Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! How many days until Christmas morning???

WOW! After our mahoosive day out at Ally Pally and the crazy adventures en route home courtesy of motorway traffic and a recalcitrant satnav my edges were continually smoothed by the knowledge that this was to be published for general release in the near future.

I want it NOW. I need to have it BY Christmas because so help me if this doesn't turn up in my present pile on Christmas morning Santa may just find himself looking for a new job. And a really good orthapaedic surgeon!

Sometimes you realise how small the world actually is

I have just read this post over at one of my favourite places in the world - the Women's Colony. It made me think of neighbours, helping hands, government interference, blurry OfStEd and the (pleasant) smell of small people. But most of all it made me think of holding a small fussing person and jiggling my way towards a window and soothingly suggesting the child look for the birds.

It made me think of watching my mother doing this with my nieces and how many times she must have done just that over the years with myself and all those older siblings. It joined me to the parents and carers who have spent many thousands of hours pointing out the (usually non-existent) birds in an effort to calm a screaming baby back down through the generations.

20 cents worth of mixed lollies please.

Sucked in - sorry. There aren't really any lollies (sweets/candy/bonbons) and I have a sneaking suspiscion that 20cents would buy very little any more but that kind of question was a cornerstone of my childhood. Aaaah Delaylands, you were a milk bar (off-licence, cornershop) extraordinaire. This post is a kind of mixed bag too.

Last Tuesday I said goodbye (finally) to my lubbard Audi. I wouldn't wish to swap Maria Juanita Conchita Gonzalez you understand but the Audi was special (even when it kept breaking down). However the nice man came and took it away and gave me a little smackerel of something to ease the sting of loss.

Last week we also said goodbye to our beloved Vicar Anne at school. Anne makes me wish I could do the whole religious faith thing. There was an afterschool tea party which of course meant cakes. Caked Crusader had recently posted a recipe for Rolo cake which seemed ideal. Mine was perfect as it cooked, the top all domed and slightly crisped and the tester clear when I drew it out from the middle. I don't know why it came out clean because within five minutes of being out of the oven this happened.

I couldn't take that to the cake table.

So I had to have a piece for lunch ;-)

As a parting gift from the school Anne was presented with a beautiful pedestal platter/cake plate/mahoosive communion wafer holder created by a local potter. While I feel sure she was genuinely pleased with it I love how instinctively she overreacts for the children.

Oh Vicar Anne we will, we will miss you (the school sang her a farewell to the tune of her favouritest song ever. )

Admittedly a little late here on the blog are the pictures for The Women's Colony Colour Challenge for this week.

Blue. Not much blue in my part of the world this time of year so I trawled back through my picture files to find just the colour blues I knew I wanted to post.
L-R
Melbourne Aquarium, Victoria, Australia. January 09.
Winchester, Hants, UK. July 2009
Coastal Victoria, Australia. January 2009
Melbourne Aquarium, Victoria, Australia. January 09.

And as the last red frog gets slipped into the paperbag before money changes hands (back on the lolly thing) let me tell you all about the FABULOUS giveaway being held by my very lovely friend Brenda over at Pumpkin Patch Primitives.

You see, not only does Brenda make fabulous quilts out of snuggly flannnel(ette) and crisp cottons, she also sells the beautiful fabrics and gorgeous notions to go calm your inner crafter with. As well as being handy with the stitching Brenda paints my kind of painting too, loving the folk art. And to top it all off she also homeschools my new boyfriend (sorry Barak it just wasn't working out. I need more attention) - I'm just offering that as an option G.P., you know - in case the candy bribe doesn't work ;-)

On offer to celebrate Halloween and all things pumpkiny Brenda is offering a Fat Quarter Bundle of Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals. Just so y'all know that is 27 FQs!! A girl could get a lot of fabulous quiltage out of all that fabric. But best you go pay her a visit quickly as entries are only being accepted until midnight on Saturday, October 31.

Craftiness and a question Blogtoberfest Day 26

As a certified and bona fide 'Crafty Laydee' I like to try new things. While at Alexandra Palace last month (this month?) with Wonderwoman I commented that I really wanted to give felting a go.

