Monday's Sewing.

Here is my proud little boy in his new pajamas!

I missed the fact that all the trucks are carrying Christmas trees with decorations on ! I know I like to be prepared early but June is a little early even for me !

Aunty Elaine - note the postcard !! oh and Luke would like to borrow Greg's baby brother as apparently he is a lot of fun !! The children must have been tired as they were asleep by 8pm tonight!

Luke's letter to the tooth fairy.

Luke lost his tooth on Friday - as we were walking to school. I kept it safe in a tissue in my wallet. Luke was insistent on looking after it all afternoon / evening.
Then the tooth fairy came ... she looked under Luke's pillow and found the tissue - she opened the tissue and whoops - no tooth! So the tooth fairy starts to panic. Where is the tooth - if Luke finds the tooth in the morning the tooth fairy's cover may be blown ... so the tooth fairy left a message for him on his white board saying that she was ever so sorry but she could not find his tooth - but she had left him money as he had been good and she had seen the gap!
Mummy found the lost tooth on Saturday morning while making his bed. When I went to settle the children into bed I found his note to the fairy - I was very moved with this letter as he has not wanted to read or write so this is a giant step forward !
PS - the tooth fairy found his tooth on Saturday...

Sunday Sewing.

A variation on the pink dress - this material might have come from my mum or Greg's mum not sure !! But it looks really pretty as a twirly dress!

As you can see she is still happy ! And has already asked for another MORE twirly dress. Since this dress only took an hour from creation to completion I wont moan!

Then while my two were outside playing in the garden I turned these jeans (which were too tight for me a year ago!) into

this skirt - I am wearing it today (Monday) and it is very comfortable. I have another recycled skirt cut out and waiting to be sewn up.

Having fun trying to get a good photo of us three!

No reason really just trying to get a photo of us three - not working really is it ??

Anna-Kate's Pink Dress.

A close up of the bodice - thanks mum for the ribbon!

Anna-Kate's best friend is moving to France. So Anna-Kate asked me for a new party dress. I had this idea bouncing about in my head - even though it is simple rectangles with elastic rouching at the neck line - it is my first ever design with out a pattern...

Anna-Kate keeps asking if she can put it on - as it is made out of a sheet I think it will crease so not until the last minute I am afraid !!!

I made the dress in a couple of hours so I am happy !
Off to get ready for the party now - have a great week end - chat soon.

Here she is dancing in her dress. Anna-Kate is happy!

Playing on the Swing Sunday Afternoon

Anna-Kate and Luke playing on the swings on Sunday. We enjoyed lovely weather and had fun out in the garden.

The twist and swing fairly high in the air right now much to my horror !

Green Shawl !

A friend asked for a shawl to wear at a wedding - usually I am not a fan of green - but by the end of this creation I am in love!

I may be buying some of this wool very soon.

It was a great make this weekend.

Orange Circles

My orange circles crochet design - it is slowly becoming a top, it hangs better than I thought it would. What do you think?

My first strawberry!

Not much to say really - except I am as proud as punch - it was yummy and sweet.

I have also had rhubarb already and it was yummmmmyyy too. Can you tell I am enjoying gardening!

Anna-Kate Baking for Brownies!

Here she is grating the cheese for the cheese muffins / scones. She was really excited!

I am glad that she changed her mind the choclate fairy cakes looked complicated!!!

36 muffins later (there were more in the oven!) Even the guides had some and there were left overs for me and grandpa had some too ! Anna-Kate was successful so she now has another brownie badge!

The Black Shawl.

Here is the black shawl I made for a friend - it really should not have taken so long to make ....
BUT ....I did not read the pattern correctly so after starting the third ball of wool I decided to look at the pattern again. I had gone wrong from the beggining - so at about 11pm on Tuesday I started again and finished this morning. (I hasten to add I did not crochet it continuously!!!!) and it only took one ball of wool in the end.


Here is the back - I hope she likes it.... and that it lasts through the party!

SP12 - a swap I am taking part in. The Questionare!

What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely not like?
I am easy to please - I use acrylic for a lot of things - blankets, toys. Would love to try more exotic fibres as I have started to knit - knitting uses up less wool, crocheting EATS wool LOL !
Love earthy tones - reds, golds, LOVE orange ....

