Saturday Sunshine

charity shop books to add to my reading pile

making fairy potions

my little cactus is flowering again!

Hello. It's Sunday morning here, I hope you're having a nice weekend.
We had sunshine and blue skies here yesterday, so Spring-like. We spent
a couple of hours outside after lunch - a rare treat in early February. I did
a bit of hand sewing, finishing another motif in my sampler. It was so good
to work in strong, clear natural light. I get by on grey days by sitting next
to the window and under a lamp in the evenings, but nothing beats good
old Mr. Sunlight. I hope we'll have more of him in the coming days and
weeks.

The girls played while I sewed, their games peppered with squabbles as
per usual. Then they had the brilliant idea to make what they call 'fairy
potions'. Lulu had made it last Friday with her woodland club at school and
was keen to show her sister how this magical concoction is made.
So, basic ingredients: leaves, tiny sprigs of rosemary or whatever herbs
are available, an acorn if there's any, plus glitter. Empty snail shells are
 optional. Put them all in an empty jam jar, add water and a bit of mud
(muddy wellies are a good source), stir with a stick, put the lid on the jar and
ta-dah! the potion is made. It's like a muddy, weird slow globe when
you shake it. You can pour a bit of it in your garden and the fairies will
come visit your house at night. We haven't tried this yet but I've been
assured that it works.

I'll leave you with that for now. I hope we'll have sunshine again today.
We're planning to go for a walk somewhere nice this afternoon. Whatever you
have planned for today I hope you have a good day, too. Happy Sunday!

Raindrops on Roses - January

I enjoyed reading Jo's post last week about her favourite things. It made me think
of the things I liked and enjoyed best throughout January and I thought I'd share
some of them here with you.

My morning walks. I wouldn't have considered walking on cold, grey January
mornings as particularly enjoyable a year ago but as I've mentioned in my previous
post, it's a great way to start the day, I get some exercise, and it's been a brilliant
tonic for the post-holiday winter blues.

Our walk around Chatsworth last week

Aside from my weekday morning walks, I've also enjoyed being outdoors

with the girls on weekends. We've been exploring the woods near our house,

finding something new and different every weekend. Lately we've seen green shoots
starting to show through the frosty ground. In the coming weeks and months
we'll get to see Spring unfold in and around the woods on these weekend walks.
I'm particularly looking forward to crocuses and daffodils blooming. There might
even be bluebells down there, that would be fantastic.

Crumpets. I used to love crumpets then I went off them for awhile but now
I'm loving them again. I toast them and use lots (and lots!) of salted butter. With
a cup of tea, they're perfectly yum!

Daffodils.  I like this time when you can buy bunches of daffs in supermarkets.
They are bright and cheery and I love the burst of colour they bring especially to dark
winter days. They also remind me of Springtime and that it's just around the corner-
what a happy thought.

Hot chocolate Filipino style. Traditional hot chocolate in the Philippines is made
from native cacao and comes in tablets which are melted in hot milk. A friend gave
me two packs of these chocolate tablets for Christmas and I've been making myself
hot chocolate drinks with them. It is very thick and it is to be spooned, rather than
drunk, from a cup. I have found that they are excellent for dunking strips of toasted
chocolate brioche. But making it, the melting and stirring, takes awhile and can
be a faff, so it's even more of a treat when I have them.

Stitching. I've written about this  here - this is a slow, relaxing and
enjoyable project. I love seeing the motifs take shape with the colours
I've chosen and how it's all coming together. Fingers crossed it will turn
out real nice.

Radio plays. The dramas and stories I've been listening to on Radio 4 are
fantastic - from The Story of a Name and Little Women to The Bird Tribunal
and the biography of Thomas Telford. I'm also now avidly listening to other
programmes like the comedy and quiz shows. I'm often laughing but also
learning at the same time, and also moved by the human stories. It's been
a very good discovery, Radio 4.


So those were some of my favourite last month - I now wonder what February
has in store for me!

I'm hoping to spend time visiting blogs this weekend so see you soon!
I'm leaving you with more photos of the fog.  These were from last Monday
morning walk. Enjoy!

Foggy and Frosty

I am joining in with Amy's  Five on Friday link up today and my five are photos

from our walk in Graves Park near the girls' school this morning. I try to go for a

brisk walk on weekday mornings, for about half an hour, usually in this park or
in the woods near our house. It started off as a way to get more exercise but it's now
an important and enjoyable part of my day. I look forward to it every morning.
It's the fresh air and being outdoors, it's also a calming time, a space for me to think
or just clear my head and I feel happier and better for it. This week I've been out
there every morning, in the weak winter sunshine, in the drizzle and rain,
and today, with my husband, in the fog and freezing temperature.

It was a good, bracing walk, a really great pick-me-up on such a very cold and
grey day. It took us through the woods, up the path to the playground and down
along the frozen pond. I always find fog a bit eerie but there's also a stillness
and peacefulness to the gloom that I've come to like and appreciate, thanks to
wintry morning walks like this one today. We went home cold and a bit tired
but glad we made the effort. The rest of our day had been pleasant, restful
and warm and I'm hoping for more of the same this weekend.


So that's my five this Friday. I hope you're all keeping cosy this evening.
If it's nice and sunny where you are, enjoy!

Winter Stitching

Hello, how are you? I hope you're well and enjoying a bit of winter sunshine today.
It is sunny here this morning and it's actually not that cold which is a nice change
from the frosty and icy weather we've had this week. Anyway, today I'd like to
share with you my cross stitch project. I am making a spring-themed sampler
with motifs drawn from three different cross stitch books, most  of them from
Jo Verso's Cross Stitch Year.

