It's been a busy week so far! My friend Jay came up to visit on Saturday and went home this morning. I was called in to work all day on Monday and I'm working my usual shifts on top so we've been hectic...
So, what to be cheerful about?
Evenings chatting with a very dear friend who I've known now for half my lifetime-it's funny how many things change but a lot stays the same too!
My childminder, friend and neighbour Bec who I don't mention enough for all her support-I wouldn't be able to cope with my job without her help and she's a genuinely lovely person as well.
My health-I was reminded recently that I'm actually very fortunate and despite my many grumbles, I'm lucky and very grateful to the Divine for my health and that of my family.
I'm a Reiki practitioner and one of the precepts is gratitude-to be thankful for what you have, to accept that you have what you need and good fortune is always better shared :-)
As ever-Myf has made me smile so much this week-lots of cuddles and jokes and the occasional cuppa too!
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Reasons to be Cheerful
Happy Wednesday everyone! It's the start of my work days so my brain tends to feel pre-emptively exhausted and shattered plus there are some tensions at work at the moment. It's not the nicest work environment at its best but currently I'm finding it tough not to snap and yell at people!
So here are some positive things to counterbalance my stress :-)
I'm working on a couple of ideas for Mother's Day gifts (March 30th this year) and I'm experimenting with Tunisian Crochet. I used this technique a while back when I was making this blanket here and really enjoyed it although I didn't own a proper extending hook which made it tricky-the stitches kept trying to slip off the edge! I still don't have the right hook (I attempted to modify a knitting needle but it hasn't worked too well) but I'm a more confident crocheter now so that helps.
I mentioned before that Myf was working on her very own crochet project? She was busily working at it for a couple of days and subtly asked if I like scarves more than neck warmers...
A few hours later, she presented me with this! Her first ever crochet piece and it's for me! It's delightful-such gorgeous colours and it fits me perfectly. Isn't she clever?
We have an old friend coming to stay over the weekend-Myf and I are very excited! Hoping we'll have nice weather as well :-)
I've enjoyed the 'Game of Thrones' series immensely so far and I got hold of a copy of one of the author's earlier books 'Voyaging Tuf' which is a great read.
Despite the weather being warmer here, it's typically quite chilly in the mornings when Myf and I are up so the newest blanket has been getting lots of use keeping us snug. Thank you all for your lovely comments about this blanket-it's been a joy sharing it with you and the wonderful feedback I've had has really made my day :-)
And finally, there's this. Cracked fits well with my warped sense of humour but this article is unusually all about the positive and worth a look!
So here are some positive things to counterbalance my stress :-)
I'm working on a couple of ideas for Mother's Day gifts (March 30th this year) and I'm experimenting with Tunisian Crochet. I used this technique a while back when I was making this blanket here and really enjoyed it although I didn't own a proper extending hook which made it tricky-the stitches kept trying to slip off the edge! I still don't have the right hook (I attempted to modify a knitting needle but it hasn't worked too well) but I'm a more confident crocheter now so that helps.
I mentioned before that Myf was working on her very own crochet project? She was busily working at it for a couple of days and subtly asked if I like scarves more than neck warmers...
A few hours later, she presented me with this! Her first ever crochet piece and it's for me! It's delightful-such gorgeous colours and it fits me perfectly. Isn't she clever?
We have an old friend coming to stay over the weekend-Myf and I are very excited! Hoping we'll have nice weather as well :-)
I've enjoyed the 'Game of Thrones' series immensely so far and I got hold of a copy of one of the author's earlier books 'Voyaging Tuf' which is a great read.
Despite the weather being warmer here, it's typically quite chilly in the mornings when Myf and I are up so the newest blanket has been getting lots of use keeping us snug. Thank you all for your lovely comments about this blanket-it's been a joy sharing it with you and the wonderful feedback I've had has really made my day :-)
And finally, there's this. Cracked fits well with my warped sense of humour but this article is unusually all about the positive and worth a look!
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Memories...
Like many mothers who had a hospital birth, after my baby was born I kept hold of all those little bits you get. The wrist tags they put around my wrist and my daughter's so that I went home with the right baby. The tape measure they used to measure her length and where they'd also written her weight and birth date. The very first clothes Myf wore. These along with a few other pieces have been kept in a little box hidden in a bigger box along with all my photographs, Myf's school work and other mementoes from my life.
Our house has been on the market for a few years now. When we'd finished doing all the renovations, my parents advised that a house full of mementoes and photos looks cluttered and it's more likely to sell if the people viewing it can imagine their items on the shelves and walls. So I packed all my books away and my photos and for the last few years, aside from a couple of Myf's school photos, I haven't allowed myself to have all the photos around the house that I enjoyed before. It's been really hard! I'm a sentimental person who loves to see photos of my family everywhere.
Hidden away in the wardrobe in my bedroom was a large multi-photo frame that I'd used for early photos of Myf. I only had photos from a disposable camera at the time and many of them were badly cut out and poorly mounted. Given that I'd just finished tidying up the living room (and I'm apparently allergic to not living in clutter), I laid out some of these mementoes and photos and set about filling the frame anew.
