yarn along - zpagetti project

For this week’s yarn along I have been busy knitting with great big chunky needles and zpagetti yarn. I was inspired by Annabooshouse blog to try my hand at knitting a pouf/round floor cushion thingummy bob. The pattern is quite straight forward, in fact only 4 rows to repeat (I think I may have slipped up a few times, but it seems to be quite forgiving).

My colours are a little random, it would have looked much better all in one colour but I didn't have enough of one colour so had to use two. I also had to use the yarn double; I had one and a half balls of grey and one ball of peachy orange. I used double strands of grey to start and then when the half ball ran out I added in the peach which made it two tones, when the grey ran out I just doubled up the peach. So it starts off grey, then mingled then finishes in peach - what do you think?

The real proof will be when I have sewn it together and stuffed it, at the moment I'm not sure what with. The pattern says 2 duvets, which sounds excessive, Annaboo used bean bag filling - I will have to experiment.

I have finished my run of crime/thriller novels and this week I am loving my new cookery book (what Katie ate) which Kate bought me for Mothers day - it's quite exquisite.

The book is gorgeous, beautiful pictures and the recipes look divine. I'd never heard of Katie before or her blog, but I love cookery books and this has to be one of my favourites already. Some of the recipes seem really simple, others more involved, but I can see it being well used and it's the sort of book you can just sit and look at all the wonderful illustrations, I love it.

(A quick follow on from last weeks post I have finished my mother in laws scarf, have a peek)
talk soon x

Thank you for taking the time to follow me and for liking my facebook page - also a big thank you for the lovely comments you send me I love reading them all.

time in the kitchen ...........

I have been so busy with hospital visits, Christmas fairs, crafting and general household chores I have had little time left for any serious cooking. I have been making quick and easy family meals, all from scratch but not very exciting. Today as I was getting some shopping for my mum and dad I saw a lovely vegetable lasagna in Marks and Spencer's. I resisted buying one and decided to come straight home and make my own. I had a few hours spare before I needed to be back at the hospital so I also made a chicken casserole, fruit cake, simple chocolate buns and two sponge cakes to be iced together for a birthday cake.

All in all a fun and productive few hours, it's amazing what you can achieve.

I've just got to nip to the hospital now and then when I get back I have got Alex, Finn and Daisy straight from school for supper, homework and then home for bed.

talk soon x

slow living ........

Another month has flown by -  life is hectic but fun and fulfilling. Hope you have all had a productive month, using Christine's nine heading's I have given you a flavour of what's been happening in my life.

NOURISH:

lots of cooking and experimenting with recipes, not sure it's always nourishing as quite a few sweet bakes this month.

carrot and lentil soup

stir fry vegetables in a tomato sauce

cupcake batch bake

lemon drizzle loaf cake

tomato pasta

Oreo dipped lolly pops ............

PREPARE:
As usual lots of cooking from scratch, batch cooking and a few new recipes.

REDUCE:
Same as last time really, home fuel bills and petrol costs still showing savings.

GREEN:

Continuing to compost waste and limit use of pesticides and chemicals.
 

GROW:

Herb garden thriving, bay and rosemary look lovely, strawberries in pots and hanging baskets are looking good.

hanging basket strawberry plants

bay and rosemary

CREATE:

Even more crochet, and a few more unusual projects ..............

knitted lamp

little wooden people

DISCOVER:
Still discovering that I do have will power, I have now lost 2 stone - I am so thrilled.

ENHANCE:
Time spent with my wonderful grandchildren - they enhance my life enormously

ENJOY:
 A fabulous time in London sharing in Kate's wedding planning, dress fitting and more

I hope you have all had a good month sorry my post is a little late - I  look forward to catching up with all the "slow living posts" over at  Christine's - I am sure yet again you will have all put me to shame.

talk soon x

playing on the green

On Tuesday it was a lovely sunny day so I decided to pack a mini picnic, grab a rug, a few toys then Jake and I set off for a morning on the Green.

                            We arrived at the green, picked a shady spot and set out our rug.

                         

We had a great time playing with a couple of soft balls and reading peppa pig stories. Jake was so funny he crawled round and round the rug but wouldn't crawl on the grass he didn't like the feel of it on his knees. When he felt a bit more adventuress he started to pull himself up and walk around his pram.

