Once upon a gloomy week....

I've not got much to say or share this week. It's been a bit all over place in our house. I started the week off feeling very unwell so wasn't in the mood to do much of anything apart from the important weekly chores. My dad's been on night shift this week which is always exhausting for him & means very early morning for all of us and my OH had a pretty bad week in terms of pain.

The weather has not been on our side and so instead of our usual walk we went walking through our little town and the cameras stayed at home. I managed to take one photo with my phone. It's not a very good one but it does a good job of showing you just how gloomy it was! 

Here is another photo. This photo was taken during our walk down to the bus stop on our usual volunteering day. Another gloomy day. It's also gotten very cold again and I find I am really craving the sun!

Another mobile phone photo but I wanted to include it because it's the only time I've managed to get a picture of Soetie doing this. She is obsessed with running water! In the early morning when I come down to fill the kettle, she runs down with me and jumps in the sink. She then waits for me to put the tap on so it drips and she can catch the drops. If I let it trickle, she sits and watches it. Cats are such strange but extremely intriguing animals!

We went shopping on Friday for our big monthly shop. I got distracted briefly by these cute & funny looking toys! I can't help myself! I have a thing for cute cuddly toys but it's even worse when they have a sticker that says try me...I just have to press it! After all the hard work was done, my dad treated us to lunch. 

We've definitely eaten well this week! There have been the occasional very yummy treats (cinnamon swirls, cheesy pretzels, cheese sticks & the most amazing tasting cinnamon bun) but we've also eaten a lot of salads. When you've not got much time to cook, a salad is the easiest thing to throw together. We often have it with some chicken which I usually throw in one of those oven bags and add plenty of spices! The highlight of the week though was definitely my dad's roast dinner last night! Just what we all needed!

The cats have been their usual naughty selves! Lots of sleeping, lots of snuggling up to yarn, lots of playing and a fair bit of hanging on curtains! Thankfully those curtains are only temporary until we find the right ones for our lounge.

I thought I'd include this photo of what half of my yarn stash currently looks like! Embarrassing! See those bags with hearts on them? Those are two extra large bags full of yarn. Some of it is for some new projects and the rest is scraps leftover. Some of it hasn't even made it's way into any bag and some of it is still upstairs in the office! I really need to organise myself!

Now then, I've decided that because this week has been lacking in everything (crochet, colourfulness, cheeriness, good photography) and because you were still kind enough to come and visit me here on my little blog, I am going to set myself some goals!

• Complete the rainbow scrappy ripple (sewing in ends & doing a border)! ← This one is very important!
• Tidy & sort out yarn stash!
• Complete rainbow runner! (This one is currently giving me headaches but I shall persevere!
• Catch up with granny square CAL (Found here for anyone wanting to join in).
• Complete a mandala! (If you want to try this out you can find an awesome tutorial here)
• Read 2 books! (This includes my current read!).
• And lastly, bake something! (It's been far too long since I did that!).

Ok, so those are my goals for the week ahead! Let's see if I can stick to them!

Oh & something to add at the end....I have a new found respect for the elderly and the way they are able to use walkers/zimmer frames! I was curious and tried one out a few days ago and wow, it's seriously not easy!  You have to be able to lift the thing that is supposed to be giving you support and the ones with wheels in the front are even worse!

Ok, that's it for this week. I hope your week was better/more productive than mine and I wish you all the best for the week ahead! Hope to meet you back here next Sunday, hopefully with a more exciting post! ☺

Crochet, holidays & plenty of nature!

We've had such a strange few days. It's been busy & fun but also slow compared to most weeks! I got to speak to my mom on Sunday (it was her birthday) which was awesome! The last time we spoke was my birthday. The weather has been all over the place but we made the most of it. My dad was on leave, my fiancé's dad was visiting & went home last night and today it's straight back to normal routine! I've not quite caught up, my brain is feeling very muddled at the moment!

I've got so many photos to show you so I'm apologising in advance because this could end up being a long post but hopefully the colourfulness will make it all worth it! 

I finally finished the cat nest! Yay! I'm not sure if I'll ever make one again. The yarn I used was Patons Fab Big and the colour is Poppy. I used about 2.5 balls. Munchkin is the only cat that can get inside it & thankfully she loves it. The rest are a bit too big but that didn't stop Moe from trying! I got carried away buying the super chunky yarn, thinking I'd be making many of them but luckily it won't go to waste because I can use it to make a rug. As I mentioned last week, I am planning on making this mandala rug by A Creative Being. I think it's gorgeous!

At the moment I'm trying out her Mandala pattern but I'm not doing a very good job of it! I think I need a lot more practice crocheting in the round...especially the seamless circle. 

