Where were we...

Life is flying past. Busy, busy, busy. Baby E is 7 months, how did that happen? Little R is 2 and a half. I get so much pleasure from these two little people each and every day but they leave time for very little else, that's for sure! But oh my word, I love spending my days with them ♥♥ 

In the last few months we have redone the damp proofing in our house as the previous owners did a right botch job. This wasn't easy with (at the time) a 4 month old and a 2 year old. Not to bore anyone but this involved my husband and Daddy chipping plaster off walls, then the damp proof was done and then plaster put back on and then redecorating. At one point it looked like this...

I can't say it was easy doing this with two very small children (It was hell on earth! Dust everywhere and entertaining two little people from our bedroom and kitchen out of bounds!) but we want to sell next year and it needed done, timing wasn't perfect but hey. I'm so proud that we did it. We probably prematurely aged during that month but we did it! and survived to tell the tale. And one big bonus is that now everywhere is painted white - my new all time favourite wall colour.

Craft has been very slow but I have been working on a few things...

 A brooch for a friend

 A quilt for Baby E, similar to the one I made for Little R

I started work on this blanket but I don't think I'm sold on the colours. It's on hold for now...

Mainly I have been working on a new crochet blanket and I just finished it today (never mind that I started it late in May and it's only a giant granny square!). I guess this is a Ta-Dah moment!

 I made the cushions too!

I think I am a happy with this blanket. I had a crisis of confidence over the colours as usual and also wished I had done a different pattern rather than something so simple but I'm up against it time wise. So anyway it's done now and I can't wait to snuggle under it when it gets colder.

Oh and we potty trained Little R over the summer too. So very proud of him. So yep like I said busy, busy, busy. 

I am loving my maternity leave so much. I love spending my days with Little R and Baby E. They just make me so happy. Baby E is the happiest, smiliest baby. He giggles so much, usually at his older brother. He has the most intoxicating laugh. And Little R is a wee chatter box. We were at the fruit and veg shop the other day and he was wittering on about the names of fruit and a little old lady said that I wouldn't be lonely with him around and it's totally true, I love his chit chat and his company. I don't want my maternity leave to end, I would love to spend my days with them forever but in January I will be going back to work. I will probably be crying my eyes out again but for now I'm not thinking of that, I'm enjoying every second (well it's not all bliss, Little R is a toddler after all and babies aren't entirely easy!) with my little family. I know it's a total cliche but having children is probably the best thing I have ever done, I totally understand why some people say that now. I have a PhD, I have worked hard but it's my babies that bring me the most joy and contentment and I don't care if it's trite, it's true.

And finally :: After Baby E was born I discovered Instagram and while I'm not on Facebook and generally shun social media I really love and am fairly addicted to IG because for me it's like mini blogging, but without all the text and long photo editing. I love it for craft ideas and inspiration. I would love to be a more regular blogger but I can't see that happening any time soon as things are just too busy on the home front and I can't seem to blog quickly. I need to simplify the whole process, I take too long editing photos and making everything 'look right', this post is thrown together and none of the photos match in style, sorry. Anyway if you are an IGer, pop along and visit me there.

♥♥  Thanks for stopping by  ♥♥ 

Waiting....

Well it's the end of January and I'm here waiting on my new arrival... I've now gone overdue and as I went 11 days overdue with Little R I think I'm in this for the long haul. I'm trying not to crack up, to be patient and enjoy this calm time before the baby arrives but that's easier said than done! I'm going to attempt a quick blog post and just write about what we've been up to in January as it's been a busy enough month. 

The main even for us after christmas is Little R's birthday. This year Little R turned two. We had a little party low key party with some little ones the same age (two children of friends and his cousin of nearly the same age and his baby cousin - 8 adults and 4 children and 1 baby which was quite enough thank you!).  It was really lovely, tiring but lovely and Little R had great fun. His first bowl of jelly which went down a treat. And I made a birthday cake - victoria sponge with lemon curd, fresh cream and raspberries and a lemon cream cheese icing...

