Now Wearing Purple

Decided to have a little blitz today, as I've been a bit lazy of late, something that is not good when you have two dogs and a log burner.  Oh my, the hair and smuts, shameful!  I gave the Aga a good going over as well and felt really good when everything was nice and shiny.   I also downgraded the amount of twinkly lights that we have been using to create the hygge atmosphere. The evenings are getting lighter now and I feel it's time to embrace Spring. Loving that I can buy daffodils from my local village shop for £1.00 a bunch. which means I can fill a vase very cheaply. In contrast to impending Spring, the Beast from the East arrived in our neck of the woods with a cough and a splutter.  I love a bit of snow, in fact I adore it, just as long as it doesn't hang around too long. We got in the car to take the dogs for their run with the sun shining, drove 50 yards and the snow came, small powdery flakes, the kind of snow we had in 2010. It lasted...

A HAPPY GOTCHA DAY I can't believe that one year ago today, Elsie came into our lives, at a very sad time. We'd just lost our beloved Ridgeback Lab cross, Feebie to cancer, her brother Roly, a rescue greyhound going the year before, one month earlier. This time of year is hard for us, which if you've never owned a pet, might seem strange.  Our grief was the reason we desperately needed another little soul to save, and this one saved us. We picked Elsie up from the Travelodge car park in Peterborough, as her lovely foster Mum had agreed to travel an hour to drop her off.  We'd stayed overnight, as we thought a six hour round trip would be too much for Pearl, who's not fond of long journeys.   The transfer had to be quick, as her foster mum was in bits at having to let her go.  She just managed to take a picture of Elsie with me in the car, before quickly leaving. I don't think Elsie had any idea that she would leave her at this point. Once the car doo...

 I'VE STARTED, SO I'LL FINISH I've painted some boxes with a first coat of Annie Sloan duck egg blue chalk paint  I really want to put some kind of embellishment on the ends of them, perhaps my favourite flowers, one on each box, but can't quite decide.  I should have finished more of them, but I've been watching the Winter Olympics and loving it, especially the skiing and snowboarding events - totally in awe of the feats they achieve. I also found a bag of small granny squares tucked away in my craft cupboard (it's getting less cluttered by the day) and thought I would crochet some more to make a small project bag.  I have a few  unfinished WIP's lurking about so I've made myself a promise to finish them before starting anything new.  Maybelle Squares...there are more. Solid Granny squares... cot blanket?  Just need someone with a baby! Round cushion cover.....almost complete. There is a basket full of stuff that I haven...

Always xxx Heart pattern from Atty's blog 

WE ARE NOT AMUSED! Her face says it all! As I mentioned in a previous post, this Bernat dog coat was meant for Pearl, but despite measuring her from collar to the base of her tail, it worked up in a larger size (my tension was off, I guess) and swamped her.  Lucky that she has a slightly larger sister! However, someone was not at all happy with it, refusing to co-operate in my photo shoot.   I was hoping for a canine, Ellie McPherson style strut on the decking, but Elsie was having none of it and flatly refused to look at me. It's quite mild here at the moment but when we have a nice cold snap, she might be more appreciative of it. I have also finished my Nordic Shawl. I've already been wearing it in the evenings, before the fire is lit and it's so warm and cosy.  If you want a lovely warm item of clothing that crochets up really quickly, give this a go. Information and links showing lots of examples are in my previous post.   I ought to b...

I bought my first bunches of daffs today, as my yellow tulips were shedding their petals. They look like a bunch of green artists brushes at the moment. I love the transparency of the tips, hiding those soon to be, beautiful blooms. Pearl is crashed out in the background after a mammoth walk this morning. So much for good weather today. It started beautifully, then blackened, then rained, then snowed and now we're back to glorious sunshine.  We took our chances and luck was with us on our walk and both dogs are now pooped.  I was quite excited when it started to snow, as it was the first we've seen this winter. I so wished it hadn't rained and the snow had settled for a few hours.  I do suffer from snow envy when I read other blogs and see shots of pure white fairy tale beauty.  Ah well. Valentine's day is looming. I don't know how you feel about it, but over the years, I've come to view it as another consumerist activity that guilts people into spe...

LURGY LAZINESS I've been feeling really cruddy recently because of a nasty cold that Mr. felt the need to share and it was just as our lovely girl came to visit. It was great having her here, but our nights were late (lots of laughter though) and it caught up with me.  I had started to feel better, then today after four huge sneezes it was back. How does that happen? The weather today is atrocious, with rain and the wind blowing a hooley,  so I thought, why rush to get up!  I lolled in bed with my Nordic shawl and did a few more rows of colour.  Mr. had a lie in but then decided he was hungry, so went and made us a lovely cooked breakfast, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans and hash browns... it was delicious! Although it looks quite bright outside, it definitely wasn't! We did get some lovely weather though this week on our daily afternoon dog walks and unfortunately, feeling diabolical does not get you out of 'walkies'. Mr. al...