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Saturday 28 December 2013

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

Hello Folks!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.  
We spent Christmas Day at home, just the four of us.  Christmas is a little less exciting than it used to be, with our two not being little anymore and we got up at a civilised 8 o'clock.   I can still enjoy the excitement at school, wearing tinsel in my hair and covering myself in glitter but at home it's a bit more subdued than it used to be.

Our little Nativity set still comes out with a rogue llama loitering in the background. 
We had roast lamb for Christmas lunch, we're not that wild on turkey and steamed syrup pudding to follow, as we're not wild on Christmas Pud either!   I drank lots of pink fizz ~ in the background Master Clicky's best present, an elastic band ball!  We had a nice together time and then Miss Clicky went to spend the evening with her boyfriend's family.
I had the usual manner of presents from the children in my class, candles, soaps and chocolates which are always gratefully received.  I also was given some Christmas Tea which is new for me.  I can only describe it as tea crossed with mulled wine, a cup a day is enough for me.  
My Mum and Dad gave me this lovely sheep, at the moment she's sitting in front of the wood basket keeping a beady eye on us.
This was the first Christmas that Tipper has spent with us.  He had to sniff every one of our presents as we opened them and of course, he had a few of his own which he was very good at unwrapping.  He had a new tuggy which had a ball attached but that was chewed off within a few hours.  It's the one under his paw and he's not giving it up!
With more time on my hands I have been knitting a bit more.
My Delightful Mix and Match Socks are coming along nicely.      No two will be the same. 
There are three rows of each colour ~ the background at the moment is either pale green or shades of grey.  Despite the fact that the yarn ~ Drops Delight ~ goes a bit thick and thin, it's very soft and fluffy, perfect for cosy socks.
I'm loving the stripes so much.
 

I've been cutting the colours to make them work better, there was no way I was going to have this scrummy purple going up my leg where it wasn't going to be seen.  The purple and green is giving me heart skippy moments ~ I consider myself a down-to-earth sort of girl but it really is making me swoon.   
 Righto I must be off now, I need to make a chocolate log for lunch at my Mum and Dad's tomorrow.

See you soon.
Have fun.............................Clicky Needles.



Tuesday 24 December 2013

Christmas is Here

Hello All.

I seem to have taken a completely unintentional blogging break.  December has raced past and school has been full on.  I've been dozing off on the sofa most evenings and *shock, horror* too tired to knit.

So what have I been doing?

My birthday has come and gone.  
My Mum brought me this beautiful Burleigh Calico jug to go with my one and only dinner plate.
I love it.  Thanks Mum!
Mr Clicky, me, Master Clicky and Grandad Clicky went to Kingsholm rugby ground to watch Gloucester play Worcester Warriors. 
The match was delayed by half an hour because the crossbar on the opposite post had been dislodged by a giant inflatable rugby ball in the pre-match fun.
 As we all like a beefy bloke here's some piccies.
We were right under the posts at the front.  Worcester getting ready to a kick a penalty  ~ No 12 on the right under the posts is Mike Tindall.
A bit more man on man action.
Penalty kick coming straight for us.
Selfie of me and Mr Clicky. 
 Even though Gloucester won it wasn't the most exciting match.

I took part in the Christmas Decoration Swap run by Ladybird Diaries.  I swapped with Hannapat of Cosmos and Cotton.  I received a lovely parcel.. 
..with some lovely decorations inside.  Thanks so much Hannapat!
The Christmas Decorating has gone well.
The Christmas Tree came from the school field again this year, so nice and fresh.  Unfortunately the trees are getting quite big now, so I'm not sure about next year's.
We also have a swag up the stairs and baubles hanging from the bannisters.  (Excuse the paint sample on the wall!)
I
I found some lovely stainless steel snowflake decorations in Sainsbury's.
As it turns out they are just the right size for a Christmassy coaster.
And finally the only bit of knitting I've done in December, a cowl for work's Secret Santa Swap.
Made in Jarol Sweet Briar Chunky I had left over from something else. 
 So that's about it from me, don't forget to follow Santa with Norad's Santa Tracker as I write he's already started in Australia.  

I'm off to paint my nails, lay the table and scatter glitter all over my black kitchen tiles.

Have a wonderful Christmas.
Bye for now .........Clicky Needles.


