Stunning

Incredibly elegant, she looked every bit the beautiful bride.  We are honoured to have William and Catherine as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

I made good use of the hour I spent watching TV, set up my ironing board and got it all done.......

The Royal Wedding

 
I suppose I can't let the day go by without a mention.  Are you sick of all the hype yet?  Must admit I am.

The TV and radio are currently off as I can't bear listening to it all.  However, don't think me miserable I will turn it on later and view the ceremony, maybe shed a little tear, I always cry at weddings. I'm more interested in what she is going to wear than anything else. 

I wonder if she realises just how her life will change?  I hope that the media give her some space and not hound her as they did Diana. 

I also want to give a metion to Camilla, this last few weeks and months must have been particularly hard for her with Diana rammed down our throats at every opportunity.  I hope she enjoys the day too, she's a much more suitable partner in life for Charles than the other ever was.

I will post my verdict on the day later - yours Lady Ethel Ginger Healey - whats your wedding name?

Garden Room - Plaster

More tomorrow

Thursday's Birthday Factoid

1982 - Rachel Anne Speechley came into the world at 5:15pm - our family was completed.

She is in very good company as in 1442 Edward IV of England was born -

Happy Birthday to you both

Good news factoid

Today we had some great news - my god daughter Chloe is expecting a baby in October - a first grandchild for our good friends Judy & Stephen. 

Congratulations Chloe & Liam

Garden Room - More plasterboard

Plasterboarding is all completed, they had a long day to get it finished.  All the beams means lots of angles to cut!!  Tomorrow they have the clear up and then start the plastering, they hope to have it done in two days but maybe not due to all the cutting in, sorry Steve, but it is a barn.  The room seems to look bigger every time we go in there

Garden Room - plasterboard

We have movement again on the Garden room - the plasterers are here, hurrah. This is what has been done today

Before

More photos tomorrow, so watch this space

Reaction buttons

MarmePurl posted a comment on my latest post regarding the desire for a LIKE button, no sooner said than done Joan.  So all you readers can now react to my posts. I would prefer a comment but a reaction is better than nothing (-:

If you have a spare moment check out Joan's blog and see her amazing farm - envious or what!!

Tuesday's Birthday Factoid

1980 - Rebecca Louise Speechley (Mrs Jones) entered the world at 7:50am, we became a family and our lives changed forever

Arbour delights

The arbour painting is all done, a tick on the list, in fact several ticks on the list today.  Its been another sunny day but not so hot so we managed to keep going all day.  The garden room is cleared and ready for the plasterer on Tuesday

Have you spotted Peter's new friend, that's him in the bottom left and top right of the collage.  We also discovered a hedgehog in the garden last night too, the cat was very confused and kept her distance. The blackbirds have their babies out on the lawn, they are so funny to watch.  The blue tits are back in the nesting box, so its a hive of activity.

We BBQ'd duck breasts and asparagus for dinner followed by baked bananas, rum and raisins with cornish ice cream, all washed down the a couple of glasses of rose; well we have worked hard all day so why not.

Mad dogs.....

and Me spend too much time in the sun, then feel dizzy when painting!!  Yep, sat pricking out seedlings on the lawn, as the greenhouse was too hot, I didn't have my hat on. By the time hubby got back with the paint I was feeling a bit strange, and by the time I had tried to concentrate on the painting I felt awful.  So the arbour remains unfinished.  We spent the afternoon sitting in the shade, which was actually very nice. By late afternoon the sun was off the bottom of the garden so we went and did a few jobs, cuttting around the fruit trees and watering the veg plot so we can get some more seeds in. The plan for tomorrow is to get out early and get the painting finished, then I can show you how nice it looks, well I think it does!

This weather is forecast for the rest of the Easter Weekend - 26C today!! Then turning a bit cooler on Tuesday when we go back to work which is fine. Whatever you are doing this weekend, stay safe in the sun  and wear your hat!!

A question for you retired people, do you ever know what day of the week it is?

What a good Friday....

As you may know Friday is my day off, so as today is a public holiday I had company.  We got lots done.

Peter and Rachel went cycle training first thing - they did 60miles!! I did some housework, put the wash on then went into Cambridge to pick up the car seat I had ordered for Rufus and an arbour for the garden.  I was just trying to get it out of the car when they got back, so that saved me the bother, as the nice assistant at B&Q had put it into the car for me.  The arbour came flat packed - what doesn't these days, I thought I'd be able to put it together myself, but when I saw it needed drills and the like I decided I'd just be in charge of handing over the screws!!  It took around 2.5 hours to put together, oops, but it does look good in the space where the phormium was. I 've moved some plants around and have started to paint the arbour with some Cuprinol Garden Shades in a seagrass colour - sort of pale green, that I had by me, I've run out of course so need another trip to the DIY store tomorrow! Typical.  I've decided it looks like a fairly decent space to knit on, plenty of elbow room.  Just need to put some nice cushions on it and maybe a small table for a cool drink.

