2016 - a mixed bag year

Here we are, 29th December and only 2 days left of this year.

As I look through my year there have been lots of good along with the sad. I didn't blog as often as previous years but here are some of the highlights:-

I was 60!. The birth of young Angus (Gus) in May.  A trip to Chelsea. Three good holidays - you may remember New York, France (there are actually 4 posts on this), then of course Southwold .

I have accomplished loads of knitting, according to Ravelry I have completed 58 projects - you can check out most of my projects here. Awards for my bouquet - magazine and 1st prize

I have been getting to grips with my iphone camera and attended a workshop in March.  I have to admit to not using my big camera anywhere near as much, and to be honest I miss it, but the camera phone is always there, no fuss.

So many celebrity deaths, I guess the older we get the more likely that people we have grown up with leave us.  Fact of life, but sad nonetheless. I try not to dwell on the sad things in life, but they are always in the back of your mind.

We had a lovely christmas, I didn't take many photos, but here are a few

We are currently off work, and have been getting out and enjoying the frosty weather.  Here are a few snaps from our walks yesterday and today

So that was our year, I do wonder what 2017 has in store for us.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year from Granny's World - Sue xx

Christmas greetings

Sharing this years' trees and a note I shared on Facebook explaining the reason we aren't sending cards this year

Dear Friends,

I am writing to explain why I won’t be sending Christmas cards this year.

For some time now our mum has been displaying signs of memory loss. At first we put it down to the stress of my father being so ill, then to grief over his death last September. This past year has seen our mum go rapidly downhill and it became obvious that our father had been covering for her for a while. At the end of August she became very poorly and was unable to care for herself even with the help of my brother and sister in law who live close by.

The doctor suggested some respite care and a place was found locally to her. Whilst she had had several memory checks she had never been formally assessed, this was urgently put into place and in November we were told she was suffering from vascular dementia. As you can imagine this was a relief as well as a great sadness. Mum is now in the dementia unit of the care home and being taken care of by people more able to cater for her growing needs.

So this year, and possibly for the foreseeable future I plan to make a donation to the work of Alzheimers Research UK, whilst my donation is too late for mum, it may help someone else’s parent in the future.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas, love Sue and Peter

If you give to charity you might like to consider Alzheimers Research UK, this disease is growing fast especially as we living longer........

Walking the lunch off

Sunday roast.  We've not done that in an age, usually choosing to eat our main meal in the evening.

Rachel and the little ones came for the day whilst Stu was at a bike event, so we got in a leg of lamb in and had all the trimmings.  I wish you could have seen the plateful that Jess ate but she did it proud.  We followed that up with apple crumble and custard.  Once that was all demolished and cleared up we decided that a walk was in order. It was a beautiful afternoon, chilly and bright.

I never tire of these views, the sun was a glorious ball of fire.

I hope you enjoyed your Sunday as much as we did.  Now to put my feet up and finish off Jess' cardigan, just the front bands to do.  She is going to look so cute in it (she already tried it for me and it fits perfectly)

December is here already

Goodness this year is racing past.  Can you believe 2016 is nearly done?

How is the Christmas shopping going?  I am actually doing ok, managed to do some of it online or one of my elves has helped out. Still stuff to do, but not feeling under pressure.

The puddings are made, the cake is baked and being fed, so still need to marzipan and ice that.

I won't be sending cards this year, as I plan to make a donation to Dementia Research. Our mum has been diagnosed with vascular dementia and with all that entails (its been quite a stressful few months), I feel that my money will be better spent on helping people with this dreadful illness, too late for her but if it can help others then so be it.  I'm sure you will all understand. Life is very different for her and us and it takes some getting used too.

Knitting has helped take my mind off things for a while, someone asked if I was a human knitting machine the other day!! Ok, I do turn over a far amount of stuff but as they are mainly baby things they don't take long.

This is what I have made since I last blogged about it - ok that is quite a lot

We had the boys last weekend, which was fun, lots of activities in the garden and park -

Love this photo of my handsome husband xxx

so that was our November.......