So last week when shopping in my local 'lovely things' warehouse I came across this wool . Combining the aforementioned urge with an upcoming birthday present requirement I picked my (free with a magazine) stripey 12mm needles and cast on.

Oh this yarn is so, so soft and light. I had knitted it 40 stitches across and when done it was as wide as my ironing board and nearly as long. The sleeve said it would felt down by 30-40% after a wash soI figured I could estimate the final size by folding it in half. As evidenced in the last picture applied maths was never my forte.

The lining is some rather luvverly elephant material that toned with the flecks of orange in the bag. I am a little ambivalent about the finished article, thinking felted goods may be a little twiggy for me but the birthday girl was pleased with it (as was her mother) so really that is all that matters.


This is more my style than hippy woolly bags (however 'made with love' it was). On a recent 'girl's day out' Pr. C-W and I checked out the remnants bin at a furnishings fabric shop and found TWO pieces of this decorator weight cotton. M girl wanted a skirt so this is the pattern she chose. Fun and relatively quick to make up (except for when the body of the skirt was accidentally stitched to the frill top AND bottom!). The down side is my girl's shape. The skirt is held up with elastic inside a casing but to get this to stay up on Pr. C-W the gather would have to be tighter on the top than the frill.

So my dilemma is - without making her look like she is wearing something 'homemade by my mother' (as opposed to 'handmade with love') how do I bring it in to fit her? This is approximately how I want it to look but how do I achieve it? How do I get there?

Are there going to be darts front and back? Do I unpick side seams and put in a zip? What do I do??????

Day 25 Blogtoberfest Up here on the hill this weekend ...

• CK and d/Boy made St.Clements jelly with mandarin pieces dropped in.
• Princess C-W is at her first ever dinner party. Of course this is tempered in its grown-upness by the fact that they are having a sleepover afterwards.
• Finished sewing the felted bag Pr.C-W took to the birthday party this afternoon.
• Walked the dogs with my assistant dressed in her hi-vis jacket. It makes her sulk so she stops mid-run and then takes off trying to leave it behind! Unsuccessfully so far.
• Went to the occasional cinema at our little Arts Centre - we were expecting to see 'Monsters vs Aliens'. For some reason it didn;t turn up in the post yet. Instead we watched 'Inkheart'. Not as scary as the book.
• Walked the dogs in the daylight therefore no hi-vis required.
• Finished one cushion for Halloween sleepover next weekend.
• Collected free Lego.
• Made chicken pie yesterday, ate it today.
• Despite best efforts and hours researching innernets cannot find a pattern for girl's tunic/dress in bulky yarn.
• Delighted in conversation shared between d/Boy and Dervish this afternoon about the need for men in ballet and how old one has to be to be allowed to do o/head lifts of ballerinas during 'Swans Lake'. 13 years old apparently. Nearly laughed out loud but was trying to appear 'not listening'.
• Charged camera battery.
• Collected next few months worth of drugs for old man dog.

Blogtoberfest Day 22 Perhaps it hasn't gone after all.....

the very lovely Wonderwoman(not!) braved the heavy rain and came for a visit this morning. Both destructoBoy and I were pleased to see her as it brought a welcome break from the intense competition of the Inaugural Ironing Board Table Tennis World Championships that was taking place in the living room.

With d/Boy off sick for the day he lurked while Maria and I chatted. As you do. One of the things we spoke of was our swap commitments and I confessed my worries that any contributions may be Scarey Mary-ish, not least my first attempt at hand-knitted and then felted fabric.

She was kind enough to not only calm my nerves but give me a few tips for successfully turning this into a bag for Pr. C-W to take to a dinner party (!!!) this weekend.

Feeling a bit cheerier I coyly brought out a few other WIPS for her keen assessment. These are jammie shorts for d/Boy and his mate, Dervish to wear for the Halloween sleepover. Obviously they have a pair each because, quite frankly, sharing a bed with Dervish would be like trying to hold a cyclone in a glass let alone a pair of pyjamas.

