Snowdrop Sunday

Hello Lovelies ,
what a treat , another sunny Sunday...two in a row in February . We had been planning to visit a  manor house which opens it's gardens at this time of year and I had been keeping my fingers crossed for a nice bright day. I wasn't disappointed.


Yippee........look at this fabulous spring border," I LOVE spring gardens" .....as I was heard to exclaim when I saw this yesterday. Spring truly is my favourite time of year and, looking at this prettiness in the sunshine, it seemed that it was already here ...

The daffodils are just beginning to flower at the back of this bed...first I've seen outdoors this year :0)

I also loved these bright lilac crocuses with their wonderful orange stamens..........

More dainty snowdrops......so gorgeous in their pretty little clumps........

This brightly coloured blossom tree caught my eye.....I would love one like this , what a sight to lift the spirits.........

 There are some wonderful mature trees in the gardens.........

Further on ,the walled garden is now just a grazing field , with only some weird looking tree stumps remaining.
Hinting at what would once have been a wonderful kitchen garden .........

Here are the current residents .....and another first sighting  for me this year .....lambs :0)

Their mum quickly hurried them away back to the rest of the flock.....what an idyllic spot.......

Leaving the sheep in peace we headed to the wood.......

More wonderful mature trees and snowdrops carpeting the floor. Sunlight floods in through the bare branches.........

And the snowdrops here look totally natural ....their green stems growing up through last years fallen leaves.....

This log pile caught my eye...what amazing colour and texture......

Further on there were double snowdrops.....now I'm torn....

I love the simplicity of the traditional variety ,but this is stunning too..........

More pretty spring flowers .....tiny and perfect...

What a romantic and timeless place. I loved the open fields and wood as much as the planted beds..........

I'm really glad we made the effort to visit this wonderful place and didn't listen to the boys protests.I suppose walking around a garden is not top of growing boys things to do , but in the end they said it had been "quite good" :0)

Thank you so much for all your kind comments on my baby blankets , they really mean a lot. I'm glad to say my sister in law was pleased with then too.
Have a great week.
Jacquie x

The Twin Ta-dah

Hello lovelies,
After a few days break while I waited for a yarn delivery I finished my latest two baby blankets yesterday.
As I mentioned before these are for my sister in law to give to a  friend of hers who is having twins very shortly .
They are the first items of crochet I've ever sold. It does add a bit more pressure to do a  good job but I'm also really pleased to be starting my charity fund raising in this way.

I bought a pretty box to keep my items for sale clean and safe.........

Ooooooh crochet goodness peeking out :0)

Would you like to see what they look like ??

Yes

Good

Ta-dah........

Two soft and snugly baby blankets. Made from Stylecraft Special double knitting.......

They each have twelve different colours .

This one is made up of
Plum, fondant,grape,peach,shrimp,aster,meadow,lipstick,lemon,aspen,cloud and violet.........

And this one is made up of
Raspberry, spring green ,denim ,lavender ,saffron ,pomegranate, sherbet ,bluebell, pale rose ,violet and turquoise.....

I like they way they coordinate but are not the same. The twins  Mum will know who's blanket is which ,but they compliment each other in such a great way...........

I was going to add a few rounds of the colours used in the blocks as a border , but they ended up a nice baby blanket  size without one ( 28" square ) so I decided to go with one round of granny clusters in white followed by my favourite picot  edging.........

I really hope my sister in law is pleased with them . I will let her decide on the price....I'm pretty awful at knowing what to charge for something like this ........

I have to laugh when I think how different they are to the blanket that I was inspired by. I still want to make one like that but I do love how these turned out.

Today was not great for taking photos . When the sun finally  decided to come out late in the afternoon I  dashed outside for a last minute sun shiny, blue sky  washing line shot.......♥♥♥♥♥.........