Forgot to tell you I have finally finished my ten stitch in brown and my short row scarf, here are some pictures

I'm knitting some more baby items for the Baby Pack Project, quick and easy as I have nothing else on the cards at the moment.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to cross a few things off our lengthy To Do List......

Thursday's Factoid & Quote

1985 - Brazil's Ayrton Senna won the first of 41 Formula One races

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance

And today I am feeling very grumpy, stiff and tired, so apologies to anyone I come across in the course of today.  Normal service will be resumed shortly..... I hope

Medway Craft Group - 2011 Meeting Dates

Medway Craft Group

The Medway Centre, Huntingdon

Alternate Thursdays 2pm to 4:30pm

Anyone interested or engaging in any kind of traditional craft is welcome

£5 annual subscription, £2.50 per session to cover costs

For more details contact Mary on 01480 453219 or visit the Medway Craft Group on Facebook and Ravelry

Meeting dates for 2011

April 28th, May 12th, 26th

June 9th, 23rd, July 7th 21st

September 15th, 29th, October 13th, 27th

November 10th, 24th, December 8th

Interested? Then come along for a free taster session, a cup of tea and a chat, visitors always welcome

Wednesday's Factoid

1952 - Anne Speechley gave birth to her 1st child, a son Peter - Happy Birthday - love you xx

Tuesday's Factoid & Quote

1987 - The Simpsons made their first television appearance (Radio Two's Steve Wright just did this one)

When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on

The cheek of it

Looking for the cat's food!!! Nothing like coming in to help yourself

Guest Blogger: Audrey - its a hard life

Good evening all, yes its a hard life being a cat. I've found that the roof of Mum's car is the best place to be, warm, sunny and a perfect vantage point to admire her Wisteria. Its been a busy weekend trying to avoid the small person, especially now he is on the move more.  This weekend he bought a brightly coloured brick trolley to chase me with.  Let me tell you I kept out of the way, either down the garden or on Mum and Dad's bed. I hear that he is coming again in a couple of weeks, so I'll need to find somewhere to hide... any suggestions will be warmly welcomed. I really don't know how my half brother puts up with him!

Monday's Factoid & Quote

1949 - The Republic of Ireland Act came into force

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten

Weekend Round Up

Another busy weekend where we've done lots, but just for a change no gardening/decorating or anything particularly strenuous.  The afternoon Saturday was spent enjoying part of my Christmas present from Rachel, we had a trip to the theatre to see Agatha Christie's The Verdict, a very enjoyable production.  Shopping and lunch out to follow, we just didn't have time yesterday, so still something to look forward to.

Saturday evening was the annual joint birthday cocktails and dinner event - birthday's start this week with Peter on Wednesday, followed by Beck on 26th and Rachel on 28th.  We had an good evening, cocktails at Browns followed by a curry at the Curry Gardens in Regent Street. 

Rufus was left in charge of great grandma and uncle Pat, and the naughty boy was up watching TV with uncle Pat when we got home!!  He was soon whisked off to bed. He will be 10 months old tomorrow, certainly knows how to work the adults!

After our late night, Peter and I have spent a relaxing day in the garden, he reading and me knitting. Ten Stitch in brown is now finished - it finally took 2100 grams of charity shop yarn and measure 53 x 56 inches. I'm also well on the way with the short row scarf, not that I need it now but I like to get things finished off

Thought you might like to see these blossoms, I'm not sure that the Acer has flowered before, but its quite attractive.  We have been sat in cherry blossom snow today, you can just see it on the umbrella in the picture above.

Acer tree in flower

2 asparagus spears peeking through

Weekend Factoid & Quote

1889 - The birth of English film actor and director, Charlie (Sir Charles) Chaplin (16th)

Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech

Baby Pack Project

Yesterday we were discussing Baby Pack Project at our knitting group.  I have so many knitted baby items in house that I decided these should go to a useful cause, plus they were taking up valuable drawer space.  I have duly put together a large parcel of blankets, hats and cardigans. I love to knit baby clothes, they are so quick and any excuse to knit is always good. 

I have also joined the Baby Pack Project group on Ravelry too, so have a UK contact for my parcel.

