An Update and Garden Things

 Thank you for all your lovely comments and best wishes for my family, it's been a tricky few months but thankfully it's all behind us now.

My son-in law (he's only 43) underwent open heart surgery to repair a heart valve, he was in surgery for ten hours and his initial recovery was quite slow, he spent longer than was expected on life support but thankfully was weaned off it and was discharged just seven days after his surgery. However the next day his temperature soared and my daughter called the ward to be told to phone 111. Eventually he was seen by a paramedic who learnt after calling the ward that the patient who had been in the next bed to my son-in-law had Covid, they had discharged him without imparting that news and yes after being tested he was found to have Covid too. 

I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it has been, he didn't need that added complication, but now thankfully he is healing well and we are hopeful that he'll make a full recovery.

My daughter-in law had eye surgery for a detached retina and little Louis was just two months old at the time so you can imagine the challenges she faced. She still has some blurred vision but thankfully she's healing well.

Now I feel (after having an awful bad cold for a week) we can take a deep breath and move on, although my other daughter-in-law (Julians mummy) may have to undergo surgery for an overactive thyroid gland. It's amazing how everything seems to come at once.

How are you lovely people I have had little time to pop around and visit you all just lately what with family stuff and u3a admin taking up so much of my time.

Craft wise I am doing well on the sock front, three pairs made this year so far and another pair nearly finished and once they are done, I will reveal them all in all their full glory. Apart from socks and the crocheting of hearts I haven't had much time for anything else.

My garden is beautiful right now but the weather has been a huge disappointment and I haven't been out in it as much as I would have liked.  

I will leave you with another little video this time, Scampston Hall and gardens which the u3a Garden Outings group visited last month and a few photos of my garden.

My Garden

My Latest purchase I can't stop myself from buying plants! 

A friend dug up this agapanthus from her garden for me (she has huge clumps) and I've planted it in this pot and surrounded it with Cosmos, it has two buds and I'm hoping that it will flower, she did the same for me last year but the plant died through the winter, I'm going to keep my eye on this one and hope that it will survive. 

Hope to be back soon! have a great week. xx

Another Finish , Flowers, Rabbits, Chicks & New Yarn!

 Thank you for all your well wishes last week they are very much appreciated.  Nothing has moved forward regarding the MRI scan. I did pop into the GP surgery to make sure that the referral had gone out and the receptionist assures me that it has, I will give it until next week and then I will call the MRI department and ask there. The tingling  sensation in my head and face continues but mostly when I'm using my phone, I have hardly used it this week and when I do I hold it at arms length, if I have to make a call I will use my hands free and push the phone as far away from me as I can.

I'm pleased to say that my teeth have settled down after their brutal attack at the dentist, I have an appointment to have the new crowns cemented in next Thursday but I think that should be straight forward. 🤞🤞

Kevin's Socks Ta daa!!!

What can I say, I'm worried in case they will be too big, I hope not.  I didn't enjoy knitting the stripes and won't be knitting anymore stripy socks in the future.  These socks are in no way perfect but then I have yet to knit a perfect sock. I'm just pleased that Kevin will have them in time for his birthday. I will let you know his reaction.

Stats

I used two 50 gram balls of each colour of this yarn and I have still got lots left over. I washed and blocked them and I'm so glad that I did because the colours ran, I rinsed them until the water was clear and I'm hoping that the colour won't run in the second wash. I did use a touch of fabric conditioner in the final rinse and they are lovely and soft and smell divine. 😊

New Yarn!

Can you remember Teds Poncho back here, well as a thank you Ted gave me a gift voucher to use in a yarn store, this one in fact. (wow it's ten years since I wrote that post and the shop will have been there more than 51 years now!) 

I made the journey last Friday and came away with this. Four balls of lovely sock yarn and it only cost me 78p! Thank you Ted. 😘

When the ladies in my LIp Reading class heard I was making socks for Kevin they all said, make me some! and so I made each one of them draw around one of their feet and measure the width, then I asked them to write down their favourite colours. The plan is to make these slowly through the year and present them with them at Christmas. I think I can safely call this the year of the sock. 

