Taking a little break

I've been knitting all day, the weather was awful first thing so we didn't rush to get up.  A luxury of tea in bed with our books,  we then decided to have a brunch of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon washed down with a couple of bucks fizz,  it felt quite naughty.

My plan is to have Laurie's Ten Stitch blanket finished by the end of 2013...... running out of time... I am on the final round but getting stiff hands today, hence the break right now.

Things are quiet here after having the little boys for the weekend, they certainly keep us on our toes now. Luckily the weather was good, cold but dry so we were able to get outside for a while.  Rufus is into pirate ships and Fireman Sam.  Pops built him what turned out to be a ship one end and a fire engine the other according to Rufus

the slide improvises as a firemans pole

Off on a treasure hunt

Treasure

wearing boots 3 sizes too big for him!!

Eating the loot

I took so many photographs this weekend that its impossible to show or decide which to include, so you will have to make do with these.

Right break over and off for a bit more knitting

A talented friend

For a number of years my friend Sue from Utah has sent me a table quilt at Christmas.  I thought it was about time I shared her great talent with you. These all get used seasonally and cheer up our table and side tables know end. I have seen many of her large pieces and I do wonder how she finds the time for everything she makes.

Stars in the Snow

Little Red School House

Framed Four Patch

Plaid Coins

Fall Colours

Amish Nine Patch

Twist & Shout

Feedsack Flower Garden

Walk don't Run

Christmas

Antique Four Patch

I hope you agree that Sue does some beautiful work (and she knits too) and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her, here, publically for thinking of me each year - Thank you dear friend xx

2013 is nearly done....

...time to reflect on the past year.

As regular readers will know, there are several things that loom large in Granny's World;  our wonderful grandsons, knitting and gardening. The garden seems to take a bit of a back seat these days, but will always be there even if its not a well tended as it should be. To see our garden through the year check out "Our Garden" page.

Our summer garden

Another love is to travel, and we were very fortunate this year to spend some time with two lovely ladies and their husbands. You can read about our travels this year and our trip to the USA on my "We love to travel" page or here, here and here.  We are hoping to be able to welcome them all to the UK in 2014.

Joan's view 

Then on to our family, the grandsons continue to delight us, it is wonderful to watch them grow and this year Laurie has turned from a baby into a boisterous toddler!!  The words are starting to tumble from him and he continuously makes us laugh.  Rufus, a much more sensitive child, continues to grow into an amazingly intelligent little boy (can you tell I am very biased), he has a great memory and continuously surprises us.  I am fortunate to see them every 2 weeks or more if possible and they stay here often much to the delight of Pops, their number one fan.

In June we learnt that we were to be grandparents again in 2014. This time our youngest daughter Rachel and her partner Stuart are having a baby in February or early March at the latest, to say we are excited would be an understatement as this one will live just up the road rather than a 45 minute drive away.

In April we said goodbye to my Uncle Ken - my father's elder brother.  My parents and in-laws are still with us, if not always in the best of health, we continue to enjoy their company.

Knitting as always, is a huge part of my life.  Something I do most days!  I belong to several knitting/craft groups and have made some very talented friends, we knit for charity and our families and to see some of my work check out my "Knitting Projects" page, I do try to keep it updated.  I join in several blog related 'show and tells' - Tami Amis (for WIP Wednesday & FO Friday), Yarn Along (for WIP's on a Wednesday and Ginny also writes an amazing blog about her ever expanding family and their life, great photographs), Frontier Dreams (for crafting on Tuesday).

Blogging and the internet in general, some would say a waste of time, and whilst I still have an old school mobile phone thus resisting the urge to be online all day, I do spend valuable time interacting online.  To be honest I have made so many new friends it can't be considered a waste and it also allows me to keep up with friends much easier than any letter could do.  I do however miss that long awaited letter dropping on the mat. I have pages on Facebook one for me and one for the blog - Granny's World, be sure to stop by and LIKE the page, leave a comment, I love to know what you think.  The blog continues to attract a few comments, more I find on a Wednesday or Friday, but as I write this just for me I guess it doesn't matter.  A wave to all the blog followers, whether via email, Bloglovin , Facebook or Ravelry- as I said please leave a comment.

So here we are at the end of 2013, Peter and I still working, keeping in reasonable health, and enjoy a comfortable life together. We have so much to be thankful for, especially our family who continue to want to spend time with us and for that we are truly grateful.

I hope that your 2013 has been memorable and that your 2014 will be one to remember.

How was yours?

Christmas that is.  We had a good one. Little ones make it so much more fun, especially when they get so excited and understand what it is all about now.  As usual they had far too many presents, and it was a case of what to play with next.

We are finally on our own (for a short while) after a house full.  I'm catching up online and hubby is napping, full of ham, eggs and chips (fries).  I only cook chips once maybe twice a year as I can't stand the smell so it is always a treat.

Here is our Christmas in photos - trying to get a photo of the Christmas eve PJ's, we went through these ......

.........to finally get this, not the best but at least they weren't fighting or picking noses!

Then Christmas Day

The Gator went down well.....

Let me drive!!

Boxing Day walk with Rachel and Stu

The little boys will be back tomorrow afternoon for the weekend, chance to get out on the Gator again, think that Rufus may have a fight on his hands to get into the driving seat!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you haven't had to go back to work too soon.  We are off til 2 Jan, so plenty of time for eating up those leftovers and walking them off too.