The Sun is shining again!

Woo hoo. What a difference the sun makes or rather maybe what a difference when it just stops raining for a couple of days. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind rain and I know that in the summer when it hasn't rained for weeks, I will be begging it to rain but this last fortnight or so it has done nothing but rain. I am fed up of walking to school and getting soaked. In fact I took to walking to school with my wellies on so that has helped my street-cred no end ;o)

Anyway this weekend we have actually managed to get out in the garden and the lawn is no longer flooded and we are all so much happier. L and J have been hanging off the swing like a couple of monkeys and I have been to interview the veggie patch which is looking really rather sorry for itself.

Here it is in all of its (un)glory

Doesn't everyone need a play house in the corner of their veggie patch? Its actually 15feet wide and 30ish feet long. Underneath the black box, you can see the wonderful path to nowhere that M built last year just because we had some spare bricks and he wanted to waste a summer. .

Those metal bars are supporting some wire for the bramble briars which are coming out this year. They taste horrid and the structure takes up a load of room as well as looking awful. The only problem is that M decided to plant some raspberry canes against it last year (can you see a theme; M comes along, just dumps stuff in random places....) so I need to relocate them somewhere more sensible.
This is behind the metal poles and is my rhubarb patch. You can see the buds just coming through. I've put a bucket over one plant but need to get some bigger buckets for the rest because their crowns are huge.

And I pulled these up on Sunday. I grew them in a bucket and they taste really good. Like carrots rather then orange flavourless things.

After my photo taking, I went out in the garden with my tape measure and marked out a 10ft by 10ft area which I am going to use to grow veggies in the same order as Carol Klein showed in her program last year. Mum bought me her book for Christmas and I am going to stick to her plan for growing veg in a small area.

My biggest problem with growing veggies is being organised. My garden generally has random plants all over the place; tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouses, some more tomatoes on the patio, courgettes taking over the veggie patch, a few sweetcorn plants, peas growing all over the place, potatoes in bins, some more in the ground.....get the picture? So this year; organisation! I'll take another picture of my marked out area and the weeding that I have been doing.

I'm still going to grow stuff outside the plot because I'm sure there are other things that I want to grow that aren't on that plot and some more that I will want more of than I will be able to fit in there but I think it will be a good place to start.

UK Swap week two q...

OK so I missed the first week but I'm in on the second week ;)

Q: Do you subscribe to any magazines (knitting or otherwise)? Or do you prefer to purchase magazines at the news stand? Do you subscribe online to any knitting magazines/newsletters? What does a knitting magazine need to have to catch your fancy and get you to fork out that well-earned cash?

I used to subscribe to Simply Knitting, Delicious, Garden Answers and BBC Good Food. Now I subscribe to nothing as I found that I just wasn't reading anything. SK got too samey and I got fed up with it. Delicious and GF were good but I was getting to the stage that I wasn't even making two of the recipes each month so even though I liked looking at the pictures, I decided that it was a bit decedent and Garden Answers was more or less the same from one year to the next so once I had a years worth of magazines, I could refer to old copies and see what I was supposed to be doing in my garden.

I still like reading the magazines though and will buy one every now and then. I tend not to buy the knitting ones, just read everyone elses ;) I quite fancy Interweave though so maybe if I make lots of money this year from my sewing exploits, I might treat myself to that.

UK Swap questionnaire.

Part One: Crafting

Do you knit, crochet, or both?
I knit. My grandma taught me how to crochet granny squares when I was about 7 but I can't remember how to do it now. I wouldn't mind having another go though.

What do you like to make? Do you have a favourite project?
At the moment, looking at my project page on Ravelry, that would be smaller projects; socks, hats, scarves etc but anything really if I found the right pattern.

Do you have a favourite type of fiber or brand of yarn?
Hmm soft and squishy stuff is best ;)

Do you have a least favourite type of yarn?
Scratchy acrylic stuff and those novelty yarns that are all bobbly.

Do you do any other crafts?
I sew, can do bobbin lace but haven't done that in years, cross stitch, once again not done in years.

What knitting do you bring ‘on the go’?
Something straight-forward that doesn't need much concentration. Socks generally.

What do you carry your ‘on the go’ knitting in? Do you want something new?
Well I make sock knitting bags but I seem to carry mine in a prototype one made of boring lining material!!

Are there any knitting gifts (book, toy, yarn, item, tool) that you have been lusting over?
Woollywormhead hat book, harmonies....ooooh lots of lovely yarns.

Part Two: Your Favourites

What is your favourite colour? What is your least favourite colour?
Fav colours? red. purple, blues. Least fav? yellow, pink

What scents/smells do you like? What don’t you like?
Lavender, cut grass.

How do you like to pamper yourself? (bubble bath, hand creams, massage, manicure)
A very hot bubble bath with a good book and peace and quiet!!

What goodies do you like to treat your tummy with? (chocolate, biscuits, truffles, etc.)
Mmm depends on my mood, I like most stuff though.

Do you prefer tea or coffee while you knit? Any particular kind? Favourite mug/cup?
Tea. I like coffee but it gives me a dodgy tum so only tea here please. Open to all different ones, I like red bush, green tea, especially with jasmine and normal builders tea too. I made the discovery that tea tastes better in china kind of mugs rather than thick quid ones from Matalan last year so I have some funky Cath Kidston and typhoon mugs now.

Do you listen to/watch anything while you knit? (TVshow-Along, movies, music, podcasts)
I watch tv when I am knitting. I try to listen to podcasts but then I have to get organised and have the computer in the room.


