Catching a moments peace and quiet!

Rose has gone down for her morning nap so I'm catching this opportunity to have a little 'me' time on the laptop without her trying to join in!

I'm also enjoying a coffee in my new cup and saucer which was one of my Christmas presents from Mum. Isn't it gorgeous!? I'm trying to be good with food at the moment as somehow I managed to put on 5.5lb's over Christmas! Of course I know how I put it on... by eating an awful lot of food and quite a few Bailey's! So anyway, I'm back on the Slimming World wagon for the new year. 

I've finished one of my WIP's for 2011, this is my new headband. I wear my hair up in a bun quite often but then I can't wear a hat when I go outside so I thought this would be a nice thing to make. I found the pattern here on Ravelry and it was actually really simple. Cables always looked so complicated to me before but now that I understand what the instructions are telling me to do, it's not that difficult at all. I've worn it alot so far as the yarn is so amazingly soft, it's called Miski from Mirasol and is 100% baby llama.

(Sorry about the cheesy grin picture... it's Really hard to take a photo showing me wearing the headband when no one else is home!)

I've almost finished Rose's cardigan, I took this photo a couple of days ago and am now in the process of threading in the yarn ends and sewing on the buttons! :-) It's such a sweet little cardigan and fits her perfectly, so it'll be lovely for her to be able to wear it right away.

Okay, she's still sleeping so I'm going to dash and try to finish it off now. It would be lovely if today was one of those day's where she has an exra long sleep!

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Our Christmas 2011

I have so many posts in draft form at the moment with all the photo's but not very much writing. I've not really felt much like sitting down to write my blog in the evenings since getting back from Dorset and then when I do feel like writing in the day, Rose has other ideas!

She's going through quite a clingy phase at the moment, if there are other people around she'll be straight over playing with them as I think she gets a little bored of me! But if it's just us in the house she just wants to constantly be sitting on or (more realistically) climbing all over me. This wouldnt be a problem usually but if I'm trying to get 5 minutes on the laptop and sit up to the desk, she has now taken to bashing the keys as hard as she can with her little podgy hands. She has one of those baby toy latops but apparently my boring black one is wayyy more fun!

Anyway, here are a few pics of us at Christmas. (I've stolen a few photo's from my cousin, thanks Jose!)

Lettie loved the hexagon blanket, thank goodness! I knew it was a nice blanket but after the Many hours working on it... I did start to doubt whether I liked all of the colours together but now I feel much more confident that it did look really nice. I've taken some photo's of it laid out on our bed to show it off a bit better but they are in another draft post so I will have to get organised and get that posted on here.

As far as I can tell Rose enjoyed her first Christmas, she really didn't realise that it was a special kind of day but she definitely enjoyed all of the attention and cuddles she got from everyone in the family whilst we were down. Maybe that's why she's being clingy at the moment... hhmm...

She was spoilt with lovely presents from everyone, we need to get going on those Thank you cards!

She got an a whole big sack of presents from her Nana, she was a very lucky girl although it was much more fun for me opening up all of the presents.. Rose helped with a couple and then kind of lost interest!

Thanks Mum x

All in all it was quite an eventful Christmas, my Great-great grandad got a little too merry in the pub whilst going for his annual drink with the other men in the family, he was the happiest I've ever seen him! But then Ray went next door to find that he had taken a tumble after waking from his nap, he ended up with a big black eye and had hurt his head so couldn't make it to our Christmas dinner. It felt very strange not to have him there with us, luckily we always have a Boxing day meal so he was able to make it to that. It was almost like another Christmas day, except Mum had had to travel back to Cornwall for work which was a shame.

I got some Amazing gifts which I'm completely chuffed with but I'll have to take some photo's of them and tell you about them another day as I don't want make this post too long and boring! 

This is one of the little gifts I made for Mum that I couldn't show you before, do you like it?

Right, off to my bed now. Hopefully I'll have a chance to come on here again tomorrow as I have lots to show you.

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It's nearly that time of year again!

The cake is done!

I may have a million other things to do on my list, but at least the cake can be ticked off!

It's the first Christmas cake I've ever made and I'm pretty chuffed with it. :-) The icing looks a lot smoother than on Ray's birthday cake which I'm really happy about, although it's Definitely not perfect!

I came across a picture of a cake with holly leaves on in the Cath Kidston magazine and decided to use that for inspiration. I Love the cake bunting and bought it from Jooles at Sew Sweet Violet a while ago, I'm so glad to be finally able to use it.

I had Sarah from Shabby chic Sarah around for lunch on Monday, it was a really lovely day and so great to see her again. The weather was really awful so we stayed indoors chatting with cups of tea, whilst she helped me thread in about a thousand ends on the hexagon blanket for my auntie's Christmas present. Thank you Sarah!

I've actually finished the blanket now but if I hadn't had help with those ends I think I'd be stressing out right now trying to get it all done!!

We agreed to make one another a Christmas gift each and Sarah made me this pretty apron out of vintage fabrics, isn't it it gorgeous!? Perfect for those baking day's..!

She also made a gift for Rose which was a really lovely thought, isn't 'Ellie' (as I seemed to have named her) the sweetest elephant you ever saw?! I Love the dungarees and Rose has been fascinated with her since she got her on Monday... her nose is getting a good old chewing anyway!

Thank you so so much xXx

I probably won't get a chance to blog again before we go to Dorset on Friday, so if I don't get a chance to say it nearer the time... 'Merry Christmas everybody!'

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(PS- I have been receiving some really lovely gifts in my Advent swap from Jo, I especially enjoyed all of the chocolate goodies today! I'm afraid I've just been far too disorganised to take photo's of the gifts to put up here, I'm ever so grateful for the gifts though. Thanks Jo xxx)

It's been a little like Santa's workshop around here lately!

I'm sorry it's been a little while since my last post, I've just been so busy trying to get everyone's presents finished for Christmas! Kind of annoyingly, most of the people that I've made things for read my blog so I can't show you everything that I've made quite yet.

This is the cushion cover that I've made for my Nan...

I'm so happy with it, it's the first Dresden plate that I've ever made and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to do! I think the cutting out part of the process would have been much faster if I had a proper plastic template to work from, but I made do with a cardboard version. This is the tutorial that I worked from.

I'm attempting to complete my hexagon blanket for my auntie as I know she loves it (she already knows that this is what she's getting by the way!) but at this rate I'll still be crocheting the border/sewing in the ends on our way back to Dorset on Christmas eve!

I love this blanket but kind of hate it at the same time... I think it's because of all the colour changes which make completing each and every hexagon pretty monotonous. Oh, and all those ends that I'm reallllyy dreading having to have to sew in... help!

I'm actually really looking forward to it having a new home! I'll take a load of photo's to go on here of course before handing it over, but it feels like I'm sort of clearing a big space in my head ready for other projects that I really want to do. Does that make any sense??

Things are a bit financially difficult here at the moment and I was wondering about Adsense.. does anyone use it on their blogs? And how does it actually work?

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Brrrrr.... it's a bit nippy out there isn't it!!

Isn't it cold outside now!

Rose and I walked into town to get a few Christmas bits and it was freezing! It must definitely be winter now, surely...

When we got back, after lunch I attempted to sit down and get on with some Christmas presents.

But as usual, a little somebody came straight over wanting to play! She can be so happy playing with some of her toys and then as Soon as I sit down, she's right next to me crying out for attention... not that she already get's attention allll day long or anything!

The end result: No knitting, cuddles with baby instead. Not that I mind realllyy! :-)

We've had a break-through today, we've mastered walking along with the Vtech walker toy. The furniture is getting a good bashing though!

Right, I'm going to go and attempt some knitting again... wish me luck!

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We're braving the Christmas tree!

Well... the decorations are up and it looks like Christmas in our house!

I was desperate to get the tree decorated and I thought that if I just put it up, Rose would have more time to get used to it being there and she might just leave it alone...

I tied the tree from the back onto our staircase banister which has made the tree quite sturdy, but actually she doesn't really seem that interested in it. She pulled on the baubles a couple of times yesterday but today she hasn't shown a blind bit of interest. Thank goodness for that!

 

This was my advent gift from Cupcake Jo for day one, a Gorgeous crocheted cupcake.

Isn't it scrummy!? :-) The tiny beads just make it perfect.

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Getting that festive feeling!!

I'm beginning to feel really festive now... as I walk around town everyone is busy getting their Christmas shopping done which makes me think that I need to get myself organised and write a list of what I'm doing for each person. I bought some wrapping paper which is about as far as I've got with the whole thing!

I want to get all of the decorations up but Ray is putting off decorating the big tree for a while as he thinks Rose will pull it down. To be honest... he's probably right. She did pull the clothes airer onto herself a couple of hours ago... 

We're trying to come up with somewhere to put it that we can limit the access she has to it... anyone have any ideas as to how to keep a baby away from the tree?!

Even though I can't have the proper Christmas tree up yet, I've started decorating a few other areas of the house. How gorgeous are these colourful baubles from Paperchase!?

 I love them! :-)

I had a lovely surprise when I got back from playgroup with Rose this afternoon, my friend had sent me some belated-birthday gifts. She knows just How much I love Cath Kidston! It means so much that she bought me such lovely things because I know how short of money she is.

Mum sent Rose her own Advent calendar, she can't possibly eat all that chocolate so I Maayy have to help her out a little... what a shame! haha

My advent swap goodies arrived from Cupcake jojo, I'm so glad I entered into this swap. There were a few times though when I felt a little stressed by the pressure of having a deadline to finish all of my gifts! But now that I've seen all of the presents from Jo, I'm so excited knowing that I have a present to open up every day until Christmas..! :-)

Jo even included a present for Rose to open at Christmas! So, so kind of her because she didn't need to do and it is such a lovely thought. Thank you Jo xxx

Okay, I'm off to carry on with my current crochet project. I WILL get at least one present finished!

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A couple of projects, new purchases and some major broodiness!

When my auntie came to visit for the day a few weeks ago she taught me how to do foundation patchwork and I absolutely love it.

I do want to learn all the other types of patchwork properly but foundation patchwork is really quick to do because you don't need to neatly cut out the pieces of fabric, so it provides you with some quick satisfaction!

I've mid-way through knitting a pair of hand warmers from a skein of yarn I got when I was back in Bridport after my birthday.

I wanted to knit quite a simple pattern because the yarn is so beautiful and the straight stocking stitch really shows off all of the lovely colours. I haven't worn my pale pink cable had warmers as I decided to give them away as a gift, so I'm looking forward to having these to keep my hands warm with all this chilly weather!

I bought some pure wool in cream and pink, I really want to learn how to knit in Fair Isle and I have this idea of knitting something for Rose with cream as the background colour and the pink for the pattern... another thing to add to the list of things to do!

Another purchase with some birthday money... this wool is So incredibly soft and I plan to knit some kind of cable hat for myself. Annoyingly the pattern I love calls for slightly more yardage than what I have, so I'll have to find another pattern that I love just as much.

One of my friends from a toddler group that Rose and I go to has had her baby. He's called Fabian and is Tiny! (Rose was never a 'tiny' baby!) He is such a content and calm baby, that he got me incredibly broody!

Rose was so intrigued by him and was so gentle when touching him, that it got me thinking how lovely it will be for Rose to have a brother or sister to play with one day.

Right, I've got the munchies so I'm off to go get myself a chocolate brownie. Yes... I've been baking again! This whole 'healthy-eating before Christmas' thing isn't really going to plan..!

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Macaroon mayhem!

This is my first attempt at making macaroons, they are mint chocolate flavour... I think I added a little too much green food colouring though as it just looks like they're filled with green slime! They're pretty wonky and the swirls aren't very neat as I had to make do with sandwich bags instead of a piping bag... all a bit messy I have to say!!

I loved watching The Great British Bake Off when it was on the TV and as a surprise Ray came home with this book the other day. I was completely over the moon with it as it's layed out so brilliantly inside and the photo's are gorgeous.

I decided to give macaroons a try as I've never eaten them before and wanted to see what the fuss was all about. To be honest... I'm not that impressed. I didn't have a clue what to expect but their just too sweet... I thought they'd be a bit crunchier like a cookie but the texture of them is completely different to that. Plus they were just so fiddly to make and I had to manage doing all of the different stages in between dealing with Rose, cooking us dinner and putting Rose to bed. I'm much more of a fan of simple cakes and things!

I finished wrapping all of my Advent swap gifts today, all a bit last minute... as usual for me!

I completely forgot to take pictures of everything before I wrapped it up and so I'll have to rely on my swap partner to take a picture once she's unwrapped everything.

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Coughs, colds and lots of birthday cake!

Rose and I headed back to Dorset the day after my birthday, we had such a lovely time.. we ended up staying for 5 nights! It was Really lovely to come back home again though, so nice to unpack.. getting the washing on and get back into the normal routine of being at home.

Whenever I go back, it's never completely relaxing because I always have a lot of people that I want to see before heading back to West Sussex. On one day, Rose and I made not one, two or three visits... but Four visits to see different family and friends. It was a really lovely day, but we were both pretttty tired after all that talking and catching-up!

I've had a truly awful week of bad eating though..! Ray baked me a birthday cake which was lovely, I baked some lemon angel fairy cakes, my Nan baked a birthday cake and my auntie Lettie bought a yummy chocolate caterpillar cake! This week I'm trying to make up for all that cake and I'm trying to resist all the goodies..!

The downside of our visit was that I came down with a stinking cold. I have asthma which meant that it went straight to my chest and I've had an awful cough since. I've been on antibiotics and thankfully it's almost gone away now... it really reminds me of when I last had a chest infection though, when I was a week away from my due date with Rose. I was so scared that I would still be feeling so poorly when I went into labour with her, I had to make 3 different appointments with my GP before they finally gave me the antibiotics which cleared it up. But anywayyy...

I had a great time when I went round to my aunties house one evening, she's had a Major sort out when my mum went to visit of all of her craft things and had put aside a pile of things for me to look through. I've now got a whole load of lovely fabric to work my way through, Loads of gorgeous quilting magazines, some books and lots of foundation patchwork patterns. :-) Thank you Lettie xXx

This is my Great-grandad Dooks, Rose's Great-great-grandad.

She really is a heavy lump now which makes it a bit more difficult for him to hold her, I was trying to give her her lunch and Dooks was sneakily giving her bits of his chocolate cake. No wonder she's a fussy eater, now that she's got a love for chocolate!

I've been busy knitting with some wool I got from the gorgeous new yarn shop that has opened up in Bridport. I'll have to take a picture tomorrow to show you though so that I have better light...

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Chilly cycle ride!

The other evening I was reading a lovely blog (I cannot for the life of me remember who's blog this was but I left a comment so if you realise it's you I'm talking about Please remind me - I obviously still have a case of baby brain!)

But anywayy.. she was talking about a lovely walk she has been on with her son and dog by the canal and that got me thinking that we have our own canal really close by and we don't go down to enjoy it nearly often enough!

So the the next day (Sunday) we got all wrapped up and headed out on our bikes to go for a canal-side ride. It was pretty nippy but I made sure Rose was all toasty and we had the most wonderful time...

During the summer Rose was just a bit too small to go on the seat we got for my bike and so I haven't ridden with her many time but it's just so lovely to be poodling along with her in front of me, Ray was getting plenty of smiles (he was in front of me) so I know she was enjoying herself.

The only problem was that as soon as we got off our bikes to sit on a bench to enjoy the view and a cup of tea out of our flask, she fell fast asleep! She's sleeping in the photo, not feeding by the way..! This was a bit of a problem since I didn't want to wake her and risk her crying the whole way home and she obviously couldn't go in the bike seat asleep, so we ended up walk for 10 minutes with Rose sleeping on my shoulder and Ray walking with both bikes.

Thankfully (as she's SO heavy now!) she woke soon after and was quite happy so we got back on our bikes to head home.

(I admit...there was a pit-stop at Waitrose to get some mince-pies though!)

Right, I'm off to go have a Another flick through my beautiful birthday quilting books I got given by Ray today, suchhh gorgeous photo's inside! :-)

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Christmas market

We had a lovely day out today, Ray was in Scotland for the whole of last weekend so it was nice to do something altogether today.

There was a big Christmas market on just down the road from us which we thought would be nice to go to...and so did a lot of other people obviously, as we were queuing out on the main road for suchhh a long time!

When we finally got in it was lovely though, very busy but the whole place just had such a lovely festive feel to it. I'm now feeling very excited about Christmas... well, birthday first but I just love the whole build up to it.

Even the cold weather makes everything feel so much more festive.. I'm made all the more aware though that time is ticking by and I have a lot of family presents to get made!

We had a big milestone with Rose today, up until now she has been facing me in the pushchair as she seems to love smiling and babbling away to me. But on our way back from town this morning she was getting a bit cranky, so I took her out of the pushchair and turned the seat around. For the whole walk home she was good as gold... I think she's just got fed up of having to look at my boring old face everyday! I know this probably sounds so silly to a lot of people but it just feels sooo strange to have her facing away from me now, like she doesn't need my protection in the same way anymore. Soon she'll be leaving home!! haha

After walking around all of the stalls, we had a walk up the hill which was really lovely. Away from all the hustle and bustle. Everything looks so autumnal now, it won't be long until we're really into the cold winter...

Ray is growing a moustache for Movember, I'm not a big fan I have to say. It's at that really in between stage at the moment and looks a bit silly, very 70's! Goodness knows what his patients think when they walk in to see him!!

Even though there were loads of stalls at the market I didn't actually end up buying anything, well the stalls that I liked were the ones with all the handmade girly gifts but I just found myself thinking 'Well I could make that myself for a fraction of the price'! which got me thinking about maybe selling some thing's online. Being a stay-at-home Mum it would be so lovely to have some of my 'Own' money, even if it's a teensy tiny bit!

I know I'd have to have a good think about what I'd like to sell but I do have some time in the day when Rose is napping when I could be making things... I just don't have a clue where to start though!

Does anyone have any tips about where to start!? Where is the best place to sell? and also, where can you get things for nice packaging, like stickers, labels and things like that? Sorry to be a pain... but Any advice would be really appreciated!

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