Chicks and Such

Now every year at this time, various charities ask for knitted chicks and rabbits to sell to boost funds, in fact my Easter Chick Pattern is usually right at the top of the list from January well past Easter.  I always feel obliged to make some but because I have made so many in the past I find it a bit of a chore.  This is my meagre contribution for Macmillan this year.  I did do a post on our u3a website asking our members to make some if they wanted and I added my pattern along with some others and hopefully the ladies from my crochet group will make some  too, every single one counts right?

I tried to make bunnies this time but I'm not that impressed with my efforts I gave up after three. 

Flowers

As I mentioned in a previous post the lovely Pamela from the u3a Knicky Knack Knitters group is always on a mission to brighten up and add colour and cheer to our Marina and Train station.  This time it's the turn of the station the theme being Spring, as you know I have made a few butterflies here and now have thrown these simple flowers into the mix, a great way to use up scraps and an ideal flower to teach any new members in my crochet group on Monday, I'll take lots of colourful scraps of yarn and we should have a whole heap of flowers at the end of the session.

Year Of Woodland Flowers Embroidery

Stems all finished and I'm looking forward to sewing the daisy this afternoon.

We are patiently awaiting the arrival of grandson number three he's due to arrive on the 19th so it could be anytime now🤗

What are you up to today? whatever it is I hope that you have a peaceful Sunday. 😘😘

The sun is shining today and the Spring Bulbs are making an appearance. 😊

Linking with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

Health News and A Finish!

 Two weeks have flown by in the blink of an eye, where does the time go? almost half way through February already.  As usual it's been a busy and quite a stressful two weeks because of family health issues. For regular readers of my blog you will remember I was sent to A&E last October with tingling and numbness down the left side of my head and face, I was told back then that it wasn't stroke related but I needed to see my GP, then I had Covid and I thought it was related to that, but it has never completely gone away and now the symptoms are there all the time.  After several attempts to see a GP I managed to see a Nurse Practitioner and she has referred me for an MRI, that was two weeks ago and I have no idea when I will get an appointment.

I have noticed that the sensation gets markedly worse when I'm using my phone or tablet and decided to do a bit of research on the effects of radiation from mobile phones. There's a lot of material out there and none of it is that reassuring, each mobile phone has it's own SAR rating all of which have to comply with health standards but some of them have quite high ratings even some of the most popular expensive phones. 

I am now limiting my mobile phone use, I admit to using it far too much in the past, I'm always looking things up on google, searching for patterns and anything and everything that takes my fancy and I have to say it's not easy to stop, we get addicted. If I, an old lady can get addicted just think what this is doing to the younger generation, think of how much SAR they will be exposed to over their lifetime.

I'm going to stop there it's a huge subject and it's quite scary when you get into it. I'm hoping that they will find nothing too serious when they eventually do their investigations. 

I had an awful dental experience at the beginning of the week too, the removal of two dental crowns, what an experience! those crowns were stuck down really hard and there was a lot of drilling, prising,pulling and tugging going on. I emerged from that Dental practise after nearly two hours of what I can only call hell😫  I was a quivering mess, thank goodness a friend took me and was there waiting outside to take me home. It took me ages to recover, I have to go back in two weeks for the new crowns but I'm hoping that will be a straight forward experience. 

That was just me, another younger family member has received some very worrying news which will necessitate some quite serious surgery so we are all very concerned as you can imagine.

ON TO BRIGHTER THINGS

My lovely daughter-in-law is due to have her baby on the 19th of this month so we are all excited about that.  I managed to finish the baby onsie

and made some tiny bits and pieces to go with it

Made in white to go with the toggles on the onsie

and these cute booties in the same colour.

Stats -  the onsie pattern was made with Stylecraft Special Aran colour Duck Egg it took almost 400 grams  and you can find the tutorial here

The hat, mittens and booties were all knitted and the free patterns can be found on the lovely Marianna's Lazy Daisy Days Blog  She has a wealth of patterns on there and it's my to go to place for any baby knitting that I do. 

The Socks

I know they look a mess at the moment but they are nearly done, I will complete them this week and have a lovely photo to show you once they are all washed and blocked.