I used a piece of colourful wrapping paper for the center-it gave a lovely background for the wrist tags and tape measure! I then spent a while sorting through photo frames to find a few lovely photos and included Myf's most recent school photo...
I added a lock of Myf's hair from the very first time I cut it, put the frame together and hammered a nail into the wall to hang it from!
Myf is due home in an hour-I think she will love it as much as I do! It's not too 'in your face' for people viewing the house and I think it will help me overcome my craving for some kind of visual sentiment around my home :-)
Now I have to tidy the living room again......
Our house has been on the market for a few years now. When we'd finished doing all the renovations, my parents advised that a house full of mementoes and photos looks cluttered and it's more likely to sell if the people viewing it can imagine their items on the shelves and walls. So I packed all my books away and my photos and for the last few years, aside from a couple of Myf's school photos, I haven't allowed myself to have all the photos around the house that I enjoyed before. It's been really hard! I'm a sentimental person who loves to see photos of my family everywhere.
Hidden away in the wardrobe in my bedroom was a large multi-photo frame that I'd used for early photos of Myf. I only had photos from a disposable camera at the time and many of them were badly cut out and poorly mounted. Given that I'd just finished tidying up the living room (and I'm apparently allergic to not living in clutter), I laid out some of these mementoes and photos and set about filling the frame anew.
I used a piece of colourful wrapping paper for the center-it gave a lovely background for the wrist tags and tape measure! I then spent a while sorting through photo frames to find a few lovely photos and included Myf's most recent school photo...
I added a lock of Myf's hair from the very first time I cut it, put the frame together and hammered a nail into the wall to hang it from!
Myf is due home in an hour-I think she will love it as much as I do! It's not too 'in your face' for people viewing the house and I think it will help me overcome my craving for some kind of visual sentiment around my home :-)
Now I have to tidy the living room again......
Saturday, 15 March 2014
I proudly present...the 'Sleeping Forest' Blanket!
I know you know it was finished a few days ago but I wanted to take a few photos of it laid out.
It's been such a lovely process, taking photos along the way. It all started here, when I finally decided it was high time I made myself another blanket. You've seen all the photos as I made 126 squares and put them all together. I've agonised over the border and taken AGES finishing it as either my daughter or my cats keep nicking it for cuddles. But now, after 2 and a half months, it's finally finished! I can't wait to have it on my bed :-)
This isn't my bed, it's in the spare room-but the light is so much better...
...The blanket is MASSIVE-I can't even get all the squares into one shot!
So what do you think? Isn't it lovely?
It's been such a lovely process, taking photos along the way. It all started here, when I finally decided it was high time I made myself another blanket. You've seen all the photos as I made 126 squares and put them all together. I've agonised over the border and taken AGES finishing it as either my daughter or my cats keep nicking it for cuddles. But now, after 2 and a half months, it's finally finished! I can't wait to have it on my bed :-)
This isn't my bed, it's in the spare room-but the light is so much better...
...The blanket is MASSIVE-I can't even get all the squares into one shot!
So what do you think? Isn't it lovely?
Thursday, 13 March 2014
Reasons to be Cheerful (slightly late)
My work hours have changed a bit-we're now open until 7pm so on Wednesdays, I'm at work from 10am until 7pm and today I start at 8am until 7pm! So by the time I get home, usually around 7.45pm, collect Myf from the childminder and get home, I'm usually pretty wiped out. Having to get up at 5.30am does not agree with me!
We're having beautiful weather at the moment-gorgeous sunshine and clear blue skies and all the plants are getting ready to burst out with all their glorious colours :-)
Yesterday was a pretty good day though. I got caught up at work and managed to get the stock room sorted out ready for the delivery today. I was in a positive mood all day! This is what happens when I am so spoiled by my gorgeous girl-she brought me a cup of tea at 6am yesterday morning :-)
I've been working on the border for the blanket-I was improvising something that was going to involve building it up over a few rounds but after I finished the foundation round and starting improvising the next section, I couldn't make it do what my brain wanted and it looked awful! And Myf and I really like how the foundation row looks. So the blanket is finished! I haven't taken a proper photo of it yet-hopefully I will over the weekend if the weather stays nice but I have taken one of the border...
The border is made up of a round of hdc granny clusters in dark brown (to match the joining), a round of dc granny clusters and a round of sc in cream and then the final round in green which comprises of (sc, ch 5, sc) in the corners and slst, *sc, hdc, dc, htr, ch 5, picot into top of htr, htr, dc, hdc, sc, slst and repeat from * around.
It's currently on the sofa waiting for its photo op and keeping Myf warm :-) She's making her own crochet project-a scarf in dc that looks fab!
I'm still having loads of fun with the camera as well...
(Artemis doesn't usually go on Myf's lap but the blanket was irresistible!)
