~ ♥ Happy Mother's Day ♥~

 Just a quick word to wish you all a very Happy Mother's Day. It's bright and sunny here in Belfast and it has been a great start to the day. Baby R and his Dada very kindly offered me a lie-in. Baby R still wakes around 5.30am these days and I try to keep him in bed for as long as possible by lying him back down in his cot, tucking him in and giving him the dummy (that he has cheekily thrown across the room), I usually have to do this  3 or 4 times but in saying that we usually get up around 6.20am. This is fine on a work day but unfortunately Baby R doesn't know the difference between the working week and the weekend. So anyway this morning D kindly offered to give Baby R his milk and take him downstairs for a play so I could rest my eyes for a little bit. Wakening at 5.30am every day is usually fine but I guess it takes it's tole eventually so I appreciated the rest this morning. Then I when a woke I was greeted with this...

 ♥ A scrummy breakfast of Lady Grey Tea, cereal, yummy hot cross bread (in a loaf - whodathunkit!) and tulips (my favourite)

  ♥ I was lucky enough to receive two lovely cards from my little sweetheart. One was helped by Dada (the one to the left with bunting on it - yes that's right bunting on a card whodathunkit! - my dream card). And one was helped by our lovely childminder Mrs A (the handmade one on the right - I'm chuffed to bits with this card, she really is a lovely lady). *Mrs A and the children she takes care off all made their Mums a lovely hand painted terracotta pot with a lovely primrose in it and I'd love to share it with you but I forgot to water it yesterday and it's gone a bit wilty. Eek! I have promptly watered it and I'm hoping it will return to full health soon!. 

 ♥ Now I was a very lucky girl and got a few beautiful gifts too. 

I probably look a little spoilt but the CK spotty bag was sort of a gift to myself, I've been having a hard time in work of late and decided I needed to treat myself. Now I have buyers remorse and feel guilty for spending money on myself as we really need to be careful with money. So part of me is tempted to return it but I do love it and I really don't buy myself things that often. Hmmm not sure what to do. Anyway Baby R and his Dada were so thoughtful. They got me a little fabric bundle with birds and trees on it (I had been moaning about not having a fabric stash and I think little/big ears picked up on this). A beautiful floral greengate spoon.  A CK picture frame to put a lovely picture of my little darling in. And a CK notebook and jotter. I am one very happy Mummy. 


♥ Regardless of all these lovely gifts this is the main thing making me happy today and everyday...

♥ And his dada of course for giving me such a lovely morning


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a rare event for me to manage 2 blog posts in 2 days, no doubt it will take me another 2 months before writing another one soooo.... 
I just wanted to quickly say that I love that people pop by and read my blog, I really love this as I know how precious time is. And I love that some people feel compelled to comment, it's delightful reading that someone likes my blog. I understand the time constraints on modern life, I'm finding it difficult myself to get the right balance between work-life and home-life but we are coping ok, so far. I guess I'm trying to explain why I haven't been commenting on as many blogs as I'd like to. I love reading blogs and the lovely things that people are working on and their lives but I just can't always find the time to say hello and comment and this makes me feel a little bad. I hope you understand and you are all so lovely, I kinda know you will. 

♥~♥~♥ Happy Mother's Day Everyone ♥~♥~♥

♣♥ Shamrocks and Hearts ♥♣

♣♣♣♣♣♣

Firstly I'd like to wish you all a very Happy St Patrick's Day from us here in Ireland. Baby R and I are wearing green today but other than we don't have any other plans to celebrate the day.

 We are visiting Toys R Us today to get Baby R some much needed toys. We didn't go over board at Christmas because he wasn't even a year yet and it was hard to know what he needed. But now he is toddling and developing a bit more we think he needs a few more toys. So it's not really celebrating our patron saint but we are doing it in green!

♥♥ Ta-Dah ♥♥

So anyway the main reason I am blogging today is because I have finished something on my to-do list. This is my Granny Heart Bunting Ta-Dah! The pattern/tutorial is from the very lovely Sandra at Cherry Heart  and if you don't know her blog I strongly recommending popping by - she has the most beautiful blog with such gorgeous ideas and is very generous with her time posting lovely tutorials for anyone to use. I am attempting to keep this post brief as I usually tend to write an essay so hopefully the photos speak for themselves!

