new kitchen!)


The Snug...

Oh, and my little helper's room...

I'll post later in the week about the new kitchen!! I'm SOOOOOOOOO excited about it - not just because we've been without a sink or cooker for 3 weeks, but because it's all mine and it's brand shiny new!!

Strawberries and 'Cream'

Last night we had a BBQ with my parents and my mother-in-law (having just moved and not yet unpacked we're trying to eat using as few pans etc as possible!!).

For pudding we had strawberries (and raspberries) and cream - boy oh boy was it good cream, so here is my secret recipe!!!

1 LARGE punnet strawberries

1 punnet raspberries (or blueberries etc etc)

1 tub of extra thick Jersey double cream

1 tub fromage frais (or creme fraiche, or marscapone)

icing sugar to taste

and the secret part...

vanilla paste

(not essence, flavouring or beans).

My mum makes this stuff last for ages, but it tends to last only a month or so in my cupboard. It goes in cakes, milkshakes, cream, custard etc. Great big dollops for me!!

Back to the cream ... if you add the paste to the cream, fromage frais and sugar you'll end up with something that looks and tastes like velvety ice cream (but not as cold).

Scrummy!

Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling

So... tomorrow is my mother-in-law's birthday and I thought I'd have a go at making something for her. Well back in February she went on holiday and managed to lose her jewellery roll, that we bought her a couple of years ago (she thinks she knocked it into the wastepaper bin), and it had all of her favourite things in it.

I had a search online and found this tutorial by Helen at Angharad Handmade. I adapted it a tiny bit by adding an extra pocket at the top (just to slip bangles etc in) and I couldn't find any poppers I liked, so it has a button and ribbon to hold the ring-holder down.

What do you think???

I'm soooooooo chuffed I managed to put in the zips (not something I've attempted before!!!)

My Little Helper

Just wanted to show off my beautiful little helper!!

Here she is occupying herself while I pack boxes (we move at the end of the week)

So engrossed she didn't see the camera!

The armchair doesn't usually live in the garden, but while the sun is out it's making room for even more boxes!! Cloth bum looks great in the sun too don't you think?

It has been a very long time!!!!

It's been over a month since I last wrote on here! Terrible of me really! I keep popping on and thinking about it and then not taking photos of the things I want to write about, so logging off again and promising to come back later!!

Well, in the last month we have exchanged contracts on our first house!!! So as soon as we complete I'll get some 'before' pictures up, and hopefully (fingers crossed) after the bank holiday weekend I'll be able to put a few 'after' pictures up too!!

I've finally finished all but two of the hats I had orders for - just need to crack on and finish them this weekend. I have a couple of aprons to make too before I pack my sewing machine.

Sorry for the lack of pictures or content, but I'm off to mark some SATs papers while my little helper is sleeping!

I promise I won't leave it a whole month before I'm next about!!

Here Comes the Sun

Finally two consecutive sunny (and warm) days!!! We've been outside playing in the garden, so I thought I'd pop on and show you all!
Also, poor Emma is stuck in her office, so I hope it might cheer her up (and any other people stuck at work)!!

Football team endorsed bucket and spade - Daddy will be proud!

It's a shame that stones are so much more interesting than toys! I spent a few minutes trying to persuade her that she really ought to spit out the one that she was trying to chew!

These are just a couple of pictures of my flowers - the daffodils, cowslips, hyacinths and anemones have taken over from the crocuses I posted about before.

Easter Bonnet

Happy Easter!!

We've had a lovely weekend here - hunting eggs with my family and then over to my inlaws to hunt a few more! The weather has just about held and although it's not very sunny at the moment it's also not pouring with rain!

Here's my latest hat - made with the crochet cotton I spoke of last time.

Just another eight to make for other people now - oh and if I find time, one for my own daughter too!

Busy Bees

My little helper and I are the busy bees this week - so much so in fact that I haven't yet had time to make anything worthy of photographs.
 Today we've been to a local market and farm park to meet up with another naughty baby, and then we had a scrummy cream tea with the most enormous scones!! (I do feel slightly ill after eating all the jam and cream too!!). Yesterday we had lots of errands to run in town (posting parcels, going to the wool shop etc) and on Thursday we went swimming.