We're having beautiful weather at the moment-gorgeous sunshine and clear blue skies and all the plants are getting ready to burst out with all their glorious colours :-)
Yesterday was a pretty good day though. I got caught up at work and managed to get the stock room sorted out ready for the delivery today. I was in a positive mood all day! This is what happens when I am so spoiled by my gorgeous girl-she brought me a cup of tea at 6am yesterday morning :-)
I've been working on the border for the blanket-I was improvising something that was going to involve building it up over a few rounds but after I finished the foundation round and starting improvising the next section, I couldn't make it do what my brain wanted and it looked awful! And Myf and I really like how the foundation row looks. So the blanket is finished! I haven't taken a proper photo of it yet-hopefully I will over the weekend if the weather stays nice but I have taken one of the border...
The border is made up of a round of hdc granny clusters in dark brown (to match the joining), a round of dc granny clusters and a round of sc in cream and then the final round in green which comprises of (sc, ch 5, sc) in the corners and slst, *sc, hdc, dc, htr, ch 5, picot into top of htr, htr, dc, hdc, sc, slst and repeat from * around.
It's currently on the sofa waiting for its photo op and keeping Myf warm :-) She's making her own crochet project-a scarf in dc that looks fab!
I'm still having loads of fun with the camera as well...
(Artemis doesn't usually go on Myf's lap but the blanket was irresistible!)
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Long walks and lots more photos...
We've had such lovely weather this weekend! It finally feels properly like Spring and it's been perfect for taking long walks and photos :-)
We walked up to Pontypridd Common yesterday-it's a beautiful area complete with a Stone Circle and a War Memorial (I posted distance shots of it yesterday) and we spent a happy few hours walking and chatting and playing with the new camera...
This camera takes such a gorgeous photo-I really enjoyed playing with the black and white and I think I got some lovely shots :-) I may have a new obsession!
In crochet news, I still haven't found a border I'd like to try on the blanket. Well, that's not exactly true, I'd found quite a few in the new book I want to try but they all need a specific stitch count as a base and 1) this blanket is SO BIG 2) Due to the special squares, some squares have an odd stitch count which means that although they look the same length, they're not! Which makes it really difficult to work from a border pattern :-( Plus, I can't say any of them REALLY leapt out and grabbed me.
So, I'll try some border patterns on the next small lap blanket/baby blanket and see what I can improvise for this one. I'm desperate to have it properly finished-the cats keep nicking it and Myf has no qualms about wrapping up in it as well!
We walked up to Pontypridd Common yesterday-it's a beautiful area complete with a Stone Circle and a War Memorial (I posted distance shots of it yesterday) and we spent a happy few hours walking and chatting and playing with the new camera...
This camera takes such a gorgeous photo-I really enjoyed playing with the black and white and I think I got some lovely shots :-) I may have a new obsession!
In crochet news, I still haven't found a border I'd like to try on the blanket. Well, that's not exactly true, I'd found quite a few in the new book I want to try but they all need a specific stitch count as a base and 1) this blanket is SO BIG 2) Due to the special squares, some squares have an odd stitch count which means that although they look the same length, they're not! Which makes it really difficult to work from a border pattern :-( Plus, I can't say any of them REALLY leapt out and grabbed me.
So, I'll try some border patterns on the next small lap blanket/baby blanket and see what I can improvise for this one. I'm desperate to have it properly finished-the cats keep nicking it and Myf has no qualms about wrapping up in it as well!
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Playing with my new camera :-) (Loads of photos, you have been warned!)
Last October, Myf and I went to visit my sister in Kent for a few days. We had such a lovely time with them all! I was chatting to my brother in law about my little digital camera and the swim it had over the summer and he mentioned having a camera that he doesn't use any more. He disappeared into the loft for a bit and came back dome with a beautiful Canon camera with lots of shiny buttons!
I've waited so long before trying it out partly because of nerves and partly because I don't tend to carry a camera around (which I'm trying to correct as I often wish I could take a picture of something)
So yesterday, Myf and I were feeling a little better in the afternoon and fancied a walk through the park. I brought the camera....
So far, I've kept it on the Auto function and just played around with the zoom but I've just figured out how to set it onto black and white so I'm going to have fun taking some arty shots :-)
In a couple of photos, you can see a War Memorial-it's up on Pontypridd Common which is up one of our lovely steep hills :-) Myf and I are going to take a walk up there today (with the camera again) so you'll be seeing it again close up! There's an amazing Stone Circle up there as well so hopefully the weather will stay lovely and I can share some great photos with you later.
Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!
I've waited so long before trying it out partly because of nerves and partly because I don't tend to carry a camera around (which I'm trying to correct as I often wish I could take a picture of something)
So yesterday, Myf and I were feeling a little better in the afternoon and fancied a walk through the park. I brought the camera....
So far, I've kept it on the Auto function and just played around with the zoom but I've just figured out how to set it onto black and white so I'm going to have fun taking some arty shots :-)
In a couple of photos, you can see a War Memorial-it's up on Pontypridd Common which is up one of our lovely steep hills :-) Myf and I are going to take a walk up there today (with the camera again) so you'll be seeing it again close up! There's an amazing Stone Circle up there as well so hopefully the weather will stay lovely and I can share some great photos with you later.
Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!
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