Giant granny progress and thrifty finds

Hello Lovelies,
Thank you for all your great comments about my giant granny. I'm up to 44 rounds now , here it is on the lawn this morning.....

I hope you are not getting fed up with seeing the progress shots . Sharing them here and on Flickr really helps me to maintain my enthusiasm now the rounds are getting looooong ......

Some of you lovelies have commented on ways to crochet over the ends and I have done this in the past but I don't like the way little bits of yarn start to appear after a while so I'm resigned to sewing them in at some stage...either at the end or maybe before if I'm feeling good.
To be honest there aren't really that many compared to a blanket made of small squares so I'm happy to do them at the end .....

While I was out in town today I was surprised and delighted to see these wonderful sheep . ...

Aren't they great . I love the yarny one in the picture above . Such a Bright knitted patchwork with stunning crochet and knitted flowers.
I think my favourite had to be this one made of raw cotton with a colourful knitted" waist coat " ......

I love that it's cheekily eating some flowers and I've just noticed it has a basket of flowers around its neck.
The one made of flowers behind it is gorgeous too. The little details were great . Like these crochet flowers on the fake grass :0).....

Along with admiring sheep and some mundane shopping I popped into a couple of charity shops and I was very happy to find this ....

Maybe these are not in vogue right now but I remember collecting the "lilliput lane " series of these little houses back in the eighties. We had a deep bay window in our little starter home and I loved arranging these on the window sill.......

They were very popular and quite expensive at the time. I used to get them as birthday and Christmas presents....

When we got a cat that liked to sharpen it's teeth on the chimneys (!?! )they began to look a little sorry for themselves and I got rid of them....

These are actually from the slightly smaller " Leonardo Collection" But the detail is  fantastic and I was very happy to find them. Even the backs are pretty....

And look what they cost ...

A bargain and even though they are not exactly the same as the ones I had they still feel very nostalgic . They remind me of  an exciting time in my life when I moved to a new part of the country , started my career and got married.

There were about eight of these ,all in pristine condition in the charity shop today ...I was rather tempted to buy them all but these three are my favourites and they are making me smile....

Hope your week is going well.
Jacquie x

This weekend......

.......was rather busy. But good busy. Lots of time out doors at school fairs,riding bikes and enjoying a couple of local parks.I'm loving the wild flowers at the country park like this field scabious.....

There was no   time for gardening but time to notice my new rose is flowering :0) ..........

And not much time for crochet but here's where I'm up to......

I'm still loving this bright ,cheerful, speedy blanket. It's 28 inches across now and each round is taking about 40 minutes to complete........

As it gets bigger I have to be careful to make sure I have enough yarn to complete each round. Thankfully there was enough of the orange.....

I have to admit I'm not sticking by my normal rule of sewing in the ends as I go......

At the end of each round I can't wait to choose the next colour and get going :0)



Have a great week. We have lots of school events crammed into these last two weeks of term . Why do they do that ?

Jacquie x

More Happy Colours

Hello Lovelies,
Those of you who regularly read my blog will know that I'm more than happy taking pictures of the gorgeous countryside around these parts. But at this time of year even the town makes a colourful scene .
Outdoor markets are such happy bustling places on a sunny day.I'm loving the brightly coloured plants on this flower stall........

Gazania en masse...what a sight to lift your spirits

Such wonderful colours on the fruit and veg stall......

I'm also loving the bunting.

Al fresco yarn....yummy..........

Away from the throng of the market I was so happy to spy this ...it's the entrance to a gallery and I hoped from this glimpse it was going to lovely.......a wrought iron gate , self seeded pretties on a ledge, a hanging basket and a wind chime.....yes ? ....I was holding my breath.......

Ohhh , lovely old brick walls and a bench surrounded by colourful pots.....

It turned out to be just as lovely as I had thought. Look at the gorgeous handmade mosaic and all the care put into this cute little courtyard.The perfect place to relax for five minutes and enjoy the tranquil outdoor space ,on a sunny or shady bench  ,take your pick :0) ..........

It really made me smile.

Another thing that's making me smile at the moment is my Giant Granny. I've put a button in my side bar that links to the flickr group.Here's what it looks like today............

I'm up to 31rounds and I've added more different colours. If I'm feeling a little unsure about colour combinations I take a look at this wonderful blanket.
Last year I enjoyed making my Granny stripe in blues and greens but I'ts great to be able to make this similarly 'quick to do' pattern  in gorgeous happy colours this year .Thanks for the inspiration Angie :0)
Hope you week is going well
Jacquie x

Monday Colour

Hello Lovelies ,
I'm loving all the colour in the picture above...both yarny colours and from some pots of flowers in the garden.
Inside the house I have new colours hanging on the wall.
I'm so lucky to have a talented Artist for a Mum . Having seen  this picture she painted ,and commented how much I liked it , she remembered and gave it to me for my birthday last week......

Please excuse the reflections on the glass.
 Looking at it again I'm noticing the wonderful colours Mum's used and I love the extra detail created by adding pen to this gorgeous watercolour. The subject is Robin Hoods Bay in North Yorkshire...somewhere I haven't been since I was a child but would love to visit again.
Another birthday prezzie from Mum was a David Austin Rose. It's called William Morris and it's a shrub climber......hopefully one day it will look like this.Such a pretty colour.Thanks Mum :0)

My garden is quite green at the moment with not that many plants flowering . I don't actually have many annuals . They are great for a splash of colour but I'm most keen on perennials ...especially those that attract wildlife..........

