Up to Date

My intention was to update this blog every Sunday but sadly that has not happened. However if my calculations with my diary are correct, I now have the equivalent of a post per week from about January this year. See how long it lasts!

Here is a picture from the bag - lovely kit this - nice and easy to do whilst in good company without too any errors:-)

Ok back to it and watching more of the Commonwealth Games.

Cooking with Kids

Today has been a really busy and hectic one at my mum and dad's. I spent the day with my lovely nephew and niece. Firstly we started off with some Maths homework - my nephew teaching me how to do division so that I could help him with fractions, decimals and percentages!

Next it was off to the kitchen on a hot day to make cup cakes and cookies. The cookies were a challenge as the dough looked more like cake mix with the heat.

After lunch we rolled out the dough - in a fashion and made numerous animal cookies. Then on to decorating the cup cakes as sheep with marshmallows and making some flowers from yet more marshmallows. Then finally adding features to the animals with writing icing. Our efforts were well rewarded, even if we did set fire to greaseproof paper in an electric oven and cover ALL the kitchen in a thin layer of icing sugar, with delicious sheep, ducks, rabbits, fish and more! (I can highly recommend cooking in someone else's kitchen!!!! :-) )

Next it was on to loom band bracelets - my niece a very patient teacher taught me, Grandma and uncle (yes uncle) how to make fish tail and inverted fish tail bracelets - and it would seem that uncle is the best pupil - well he did have more training!

So a day of learning for lots of us! We have more cooking planned in the near future - chocolate brownies and jacket potato mice.

And now for something completely different

So I have been found out I guess - not much progress on any knitting or sewing projects - that will be down to a hectic week which included managing to double book myself. I have been seeing friends, doing lots of Guide things and supporting a very worthy charity event in aid of Breast Cancer.
Finally did some relaxing this weekend with some lovely friends who came to stay and brought me some beautiful plants, one of which is pictured above.

I have no idea what the plant is - and neither did the lady who brought it, relying on one friend who reads this blog to tell me as she is a very keen gardener! The plants are grown by a very talented neighbour of my friend - she is well known in her local area for her plants and sales, and whenever I visit my friend we go round and browse the garden, discuss my garden and then I am recommended some plants to buy - all very reasonably priced.

Hubby suggested taking pictures of the plants with the macro setting on my camera and I have thought about the 'rule of thirds' when photographing this - I think I should have two versions of this photograph for some photography friends - the one above and a cropped one with the flowers in the centre Also tried to get one of the plants with a bee in it for my wildlife photographer friend but it flew off :-(

Hoping to get these plants and more into the garden this week and make progress on the knitting/sewing - a quieter week - no Guides but filled with at least two craft nights - although that is card making and I tend not to put that on here, but maybe we'll see

Well this seems like a lengthy post so I will go now and try and find something to do - hubby is watching the GP ad I feel at a loose end! No idea why as there is PLENTY to do.

Nearly there

Today has been a good day on the housework and card-making front and having a friend round this evening for dinner. Less good on the needlework front, but fortunately I did make good progress with Mr. Fox last night. Realised that I have forgotten to record the hours spent on him after the first two or three - an excuse to do one of his pals perhaps???? Yes????

Easy as ABC

Here is the tote bag that I started about 3 or 4 weeks ago. It really is quite simple - the most difficult bit so far was sorting out the threads. Interesting that these colours are quite 'dull' if that is the right word for them, but I love them together yet this week I have been in a little trouble for commenting that I found colours in a card making challenge dingy - oops. Maybe it is because |I have so many lovely colours to choose from in my card supplies (hopefully that might have made some amends!!!!! :-) ).

Little bit spoilt for choice what to cross-stitch at the moment but it has been said in previous post comments and to me in person that I ought to finish something. Ok, ok, I have not had someone to keep me in check recently and I have come to a standstill with the knitting and Nile. And somehow sewing up slippers is not appealing, but I know I must get back to these things. Plus I was quite proud to have finished a project per month but that lasted until, what, March? Sigh.

Paws

Here is the progress so far with the fox cub. It is quite a small count and has half stitches so has taken some concentration to get this far. Should get easier though as I get to the body.
Off back to the needlework once I have posted this - no need to watch the TV every second now that Wimbledon has finished :-(

How cute is this?

A few weeks ago the needlework shop where I go to stitch and chat twice a month had a reorganisation and moved everything around, such that now the needlework kits are in the adjoining tea shop. This little fox cub is just one of a group of cute little cross stitch animals. For the past few get togethers I have sat at the table with these little pictures just a yard or so away and last night I weakened and bought the fox - well it seemed the right thing to do especially as one of the ladies pointed out that I had been admiring him for some time.

So here he is - in my home. I wouldn't say he has joined the stash as I have started work on him already - what joy :-) It might not look like it but he has half stitches - oh well, I'm sure he will be worth it.

Last night there was show and tell of a beautiful picture with foxes (yes more foxes) and sheep and birds done by one of the ladies. We did discuss how long it takes us to do cross-stitch pictures - scary we decided and perhaps we are best not knowing. But being curious, I decided to keep track of the time I spend on this one as it is small - only an hour so far although not much progress has been made, but that did include setting up.