Crochet update - August

You may recognise this flower - it's one of the hellebores I made a while ago - but this one has been turned into a brooch as a little thank you to Catherine for my lovely giveaway pressies (glad you liked it, Catherine!)

My summer hols blanket (aaahhhhh, siiiiigh).  I don't want to show you too much or it won't be a proper ta-dah when I've finished it, but this baby has made its way on to my list of 'things-I'd-save-if-my-house-was-burning-to-the-ground-and-everyone-was-safely-outside-and-not-trapped-and-if-it-was-safe-for-me-to-go-into-the-building-without-fear-of-a-piece-of-flaming-ceiling-falling-on-my-bonce'.

And the stripy side of my little rocking chair cushion is finished, though the reverse side most definitely isn't.  Gaaaggh....  I made the entire reverse side out of pale pink, edged it in purple, decided I hated it, frogged the lot and haven't touched it since.  Humph.  Anyhoo, I will finish this soon - I've bought some lovely, clean-looking white yarn - I just need to locate my stripy cushion love again then it'll be done and dusted in no time.
And in the other news tonight:

ooooh, look at this little lovely - it's my bargainous patio rose that I bought for the princely sum of £1.50 from a local florist.  As I paid for it, the florist pointed out to me that there are, in fact, five little rose plants in the pot, so I have high hopes for a positive profusion of these beauties next summer.  (Though, knowing my gardening abilities, it's more likely that they'll all die over winter.  Positive thinking now....)  If you look closely at the photo above, you might be able to see the enormous tin that I filched last time I went to Pizza Express.  I saw them lined up on the counter and it appears that I have no shame, because I actually asked the waiter if I could take one home to grow plants in.  I haven't been back since.

And here is a close-up of the one flower on it, before baby n decided to eat it...

Ah, and here are my beautiful 'dotty dollies' that big n bought for me with his pocket money from the festival.  Yes, I did shed a tear and also instantly forgave him for every annoying thing he's ever done in his entire life - of which there are a few - he is king wind-up merchant.

Right, I'm off now - Monty Hall is on the television and I need to give him my full attention - he is definitely on my list of guilty pleasures (along with Monty Don, bizarrely.  Do you think it's a name thing?) x