The Last Day of The Holiday Tomorrow.

Hello.

The last day of the holiday tomorrow.

The last 6 weeks seem to have gone on forever.

I've managed to do some knitting, crochet and gardening but more importantly spend some lovely times with my family.

DS is ready for Secondary School and DD is not so ready for GCSEs!

The Garter Stitch Swingy Cardi is coming along nicely, although first attempt was too big before the split for the body so I took it back and made it smaller.

This looks much better. The colour is much richer purple than this picture looks.

Mr Clicky Needles and me have been working on the postie step.

He cut the timber and I screwed it together. We now need to get some gravel and plant down the sides to finish off.

The garden is looking most autumnal with the Japanese Anemones looking really pretty, but they always make me a bit sad because summer has nearly gone when they are in bloom.

Other signs of summer ending ~ Crocosmia

autumn flowering Cyclamen

and a sad looking Hosta who has felt the drop in temperature already.

On the plus side, remember that blossom? It's turned into these Worcester Apples and they look (and smell) good enough to eat, although they're a bit bitter at the moment.

So alarm set early tomorrow (just to get back into the swing of things) my last Tuesday morning knitting group at my local yarn shop for a while, and then back to work Wednesday.

I've had a wonderful time.

Bye ~ have a good week. Clicky Needles.

Holiday Nearly Over :-(

The Holidays have nearly gone.

*Sigh*

September 1st looms.

The weather has gone rubbish and is raining a lot.

Must be August.

The rain of course, is giving me an excuse to Crochet/Knit.

Here is the progress on the blankie.

If you look in the left hand corner you can see it's nearly reaching the pillow. Waaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!!

All those little bits of double knit yarn that I just couldn't throw away have nearly all gone.

Progress on the Ruffly Shrug was also going well, but sadly, after I sewed up the arms it is too tight!!! Of course, there is a moral here ~ don't measure your arms yourself ~ get someone else to do it. I'm not going to frog it ~ the yarn is a bit splitty and I'm not sure it will take kindly to being undone. It was only £5.00 for both balls so I don't mind too much.

Someone else did express an interest in it ~ so I'll see if she would like it.

So that's in the naughty corner and I started this.

The yarn is Rowan Wool Aran FROM MY STASH and the pattern Garter Stitch Swingy Sweater . After the 4ply of the the Ruffly Shrug it's great whizzing along in an Aran Weight Yarn. I enjoying this quite a lot ~ particularly as it is Top Down Construction so should be a perfect fit.

These could be famous last words ~ we shall see!

With DS starting secondary school next week we went shopping for his uniform. He decided that he really liked the PE kit and stayed in it for the rest of the day.

Here he is making an Airfix Model of a Bren Gun that he spent some of his holiday money on. As you can see it is tiny.

Mr Clicky Needles says he couldn't do it but DS happily sits for hours making.

I also made some Cup Cakes in these silicone cases. Now obviously I bought them because of the colours but they really are quite good as well.

The cakes were demolished fairly quickly!

On the garden front we've been eating potatoes which we grow in big pots.

This has it's pros and cons ~ no slug damage at all, but not as many potatoes.

Still very tasty.

I had a bit of a push on the front garden too.

Mr Clicky Needles has a few days off so we are going to have a go at the

postman step.

Hopefully it'll be a bit safer for him!

Ok I'm off now the wrap myself up in Purple Garter Stitch Squishiness and maybe clean the cooker.

I'm not sure which to do first?

mmm.........I'll have a think on that.

Have a nice week whatever you're doing.

Bye for now Clicky Needles.

A Lovely Holiday

Hello!!!!

I wanted to show a few more pictures from the brief trip to France.

Here is a big planter/traffic calming measure in the town of La Clayette where the Notaire (solicitor) was.

We thought these were quite fun especially as the tall things by the 30 sign are runner beans!

We sat in the cafe with that bright green chair nervously waiting for our appointment.

Time came and went and soon we were out of the office celebrating our purchase, right next to the Chateau which is magnificent.

When we were here in February the lake was frozen.

Have I mentioned that Des Bon Amies is just about 20 minutes away from the Plassard Factory Shop? A lovely woolly emporium. Sadly I didn't get time to go which is probably just as well but I promise to take photos next time.

When I got back home I had two nights in a bed and then back under canvas for the family break.

We went to Fforest Fields near Builth Wells in Wales which is a FAB-U-LOUS site.

One morning we woke up to this sunrise.

We had a very peaceful time ~ not least because DD managed to drop her phone down the loo on the first visit ~ so no texting for her.

(It worked when we got home, dried out and recharged so all was well.)

We went out most days and completed the Four Falls Walk in the Brecon Beacons National Park.

This one was incredibly noisy.

The most impressive was this one ~ you can see Mr Clicky Needles and DS walking right behind the waterfall.

On the walk back DS spotted this tree which he took this picture of ~ he loved the ferns and moss growing all over it.