Happy daffs, yummy yarn and scrummy bunting..

An in situ shot. I just love looking up to see the bunting across the archway it just looks like it should always have been there. It makes me smile a big, dopey, beaming smile when I glance upon it. I am easily pleased....

  And finally Baby R and I in our greenery. I think he likes the bunting too!!

A big thank you to ♥Sandra♥ for the tutorial. I am super happy to have made it. I love it when I achieve something, it helps to keep me going and keep me smiling.

♥ Enjoy the weekend and the sunshine everyone ♥

It's been a while....

Oh-me-oh-my isn't time is flying! I haven't blogged in about a month but I have been visiting the land of blog and reading other peoples lovely blogs. I love it, I just L-O-V-E this blogging malarky but it's quite frustrating too because there is much that I want to do and as I read other blogs I get inspired but also frustrated because I know in reading these blogs I'm not actually getting any of my own projects done. Hahah, listen to me whine, it's not really the worst problem in the world to have, I guess I'm just explaining myself.


At this moment in time I am seriously excited for you see last night I finally managed to change my blog header. I am so excited about this and could almost not sleep for excitement!! Teehee I'm such an eejit. I think I also have nerdish and geekish tendencies but ssshh don't tell anyone! See I've admired other lovely people with their lovely headers and wished that I could do something even a fraction as lovely. And then on recommendation from the lovely Weasel I found Picknik. I eeeeeped with delight when I starting using this last night because it's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! Now I don't think my header is as impressive as others I have seen but I'm really happy to have been able to do something with my header (I have never really liked mine but never had time to sort it) and I'm pleased as punch!


♥♥ RIPPLING ♥♥

I have been busy, as mentioned before I am rippling away.  Now you may remember (or not) that I decided to do a gender neutral blanket and I decided on something like this... 

Well then I changed my mind (I am a very and I mean VERY indecisive person, it is a quality of mine that I detest but I'm stuck with it). I decided that I actually did want something more typically boyish and I purchased these...

 and I started this.... 

I'm really happy with it, I love how the pattern is working out, I was worried that I should have arranged the colours differently but as it has grown I have become happier with it. I have also had some pangs of regret though that I should have stuck with more gender neutral colours so that if we are lucky enough to have another baby it will be used for them too, but hey if we have a girl I'll just ripple another! So anyway I really like it and I love the Rico Baby Classic DK, it's acrylic but it's so soft and lovely. I know lots of very respectable and knowledgeable crocheters/knitters like the Stylecraft Special DK but I just don't really like the feel of it whereas the Rico feels lovely for an acrylic. 

♥♥ NEW YARN ♥♥

And in other news I have purchased some new yarn. I has been quite a mammoth task (see above re my indecisiveness!). First of all I knew that I wanted to make the Japanese Flower scarf as seen here and here. Most people have made their scarves using the very luxurious Debbie Bliss Andes but I decided I really wanted to use Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, having read so much about it on lots of blogs. But the problem I found was that in Northern Ireland Debbie Bliss yarn isn't stocked in very many places and the 2 shops that I found that did do it (I went on a 60-mile round-trip one Saturday afternoon, with my friend - another yarn nut!) didn't have very many colours (poo poo!). So after a bit of research I found a lovely family run online shop Fingers and Thumbs (I like supporting small businesses) that stocks this yarn. I was worried about picking the colours without actually seeing them. I needn't have worried though as Kate the owner helped me, she suggested colours after I described what I wanted and after I picked a couple Kate very kindly sent me some samples which made it soooooo much easier - Thank You Kate. So I did it, I picked 8 lovely colours and they arrived on Saturday. I have to confess I jumped up and down (like a loon) for a while after the postman left shouting "It's here, It's Here, It's Here". So would you like to see the colours I went for?

