Wednesday 31 October 2007

All Hallow's Even...

We had a suitable welcome for our Trick or Treaters tonight



The photo doesn't really give any clue about size BUT, the one on the left was grown by me and is roughly the size of a (wonky) football!

I have a HUGE stock pot of pumpkin soup from this book cooling down on the garden table for a Hallowe'en Party at school tomorrow. Hope I remember to bring it in later!

Chicken Update... I think I've had a soft egg. At least there's a soggy, speckled thing flopped through the roosting bars!! I sort of need some eggs to do some cooking and I'm reluctant to buy any now! Maybe I should, just to get the ball rolling...










Sunday 28 October 2007

Getting through the list...

It's been a very productive weekend... I have had the house to myself, so it's been all about ME!

All the aprons are finished. The embroidered vegetables are nicely raised for the children in my class to feel as well as look at. It's good for them to have objects of reference for each activity and I think these will fit the bill nicely.



The thing that kept me going was this


And these



Recipe courtesy of Elinor. This is what I have grown to love about blogging - following a thread and being so delighted with the outcome.

The Girls seem to have settled in nicely. They have both let me feed them with a bit of grass through the run - a good sign, apparently. Pippin (chocolate lab) and Barney (Border terrier) are both completely obsessed with them and keep patrolling the run. Needless to say, Lily and Flossie just look at them with disdain! That's my girls!!

Friday 26 October 2007

New Arrivals...

Today I welcomed 2 new faces to our household...


Lily is a Ginger Russet and Flossie is a Miss Pepperpot. They came complete with a fantastic, purple chicken house. My garden was crying out for chickens and the anticipation on collecting our first egg is so exciting.
The dogs have had a good sniff around but won't be able to meet them snout to beak for another 2 weeks. The girls need to stay in their run for a fortnight to get used to their new home. They both enjoyed a slice of marmite on toast as a welcome meal and have now settled down for the night.
The rest of the day has been spent perusing the shelves of Borders looking for 'touchy feely' books to add to the library at school. I work in a Special School so am always on the lookout for multi-sensory additions for the children to explore.
My son is off to an All Night Game-a-thon with his Scout Pack so an evening of quiet embroidery awaits along with this weeks episode of Spooks...

Thursday 25 October 2007

Tempus Fugit...

Hmmm...not easy this blogging business. I feel like I'm trying to fit too many things into each day at the moment. I can't believe I've not posted for over 2 weeks. I have been busy, I promise! I've been trying to prioritise and get the stuff that's got to be done first before starting on more frivolous projects that seem more fun. It's hard!

Amongst other things, there has been a wedding to attend - beautiful attention to detail; a parent's group meeting in Oxford to participate in - difficult but a must-do; a Knitting and Stitchery Show to visit- packed, but good. I bought a few bits and pieces, but not much wool for some strange reason. Plus work! Part-time admittedly, but still quite consuming... Oh, and the probable reason for writers block - a Personal Statement for my degree application for next year. 4000 characters (including spaces!). You probably all heard the loud exhalation when I was finally satisfied with it. Not easy... I'm taking a HUGE step and am applying to do a B Ed next year. 3 years studying and teacher status at the end of it!

I spent the whole day last Sunday digging in the allotment. It was very satisfying to see weed-free soil; and what soil it is! Lovely and dark and rich...perfect! The other plot is almost ready for a dig now. It was burnt by Joe, the previous plot-holder, yesterday. So, hopefully, I can get cracking on it soon.

And now it's half-term and the last week has flown by. I've had friends to stay so all projects have been on hold since the weekend. This is the current WIP


A pile of calico aprons for my school gardening club. Vegetable motifs to be embroidered on.

A trip to Ikea always goes down well! Amongst other things, I got my Christmas wrapping sorted out. I'm not usually that organised...




Tuesday 9 October 2007

Going loopy...

Today I finished the loopy cushion! I think it looks fab on my sofa.

The wool is Colinette Point 5, colour Raphael. It's much more multi-coloured than I'd imagined...I do love this wool though! It's so quick to work with; I'm a bit of a quick-fix knitter so rarely knit big things to wear, more accessories and things for around the house.

My favourite knit of the moment, and on the needles as we speak (so to speak!) is another felted bowl from this book. Looks like most people I know will get one of these for Christmas filled with goodies! I have several already...one for dinner money, one for PSP games, one for general bedside junk, their uses are never-ending.
I'm off to The Knitting and Stitchery Show on Friday. I've not been for a few years and so I'm hoping to restock my stash and come away itching to get knitting something new...

Sunday 7 October 2007

That Autumn Feeling...

And here I was thinking that I would be posting every day! The week doesn't seem to have enough hours in it to do it all and I still spend hours reading other blogs and quietly neglecting my own.

I so enjoyed looking at the wonderful autumny photos at Ragged Roses, off I went today armed with my camera. It was a bit cloudy but still lovely to be out walking with my son, friends and dogs. Here's what caught our eye...
I'm thinking that the holly pic would make a great Christmas card... In my own garden things are looking seasonal too. The agapanthus seed heads look stunning...
And my amelanchier is at it's most colourful...

In the garden, all the bulbs are in and the wallflowers...roll on spring for a carpet of colour. Today I also dug up the rest of my Pink Fir Apple potatoes. It truly feels like digging for treasure. These potatoes make the most amazing potato salad and are great roasted in their skins. Plans for my new allotment are keeping me awake at night! I bought Sarah Ravens Grow your own cut flowers for ideas about doing just that! I can never bear to cut too many flowers from my garden and spoil it, so this might be just the answer to dedicate an area on the allotment. Soft fruit is also high on my wish list.

These are the things that are going to be taking my time up in the coming week...

The velvet stripe fabric is to make a Roman blind for aforementioned son's bedroom. It seems to have taken an age to finish decorating it, what with stock problems, delivery problems, tv aerial point problems, to mention a few problems. It's going to look great eventually... The other bits of fabric are remnants for lining some more Point 5 bags (the orders and coming in thick and fast!) and the wool is to knit myself some leg-warmers to tuck down in my sheepskin boots - very 80's!

Almost finished is the 'loopy' cushion in Point 5 also. It took some practice getting the loops right, but I got there in the end and it's going to look fab on my sofa.