Part Three: Living & Past-times

Where do you live in the UK? (General idea not address)
Lincolnshire.

Have you always lived here, or did you grow up somewhere else?
I grew up here then moved to west Wales for uni then south Wales for love and moved back to Lincs a couple of years ago now.....missing Wales lots though

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Canada

If you couldn’t go to a knitting group, what other kind of gathering would you go to? (book club, tea party, yoga class, jewelery class, etc.)
At the moment, I'd like to go climbing. Haven't been for ages now and I want to go and play....shame the nearest one is over an hour away from here and its pants then...so how about swimming in a quiet pool.

What’s your style? (elegant, traditional, glamourous, girly, natural, sporty, outgoing, etc.)
LOL I think you need to ask my friends this one! I'm a pair of fleecey rocket dog boots, cord skirt and fleece kind of girl. Naturally outdoorsy ;)


Final Part:

Any allergies/preferences (fiber-wise or treat-wise)?
Nope, except for coffee

Anything we missed that you’d like your partner to know?
Not that I can think of except that that was hard work!!

Exploits of a sewing variety....

I am in a habit of sewing things up, posting them off then realising, generally whilst walking back from the Post Office, that I haven't taken a picture of said item and being annoyed with myself for doing it so this week, while making knitting needle rolls to sell at Gemma's online shop, Krafty Koala (go on, click, you know you want to; her yarn is divine and she sells my bags too ;o) ),I kept reminding myself to take pictures on my camera as well as on my phone for the texts I so often send to Gemma saying 'do you like this fabric, don't you think its a bit chintzy?'. Here are the results, with needles in to give an idea of pocket sizes



And this one is a picture of a matching bag and roll that I made for a friends' sister for Christmas;
Sewing has been my saviour this week. I haven't had that much 'proper' work and the weather has been so miserable that my sewing, a cup of tea and the radio have been my mornings activities while L has been at pre-school.

Mystery theme swap......at last!

Back in October, I signed up for a swap on Ravelry, it was a mystery theme swap and all was going well, I sent to my pal, she received it, she said that she had posted mine so I was really patient, didn't mug the postman every time I saw him but nothing turned up. The swap organisor was great, she tried to get in touch with my partner but she didn't reply, I hadn't heard anything else from her, I still haven't but in flew Kim and her angels and they sent me some cool parcels. A few weeks ago I got a Scottish food parcel (sweet, minus the haggis ;o) ) which we all enjoyed then today the knittery gifts arrived. I was in a crappy mood until the postman gave me this....

Two skeins of kureyon in a lovely colour,

Three different teas. I think I'll be going to get a tea strainer tomorrow so that I can give them a go.

Some bamboo clover DPNs, 4.5mm and I REALLY need 4.5mm, I was looking at buying some at the weekend but then remembered that I was being a good girl and not buying anything, and addis in the same size, double yay!

And, lastly tea pot stitch markers. I couldn't get a better picture because you see that hand there? It's Lou's. She has taken a liking to them and things she *needs* them and has been carrying the around with her in the little bag all afternoon.

Thank you soo much everyone who helped Kim put this together. I really appreciate it, especially since I am STILL waiting for my sockpolooza socks to come, only 6months late then!

EEEK!

A couple of weeks ago, M was feeling all virtious because he had fed the rabbits (for the first time in weeks) and then he told me that he had been greeted by a mouse as he put his hand into the rabbot food bag. Hmm thought I. The rabbit food, hay and sawdust are all kept in one of the greenhouses and I had been supirsed that we hadn't had mice before really so I didn't do anything about it, figuring that since its cold, there were bound to be a few mice looking for somewhere to live.

Last week I went to get the empty veggie box out of the greenhouse and could see that there had been mice in there so I resolved that it was maybe a good idea to get some traps. I don't have a problem with mice outside but I didn't want them coming in the house and since the kids spend a good lot of time with he back door open, I could see us ending up with mice in the house.

Fast forward to today. I went to feed the rabbits and I was greeted by a mouse as I put my hand in to get the rabbit food. I can safely say that I have never screamed in such a pathetic, girly way before, but I think it was necessary ;) Needless to say, after M had unsucessfully caught the mouse I went out and bought three traps, came home, set them and they are now in the greenhouse.

I want to be out in the greenhouse at the weekend and I don't want to have to share it with an army of mice. Spiders are fine but not mice!

Such a good girl?!

I haven't really sat down and made any resolutions for this year but I do want to be more in control of our finances so I have a clue of how much money we have (or haven't!) got. At the moment we have seperate bank accounts which I don't have a major problem with but we could do with a joint household account because I invariably end up with a huge overdraft after paying for food, household stuff and birthdays and Christmas while M, who earns all the money, afterall, could have thousands in his account for all I know (I doubt it but you know what I mean!).

Anyway, adding to that, I want to stop spending money on little bits here and there, like not planning meals so going to the shops every single day and buying random stuff. So week one, I have bought no random crap from the shops, I have menu planned, I have infact stopped taking my wallet out with me if I don't need to go to the shop (well done, good girl!) but I have subscribed to the Green Parent (saves money in the long run, because I buy it anyway ;o) ) and spent money at the Howis sale (lovely clothes and organic so feel-good stuff too ;o) ). Hmm maybe spending money on the little stuff might be cheaper?!

I am still resisting the urge to go and buy a laptop though, even though M has told me twice that I should go and buy it.