The Sunshine Award

I was thrilled to bits to receive this award from Tammy over at My Journey blog. These November days are quite dull and dreary so it was lovely that she thought of me and added a bit of Sunshine to my days.

The Sunshine Award is an award given to those who inspire us and bring sunshine in to our lives.

Thank you, Tammy, I'm honoured to accept this award.


There are a few simple rules:-

1) Include the award logo in your blog post.

2) Link to the person who nominated you.

3) Answer 10 questions about yourself.

4) Nominate other bloggers.


Tammy's questions for me are as follows:-

1) Why do you blog?

I blog as a kind of online diary. It's fun to look back on and see what I was doing this time last year, two years ago or three years ago.


2) Why do you follow the blogs that you follow?

I follow the blogs that I do because I connected with them in some way. They may inspire me, I may have made a friendship with the blogger or we may share a common interest.


3) Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I don't really look to the future or make plans. I think that may come from the fact that I suffered from a serious illness a while ago and I now realise that you never know what's around the corner, so I try to live my life for today and don't make too many plans.


4) Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

As above.


5) If you could relive one day in your life...would you?

I certainly would. I'd like to relive a day when my sister was still living.


6) What thoughts pop into your head when I say the word "America"?

I think the first thing which pops into my head is Disney. Perhaps that's because I've been to America twice and both times were on trips to Disneyland, I haven't seen anything else of the country at all. Also, the friendly people. I don't know if it was just because we were in Disneyland but everyone was so chatty and welcoming, especially in shops and restaurants, you don't often get service with a smile here anymore.


7) City? Country? Mountains? Beach? Where do you prefer to live?

Well, I've only ever lived on the outskirts of a city so I don't have experience of the others, but I'd love to live in a village in the country, though a coastal village would be good too.


8) Do you have a bucket list?

No, I don't have a bucket list. I'm quite happy with my lot in life and don't really yearn to experience or achieve anything other than what I already have.


9) If you could do any job in the world, what would it be? (It's your world so your kids get to be with you).

I think the best job in the world is being a mum. It's all I ever wanted to be when I was young so I achieved that dream.


10) What is your most favourite way to relax?

My favourite way to relax is spending time with my family. It doesn't matter what we're doing, but I love it when we're all together.


Now I shall nominate some people to pass this award on to.

Mitzi from Lazy Days & Sundays at The Willows
Cheryl from My Little Piece of England
Susan from Granny Smith's Quilting
Mum from Mum's Simply Living Blog
Amy from Love Made My Home
Denise from Mrs Nesbitt's Space
Kim from Little White Sewing Shed
Karen from Chelmarsh Chunterings
Jenny from The Urban Cottage
Jan from Stand and Stare

I know that not everyone accepts awards so please don't feel under pressure to accept this one if you don't want to, I just want you to know that I enjoy reading your blog.

If you do decide to accept, here are the questions I'd like you to answer. As it's now less than six weeks to Christmas, I thought I'd give my questions a Christmas theme.

1) Do you have any Christmas traditions?
2) Do you eat turkey on Christmas day?
3) Christmas pudding, Christmas cake or mince pie, which is your favourite?
4) Where do you spend Christmas day?
5) Approximately, how many people to you buy or make presents for?
6) What is your favourite Christmas song?
7) What is your favourite Christmas film?
8) Do you have a real or fake tree?
9) What's the best and worst presents you've ever received?
10) What are you looking forward to most this Christmas?

Do pop over and visit the blogs I've nominated, I'm sure you'll find some new favourites amongst them. Thank you, once again, Tammy.

Another Ripple

It wasn't long after I started Daniel's Ripple Blanket earlier in the year that Eleanor decided that she'd like one too. I was still crocheting Daniel's when we were on holiday in Cornwall, but Eleanor chose the colours she'd like from the yarn shop there and has been waiting patiently ever since.