The Embroidery

Yes there has to be some time set aside for embroidery, it's so soothing to sit there and slowly sew one stitch at a time, I'm really enjoying sewing my love heart and that's what I intend to do today along with some sock knitting of course.

I hope that you all have a peaceful Sunday😘😘

Linking with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

A Bit Of Garden Chat

 You just can't beat salad picked fresh from your own garden, I don't do it on a grand scale but what I've planted this year is keeping me going nicely. My favourite salad leaf is rocket but it seems to bolt very quickly, spinach is another all year round favourite. I am growing baby beets and have picked one today for the first time, still too small really but I just couldn't resist.

My parsley is finished but I have more to plant out, it has been growing for over a year so I can't complain and I love lots of different types of mints just a couple of leaves makes all the difference to a salad along with a sprinkle of fresh chives.

I'm really happy with my little raised bed that I erected earlier in the year and I'm already planning what I can overwinter in it, Spring cabbage springs to mind along with some broccoli perhaps and I have leeks growing away nicely, it's amazing how much you can pack into such a small space.

I have also planted cosmos in my raised bed, I was hoping I could use these as cut flowers but the stems are very short so I am just putting a few into a rose vase. 

I had the same idea for the dahlia's they are just coming into flower now but the earwigs are loving them! I have started using upturned plant pots filled with straw and they work, I always find a few earwigs sleeping in the top.

I am a massive fan of Hydrangeas but have never had much luck with them until this year! At least some of them, one of my plants hasn't flowered at all and theres no sign of the tiniest bud, I may have been overly generous with the fertilizer and fed the leaves to the detriment of the flowers but just look at these....

I'm awe struck I can't believe that I have actually grown such beautiful plants after all these years the pink one is from a cutting which I took three years ago from my sons garden, his plant is blue, mine is pink obviously my soil is more alkaline. I can't tell you how much pleasure it gives me to gaze upon these beauties.  

The roses are gathering their strength for their next flush of flowers after giving me these lovely displays

The garden is giving me so much pleasure now as one perennial fades and goes to sleep for another year another wakes up and takes its place or I slot in a little pot of bedding plants to fill the gap, I do wish Summer would last just a bit longer but I know it's days are numbered a few more short weeks and it will all be over but no more sad thoughts, here is something that put a huge smile on my face the other day in fact I had to do a double take I wasn't quite sure if I was seeing things....

I have never seen the like in my little town before haha

Along with the garden I am enjoying the Flora's Fauna Cal so much, I am behind but that doesn't matter in the least, the hedgehogs are done as are the acorns ....

 Squirrels are almost done so it's moving along nicely 😊

I must dash as I have a bus to catch to Newcastle I'm going to see my little grandson Mikey he hasn't been well so I haven't see him for a while, he graduated from Nursery last week bless him so it will be big school for him in September.

Have a great Sunday 😘😘

A Lazy Sunday - Three things

 Can you believe it's 11 am and I'm still not dressed. I have been up since 7 30 but I picked up my crochet hook whilst watching the news and got quite carried away.

One

The new CAL Flora's Fauna began on Friday and I couldn't get started on it till late last night. I get so excited when starting a new piece of work don't you? 

The little creatures in the first part of the blanket are ladybirds and I just love to see the picture develop row by row.

I must admit there's not much to see so far but if I just sit here in my sunny conservatory and do nothing else but crochet I could have a row of little ladybirds before the end of the day.

I have no idea how this little Mikey blanket will turn out because I have to be led by the yarn I have in my stash, the little creatures could turn out to be any colour and that's part of the fun of it.

Two

I have progressed a little on the Bohemian blanket I showed you last week, I have now tried all the shapes that are needed to complete the blanket, they need blocking but you get the idea.

I'm thinking about making it into a bed runner to send to NHAP for someone with dementia but I'm in no hurry, this is an easy pick it up and put it down project that I can do between other things.