I am quite chuffed as I constructed the template from a pair of in-house pj pants. Didn't actually cut around actual jammies as I love them too much and was scared they may end up in pieces.

The two girls aren't getting pjs as I am unsure what size Dynamo wears, just that she is waaaaay taller than Pr.C-W. So I made an accidental trip in the hammering rain to the lovely fabric warehouse down the road and 'found' some lovely Halloween fabrics.

Again suggestions were made. So tomorrow (after doing the bag for Dynamo's birthday present bag) I shall be adding some applique to the Irish linen background (less than £5pm!! Yay for old-fashioned haberdashers) and then quilting in the ditch before backing it with the spooky spider and witchy-poo quilting fabrics to make cushions.

Picture is a bit blurred but this is 2/3 of a teddy bear destined for the school hand-made Christmas.

Finally is this year's Christmas piece for painting. Unfortunately I wasn't there the night we began so Miss painted my background.

No. It wouldn't have been my choice either which is a real shame as I am LOVING the pattern and it is soooooo quick to paint up. I just feel a little sad when I look at everyone else painting this on to a plain cream surface.

All this is in the last two weeks so perhaps my crafting mojo wasn't gone but just sleeping.

Day 21 Blogtoberfest

Like oil on water, feeling a little disturbed and uneven (not necessarily globular).

Tried and true methods of destressing have been less than successful.

Wishing my crafting mojo would return.

Day 19.A colour challenge.

Last week, during Day 20 of her 'Daybook'series, Jodi Anderson over at the Women's Colony initiated a photo colour challenge. The first colour is orange.

But this has caused some philosphical musings up here on the hill this week.

At first I figured this would be incredibly straightforward - what with it being Autumn and all - but no! When does orange stop being orange and when do I have to admit that calling things 'russet', 'spice' and 'auburn' won't stop them being red, brown and reddy-brown?

Once again I left my homework to the last minute so this afternoon (en route to collecting Maria Juanita Conchita Gonzalez from the nice man taking the nail from her tyre.)

I took some pictures of things that could reasonably be classed as 'orange'.

Come back and visit next Monday for 'blue'.

Blogtoberfest Day 18 ANOTHER child-related post

Last week destructoBoy came home bearing a letter requesting his presence at a Yr. 3 football friendly this weekend. This took place at a nearby village school. The Year 3 match ran concurrently with a Yr.5/6 so our troops all 'warmed up' together.

They 'warmed up' for the best part of half an hour.

Consequently by the time kick-off came around they were knackered.

Of course this did not stop destructoBoy from dashing up and down the pitch at full-pelt throughout the first half.

He had a fabulous time playing a 'proper' match.
He was so thrilled at getting to wear the school strip he really didn't care that

• he scored no goals
  
• he didn't get to be in goal
  
• 'The Abu Dabai Software Team' Yr. 3 team was trounced with a final score of 13-2.

It was only as he was sitting down so I could unpick the triplequadruple knot on his muddy boots that he mentioned Mr.C. had asked him to be captain of the team. I was a little proud.

extreme harvesting

Straight out of the lower 40, our beetrot crop AW09.

Who knew pulling beetroots

required protective clothing?

Questions you never want to be asked. (Day 16)

I went up to tuck destructoBoy in the other night. As is our wont I lay down on his bed and we chatted for a bit before lights out.

We discussed his day - the homework handed in, the upcoming school swimming lesson, whether he would ever actually get to the next level in Wii Lego Star Wars, eventually conversation quieted into companionable silence. Suddenly he sat forward and said "Do you think I will be a good kisser when I grow up?"

"My darling boy," I replied as I got up to leave the room "I will never know."

Day 15 Biogtoberfest

have taken some pics but can't locate camera lead to upload them.

have made halloween pyjama shorts for our upcoming spooky sleepover.

am halfway through knitting a rectangle to felt and ultimately turn into a gingerbread man softie.

received cooking apples this morning over 'ladies who drink tea' meet-up so see Dorset Apple Cake in near future.

am wearing Sylv handknit, bright orange, scrappy scarf in effort to warm up .

made daughter go to school with socks rather than tights because "it is not that cold out today".

came home from school run, changed into tights and long boots because is quite chilly outside today!

this is my day so far.