This time, I decided that I'd do an interlocking pattern, similar to the way Lucy from Attic24 did hers.

I started this blanket off with more chains than Daniel's as I've now realised that the ripple pattern tends to pull it in a bit. I made 213 chains (15 X 14 + 3) and it looks to be a better size this time. I really liked how the interlocking pattern was working out when I first started the blanket.

I've got a little bit further on now and I'm loving it even more with all the colours now being used. The colours Eleanor chose are Khaki, Meadow, Spring Green, Pomegranate, Fondant and Candyfloss, all from the Stylecraft Special DK range. I like how the pink and green work together, and also the light and dark shades of each.

The ripple is such a relaxing pattern, I enjoy the rhythm of it, rippling up and down, back and forth while I watch tv or chat.

There's quite a way to go yet but it's a project which will keep me warm and cosy through winter.

A Pear Of Crumbles

I made a start using up some of the pears which I mentioned a couple of posts back. It was my mum's birthday on Thursday, 79 years young, so I made a couple of pear crumbles, one for us and one to take round for my mum and dad, makes a change from birthday cake, and my mum loves a good pudding with custard. I've never used pears in cooking before, but they were very good in a crumble.

I had every intention of making an apple streusel cake this weekend, substituting the apples for pears, but time has run away with me. Yesterday, I got up and cleaned the house, then we took Archie to be trimmed, visited the garden centre and had a trip to the allotment before being summoned to York to take a letter to Daniel which had been delivered here and which he was waiting on. Whilst there, we took pity on the poor student that he's become and took him shopping, before doing our own shopping, so a full on day all in all.

Today, I got up and did my washing and ironing, then I spent the best part of the day shopping with Eleanor for things she needs to take with her on a school trip to London. She goes in a couple of weeks so I wanted to get that out of the way. We also had a look for some bits she needs for the play she's in at the end of the month. Her theatre company is staging a production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and she needs some bright coloured clothing to wear in one of the scenes, not the easiest things to find at this time of year, and she doesn't have anything at all suitable in her wardrobe. Of course she doesn't, why would I think otherwise? So another day has run away from me.

We've eaten some of the pears through the week, so there aren't that many left now. Thank you for all your suggestions of what to make with them, I've filed all the recipes you've given me, but I probably won't get round to making anything else with them now, but we've enjoyed them all the same.

Sunrise On The Beach

I was thrilled to recently win Natasha's giveaway on her Vintage Pretty blog. Natasha was offering a print of her own photography to one lucky winner to celebrate her 1000th post. I was able to choose the image I so desired from the many photos on her blog, and to say that I was spoilt for choice would be an understatement. If you have visited Natasha's blog you'll know exactly what I mean, she takes some fabulous photos.

With Mick and Eleanor's help, we finally decided on the above from Natasha's Going Home post back in May. Natasha had got up at 4am to go and watch the sun rise on a Northumberland beach and this stunning photo was the result. Take a look at the photo on Natasha's blog as my photo of the photo really doesn't do it justice, it's absolutely beautiful.

Thank you, Natasha, this print will have pride of place just as soon as I get a suitable frame for it.

If you haven't visited Natasha before, I would urge you to do so, you'll see some beautiful photography on her blog.

A Windfall

My next door neighbour knocked on our door at the weekend with a bag full of pears for us. His tree has produced a bumper crop this year and he wondered if we'd like some. Yes please!

There were just under four pounds of pears in the bag, they should keep us going for a while.

I'd like to use some of them to make a pear cake and a pear tart. I've been looking for recipes and wondered if anyone had any favourites that they'd like to share. I'd be very grateful.

On The Go

Back in August whilst we were on holiday in Cornwall, I had a bit of a spending spree on yarn. I mentioned it in a blog post at the time, however, as well as the yarn I blogged about, I also bought more for a new project.

Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench is a book I've had for a while now. Although I haven't made any of the projects in it, it's provided lots of inspiration.