After my foray into hat making last week I now have orders for another three or four pink ones and a brown one (without the flower or frilly edge for a boy), only slight problem being I bought the last two balls of wool in a certain colour from my wool shop and it's now been discontiued - grrrrrrr!!! I'll have to find a different colour or a different wool. 
I've also been asked to make a hat for hotter weather using crochet cotton, so I've been experimenting with that this week too.

Now crochet cotton is funny stuff - it doesn't feel very thick and yet the instructions are to work it as you would for double knit, but also the weight is twice that of a ball of double knit the same size - very odd methinks! But... it is lovely to work and it has a slight sheen to it, so it almost glistens in the right light. I can't wait to see what a hat looks like in it!

Time now to put my helper down for a nap, and then hopefully I'll be able to make a start on one of these hats!

Cow Print and Ruffles

Ok, so here is the rest of my weekend's makes!

Cow print aprons for little ones....

... and a slightly bizarre 'ruffley' bag for shopping (my husband thought this was very funny)

My first foray into millinery!

I've had quite a busy weekend with making things. I managed to do a spot of sewing on Friday (my husband had a day's holiday to take, so he looked after my little helper for a while). I haven't quite finished it all though, so I'll blog again when I've managed to get it done!!!


I was asked on Thursday if I could crochet hats.
Errrr... well I'd never tried, so I though what the heck!  I was given a picture to try and re-create, although I ended up in my wool shop with a rather retro pattern to try and make a basic hat that I could then alter.

So...

... here is my second ever attempt at making a crocheted hat!

I'm actually quite pleased with it! I've spent a year making roses like the ones I posted about last week and never mastered working in rounds, but I have now managed to make 2 hats (and the flower on this one). I'm rather chuffed with myself!

This is hat no.1 - the first hat I've ever crocheted, but it's a funny size, so I abandoned it without any flowers or frills!

Spring has sprung!

Well, the weather is finally warming up and the sun has actually been shining this week! I was out on break duty and I didn't need a coat so it must have been warm - since October I've been wrapped up with scarf, hat and a couple of pairs of gloves, but none of that was needed this week at all!

These are the Crocus and Iris plants that I put in my tiny garden as bulbs back in the autumn. They have gone from stumpy shoots to beautiful flowers since the weekend. I always think nature is at it's most powerful during the spring, it never ceases to amaze me how something like a crocus bulb has spent so long underground (and this year under so much snow and ice too) and yet it appears unharmed and ready to do it's thing!

I got a bit carried away with my camera angles...

... and ended up with muddy knees and elbows! I don't think the ground has dried out as much as I thought it had.

Roses, Hearts and Stars!

Crochet roses (or whatever you might call them) are my ultimate favourite make! I've been experimenting with some summery ones with ribbons as Wedding corsages to wear on the wrist, I have a ball of similar wool in lilac, but I can't decide what colour ribbon to use!

  

I'm hopeless at setting up photos!

In the winter I made them as brooches from some rustic-looking wool in darker colours. These are all that I have left from last years stock - a lot of them went to relatives and work colleagues as Christmas presents.

My latest sewing got a bit fiddly, so I have put it to one side for the time being, but I was hoping to make some stars and hearts to string together. I might have to adapt my pattern to make them a bit easier!

I haven't sewn this one up yet!

This is my little 'helper'

Starting Out (and jumping on the band wagon)

Well, I thought I'd start my blogging journey with a little explanation of how I got here!

I have had an email from the lovely Ms Mouse to say that she has created a blog (but I'm not allowed to look at it yet apparently!), so I thought I'd have a go too.

I love all sorts of crafty activities and am one of Ms Mouse's assistant Crafty Bums. I keep making things that I hope I'll be able to sell, but never find the time or place to sell them (apart from occasionally on The Outlet).

So... Baby asleep, blog begun - time for bed I reckon!!