Friday 26 August 2011

A week at home

Hello Lovelies,
this week I've been off work and had the luxury of a week at home with the boys. I say luxury because we have had such a great time . No work or school to worry about, no definite plans ,just days to enjoy doing whatever we fancy.

This week we have been enjoying lots of simple outings and the weather has been kind. It's been great to get out and about enjoying the late summer sun . As we leave home and return each day my hanging basket by the front door always makes me smile. This years , just Ivy leaved trailing Geranium, has taken a long time to get to it's best .Right now,despite a bit of neglect when we were away , it's looking stunning......



We have been climbing hills with the cousins..........to a favourite place of mine..Here you can feel almost as high as the clouds and drink in the far reaching views .The short but steep walk makes you feel like you have earned the pleasure.......


And on the way back down we gather wild blackberries, note the purple smudges,and find Acorns to bring home and try growing an Oak tree ( slow project that one !).......


Everywhere there are signs that the seasons are beginning to change. This  wonderful planet is continuing it's yearly journey and our bit is not basking in the suns rays as much as it was.

I love all the bright red berries on the Whitebeam. There seems to be a bumper crop of berries this year, the Rowan trees are loaded down with them too.......


the little people also gathered Poppy seed heads to sprinkle in the garden...........much quicker project :0)....


I love that the boys have been outdoors a lot this week....they were still in the garden at eight thirty the other evening and called me outside to see this fabulous sunset.......


That night it actually rained a lot whilst we slept and in the morning I enjoyed wandering around the drippy garden in my PJ's.......


We've been swimming twice and have enjoyed three days at the park with various friends and I even braved some "crochet in public". My friends were a little puzzled but quite polite about it .
Then ,when I took this photo , without thinking it might look a strange thing to do, my friend was amazed " what are you taking a picture of THAT for ?" she said in a high pitched voice.

Taking pictures of unfinished crochet or any crochet....that would be WEIRD wouldn't it !!!  So I quickly said "oh ,I was just checking my camera worked " .Phew ..I may be getting brave enough to crochet in public some days but I'm certainly not brave enough to own up to blogging about it :0)...


It was great to catch up with friends I don't see often and our children had a great time hanging out together...scooters and skate boards were the craze this week......




Wandering through the park I loved this mass of Wild Carrot........


This plant is also known a Queen Ann's lace and the flower heads are just so pretty and delicate close up. Many were all white but quite a few also had this lone pink flower at the center....how strange.......


Once they have finished flowering the seed heads sort of curl up ...I love these too....






I finally treated myself to an issue of this much loved magazine and have been enjoying a relaxing read when we have been at home.......




I've also had time to take pictures (in private) of my Kaleidoscope blanket progress....I love the way this second round of the hexagons makes them look like flowers.....



There are 66 flowers here . Soon I'll be able to start adding the third round.......


Today the weather is wet and we have been into town buying school shoes. Thankfully that is the last of the uniform shopping and as we dashed through the raindrops this floral arrangement made me smile....


Thank you all so much for the lovely comments on my bag makeover.Hope you all have a great weekend.
Jacquie x

26 comments:

  1. That looks like a lovely week! I wish we could get Molly Makes here! Better come to the UK again :-)
    Have a good weekend, Esther.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoyed looking at your pictures, the view from that hill is amazing and well worth the climb.

    I usually take some crochet or knitting when I take my son to the park, it felt sort of weird at first but now I just sit on the bench and get on with it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you had such a great week. So sorry about the lack of acceptance viz a vis the openair hooky, we are indeed opressed. I'm off to take up the hook in protest.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks like you've had a wonderful week:) The trailing geraniums in our hanging baskets have been amazing this year too - it must have been the right sort of weather for them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful photos.
    Like you, I had a similar experience this week. I was showing a friend some photos from a recent wedding, and interspersed were photos of my crochet, finished and unfinished. When asked why I had so many photos of crochet, I stumbled and said something like I wanted to keep a record of what I had made!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like you had a very busy but fun week! Love your crochet flowers x

    Leah x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Jacquie.

    Your photo of the white 'wild carrot' with a single pink flower is just stunning!

    I did chuckle over your crochet-shyness. I sit in the car waiting for my Blondies after school, crocheting like a mad thing - I think I'd get less strange looks if I was sitting there naked!!

    Have a super weekend.

    Hx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ha ha, I had to laugh at your friend's reaction to you taking a photo of the crochet. I get that from my husband all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  9. My friends think im bonkers as well. I just feel sorry that they are missing out on so much fun.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Crochet in public Jacquie, does it really matter what anyone else thinks? No it does not!! Life is too short not to be crocheting at any opportunity. :)
    Love your crochet pics in this post too. Beautiful.
    Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your crocheted flowers are just gorgeous! As are all the lovely plants in your part of the world. Yes, it might take a while for the oak tree to grow, but you have to start now so that two generations from now there will be trees for people to enjoy. :-) Have a wonderful weekend!! (stop by my blog if you have time, i'm having a giveaway.)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I crochet in public all the time, and have to admit, you do get some funny looks! That said, an elderly lady came up to me in a cafe the other day, and said how nice it was to see someone doing something that used their mind and hands, and what beautiful colours I was using! It took me a while to ignore people - if they don't craft, they don't understand!
    X

    ReplyDelete
  13. Loving the 'flowers' going to look fabulous
    May have to have a go at this one lol
    So pretty
    Hugs Suz x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a lovely comment.Also for the tip about the photos.I'm a bit clueless when it comes to these things!
    Love your beautiful nature pics.Enjoy what's left of the Summer. :0)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ohhh those flowers are smashing!

