That vest.......

I cast off last night. This would have been done sooner but I got into a flurry of jam making.  I do love to make jams.  Do you have a favourite?  I like any of the stoned fruits, they set so quickly and no need to add anything other than fruit and sugar.

The first batch was greengage, these had been lurking in the freezer, already prepped so it was a case of just chucking them in the pan.

The second batch was 6lbs of Pershore plums which I got from an elderly lady in Bluntisham.  She has had a fruit stall out the front of her house for years, she must be in her 90's.  Picks the fruit herself she tells us.

My family will make short work of this little lot. Mind you there are blackberries ready to pick so who knows maybe a batch of blackberry and apple this week too.

............and finally here is Laurie's sweater vest.  Pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I had to pull out the neckband as I fluffed the V, but happier with it now. I really hope he likes it and is how he saw it in his head.  I'll keep you posted, as I will be seeing him next Saturday.

......next up on the needles is a vest for Ru.  He currently just wants one similar to this, I'll probably make a few changes just so his looks a bit different, but keeping the same colours.  I've made some progress on my scarf/shawl and hoping that as the weather has cooled down no end I can get back to the ten stitch blanket.  So as you can see I've plenty to keep me going.

Sunday.....

Started with a lay-in, the first in a long while that didn't involve tissues and meds or grandchildren.  Cup of tea, book and a bowl of porridge, bliss.

I then decided as it was real foggy first thing that I would make some jam.  We were running low on Ru's favourite, blackberry and apple or Granny Jam as he calls it.  Plenty of apples and loads of blackberries in the freezer. This lot should keep him going for a while.

Next we decided to bring down a doll's house we have had in storage for some time.  Let me tell you about the dolls house.  Made some 56 years ago by my late father in law for my sister in law Sara, she went on to have 3 boys so the house was passed on to our girls.  We painted it and decorated the rooms, added carpet and cork tiles and new furniture, the girls had lots of fun with it.  It's been stored in the rafters of the stables since and now we have Miss J it was time to bring it down again.

The furniture is very 80's and to be honest could do with updating, so I plan to refurb it, but I think Miss J will have some fun with it

A good brisk walk after lunch. Out for dinner, then on to the Arts Theatre for an evening with Clare Teal. Sounds like a perfect day.  I hope you have had a good weekend

WIP'S.......

Somehow I seem to have 3 WIP's on the go.  Not like me at all, usual just 2 and even then I'm not that happy unless the 2nd one is maybe a blanket/throw.

So what do we have?

Miss J is going to a wedding on the 17th and her mummy decided she needed a little cardigan to go with her new dress.  Luckily this won't take long and I had some yarn in my stash.  The pattern is Sirdar 1848 and I am using Sirdar Cotton Kapok DK.

Next up is for me, it's from this month's Simply Knitting.  I am changing it slightly, as in not putting in the ridge pattern, apart from the top 2.

Then a Bunny Blanket Bunny, for a friend's daughter, she's requested yellow with a purple flower and bigger than the ones I did for Miss J.  Using yarn from stash.  Her sister wants a Jessica Rabbit.

This afternoon I made cherry jam, it took me 90 mins to pitt them.  Then .............

we picked a load more...... I had said I would do them this evening but I've changed my mind.  Job for tomorrow, and there are still loads and loads more, it seems a shame to leave them. The birds seem happy with the other tree, they are so sour but they seem to like them.

Family - more from the weekend

It has been a busy weekend, - the meetup on Saturday, a visit to my parents on Friday, a long walk, blackberry picking/jam making yesterday.  I'm sure I go to work just for a rest, lets hope the boss never reads this!

Friday - Rachel and I took Jess to visit her great grandparents, we had a lovely day, and Jess was pure entertainment, dishing out lots of smiles and charming them both. I shall be very glad when the improvements to the A11 are finished as it took us over 2 hours to get home and Miss J was a very unhappy little girl for the stationary portion of the journey.  Normal journey time is around 1 hour 10mins.

on the train with great-grandad

Girls - 4 generations

Sunday - we decided to take ourselves off for a walk and pick some blackberries.  There are so many about this year, and as we are completely out of blackberry jam - Ru's favourite - I needed to restock.

we picked just under 6lbs

 We had a lovely walk, picked some wild hops, saw some wild bees, and just enjoyed the sunshine, a pub lunch and one anothers company

Chicken of the woods

Hawthorn

Bell vine

wild bees - bottom of the opening

Scampi, chips and mushy peas

hops

have man why carry - see his hands are still free

"water sausages" - according to Rufus

Granny jam - blackberry and apple

All in all it was a great weekend, no plans for this weekend coming. I'm sure there will be plenty to do, there always is. Lots of garden jobs. The weather is supposed to stay warm, though currently its pouring with rain.

Oh before I forget, here's a bit of knitting I've not shared

a basic beanie I forget to show you finished

Aviatrix hat - love this have another on the go now

a spare bunny for Miss J as its a firm favourite
and nothing worse than losing a favourite, especially at bedtime!

Making use of a wet afternoon

Today we have had storms - rain, thunder, lightning, flooding (luckily not us, though it turns out several friends weren't so lucky).  What to do on a wet afternoon?

Peter brought home a bag of greengages yesterday so I decided to make a spot of jam, there were only 2lbs but it made 4 jars.

I had also picked a whole mess of runner beans, funnily I'm actually tired of them already, so I turned another 2lbs into some spiced pickled beans - Delia's recipe, always good.  I would have made more but didn't have enough vinegar.

The weather has calmed down for now, and looks ok for tomorrow but Sunday we have the threat of Hurricane Bertha's remnants, so we are making contingency plans for a meetup which has been planned for weeks with friends at Burghley Park.

I hope you keep dry this weekend and have fun with whatever you are doing