 

I am really mega excited about this yarn. I haven't had time to use it yet but I hope to soon (only 1 pair of hands and only 24 hours in the day is very limiting if you ask me!). I feels lovely, looks lovely, is lovely. I am a seriously happy camper. 

Sorry this has ended up as another essay, maybe one day I will be able to post a shorter post and maybe, just maybe, I could blog more often!

As always thanks for reading and stopping by...

Helen xx

♥ Reasons to be Cheerful ♥

1, 2, 3.....

1. ROUTINE: Well it's been a busy few weeks, all is going well so far with me in work and Baby R with the lovely childminder AA. We have settled into a routine of work and getting Baby R to the childminder and he has settled well so we feel very fortunate. We seem to manage our time well in the mornings, which is probably helped by Baby R choosing to rise at 6am haha! We've also had the horrible MMR vaccination done and a few raised temperatures as a result but all-in-all the form is good with my little clan - D is good, Baby R is good (oh who am I kidding he's a total star! Crawling and cruising and chatting and laughing, he's such fun to be with, he also keeps us very, very busy!), Monty & Luca are good too. Smiles all round. 

2. BIRTHDAYS: To top things off I had a birthday myself last week. I still like birthdays despite my age getting into not so nice figures (boo hoo: early thirties, not mid-thirties yet!), but I love the excitement especially after the post-Christmas blues and the prospect of cards, cake and maybe even a wee pressie, what's not to like (well apart from the afore mentioned increase in digits and wrinkles etc!!). And for the first time in many years I had to work on my birthday, so what I hear you cry, well I normally don't believe in working on my birthday, I really don't believe anyone should have to but I am saving my annual leave for incase little R gets sick and I need to take time off work (although I have been informed by one of my colleagues that you get special 'carer days' to allow for this). So anyhoo, I do blether on don't I, the day in work was soooo busy as my friend in work was off sick and I was soooo glad to get home. I picked up Baby R and came home as normal only to find my darling D hiding in the living room (he normally wouldn't be home from work yet) with a beautiful home-made birthday day lit with candles... 

...some bubbles (for later), lovely cards and a pressie. Lucky, lucky me!

D had worked from home and during his lunch break he made the cake (Cinnamon & Blackberry) and he even decorated it, I was very impressed. It tasted as good as it looked and was even a little healthy (made with wholemeal flour). 

I was lucky enough to get some beautiful Greengate from D (that man does listen!). I have admired it from afar as it's pretty expensive, but now I am the proud owner of some lovely, lovely Greengate and I love it.

 My lovely sister-in-law (well to-be, but it's only a technicality!) bought me a lovely jug (she has also listened to me blether on and knows me so well). It's very pretty and it fits in well to my growing collection...

My older brother gave me this... 

Mmm such a treat. Might save it for a special occasion or as a late birthday celebration at the weekend (hehe). My parents and my younger brother gave me some money so with my brothers money I bought this...

I am most excited about receiving this as I am desperate to make the Japanese Flower Scarf as seen many places, Attic24 was where I found it. And with the money my parents gave me I hope to buy some yarn.. just need to decide on the type and colour, any advice is most welcome (my budget is £30-£40). 

3. FLOWERS in WINTER: D came back from the big supermarket shop last week with a little surprise for me, he has listened to me blether on about hyacinths for a wee while now and bought some to silence me! Teehee.

  Then I was out and about by myself on Saturday morning getting the latest dose of Frontline for the doggies (we had a flea infestation a few years ago and it was the worst few weeks of my life that I never want to repeat EVER!!) and stumbled upon these lonely daffodils for £1, a bargain! So I just had to give them a home, they seem so much happier here.

Oh and a little hooky of the jam-jar-cover kind is also making me very happy!

♥♥ So on this very wet and gloomy Sunday I am cheerful ultimately because of my little family and because we have to make the best of this life... it's not a rehearsal people! ♥♥

Thanks you lovely lot for reading my yakkety yak!

Helen xx

PS This post was inspired by Planet Penny

Survival & Celebrations!

SURVIVAL! 