    ReplyDelete
  16. That Queen Anne's Lace is amazing, Jacquie - never seen it before. Loved your story about your photos :) My friends are used to seeing the crochet come out, but would have the same reactionas yours to seeing me take photos as I go - I'll be sticking to stealthy home photography for that!
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  17. Eek! Big pile of flowers! Want! To! Dive! In! ;)
    I crochet a lot when I'm on the train and I only get good responses :) Like: "Did you make that bag too? REALLY?" ;)
    xo,
    wink

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love your hexagons. That is the hexie blanket I am going to do, as it is my favourite one I've seen. Gorgeous pics of a work in progress! Love your photos - especially the seed-head which is stunning.

    I find it a bit upsetting that people's friends react in this way and need diverting (I too would feel like a big secret had been discovered). Because I fear mine would laugh or be disparaging, I keep a lot of what I do private - I have all sorts of things I get up to that would never make my CV under hobbies! Yet it is 'us' - who we are. It is such a shame when those close to us would laugh or find what we do weird. BUT they DO at times. When we keep things hidden I think it is because we are worried/frightened about the reaction we will get. Perhaps our friends hide things from us too. I often think friends are accidental and often we share little in common but when we feel we can share what makes us happy, then that is really good. Just the other day I came across an uncommonly talented blogger but I got the impression that in her own environment her extreme talents counted for nothing, which made me feel sad. I feel we give next to no credit for crafts these days. We shouldn't have to justify ourselves to people, but to me my knitting, crochet and sewing are top secret as I couldn't bear to be undermined. If someone in the past has admired a scarf I have said no, when asked if I had made it (to me there was an inference by that question that it was poor quality, and less good that a bought one and brought my taste into question). I have also given the credit to someone else, even if they said they liked it, for the same reasons. Weird I know; I obviously have confidence issues! Yet some people I know are totally banner waving about the stuff they make.

    A blog is a total achievement in so many ways; there are so many skills that could boost a CV. Some people regularly produce stuff that could be a magazine, presented in a similar style. Yet to use those skills we have to be willing to share with people who might be judgemental of us. I know that if I had a blog, I would have to be anonymous and would feel totally inhibited by any family and friends getting wind of it. For me it would be a place outside of my normal life.

    What all my above waffle is saying is; I totally get why you didn't want to share your blog writing with your friend. I have sometimes wondered if the people who write the very popular blogs friends know about the online acclaim they receive – almost superstar status in some cases! I guess some times the answer is no. I probably sound a bit weird. Nevermind!

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a lovely post, I really lost myself for a few minutes in crochet paradise, lol! :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sounds like you had a great week. I have told my some of my friends I blog and they love having a look and a laugh and now leave comments. The crochet looks really pretty and thanks for the photos of the wild carrot I have some in my garden, don't know where it came from, now I know what it is.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Crocheting flowers/squares etc for blankets is so addictive.Looking forward to seeing the finished blanket.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love your blog, and sounds like you've had a wonderful busy week. I saw the photos of the Kaleidoscope and flowers and I have to ask is there a pattern for those? I would love to make both into an afghan.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi there! I loved your pics, thank you for sharing your week, it was relaxing just to read.

    I think that crocheting and knitting in public is totally awesome!!!

    Start a group in the park or a local coffee shop, you'll see how quickly it catches on.


    Greetings from California.


    Have a great rest of your week.
    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  24. Lol ,how funny about you crocheting in public and then taking a photo and trying to get out of that one, nice one ,quick thinking! I m not quite brave enough yet,to crochet in public,hehe and definatley havent owned up to blogging in the 'real world'. take care,love julie.xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love your blog, so colourful and inspiring! Keep up the great work.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your week sounds and looks remarkably like mine, I've LOVED seeing my kids out playing on their scooters till it gets dark, we've also been school uniform and shoe shopping and yeah I've been crocheting at the park too.

    I've also got trailing geraniums in my baskets at the front of the house, and yep, they are finally looking good too. And yes yes, how noticable the change of season is this year, I saw the leaves on the cherry trees up the road are already on the turn to their autumn shades and yes lots and lots of berries here too.
    We went blackberry picking last week in Dorset, stained fingers for my brood too.
    Ahhhhh sigh. I've loved my summer hols this yr, but am also secretly looking forward to the hush of Monday ;o).
    Sending lots of love to you Jacqui, your blog remains one of my fave places to hop to.
    Lucexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    ps your blooming flower cushion looks wonderful.
    pps if you get half a mo, could you drop me a line re granny sqaure stuff, I got a question for ya!
    xxxxxxx

    ReplyDelete

I always love to hear from you , thank you for taking the time to leave a message.