Playtime

This week is May half term... Yay!! Time has flown since Easter and it doesn't seem like five minutes since we were waving good by to the last holiday and here we are again. That doesn't mean to say that this term has been easy. Work has been hectic, we have Little Man's 4th birthday and lots going on at home as well. So this week will mostly be spent enjoying time together at home and getting a few jobs done too.

I am currently in the middle of working on lots of little projects and also starting some rather big ones.

I have been working on making a little cot blanket for my darling baby girl. The lucky little thing was given a gorgeous wooded push-along pram for her birthday months back and I was determined to make her a bit of crochet to keep her dollies warm. Far too quickly time whizzed by and the little cot blanket went on the to do list at the back of my mind. Last weekend I finally started it and here we are.

While making the little cot blanket I have given myself a short break from working on my v-stitch stripe blanket (need to think of a more exciting name for this blanket, perhaps retro blanket or rainbow blanket). Loving these colours and the fun of mixing and matching up the different colour combinations. I really love how neat it feels too. Granny square blankets are wonderful but they are high maintenance when it comes to those loose ends.

The garden is coming along too. This is our first year of living in this house and we had to make some very drastic changes to the backyard. I inherited this summerhouse and my lovely Hubby has painted it ready for me to decorate the inside now. I am really keen to push on with this now as the Spring is rapidly turning into Summer and I want to be in there making and enjoying the space soon. 

I have been working on the playhouse too this week. We bought this little lovely on ebay for just £40 when Little Man was 18 months old and it lived in our old garden before we moved it here. So far it has been used for toy storage more than play but I have always had plans for it. I am desperate to make this a lovely fun playhouse now before my Little Man becomes to old for playing house.

While we're down at the bottom of the garden I might introduce you to Dinosaur Land. Yes, you read it right! Tucked away in between the summerhouse and the playhouse we are creating at bit of a sensory-come-small world play area. Under a newly planted Maple tree we have a sandpit and an area of rough ground where we have added a collection of slate chippings, pebbles and shells with larger pieces of slate and rock to create Dinosaur land. We also have a large planter with herbs growing for the little people to feel, smell, taste, use in their play kitchen, make dens for fairies to live in, that kind of thing. We have a large blackboard and I am planning to add a secret garden window using a perspex mirror behind some trellis with a clematis or honeysuckle growing up it. I would also like to create a bug hotel if I can too. The little people are rather fond of this area of the garden. It's not huge but big enough to escape into and explore with those amazing imaginations they have for play and discovery. 

And not forgetting the other full time job I have at this time of year. The Allotment! We have had it for 4 years now. It lives near our old house which a short 15 minute drive away from us. Not ideal but it gives us so much enjoyment. It's a lovely outdoor space for our little people to get muddy in and learn so much about life, how things grow, where food comes from, how nature works to help our veg grow and so on. But it is also extremely hard work. Neither me nor my Hubby can bring ourselves to let all the hard work go. My lovely Hubby and I have a good system going at the moment where he does the digging (quicker that I can) and I do the planning and planting. We are always behind but we get good results nonetheless. Here is a pic from last year... it has changed quite a bit since this photo. Will have to take some more pics soon.

  I found this photo on my phone and I think it really sums up just how lovely it is at our allotment...

So this week has been spent working on a few of these jobs and hopefully with a trip to the seaside and a visit or two from some friends before the week is spent.

Thank you for popping by. Hope you have a lovely half term too, Sarah xxxxxxxxx

A Walk In The Woods

On Bank Holiday Monday my family and I had a trip out to see the bluebells in flower at Reydon Wood, near Southwold in Suffolk. We had such a lovely time. We followed the nature trail in a loop and along the way there was so much to see. We found beautiful wild flowers here, there and everywhere, wildlife and a carpet of bluebells that made you feel like you were in some sort of enchanted wood, magical!

A sea of bluebells, wild primroses, violets and celandines were among many of the wildflowers we saw. 

My photos don't do it justice and are not showing the colour as well as I would like so you will have to use your imagination or even better plan a visit yourself. It is a wonderful part of the Suffolk right next to the coast with lots to see and do.  We popped over to Southwold for a quick coffee and ice cream after our woodland walk. We didn't stay long as it was rather busy but plan to go back soon when we have more time. I did manage to take a few photos of this lovely traditional English seaside place... 

On the way home we popped in to Aldeburgh, another of our favourite places to be. We enjoyed a picnic dinner while watching Little Man float his little sail boat in the yacht pond. I didn't manage to get a great pic of this due to the two small people with me trying to climb in the yacht pond at every opportunity. A lovely day was had by all with lots of fun and laughter. xxx

Thanks for coming by,

Sarah xxxxx

And Relax....