Sunday 1 December 2013

Stripy Socks

Hi there!
Time seems to be marching on relentlessly, November is over!  I seem to have been caught out, maybe because it's not got cold.  
Our trip to France had some ups and downs but on the whole it was good fun.
I got loads of sock knitting done, not being a driver on this trip.  I have started to use the Drops Delight Sock Yarn I bought at Ally Pally.
I'm using two colours, a neutral tone and a colour to make stripy socks.
The green tones were on the journey down.....
.... and on the return journey I'd finished the green one and  progressed on a much brighter colour way.
I love the colours in this.

 I'd forgotten how addictive sock knitting can be, I keep doing one more row for the next colour stripe.

We're going to be hitting Christmas with a vengeance at school this week.  We're decorating the classrooms and I'm donning my wellies and going onto the school field with a saw to cut a Christmas tree for the entrance into our classroom area.  Christmas songs can be heard through the classrooms from the younger children practising hard for their nativity play.

Lastly I'll leave you with a  picture of Tipper.  Mr Clicky had to see one of the neighbours, Tipper sat on the stairs so he was the right height to see through the window when Mr Clicky came back.  I'm not sure he looks comfy!
So that's me for today, I'll see you again soon. 
As always have fun........Clicky Needles. 

Sunday 10 November 2013

Another Week Passes

Hello folks!

We've had another wet and blustery week, in fact at times its been downright miserable.  I cheered myself up with a load of wood.  Evenings are now warm and cosy but the flip side to this is that too much warm and cosy sends Mr Clicky and me to sleep at 9.00pm in front of the TV.

I've had a weekend of cooking stews, bolognese and things in a pot.  Mr Clicky, me and our friends B and S are popping over to France to do some work on our house.  After a day's work we need something quick and filling, hence the cooking, the freezer is now full.

Miss Clicky and me went to see Baloo the horse on Saturday morning.  The weather was horrible and raining very heavily.  We got him in from the field, gave him some food and scraped as much water off him as we could.  Miss C decided it was too wet for a proper ride and would just ride him bareback back to the field.  I was giving her a leg up ~ no stirrups.  First try at a leg up she rose about a foot.  "You've got to push me up," she said.  "Ok," I said and gave her a jolly good throw.  Such a good throw that she went right over and landed on the other side.  Third go, just right.
Here he is looking soggy.
Another Cotswold Stone wall.  They fascinate me, the lichen must have been there for years.
I bought two Christmas magazines this week.  I hardly buy magazines but I do treat myself to Christmas ones.
Firstly Prima Christmas Makes with inspiring Christmas things.
I liked these button tree cards.
Pretty felt decorations.
Lovely blankie.
I also got the Christmas Ideal Home Mag.....
.........with the calendar.  All I need now is some time to read them properly.
You may know of my like  obsession with Christmas decorations.  I found these in Tesco the other day they'll fit in perfectly with my colour scheme this year. 
 So that's me for now, I've cast on a sock ~ small for knitting whilst in the car driving through France. 

See you next week with a full report.
As always, have fun.
Bye for now............Clicky Needles.

P.S. We haven't abandoned the kids in case you were wondering, my Mum is having a short break at our house.


Sunday 3 November 2013

Knitting!

Hello again.

I thought you might like to see what been on my needles lately.

A cerise pink felted bag.
I bought the yarn at Wonderwool back in April and knitted and felted it fairly soon after.  It's taken a very long time to sew on the button.  The pattern is by Bev Beattie.  I used every last cm of the 3 balls of yarn.
I finished the hat I was making for my colleague C.  She had asked for a hat and found the pattern.  I so was flattered to be asked. I've used Eden Cottage Yarns Maya, a lovely soft alpaca.  It was a pleasure to knit with and is going to be a really warm hat.  I added an extra pattern repeat as C wanted it nice and slouchy.
The pattern is here if you fancy it.
It's all wrapped up now.
Lastly, progress on my Temari cardi. As you can see not much, but there we are.  I'll remedy that soon.

That's me for now, have a great week.

Bye.........Clicky Needles. 

Saturday 2 November 2013

Not Much.

Hello Folks!

