Verb: pootle
poo-t(u)l To move in a leisurely unhurried way,
with no real purpose


Friday 26 September 2014

I ♥ Autumn ...

Autumn is my most favourite, favourite time of year.
  Spring comes in very close behind but if I had to pick out of the two it would definitely be Autumn. 
I think what I love about both seasons is the all enveloping feeling of what is to come,
with Autumn it has to be that Christmas is peeking its head out from round the corner
 and with Spring its the promise of Summer still to come.
 
But right now I am just drinking in all the loveliness of the beginnings of Autumn.
I love everything about it...
 
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.... the paint chart of every possible shade and tone of earthy natural colour,
 
 
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... the harvesting of fruit, chutney making and apple crumbles,
 
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... the carpet of crunchy leaves underfoot
 and that completely unmistakable smell  of Autumn in the air.
 
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I even love the drawing in of the days,
the feeling of hunkering down indoors and hibernating for a bit.
And then there's socks !
So many cosy socks to choose from ... they have to be the absolute ultimate in
snugglyness.
 
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It'll be a while before we have the first fire of the season but as soon
 as it's lit I shall be there with my cup of tea, battling for a place on
 the hearth rug in amongst Lilou, Otto and Itsy.

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Just to get myself in to the Autumn mood I spent a lovely hour or so a couple of weeks
ago putting together a Pinterest Autumn board.
And as is always the way one thing led to another, that little seed was sown in my head and I knew that I just had to set about making an Autumn garland for our fireplace.
 

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As lovely as something natural would be I wanted to have a go at crocheting something.
 

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One thing I was certain about was there needed to be acorns !
Lots and lots of acorns.

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Wool was chosen,
Ravelry was scoured
and plans and patterns slowly came together.
 

The pile of leaves and acorns got bigger and
little bunches of acorns and leaves grew,
 
 
a long chain of crochet made the perfect branch

 


and with a little tweaking ...
 

 
and stitching ...

 


 
... a garland happened !
 

 
  Happy Autumn Everyone   
 
 
 
 
 
I'm just finishing off a post that gives all the details of how I made my
garland and I shall try and get it posted by next weekend.




Sunday 21 September 2014

It's been a good weekend ...

 
Friday afternoon ...
 

 
Saturday morning ...
 
 
Later Saturday morning ...
 

Saturday afternoon ...
 

 
Sunday morning ...

 
 
 
Sunday afternoon ...
( just a little peek )


... crochet, crochet and more crochet...
nuff said !
 
And now I'm all ready for this ...
 

 


Monday 15 September 2014

A bit of a hoedown ...

There were lots of preparation afoot this weekend for a Fund Raising Barn Dance
 we were holding in our village. 
Over the past few months we have been raising money for a War Memorial that will be 
placed next to the Church to commemorate the 11 village men who lost their lives in 
both Wars and the Barn Dance was our final push to reach our target.

One of my jobs was to sort out some table arrangements and jam jars filled with a 
handful of flowers seemed to be just right for the occasion.


A little bit of spotty ribbon was all that was needed to adorn the jars and then it was 
off to the fields to see what the hedgerows could offer.


 I found Hawthorn sprigs covered in beautiful red berries, several different types of grasses
 and some other greenery that I am unable to name !


Obviously I didn't have a lucky find with the Carnations, they were purchased as a 
cheap and cheerful back up.


Flowers done and armed with bunting and tablecloths I was ready to go.

Fortunately barns aren't too hard to find round our way, and our neighbour 
kindly offered his up for the evening.
 After a couple of hours and with lots
 of willing hands tables were put up, 


 flags, bunting and fairy lights were hung


and the bar was stocked.


A few evening photo's were taken before it all got a little messy


but safe to say a grand time was had by all !


There was an awful lot of promenading and dosey do-ing of partners,
lots of clapping and cheering


and the hog roast and apple sauce in homemade rolls went down an absolute treat.
Much fun was had by all.

And then Sunday was quiet, 
veeerrryyyy, veeerrrryyy quiet.
After a bit of a clear up all that remained of the night before were a few jars of flowers
 on various kitchen window sills around the village and a few sore heads.


The sum total of my activities for the rest of the day was to put together 
a basket of Autumny loveliness for a little idea that is buzzing around in my head


and to make an acorn - as you do. 



 By 8:30pm Lilou looked exactly how I felt ...


 pretty much in need of another weekend to get over this weekend.

I hope you all had just as much fun 
doing whatever you were doing.



Monday 8 September 2014

It's done !


It's done !
Immi's Uni blanket is completely finished and ready just in time for the
 big off in a couple of weeks.
 
It's been a slow burner this one - quite possibly because getting it finished meant Immi
was nearer to leaving home, but as I absolutely wanted her to have
 it in time for the
start of term the deadline had to be met.
 

 
Immi chose the colour with the only other
specifications being that it needed
to be big enough for snuggling and
very, very soft.
I used Sylecraft Alpaca DK
in the colour Storm.
 
 
There's been a few minor obstacles along the way with Itsy loving how soft
 it was and then the arrival of Otto with all his mischievous puppiness.
 
 
It's even been on holiday in the caravan with us a couple of times.
 
 
But slowly, slowly it grew and soon came the fun bit of adding the border.
For this I chose Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo in a white / cream.
This gave the blanket a lovely little lift of brightness.
 
 
Once I had finished the main body of the blanket I worked all the way around the
edge in DC for 2 rows.
For the third row I worked 2 DC into one stitch, skipped a stitch, worked 2 DC
into one stitch and so on all the way round.
The fourth row was worked in the same pattern but in cream and the fifth row
was worked in the same pattern again but back in the grey.
( I have written up the pattern for this blanket in full and added it to my sidebar. )
 
 
I was so pleased with the effect it gave as it almost looks like I have threaded
cream ribbon around the edge of the blanket.
As I wanted a bit more of an impact with the cream colour I worked a final row of a bobble edging, so easy to do, and I absolutely love the feeling of fun it has brought to the finished blanket.
 
 

There was just one last thing needed ...
 
 
... a little 3D cream heart.
 
 
And there it is ...
I love it and Immi loves it.

 

 
 
 
Let the snuggling begin.
 
Its been lovely to see a few other Uni blankets hot off the hook in Blogland this week,
if you get a minute pop over to Flowerhouse to see the beautiful patchwork blanket that Jane has made, and to Lazy Days to see Mitzi's wonderfully colourful creation.
 
 
Blanket done and with a head full of thoughts of how time passes so swiftly
and how quickly we seem to have come to this stage of all our little chicks flying the nest
a late Summer walk was the perfect therapy.

 
 
The gate at the bottom of our garden is looking quite hidden in the hedge these days,
 


 the field beyond has had its final cut of the year,
 I can't describe how sweet the hay smelt that morning,
 there's really no smell quite like it,
 



 
and the hedgerows are a foragers paradise.


 
The season is changing,
life moves on and change is always there around the corner.
As much as I want my girls to stay at home for ever
the world is out there waiting for them.
 
And one thing they all know,
without a shadow of a doubt,
is that home is where the heart is..