Hello there! Is the sun shining on you today? From the 1st of March, Yorkshire turned a new leaf weather wise - well, this little corner of the county seemed to anyhow - and we have been basking in sun filled days with high, white cotton wool clouds scudding gently across an impossibly blue sky. Ahhh, we are hoping this is a taste of what is to come, and isn't the sun warm already? Just around lunchtime today as I stood in the back garden, it was just warm enough to feel upon the skin which filled me with a huge sense of optimism I can tell you!
Little things are what keep me afloat - like this jam jar of buttery yellow daffodils. I stopped at the lovely little florist/gift shop 'Hacketts' in nearby Penistone earlier this week and was rewarded with 3 generous bunches for just a couple of pounds. They have filled two jam jars in an abundant manner and are showing off all over the dining table and kitchen windowsill! But aren't they glorious?
Another flowery thing to fill me with delight this week, was the sudden opening of these darling irises, which never cease to astonish me each year that they appear. I love their colours, the blue is quite stunning and such a gift after all that gloomy weather! We have been teased for several weeks by their juicy green buds that didn't seem to do anything, until one day I happened to glance out of the window and 'voila!' there they were!!
And in our kitchen, on our sunny windowsill, the seeds our Little Daughter planted just a few weeks ago are growing in their propagator home at an alarming rate!
These are her dwarf peas, their neighbours, minature cucumbers (La Diva from Sarah Raven should you be curious or tempted to sow your own) are competing height wise, as are the munchkin pumpkins...and we still have seeds to sow!! Where are we going to put them? ( I do wonder out loud, and frequently as it goes), as we have nothing resembling a greenhouse and it is but early March - but I think in a couple of weeks time, these green babies will be taking over the kitchen so I need to get my thinking hat on, regarding a halfway house type of spot for them to go to when they outgrow their current abode!
But all will be resolved, I don't doubt it - most likely over a cup of tea and a nice bit of cake. Oh yes, we've been at it again. Baking. This time: Chocolate brownies crammed full of walnuts and pecans...
It is getting to the point where the Little Baker is demanding we make something every day, which is all well and good but Im running out of tins and slowly getting fatter. Im also out of butter until I visit the next village to do a spot of shopping and so to placate her we had a very messy finger painting session yesterday, instead.
And, Ive been doing a bit of painting myself! I finally found some time to make a start upon my next piece after a rather busy time of it doing lots of other things. Ive been heartily inspired by spring flowers of late and felt I must paint a picture which included a cheery jug of daffs - yet I also had a whim to do a bit of a coastal scene too...doodles and sketches followed and Ive set to work...would you like a peek? Its a work in progress with far to go as yet...but I don't mind showing you how its looking...! Would you like to see it?
Oh, alright then, here you go!
Ive not got a name for the painting yet, but for some reason it had to have a blackbird in it. As I progress, the blackbird will look as if he's spotted something tasty to eat - at the moment Im pondering what that might be! So, for now it just looks as if he's come to have a nosey at the rather nice pebbles doesn't it?! Im quite happy with it so far - any ideas of what treat the blackbird might be finding on the windowsill would be appreciated, so let me know your thoughts!Well! Another week has passed - (doesn't the time go fast these days), and I want to let you know that next week, I will be officially announcing my Spring Giveaway! The reason behind all this, is that it is my own birthday on the first day of spring (21st March), and to celebrate I wanted to do a little givaway to coincide with my spring birthday celebrations! Hurrah!!
Im planning some lovely treats for you, so do make sure you stop by next week to find out more!
That's all Im saying for now, Im going to do a little bit more work on my painting before I have to go and collect the child - toddlers and acrylic paints don't go very well together you see :)
So I hope you have a delicious weekend, oh - and thank you to everyone who is stopping by to leave such nice comments - I want you to know that I read each one and really appreciate the time you take to pop in and read. Im endeavouring to visit all of your blogs in turn, and look forward to catching up with you soon!
Till next week...sending you a nice cup of chai tea, your favourite song, a spring walk and drifts of snowdrops to smile at!
Much love
Julia x
Hello!!It feels like a bit of a Ta-Dah moment here - although its also confession time. The next BB is now officially a cushion cover and its the most Juicy and delicious cushion cover in our entire house.
I think I have mentioned before that Im a total harlot when it comes to crochet and Im easily tempted and seduced by new projects and new wool.
Anyway, I got to the last white round on the glorious summer grannies (yes, Attic24 ones if anyone was curious) and I thought to myself...hmmmm, yes. This is definately cushion fodder. It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I had been sent delirious by ripple blankets Id seen on various flickr sites, no, it was suddenly just very cushiony looking and so it now sits awaiting its back which Im hoping to make this weekend.
Ive also been working on some characters, that is to say, when I haven't been looking after the Little Person who has the most croaky voice and bad cold - its making her extremely crabby but the little nap she has taken today has given me a couple of hours grace to get the paints out again. So, below is an example of a character that Im in the middle of creating. Im still not too happy with some of the facial features, hence the back view! But Im going at it with determination, I wont be sending them in until Im 1000% happy. This is a sketch/painting and the character is a naughty mischievous little girl Im calling Mo.