Well I am happy to report that Baby R and I have survived me returning to work and him going to a childminder. I have now completed week 2 and I feel much, much better.  The first week was a bit traumatic for me, to put it mildy. I spent the whole evening after the first day back in floods of tears. I felt like the new girl in work and when I got home Baby R slept for an hour so this really upset me as I felt like I was missing out on his life. Then it got gradually better, by the 3rd day Baby R was awake when I returned home from work and reports from the lovely childminder were that he had been really good, with very few tears, so this helped a great deal. This week there were no tears at the childminder and he seemed to be really happy and content when I went to pick him up. He has taken a real shine to our lovely childminder (Mrs A) and also a shine to a cute little blond girl who also goes to the same lady. I know some people wouldn't like for their child to be really fond of anyone else but I am glad that Baby R is bonding with Mrs A as I know he is happy when I'm not there. Work isn't bad too, I work with a nice bunch of people and it's quite nice to get the brain working in a different way. I work in an eye clinic as an imaging technician and we see lots of elderly patients and I really like working with them, I feel it's a difficult time for them and I like being another friendly face they see. The work itself is repetitive but it is interesting which helps being away from my little R. So I think I just might be able to do it. The first week back I kept saying to my husband D, through tears, red eyes and a runny nose, that I just didn't think I could do it (the last time I said that was during contractions, a little over a year ago!), so I'm pleased to be able to say that I can do it, (needless to say I also did get through the contractions and brought Baby R into the world!). We did it, Baby R and I - we have survived!

Thank you all for your lovely comments and words of encouragement, it helped a great deal. You really are a lovely lot!!

♥♥ CELEBRATIONS ♥♥

In other exciting news Baby R turned One! So to celebrate this momentous milestone we had a little party last weekend and it was such fun. We don't have a lot of space in our house and I was worried about having lots of people in a confined space but in the end we just went for it and it worked out just fine. I make a sponge cake (I wanted baby R to have a little piece so I didn't want to make something too rich or sugary), would you like to see....

And I decorated it with bunting from the lovely Jooles at SewSweetViolet. I went for quite a simple and classic decoration, I wanted the bunting (it's such beautiful bunting, thank you Jooles) and the number 1 to be the star of the show and just added some candles when everyone arrived...

The cake went down well, my sister even had 3 slices, which I am taking as a compliment! Victoria sponge is the way to go with my family it seems.

We decorated inside (forgot to take a pic!) and out with bunting....

I just love bunting, I would love to keep it up all year round but D didn't agree. Maybe I can put it up again for my birthday in a few weeks!!! We had such a lovely party for Baby R, family and friends came and celebrated with us and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Baby R had a good play with 2 of his cousins which was so lovely. He got lots of lovely presents and even got a parcel from one of my bestest friend's all the way from Australia. I nearly cried my eyes out when I opened the parcel, Dr T made my little boy a little sausage dog of his own. I was so touched that she had thought of him and had gone out of her way (she is a very busy doll) to make him something for his birthday (she even stamped the labels herself, swoon!) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE handmade presents, the best type of presents in my humble opinion. Did I mention I also LOVE dachshunds? Well I do, I really do, I LOVE LOVE LOVE dachshunds too. I think baby R might just love them too!

Dr T even made me a lovely handmade birthday present which I have to confess I opened before my birthday (I was tooooo excited). A crochet hook bag, I eeped with delight when I saw this, how could she have known that I needed one and the fabric is soooo beautiful too. I know you definitely will want to see...

I'm such a lucky person to have such a lovely thoughtful friend (why does she have to live on the other side of the world though, boohoo) and to get such a lovely present. She also got me a really cool stamp and the pattern to the sausage dog in case he gets lonely and needs a wee pal some day. Lucky me, thank you Dr T! 

♥♥ 1 year on.... ♥♥

I can't really believe we have reached this milestone, it's hard to believe a year ago he was a teeny tiny baby that I fell in love with the moment I saw him. The first feed he had was the most wonderful thing in the world, I didn't want to put him down. At the same time I was scared of breaking him and worried about if I was good enough to be his mother (did I deserve him), yet here we are a year later and he isn't broken, he is thriving and such a joy. I'm sorry to gush but I just love motherhood and all the joys and challenges it brings. It has been a year of little sleep (even now we are up at 5am, but it's so much better than what it was) and hard work (they really don't tell you how hard breastfeeding is but I managed it until 9 1/2 months and still have my sanity - only just!) but it has been the most amazing year of my life. Happy Birthday Baby R - Mummy & Daddy love you very, very much.

