Escapism

Is it normal to fall in love with a piece of wrapping paper?  Is it normal to crawl around on your hands and knees photographing said wrapping paper?  Is it normal to confess to other people that you get just a teeny bit thrilled every time you see these little pictures?

In my head, I actually live in a world that looks like this wrapping paper.  I have a pair of little wings and a floaty frock, and we eat only cup cakes, and I even have a little crown that comes out for special occasions.  (Sigh)  Or is this just denial when the reality actually looks a lot more like a bomb site?

Oh well, there's nowt wrong with a bit of escapism, is there? x
PS - I actually did all that ironing today.  I feel a small round of applause wouldn't be inappropriate...

Hexy happiness

  

Today I am at home.  On my own.  Normally this never, ever, ever happens and although I'm at home (as opposed to being at work) because I'm not very well, I am secretly enjoying it.  There's just me and my cup of tea.
If you were to spy on me through my sitting room window, you might think that I am looking unhurried and relaxed, but actually I am very busy.  What am I so busy doing? I hear you ask.  Well, for starters I am busy ignoring this:

I think you'll agree that this is quite a hugely large pile of ironing, but you know, if you were to ask me why it's sitting on the sofa and not all nicely folded and put away, I would tell you that if I'm not well enough to be at work (which I'm not), I'm not well enough to be doing the ironing.  So that's my excuse.  And I'm sticking to it.
I am also quite busy with a pile of secret birthday presents and a lovely roll of Emma Bridgewater wrapping paper, my book club book (which I am really enjoying and have nearly finished), my springtime throw and a rather lovely looking plum that is about to become an ex-plum.  You see, it really is all go around here.
So in keeping with the general tone of efficiency, I thought I would finally do my hexy ta-dah.

You may remember from an earlier post that I was making a house warming present for a friend from some lovely Rowan wool cotton that I picked up on my trip to Dorset in February.  Well, she has finally moved house and so I can now reveal what it is that I made her.  Are you ready?

 

 

I always get massively nervous giving people something I've made.  I think I'm scared that they might secretly hate it and never want to use it, but feel compelled to because they're nice and don't want to hurt my feelings.  Or is that just me?  Anyway, she seemed very pleased with it, which was good.  I just need to remember to give her advance notice before I come round, so she can dig it out of the drawer, dust it off, and put it out ready for my arrival! x

Busy, busy, busy!

When I saw this leaf, I just had to photograph it - I felt such a strong empathy with it.  I too have been feeling a bit old and shrivelled myself of late.  Just a bit spent.  Life has been madly, crazily busy and sometimes it feels as though my feet never touch the ground.  I've got so many balls in the air that if I pause for breath, they all come crashing down around my ears.  All my time and energy has been going into doing things I need to do and doing things I want to do just doesn't come into it.  Crochet, reading, blogging, sleeping - sadly neglected of late.  Anyway, things from now on should slow down a bit, so I'm hoping that I can start doing the things I love to do again.
(Mmmmm, lovely - pause for slurping sounds - a hot chocolate in my new mug - aka 'hot chocolate mug mark II' - more on that at a later date.)
I now feel, after that little moan, that I need to highlight the silver linings in all this busy-ness; the first is that I've been working a lot, which means I've been earning, which is really fantastic and something for which I am extremely grateful; the second is that we have seen a lot of really lovely, old friends over the past two weekends - and I am also extremely grateful for that.
Anyway, now I've got that off my chest (!), here is a brief glimpse of my week:

The sun has been out in all its glory and on Wednesday, I managed to sneak outside for half an hour for a bit of illicit hooky time while baby nut had her sleep.

Springtime throw production line in full flow!

A few weeks ago I feared that my little herb garden was no more, but just look what has appeared since then:

Lovely chives.  My two little thymes have survived the freezing winter too, which is great news.
The sun has given me the urge for garden picnics too - middle nut and I used to enjoy them all the time before he started school (boo) and now baby nut, who is going to be one whole year old next Sunday, is just getting to the age where she likes them too (hooray!)  Of course, we just had to christen our new picnic rug:

Aaah, happy days with my baby girl.

So, just a brief post tonight, but lots of ideas for posts buzzing around in my head.  A crochet update post will come in the next day or two - I'm working on another interim project, and I can finally do my hexy project ta-dah.  I also have a Very Important Birthday Party to plan.  I just need to work out what party food to make for a baby who can't eat wheat, gluten, milk, dairy, soya or eggs... x

A weekend away

Well, this post comes to you from a slightly tired and emotional Nut house tonight.  We've been away for a lovely weekend with good friends in Surrey and you know, when you've got four adults and seven (yes, seven) children in a house, sleep doesn't feature highly on the 'list of things to do'.
One thing that definitely does make an appearance on the to do list, however, is a trip to Wisley.  I just love the place.

