Five on Friday

Hello everyone I hope that you have all had a great week!

Five Little Snippets

Pondering
I have been just a bit demented this week it happens everytime I finish a project. As two of the CALs I have been working on have come to an end I find myself at a loose end.  Don't get me wrong I still have things on the go but not as much as I'd like, sometimes it can take me ages to make up my mind what to add to my wip list because there is so much I want to do, before I start anything I have to ask myself... 
Will it be useful? 
Do I need it ? 
Is it suitable for a charity? 
Have I got enough stash yarn to make it? 
Will I have to buy yarn and can I afford it? 

I have discovered this about myself.. I have to be making a blanket, it can be any type of blanket but there has to be at least one or two going on in the background, I know at least three that I would love to do but which??? 

What are you all like can you move smoothly from one project to the next without out too much effort or are you like me? anyway

the pondering continues and once I make up my mind you will be the first to know.


Health Matters
I'm pleased to tell you that the foot injury from last week is now completely better, the knee must a bit more complicated because it still hurts when I bend it I have a feeling it could be arthritic in nature  which means it will be a  case of just grin and bear it.  I still went to step fit and to the gym and managed fine so I will stop moaning about that particular issue.  

If you all cast your mind back to the beginning of February I took quite ill and was diagnosed with Gallstones and told I needed an operation, I had to wait three weeks for an MRI scan and this week a whole two months later I actually got to see the consultant for the result. I was hoping that by some miracle said gallstones would have melted away after all the healthy eating I have been doing, but no such luck I'm afraid, there the little blighters were in all their glory staring out at me from the computer screen, lots of little stones just waiting to slip into my gall duct and cause me more pain. So I'm on the waiting list and I have to undergo lots of tests before the big event so happy days ahead.

Stash-busting
I have been stash-busting fence paint! yes you are right you did hear me correctly, I had several tins of bits of leftover paint in different shades of brown, I mixed them all together to produce a rather fetching shade of something which I'm going to call chocolate brown and painted this fence 
before...

After

 I know what you are thinking...it doesn't look much better to me! and you would be right it is a bit patchy but it does look a bit better, as well as painting the fence I painted myself too, even though I was dressed in my best paint gear I had splashes all over my arms, face and hair what a mess!  It didn't matter too much because I was in the back garden and no one could see me but I have the front fence to do too maybe I should paint it under a cloak of darkness. 

Clock
I have been wanting a clock for my study for ages, yes I know there is a clock on the laptop and on my mobile but I needed an 'in your face clock' that would remind me at a glimpse of just how much time I was wasting on the laptop so I sent for one from ebay look how it arrived......

It wasn't even packaged properly for goodness sake of course it's going to break, anyways the seller refunded my money straight away and this was going into the bin along with all the empty paint tins but as you know we crafters are very.... well crafty, I said to myself hang on there Linda don't be silly it's still a clock even if it's glass face has been smashed so here it is now

all tarted up I like it better like this dont you it's a pleasure to look at. :)

Crumpets
I don't know why but this leads me on to crumpets, maybe because it's lunchtime and I'm fancying a couple spread with peanut butter am I the only one who likes peanut butter on their crumpets? I always get strange looks when I mention it to anybody.

Nothing nicer with a cuppa tea served  in my favourite mug ( I sound like a blinkin commercial )

I hope you all have a great weekend are you doing anything special? I'm going to Harrogate Flower show on Sunday can't wait! fingers crossed for good weather, see you soon. :) 

Linking with Amy's

The Mystery Revealed

Mystery Afghan CAL

The Mystery Afghan is now complete and here is the result....

As always trying to get a decent photo of the colours is difficult especially when you are working with pastel shades, I think this one taken on my patio table is the closest.

I always take dozens of photo's but am never happy with any of them, anyway I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed this crochet along, it was great fun trying to guess what the next clue was going to reveal.

I'm also pleased that I was able to use stash yarn for this and didn't have to buy anything for it.

I have learnt quite a lot and it has taught me that in crochet anything is possible, not to be afraid and to just go for it.  I can see myself making this again in the future and maybe tweaking it here and there. Some of the colourways of others who have participated are amazing.

I would think that the size would be perfect for a crib cover, I had planned on sending this to one of the charities I support but have decided to keep it for my granny drawer which has now increased to a drawer and two suitcases, I live in hope. :)

The pattern is available here and believe me it isn't difficult and it's great fun to do if you would like to give it a try.  I made mine using Double knit yarn but the actual pattern is for worsted or Aran weight so it would result in a bigger size, you could of course make it any size you want.

STATS
The finished Afghan measures 36 x 28 inches and it weighs in at 430 grams.

You can see more amazing finishes here, some of them put mine in the shade.

Thank you to Mikey and the Crochet Crowd for hosting such a great CAL!

Linking with....

Snickerdoodle Sunday
Handmade Monday - Creative Tuesday - Eyeloveknots - Link and share Wednesday - Lunamon Design

Five on Friday

This and That.

Happy Friday everyone! and a big thank you for all the lovely comments that you have left me for the Baby Girl blanket and I must apologize for my absence from your blogs, I have my youngest son visiting for a week from Cambridge  and it's been pretty full on with family coming to see him and me not wanting to miss a single minute of his company between work and all the other things that have to be done but I will try to catch up this weekend.

It's also been a bit of a painful week..

As some of you know I started going to a step fit class a few weeks ago, step fit? what a laugh! a couple of weeks ago I twisted my knee and it's been hurting ever since and this week I have hurt my foot and I can hardly walk maybe my body is trying to tell me something, perhaps I should leave it to the young ones although I do enjoy going and it does put a smile on my face that is when I'm not hurting too much! 

Saying goodbye

It had to be done I really had come to the end of my tether with this tank.  It has given me a lot of pleasure over the last eight years but the cleaning of it every week was getting to be a chore.  Last week as well as having the twisted knee I pulled a muscle in my side when lifting a heavy bucket of water to fill the tank.
So when I saw someone sending out a plea for a fish tank on Facebook because theirs was leaking I got in touch and and a young mum came and took it off my hands.

She sent me a photo showing me how she has set it up, I think it looks very pretty, her friend is taking care of the fish in her tank until this tank is ready.  She has two little boys who had a lovely surprise when they got home from school and saw it.  I hope it gives them lots of pleasure.

Saying Hello

It's lovely to see my bleeding hearts coming into bloom again after their long winter sleep...

and the tulips blooming under the eucalyptus tree in the front garden.

And finally ...

A WARNING!!

Thank you to Elaine and Jean for bringing this to my attention.

hope you all have the best of weekends. :)

Linking with Amy's