Three

As if that wasn't enough I have something else I'm itching to start, NHAP, have asked for bright happy cardigans or sweaters for children aged one to teens, it's ages since I made a cardigan and I've found a fabulous pattern which I will share once I get started. I have the colours all ready although they could change depending on my mood, lots of stash yarn fighting to come forward and be part of the design 😂

Now I think I had better get dressed and do something other than crochet for a while, they say it's not good for you to sit for long periods, something about exercise is good for you, what a drag🤦🏻‍♀️

As always we have blustery winds and intermittent sunshine so my exercise will be out in the garden with brief periods of rest with crochet hook in hand. (View from Summerhouse)

What are your plans today? Whatever they are have a lovely Sunday and a very happy Father's Day to all those Dad's that are celebrating 😊

Linking with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday

Something a Bit Different

 It's still crochet but a different technique ..

I saw this on Instagram ages ago and really wanted to try it but haven't had the time, now I'm between projects I thought this was a good time to give it a try.

I wasn't sure at first it's very much like the c2c technique but it forms a diamond, you have to make half diamonds to get the square shape which I haven't tried yet.  It's very much in it's initial stages and I have no idea how this is going to turn out but it's a great stash buster and I'm enjoying the process thus far. 

It's called the Modern Bohemian blanket and you can find tutorials on YouTube none of which are in English but the videos are easy enough to follow they can be found here and here the pattern can be bought on Ravelry here

Have any of you tried it?

I say I'm between projects because I'm looking forward to starting a new CAL it's called Flora's Fauna and it's hosted by the designer Rosina Pane....

Ladybirds, snails, hedgehogs, acorns, squirrels, leaves and butterflies, what's not to love 😊 

It's made in Mosaic Crochet of which I am a great fan, did I mention that before haha, I'm trying to use stash yarn for this but I will have to probably buy the odd ball here and there and it starts on the 17th June, the pattern is discounted now so it's a great time to buy it if you don't have the time to make it now but intend to later.

All details can be found here

I hope that Summer is going well for all of you and although you must be sick of me going on about the weather it has not been great here, I'm not a great fan of  blustery winds and showers that appear from nowhere it makes it hard to plan anything constructive.

The predominant flower in my garden is the foxglove at the moment, they have self seeded around my garden, I'm amazed that they can remain upright in the winds. I love foxgloves, they can scatter their seeds all over my garden and I will be delighted as will the bees they love them.

My Cordyline has sent out two more flower spikes this year the scent is filling the garden, the flowers soon fade, I find them very strange but quite beautiful and the bees love these too.  The Cordyline always looks very tired after flowering I think it must put most of it's energy into producing these flower spikes and I'm always afraid that it won't recover but this must be the third year that it has flowered so hopefully it will build up enough strength to recover and go on to produce more next year. I always cut the spikes down once they have flowered so that the tree doesn't put even more energy into producing seeds.

I have finished my cushion which I'm delighted with and will show you soon and I intend to do some embroidery this afternoon I'm trying a stitch I haven't tried before the bullion stitch so that should keep me busy.

I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday, take care until next time.😘😘

A Baby Blanket a Garland and Other News

 Things seem to be quietening down in blogland at the moment which is to be expected when many of us are enjoying Spring and the better weather, who wants to sit indoors writing a blogpost when the outside beckons.  With this in mind you will have to excuse me if I seem to disappear for long stretches of time I want to make the most of the Spring/Summer for as long as it lasts.

Even my crocheting has slowed down, there's just not enough hours in the day, the last thing I made was this corner2corner rainbow blanket.

A rainbow blanket is given to parents who have had a live healthy baby(rainbow baby) following a previous pregnancy loss.

I totally forgot to show you my Spring garland so here it is..

It looks so pretty hanging up in my hallway, I intend to make a similar one for Summer.  I found the pattern for this in a magazine but Lucy from Attic24 has one that is nearly the same and you can find that pattern here.

I have nothing on my hook at the moment can you believe it! I have lots of idea's spinning in my mind but haven't quite settled on any one particular thing.  I have lots of patterns that are mere scribbles in a notebook waiting to be written up too but that will need lots of time and concentration both of which are in very short supply at the moment.

Other news

The embroidery continues and should be finished soon.