The weather was kind to us ~ only one evening of rain ~ although the nights were very chilly. No matter, we sat inside and played cards and games and had a lovely family time together.

We were rudely awoken one night by a strange noise. I thought it was a mouse so Mr Clicky Needles climbed out of his sleeping bag to investigate. He unzipped the door to the porch and found.............

....a hedgehog!

Luckily we had some barbeque tongs to hand so Mr Clicky Needles rolled him up into a ball and rolled him out of the tent.

When we were just sitting relaxing (knitting!) by the tent this was the view.

How lovely is that?

Of course there is a down side of being away ~ the garden carries on growing.

Those secateurs aren't miniature ~ courgettes turn into marrows!

Ah Well.

On the knitting front I've been having quite a good go and both the shrug and crochet blanket so hopefully piccys soon.

Bye For Now.

Clicky Needles.

Saturday 14th August

Hello Everyone!

I'm sure you've noticed no blog from me for 2 weeks!

I've been a busy bee.

The first week of August was taken up by a Trip.

Just a quick one of 4 days.

I went with my lovely friend B to France.

I had to be very brave and do some driving on the wrong side of the road. This went quite well, it really was alright, I just needed a bit more concentration at junctions and roundabouts.

We travelled through the tunnel and ended up at Les Cerisiers roughly about 6 hours later.

I've mentioned Les Cerisiers before ~ we had a super holiday there in February.

Sadly this time we were not in the house ~ but a tent in the garden.

We met some friends of J and M who own it ~ both French and English and had a lovely time.

Here are some things in their garden.

Grapes ~ yummy!

Pink and red Geraniums ~ a colour combination which really shouldn't look good together but do.

And some Hydrangeas.

I even managed to catch this Hummingbird Hawk Moth which was no mean feat ~

it was moving so fast.

But why did you go I hear you ask?

Not just to visit J and M ~ although that is a brilliant reason to go.

Because............................

..................with B and S we're buying this little cottage...............

...........and we had to go and sign the paperwork!

*Gulp*

One minute we're all in a state of huge excitement and then...

............uh-oh what are we doing?

It is just across the valley from J and M's house!

It will be a holiday cottage when it is habitable.

It's not been lived in for 15 years so is very dirty, cobwebby and overgrown.

This is what the front looks like.

And the back garden is no better!

This is the kitchen ceiling!

But this is the view from the front bedroom.

It is in a valley in a hamlet called Le Buisson which means The Bush and we have decided to call the house 'Les Bon Amies" ~ The Good Friends.

I've got lots more to tell you about it but you'll have to wait!

Obviously whilst I wasn't driving and B was ~ besides talking all the way (I had a sore throat the next day!) I made lots of progress on the Ruffly Shrug.

I'd just like to say a H~U~G~E thank you to J and M for letting us stay, keeping us fed and watered and helping us through the whole buying process ~ they have been great.

More to follow.......

Bye for now ~ Clicky Needles.

Monday 2nd August

Hiya.

I knew doing houseworky stuff is no good for you.

I've managed to do something to my back and now have sciatic pain in my leg. It's more of a dull ache than aaahhhhhhhh that hurts but it is annoying.

I've spent a few days not doing much, I was planning to hit the front garden but decided that wouldn't be a good idea.

I did however, make a quick neck warmer with a few balls I had in stash.

*polishes halo*

This was made with Twilley's Freedom Wool and a pale green Rowan Little Big Wool that I had hanging around. As it is 100 per cent wool I felted the ends together so no sewing in.

I love garter stitch and think for a chunky wool like this it shows off beautifully.

Not the best picture in the world but I couldn't find a useful child to take a picture at the time. The pattern is Wham Bam thank You Lamb Neckwarmer by Susan Chang. I'm becoming a big convert to neckwarmers ~ you don't get all those ends flapping about like you do with a scarf and it sits and stays where you tell it to.

This is the ruffle shrug I talked about. Actually called Waterfall Shrug it is by Janet Barton.

The simplest of shrugs ~ a rectangle sewed under the arms and then a H~U~G~E ruffle on the sleeves and neck.

Sounds great.

But ~ the yarn is 4ply ~ I'm using Stylecraft Life at £2.50 a ball and it needs 2 balls ~ and 3.25mm needles and it is taking a time.

I suppose we all need a little bit of mindless knitting sometimes.

Whilst I was pottering around the garden before the back/leg were too bad this stunning Lily Stargazer was wafting scent everywhere.

And then back to Alliums ~ I'm sorry I go on about these so much but I love them and this one is full of seeds for new plants in a few years time.

It looks lovely even when it's finished flowering.

Isn't nature great?

I am soooooooo desperate for this beauty from Ikea ~ *gulp* £89 but isn't it fab?

More of a Dandelion Clock than an Allium but hey.........

Don't think it'll happen but I can always dream.

See you soon.

Clicky Needles