I've lusted after this Springtime Throw for a long time, the colours go together so beautifully, and it's this photo which has inspired my current project, my On The Go Blanket.

My budget won't stretch to the suggested yarn so I'm using Stylecraft Special DK in similar shades, Meadow, Grape, Pomegranate, Soft Peach, Lemon, Cloud Blue and Cream. I'm not following the pattern of the Springtime Throw, I'm making granny squares in three rounds, two different colours separated with cream and they'll eventually be joined with cream too. I've worked out that I can make thirty different squares with these colours, though I'm not yet sure how big I want the blanket to ultimately be. Suffice to say, I'll need a few squares of each.

So why is it called my On The Go Blanket? Well, when I was on holiday, I was crocheting Daniel's Ripple Blanket. It was quite a size by then and wasn't very convenient to drag around with me on outings so I decided I needed something more portable. I don't think there's anything more convenient to carry around than granny squares, and so the idea was born. This isn't a blanket I'll work on at home, it's something that's portable enough to take with me away from home, so it's something I'll be working on when I'm On The Go.

Another long term project.

The Fault In Our Stars

Eleanor isn't big on reading so I was somewhat surprised when she came home from school a few weeks ago with a book in her hands. I was even more surprised when I couldn't get her head out of it for the next forty eight hours.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green is a book which many of her friends have read and were discussing in school. Eleanor decided that she wanted to read it, so one of her friends lent it to her. Now Eleanor isn't the fastest reader, but she finished this in two days flat, she couldn't put it down. Since reading it, she's mentioned it many times and said that she'd like to read it again, but she'd given the book back to her friend. I think when you've read some books, you can't get them out of your mind for some time afterwards, and this is obviously one of those books for Eleanor.

I decided that I'd buy a copy so that Eleanor has her own copy, but also so that I could read it too. It's actually aimed at young adults, and some of the language actually gives that away, but I enjoyed reading it.

The book is narrated by Hazel, a sixteen year old Cancer sufferer who meets Augustus Waters, a seventeen year old amputee, at a support group. To put it in a nutshell, it's a teenage love story, but it's not just for teenagers, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Be warned though, it will reduce you to a blubbering wreck.

I finished this book in bed a few nights ago. When Eleanor knew that I was on the last chapter, she laid next to me and waited patiently for me to finish, at which point, she took the book straight from my hands, took herself off to bed and started reading it again. This is the girl who seldom reads, praise for The Fault In Our Stars indeed.

Big, Blousy And Beautiful

 

I love this time of year, I often open my back door to find a carefully placed bunch of chrysanthemums laid on the garden table. I don't grow many flowers myself at the allotment, but Mick's uncle grows chrysanthemums and gladioli for cut flowers. He visits his plot very early in the morning and on his way home, he creeps round the back of our house and leaves these wonderful gifts for me to discover when I venture outside.

These big, blousy, beautiful blooms cheer me up no end. They smell delicious, the perfume fills the house. There were enough in this bundle to fill two vases.

My absolute favourites are the yellow ones. The colour here isn't true, they're actually much, much brighter, they really zing. I love the way the petals form, they're like little individual scoops.

Chrysanthemums last in water for ages so this lot will be around for a while yet.

Challenge Update - October

My 2013 challenges are:-

1) Watch one old film each month.

2) List five items on Ebay each month.

3) Have a date night with Mick each month.

I watched one film in which Vivien Leigh won an Academy Award earlier on in the year. I love Gone With The Wind, a wonderful film, but I'd never seen the film in which she won her second Best Actress Oscar, A Streetcar Named Desire, so I chose this as my film to watch for October. I didn't know anything about the story so didn't know what to expect at all, and I have to say that the film didn't pan out at all as I was expecting. When visiting her sister in New Orleans, Vivien Leigh's character is told to "Take a streetcar named Desire and transfer to one called Cemeteries", a good outline of the plot. Three of the four main actors received academy awards for their performances, which isn't surprising as the acting is fabulous. It's just a shame that Marlon Brando missed out on the Best Actor Oscar for which he was nominated as, in my opinion, he gave a wonderful and very believable performance. I enjoyed this film and will definitely watch it again.