Got any questions or prompts that would enlarge my biography?

blogtober Day 14 (for just another 14 minutes)

have you ever gone back and read through old blogposts?

A very interesting way of spending five minutes.

Just random dipping and delving.

Sometimes funny.

Sometimes cringemaking.

And sometimes a little bit sad.

But like any diary ...

... fascinating to the author.

(reviewing last Winter showed many posts about Australia and puppies but NONE of the fabulous snow we had! Figure have now rectified that.)

A quilt, a boy and the Vicar's glasses

Saturday was spent getting ready for the main event on my social calendar for this year. Being an organised and excellent time manager I was sewing on the binding of Will's quilt all day Friday, finally putting in the last stitches at 2 a.m. before stuffing it into the washing machine then crawling into bed. But I think it was all worth it because after a spin around the dryer and with all the thread tails clipped it looked like this.

There was insufficient time factored into my 'detailed schedule' so the label can go on later. I thought I might paraphrase my hopes for the quilt written here .

Being a godparent meant I sat up the front with all the important people therefore it probably would have been unpolitic for me to take pictures throughout the ceremony. Accordingly I handballed my camera across to Princess Curly-Wurly.

Most of the pics are quite blurry but this is a corker. My godboy was wandering around in front of the font shifting furniture and we had a small, silent battle of wills about actually taking it into the greater body of the church.

Both his sisters contributed to the event. The older one did a reading and the younger one sang a couple of nursery rhymes. With assistance from the vicar this was 'Twinkle, twinkle'.

Whilst these gifts were being bestowed Will focussed his energies on forcing Rolly into the font-water flagon.

And before she dunked him there were words to be said and glasses to be reached for.

Once Anne had dunked him he really was decidedly unhappy about the whole thing.

Then afterwards it was back to his house for coffee and cake all around.

While she was out playing with the other children I was struck by how groovey and grown-up my girl looked.

Whoops! Missed Days 9 & 10.

My absence has been caused by some little intese crafting up here on the Hill. Friday was spent finshing Will's quilt before yesterday's Christening. And then yesterday was spent at the Christening. As always our local Vicar was in fine form and the service was a hoot with young Will attempting to set free all of the water destined for the font. He obviously knew that when it came time for the blessing Anne would hold nothing back - poor wee lad was just a little soaked!

Other than the attempted drowning of a small boy by a passing Vicar the day was fabulous. An island of sun and clear skies in the middle of gloomy and sodden skies. After the service there was much cake and tea with small children climbing very tall trees and playing chase.

Last night as I snuggled in front of the fire with my knitting my friend rang to express her delight and gratitude for Will's quilt. It really is very satisfying to gift handiwork to someone you know will appreciate it.

And speaking of appreciation look what my luvverly secret pal sent me last week.

Another tin of surprise and delight. Obviously my assistant's memory is in full working order. As soon as the lid was off she was sniffing to see if there were goodies for her.

But no! Hahahahahaha .. they were all for me. These softy soft balls of wool came all the way from Paris. Are they not the most delicate and delicious colours? Secret Pal suggests they are pink and 'greige' and the French names are 'brume' and 'orchidee'. I can go with orchid for the pink but the other colour is the palest taupe. And my so-clever pal included sweets in the same colourway!

Yay for Percy Pig!

The first rule of Knitting Club.

We do not talk about Knitting Club.

Eight Yr. Twos and Threes.

Three grown-ups.

Three weeks of intense concentration.

And every girl

has knitting

completely under control.

(oops! I have never been very good at following rules ;-)

**Please note this Blogtoberfest Day Eight post is brought to you early courtesy of my delightful trip out tomorrow with my friend Maria to Ally Pally so we can fondle all the glorious yarn at The Knitting and Stitches Show.**