I HAVE TO ...

 .. clear up the confusion that I caused x The bigger toys that I have been making are from this book..

The last one I posted was this..

.. the youngest grandson (3) had taken it (before it was finished) when he was poorly, and it has been in his bed ever since x The colour was chosen ,from my stash, by his brother (6). The confusion came as to what he is!! lol x

WELL in the book it looks like this..

I dont know if you can read that .. it is a phoenix.  The colour of ours .. "shows the colour as he is burning!.. it came from the mind of a 6 year old remember! lol x

NOW, under instruction I have finished this one..

.. notice this one has feet! The red colour on the tail feathers is because his bum has been in the fire! Are you not glad to be in his mind!!! lol x The boys say ... he is the big brother to the first one x

The family are feeling much better .. however the cabin fever continues as they are STILL testing positive. I am at the stage where I don't feel guilty for escaping!! lol x

Stay safe 

Diane x 

REMIND ME..

 .. to keep my wishes to myself! 

Remember I wanted time to work on .. and finish my blanket? WELL .. the day after I posted that my daughter and youngest grandson (3) began to be ill .. and tested POSITIVE for COVID . Then the day after the 6 year old started to be ill .. YES also Positive! I have remained negative SO .. as long as I continue to test negative .. I am the designated shopper etc. NO school run is nice .. but other than that I have stayed in as much as possible. My daughter and I are double vaccinated AND had our boosters. 

She ad 48 hours of temperature ,headache and feeling ill, and the boys had, 24 hours each. They now have runny noses and coughs .. but feel MUCH better .SO GLAD that is all over! NOW I have to listen to them all MOANING about not being able to go out x Small price to pay I say x STAY SAFE  OUT THERE PEOPLE 

As I was finishing the blanket I played yarn chicken .. 

and lost! SO close! I was NOT undoing a whole row for that little bit !! I could not find anything that was close .. so, I gave up and used the navy that I have used between each colour..

.. it is for my bed and I will NOT be inspecting it very closely! lol x

I was making this little cutie..

.. and the youngest grandson took him to bed x So, he has no feet .. no-ne here is worried about it x lol x

I finished this book too..

I am counting my time .. well used x Once again .. BE SAFE x

Diane x

THE BOYS..

 ... are happy , because.. I have finished one of the toys from their (longgggg ) list..

.. I used the re-cycled stuffing that is made from plastic bottles. It feels very much like the usual" stuffing .there were no problems with using it. Time will tell how it will settle .. but so far ,so good x

I am going to have a break from toys ... despite the moans and groans !! lol x ... and make an effort to finish this blanket..

It has been "on the go" for a while,.. I am SO close to finishing it ! I just need some crafting time, some inclination .. and some time with out a voice saying .. can you just .....!! lol x

Hope you are all staying safe x

Diane x

THIS LAST...

 .. week was my dads birthday, he is now 92 x 

On his actual birthday he had a (pre-arranged) appointment at our local hospital, to see the cardiology team.. all well, just a little "tweak" to his medication. At his request, we stopped at the chippy on the way home and got fish and chips YUMMY x

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a small get-to-gether ,and OF COURSE....

.. there was cake x

I forgot to say the other day, the bag that the toy stuffing came in is also re-cycleable.  So often you get these products and the packaging is as much of a problem x

Stay safe

Diane x

THE LITTLE ...

 .. toys I have been making have used up most of my supply of stuffing,  AND, as I have a LONG list to work from !!!! I needed to buy more.

I decided that I should investigate if there is a recycled option out there ... that is NOT going to cost an arm and a leg x I am all for re-using etc. but I do not have bottomless pockets x

Well.. I found some x YES xx It arrived today..

I will let you know how I go on with it . IF it works then it is an affordable price that I will certainly use again. ANYHING that  stops a plastic bottle ending up in the sea/landfill etc. is good by me x SO,.... watch this space.

Hope you are all staying safe x

Diane x

BECAUSE..

 .. I like to share just how crazy our weather is .... I can tell you that at 08.00 am it was so cold and frosty .... the car windscreen had to be cleared so that the school run was not a disaster!! It is now 3.40pm and it looks like this..

... AND getting worse as I look out !Its madness !!

Is it any wonder I have finished my second book for this year..

It was a lovely read x

I also added this little cat ..

and also THIS cutie...

... to my grandaughter's collection and OFF her list xx The boys are now shouting that she has THREE and they only have ONE ! lol x ... oops x Back to work grandma !

Stay safe and hope you can find time to craft and read x

Diane x

I Do Not ..

 .. know if it is a result of years of getting up early to go to work , being retired, or just getting older BUT, I am usually awake ( not necessarily up and about !)  by 6.30. Now this works quite well with a 3 year old in the house .. who is also an early riser x If we get up together it allows his mum and brother .. who are NOT early birds .. to have a little longer to sleep x

This morning he announced that we are .. going to make cakes..

THAT is the reason why, by 08.00 the washer was finishing its cycle, dinner was in the slow cooker, and he was "cleaning" the bowl.. 

.. and in no time we had these cooling..

He has now gone to his swimming lesson and I have some time to BREATHE x

Hope you are having a good day with time to breathe x

Diane x

Cold And Wet..

 .. here today... YES the rain IS blowing sideways !! 

We had a small amount of snow the other day but it melted as quickly as it fell x Thank Goodness x

I thought I would see if I could find photos of some of the hats I have made over the last year .. ready for the cold and windy days x I found a few..

At least we will all have warm heads x lol x

The pink yarn was a good choice for the project I picked..

It works up, and feels a bit like cotton, it was a little "splitty", but once I got used to it it was fine. Will look out for more of it .There is plenty left for another toy x

She was my grandaughters first choice, and is now living at her house.

I also made this one, as my grandson wanted a bunny as well ..

This one made with Aran weight and so is bigger. He has a duck on his jumper because, when we were looking for button eyes, my grandson found the duck .. and insisted that bunny has a badge!! What can you do .... lol x

Sadly our quilt group meeting for January has been cancelled. The Covid numbers in our area are sky high, and the committee have reluctantly decided to cancel ... better SAFE than wish we had been is the best course x

Hope you are all staying safe x

Diane x

I Went To...

 ... the post box this morning ...OH MY GOODNESS! The temperature is showing as 2 degrees C. ,but the wind! Talk about blowing right through you!! It is bitter out there ...... I just notice that it has started raining and I am SURE there is some snow mixed in there!

A PERFECT day for getting snuggled up x

I want to try this...

I dont know if you can read that .. they take old clothing and re-cycle it into yarn .. what a great idea ... any thing to reduce waste and the amount that goes into landfill. 

My friend has sent it to me to try out .. and, as I approve of re-cycling when we can, I am going to have a go with it. It feels a bit like cotton to me.

During the first lock-down, I went back to crochet (remind me to tell you the story of why ).. and must get some pictures of the projects I still have to show you all. This year as part of my Christmas present ,my son gave me this book..

SO, I am going to have a go with the pink yarn. The younger grandchildren have been through the book .. and lets just say there are not many projects left that they DONOT want! lol x

I will let you know how I get on x

Stay warm and safe 

Diane x

I Finished ...

 .. reading my first book of the year .. OK I STARTED it LAST year .. but who is counting ? NOT me x lol 

Some times a book comes along that you did not know you needed, and this, for me, was just that..

I was not sure at the beginning that it was for me .. but the more I read .. the more it was. ONE day I will re-read it , but not yet x I need to enjoy the memories it evoked for a while x

ALSO I LOVE the illustration on the jacket sleeve x

Diane x

WHILE...

 .. it is dry here (at the moment) ,THIS...

..is the view of the sky from my bedroom window! It is actually getting darker as I type (it is only 1.12 pm so it is rain not the onset of night x) Good job I went for a walk earlier.

I was thinking about what projects/techniques I would like to tackle in this New Year .. and have come to the decision that I should FINISH OFF (sorry if that has given some of you chills!! lol x) some existing projects .. well, at least ONE !

So, that set me to thinking what I have lingering.. best not to list them all! I went and found this...

NOW! In 2013 I retired,  and at the time some of the girls I worked with made me patches with their names on... I  made Dresden Plate blocks and sewed the names on ... I THEN started to hand quilt the blocks.... well I didn't get too far before it was put in a bag..

.. and ,as it does, life took over and it has not been touched (let alone thought about) for some YEARS ..SO this morning I went looking , and now , I have it out and am TRYING to remember what I had planned to do with it!

Some of it is obvious.. and some is not! lol x It will be keeping me occupied .. at least for to-day x 

I will keep you up-dated on the progress. NOW that I have documented this I feel I will finish it x  I know why it was put away .. it is just a shame it has taken me so long to find it again x

Hope you have had a positive start to 2022 

Diane xx

Better later than never x