Listing on Ebay is ongoing, I'm still managing five items each month, and most of them are selling. I have a few things which haven't sold but I find that most have sold when they've been relisted. I'm hoping that I won't be left with many of the sixty items I'll have listed over the course of the year when this challenge ends.

Mick and I went for a pub meal for our date night. The pub we went to is one we used to visit quite often, but haven't been to for a number of years now. We bumped in to our old neighbours there from the house we used to live in twenty years ago. We'd never seen them since we moved so it was nice to catch up and hear all their news.

It feels as though my washing machine has been going constantly this weekend as Daniel has come home from university bringing his washing with him. I've stood and ironed it all this morning so it's all ready for him to take back with him later on today. It's time to start all over again now with our washing which has had to wait while Daniel's got done. I hope you've all had a more relaxing weekend than I have.

The Night Rainbow

I read many blog posts where books have been mentioned or reviewed. If any catch my eye, I jot down the title with every good intention to read them, however, there's many which I never get round to reading.

Back in the summer, Anna over at Green Tapestry blog wrote a post, Reading Matters, where she reviewed some books, a couple of which I quite fancied reading. One of them was The Night Rainbow by Claire King, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it at less that £2 on Amazon. I buy lots of books from charity shops these days, and many of them are more expensive than this.

I've really enjoyed reading The Night Rainbow. It's set in southern France and narrated by a five year old girl, Pea. Her father has died in an accident and she lives with her little sister, Margot, and her mother who is too sad to take care of them. Pea and Margot make a friend in the meadows behind their home, though he's keeping a secret.

It's an emotional story, which I have to say is very cleverly written. The ending was not what I was expecting at all.

This is Claire King's first novel, and I think she's done a fabulous job with it.

Not A Conker To Be Found

We took Archie  to Temple Newsam for his walk yesterday. I wanted to go somewhere with lots of trees so that I could look for conkers. I'm not sure if they're called conkers around the world, anyway, what I mean are the shiny, dark brown nuts of the Horse Chestnut tree. I need conkers.

I didn't manage to find one, single conker. There were plenty of acorns and helecopter seeds from the Sycamore. I need conkers. I've heard that scattering a few conkers near doors and on window ledges deter spiders from entering the house. How true it is I'm not sure, but anything's worth a try. I'm finding huge spiders in the house at the moment, sheltering from the colder weather, no doubt. I even had a cheeky thing climbing the stairs at the side of me yesterday, and another walking the wall next to where I was sat. It's no good, I need conkers.

I'm loving all the changing colours at the moment so our walk wasn't without its plus points, but I need conkers.

I Just Can't Resist

I'm not supposed to be buying magazines, they cost too much and I've bought far too many in the past, but I just can't resist new publications when they're launched, especially when they're at an introductory price and they're giving away free gifts too.

Mick knows exactly what I'm like, it was him who had seen the advert for Big & Little Knitting Projects For You & Your Family on tv and had alerted me to the fact that there was a new craft magazine out.

This first issue is £1.99 and comes with a pair of 10mm knitting needles and a 50g ball of cream acrylic yarn. The regular price for future issues will be £4.99.

It's a bit different to other magazines in that it's not actually a magazine but a book. Each book in the collection seems to focus on one particular topic, issue 1 is Contemporary Cushions and others in the series are Gifts For Babies, Cosy Hats & Scarves, Christmas Knits and Snug Socks & Slippers amongst others. There's some nice projects in this first issue and they're aimed at both beginners and advanced knitters.

I particularly like this Jewel Box Bolster.

There's also instructions to help you master new stitches and techniques, as well as covering the basics to help you brush up your knowledge.