Well, half term is nearly over.  
It has been a lovely week.  As usual I planned to do lots of 'stuff' but didn't really manage much of it.
The wooden kitchen work tops remain unsanded and untreated.
The back door still has it's coat of undercoat and no topcoat (that was from the first day of the summer holidays!)
The hall still hasn't been painted.
I have however, woken up every morning and sat in bed with my iPad and read Blogs.
Not just a quick once over, a proper read.  I have missed catching up with all you lovely people and your interesting lives, your knitting, crochet, gardening, families and blustery Autumn walks. 
I've decided that I will make time every day to continue.

So what did I do this week?
Well, I went into Cheltenham on my own and wandered.  I tried on a few things and bought, guess what?......a flappy cardi.  I do love a flappy cardi.

I spend a whole day I kid you not, ironing.   The ironing basket was overflowing.  
 Did I mind?  Not one bit.
Miss Clicky was out with her BF and Master Clicky was out with the kids in the street.   I was ironing and catching up on TV it was lovely.  

This morning I've been out with Miss Clicky.  She is helping out with a horse near us called Baloo ~ that's her on him, not me in case you were wondering.  Now, I have no affinity with horses.  I don't like them that much, give me a cow any day.  Miss Clicky however, has ridden on and off since she was 5 years old and is a good horsewoman.  Baloo is like a naughty teenager and cheeky too so he needs a firm hand.    Rides involve me walking in front and as we are in the Cotswolds, up and down steep lanes, so I'm also getting some much needed exercise.
Today I took my phone hoping for some photos.
This moss looked like it had been there a while.
 Gloucestershire still looking good, despite the rain.
I'm all my own again now. 
 The dog is curled up and snoring behind me me, Miss Clicky has gone to Tesco to do her Saturday afternoon stint and Mr and Master Clicky gone to watch Forest Green Rovers in Nailsworth play Dagenham.  They did ask me if I wanted to go but try as I might I can't get into football.  
So I find myself with a peaceful few hours.  
Bliss.
I feel recharged and ready for school next week.

As always, it's lovely to have you here, see you soon.
Have fun....................Clicky Needles.

October Mosaic

I've been really tardy on Mosaics lately so here's one at last.



Monday 28 October 2013

......and Rest.

Hello There!

Half term is here at last, eight weeks is a long time!  There was a lot of tiredness at school.  

The storms seem to have passed this corner of Gloucestershire with not much effect.  There are leaves on the ground but that's about it, thank goodness.   Some have not fared so well.

Mr Clicky, me, Master Clicky and the dog have been to stay with Mr Clicky's sister in High Wycombe this weekend.  We haven't been away for a while and it was lovely.  
We visited Cliveden, a National Trust property, one time home of Nancy Astor, maybe more well known as the setting for the Profumo Affair.  We walked in the woods as we had the dog with us, it was warm and blustery.

Along the walk there were sculptures made from tree trunks.

 Snail ~ in case you were wondering!
 Man and woman.
We walked down through the woods and along the Thames.
 We then had to walk back up a lot of steps.
At the top was a beautiful carved bench which we rested on.
And looked back down where we had been.
The leaves were a bit damp so disappointingly not crunchy.
 From our rest stop we could see the house.  We'll come back one day ~ without the dog ~ and go inside.
 Back to the car now through a beech walk.
We made Master Clicky try out the fitness trail, the dog wasn't impressed.
A lovely walk and a lovely weekend.  Thanks J. 

I've bought two books recently which I thought you might to see.  I'm a bit late to the party with these but there you go!
Granny Squares written by blogger Suz Pinner.   A really nicely written and photographed book.
 There are some lovely patterns.
I'm loving this ~ or is it because it's lime green?
 Knit to Flatter by Amy Herzog.  A useful book to have on the bookcase about adapting patterns to fit your shape.
A few patterns that I like.  Wrap cardi.
Flappy cardi.
And surprise, surprise another cardi.
I've also recently bought this pattern, a hoodie with cables.
I have managed a bit of knitting lately which I'll show you later in the week.  
I wound this football 400g of yarn, the merino that I got at Ally Pally.  This was the twisted skein, I knew I couldn't put it into the stash as a skein where it would without doubt, tangle itself even more.
It took me a mere 4 hours.  Phew!

That's me for now.........see you soon.

Clicky Needles.