First it won't lie flat...so does that mean my tension is too lose or too tight?

And then the next problem...I end up with a gap in the one spot! The place where the faux stitch is...? 

If anyone has any tips I'd be very grateful! ☺

And now, onto some scrappy rainbow ripple news! 

My scrappy ripple is coming along nicely! All that's left is to sew in the ends & do the border. I tried to take some photos of it today but Moe had other plans! Every time I laid it out on the window sill he leapt on there and started pulling it, burrowing under it and eventually knocking it off the window sill completely! He just loves crocheted blankets & yarn! He is forever jumping into my yarn bag! Such a funny little boy & I love him to bits ♥

I did manage to get one photo without him...maybe that's because it was all crumpled up! The scrappy ripple is about single bed size or at least will be once I do the border. This is all Stylecraft yarn, some possibly discontinued because a lot of it was bought in 2008! I'll try to list all the colours when it's finished! It's the best way to use up scraps!

Another way to use up scraps is to make granny squares! I am still participating in this granny CAL. I've not done the squares for week 3 yet but hopefully I'll get round to it this week. My plan is to use up all my old stash so I can stock up on each colour again!

That doesn't stop me from buying more yarn for projects though! I had another yarn delivery this week...it was thoroughly inspected by the quality control team. It's all Stylecraft Special DK except for the lovely Patons Fab DK Purple. While watching movies late on Thursday night, I suddenly had a few ideas pop in my head and that resulted in a late night shopping spree at my favourite online store...Wool Warehouse! It was all delivered on Saturday! So super duper fast !☺

I had a few other deliveries this week!

My new crochet hook arrived. It's a 15mm hook so it's pretty big and will be used for rug making. I tried to get a more colourful hook but that was the only one I could find! If you know where I can get a colourful one please let me know! ☺

I also bought this awesome crochet book to add to my ever growing collection! It's a very compact little book but it's full of so many wonderful patterns/ideas & loads of inspiration!

On Tuesday, while everyone was out of the house, I managed to squeeze in some tidying & cleaning! 

I had some help from Moe (he's into everything) and a lot of moaning from Tabby! Shortly after the cleaning was done, Moe & Vinnie decided to have a play-fight which meant the floor didn't stay clean for long. They certainly keep us entertained & busy! Socks did her bit, she helped me with dinner & Bella just lazed around! They now have a green play-mat in the lounge. It stops the carpet from getting too dirty.

I made spaghetti bolognese for dinner (my fiancé's favourite). It was the only time I had to cook all week. My wonderful dad made dinner nearly every night! I love his cooking ♥ 

On Wednesday & Thursday we went walking. My dad came walking with us for the first time ever on Thursday. That brought a very big smile to my face! It had been raining both days but we were really lucky because it stopped shortly after we left the house. The farmer had all his sheep out so we got to see all the cute little black lambs & the parents. There were also a few mallard ducks near the edge of the river which my dad spotted. They have such beautiful colouring.

The river has come up a bit over the past week thanks to the recent rainfall. By Thursday, the rocks in the above photos were no longer visible.

The sand was also almost all covered up. It's also looking a bit more alive now that everything is coming back to life. I love the peaceful sound of the river. I find it very relaxing & that's why I love these walks so much. It's great for stress relief. 

It's amazing how many different shapes, colours, & sizes of leaves you can find. My fiancé's dad & I found these on our walk. They are so colourful.

Isn't it lovely to see so much green? Our walks are so refreshing and the air is so fresh. We spend a lot of time chatting & I spend a fair bit of my time taking photos. I just can't help myself. There is always something that catches my eye!

Look at all those beautiful colours! It makes me smile! There are more flowers popping up now and many other things! I'm still waiting on the wild garlic though! ☺ After our last walk of the week, we went home & had a very healthy lunch. Plenty of salad & fruit! Our plates looked nearly as colourful as the above photos!

On Friday we went on a trip to the dentist for our 6 month checkup....not my favourite place but the drive there is amazing. We get to look at these incredible views the whole way. This is the Brecon Beacons or at least some of it...like a very small part of it. 

On our way home, after the dreaded "D", we stopped at a roadside cafe for some lunch. This little roadside cafe makes the best bacon rolls! The weather was lovely so we sat at the benches to eat. It was a rather enjoyable day.

On Saturday, the sun really did make an appearance. There wasn't a rain cloud in sight. I decided to let poor old Tabby out for a wonder. He is very much an outdoor cat but for his own safety we keep him in more often. I love photographing him because he's such a gorgeous cat and such a poser!