This is a bit of a stitching adventure for me, actually. I've put together these
motifs to create my own little design which is new for me and I am also using linen
for the first time. I'm not sure how this will turn out, it might be a disaster,
but I am really enjoying myself and I am getting more and more used to working
on linen, so it's all good, so far.

The whole inspiration for this is Jo Verso's wonderful book, a Christmas present
from my parents in law. It's full of fun motifs and it encourages you to pick
your favourites and make your own design.  It's been a long awhile since I've done
any stitching or embroidery - I crochet a lot more these days especially in the
colder months - and this has been an inspiring way to get back to it and challenge
myself a bit too.

It is happily bringing back the simple joys of working with fabric, needle
and thread. Even in the gloomy daylight of January, I always still have a pleasant time
when I can sit down and do a bit of my cross stitch, especially when my radio
programmes are on and there's cake and a cup of tea next to me.

Hopefully all the motifs and colours I've chosen will come together nicely and
it will be finished and ready when Spring time comes around.

It's still sunny and bright at the moment so I'd better make the most of it and work
on this while I have the time. Thanks for stopping by here and for your comments
on my previous posts. Take care and have a warm, happy Wednesday!

Weekend Things

These are some of my favourite moments from last weekend. We didn't do anything
exciting or unusual, just the usual weekend things - chores, errands, homework. A walk
on Saturday afternoon and church on Sunday morning. I got a lot of things done but
I also had time to read my book, enjoy a cup of tea, listen to the radio. It was really nice.

There's a dramatization of the second of the Neopolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
on Radio 4 and I listened to the first episode on Sunday. I've recently discovered
radio plays and I now find myself tuning in more and more often to Radio 4 instead of
Radio 2 especially now there's also the new Little Women serial on weekday mornings.
Sorry, Ken Bruce.

I'm cross stitching on linen for the first time. It is slow going; I'm still getting
used to working every stitch over two threads. Sometimes I miss the clear blocks
of aida fabric but I like how the stitches look so far and it is starting to get easier.
I'll keep going and show you more of it next time.

I hope you've all had a good start to the week.  Thank you for all your comments
on my crocheted buggy blanket. I'm glad you like it. I wasn't too sure about the
colours when I first started the project. I did a lot of toing and froing over stripes
and colour combinations but in the end just picked out the ones I liked from the
whole range. They seem to work together - phew! And thank you Christina
for the pom pom idea. I'll try it next time!

Crocheted Buggy Blanket

This is the baby blanket I was working on over the holidays. I didn't manage to
finish it before Christmas as I was hoping to but I think I knew that when I started.
There were just so many things going on in the run up to Christmas and crochet time
was a bit limited. It's now going to be a very, very late Christmas present for our
friends' baby boy. Still, better late than never.

The blanket measures about 22in x 24inches, just the right size I hope for when
he's in his car seat or buggy. It's worked in suzette stitch which is currently my
favourite crochet stitch and all the yarn I used is Drops Muskat (DK). I was going
to finish it off with pom poms on all the corners but it turned out that mercerized
cotton yarn is not great for creating lovely, fluffy pom poms. I had to give up after
a few tries. So it's just a simple, no frills sort of blanket but fingers crossed it feels
nice and cosy and it will help keep baby warm especially this winter.

Speaking of which, I hope you haven't been badly affected by the snow and wintry
weather we're currently having. Stay safe, warm and cosy. Have a good weekend everyone!

City Break

We had three fantastic days in London just after Christmas. It was the girls' first ever
trip to the big city so we were very excited. We packed in so much in our three days.
We did a lot of sightseeing, revisited favourite places and old haunts from when
we lived and worked there, and met up with family and old friends we haven't
seen for years.

One of our first stops was Covent Garden and the the church in Maiden Lane

 where we got married seven years ago. It was really lovely to be able to take

the girls there. We went in and had a look around. It's only a short walk away

from the noise and crowd in the main market but it's always quiet and peaceful

inside. I'm really glad we took them there.

The Cutty Sark on a foggy morning

We went to a few art galleries with them but we kept those gallery visits short and sweet
and that was perfect for everyone. Lulu said that was her most favourite of the whole
trip, seeing all those paintings. Maybe there's a bit of a culture vulture in her,
who knows, but that was very pleasing to hear.

Sunset at the Mall

We stayed in Greenwich and it was very convenient and easy to explore
the city from there. The girls loved the Tube and were very amazed with the DLR
(a driver-less train?!?). On our second morning we were going to go on the River
Bus wanting to get to Westminster and Big Ben but heavy fog scuppered our plans.

We had our boat ride the next morning. It was very frosty but bright and clear and
we had a wonderful view of the city's landmarks as the boat sailed up the Thames.
I'd suggest this to anyone visiting London. You can board from any stops along
the river and you can use your Oyster card to pay. It's also a comfortable ride and
an exciting way to see the city. Highly recommended.

For all our sightseeing and socialising we managed to squeeze in a bit of shopping

as well. We took the girls to Hamley's to spend their pocket money. I was shocked at

how overpriced so many of the toys were; it was just ridiculous. Luckily we managed

to steer the girls from much of those items and they made very sensible purchases -

Lego Friends, a jewellery box kit, a small Trolls doll and a board game. I don't think

there will be a repeat visit there. Anyway, my husband went to his favourite Italian deli

in Soho and stocked up on anchovies, etc. - those are his sort of treats. Mine was

Liberty's. I only had a little time and spent it looking around the haberdashery floor.

Oh, those beautiful fabrics! I was quite content to just browse, but I did buy

a few small things for myself.

We've really enjoyed our little city break over the Holidays. We loved being tourists

with the girls. They were interested and curious and were very good with walking and

getting out and about. We were also lucky with the weather ( it was cold but dry

the whole time) and the dreaded city parking and motorway traffic were not too bad.

I really hope we can do this again this year. Over Christmas again, hopefully. That

would be very, very nice.