After a lot of searching online I decided to make a two to stand on the cake. I got the idea from here but had to tweak it slightly as I don't know if you can purchase almond bark in Northern Ireland so I used white chocolate. It took me 3 goes for it to work and as I wanted sprinkles on the back I decided to do the number two in 2 halves and then I stuck them together with more melted white chocolate. I was really super pleased with the result.

The main things Little R enjoyed was having his little friends to play with, using the Thomas the Tank Engine tablecloth (massive on his little toddler table but the little ones didn't care) and Thomas the Tank paper plates (train mad that child), blowing out the candles on his cake and of course getting presents (which helped the come down after Christmas!). 

It was a lovely affair but tiring for a 38week pregnant Mummy. Little R and I did this after everyone left...

 Much like the rest of the UK we had some snow but only a little. Little R was super excited especially after watching The Snowman on repeat over Christmas. So when it first snowed we went out for a chilly but thrilling walk...

I have also been busing myself with some crafting. My sister (who I didn't think liked crochet!) requested a crocheted blackberry cover and although I had a fair few projects on the go I couldn't refuse...

I've also been making some hearts as inspired by Attic24...

I have also been working on a blanket for the new arrival which I'll show you after the baby makes his/her debut!
I've been enjoying lots of flowers this month... my overwhelming love of tete a tete and hyacinths really began when i started onto this blogging malarky. I mean I always liked them but now I feel I just have to have them in my home in January to help the bareness after the Christams decorations have gone. And getting some bargains has really helped too... 30p for the last tub of hyacinths thanks to eagle-eyed D! 

The above hyacinth are now flowering and smelling lovely and we have lots of other bargain pots about the house but I am too tired to go on a photography expedition to capture their blooms sorry! And although it was D who found the bargains for me he can't stand the smell but he's very kindly putting up with it, the lovely chap that he is, being heavily pregnant might have something to do with him giving in to my whims!! I've also been doing a little baking to pass the time and Little R has been great at helping and eating...

The next event in January was my birthday and although people have said that your birthday goes out the window when children come, D has always been very good at celebrating my birthday and for that I feel truly lucky because I LOVE birthdays. I LOVE cake. I LOVE cards. A wee pressie is a nice bonus but I am a simpleton and don't require much (although I should admit I was totally and utterly spoilt with what D and Little R bought for me, you will see...). The day started off with all of us in bed having breakfast...

The next bit, of what is in that little package is really magical and special to me...

Some of you might recognise the beautiful little box, if not it's from the super duper, wonderfully talented and inspirational Emma from Silverpebble. My lovely other half had been planning this for months (after listening to me blether on for months, the poor man) and he ordered a commission from the wonderful Emma. Would you like to see...

It's a beautiful necklace inspired by nature and my little boy.  Underneath the main necklace is Little R's fingerprint. Honestly I don't think I have loved an object more in my whole, entire life. The craftsmanship is just amazing. And the fact that I can wear my little ones fingerprint fills my heart with such joy. I can barely bring myself to take it off when going to bed but I really don't want to break it, so I have to be sensible and I put it on my bedside table at night.

I just love it so much and am so delighted and humbled to think of my husband and this wonderful jewellery maker discussing their ideas for this necklace, just for me. 

I have worn it everyday since and honestly I will never tire of it. I am a very lucky and happy Mummy and Wife. D has already got something planned to add to the necklace when the new baby comes and I am so excited by this. And it didn't end there, D also made a rather splendid birthday cake for me - a rather delicious and moreish ginger cake. Little R, getting the hang of birthdays rightly, helped me to blow out the candles...

Very red cheeks on my little one... seriously can we have the eye teeth now before the baby comes... Little R has been tortured with these teeth for too long and I just want them to come... now please!!! I was also treated to a new Cath Kidston mug, the latest country living magazine (a new addiction of mine) and some beautiful cards. My lovely friend Dr T has a stamp fetish and she sent me a set of Alphabet Stamps in the post from Australia. The day ended on a high!