One thing that is flowering is my  Buddlia or Butterfly bush, it's looking lovely and certainly living up to it's name. First I spotted the delicate Cabbage White butterfly above then I noticed a stunning Red Admiral.......

Ooooooh Lucky me . Then I was surprised to notice a third species ...one I wasn't familiar with. Turns out to be called a Comma ( how disappointing!....I think Tiger Butterfly would have been a more exciting name don't you?).........

My lovely lilac/purple poppies which looked like this last week..........

have now sadly lost their flowers but I'm still loving the fab shape of the seed heads and will be collecting the seeds to  spread in my own garden as well as sharing them with family and friends........

So what was the yary colour at the top of this post? It's my latest WIP.I'm joining the fun HERE and making a Giant Grannt Square blanket. There's a flickr group HERE to share our progress.

I was going to limit myself to 12 colours ..but as it's grown others have sneaked in and currently there are 15 in use....well I do love colour..... any day of the week :0)

Giant Granny squares are so easy to make and grow quickly wothout many ends to weave in . If you fancy joining in I would say ......DO !!

Hope you have a colourful week

Jacquie x

Photo Scavenger Hunt, June

Hello Lovelies , here I am a day late with my scavenger hunt photos for June. To be honest I nearly gave up this month...some of the items were tricky ...I'm still not happy with my wheel trim (!!!???)
I like by blog to be a place of prettiness and don't want to post what I would consider boring pictures but some possibly boring pictures turn out to be the best and I love to see what others have come up with.
Enough waffle . Here are my pictures for June........

1. Something with your towns name on it ......

Not my current town but the village where I grew up and revisited this year in this post. I've had this T.shirt at the bottom of my Drawer for years ( sorry about the creases) and I couldn't throw it away :0)
Behind it is my square throw...to add the aforementioned prettiness. I still think this is my favourite make of all time .

2. An Elephant......

An Elephant ornament of mine smelling the first posy of sweet peas from my garden this year. I wish you could smell them too.

3.A wheel trim......

On one of the boys playmobil lorries. Not very happy with this but I didn't seen anything more inspiring this month.

4. Architectural Detail........

coincidentally the date on this Carnegie Library is the same year as the book I shared in my previous post.The detail is astounding don't you think ?

5.Cheese....

Anther category where my heart sank initially ...but in the end I was pretty pleased with this Greek salad of Feta and tomato drizzled with olive oil.So many lovely holiday memories :0) and very yummy.

6.Night.....

I took this snap on Tuesday. I went into the garden at 11pm to check the rabbits and was amazed to see some light still remaining on the western horizon.I dashed back in to get my camera and took this at 11.02pm exactly. I know there is a street light but the sky was defiinately lit by the disappearing  sun, you can see the orange glow in the middle horizon. The following day,Wednesday I was awoken by the dawn chorus at 3.50 am . That's less than 5 hours of complete Darkness. Wonderful .Shame we have to endure the other extreme in the winter

7.Tree Branches...

In the grounds of a  Stately home we visited this month.

8.Cutlery.......

Another toughie.Went for colour as usual :0) My latest crochet project is peeping out from beneath the plate.

9.A Childhood Memory

Patchwork Hexagons I made as a child , still waiting for completion. The stitching is so neat...not sure I could do as well today.

10. A farm Animal......

Some pretty cows and some calves hiding under the tree.

11.Something Beginning with Z.....

Another cheat...gaZania....well it's stunning don't you think?

12. and Finally....The View Right out side your Door...........

Our neighbours stunning acer tree against a blue Sky...lovely.
Right. I'm off to see what the others have come up with :0)
Jacquie x

June Nature Notes

Hello Lovelies,
It's that time again ....time for me to share some of the lovely illustrations from Edith Holden's " Nature Notes of an Edwardian lady" the sister book to her Hugely popular "Country Diary".
This is the sixth monthly post I've written and I can't believe we are half way through the year already .
June , the start of summer and a time of really long days, and now ,so quickly, it is almost over ....sigh.

Here is the folk law for this month....

Edith's illustrations are so lovely and once again reassuringly familiar 106 years later........

I think the wild roses have been particularly beautiful this year.....but maybe it's just that I'm noticing them properly for the first time......

I have already shared some of my own photos of the countryside in these parts in this post. Here are some more ...there has certainly been plenty of beauty to capture...and I do enjoy being outside looking for likely subjects :0)

Hay ( or possibly silage ) making.....

Tall grasses gently waving in the breeze on a hot day.....

The seed head of Goats Beard ...similar to a dandelion clock but more robust.....

Clover...every where and so easy to overlook but gorgeous in Macro :0)....

Thistle flowers...such a pretty flower on such a painful plant !....

I've included this picture because I love the fuzzy background of the road stretching into the distance and the steely blue sky.....

More clover this time in pink.....

Duckings, already almost as big as their Mum...

Rosebay Willow Herb...I've always loved this wild flower .We used to gather it as a treat for our goats when I was little ....this was snapped in the car park at work :0)........

The perfect Wild  Rose......

And finally ( I know this is a rather long post ! )..... taken today....more Poppies .......Looking wonderful with clover and ? fever few ( correct me if you know better )......

A wonderful vista ...Standing ,drinking in this view ( waiting for the sun to return ) made me think if this poem

Hope you are making the most of Summer ( or happy that the days will soon be longer, if you are on the opposite side of the world )
Jacquie x