I even think her hair looks like it belongs to someone naughty...!
Anyway, at the weekend I finally went into our overgrown jungle of a garden, armed with secateurs and some serious intentions to clear up. The whole place had been taken over by crawling nasturtium creepers which had turned squishy and yellow from all the snow. I spent two hours cutting back dead things and raking up old fallen leaves and other such rubbish and I began to uncover the tiniest green buds in the hard soil - after that freezing winter snap we all had it was like manna from heaven seeing these early signs of spring coming through. A broken pot found languishing in a corner revealed a pleasant surprise:
...and as by this point spring was most definately in my bones, I picked up this cheerful little primrose at the garden centre (it was only 65pence!!) and it now glows radiantly on our kitchen windowledge, cheering me up everytime I look out of the window into a fog drenched back garden that is now covered with yet another layer of snow.
So...back to blankets. As I was saying before, I had a yearning to make a ripple blanket and I think that I just really fancied a change from doing lots of little squares, which although pleasurable and fun are sometimes a bit of a faff. I think I was hankering after something a bit different, and when the Little Person in our house peered over my shoulder at the ripplesome lovliness that is Lucy's blanket (at Attic24) and said 'will you make one like that next Mummy?' then who am I to say no!?!
I looked for some scrumptious colours that I could use to create a fabulous rainbow of a blanket with - and I discovered a tremendously beautiful colour palette from this wool, Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK and found this website which has a fantastic selection and picked a few out.
Yes, this blanket will take along time, yes it will cost me alot of money (but I dont mind, its going to last a lifetime and be handed down through the generations) and if I buy the wool in batches then it doesn't cost lots and lots all at once...does it. :D
Im looking forward to getting started on my new ripple blanket, the wool arrived today...
Im having to sit on my hands until I can start it later! The photograph doesn't do the colours justice, they are rich and sumptuous with glorious names for colours like Nest Egg, Shortbread and Periwinkle...oh I just have to keep scooping them up, they are so very soft and Im going delirious again just writing about it!! Other things that have been happening here this last week is that Ive started to practise yoga. Oh goodness me, how long has it been since I subjected my little bod to anything more energetic than a gentle walk? Ive stretched muscles I didn't realise I had, but Im feeling rather nice and Ive treated myself to a couple of good DVD's to do at home as there is no decent yoga class close enough to us in this far flung country backwater!! It's certainly a nice antidote to the general mayhem that is life in our house! Also, the niggling pain at the base of my spine that Ive had these last few weeks has seemingly (after just 3 sessions of this wonder exercise) disappeared! Hurrah!!I hope you all have scrumptious weekends, Im hoping mine has lots of little pockets to crochet in, and also if the weather brightens and the Little One is better, we hope to go to the garden centre to get our seed compost! Oh yes, already our little propagator is waiting to be filled with seeds, which we sent for from the fabulous Sarah Raven the other week, picking interesting things like Crystal Lemons (little round cucumbers) and Munchkin Pumpkins (teeny tiny ones) to grow. Can't wait!!See you all again soon, thank you for stopping by my blog, its a pleasure to see you here!
Much love
Julia x
Hello there! Is the sun shining on you today? From the 1st of March, Yorkshire turned a new leaf weather wise - well, this little corner of the county seemed to anyhow - and we have been basking in sun filled days with high, white cotton wool clouds scudding gently across an impossibly blue sky. Ahhh, we are hoping this is a taste of what is to come, and isn't the sun warm already? Just around lunchtime today as I stood in the back garden, it was just warm enough to feel upon the skin which filled me with a huge sense of optimism I can tell you!
And in our kitchen, on our sunny windowsill, the seeds our Little Daughter planted just a few weeks ago are growing in their propagator home at an alarming rate! 
These are her dwarf peas, their neighbours, minature cucumbers (La Diva from Sarah Raven should you be curious or tempted to sow your own) are competing height wise, as are the munchkin pumpkins...and we still have seeds to sow!! Where are we going to put them? ( I do wonder out loud, and frequently as it goes), as we have nothing resembling a greenhouse and it is but early March - but I think in a couple of weeks time, these green babies will be taking over the kitchen so I need to get my thinking hat on, regarding a halfway house type of spot for them to go to when they outgrow their current abode!
It is getting to the point where the Little Baker is demanding we make something every day, which is all well and good but Im running out of tins and slowly getting fatter. Im also out of butter until I visit the next village to do a spot of shopping and so to placate her we had a very messy finger painting session yesterday, instead. 
Ive not got a name for the painting yet, but for some reason it had to have a blackbird in it. As I progress, the blackbird will look as if he's spotted something tasty to eat - at the moment Im pondering what that might be! So, for now it just looks as if he's come to have a nosey at the rather nice pebbles doesn't it?! Im quite happy with it so far - any ideas of what treat the blackbird might be finding on the windowsill would be appreciated, so let me know your thoughts!