So now I am waiting. I'd like to be able to say patiently but that just wouldn't be true. I am positive that I am doing my poor husbands head in with my moaning but I can tell you that he is being extremely patient, at least someone is!! To be fair I have been knocked for six this week due to a pitiful head cold which has just zapped any remaining energy that I had. I am happy to report feeling a bit better today and more settled and less jittery wondering when the baby is going to come. I am going through a rollercoaster of emotions, excitement and anxiety and nervousness and joy. Mainly my concerns are for Little R and how he is going to react. He has been the centre of my universe for 2 years now and I have loved it all, I just don't want to upset him and I hope that he will love his new little baby sister or brother. I read a wonderful thing online when I was anxiously searching to see what other people felt like before their second baby arrived and one lady wrote the most wonderful thing that I am always going to remember...

♥♥ "Love doesn't divide, it multiplies" ♥♥

Thank you for reading. Thank you to new followers, I'm tickled pink that you want to stop by. And also a BIG thank you to Hazel at Cupcakery. Hazel very kindly nominated me for the Liebester award and I am truly grateful and chuffed to bits. But sadly I don't think I'm going to get the time to pass this on and do a post on this... it has taken me a lifetime to do this post and time is just not on my side these days. So thank you Hazel for your kindness.

Over and out xx

New Baby & House Warming Ta-Dahs

So I finally finished a couple of projects and delivered them to their special recipients today. Remember ageeees ago I was chatting about picking yarn and going on and on about picking colours? Well my friend finally had her baby and I finally finished the blanket. I worked the blanket up in gender neutral colours since I didn't know the baby's sex and I decided that when I found out I would do a border in a gender specific colour. Well a little boy arrived, Baby E and this gave me the poke that I needed to finish the blanket. Oh I never used to be a last minute person, when I was at school I used to do my homework on Friday night so that I didn't have that Sunday night dread but now I seem to work best under pressure and leave things to the last minute. Very, very bold! Anyway I only really had a couple of stripes left to do so I guess it could have been worse (my new mantra in life! Oh dear). 

It's actually supposed to be a vertical stripe blanket but I forgot this when I was taking photos! I did the starting chain too long... hope it doesn't really matter!

My friend had just moved into a new house a few weeks before the baby was born so I wanted to make them I little house warming gift. I thought it best to do something small since I wanted to visit them soon after the baby was born and if I picked a larger project well sure I'd still be doing it well into 2013!! So I came across these little crochet jar covers on the internet...

I think they are so lovely, I don't mean my handy work I just mean they are so effective. They make the coldest evening seem so cosy, although I do suspect there is colder to come (please no snow in January!). The link to the very clever lady who made them and her tutorial can be found here. They are super easy to do and now I really want my own and I feel I should make some as christmas gifts for some craft friends but we shall see if time permits.

I like how they look with the baby blanket. I hope my friends and their new baby will be snug as bugs in rugs this winter!

I just love candlelight and yarny creations... 

Ooh and another thing I've been up to.....

 Well for years D didn't like coffee so if we ever went out for coffee or tea he would have a diet coke and while that's perfectly fine, there is something really nice about sharing coffee together.. maybe that's just me. Well anyway since the birth of my Little R, D has felt the need for some extra stimulation each day and as his teeth can no longer stick Coke he has persevered with coffee. At first it was sickly sweet mochaccinos and the like, then a gradual conversion to lattes. I really dislike milky coffees, I find them really sickly but I really wanted to perfect a homemade latte for D. I found this video on youtube for how to make frothy milk. I have been really intrigued by the coffees made by Attic24 as they always have a little embellishment on them.. a star or a heart and I really wanted to do this too. I found coffee stencils online but at £5 a pop I figured I could do a homemade one myself from a milk bottle. And today I finally made the perfect homemade latte for D...

It got a 9.5 score (I told you how my family like to give me marks out of 10!). So I was chuffed to bits. It really makes me smile, just going that extra little mile for my beloved. A little thank you for all the extra work he's putting in at the minute now the third trimester tiredness has kicked in! 

And finally we are getting super excited about Christmas. Today D taught Little R the  start of Jingle Bells... not the whole song but just "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells" which I think is pretty cool for a little 22 month old to learn in about a minute. Oh we are in for a lot of fun this year. And I just noticed that there is a new animation this year... 'The Snowman and the Snowdog' which is going to premiere on Channel 4 this Christmas Eve. I am doing all I can to contain the excitement!!