Watch this space for further knitted items for this worthwhile project

Friday's Factoid & Quote

1984 - The death of Welsh comic and magician Tommy Cooper

How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on!

Thursday's Factoid & Quote

1981 - The Space Shuttle Columbia passed its first flight test

Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected

When I'm cleaning windows......

well I can't take credit for the outside that would be Ecopure. 

With this recent stretch of nice sunny weather I realised just how disgusting our windows were.  Living on a busy road really takes its toll and one thing that hubby and I hate is cleaning windows. So if I tell you that the front haven't been done for months and I mean months, and that some of the hard to reach back ones haven't been done for 18 months then you will know they were bad.  Anyway, back to the sun, yes it showed up how bad they were, so I grabbed the village magazine yesterday and hunted for a window cleaner advert.  The only one in there was fully booked and not taking on any new customers, so I hit the net. The first for our area was Ecopure and we were in their catchment area, I fired off an email and got a very quick response, followed by a call, an appointment was made for them to come and  quote today, quote accepted and 40 mins later I had clean windows.  The only alarming thing is that the windows are left wet, "won't they spot" I asked, apparently not, due to the pure water (check out their site for all the technical stuff - link above) they use.  Lo and behold I have spot free windows.  Whilst some of the back windows aren't perfect - considering how long its been since they were cleaned its a vast improvement, and apparently once they have been done a few times the impurity billed up will go and they will stay cleaner longer, or thats the gist of it.

So thank you guys, see you in 4 weeks. By the way, I was so ashamed of the inside after you had gone I went ahead and cleaned them ALL!!! 

Glass of wine to celebrate I think

Wednesday's Factoid & Quote

1997 - Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament

A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read

Tuesday's Factoid & Quote

1606 - The Union Jack was adopted as Great Britain's national flag

If we cannot live so as to be happy, let us at least live so as to deserve it

Monday's Factoid & Quote

1966 - Frank Sinatra recorded Strangers in the Night

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it

Weekend Round Up - oh my aching back

What a beautiful weekend, I hope it was warm and sunny where you were.  We have spent the weekend working in the garden and have achieved lots. 

Yesterday my status on Facebook was - aches from too much gardening, why do we carry on till it hurts?  These were the answers -

Kathleen - cuz that's who we are...

Denyse - Usually cos the days when we can get out there and stuck in are few and far between so we try to get ahead of nature!

Pauline - ‎'Cos the sooner it's all finished the longer you can enjoy the results?

Here are some pretties from the garden -

Apple and cherry blossoms

Emerging ferns - they fascinate me

I love spring time in the garden so many lovely colours

The vegetable garden has been dug, raised beds ready and some sown with seeds.  Seedlings potted on and herbs sown. Old plant saucers used for stepping stones.  The rain barrels installed on the garden room, ground for the steps have been dug out, remaining brick work has been painted - I won't post the photographs that Peter took of me as I'm wearing a cap, I don't do caps and frankly look a mess, yes I know I'd been gardening all day but I draw the line at how I look.

So its back to work for a rest!!

Look at me Granny

that's a bit more paint off

and again, can't seem to get it to go in a straight line

ummm this looks interesting

what else shall I get out?

let me up!

look Granny one hand!!!!

what's going on out there?

come on Penny lets see what's in here

now these will make a good mess

not keen on this green stuff guess I'll climb on Mum instead

sorry Mum, looks like I wiped my nose on your jeans!!

Weekend Factoid & Quote

1912 - The doomed ocean liner, RMS Titanic, left port in Southampton, England (10th April)

To escape criticism - do nothing, say nothing, be nothing

Friday's Factoid & Quote

1899 - Martha Place became the fist woman to be executed in an electric chair

An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything

Thursday's Factoid & Quote

1968 - Formula One racer Jim Clark was killed in an accident, in Germany

A man can stand a lot as long as he can stand himself

Glorious day

Today has been the best day of the year so far. 22C and sunny. I spent the afternoon in the garden, Peter got the grass cut when he got in so things are starting to look a bit tidier. The cherry blossom is out, and everywhere is coming to life. I need to carry on with the borders and get all the edges trimmed now the grass is cut. The forecast for the next few days is looking good so my afternoon will be taken care of.

Nothing is happening on the garden room as we are awaiting the plasterer, still it is giving us time to work outside. This weekend we need to continue digging out the area for the steps and get the rain barrels in place.

Wednesday's Factoid & Quote

1520 - The death of Raphael, influential Italian painter and architect

You only live once, but if you live right, once is enough - that makes you think doesn't it?