Socks came out for a kick nibble of grass and a bit of fresh air. In her younger years she used to be very active. We used to throw tiny stones for her and she'd jump up and catch them or run after them but she's slowed down a lot more. She'd rather sleep in the sun and occasionally have a mad half hour.

It's amazing what you can find in your own back garden! Thanks to that wonderful sunshine, I got a chance to use my macro lens. I hadn't even realised that we had these beautiful blue flowers in our garden. Are they bluebells? I'm clueless with flowers. I just love the colours ♥

I found a tiny cracked blue egg in the grass. We feed a lot of birds so I'm not sure what bird it's from...any ideas? I think it may have fallen out of a nest, poor thing.

I adore these tiny blue flowers! They are so beautiful! 

Ok, that was my week! I hope I kept your interest until the end! I did promise that it would be colourful. We have a busy week ahead of us so I doubt that next weeks post will have too much in it so better make the most of it!

Best wishes to you all for the week ahead! Thanks again for reading my little blog. Take care x

Happy Birthday Mom! ♥ Lots Of Crochet & other things

Today is my mom's birthday so before I do anything else, I just want to wish her a very big........ 

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

Sadly, we aren't able to spend the day together but I'm hoping that one day we will see each other again so I can spoil her rotten! Thanks to awesome apps like Whatsapp I know I can at least chat to her all day and if I'm lucky I might be able to chat to her today!

 I'm hoping that she still has an awesome day no matter how far apart we are. 

She is an incredible woman who has been through so much in her life and taught me how to be strong and keep on fighting no matter how tough things get.

I love and miss her everyday. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Ok, so I promise I do have some crochet to share with you this week! I'm really sorry that last week was a bit boring. I couldn't help it. I love the sunshine, animals and nature. It all just makes me so happy!

But firstly, I thought I'd share some photos that I forgot to share last week! This is Vinnie playing with an empty box of Rice Crispies. He's the biggest cat in the house and will try to fit into anything of the box or container variety. As you can see he is a bit too big for the box and ended up splitting it open down the side! This is the same cat I showed you that squashed himself into a small container!

This is his brother Moe/Mosely/Moses! Usually just Moe! He has developed an obsession with going into the backroom of our house. They aren't allowed in there because of all the breakables so he waits by the door until you need to go in there. You then have to pick him up and carry him around the room! It's his daily outing, it makes him happy, he purrs alot! He likes the colour pink! He especially likes to sleep on his fluffy pink blanky!

Ok, so crochet time!!! I hate giving up/quitting/being defeated by anything so I decided to undo the whole cat nest! I finally figured out where I've been going wrong...I've been ending rows in a different place. I could see that from the seam it was leaving but didn't realise at the time. So 4th attempt! It's going ok but not quite finished yet.

I'm still participating in the Granny CAL over at Knot Your Nana's Crochet but I'm a little behind which is a bit embarrassing considering you only have to do 3 squares a week! See, I'm a bit of a procrastinator and that takes up a lot of my time.

I did a fair bit of crochet this week though. I managed to fit it in around all the procrastination. The lounge briefly looked like a yarn bomb had hit it! My things were everywhere which the OH wasn't overjoyed about because every time he sat down he was attacked by a giant ball of yarn!

 I worked on the almost finished ripple. I know, I know! I keep saying it's almost finished but it's not finished. I promise though, it's close! Only 4 rows left and then it's time to weave in all those ends!

And, I also started a rainbow runner to go above the old fireplace because it looks so grey and boring. I thought it'd be simple seeing as it's just rows of single crochet but it took me the whole afternoon to figure it out. The side I was starting the row on was shorter than where it ended! So I went with doing 2 rows of each colour and using a different method when changing colours. It's Stylecraft Special DK yarn again because that's pretty much the only yarn I use/have ever used. Does anyone know if there is another way to flatten/block acrylic items rather than the steam from iron method? I don't own an iron but I know this little crochet project is going to need some blocking.

Mandala Rug by A Creative Being

Did you see this rug posted on A Creative Being? It's gorgeous and I plan to make one. I have so much super chunky yarn that I was going to make more cat nests with but now I'm thinking I can make some great rugs! 

I did a bit of baking this week which included our regular loaf of bread and also some Biscotti. I've always wanted to make Biscotti so I tried out the recipe I've got. It was ok but I'm hoping the second attempt will be better. The men certainly enjoyed it though!

We also tried something different this week. Bulgur wheat! Very tasty & definitely something we'll have again!

I'm so proud of my fiance. Even through the pain he is still keeping up with his walking schedule. The walking stick did join us but only briefly for the uphill. He walked a little further this week and soon we are hoping to get past those wooden steps you can see.