Highs and Lows

The Highs...


Well how exciting.... the lovely (with a capital L!!) Louise from Tea at Weasel's has nominated me for a blog award. I definitely Eeped with delight when I got this. Thank you so much Louise. I absolutely love reading her blog and am in awe of how much she gets done while having 5, yes you read it right 5, boys!! And you have been the most encouraging and welcoming person, I might have given up before now had it not been for you. So I think you really deserved to get the award from the lovely Julie at A Tale From Toadstool House

 If I am correct (being a bit of a novice to this blogging malarky) I believe I have to nominate 5 blogs, who have less than 200 followers, that I love to read. It's been tough because most of the people I follow have got more than 200 followers. So I have to confess I am about to break the rules slightly, as  I can't find a 5th blogger who has less than 200 followers and I'm under time pressure (you'll see why as you read on) I am only going to name 4 blogs. Alternatively I could name someone who has more than 200 followers and I don't know if the blog police would come after me so I'm not going to, I hope you can forgive me? 

So blogs I love to read include...

Sandi Art
One Pink Plum
Patchwork and Lace 
Moo Baa Cluck

 The Lows..

I go back to work tomorrow after a year off on maternity leave with my little ray of sunshine. I don't have time to write much but I'm in quite a fragile state. I'm going to miss my little Baby R so very much and that will be the hardest thing I have ever done, harder than labour and bringing him into the world. I hope I can still find the time to keep going on the blog front and the craft front. I just want to thank all the lovely people who have read my blog and those who have commented. 

And finally I will get round to contacting the people I have nominated for the blog award but I might just have to get the trauma of leaving my baby boy over me first.

Take care all you lovely folk.

Helen xx

Christmas Cheer

It's been a busy old week here at Belmont Yarns. We had our first Christmas with Baby R and it's been totally magical. Unfortunately little R developed his 3rd cold and 2nd ear infection the weekend before Christmas and he was in terrible form. I thought he was teething but then on the 3rd day of him being out of sorts he was so lethargic and clingy and only wanted to lie on my chest so we were lucky to get an appointment with the doc that afternoon who promptly diagnosed a red raw sore throat and nasty ear infection. The poor wee chap, a few days of antibiotics combined with calpol/nurofen and he was back to his bubbly self. But unfortunately it doesn't end there, he was on the mend for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but the day after Boxing day started coughing and has a runny nose and now has his 4th cold (or maybe the same one from last week - who knows) and is in rough form again. Sleep is scarce for us all but we'll survive. 

So I wanted to say a few words about how we got on over the Christmas weekend. Christmas Eve (my absolute favourite day of the whole year) was lovely. My younger brother (the godfather!) and his girlfriend came to visit to give Baby R his first present, a lovely red fire-engine which we had a good play with and Monty even got in on the action as Baby R wanted to share his little fireman with him, so cute!

We are still desperate to instigate some traditions here at Belmont Yarns but so far we don't have many, one thing we always do is to go for a walk after dark on Christmas Eve with the dogs, and now Baby R hurray, and oooh and aaah at all the lovely Christmas lights in the gardens and in the houses. The posh streets can be a feast for the eyes but we aren't fussy we love to look at all the lights (although we are more of a fan of the tasteful ones, not overly keen on people who have every inch of their gardens covered in everything from Santas to entire nativity scenes but hey each to their own). So after Baby R went to bed (I have to admit I didn't want him to go to bed, I usually get a bit sad when Christmas Eve ends) we treated ourselves to some bubbles and Christmas carols on the TV. We had waited a long time for the bubbles as I had a dry 9 1/2 months due to breastfeeding and I can tell you they were worth waiting for! 