What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Vases and beer mugs
(classy me !)

How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I have been crocheting forever and would like to think I am advanced - I have been knitting about 8 months now... maybe an advanced beginner?

Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Nope !

What’s your favorite scent?
Ananya from Body Shop - no longer carried (sigh!) Cranberry from Body shop.... vanilla is nice as is jasmine - that type of thing o h and cinnamon !!!!

Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
YES !!!! the obvious choclate - biscuits -

What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
No don't spin - I crochet (done for the longest), I sew and I knit.
I love to decoupage too.

What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Not a music fan (sorry!)

What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?
Orange is my favourite colour, but love - red, gold, yellow, brown...but once again like all colours !

What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married, I have to little kiddies. I have 2 cats and a dog.

Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes I wear scarves, I wear hats in summer (to keep the sun off my face!) and in winter (it is cold in the UK!) I do wear gloves / mittens - but don't wear ponchos - love wraps though!

What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I have knitted cardigans, jackets, scarves, think that is it - I like to knit for me and my family.

What are you knitting right now?
A brown top for me (summery t-shirt type thing and a shrug.)

Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes

Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Have not managed to get my head around circular needles yet - so have only used straight!
Like bamboo and plastic the best

Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No.

How old is your oldest UFO?
mmm only about a month - I try to finish before I move on !

What is your favorite holiday?
Definately Christmas with out a doubt!

Is there anything that you collect?
Besides bags and shoes?? I love beads and buttons.

Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
I love vintage clothing - sewing patterns or knitting patterns ...
I am collecting toy patterns at the moment

What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Simple (or is it simply?) knitting - a UK mag.

Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?
There are too many to list and so much I have yet to learn / hear about !

Are you a sock knitter?
Not really - just so much to do and so little time!!!!!

What are your foot measurements?
Oh I am a UK size 3 ....does that help???

When is your birthday?
4 October !

What’s your Ravelry ID
BonzaBlue

Hope this helps my partner !!!

Our garden today ...

OK folks you are going to have a grand tour of my garden today - as I am feeling very proud of it ! It is looking very green - but I don't think there is enough colour in it so will have to plant more flowers for next year!

Please excuse the strange planting / bed fellows as my keen little gardener planted the summer bulbs wherever he desired!

You walk out of our play room / conservatory turn to your right. You have gone past my lemon balm (I think!) plant and my plastic green house full of flowers which will apparently attract bird, bees and butterflies!

Then you will see three white buckets (75p from Tescos - much cheaper than proper plant pots!) These are perfect for my runner beans - there are sunflowers in each bucket too.

I have sunflowers everywhere thanks to last years crop being recycled by the birds! I found them growing all the way down our gravel driveway - so I moved them into my garden - I lost a few but saved most! These beans will hopefully grow up the sticks to the drain pipe of the conservatory as they did last year. I saved some beans from last years crop for these beans.

Just past the beans is my water but - just out of the picture on the right. In this picture I have normal mint, apple mint, one normal sized rose bush, two mini rose bushes and an angel. The angel came from my Grandpa's garden up in Coventry before he moved to a Nursing Home.

Let me see in this picture we have one rhubarb plant, two rosemary bushes, one english geranium, one rose bush and lots more mint and orange mint too. Next to the rhubarb and behind the rosemary someone threw a potato or two so I have potatoes growing there too!!!


Coming down the garage, towards my shed full of material and wool !

One of my three lavenders I managed to grow from seed, more mint, a mystery summer bulb, a sunflower and corn... the last three planted by Luke !


My lovely Japanese Maple - I really need to repot it maybe this winter. I bought this as a stick and am amazed it has grown so well!


Around the corner (my lovely hubby dug this garden for me). About three different rhubarb plants, two blueberry plants, one rosemary bush - or is it two??? A thyme bush, one maple tree (from a bird !!!) A sunflower or two as well.

Walk past the trampoline in the corner and you see a tree - some type of ornamental cherry I think. My little monkey lives in the tree during the summer. It can be quite scarey as he goes quite high!!!

Next to the tree is my compost bin and a little bushy tree - which I would cut down but I love it for about 2 weeks in spring when it is covered with bright white flowers.

Under the bushy tree I have planted left over mint, my rhubarb flowers, little trees left by the birds, about 6 sunflowers saved from the driveway.