I did a fair bit of Cappuccino (lactofree) drinking this week and obviously lots of reading! It was like a reward for all the hard work from cleaning & tidying, getting ready for our visitor! I'm currently reading Find You in the Dark by A. Meredith Walters  which is turning out to be a very intense read! 

On Thursday, my fiance's father arrived! It's lovely to have him visiting again and it's a nice break for him! He brought a little surprise with him....you see that painting up there? He painted it! He's very talented. I'll have to show off some of his work next week. We are all currently enjoying the a bit of a break from regular life. My dad is on leave so we get to spend the week with both dads! I just hope this rain clears up soon!

We went for our second walk on Friday after the men had spent the afternoon doing the grocery shopping. It was a very relaxed walk and most enjoyable. We spent most of it admiring nature. It's so nice to see everything coming back to life.

Even the Daffodil's made an appearance! I wait for them every year. They grow wild everywhere in Wales which makes sense because they are the national flower. Hopefully soon we'll be seeing some wild garlic and  bluebells!

My dad didn't join us for our walk but he was there to meet us at the gate when we returned! Despite the slightly wet weather, it was still a beautiful day!

So, that was my week! Another busy one, just the way I like it! 

Recently, I found that I wasn't really enjoying blogging any more. It's not easy knowing what to write and what photos to include. I worry that it's not appealing to others even though I know that I mainly started this blog for me. I'm a worrier and I'm a perfectionist! It's daunting when I think about all the processing involved with photography & sometimes it takes me forever just to sort the photos out. The collages aren't easy either but after finding Picasa I'm finally excited abut blogging again! Yay! I can use my usual software for processing & then Picasa does everything else for me! It's awesome! I'm a happy bunny and I've been having a great time playing with it all weekend! I just wanted to share that with you!

So, hope you all have a wonderful week! Take care and see you next Sunday! x

Has Spring finally sprung?

There hasn't been a lot of crochet going on this week. Well, nothing worth showing anyway. I am participating or at least trying/hoping to participate in A Granny Square CAL over at  Knot Your Nana's Crochet. The ripple is still going and I'm still avoiding the cat bed! My dad's shift changed so our routine got thrown off for a few days. It's been a busy week full of early mornings, lots of reading and a fair bit of exercise!

I'm sorry I don't have a lot to share with you this week but we've been too busy enjoying the sunshine! Yes, the sun finally decided to grace us with it's presence so we decided to do some walking!

I decided to take my big camera along for it's first outing down by the river on Tuesday, only to find that the batteries were flat and I hadn't even remembered to bring the little camera with as a backup! I ended up taking a few photos with my phone.

Luckily the weather was still pretty good on Wednesday. I made sure my batteries were fully charged and then off we went for another beautiful walk!

I managed to squeeze in a lot of photography time! Everything is still looking pretty dead but I did find a few spots of green here and there. 

It feels like Spring has finally made an appearance! It's still bitterly cold but the sun is shining, there are less muddy patches and the weather has been decent enough so I'm not complaining.

Can you see the icicles? It's so cold near the river that the whole wall is covered in them. Beautiful!

And the ducks! Aren't they cute? I nearly missed them because I was so busy admiring the beautiful icicles!

Blue skies, fresh air, nature and the sound of the river! It all puts a huge smile on my face!

I am looking forward to doing this twice a week. We had to get the go ahead from the physiotherapist and as long as my fiance doesn't overdo it he'll be ok (just short walks though, nothing too strenuous) and it'll be good for his aches and pains. It should help stretch the muscles a bit. He's suffering a bit this weekend but we're hoping that eventually we'll see an improvement. Fingers crossed!

Now then, I'd like you to meet Monty the Meerkat! We found him in our local charity shop and decided to adopt him. He has become Vinnie's new friend/pet/chewing toy! Moe is not a fan of Monty...I think it's because it looks so much like him!

Our weekend has been a slow and quiet one. On Saturday, for the first time ever and after a busy week filled with very early mornings, we all spent the day reading and relaxing! Tonight we will be watching the MotoGP! Yes, it's a very lazy weekend in our happy home!

I hope that you've all had a lovely week. I will try to have more crochet things to show next week but sometimes when life gets busy, crochet takes a backseat! My dad's on leave for a week from Thursday, we have a visitor (my fiance's dad) arriving on Thursday so we'll be busy getting the house ready and obviously there'll be plenty of walking and reading! Busy times ahead! Take care and hope your week will be an enjoyable one! x

EDIT: The cat nest defeated me! It's become a cat basket...I couldn't face having to undo it a third time. Enough is enough!
Or not! I did it in the end!