Thanks for reading xx

*~*~* Japanese Flower Scarf: Ta-Dah *~*~*

Hello there and thanks for stopping by, you super, lovely lot. I know I'm probably a bit late to jump on the bandwagon with this, I'm a bit late to the party, the ship has probably sailed and left me waving on the dock but if you can overlook this, I'd love you to stay and have a look at my latest accomplishment, ta-dah if you will.
~~~
I've had this post drafted with the photos uploaded and the text started for weeks now and yet something stopped me sharing (I also have a posted drafted about our week off in July!). I think I am just a weird individual. I couldn't really feel the love for posting about this and yet I love the finished article (see I am weird). I've even had a chance to use it this week when I came down with a rotten cold and sore throat and went into work as I felt I needed to show my face and had some jobs to tidy up. I did this on Monday and Tuesday and felt dreadful and left after a couple of hours, thankfully by Wednesday (today) I came to my senses and stayed at home. Anyway the point of that story is that my throat was sore and needed protected so I wrapped my scarf around me and hobbled into work (haha, a tad dramatic there I think). Anyway I saw a couple of patients and one told me they loved my scarf and I loved telling them that I had made it, just one of the many thrills of wearing something you have made yourself. Another friend in work said she really should learn to crochet so that she could make things like it (sadly she never will but I would happily teach her).

~~~
Do you remember I bought some super lovely Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino with my birthday money, an absolute age ago?

Top row: Lilac (10), Cream (101), Light Pink (601) & Dark Pink (60) 

Bottom row: Dark green (40), Light green (3), Light Blue (202) & Dark Blue (207)

Sadly the above photo is rubbish. The colours aren't as they seem. The light pink look peachy in that photo but it really isn't. Oh well hopefully you'll get the jist. And as mentioned before I purchased the yarn from Fingers and Thumbs and Kate was just lovely cos, yes you guessed it, I absolutely agonised over choosing the yarn for this project (please tell me I will get better at this!!!). I can't recommend Kate's yarn shop highly enough, the thing that sold it to me was that it was a family business and I just loved the idea of that. I hope they are weathering the storm of the recession cos they were lovely people and stock lovely yarns. Anyway thank you Kate*

This is what I have left from all eight balls. You'd think I didn't like the greens but I did, don't know why I have so much left.

I spent many an hour on this project. Once you got the hang of the pattern it was simple to make the flower but I guess the colour changes made it time consuming. It really was lovely to work on.

And as recommended by none other than Attic24 I blocked the scarf after it was complete. 

I have to admit I loved doing this. Armed with a towel and a bottle of tepid water I climbed up into the attic which is usually D's space/bunker were he listens to vinyl and does his podcasts, but he kindly loaned it to me for a short time. Anyway it was a lovely sunny day and I opened out the attic window and listened to the wind (it's usually very noisy around here, one of the many, many reasons we would love to move but sadly can't, but that's a story for another day, or maybe not as it would be a moany, negative, pessimistic post and seriously who wants to read that?!). Anyway my point was I listened to the gentle breeze blowing and I set to work pinning out the scarf. As it happens I ran out of pins. I only have a packet of 34 and I ran out.  

 I had a mini panic and then it came to me - safety pins! A eureka moment. Yippee, the ole brain still works and the safety pins worked a treat!!

So are you ready? I just love this scarf so much I have taken photos from every angle and I do apologise as you are likely to get bored but here we go...

                   

*~*~*~*~ TA--DAH~*~*~*~*

Little R wanted in on the photoshoot! Can you see him above?

Looking splendid on the attic floor, enjoying the unusual peace and quiet

One seriously happy camper. I couldn't get the silly grin off my face for ages.

It is warm and soft, colourful and bright, it is mine and I made it. I feel the love for this scarf. I want to share the love and make some more for special crafty people in my life. I do hope I get the time to do this but time is never on my side!

See you all next time. Happy crafting, happy baking, happy whatever you are doing!

Helen xx

* I'm not working on commission from Kate at Fingers and Thumbs honest, I just love it when you get great customer service.