After a few hours we packed up and went to do some grocery shopping, then it was home for Jake's nap and I managed to do a little bit of cooking. We had quite a few left overs so I added a few other bits and pieces and made a tapas type evening meal with lots of different things to try, we also had a few potatoes in so I cut them into wedges and coated them with oil, black pepper and paprika and baked in the oven. 

                                           I had another go at collages  - this one is sharper

Then onto pudding I whipped up a sponge mix and made some large and small cupcakes. 

                         

                            tiny cupcakes with mini marshmallows and chocolate flake

                                    strawberry and cream cupcakes

                                         another fancy collage ...........


Just after Jake's teatime his other grandma came to collect him, she is going to look after him for a few days as I am returning home until next Tuesday. It was sad seeing Jake go but I knew that Kate would be sadder still when she got home from work. Kate's found it hard returning to work and misses Jake so much. But it's only three weeks before she breaks up for the summer, then she will be with him every day.
The plan for the evening was that when Kate and Seb got home from work we would have dinner watching the football. It was a crucial match for England against the Ukraine and England needed to win or draw. The football was a bit disappointing but at least England won. I decided to go to bed early as I needed to pack and get every thing sorted for going home. Although I got a little distracted when I got into bed as Kate had left me her iPad  - I would love one but unfortunately it can only be added to the bottom of a very long wish list. 
The next big decision was should I leave early and go to Liberty before I catch my train home - decided not to bother as the thought of a rush hour tube journey with my suitcase quickly outweighed the benefit of a shopping trip, maybe next week. 


                        
The train journey home was good and I managed to crochet some flowers which helped pass the time away and is a great way to practice stitches. 


I'm back home - talk soon
Sue  

cooking and crochet .......

It continued to rain so we had to cancel our BBQ and cook inside. I decided doing everything on the grill in the kitchen wouldn't really work so I cooked up some of my old faithful recipes that don't usually let me down.
For the starter I made some mushroom pate, and we had some dips and other little nibbles. I also had a go at a recipe Evi put on her blog last week and it worked really well.

Evi's pesto puffs

                                                                               hot from the oven

Main course was an Italian Aubergine casserole for the veggies and Coq au Vin for the rest, although as usual everyone went for the veggie option much to my partners disappointment as he thought we would have loads of left overs - I forgot to take a photo of the main course but at this point the kitchen was looking a shambles.

Pudding went down well I made the mini teacup trifles and meringues - I decided to make some of the meringues pink but think I was a little heavy handed with the food colouring.

                                                      

                                                     tea cup trifles

                                           pink and white meringues .....

                                                         all ready for the guests.........

We had a lovely evening  - probably all ate a bit too much but we had fun and I don't think we noticed the rain.

Before I go I must share with you my latest crochet project its my very first crochet cushion - I am so proud of it. I sort of  made it up as I went along - trying different stitches and yarns. Some of my inspiration came from a lovely cushion that Jules from little woolie made and featured on her blog. 

Hope you like it - sorry if I've overdone the images but I keep looking at it as I'm so pleased - small things make me happy.

talk soon x

crochet ............

crochet flowers

I had a lovely day on Friday, Tracey Todhunter came to my home to teach a mini crochet workshop. Pam and I had wanted to improve our crochet skills for ages and after looking at Tracey's blog I contacted her regarding tuition.

Tracey was an inspiration  - we worked really hard it was exhausting which sounds crazy but we concentrated so hard we had aching backs and fingers by the end of the day.

Tracey taught us basic stitches in the morning, doubles, half trebles and trebles - we also did them in the front and back of the loop which changed the look of the stitch, and worked in the round.

mixture of doubles and trebles

crochet in the round

Then we had a break for lunch and sampled my carrot cake ..............

In the afternoon we moved onto improver's and tried our hand at star stitch, puff stitch and popcorn stitch..Using the stitches we had been taught we then made flowers and granny squares.

star stitch, puff stitch and popcorn stitch 

more flowers .........can't stop making them 

granny square .............


Over the weekend I have carried on experimenting with my new stitches .................

small blanket of granny squares with added flower embellishment  

sampler ...........

                                                     bangles - I love them 

my first crochet heart .........

As you can see I have had a crafty few days - I must hide my hooks now and get on with chores - some people want to eat!

talk soon

Sue x