My fence is finished at last, he appeared yesterday evening and put the screws in from the neighbours side and neatened the tops of the posts, now I can paint the fence and tidy the poor neglected border.

I loved my red composite front door when it was installed but now its fading after just four years, luckily its still under guarantee, I have informed the company who installed it and am waiting to see what happens next, has anyone else had this problem? 

I'm still waiting for my new garage door to be installed, they now say it will be next week, we shall see. 

My daughter-in-law has just informed me that little Mikey my grandson has Scarlett fever and so has she which means of course my son will probably get it too. They are taking antibiotics so hopefully it will clear up without any complications.

You will be pleased to know that's the end of my ramblings for now but I will be back when I can, even if the posts are short or just to say a quick hi.😊

Take care until next time.😘😘

A Bit Of this And That

 Hello! I hope that all of you that celebrated had a lovely Easter.  I ate far too much chocolate and I still have plenty in the house, I am a total chocoholic I envy those of you who who can eat just one piece and then put the rest away until later, how do you do that? I have decided that things are going to have to change around here I need to get a grip on my out of control habit of eating cakes biscuits and chocolate, the more I eat the more I crave. 

 I admit it I am addicted to sugar, there always seems to be an excuse, first it was Christmas, then I was ill and I felt I deserved a treat, then Mothers Day, then I thought I'll stop after after Easter and now I'm thinking I'll just eat all the chocolate first and then I'll be good.

I have decided I'm going to have a sugar free May, I know that there is lots of sugar hidden in the foods we buy but one needs to be sensible and not go over the top, what I mean by sugar free is no biscuits, cakes or chocolate and believe me it will be hard because I am met with temptation at every turn but I will resist says she with fingers crossed. 🤞

Join me if you like lets do it together no sugar in May.  I'm going to weigh myself at the start of the month and then again at the end and lets see if I can loose a few pounds. 

I have been walking more just to get try and get my fitness levels up and the weather has been better so no excuses.  I say better here on the North East coast we always seem to have a very cool breeze which means it is always a few degrees colder than it is inland. 

Seaham Lighthouse in the distance built in 1905 hoping to get renovated sometime this summer, it gets an awful battering from the north sea and even though it's painted nearly every year it now needs some serious TLC

The plaques give information about the mining industry, this is actually on the site of one of the three coal mines that were in use before 1990.

And there far in the distance just above the roof tops l spied these lovely cloud formations and just had to take a photo.

This is the sky outside my conservatory at 7am one morning last week I stood absolutely transfixed watching these seagulls, they were flying in a formation which lasted for about 20 minutes right above me, as if they were putting on a show just for me.  I didn't realise that seagulls did this they are such huge birds I didn't think they would be capable of putting on such a graceful and beautiful show. It quite made my day. 

It was impossible for me to capture the sheer scale, this is just a snippet there were literally hundreds of them, this was when I realised that a camera would have been better than a phone and that I should have paid more attention to what they taught in my photography class. 

On the craft front the daisy's are done, I really enjoyed stitching those, at this rate my walls are going to be covered with my little embroideries. I do love daisy's they are such a happy flower and come in all sorts of shapes and colours. 

Birth Flower For April The daisy

I am almost finished my bubbles blanket, here is a sneak peek, just two more bubbles to go this weekend I will be doing the border and hopefully finishing it off, then I will be ready to start something new, oh the excitement. 

I have to show you two more things that have excited me this week...

The first is more inspiration from the crochet crowd, this time for Tunisian crochet, I have tried it before as you can see here, but this is in a different class altogether...

The timeless Tunisian Blanket, the pattern is there already but there will be video tutorials happening beginning on the 28th April and yes I will be looking in to see what it's all about and deciding if this is something I would enjoy making.  You can find the introduction here.

The second thing is a new mosaic crochet pattern from one of my favourite designers Tinna Thorudottir Thorvaldar

 

AZUL

There are 36 different tile patterns and even more coming to be added later. I haven't bought it yet but you know that I will. 😀

Leaving you with a picture of this beautiful freesia, I planted lots of bulbs but this is the only one that has flowered, I must plant more of these for next year...

Take care until next time😘😘

Linking with 

Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday

Handmade Monday