These two photos are taken at the (quite) new play area, where the children had an absolutely brilliant time running around with sticks.  It was brilliant right up to the point that middle Nut took a stick to the head and had to make an emergency dash to first aid.  I did a great impression of someone trying hard, and failing, not to panic.  That wasn't so brilliant.  Luckily, impressive bump aside, he was fine.
We decided to indulge in slightly less crazy activities after that, so had a great lunch in the restaurant and then wandered through the garden looking at the amazing flowers.

Aren't hellebores just gorgeous?

Really, I could just have spent all afternoon wandering aimlessly with my mouth open, but Mr Nut wasn't quite so keen and the kids were getting embarrassed by my gormless appearance; so we left.

The weather was just so great that when we got back I sneaked out into the garden for a bit of sunny hooky time.  Middle Nut (complete with egg head) popped out with me for a bit of mother-son bonding.

That boy's a real gem.

Oooh, observe the blue and pinkiness of my little hook roll - one of my first projects, and one that I use all the time.

Happy days.  Hope you had a lovely, sunny weekend too. x

Bobbly joy

After a fierce internal debate the other day ("the floors really are very mucky.....Hmmmm, but there's that rather lovely remnant of CK fabric upstairs.....C'mon, mop the floors woman.....Ooooh, but I could make a.....") I decided to dust off my sewing machine and whip up a little something for some instant gratification.  And what could be more instantly gratifying than a stripy tablecloth with a cheery, bobbly red edging, I ask you?
My poor old sewing machine has been a bit neglected of late.  Lying patiently under the bed, it's just been waiting for me to return to it.  I've been very wrapped up in my shiny new friend, crochet, but really, sewing is still like the old pair of comfy slippers I return to again and again.

I trimmed a bit off the width, hemmed the edges, then hand sewed the bobbly edging on.  I love hand sewing - very satisfying and therapeutic.  And here it is, looking all lovely on the dining room table:

The floors are still mucky, but you know, I smile every time I walk into the dining room.

Work on the springtime throw is coming on a-pace:

It's very satisfying to see the little piles of squares growing, slowly but surely.

And goodness me, as if all that activity wasn't enough to make me need to have a little sit down with a cup of tea, I've also started my next book club book.

Baby Nut's not fully got to grips with the finer details yet! x

Peaking too early?

Is it wrong that I'm already starting to get a bit excited about Easter? x

A stringy make and also a cake

What do you do when you've recently bought a big bag of bits of alpaca wool (fur?)  Well, if you're me, you make a string bag thingie to hang on the bird table for the birds to use as nesting material.  Natch.  Not really considering how I was going to achieve this string bag thingie, I started playing around with some string.

Now, before I reveal the finished article, can I just point out that as always, I was on a time limit.  Just so you don't completely fall over laughing.

I'm counting on the birds round these parts not being too choosy where they get their nest material from.

As if that wasn't exertion enough (ho ho ho) I then decided to make some cupcakes as middle nut had a friend over for tea (nothing to do with me fancying a bit of a cakey treat, honest).  These turned out pretty well - nice and springy and just crying out for a thick layer of buttercream icing - the boys did the honours with the icing and chocolate buttons.  I think they did a pretty good job.  Baby nut definitely thought so:

Can you just see how fast her hand was moving? x

PS - I will do a recipe post soon for these beasties as they are yummy!

Sneaky peek

A little later than promised, but here it is - a sneaky peek at my latest hooky project.  I can't completely reveal this project yet, as it's a housewarming present for a friend who hasn't yet moved.  Don't want to spoil the surprise now...

I found this lovely Rowan Wool Cotton on my recent trip to Dorset.  This is the nicest yarn to work with, it's smooth and soft and feels gorgeous when it's made up and the colours are just lovely (my camera's doing odd things again today - aagh).  For some inexplicable reason, I felt the need to make hexagons:

and the only other thing I can confirm without giving the game away is that I am very proud of my little picot edging, which I tried for the first time:

(Oh, I'm so disappointed with the colour of these photos - what's going on with my camera?  Some days it just won't play ball)
I'm going to end this post today with what Mr Nut called a 'gratuitous bagel shot'.   Now, call me a calorie-addict, but there's nothing gratuitous about bagels in my book...

Particularly when the bagel shot in question is teamed with a gratuitous jam shot:

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm happy days x