Then we hit the section of garden I hated last summer as it was clayey and shadey.... well what a difference a year makes! A lot of plants have crept under the fence from the neighbours! Yeah free plants - so I have about 10 of these pretty orange flowers, growing up one of them is a runner bean and yet another sunflower, normal mint, orange mint, two shade loving shrubs from next door, growing up the fence (you can just see it is a blackberry bush)

Sorry a self indulgant picture - orange is my favourite colour!

Missed a section as it is still growing - a bulb grown by my son in front of my rhubarb....I have had rhubarb every day since Saturday - yummy no added sugar needed!!!

Walking back towards the house, this is the little nasturium that could - I planted it last year (or was it the year before?) But I planted too much on top of it so it really struggled, I am so surprised to see it back again but oopppsss I planted beans on top of it again !!!

More rhubarb (I have about 9 plants growing around the garden), more sunflowers - I grow loads down this side of the garden so my next door neighbour can see them. She is house bound so if I can bring some colour to her that is the least I can do !! The tallest plant is a sunflower - my garden seems to be growing soooo slowly this year.

Rhubarb and lilies - the lilies are also from my Grandpa. Sherry my cat sleeps under the lilies.

My children's paddling pool is now my strawberry patch - I have 4 plants here (plus the obligatory sunflower and mysterious bulb!!!) There are quite a few strawberries on the plants and some are almost red (Yummy!!!)

Back to the patio again now!

In the long trough pots I have radishes, beetroot and spring onions, there are small pots of mixed lettuce, sunflowers, trees (from the birds leaving them in the gravel driveway!!) An oak tree from Cornwell , a conker tree is that horse chesnut??) - one of the kiddies threw a conker into my front garden over winter (I found it when cutting down my daffs!) My lemon tree is in the corner as well as some apricot trees I gre by accident - used apricot pips as decoration around a pot and two grew!!!

We are now back at the beginning and can go back in! Do a twirl


And this is what you will see - freshly mown by me this morning (yeah!) I sat on my reclining chair and am slightly pink now - I hasten to add I did remember to put cream on Anna-Kate and Luke and they wore their hats so did not burn.


Here is Luke decorating the climbing frame with washable paint. Note long sleeves - he wears them all the time but he doesn't get hot.


And my little girl painting pictures - in a costume (chalk and cheese my two!)


What I got up too today - unwinding balls of cotton and dying them red!

One of my cats (Tequila) sat behind me most of the day...

Grandpa's Outing.

Grandpa took my two out for a walk a couple of Sundays ago - which they loved! They found a stream, saw horses and had great fun!
This is my favourite picture of Luke (I gave it a 70's twist on another website - note orangy / brown tint and rounded corners!) Luke was sensible and stayed dry....

but his sister went for a swim in her clothes !!! She loved it. Luke did say that the next time they go he will swim ... Anna-Kate is modelling for the camara.


Luke standing on the bridge - think this picture was taken by Grandpa.



My favourite photo of the bridge.

My knitting.

My first big project for me. Very handy when it is cool but not cold enough for my winter coat! I have worn it quite a lot...but hopefully wont need it now until autumn!


I made this for my mum - but I must have read the pattern incorrectly as it is waist length on me (a short five footer!) and mum is much taller than me! But it is a handy wear just to throw on when picking up the kiddies from school.


Last but not least a blue wrap. I liked it in the pattern and on my stand but it wouldn't lie right on me so I undid it. The wool is now sat next to me calling out my name! Unsure what to make it into yet though.

Snow !

I can not remember if it was April or May ...but I know it was later than last year - and not very thick - it melted the same day!

Here is the view from my bedroom window - looks out over our conservatory, back garden and an open green behind our house. We walk out there every day to and from school.

From the conservatory - where I have plants growing now - mostly little trees from birds!!! And sunflowers, corn oh and a conker ! My strawberry plants are in the swimming pool - I had just moved them before the snow as we had, had a beautiful weekend!

My bluebells - I bought two plants from Brokerswood a couple of years ago. They tell me spring is on the way!

My tree at the bottom of the garden in full blossem. Lovely, delicate white flowers.

Luke climbed the tree and ate an ice-cream. They love playing in the tree and climb far too high really !!!