Tuesday's Factoid & Quote

1955 - Winston Churchill resigned as British Prime Minister

There are too many people, and too few human beings

A new week

After the excitement of last weeks' Knitting & Crochet Blog Week it feels a bit strange not to have a subject to blog about.  So I'll just have to wing it!

Did you have a lovely Mothers Day (UK) yesterday?  I did.  Two lovely cards with wonderful messages, books to read, a replacement Cordyline plant and a plaque for the door of the garden room, the words on which are perfect for what I plan to do with the room. Thank you girls. 

We spent the day doing jobs around the garden, went to the tip with a van load of garden/barn rubbish, one lady passing me for the fourth time on the stairs to the garden waste skip said "look at the lovely way we are spending Mothers Day". I actually didn't mind as the bags of rubbish had been driving me mad. We had afternoon tea at Rachel's which was lovely, tea from china tea cups, fresh scones and homemade jam. A perfect day.

Monday's Factoid & Quote

1994 - Riverdance was performed in public for the very first time

Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they're yours

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Day 7

 Your knitting and crochet time. - Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

 My sofa

 My side table with WIP, needle roll and boxes with all my bits and pieces

Current copies of knitting magazines, pen, scissors and coasters

See I need the space to spread out - me and my ten stitch blanket

I always have a cup of tea to hand, but rarely eat whilst knitting maybe the odd sweet if there is one around. I often have to share my sofa with our cat.  Things can get a bit fraught as the cat likes the middle of the sofa too. 

My knitting time depends on the time of the year, during the winter months then its most afternoons when I get home from work and have prepared dinner and done any jobs I've allocated myself (or not).  The TV is usually on in the evening but I can't really tell you whats on.  Over the summer months my knitting has to take a back seat to the garden but I can usually manage a few rows once it gets dark.  I am looking forward to having our garden room completed then I will be able to sit and view the garden whilst knitting away

Other places I knit are, the Medway Craft Group - we meet every other Thursday.  Also Stitched-Up a young offenders group which we run on a Monday afternoon, I teach the girls to knit.  They don't do too badly, providing they remember to bring their knitting with them!

I've really enjoyed Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, its been good fun.  I now need to get round to reading all the posts that everyone else has posted.  I would like to thank everyone who has visited and commented on my blog this week.  Thanks and I hope you will continue to visit from time to time

March Stashbust totals

My output this month

March tally:
1 WIP ongoing - Ten stitch in brown = 1050grams knit
1 WIP ongoing - Short Row scarf = 310yds
2 Projects Completed :
Hat 42.8yds
Cotton beanie - 50g

My downfall this month

TOTAL:
3,240yds - IN
352.8yds + 1100g OUT
Year to Date: TOTAL: 4,195yds - IN / 5,744.8yds + 1935g OUT

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Day 6

This is Day six challenge: 2nd April. Something to aspire to. Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make but can admire the result of those that have.

As mentioned in a previous post I want to tackle socks.  For those of you that do it, it seems an easy task.  I know lots of new knitters that can dash off a pair in double quick time.  But I seem to have mental block when it comes to socks.  Believe me I have tried.  I got good results on two needles, but who wants a seam in a pair of socks?  Whats the best way to tackle socks?  Is it cuff first, toe-up?  I have loads of sock yarns just waiting to be knitted, look how pretty some of them are!

The skill I really aspire to though is the lacy shawl.  Whilst as also previously mentioned I taught myself to simple lace knit this last year, I would never have the patience for some of the beautiful creations on Ravelry.  I am truly envious of some of the skill out there.  To be able to spend so much time and love on a project and not to put it down in a dark corner never to see the light of day is true dedication to the craft.  Maybe they can provide long stretches of daytime knitting rather than an odd couple of hours per night in front of the TV when you are tired. Who knows once I'm retired and have more time on my hands....... anything is possible.

Here is a sneak preview of tomorrows topic - looking forward to this its an easy one

Day seven: 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time.


Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

Weekend Factoids

1930 - Haile Selassie was proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia (2nd)

A grown-up is a child with layers on (I like that!)

I found another supplier calendar, so I bought it home as no one else wanted it

Rufus and me

 This lovely photograph of Rufus and me was taken 2 weeks ago. 

Today I have looked after Rufus while his mum went into work.  We had a great day, went shopping to the market, fed the ducks, went to the swings.  Only crying was when he managed to tip over one of his toys and bang his head on the wall!! I knew it was going too well.  No real damage, boys will be boys and you just can't stop him from climbing, only 9.5 months and he's all over the place.