Having an easy afternoon today.  On my own at home this afternoon having some me time so of course I've been enjoying the sun and enjoying some crochet :0) Happy me! Unfortunately it has now started to look very dark again with rumbles of thunder in the distance...

Yesterday was spent in the garden continuing to paint the Summerhouse or I should say, soon to be, my new studio!!  Even happier me! :0)

I have chosen to paint it in Seagrass by Cuprinol Graden Shades with Pale Jasmine accents for the doors and trims. Photos to come with a big studio ta dah blog post very soon! It is all feeling quite beachy in our back yard at the moment. I even found some pebbles in a bag collected on our last holiday to Wales, a year ago now, and these reminded me that I also collected a whole bag full of driftwood sticks and bits... now where did they go?

So today I set about making a beach inspired mandala for my new studio. I found the pattern in issue 12 of Simply Crochet magazine, a Christmas issue. It is actually titled Winter Mandala. I've changed the colours and reinvented it as a beach themed mandala instead! It think it will look a treat on the white washed walls of my new studio very soon...

It is amazing how quickly you can whizz one of these up in between the usual chaos of family life. A round here and there. I managed 4 rounds before they all cleared off and left me to enjoy sitting in the garden with my bare feet in the sun, a coffee on the go, a magazine to read... Bliss!
 

You might notice I'm showing off my latest charity shop and junk shop finds too. I found this lovely stripy jug in my favourite charity shop a week or so ago for £3 and the Emma Bridgewater mug on the same day for £9 new at the antique shop nearby. I don't often visit the antique shops especially if I have little people in tow, bull in a china shop and all that plus I've often over spend in the charity shop as it is. Really pleased I had a look that day although I did see rather a lot of other lovely things too... the other reason I avoid these places. 

I also have my eye on some snowflake bunting pictured on the front page... perhaps in the same beachy colours. For this mandala I have used Drops Love You 5 and aran weight yarn with a 4.5mm hook. One more round to go and I'm done with this little lovely!

Thank you for visiting and sharing a bit of me time with me. I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Better go now and get the washing in quick...

Love Sarah xxx



 

Loving Springtime

Spring has sprung here in Suffolk and everywhere I go the streets are full of trees bearing heavy blossomy blooms. I love these big fluffy puffs of candy floss pink blossom. Soon the ground will be filled with their confetti and we will have lush green leaves to enjoy ready for summer but for a short while we can admire them as they are now...

I took these photos on the way home today. This is my journey to nursery and back... 

This is typical Suffolk landscape right now. Field after field of bright yellow oilseed rape. It is quite spectacular. I will have to try and get another photo when the sky is blue and sunny as the yellow much brighter then, not like today's moody clouds.

 
This lovely bunch of cowslips are another treat for us here in Suffolk at the moment. Along the country lanes by the sides of the roads you will see wonderful displays of wild flowers. Cowslips and wild primroses are very common and always make me smile.

Have to say there hasn't been much hooky time lately. The last couple of weeks have been busy to say the least. Busy but generally fun and even exciting at times. It has been all about the boy! My little baby boy turned four this week. Where has the time gone... that familiar feeling of things getting away from you and time going to fast again. My little baby has outgrown being a toddler and now, before I feel really ready for it, he is a big boy preparing to start school in September.

Last week was spent getting ready for his birthday party extravaganza that happened on Sunday. We had a Pirate party at home with lovely friends joining us. It was a traditional party just like the ones we had when we were little and all the usual party games and food to match. We had a treasure hunt, pass the parcel, pin the eye patch on the pirate, the balloon bop and more besides and finished off eating sandwiches, crisps, cheese and pineapple on sticks and jelly. Who could want for more!

So while all that was happening everything else was on hold. Here are a few things I am trying to work on right now...

A few weeks back I had a go at designing my own mandala wheel. This is the first time I have done this and, although it is only small, I am quite please with it for my first attempt. It looks rather cosy mixed in with my other mandala wheels don't you think? The next challenge is trying to write the pattern for it :0P

 

I used the bargainous Drops Love You 5, 100% cotton yarn selling on Wool Warehouse for 80p a ball at the mo.

I have also started a new blanket. I am using Stylecraft Chunky yarn for this with v stitch pattern. I quite like working in chunky yarn and it is no surprise I am zooming through this blanket as well. It took me quite a lot of time to work out how to start off with a v stitch pattern. I had to do lots of web surfing to find a good pattern and instructions without having to buy one from Ravelry or similar. I finally worked it out from a pattern diagram here at www.lemondedesucrette.com. When I have finished the blanket I will add in my own written pattern here for anyone who would like it.

A whole evening of hooky quietness is waiting for me now... I hope you have enjoyed your visit here and I wish you a happy Bank Holiday weekend... bye bye for now :0) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx