dirty feet

who's been falling in next door's pond?


oh, is that a bath for me?


there's a reason why some cats are left at the pet rescue home, this one has no brain!

a little star

twinkle twinkle little star, would you like to be on my new brooch?

the world is blurry

our morning walk to school was strangely beautiful this morning



the houses we can usually see are hidden from view



we wander slowly admiring the mist



and are late for school....



back home my mind is still strangely foggy, possibly due to writing letters to the kitchen company at gone 11 o'clock last night, complaining about the number of errors in the plans (8 - 8! there are only about 8 units, how can there be 8 errors, and not just little things, no, this is "why are there no drawers in my kitchen" kind of errors....

the knitting and stitching show

my first attempt at crocheting!



some purple chiffon


some very fluffy white wool, which will be part of a swan outfit in the christmas assembly (for me - not sure why I let myself get talked into it!)



and a copy of this!



and a lovely day out with my mum, lots of ideas and very tired feet!

happy thanksgiving

two reasons to be thankful.

family

and

friends (that includes you).

hope you have a lovely day.

parcels to post

here is one of the pay it forward gifts ready to post. I'll let you know what's inside when it has arrived so as not to spoil the surprise.

thanks for all the lovely comments about my tagged post yesterday - it was fun, although took me a surprisingly long time to write. there's a fine line between random and ridiculous...

(Lucy - if you want to email me maybe we could meet up for a coffee if you like, I think I read on Vanessa's blog that you live near me.)

tagged

I've been tagged by Gina to reveal 8 random facts about myself.

feel free to stop reading now!

1. I'm having swimming lessons because I was embarrassed when Miss K (then 7) could beat me in a race in any stroke, and told me off for not putting my face in the water in front crawl.

2. I love snow. It snowed when we got married. (the photos aren't digital so can't show you, must find someone with a scanner.)

3. I'm 37.

4. I make a really good rissotto.

5. I can't work the dvd player.

6. We didn't go on honeymoon till 2 1/2 years after we got married, when I was 5 months pregnant with Miss K, but then we had 3 weeks camping in the North Cascades, and Glacier National Park, and Olympic National Rain Forest. Just beautiful.

(photo from here)

7. None of my friends or family know about this blog, except my hubby who thinks I'm mad.

8. I love the sea, especially when it's stormy. When we move I want to live by the sea. (but that's another post, or several...)

According to Gina I'm supposed to tag other blog friends, but I'm worried if I do no-one will ever "speak" to me again. However, here goes, so if you're one of the unlucky 8 listed below and you want to play along please;
link to the person who tagged you - me! post these rules, name 8 things others don't know about you, and link to 8 other lucky bloggers. and if you don't want to please don't stop dropping by!

Vanessa at Do you mind if I knit

Katy at I'm a ginger monkey

Rowan at Clang Clang

Sheila at Tea and Toast

Val at Dotty cookie

Lina Linaloo

Cathy at Miss Marzie

Alice C at The Magpie Files

weekend away

one glimpse of the sun



roaring fire



fabulous food







no lights (we blew the fuses - whoops!)
very steep stairs
lots of wine
great friends
a stormy sea

= wonderful weekend

an assiette

before


after


it wasn't mine but I just had to take a photo, (and try the lemon mousse!)

a night away

I'm so excited, I'm going on a night away with 4 girlfriends tomorrow night!
it's not that I don't love my family - I do, and will inevitably miss them, but sometimes it's so nice to have a meal without someone asking for ketchup or spilling their drinks everywhere - (although maybe if we have lots of wine that will still happen).
and they appreciate me more when I get back!!

one of the friends has a tiny holiday cottage on the Yorkshire coast so that's where we're going, and we're going out for dinner here, which is apparently according to the reviews is the most amazing place for seafood, and even my friend hasn't been yet as they don't serve children - that doesn't sound quite right does it, I meant they don't allow children in the restaurant in the evenings.

We're aiming for a nice walk, and lots of gossip, and a lie in on Sunday morning! I'll try and take lots of photos, as this post doesn't seem to be getting any...

now I just need to pop out and buy something to read in bed, and on recommendation from do you mind if I knit it might just have to be Country living.

hope you all have a nice weekend too.

holiday traditions exchange

I got my partner for the holiday traditions exchange today, she sounds lovely,
she's called Carolyn and she's a chef from California where she writes cook books, does tv appearances and makes incredible quilts and other things.
check out her website here
and her blog laughing duck.

I spent today trying to make something for the exchange, and so far have lots for the bin!
but here's a sneak peak at some fabric. if things don't improve the photo will be all she's getting...

pay it forward

I've just spent a happy couple of hours starting to make the gifts for the pay it forward challenge. Not finished yet, and no photos until they're posted! but I hadn't forgotten.
I also signed up for a holiday traditions challenge - look I managed to post a button on my side bar! so I've started on something for that, photos to come soon.

Yesterday the lady came to see my wallhanging, she was an hour late, and I'd decided that she wasn't coming, after I'd spent ages tidying and bought chocolate cake, so I settled down with a nice cup of tea, a book and a piece of the cake, and of course that's when she turned up. It was very strange, she decided she didn't like the wallhanging design I thought she'd like
(too ephemeral apparently?), having described it and sent photos, but she did really like E-boy's quilt, but without a pirate ship!





so it might look something like this.

I'm not convinced she'll ring back with measurements, and so we'll wait and see, but I'm quite excited, and very nervous about the actual quilting considering the problems I had with the cupcake quilt... and I'm still going to make a floaty chiffon felted wallhanging anyway, if can get some chiffon I like at the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate at the end of the month.

Also today I've booked the swimming pool for a joint birthday party for Miss K and E-boy in December. They have birthdays 3 days apart (2 weeks before Christmas - very bad planning!), and up till last year we always had separate parties, at home, but this year with no kitchen that doesn't sound so appealing. So pool party it is, we can invite lots of friends, no mess at home, and all the mums and dads get to complain about having to be seen in a swimming costume. I may be less keen on the idea nearer the time so please remind that I thought it was a good idea once!

inspiration

it's funny where inspiration can come from, I didn't think a school trip with 60 8/9 year olds would yield intricate embroideries and appliques..








lovely aren't they. now I want to make one.

it's lovely and warm, the boiler is working! I wonder how long for ...

and my lovely hubby spent 2 hours on Saturday night lying on the floor taking the cooker to peices because the builders have said they're not coming with the new kitchen and cooker till after Christmas. It sort of works now, sometimes you have to set the fan off manually before turning it on, and I've no idea what the temperature control is like, but we had crispy potato wedges which were heavenly.
I maybe won't let him mend anything else mind you, as we now have a HUGE scratch on the wooden kitchen floor and he gave himself an electric shock and his hand was numb for an hour....

brrrr

brrr, it's a bit chilly this morning, if only I lived near a shop like this.
but which ones would I choose????



oh and the new boiler has stopped working, after 24 hours. great....

one step further

so I sent the photos to the friend of a friend about the wallhanging, and thought, well that will be the end of it, she'll never ring..
and she did!
and she's coming on Monday to look at the original, and some other things I've made, and of course to talk about £.

which is where it all falls apart.

how can I possibly work out what to charge?
why did I throw away all of the client costings, hours spent, design time, records of how it was made and with what resources... that I had to do for city and guilds, I know I was sick of the sight of them, but why didn't I put them in the attic not the dustbin!!! probably because I didn't believe that one day there might be a real not a fictional client, and that they would have been useful. still don't actually.

so if anyone has any ideas of how I work out a price, that this lady might consider paying, and that is a fair representation of the work put in then please please let me know...

as an aside I've decided that if she doesn't go for it I'm going to make one anyway, probably a bit different, and see what happens.

oh and maybe the boiler will be finished today! I had two children very reluctant to get out of their cosy beds this morning, - mmm maybe I'll turn the heating off on Friday night!

who's there?

there's a lot of banging and crashing in my kitchen;


is it one of these?


or one of these?

or ?


or ?



no its just the plumber fitting the boiler, shame, I was going to defend the world with this.

mmm, think I may have been watching too much kids tv!

buttons and things

a charity shop find


a river bank find


some homemade business cards,
after I'd made them my hubby helpfully suggested that I should have put what Imake on them, not just my name and contacts. anyway what do I make??

I was so busy this morning getting the kids ready for school, getting the house ready for the plumber, and trying to write a letter to go with the business card and the photos and some samples of fabric that I've realised I forgot to eat any breakfast. I was just wondering why I felt a bit flakey this morning- that could be why!
and now the plumber is here, and it's all doom and gloom, and the wrong gas pipes, and no drain for the heating system, and ..... why did I think changing the boiler was a good idea.....

forgot the camera

we went to visit the grandparents (in-laws) this weekend, and I forgot the camera.
so I have no photos of the wonderful den we made in the woods from fallen branches, and lots of leaves,
or of the sun shimmering on the river, as the leaves floated past,
or the lego space cruiser that flew around grandads sofa,
or of the bumped elbow and grazed hip that were the result of a dramatic flying fall in a coffee shop (not me!)
or the plaster with aliens and monsters - how cool is that!

but maybe tomorrow morning I take a photo of the buttons I got at the charity shop,
and the fossil coral that we found on the river bank,
and the leaves I brought home (nana thinks I'm mad by the way, "what are you going to do with them?" )
and of the homemade business cards I just sat and made to send to the friends friend with a photo of my wall hanging, and some samples of fabric. (still can't get used to this idea AT ALL but thankyou all for the wonderful supportive comments - if it all ends in tears please send tissues.)

I don't sell things

I went to a friends house today, she was having a joint open house with her jewellery, bags and notebooks, and another friend's handmade cards and gorgeous printed wrapping paper.
and I bought lots of things I didn't intend to.
and then my friend started talking to someone who'd come, who had just had their loft converted and was looking for a wall hanging or a quilt to hang in the stairwell.
so then the conversation went a bit like
"well you made a gorgeous wallhanging for your city and guilds - you could make one for L. "
"......" - me
"oh that would be great, what was it like"
"....." me
then I engaged my brain and said I'd send photos of what I'd done.

eeek

what have I done....

4 things

I saw this meme on Miss Marzie's blog, she did a general tag for anyone who wanted to play, and as I don't have any nice photos for a quick post here goes.

4 jobs I've had:
washing up person in a whole foods cafe
chambermaid in a hotel
research assistant for breast cancer/leukaemia/climate change (not all at once!)
teaching assistant

4 films I could watch over and over:
City of Angels
Notting Hill
The Horse Whisperer
Fever Pitch

4 tv shows I watch:
Spooks
Dr Who (only for with the children obviously, nothing to do with David Tenant...)
Grand Designs - we like to count how many times the word "bespoke" is used
any kind of cooking program - Nigella, Jamie etc

4 places I have lived:
Wegburg, Germany till I was 2
Liverpool
Cambridge
Rockport MA, USA

4 favourite foods:
risotto
chocolate cake
roast potatoes
raspberrys

4 favourite colours:
pink
cream
duck egg blue
lilac

4 places I'd love to be right now:
on the beach
tucked up with a quilt and a good book
in my own sewing room (well I can dream can't I)
visiting friends and family

4 names I love but couldn't call my children:
Jo
Elsbeth
Polly
Freya

4 people I want to tag:
anyone want to play?