As with most of these type of publications, there's a project which builds up issue by issue. This one is a chunky knit throw. Each issue comes with a ball of yarn with which to knit one square in the throw. Each square is a different stitch, so it will help you to learn new skills. The square in this issue is Double Moss Stitch and the full instructions for it are given.

Big & Little Knitting Projects is published fortnightly at £4.99 and the full collection spans over 60 issues, quite a financial commitment. I won't be buying it every fortnight, but I do like how each book covers one particular topic, allowing you to pick and choose which ones interest you. I think all knitters could find a particular issue which interests them. I quite fancy the Christmas Knits and the Snug Socks & Slippers.

I'm No David Bailey

Since buying my new DSLR camera earlier on this year, I've been using it on the automatic setting. I don't know the first thing about photography, but I'm determined to learn. When I saw an offer on Groupon for a beginners photography session I decided to give it a go.

The date was set for Saturday just gone. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good, dull and drizzly, but the session still went ahead. There were eleven of us beginners who met in a hotel just out of the centre of Leeds. We had a master class in Exposure, learning about ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture, before heading outside to put in to practice what we'd just learnt.

Afterwards, we headed in to the centre of Leeds to learn, and have a go at, Composition. Our first task was to look at Camera Angle and take photos from other angles other than head height. There were some good subjects in City Square, though you had to be quick before they flew off.

These birds were more obliging, metal sculptures which were on, what I think is, the front of the Norwich Union building.

Next, we headed off through Leeds towards the new Trinity Leeds shopping centre. Here, our aim was to use a technique whereby you frame objects within other objects. These were my attempts.

Finally, our last task was looking at The Rule of Thirds, positioning the subject off centre.

I was pleased that I managed some photos without having my camera set on automatic, though I have to say that I did feel quite conspicuous taking photos in the centre of Leeds and in the shopping centre.

The session was supposed to last for three and a half hours, but it ran over by half an hour. I was never going to learn everything in this time, but it's given me a start, and I now feel a bit more confident about taking my camera off the automatic setting and having a go myself.

Up To Date Technology

I'm a real technophobe, so I've always avoided having any technology around me that I don't need. My mobile phone has been a basic model, allowing me to make calls and send the occasional text. It had a camera too, though I never used it.

I've started making more calls just lately, so I thought a contract may be the way to go rather than pay as you go, which I've always had.

I only wanted a cheap contract, even though I'm making more calls, they're not excessive, but when looking at the contracts on offer, I saw that I could also update my phone for free. After what I've just said about being a technophobe and having had the most basic model in the past, I really don't know what possessed me to go with this model.

It's all singing all dancing, and I haven't a clue how to work it. The problem is, I'm frightened of it. Everyone's telling me to mess around with it and I'll soon get used to it, but I'm scared of doing something I shouldn't. I'm seriously considering putting the sim back in to my old phone.

Am I the only one who can't keep up with the times where technology's concerned?

One A Day Blanket

I started my One A Day Blanket right back on the first day of the year. My aim was to crochet one square each day and join them as I went along, a joining technique I hadn't tried before. I really enjoyed the laid back approach to making this blanket, one square each day is so achievable.

It's made up of 192 squares, 12 X 16, so on the 11th of July, the 192nd day of the year, the blanket was complete. All I had to do then was crochet the border. I put the blanket to one side while we went on holiday, I needed a more portable project to take with me, and then when I got home, I concentrated on Daniel's Ripple Blanket as I wanted that to be finished to take with him to university.

The border didn't take long, it's just five rows of granny clusters, but I'm happy with how it finishes the blanket off.

I love this blanket, it's a real hotch potch of colours. I had the yarn, Stylecraft Special DK, bought for me for Christmas so I didn't choose the colours myself, but they're such jolly, happy colours.

It's been finished at just the right time, the cooler weather will be here before we know it and I have a lovely, squishy blanket to snuggle up in.