 Then we exchanged our presents as we sipped our bubbly, mind you only small presents this year as the purse strings have been tightened but we never concern ourselves with expensive presents as, for us, Christmas is about being off work (well I'm still on maternity leave for a few days yet) and spending time together and not about consumerism. However is always nice to open a little something. So my lovely husband bought me...

I can't wait to get using these. My husband thinks it's hilarious that I wanted a Japanese crochet book and thinks I have bitten off more than I can chew. I am defiant and although the patterns look a bit tricky I am confident hopeful that in 2012 I will be able to make something from the lovely Japanese book and if I don't I am going to blame working and looking after a baby. K? It doesn't end there though very excitingly I also received this (he really does listen)...

My own little Pecker from Sew Sweet Violet. She is so lovely and as soon as I took her out of her beautiful packaging she flew up into my Christmas tree and has stayed their ever since! Jooles has the most amazing work, such attention to detail and the craftsmanship is 100%, I would definitely recommend purchasing something from her etsy shop if you ever get the chance. So I was very happy with my haul. I also got new PJs that I purchased myself and donned on Christmas Eve, gotta love new PJs! 

On Christmas morning Baby R came into bed with us and opened his presents that Santa left. Now we really didn't buy him that much as he's only 11 1/2 months and he really enjoyed bashing the boxes and ripping the paper. Isn't that always the way. 

We got a lovely crafty present for Rowan from a very talented, jack-off-all-trades-master-of-all, been there done it, friend of mine and I fell in love straight away. A lovely stripy knitted rabbit, which his own jumper emblazoned with an R. I'm not sure what to call him, Roger seems a little too obvious, what do you think?

We had a lovely Christmas day with our folks, we went back home and my older brother and his girlfriend kindly hosted Christmas dinner this year to give my Mum a break and they were so good at it. They told us that they don't really like Christmas that much so I had my reservations but I think they were fooling us as they made their house so festive and Christmassy and they made us so relaxed. It was great, he got the thumbs up from me and can definitely host again!! We then visited my sister after dinner to exchange presents. A few years ago I suggested we did Secret Santa in my family and it was been a hit with everyone so it's now tradition. I received a £15 gift voucher (the budget was £10 so Santa was a bit naughty) to the local craft shop which now excitingly stocks a small supply of yarn so I was very excited and grateful to receive this. I suspect my Santa was my lovely younger brother as he is the only one who is really interested in my rambles about crafty things and my blog. The present I was most excited about was the one I made for my sisters baby. My sister loves dachshunds too and I found this really cute sausage dog fabric on the internet. 

I didn't really have much time to make something bigger like a quilt or something so I decided to make some personalised bunting (I just love bunting) and I thought bunting would be cute in her bedroom. I don't have a good photo of the full length of it as it's about 5m long, just of the name and the fabric, but hopefully you get the idea. I'll try and take a photo of it when my sister puts it up. 

On Boxing day we went to visit the in-laws and little R got some more presents so he is a very lucky boy who has lots of books to read (I love getting books and reading to him) and just the right amount of toys to play with. Unfortunately Baby R then started to come down with a cold but we did manage to carry out another of our newly forming traditions, we watched the new Poirot and enjoyed some yummy Beaujolais and a mini-buffet. Oh we are good to ourselves!!

It's been a busy period for us as we also celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary and unfortunately due to Baby R's illness we weren't able to make it out for dinner to the newly opened Italian restaurant, we wouldn't have enjoyed it anyway as we would have been worried for little R and our baby sitters. Anyway times have changed and Baby R is the best gift we could ever have so we aren't too concerned about not making it to dinner, there'll be other outings I'm sure. 


At this rate of going I'm not sure I'll make it back on before the New Year so I wanted to take this opportunity to say wish everyone a wonderful, safe, peaceful, productive and crafty 2012! I'd also like to thank anyone who has popped by for reading my blog, for commenting and for encouraging me to keep going at this blogging malarky, you really are a special lot. On that note I have been nominated for a blog award, I'd really like to post separately about this as I'm so chuffed and mega excited about it. Cross your fingers that I get time to!


Phew another long post... hope you are still awake teehee
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