Tomorrow I'll give them to my sister in law and the box will be almost empty ....but I've already started on something else to build up my stock a little .......I'll be sharing that very soon :0)
Have a great weekend.
Jacquie x

A Little Outing

Hello Lovelies,
temperatures plummeted again on Saturday night.......Brrrrr freezing. The bonus was a wonderfully sunny morning on Sunday with icy blue skys. Time to visit the country park and see what it's looking like this February. We wrapped up and loaded the boys bikes in the car. As soon as we heaved them out again they were off.......

It's not far to a pretty lake which was looking lovely with the blue of the sky reflecting in the water. The reed beds that border the lake were also looking stunning , their dry stems a pale sandy colour ......

There is loads of bird-life on the lake and many people were feeding the ducks, swans, moor hens and coots.........

The ducks repeatedly dived down after sunken food, going completely out of sight for a few seconds ,before bobbing back up like a cork.

They began their descent by putting their heads under the water so their backsides stick straight up in that comical way that always reminds me of a poem I learnt as a child.....The Ducks Ditty by Kenneth Graham...

I love the reeds all topped with "feathers"......

They look even  prettier illuminated from behind........

Away from the lake the boys zoom around on their bikes ,enjoying the space.......

Whilst Mr BM and I stroll along enjoying the sunshine . I'm happy to spot catkins......

And notice this silver tree with a strange twisted trunk.........

Ooooh look this pussy willow is just beginning to emerge.....

It all looks wonderful against the brilliant blue sky. I'm not sure what species of tree this is but the bare orange branches are stunning........

I love this tangled kite....it's pretty tail looking like bunting...........

Admittedly there are not too many signs of spring , but on such a bright day even some dry seed heads look pretty......

It was a lovely day to get out and enjoy the winter sun in beautiful  natural surroundings.......

Just a simple little family outing, but a perfect ending to the half term holidays.

Jacquie x

Half Term at Home

Hello Lovelies,
we have enjoyed a pretty quite half term week ,my boys and me. One outing to the cinema on Monday . Friends round to play. No car from Wednesday as it was sounding pretty sick and had to go to be repaired...thankfully it's fine now but I quite enjoyed a few days with no car. With no work to get to this week it was nice to stay close to home and use bikes , scooters and legs for a change. Thankfully the weather has warmed up a lot . I even took the bunnies out of their cosy hutch and put then in the run for some exercise. It's the first time they have felt the grass beneath their feet since November......

They did have a little hop about and stood up on their back legs but I think they were glad to go back in their hutch when the time came.

I love not having to watch the clock on a week like this . I love the opportunity the bake before breakfast if the fancy takes me..........

Cup cakes for the boys one day ( O.K. I may have had a couple ).....

Another morning it was Mum style "healthy baking " ... focus on the apples and walnuts  and not the golden syrup :0)

Muffins using THIS  recipe . I'm always tempted by recipes which include these spices...

can't get enough of them .


I just wish I could get as enthusiastic about cooking.... sometimes I feel guilty about the lack of truly home cooked food in this house.I must try and remedy that this year.

It goes without saying I love the chance to do a little crochet.........

to sit with my hook when the boys have gone to play with friends and I've tidied up a little. The sun made a brief appearance and was shining on my freshly dusted mantle so I jumped up to take a picture........

This miniature rose plant has been flowering for ages, I love the little  pink roses......

There is also a bit of crochet I made ages ago and had forgotten about till he turned up in a drawer the other day.........

He's pretty tiny but oh so cute.
I was surprised and delighted to find the free pattern again to share with you lovelies...........find it HERE.
When I turned around to get back to my crochet WIP I had to smile at  this cozy scene.......

It's back to our respective routines next week but I think we have all enjoyed a little down time ... time to do as we please . My boys are really good company and easy to live with at the moment so I'm savouring this time and hoping the teenage years,when they arrive,don't bring too much worry and conflict .

My twin blankets are getting close to completion but I've run out of white yarn so I will have to do something else till it arrives .

It really shouldn't be difficult to think of something, I always have too many ideas floating around in my head.
Enjoy the rest of the  weekend.
Jacquie x