Saturday garden

Our garden really is coming along this year. The borders are filling in nicely, though there are still gaps. Maybe a trip for plants in a few weeks for some autumn colour!! Eek can you believe that July is nearly done. Before we know it the C word will be on everyone’s lips and I don’t mean Covid, that one I'm truly sick of. 

I finished the little cardigan yesterday, very satisfying.  I’m making a matching hat to go with it

Dipping our toes back in the water - Last evening we walked into St Ives for drinks and a curry.  It felt sort of normal, though masks and distancing were still very much in evidence. It was good to go out anyway and the curry was great. 

Hope you are doing something good on this weekend 

All things woolly

What’s on the needles? With the hot weather things have slowed a bit on the knitting front but have found that with a fan placed at the right angle I can knit without getting overheated 

My Zick Zack cushion cover is coming along, I work on this in between projects. It’s satisfying to do, just that one row pattern repeat. 

A friend is expecting a baby girl in November and I’ve been asked if I can make her some knitted outfits.  This request is such a joy. Firstly because I love knitting baby clothes and secondly because it’s for a girl, such a wider range of patterns.  I spent an hour the other afternoon going through patterns and yarn and now have a goodly pile to knit from over the coming months.  They don’t take long, I cast on this Super Natural Stripe cardigan yesterday afternoon and am already working on the first sleeve. This is a great little pattern which I first knit years ago for Jess, she had quite a few in various colour ways and sizes. I also made it for Gus in navy twice.

This is a yarn treat for me. It’s a one off, not to be repeated, end of day dye session skein, Jemma uses all the leftover dye and makes a video of the resulting process.  The skeins are fun but this one really appealed to me so I decided to treat myself before anyone else did. I have no plans for it as yet, most possibly a shawl, cowl or socks 

What’s on your needles right now

Sun Glitter

 

I have completed yet another shawl. I really enjoy shawl knitting. I have lots. This one is the Sun Glitter shawl by Jem Arrowsmith- Under the Olive Tree Knits.  

This shawl comes in two options, stocking stitch or garter stitch panels. The stocking stitch has a garter border which I didn’t fancy and as I had plenty of yarn I decided to continue the eyelet lace for my border and do a picot cast off. I think it worked well. In fact I think it improves the pattern.  The yarn I used was from Touch Yarns New Zealand - it’s a merino with silk and possum - very soft and blocked beautifully.

So what is next on my needles? I have the Zick Zack cushion cover to finish, but I have a request from a friend who is expecting a baby girl in November. I’m super excited for her but also for me as I love knitting baby girl outfits. I think there will be a few. I already have a few patterns in mind. So watch this space over the coming months. 

Today looks like being another hot one. We are heading into Cambridge, Peter is doing a platelets donation and I have some errands and shopping to do.

Hello summer

At last we have summer. I’m not going to complain about the heat ….. 

this weekend we had our youngest daughter and the two youngest grandchildren to stay. We had a great time. It was wall to wall sunshine. The paddling pool was filled after school on Friday and they hardly spent anytime out of it. 

We went for easy food, ordering in pizza on Friday and we did a bbq on Saturday evening. 

Peter took Gus in for a haircut Saturday morning whilst us girls took a walk round the lakes then went for coffee in our new village coffee shop. We went to the park Sunday first thing before it got too hot, otherwise it was in the pool. There was a fair few water fights and my freshly cleaned windows took a good soaking! 

A nice chilled and relaxing weekend. Unlike their father who went climbing and camping in the Lake District!

Hope you enjoyed the sun too

Not sure where the days went

I just realised I’d not been present on the blog for nearly a week. No idea why, just busy with life. What have we been doing?

Walking, knitting, gardening and a big tidy up project.  I’m not ready to reveal pictures of the tidy up yet as it’s not quite done, hopefully later today.

The tidy up involved a space between the neighbours fence and our garage.  When we moved in nearly four years ago there was a small shed.  It listed to one side due a the floor being rotten.  We used it for about 18 months whilst working on the house as other storage spaces (garage and outside weird covered space) were overwhelmed.  Then came the day when we finally emptied it.  It sat there for a while.  Then we dismantled it.  It sat there for a while.  Are we going to put up a new shed? It sat there…… you get the picture.  

Well the recent departure of the beloved motorcycle had freed up a lot of garage space and stuff from the outside space has slowly been moving.  We have plans for the small outside space, but that’s for a future post. The decision was that we really didn’t need a new shed, but what we needed was a wood store to house the bags of wood that were residing there.  Fast forward to Tuesday lunchtime. We were sat having just finished lunch when Peter jumps up and says right help me move the dismantled shed out!

Armed with a rough drawing he proceeded to turn the useable parts of the old shed into a wood store. I was along to hold, carry, sort and tidy up, labouring at its best. Whilst he was busy creating said store I cleared the area of weeds, rocks and accumulated rubbish.

By the end of Wednesday the store was installed, remaining bits of shed cut and bagged for burning. By the end of yesterday our rainwater barrel was moved, my stock of unused plant pots rehoused from the other side of the garden and I had another small border to plant up. All that remains now is to run the overflow pipe from the barrel to the border and install some bags of pea gravel which we will buy today. There is also space for the BBQ to live once we have a cover for it. 

A job well done, even if it took longer than I would have liked. This man will not be rushed! 

Visit to Stamford

Which ever way I try Blogger is reversing my photos. I’ve started and deleted this post twice already, so here is our day in reverse!

We decided to take a trip back to Stamford today.  

We haven’t been for a visit since our family moved to France nearly four years ago, apart that is for a quick stop off to collect a rug and chair from one of their friends.

Friday is a good day for a visit as it’s market day.  You would find me, Rufus and then Laurie there every week.  Stocking up on vegetables, visiting the butcher and baker, getting goodies for the weekend.

Of course no visit to Stamford is complete without a walk through Burghley Park.  We reminisced the visits with the children, the film festivals and horse trials, the gardens of surprises.  I lovely place to visit 

Burghley House

A view of Stamford across the park, taking in a cricket match too

Nelsons Butchers - best pork pies and haslet 

Askers bakery - amazing bread and some very good Lardy cakes

Salvation Army guy, he is there collecting come rain or shine, all year round. I’ve been going to Stamford for the last 13 years and he’s always been there

Mad Turk - great Turkish food

Queuing traffic towards the George 

Burghley House side gate - we parked near here and walked the half mile in to town
 

It was good to go back for a visit, we were pleased to see a thriving town centre without too many empty shops, there were a few casualties but I suppose that’s to be expected in the current climate.  Lots of people about and shopping even if it was just from the market