First Taste Of Snow

It's been Archie's first taste of snow, literally.

He loved playing in the garden, chasing snowballs then wondering where they'd disappeared to when they melted in his mouth.

He wasn't so keen on walkies in the snow though. He cried when his feet got cold and had to be carried home. What a soft puppy.

A Hairy Story

For the last few years I've used a Henry vacuum cleaner and have been very satisfied with it's performance. Since having Archie, I've noticed that Henry isn't picking up the dog hairs very well so he's gone in to retirement. In his place we've bought a Dyson Animal which is designed to pick up pet hair better than an ordinary vacuum cleaner.

I haven't tried it yet so I can't say if it's worth it's hefty price tag or not, but the reviews I've read sound promising.

Of course, it's very tiring being a puppy. This is Archie after his afternoon walk, eyes dropping and ready for sleep.

Pins and Needles

You would be forgiven for thinking that the sight of these pins meant that I'd been doing some sewing. If truth be told, I'm not very good at sewing, though I wish I were. It's definitely something I'd like to learn to do better. Determined that Eleanor won't be as useless as me, we bought her a sewing machine for Christmas a couple of years ago. She was thrilled with it and messes about on it making some lovely things. I've asked if I can borrow it so that I can try and improve my own skills, if only a little bit.

No, the reason that the pins were out was to pick the seeds out of my pomegranate. It's years since I've eaten a pomegranate. I remember my grandma would often buy me one and I'd sit for hours picking every last seed out of it with a pin. It was just as delicious as I remember from all those years ago.

Another Scarf

I've finished the scarf I was knitting for my mum for Christmas. The photo doesn't really do it justice, it's a gorgeous blue, not quite the colour that the photo shows.

I remember that my mum was looking for a blue scarf last year but never found one she liked, so I hope she's happy with this.

I've now cast on a pair of socks. I need them now the colder weather's arrived.

Yummy Treats

Yesterday, Mick and I decided to go have a wander round Wetherby. Wetherby is a small market town about ten miles from where we live. I love it as it has lots of lovely little shops, nothing like the huge streets filled with department stores which you find in Leeds. There was the added bonus that there was an antique and collectors fair and also a craft fair in the Town Hall on Saturday so we had a look round those too.

Daniel and Eleanor stayed at home looking after Archie, so I thought we should treat them and all have a something yummy from The Market Place deli.

Mick chose chocolate and orange torte.

Daniel is a big fan of brownies so I chose a Boston brownie for him.

Eleanor loves cupcakes so it was a chocolate one which I chose for her.

I couldn't resist the fresh fruit meringue.

They all went down a treat.

Which one would you have chosen?

Out For Lunch

As it was half term last week, we decided to have a treat and have a meal out. Daniel and Eleanor love going to Frankie and Benny's so it was decided that we would go there.

It can be quite expensive eating out when there's four of you and you're all eating adult portions so we decided to eat early and order off the lunch menu. This is served until 5pm and is a set price, £5.95 for one course, £7.95 for two courses or £8.95 for three courses.

We're never disappointed with Frankie and Benny's. Although it's not a posh restaurant, the food is always good, always plentiful, and the service is always excellent. Daniel and Eleanor enjoyed it and it gave me a night off cooking which is always good.

The C Word

I know we're still in October but I've started thinking about Christmas, in fact I've done more than think about it, I've actually started buying some presents.

My love of Christmas stems back to my childhood when my parent's always made it happy and special. We had little routines and rituals which I've passed on to my children and the traditions continue.

I saw these Christmas cards on Amazon and just had to buy them. Doesn't it look like Archie waiting for Santa to arrive?

Scarfety Scarf

The Knotted Openwork Scarf which I was knitting for Eleanor is now finished and I'm really pleased with it. I first saw the pattern for it on a link on Little Cotton Rabbits blog and liked it so much that I decided to knit it. I had never used Rowan's Kidsilk Haze yarn before but I like it so much that I'm now knitting the same scarf for my mum for Christmas in Hurricane, which is a lovely blue colour.

Whilst reading Damn, Knit & Blast It blog I followed a link to Jannettes Rare Yarns where an unreleased shade of Kidsilk Haze, Daffodil, is being sold. I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by so I ended up buying a couple of balls. There's some other bargains on there so I'm sure my credit card will be out again before long.

A Walk In The Park

Daniel and Eleanor had an inset day on Friday, so Mick took a days annual leave and we spent a few hours at Golden Acre Park.

It's the first time that we have let Archie off the lead on a walk and he was really good, coming to us when called. We made sure that we were well in to the park before we took off his lead as we were unsure how he would react, but our worries were unfounded.

Daniel and Eleanor had a good time climbing trees, something I took for granted when I was a child as there was a wood at the bottom of our street, and we had so much more freedom then than kids do nowadays. Archie enjoyed playing in the leaves.

There are so many mushrooms and toadstools around just now that I couldn't resist taking photos of some of them.

The trees are now showing their autumn colours, and many are slowly losing their leaves.

We forgot to take anything with us to feed the ducks with, but Eleanor found some bread on the floor which she threw to a hungry crowd.

Golden Acre is one of our favourite parks as there are so many different walks around it, a nature reserve, some lovely planting and there's also a wonderful tea room. Well worth a visit if your in the area.

A Sunday Morning Walk

We had a lovely walk yesterday morning around the lake at Newmillerdam Country Park. It was a lovely day, sunny and still. There were plenty of birds around, including ducks which were swimming on the lake.

Archie came face to face with a duck for the first time. He didn't like the Canada Geese, especially the noises they made, but he didn't mind the ducks.

We came across a tree which had lots of ribbons tied to it. On closer inspection, the ribbons had names written on them. I assume this will have been an activity organised by a local Brownie pack or something similar. Perhaps each Brownie had to make a wish and tie the ribbon to the tree. It made the tree look pretty anyway.

Eleanor enjoyed walking in the woods and she came across quite a few different types of fungi. I couldn't tell you their names, but I'm sure they're not edible.

Even though Archie was so interested in everything going on around us, including lots of other dogs and puppies which passed us by, he sat like a good boy while we had a rest on a bench. Can you see the faces?

The next photos are views looking back from where we had walked. The trees are starting to show their autumn colours.

Newmillerdam is a lovely place for a walk. You can walk around the lake, which took us about an hour and a half, mind you, we were stopped so many times so that kids and adults alike could pet Archie, or if you want a longer walk, you can veer off in to the wood, or go further afield on the surrounding public rights of way. This was a lovely distraction from my housework.

More Socks

I've finished another pair of socks, these are for Daniel. I've used Rico sock yarn again and they fit really well.

I'm really enjoying knitting socks. I'm only using an easy sock pattern which is supplied with any sock wool bought from Get Knitted as I don't yet feel confident enough to move on to a harder pattern, but I think they're turning out well.

Yesterday, I treated myself to some new yarn. This is Regia Hand Dye Effect from Kaffe Fassett and I love the colour. I can't wait to see how it knits up.

At the moment I'm knitting a scarf for Eleanor using Rowan Kidsilk Haze, and the pattern is one where I'm having to pass one stitch over the following two, which is tricky as I'm using quite large needles and the yarn is so fine. I thought I would start another project so I could alternate the two, otherwise I will get fed up of the scarf. I'm going to knit some socks for myself using the Regia yarn which I bought yesterday.

Winter Hobby

During the summer months, I'm usually busy with my garden and allotment as you will see from my other blog, The Good Life, however, during the winter months I have more time to devote to another of my hobbies, genealogy.

I've now been researching my family tree for about four years and it's thrown up quite a few surprises, such as my great grandfather being born with a different surname to the one he took some years later, meaning that if he had kept his original surname, I would have also been born with a different surname. Some discoveries have been sad, one of my great great grandmothers gave birth to fifteen children, of which only four survived infancy.

In the early days of my research, I came across someone who was researching the same part of the tree. It turned out to be my mum's cousin's daughter. My mum had last seen her cousin at the age of fourteen, so, nearly sixty years later, we arranged for them to meet again and they're now in regular contact.

I've also been in touch with people who are very distant relations, but who have been able to provide valuable information to help with my own research, or who have very generously shared photos. I'm now in possession of photographs of my great great grandparents, Thomas and Charlotte who were born in 1851 and 1852.

I've researched all branches of my family tree, both on my mum's side of the family, and on my dad's. I've managed to get back to the 1700's in some instances, but I still haven't given up yet, there's a way to go.

The Finished Beret

Whilst I was on holiday, I picked up a copy of Let's Knit to read through. There was a free gift with the magazine of a pattern and yarn. The pattern was for either a beret or a beanie, but Eleanor preferred the beret so I decided to knit that. I had visions whilst knitting it of me running out of yarn as there wasn't much provided, but I managed to finish it with a little to spare.

The pattern was easy, and it was actually enjoyable taking a break from knitting socks to knit something else. The yarn is 100% acrylic, and even whilst knitting I could see it starting to fluff, so I don't think it will last long but Eleanor is pleased with it anyway. I might even knit it again in a different colour and with nicer yarn.

Singing Sensation

Eleanor has just received her certificate for the singing exam she took this year. This is her grade two exam and, just like her grade one, she was awarded a distinction, the highest grade. She had to sing three songs accompanied by a pianist and one song without accompaniment, as well as some theory work.

This year she entered the local music festival and came first in the under twelve soloist category. She was thrilled to bits to be awarded a trophy for the year which will bear her name against the year she held it. As you can see, it needs a polish already.

I don't know where she gets her singing voice from, it's certainly not me as I'm tone deaf.

Something For The Weekend

I thought we all deserved a bit of a treat at the weekend so I spent part of Friday while the kids were at school and Mick was at work baking these.

The recipe came from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, a book which I can thoroughly recommend. It contains recipes for lots of yummy sweet treats including cupcakes, muffins, pies, cakes etc.

They were delicious, especially the chocolate frosting.